DePuy class action
1-800-391-8000 Parilman and Associates
Depuy Class Action
⊆ August 27th, 2010 | ≡ Topic: Depuy Class Action | | ˜
Depuy Class Action – Numerous Lawsuits have been filed as a result of the Depuy Hip Recall however, no Depuy Class Action Lawsuit has been announced. It is not necessary that a Depuy Class Action Lawsuit occur for you to file your claim if you have required revision or secondary surgery after a Depuy hip surgery. If you had a Depuy hip replacement surgery and later required a second hip surgery you should fill out the contact form to the right for a free consultation with an attorney working on the Depuy hip replacement lawsuit.

Established manufacturer of orthopedic implants, Depuy Orthopedics, made public a Recall on August 26th 2010 . The Depuy Recall affected two products, the Depuy ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. The hip replacement recall was a result suspected defects in the hip replacement products. Many hip surgery patients that received these devices later required a second surgery. These “Revision Surgeries” or second surgeries are usually required to correct an issue caused by or related to the initial hip surgery. These revision surgeries are painful and expensive. Recovery from these revisions surgeries is often as or more difficult than recovery from the initial hip surgery.

Do not feel like you need to wait for a Depuy Class Action Lawsuit. If you were the recipient of a Depuy ASR or ASR XL hip surgery and have required additional hip replacement or revision surgery you should speak to a Depuy Attorney today. A Depuy Attorney is an Attorney that is experienced in handling Depuy Hip Replacement Lawsuits. To contact a Depuy Attorney or to inquire about filing a Depuy Lawsuit please fill out the contact form at the right.

Economist

How did Watergate scandal change US politics (ABA American Bar Association)
EXCERPT:
Since Nixon and many senior officials involved in Watergate were lawyers, the scandal severely tarnished the public image of the legal profession. In order to defuse public demand for direct federal regulation of lawyers (as opposed to leaving it in the hands of state bar associations or supreme courts), the American Bar Association, (ABA) launched two major reforms. First, the ABA decided that its existing Model Code of Professional Responsibility (promulgated 1969) was a failure, and replaced it with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in 1983. The MRPC has been adopted in part or in whole by 44 states. Its preamble contains an emphatic reminder to young lawyers that the legal profession can remain self-governing only if lawyers behave properly. Second, the ABA promulgated a requirement that law students at ABA-approved law schools take a course in professional responsibility (which means they must study the MRPC). The requirement remains in effect.

Hip Recall suit

DePuy Hip Recall Lawyers
The DePuy Hip Recall of the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement was announced August 26, 2010 by DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. The Depuy Hip Recall Lawyers at the Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC are available to answer any additional questions patients may have about their rights.

The DePuy ASR hip replacements subject to the Depuy Hip recall are both the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. These DePuy ASR hips have been implanted since 2005 in the United States and since 2001 internationally.

Depuy ASR Hip Revision Surgery
Depuy ASR recall patients may require a painful revision surgery to remove and replace the defective hip implant. DePuy estimates approximately 10,000 patients may need revision surgery, however we believe that this underestimates the number hip revision surgeries that will be necessary.

The DePuy ASR revisions are necessary because the device is defectively designed and manufactured so that high levels of metal ions are released from the Depuy ASR hip. This metal ion release damages tissue, causes pseudotumours, and results in osteolysis requiring hip revision surgery to remove and replace the device. This may happen shortly after the DePuy ASR hip replacement is implanted into the patient or it may take years to occur.

DePuy Hip Revision Patient Profile
The Adverse Event Reports involving the DePuy ASR submitted to the FDA by surgeons performing DePuy hip revision surgeries mention instances of “loosening, pseudotumour and metallosis” / (sic) metalosis. Surgeons have noted upon revision that the DePuy ASR hip cup was “loose and easy to revise”, that the “the cup popped right out” and that “there was no evidence of any bony ingrowth.” This is in spite of the surgeon’s prerevision observation that “The patient was revised to address complaint of extreme pain when weight bearing. X-rays looked good, and cup was in position.”

The DePuy ASR Hip Problems Well Known for Years
Prior to the DePuy hip recall of the ASR hip systems, published articles detailed the design problems with the device. Hundreds of Adverse Event Reports to the FDA in the United States confirmed what the studies showed. The DePuy ASR hip was withdrawn from the Australian market in December 2009. On May 25, 2010 a Medical Device Alert was issued in the UK for the DePuy Hip.

DePuy Hip Recall Liability Management Program
DePuy is paying surgeons to assist them in getting patients to sign documents for DePuy that allows DePuy to keep the explanted hip implant and to do "testing" on it. The explanted device is a valuable piece of evidence and a patient may not be able to prove a product defect case without the explanted hip device. Patients should be wary of this and not jeopordize their current and future legal rights by signing any documents for DePuy without obtaining independent legal advice. Patients may not realize what they are doing and think they are "just doing what the doctor asked" when they sign the documents. Please realize that your health care insurer is obligated to pay for your revision surgery and testing and it is not necessary for you to sign any documents for DePuy in order to get your revision or testing done. Contact Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC before you sign any documents for Depuy!

Monetary Damages and Compensation for DePuy ASR Victims
Depuy ASR hip replacement patients may be eligible for compensation due to the injuries they have suffered as a result of being implanted with the defective DePuy ASR hip replacement. Past and future pain, suffering, medical bills, lost earnings, and disfigurement are among the damages that the patients may be entitled to recover. Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC handles cases on a contingent fee basis. The client is never at risk of paying any money out of pocket. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.

Depuy Hip Recall Lawyers
The Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC has represented patients against the manufacturers of defective products from almost every state. In addition, Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC is well-versed in the litigation tactics and J&J organization as we have pursued cases involving other defective products that they have manufactured.

Depuy Hip Recall Lawsuits
The Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC is filing individual Depuy Hip Recall lawsuits on behalf of DePuy ASR patients nationwide.

Doctors Not Sued in Depuy Hip Recall Lawsuits
Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC will not file a lawsuit against any doctor or hospital in the DePuy ASR litigation. We will seek recovery against the manufacturer and distributor of the device.

Time Limitations Will Bar Late Claims
Depuy ASR lawsuits must be filed for patients before the legal deadline or the patient’s rights to compensation will be lost.

Free Initial Claim Evaluation and Depuy Hip Recall Information Packet Contact Mazie Slater Katz & freeman, LLC today by completing the contact form to receive a free no obligation claim evaluation by a lawyer experienced in handling defective product cases. We handle cases nationwide. Contact us today.

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Sen. Jay Rockefeller: FCC Should Take FOX News, MSNBC Off Airwaves video on We Are Change

I think some of 'our' folks ought to do interviews with John Grisham, what do you think........ after reading 'The King of Torts'???

A few items today. I've been off of here for a bit because of family stuffs. First off two of my other g'kids were hit.

It's kind of bizarre and one might think I'm being paranoid but I don't think so. Here's why. Both of them were hurt in football accidents not too many days after my oldest daughter got to Phoenix.

Now one might think, doesn't she ever think things happen naturally? Yes, I do but it seems mighty strange to me that all the things happening to my g'kids have been within a 2 month time frame. For instance my oldest g'son that was hurt has been playing football now for years. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

OK, here's why I don't think it's a coincidence; when we moved to Colorado a doctor that's son played on my g'sons football team rented my daughter's house. (hmmmmmmm and after my visit to Dos Palos when my friends started having difficulties on the net and on their TV's, is it any wonder I don't think 'accidents happen'?) connection here being the same connection to renting the house and foodball accidents, eh? (The renters always had knowledge of where 'WE' meaning daughter's family and me?)

BTW, my one g'son got a concussion and my other (they are brothers) had a severe injury to his hand and had to be rushed to emergency? hmmmmmmmm.

Anyways, to my favorite hacker that hacked me again........... oh my isn't he so very wise and gave me my latest virus......... well, touche!

I will tell you this......... Shawn Renta (whatever, I've seen another name associated with this sob) or who the hell ever you are, I have a parrellel universe I work in and I do work even when I'm off-line.

Now, this is the most interesting thing, mi thinks.

I was trying my damndest to recover and stay on the sane when I happened to visit an antique shop this past week. hmmmmmm, and lo and behold I found a book (I suggest everyone read it, cause I think it's very important for 'OUR'cause.) I'm still having a shit load of difficulties this AM on the net so I'm not gonna do a search just share with you a few paragraphs from the book. I'm hoping my soul mate is watching over me and will see this and get it out to all the folks that need to see it....... IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.

The King of Torts John Grisham amazon
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Grisham continues to impress with his daring, venturing out of legal thrillers entirely for A Painted House and Skipping Christmas (the re-release of which this past fall was itself a bold move) and, within the genre, working major variations. Here's his most unusual legal thriller yet--a story whose hero and villain are the same, a young man with the tragic flaw of greed; a story whose suspense arises not from physical threat but moral turmoil, and one that launches a devastating assault on a group of the author's colleagues within the law. Mass tort lawyers are Grisham's target, the men (they're all men here, at least) who win billion-dollar class-action settlements from corporations selling bad products, then rake fantastic fees off the top, with far smaller payouts going to the people harmed by the products. Clay Carter is a burning-out lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in Washington, D.C., when he catches the case of a teen who, for no apparent reason, has gunned down an acquaintance. Clay is approached by a mysterious stranger, the enigmatic Max Pace, who says he represents a megacorporation whose bad drug caused the teen--and others--to kill. The corporation will pay Clay $10 million to settle with all the murder victims at $5 million per, if all is accomplished on the hush-hush; that way, the corporation avoids trial and possibly much higher jury awards. After briefly examining his conscience, Clay bites. He quits the OPD, sets up his own firm and settles the cases. In reward, Pace gives him a present--a mass tort case based on stolen evidence but worth tens of millions in fees. Clay lunges again, eventually winning over a hundred million in fees. He is crowned by the press the new King of Torts, with enough money to hobnob with the other, venal-hearted tort royalty, to buy a Porsche, a Georgetown townhouse and a private jet, but not enough to forget his heartache over the woman he loves, who dumped him as a loser right before his career took off. Clay's financial/legal hubris knows few bounds, and soon he's overextended, his future hanging on the results of one product liability trial. The tension is considerable throughout, and readers will like the gentle ending, but Grisham's aim here clearly is to educate as he entertains. He can be didactic (" `Nobody earns ten million dollars in six months, Clay,' " a friend warns. " `You might win it, steal it, or have it drop out of the sky, but nobody earns money like that. It's ridiculous and obscene' "), but readers will applaud Grisham's fierce moral stance (while perhaps wondering what sort of advance he got for this book) as they cling to his words every step along the way of this powerful and gripping morality tale.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
No manuscript available, but the publishers describe The King of Torts as a legal thriller set in Washington DC. An aspiring young lawyer in the Public Defender's office is assigned a case that appears to be nothing more than one of many crack cocaine murders in the capital. However, he delves deeper and begins to uncover a conspiracy that is bigger than him and perhaps bigger than the justice system itself. It's something of a truism to say that Grisham's inspiration has been fitful of late, but his sales rarely falter; The King of Torts will no doubt get the punters forking out their shekels. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


I've been having a bit of a conflict within my brain over class action lawsuits for quite some time now and it was asif God made sure I bought this book??????? Go figure, eh? Anyways, here's some of the passages from 'The King Of Torts' by John Grisham.

pg 164
And, while he was at it, he didn't like insurance companies and banks and multinationals and Republicans, either. Unbridled capitalism created the need for people like those hardy souls in the Circle of Barristers, those down in the trenches who were un-afraid to attack big business on behalf of the working people, the little people.

pg 248
"They're not as famous as the drug cases, but pretty damned lucrative. I started the rage about ten years ago. Our clients are schools, churches, hospitals, commercial buildings, all with layers of lead paint on the walls. Very dangerous stuff. We've sued the paint manufacturers, settled with a few. Couple of billion so far. Anyway, during discovery against one company I found out about another nice little mass tort that you might want to look at. I can't handle it because of some conflicts."

pg 316
"I just have one. Class actions are a fraud, at least the way you and your pals handle them. Mass torts are a scam, a consumer rip-off, a lottery driven by greed that will one day harm all of us. Unbrideled greed will swing the pendulum to the other side. Reforms will take place, and they'll be severe. You boys will be out of business but you won't care because you'll have the money. The people who'll get harmed are all the future plaintiffs out there, all the little people who won't be able to sue for bad products because you boys have screwed up the law."

pg 375
Washington attorney J. Clay Carter, the so-called newest King of Torts, received a taste of his own medicine yesterday when he was sued by some disgrunteld clients. The lawsuit alleges that Carter, who earned a reported 110$ million in fees last year, prematruely settled cases for small amounts when they were, in fact, worht millions.

pg 377
"Did you own any stock in the company before you filed the lawsuit?"
"No."
"Did you sell the stock short, then buy it back at a lower price?"

Of course he had...............................

pg 389
The bigger the crook the faster he ran to the office of Zack Battle, and Clay thought, for the first time, that perhaps he'd hired the wrong lawyer.............

There are lots more that I would put here because this book tells a lot but I'm not gonna waste any more time and wanted to share this asap. I think it's a very good book and think everyone should order it and read it soon and get it out to the masses.............................


(authors note).
It is here that authors often submit massive disclaimers in an effort to cover their rears and, hopefully, avoid liability. There is always the temptation to simply create a fictional place or entity rather than research the real ones, and I confess I would rather do almost anything than verify details. Fiction is a marvelous shield. It's very easy to hide behind. But when it ventures near the truth, it needs to be accurate. Otherwise, the author needs a few lines in this space.

The Public Defender Service in Washington, DC, is a proud and vibran t organization that has zealously protected the indigent for many years. Its lawyers are bright, committed, and very tight-lipped. Downright secretive. It's inner workings remain a mystery, so I simply created my own Office of Public Defender. Any resemblance between the two is purely coincidental.

Mark Twain said he often moved cities, counties, and even entire states when necessary to help a story along. Nothing gets in my way either. If I can't find a building, then I'll construct one on my map, then I won't hesitate to either move it or draw a new map. I would guess that about half the places in this book are described somewhat correctly. The other half either don't exist or have been modified or relocated to such an extent that no one would recognize them. Anyone looking for accuracy is wasting time.

That's not to say I don't try. My idea of research is frantically working the telephone as the deadline draws near. I leaned on the following people for advice, and it's here that I thank them: Fritz Chockley, Bruce Brown, Gaines Talbott, Bobby Moak, Penny Pynkala, and Jerome Davis.

Renee read the rough draft and didn't fling it at me-always a good sign. David Gernert picked it to pieces, then helped me put it together again. Will Denton and Pamela Creel Jenner read it and offered salient advice. When I had written it for the fourth time and everything was correct, Estelle Laurence read it and found a thousand mistakes.

All of the above were eager to help. The mistakes, as always, are mine.

.......................................


I went out to try and get the url for the following and kept getting disconnected msgs. so here's the article alone, thanks Ernie Hancock for this. (He's one of my friends in Phoenix.) I know I have a virus but think all of this is so important I chanced it... Please forgive me if I've infected you and hopefully it'll be taken care of soon.

Feathered Bastard
Russell Pearce Bigot Bill Scuttled by Freedom's Phoenix? And Ernie Hancock Calls Pearce a "Judas Goat"By Stephen Lemons, Thu., Mar. 18 2010 @ 10:03AM Comments (30) Categories: Feathered Bastard

ErnestHancock.com
Ernie Hancock and Freedom's Phoenix to the rescue? Sure looks like it...
Let's hear it for the Libertarians. It seems civil liberties concerns raised by writers like John Green over at Freedom's Phoenix may have gotten the Ron Paul-wing of the local GOP up in arms over a provision in state Senator Russell Pearce's bigot bill SB 1070/HB 2632, which they call a "back door" to the federal REAL ID Act.

That's an act that would essentially make your state driver's license into a national form of identification, with all of your info being freely exchanged between the state and the feds.

Green points to a section in the proposed Pearce legislation, which states that any public official in the state of Arizona, or any of its political subdivisions, "may not be prohibited or in any way restricted" from sharing "the immigration status of any individual" or exchanging that information with "any other federal, state, or local government entity."

The law is so broad that Libertarian claims of this being a back door to a national ID are quite valid. The night before the Pearce bill went to the floor of the House, Freedom's Phoenix's owner Ernie Hancock sent out a link to the Green article via Hancock's e-mail database, which includes all state legislators.

The mass e-mail drew blood in Republican ranks far more efficaciously than any pro-immigrant argument. Yesterday, the bill's sponsor Rep. David Gowan was forced to move that the bill be "retained on the schedule," leaving the legislation in limbo.

Gowan later told Arizona Capitol Times reporter Jim Small that, "We just had some issues within the Republican caucus." He didn't name what those "issues" were.

Apparently, Pearce himself felt the need to respond to the Freedom's Phoenix attack with a long, rambling e-mail that denied there was any provision in the bill that opened the gate to Real I.D.

Freedom's Phoenix posted a copy of the e-mail today.

"Ernie Hancock put out information on this bill that needs to corrected right now about a National ID piece and an ability to detain folks indefinitely," the Pearce e-mail reads. "I wrote the bill and it has NO such provision. It is such a stretch, it is unbelievable. I have a memo from our Constitutional attorney coming to verify this very fact. It is the black helicopter mentality.

"I understand and believe in the Constitution and work hard to honor it in all I do. I do not now or never have supported any form of National ID. The other issue he speaks about is detention. Nothing in this bill allows for detention of citizens at all and illegal aliens only as allowed under federal law for purposes of determining legal status for purposes of deportation."

Green responded by accusing Pearce of "red-handed lying," and, indeed, despite Pearce's assertion that "Nothing in this bill allows for detention of citizens at all," the bill does in fact state that,

"A law enforcement officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States."

What if a cop messes up and detains a U.S. citizen or someone else legally in our country, and gets sued as a result? The bill orders that the cop be indemnified by his or her law enforcement agency for all reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees. Talk about a green light to violate your civil rights.

Hancock was in rare form when I called him for a comment on Pearce's debacle of a bill. Hancock insisted that, despite Pearce's claims to the contrary, Pearce has long been an advocate of Real I.D.

"This is the police state in immigration camouflage," said Hancock of the bill. "You want to know how that Nazi Germany [stuff] happens? This is how it happens."

Hancock observed that the immigration issue often becomes a Trojan horse for civil liberties, with people willing to give up their rights in exchange for ridding their community of illegal immigrants. He called Russell Pearce a "Judas goat," leading ordinary citizens "to the slaughter."

Thing is, Hancock has the ear of many Republican legislators who consider themselves libertarian with a small "l." So his opposition to the measure counts. Could the Libertarians of Freedom's Phoenix kill Russell Pearce's dream bill? All I can say is, if they do, I'll give them all the credit in the world.
Tags:
Ernie Hancock, Freedom's Phoenix, Russell Pearce, SB1070/HB2632

www.realnightmare.org/opposition/92/
Opposition Voices > What Government Officials and National Organizations are saying about Real ID


What Government Officials and National Organizations are saying about Real ID
"...[Real ID] carries the potential unintended consequence of establishing a “gold standard” for fraudulent activity. A fraudulently obtained “national license” could open doors for terrorists in situations that previously might have required supporting or secondary documentation or identification."


-- Sen. John E. Sununu, "Real ID: Unnecessary, Unfunded, and Unlikely to Make You Safer," Manchester Union Leader, May 17, 2006.

"Real ID Act provisions would be so difficult for states to implement, the bill would undermine an initiative that can make the nation safer from terrorism."

-- Senators John Sununu (R-NH), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Richard Durbin (D-IL), letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)

"Standardization of driver's licenses has long been recognized as a bureaucratic back-door to implementation of a national ID card. With its required linking of databases and ability of the Secretary of Homeland Security to require a prescribed format, HR 418 takes us well along that road."

-- American Conservative Union, Gun Owners of America, League of United Latin American Citizens, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Republican Liberty Caucus, among others, coalition letter to Congress


"What passed is something that will be an enormous amount of work and it's questionable what it's going to yield. Is it going to yield national security or is it going to be hassle for people already complying with the law?"

-- Matt Dunlap, Secretary of State of Maine


"H.R. 418 would impose technological standards and verification procedures on states, many of which are beyond the current capacity of even the federal government. Moreover, the cost of implementing such standards and verification procedures for the 220 million driver's licenses issued by states represents a massive unfunded federal mandate."

-- National Governor's Association, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, National Conference of State Legislatures, and Council of State Governments, letter to Senate leaders


"Real ID will harm thousands of battered women and children, including US citizens and permanent residents, and will erode critical protections passed by Congress ... Real ID erodes 10 years of progress in the campaign to end domestic violence."

-- National Organization of Women, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and others, coalition letter to the Senate (pdf).

"[The Real ID Act] would undermine our system of checks and balances by stripping the federal courts of jurisdiction to review erroneous rulings in deportation cases, opening the door to drastic consequences in many cases."

-- The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and other organizations, coalition letter to the Senate

"Let's not ask states to make their driver's license a national passport. And for heaven sakes, let's not put people who are right now behind the counter of a DMV, who are not trained to be INS agents or FBI or CIA, suddenly make these folks who don't earn enough money as it is, take on the burden of screening out terrorists."

-- Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)


"The Real ID Act would move America beyond a de facto national ID to new "Big Brother" territory of a de jure national identity document."

-- The American Policy Center, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and others, coalition letter to Senate

"REAL ID would require all individuals to use their principal residential address on their driver's license or state identification card. ... For people fleeing domestic abuse or stalking, the option to use an alternate address is not a matter of convenience or preference; it can be a matter of life or death."

-- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and others, coalition letter to the Senate.

"REAL ID ignores state-based solutions in favor of federally imposed and unfunded mandates. It also fails to address several baseline questions that states need answered to evaluate and implement the act's requirements."

-- Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) and Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), letter to Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

"We have had no hearings, no debate, no votes in the Senate on this so-called REAL ID Act."

-- Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)


"Ramming unpopular bills like REAL ID through Congress by attaching them to "must-pass" spending bills is a political strategy for avoiding a hearing and debate that could kill the bill."

-- Bill of Rights Defense Committee


"Realizing government's tendency towards mission creep, no one should be surprised if this database grows to contain far more information than that which is relevant to driving. . . . There is no limit to what other information may eventually be contained in the database -- something which should definitely concern gun owners."

-- Gun Owners of America

"If you didn't have a headache before this, you'd have one now."
-- Nebraska State Sen. Tom Baker (44th District - Trenton)

I watched a show last night with John Stossel and he is another Fox prick. OMG.......... He was talking about pesticides in foods and other food stuffs. ewe......... (back in the day, I used to think he was kinda cute but after last night................ I THINK HE IS AWFUL!!!)

ABC reprimands reporter over organic food report (John Stossel is a creep now at FOX
ABC Reprimands Reporter Over Organic Food Report
By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: August 10, 2000
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ABC News executives said yesterday that they would reprimand John Stossel, the news correspondent, for a report challenging the assumed benefits of organic food that was based in part on evidence that did not exist. The producer of the segment, David W. Fitzpatrick, is to be suspended without pay for one month, they said.

Executives took the action two days after conceding that the report on organic food, which ran twice on ''20/20'' -- first on Feb. 4 and then again on July 7 -- had misrepresented tests done on behalf of ABC News.

In a statement, the executives said, ''We've completed our review of the circumstances surrounding the error and have taken the appropriate actions.''

Neither Mr. Stossel nor Mr. Fitzpatrick would comment.

Mr. Stossel said in the report that testing commissioned by ABC News showed that conventional produce did not necessarily have more pesticide residue than did organic produce, debunking a main selling point for organic food.



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But the two researchers who were commissioned by ABC -- Dr. Michael Doyle, a scientist with the University of Georgia, and Dr. Lester Crawford, director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University -- said they had never tested produce for pesticide residue for ABC.

In a letter dated Feb. 8, the Environmental Working Group, which supports the consumption of organic food, alerted Mr. Stossel that the researchers said they had not conducted the tests.

In a return letter, Mr. Fitzpatrick insisted that such tests did, indeed, exist. When the report was rebroadcast in July, Mr. Stossel re-emphasized the supposed pesticide tests results in an on-the-air discussion with Cynthia McFadden, a ''20/20'' anchor. Executives said yesterday that, upon investigation, they believe Mr. Fitzpatrick truly thought the pesticide tests had been performed on produce, even after he was contacted by the Environmental Working Group. Apparently, the executives said, he did not follow up carefully enough after the concerns were raised. The Environmental Working Group criticized ABC for not meting out stiffer discipline.

''I think it's outrageous that they are letting Stossel off the hook and slapping a producer on the wrist after they lied and threatened an entire industry by disseminating false and damaging information,'' said Ken Cook, the group's president.

The group has also asserted that Mr. Stossel's report inappropriately implied ABC testing had detected dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria in organic food when the tests did not establish the presence of the dangerous type of E. coli. Executives said Mr. Stossel may address that concern during an on-air apology he is scheduled to make tomorrow.