Author Archives: Morgan O'Rourke

About Morgan O'Rourke

Morgan O’Rourke is editor in chief of Risk Management magazine and director of publications for the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
Check AML crypto online: USDT AML check BTC, ETH and 65+ coins. Receiving funds of illegal origin could lead the risk of having your funds frozen. The USDT is being tested for scams, mixers, darknet market, ransom, gambling and other crimes.

State Farm Enters the Toyota Fiasco

Posted on by

The hits just keep on coming for Toyota.

online pharmacy neurontin with best prices today in the USA

On the heels of a $16 million government fine and the potential for billions of dollars in loses after pending litigation shakes out, State Farm has asked Toyota to pay them back for any claims related to the unintended acceleration fiasco. Other insurers, including Allstate, are expected to follow suit and Mark Bunim, an attorney with the mediation firm Closed Case, says these subrogation demands could eventually end up costing Toyota up to $30 million. But the ultimate determination will take some time.

“Someone has to go through each and every auto claim, and then try to make a determination if it involved unwarranted acceleration,” Bunim says. “It could take months.”

This is not the first time State Farm has been at the forefront of action regarding Toyota. Back in 2007, State Farm warned the automaker and the NHTSA about an increase in unintended acceleration reports involving Toyota vehicles. While this warning adds further fuel to the argument that both Toyota and regulators were asleep at the switch, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pointed out on his blog that the NHTSA was looking into the problem as early as 2003.

The point is that our safety officials have been looking at this issue from all angles for quite some time.

So the idea that NHTSA is in the business of ignoring information–valuable or otherwise–from automobile insurers, safety organizations, or consumers is just plain wrong.

online pharmacy rifadin with best prices today in the USA

Of course, this still doesn’t answer why it took them six years to act. Perhaps they were just being diligent.

online pharmacy female cialis with best prices today in the USA

D&O Coverage for Investigations

Posted on by

In the latest online-only column from Anderson Kill & Olick, Joshua Gold discusses how D&O coverage can be complicated by government investigations.

Most D&O insurance policies promise some measure of insurance protection against “regulatory and governmental” investigations, “administrative or regulatory proceedings” and criminal proceedings. However, many insurance companies will argue this coverage is not triggered until certain documents are prepared by the investigating entity and until they are prepared and drafted in a very specific way. For instance, does the investigation start when a subpoena is served or only when a “formal” investigative order is issued under the insurance policy? Insurance companies may argue that they are not on the hook for millions of dollars in “loss” until certain specific aspects of the investigation come to pass.

Considering the importance of D&O coverage for senior management, you won’t want to miss this online exclusive, only on RMmagazine.com.

High Suicide Risk for British Veterinarians

Posted on by

Of all the high-stress careers you could think of, being a veterinarian usually doesn’t spring to mind. But a new paper has revealed that veterinarians in Britain are four times as likely as the general public to commit suicide. According to the paper’s author Dr. David Bartram of the University of Southampton’s School of Medicine this means that veterinarians have the highest suicide rate of any other occupational group.

While the reasons for the increased suicide rate remain unclear, Dr. Bartram put forth a number of explanations.

buy rybelsus online www.tvaxbiomedical.com/scripts/css/rybelsus.html no prescription pharmacy

• The stress begins while they’re still in training. Typically, entrance to veterinary schools is limited to high achievers, whose personality traits may include neurosis, conscientiousness and perfectionism, all risk factors for suicidal behaviors.

• Their working environment can be stressful, marked by long hours, high psychological demands, low levels of support from managers and high expectations from clients. Many work in solo practices, which can leave them professionally and socially isolated and therefore more vulnerable to depression and suicide.

• Ready access to lethal means and knowledge of how to apply them can also put them at risk. Veterinary clinics typically store lethal drugs, such as barbiturates, on premises. Thoughts of suicide, which are often impulsive, can be acted on immediately. At least half of the male veterinarians who committed suicide between 1982 and 1996 in England and Wales used barbiturates, the report said, with deliberate poisoning accounting for 80 to 90 percent of veterinarians’ suicides.

• Veterinarians may consider euthanasia to be a way of alleviating suffering and may therefore come to look upon it as a positive solution to their own difficulties.

buy vidalista online www.tvaxbiomedical.com/scripts/css/vidalista.html no prescription pharmacy

• “Suicide contagion” caused by direct or indirect exposure to suicides among colleagues may leave veterinarians more vulnerable to killing themselves.

buy xifaxan online www.tvaxbiomedical.com/scripts/css/xifaxan.html no prescription pharmacy

Although research on suicide rates by profession in the United States has been termed confusing and inconclusive (for instance, some say the highest rates can be found among physicians while others say dentists), similar results among veterinarians have been found in other countries. Bartram says the findings indicate a need for more studies into the actual risk factors at play and the development of programs to mitigate the problem. This information would likely be useful for other occupational groups with high suicide risk.

Toyota’s Woes Continue

Posted on by

Another week and the fallout continues to spread from Toyota’s recall controversy.

In Minnesota, a man imprisoned for vehicular homicide in a fatal Toyota crash sought a new trial, claiming that, in light of the unintended acceleration recalls, he was wrongly convicted for a mechanical malfunction that wasn’t his fault. A prisoner in Portland, Oregon has made similar claims in what is sure to be new trend in courts around the country.

Meanwhile, lawyers have begun to jockey for position in what is assumed to be a lucrative, and perhaps historic, class action lawsuit for all involved (J.P. Morgan recently put the total recall price tag for Toyota at $5.5 billion), internal company documents revealed that Toyota was aware of the unintended acceleration problem in 2002, when Camry owners began to complain about the issue.

The technical service bulletin went to every U.S. Toyota dealership in late August 2002 after some customers reported their vehicles were speeding up unexpectedly.

“Some 2002 model year Camry vehicles may exhibit a surging during light throttle input at speeds between 38-42 mph,” the bulletin states. “The Engine Control Module (ECM) calibration has been revised to correct this condition.”

Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was apparently aware of the issue as well, some critics, including Clarence Ditlow, the head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, have suggested that both Toyota and the NHTSA are guilty of a coverup.

“The government is really hiding this information from the consumer,” Ditlow told CNN. “They’re in a conspiracy with the auto industry to keep these out of the public’s sight.”

Some analysts have questioned the seriousness of this document, however. Matt Hardigree of the automotive blog Jalopnik wrote that the CNN article may be misleading.

[The document] just shows there was a problem with electronics on one year of the Camry, which Toyota identified and repaired. The engine affected, the 1MZ-FE, isn’t even offered in the Camry anymore. The change to a new platform and new engine lineup would have drastically changed the ECM between the sixth-gen Camry and the current seventh-generation 2007-2010 Camry. Claiming the 2002 TSB [technical service bulletin] is related to Toyota’s current sudden unintended acceleration problems is sort of like claiming a screen recall on an iPhone is related to a recall on a first-generation iPod click-wheel.

While lawyers to try to figure what what Toyota knew and when, the recall problems continue to plague the automaker’s business and have been blamed for plant shutdowns in France and the UK. In February, Toyota’s sales in the European Union fell 20% as compared to the same time last year, despite the fact that overall auto sales in the EU were up 3%.

Finally (for now), Toyota was also forced to respond to owner complaints that recalled cars were still experiencing acceleration problems after they had been repaired by dealers. The company pledged to replace the pedals free of charge at the owner’s request. The operative phrase being “at the owner’s request”  as an internal memo cautioned dealers “not to solicit pedal replacement.”

As the crisis at Toyota rages on, stay tuned to the Monitor for the latest news and updates.