For Immediate Release – April 28, 2005
TO: All MediaFROM: “Andy” Kotner, President, San Diego County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
-- (619) 295-6059
RE: San Diego County CALA To Launch Petition Drive To Curb Irresponsible
Advertising By Personal Injury Lawyers at “Smart Consumer Expo” April 30
WHAT: As part of CALA’s “Sick of Lawsuits Campaign” the
group is collecting signatures for a petition to the Federal Trade Commission
and the California State Bar, calling attention to the dangerous side effects of
irresponsible advertisements by some personal injury lawyers.
WHO: Andy Kotner, President of San Diego County Citizens Against
Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) will join business owners and exhibitors who are committed
to ethics and dignity at the Better Business Bureau’s “Smart Consumer Expo.”
WHEN: Saturday, April 30, 2005 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Smart Consumer Expo will be held in EXHIBITION HALL at the Del
Mar Fairgrounds located at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar, California.
WHY: Nearly everyone in America has seen an advertisement proclaiming, “If you’ve taken Drug X, you may be entitled to compensation.” These ads usually go
on to provide, in scariest possible details, all the health risks you may have
been exposed to if you took the drug.
Unfortunately, this kind of advertising often misleads and has devastating side
effects. First, it needlessly scares some patients off their medications.
According to a 2003 survey by Harris Interactive, 40 percent of pharmacists
report that patients have stopped taking medication when they learned the drug
might be involved in litigation. The health risks of this side effect are
self-evident.
Irresponsible ads also encourage uninjured people to file lawsuits to win
money. In Mississippi, 12 people have been arrested so far for forging
prescriptions of Fen-Phen so they could claim a share of a lawsuit settlement.
This not only clogs courts, it takes money away from real victims.
FOR MORE INFORMATION - CONTACT: Andy Kotner (619) 295-6059
