Legality, Law and Lawyers

Is Chantix Dangerous? Analyzing Laws and Legal Rights

It has become more and more evident that smoking is dangerous and hazardous to your health. Every pack of cigarettes comes with a warning from the Surgeon General. Due to this increase in health awareness, more people are searching for effective means of quitting the habit. Pharmaceutical companies are aware of this and are rushing to the market to provide the newest, hottest, most effective way to quit. Unfortunately, in that haste, quality control can become suspect.

Chantix (varenicline tartrate) is a drug developed by the Pfizer group that is intended to stop smoking. According to the Chantix website, the drug works by targeting nicotine receptors in the brain and blocking them out, thus stopping the nicotine reaction that causes dependency.

Furthermore, according to the website, the medication is 44% effective in helping people quit smoking. The only problem is the extensive list of side effects that seem to come with the product.

]]>

Chantix works by effecting the brain directly. Anytime a medication does that there is a high risk for side effects due to the extreme complexity of the chemicals and makeup of the human mind.

According to the main Chantix website, the major side effects of the product are:

Nausea (30%) Sleep problems (trouble sleeping, changes in dreaming) Constipation Gas Vomiting

Some other side effects include headache and loss of taste. More importantly, some individuals experience an increase in depression, emotional instability, aggression, and suicidal thoughts.

If you are considering using this drug, realize the potential hazards involved. Be communicative with your doctor about other medications you are on and other health issues you may have.

If you start to feel the more dangerous side effects of this drug, discontinue use and always have a support network nearby.

Legal action is being taken against Pfizer for their lack of early communication regarding the severity of side effects involved. There are individuals who are reporting injury or a damage to lifestyle (loss of job through erratic behavior, etc) due to the drug.

If you or a loved one has suffered in a similar fashion, it is important to get proper legal representation before proceeding further with your potential legal claim against Chantix.

Note: This article is not medical advice and is not a substitute for communication with a medical professional.

Tags: laws legal rights

Family Law – The legal rights of de facto couples versus married couples

Since June 1999 the term De Facto has been used to describe the relationship between the two adults (over the age of 18 and including couples of the same sex) who:

1. live together; and
2. are not married; and
3. are not siblings, parent or child of the other party.

The Family Law Act defines De Facto relation as one where the couple is not married and are not related to each other and they are in a relationship and living together. A general requirement for De Facto couples is that they have been living together for a period of at least 2 years or they have a child together.

Other criteria’s to determine a De Facto relationship include:

1. how long the relationship has lasted;
2. whether the parties live together under one roof;
3. what the arrangements are between them in respect of their assets and finances;

]]>

4. whether they have come to own assets together since the commencement of their relationship, etc

Previously De Facto couples were not governed by the federal laws except when there were matters in respect of children. All other matters were governed by state and territory laws.

However, recent changes on 1 March 2009 allows De Facto couples to make applications to the Family Courts for orders in respect of division of property and maintenance for couples in a De Facto relationship. De Factor partners have a responsibility to provide financial assistance to their former De Facto partner if they are unable to maintain themselves and meet their own reasonable expenses from their income. The amount of support depends on the needs of the applicant partner and what the respondent partner can afford to pay.

The amount of non-financial contribution by either party will also be taken into account when considering the division of property.

An application for maintenance will have to be made within 2 years of the breakdown of the De Facto relationship.

Parties can choose not to be governed by the new laws by entering into an agreement which outline the distribution of property division and outline maintenance provisions if a relationship ends. These types of Agreements are called Binding Financial Agreements and can be entered into when both parties have obtained independent legal advice.

At LAC Lawyers we are available to assist you in the event of a breakup of your relationship with your partner and provide you with sound legal advice in respect of your rights and entitlement.

CC Brown Law ? Quick Legal guide on how to recover down payments for home purchases

Nowadays there are many rules used to buy a purchasing property and before buying the purchaser have to sign the purchasing contract. Then the developer is paid down an advance payment of several tens of thousands of dollars. Within the agreed upon delivery time, the developer has to finish building the apartment to occupy the first occupancy license.

After Several months of research they try to agree the developer who has already finished building the apartment but if you have not obtained the first occupancy license. Then you can’t meet the necessary obligations. For eg: The person who built their property without an official protection are destined for being in the home temporarily or only for some time.

To obtain the exact down payments from the buyer, the developer must comply with the following obligations before starting the building or during the building. They are,

In case the building does not start or finished within the agreed time frame, then the developers must guarantee the return of the paid amounts and the legal interests of the money with an insurance contract or with a joint guarantee of a bank or savings bank.
They must receive these down payments of the buyers via a bank entity or through the savings bank by depositing the advance payment in a special account. For the opening of these accounts or deposits in the bank entity or the savings bank requires the above mentioned guarantee.

]]>

If the time period for starting the building has expired, then the buyer may choose to cancel the contract with the return of down payment plus the legal interests of the money. If you have a confidence of completing the work, then you can ask the developer an extra time for specifying the new time frame, the date of termination of the building and the delivery of the home.

Some important aspects of this consumer friendly law are,

Generally speaking about the rights cannot be waived by the buyer even if the developer has signed the contract.
The developer must deliver the guarantee for the down payment after the parties sign the purchasing contract or the pre-contract reservation contract.
The law only protects the down payments for home buying which is used permanently just for some time as a home. It does not protect down payments for the property bought for the investment purposes.
Generally, the buyer can recover the down payment from the developer if they have not obtained the first occupancy license.
The buyer can grant the developer with some extra time for delivering the home. However, this extra time must be explicit and written.
If the developer does not pay back the down payment, then the buyer can easily give a guarantee certificate and can comply with the several other requirements to recover the down payment from the savings bank or insurance company in execution proceedings. These execution proceedings are fast and secure for the proprietor, because the execution law essentially restricts some defense options like the third party savings bank and insurance company.
From the above mentioned law, some of the developers do not hand out the obligatory guarantee certificate to the buyers. Nevertheless, some judges have ruled under the special circumstances, the buyers can recover their down payments from the savings bank or insurance company in ordinary proceedings even though the buyers have no guarantee certificate.

Finally in this case most of the judges have an intention to protect the consumers exclusively, even if the seller and buyer agree or not. Only a minority of the judges rule the case in a different path.