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September 12, 2014

September 12, 2014, 9:02 am
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Judge Reversed Three Times In Four Months After Sentencing On Heroin Charges
From the Madison County Record
Fifth District appellate judges reversed former St. Clair County judge Michael Cook three times in four months after his sentencing on heroin charges.
In two cases they ruled that Cook failed to give proper consideration to motions from prisoners claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.
In a third case they found he committed an error by ruling that a suspect reasonably expected privacy in a neighbor’s garage.
In another case they didn’t reverse Cook but they found he created confusion that added three years to a defendant’s term of supervised release.
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September 15, 2014

September 15, 2014, 9:16 am
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Questions Emerge About Ann Callis' Illinois Residency
From the Associated Press
Illinois congressional candidate Ann Callis’ previous out-of-state residence has come under scrutiny, with a published report Sunday saying she signed mortgage documents while a judge in Illinois that listed her home as in Missouri.
Callis, a former Madison County judge, is trying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville in the district that stretches from Champaign to the St. Louis suburbs. The election is Nov. 4.
The Lee Enterprises newspapers bureau in Springfield reported that Callis signed multiple mortgage papers identifying her residence as a home in Kirkwood, Missouri, while a judge in Illinois. The newspapers cited copies of mortgage records it obtained.
Callis campaign spokesman David Miyashiro confirmed Callis signed the documents but said they were limited in how much information they could show. The records show details of transactions by Callis and her husband, St. Louis businessman James Holloran. Miyashiro said Holloran listed the Missouri house because of limited space on documents.
He said Callis is a resident of Illinois and registered to vote in the state. She lived in a house she owns in Troy until moving to a rental house in Edwardsville for the campaign.
“It’s not like they had a space for Ann to list her actual house in Troy,” he told Lee Enterprises. “If anything, it’s an issue of the form.”
However, Davis’ campaign questioned the residency.
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September 16, 2014

September 16, 2014, 6:33 am
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Peoria Labor Boss' Wife Among IDOT Employees Hired In Controversial Process
From the Peoria Journal-Star
One of the 103 people still on the job after being hired in a patronage scandal that has engulfed Gov. Pat Quinn’s transportation department is the wife of a top Peoria area labor official, state records show.
Teresa Helfers made nearly $50,000 a year when hired into the “staff assistant” position in District 4 of the Illinois Department of Transportation in December 2011, one of a host of hires made by the Quinn administration that were slammed as improper by an inspector general’s report that found they flouted rules meant to block hiring based on political connections.
Marty Helfers is the executive director of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, and has frequently been singled out by Quinn for praise during the governor’s visits to the region.
IDOT officials said Friday — when the list of employees including Teresa Helfers was released — that no additional employees hired under the controversial process would be fired after the 58 who were let go on Sept. 30 and later sued to keep their jobs.
Through the agency, Teresa Helfers “respectfully declined” a request Monday to be interviewed about her hiring by and work for IDOT. A call to Marty Helfers on the same subject was not returned Monday.
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Denial Can’t Mask Illinois’ Poor Lawsuit Climate

September 16, 2014, 6:46 am
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By Lisa Rickard, President, US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform
Denial is one of the oldest tricks around. When confronted with an uncomfortable situation, one common human instinct is to deny there's a problem.
Recent commentary (available here and here) by Chicago plaintiffs' lawyer John Cooney proves this point. As the president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and one of the state's leading personal injury lawyers, he is troubled by calls for legal reform in Illinois. His response? Denying that Illinois has a lawsuit abuse problem.
Unfortunately, all of Cooney's denials can't change the fact that Illinois has one of the worst lawsuit climates in the nation. The state attracts litigation from around the country, while repelling businesses and the much-needed jobs they create.
In fact, businesses are the best people to ask about which states have good and bad litigation environments. In a survey of in-house business counsel commissioned by my organization, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), Illinois's legal climate ranked 46th in the nation-lowest in the Midwest and ahead of only four other states nationally.
In addition, this ranking rated Cook County as the single worst jurisdiction in the country, while Madison County was ranked sixth worst. It should be no surprise that these counties ranked so poorly as they represent classic examples of "jackpot" jurisdictions.
Cook County has become a national hub for personal injury and product liability cases. Meanwhile, Madison County has become the nation's top jurisdiction for asbestos personal injury lawsuits. With .09 percent of the nation's population, Madison County accounts for more than 25 percent of the nation's asbestos lawsuits.
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September 17, 2014

September 17, 2014, 12:05 pm
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Federal Judiciary Approves Civil Discovery Rules Changes
From the Legal Times
Federal judiciary officials on Tuesday approved proposed changes to court rules that could reshape how discovery is handled in civil litigation—for better or for worse, depending who you ask.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary’s policymaking body, adopted the amendments during its biannual, closed-door meeting on Tuesday. The rules will go to the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration. If the high court approves the changes, they’ll take effect Dec. 1, 2015, unless Congress steps in to oppose the amendments or to make adjustments.
The judiciary received more than 2,000 comments about the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which include language aimed at narrowing the scope of pretrial discovery requests to make sure demands are “proportional” to the needs of a particular case.
Proponents say the new rules would help bring down the skyrocketing costs of litigation. Opponents counter that the changes would benefit big business at the expense of plaintiffs with legitimate claims.
In a meeting with reporters following Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Judge William Traxler Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to discuss in detail the factors that judges would use to decide whether a discovery request was "proportional" under the amended rules. Traxler serves as chairman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference.
“It’s really hard to try to define with too much exactness,” Traxler said. He said he didn’t know whether the proposed rules would face any opposition in Congress.
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September 18, 2014

September 18, 2014, 12:12 pm
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Chicago Among Cities Taking Aim At Drugmakers
From the Associated Press
Some of the nation’s largest cities are ratcheting up their criticism of prescription painkillers, blaming the industry for a wave of addiction and overdoses that have ravaged their communities and busted local budgets.
The heightened rhetoric comes as Chicago tries to recover millions in health-care costs from opioid drugmakers, alleging that companies deliberately misled the public about the risks of their drugs.
It’s a legal strategy that could be attractive to other cash-strapped cities, but one that experts say will face hurdles in court.
On Tuesday, health commissioners from Chicago, New York and Boston came to Washington to lobby Congress and the White House on efforts to combat prescription opioid abuse, which is blamed for 17,000 deaths per year — more than three times as many as either heroin or cocaine.
“This is a raging epidemic, and we are feeling the brunt of it in big cities across the country,” Dr. Bechara Choucair, Chicago’s health commissioner, said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Chicago’s lawsuit, filed in July, alleges that five pharmaceutical companies deceptively marketed their drugs to treat long-term, non-cancer pain, even though that use was “unsupported by science.”
The allegations place the city at the center of a national debate over the appropriate use of opioids, which are frequently prescribed to treat common conditions like arthritis and back pain.
But where federal and state pharmaceutical lawsuits usually seek to recoup money spent on drugs, Chicago is also seeking damages for a range of other expenses.
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September 19, 2014

September 19, 2014, 6:01 am
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State's Job Climate Gets 2 Forecasts
From the Chicago Tribune
The two major governor candidates sparred over jobs numbers Thursday, as Gov. Pat Quinn touted Illinois' lowest unemployment rate since he took office in 2009 while Republican challenger Bruce Rauner maintained that the Democrat still isn't doing enough to boost the economy.
Quinn visited a West Loop pump rebuilding company to highlight the state's 6.7 percent unemployment rate in August — a slight drop from 6.8 percent the month before. It marks the lowest rate since August 2008 and a sharp decrease from a year ago, when it stood at 9.2 percent.
The governor seized on the numbers as proof that he's been slowly digging the state out of the recession. "The bottom line is unemployment is down and jobs are up," Quinn said.
Rauner acknowledged in a statement that "it's always good news when more Illinoisans are working," but that didn't stop him from calling the figures into question hours before they were even released. Speaking at a downtown job fair for veterans, Rauner said the data could be "misleading," arguing that the jobless rate may have dropped because many people have simply stopped looking for work.
"The voters know, and they've told me crystal-clear that they don't believe Illinois is going the right way and they are suffering," Rauner said before attending a closed-door fundraiser with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate.
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September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014, 5:11 pm
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Cook County Judicial System Set To Explore Data-sharing
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
With so many moving parts and elected offices involved, it’s not always easy to get every key player in the Cook County criminal justice system to agree.
But when it comes to adding tools to share data between their different offices, everyone is, quite literally, on the same page.
Chief Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans, Circuit Clerk Dorothy A. Brown, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, State’s Attorney Anita M. Alvarez, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart and Public Defender Abishi C. Cunningham have all signed a memorandum of agreement that took effect this month.
The Cook County Integrated Criminal Justice Information Systems Committee was formed by the county board in April 2002 and tasked with finding a way to share data among the various agencies and replace paper-based, often handwritten record-sharing procedures with digital ones.
The six offices signed a memorandum of agreement that they hope will make transferring data between law enforcement, court staff, judges and attorneys more accurate and efficient.
The eight-page document does not provide specific details about what data will be transferred but serves as a broader outline for individual agencies to make sharing arrangements with each other.
The signing of the document allows the county to release a request for proposals later this month to procure the necessary technology.
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Group Pushes For Better-Informed Votes On Judges

September 23, 2014, 6:53 am
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From the Associated Press

One Illinois group wants voters to be better informed about judges, who will be among the lesser known candidates on the November ballot.

The Illinois Civil Justice League on Tuesday is unveiling an initiative to provide biographies, ratings and other background on 158 sitting judges in the state seeking retention and another 69 candidates in contested races for seats on the bench.

Ed Murnane, the president of the organization, said in a statement that it’s critical that the electorate make educated choices about men and women who wield such power and influence.

“Unfortunately, too many people cast their vote on election day with little or no information on their candidates for judge,” he said. “Some close their eyes and pick … others choose not to vote at all.”

The organization, which is a not-for-profit coalition of various citizen, business and professional associations, is kick starting the project with the slogan, “Judges: Good and Bad — You Can’t Afford to be Indifferent.”

The league is posting responses to questionnaires from the candidates seeking retention and from others in contested races on the website, www.IllinoisJudges.net . The group will start including its own reviews of the candidates on the same site in October.

By Illinois law, judges seeking retention must garner “yes” votes from 60 percent of those casting ballots on the question.

Read more from the Associated Press.

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September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014, 6:55 am
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Hospitals Cut Costs By Getting Doctors To Stick To Guidelines
From the Wall Street Journal
A hospital group in Delaware was concerned it was spending too much on cardiac monitoring for patients outside of intensive care who didn't need it. So it changed its computer system to encourage doctors to follow American Heart Association guidelines for using the monitors.
The number of patients using the monitors, and the group's daily costs for such monitoring, fell by 70% without any harm to patient care, researchers from Wilmington, Del.-based Christiana Care Health System report in a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The effort is part of a push by some hospitals across the nation to cut costs by standardizing care. Although professional bodies such as the AHA publish numerous guidelines advising doctors how best to treat various diseases, many doctors deviate from guidelines, which can lead to overuse of some tests and procedures. Doctors cite various reasons for deviating, from personal preference to institutional custom. Pressure from patients and doctors' desire to avoid getting sued can also be a factor.
Some hospitals are trying to counteract test and procedure overuse by reminding physicians about guidelines and the evidence behind them, either through education and training or more intrusive means, such as changing computer systems to make it harder to avoid guideline recommendations.
The push is backed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, which has asked 70 professional societies in various medical specialties to identify areas of clinical waste, from overuse of MRIs for lower back pain to imaging scans for uncomplicated headaches.
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September 24, 2014

September 24, 2014, 6:39 am
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Huge Backlog Of Madison Asbestos Cases Need To Be Addressed, Attorneys Say
From the Madison County
Asbestos plaintiffs attorneys working in Southern Illinois recently said Madison County Circuit Judge Stephen Stobbs’ new approach to trial slots in the asbestos docket is creating a “backlog” of cases that will eventually need to be resolved.
As part of Thursday’s HarrisMartin Midwest Asbestos Conference held in St. Louis, Stobbs was joined by asbestos attorneys George Kiser and Sara Salger to discuss motion practices in the local docket, including a brief discussion on the trial slot situation.
Since taking over the nation’s largest asbestos docket last October, Stobbs has presided over two rare asbestos trials, each ending with a defense verdict.
“When I took this docket,” Stobbs said, “they assured me that most of these cases are settled and you wouldn’t have to have a lot of trials, and it was about an hour after that that a case went to a two-week trial.”
Stobbs said that during the course of the two trials, parties have argued every issue associated with asbestos litigation.
Salger, a plaintiff attorney with Gori Julian & Associates, said that while Madison County is known as the epicenter of asbestos litigation for its record-breaking filing numbers, there has actually been a decrease in filings so far this year.
In fact, as of June 30, Madison County has seen 656 new cases filed in its asbestos docket, a drop from last year’s record of 793 mid-year filings.
If the pace of cases filed so far this year, the nation’s busiest asbestos docket will be down by approximately 20 percent over last year’s record-setting figure of 1,678.
In addition to lower new case filings, Salger explained that Stobbs has implemented a new method for assigning trial slots in an effort to bring the docket to a more manageable position.
As part of his trial slot method, Stobbs requires plaintiffs attorneys to remove a case from the trial docket in order to add another case.
Additionally, no more than 19 cases may be set for trial at a time, which is significantly lower than in previous years when more than 50 cases would be set for trial per week.
Kiser, a defense attorney with HeplerBroom, explained that cases typically getting added to the trial docket include claimants who are 70 years old or older and living mesothelioma claimants, because their life expectancies are shorter.
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September 25, 2014

September 25, 2014, 9:30 am
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Illinois Among Top States For Candidate TV Ad Spending
From the Associated Press
If it seems as though the number of political ads on television has ramped up markedly this election, now there’s concrete proof.
Fueled by a neck-and-neck contest for governor including a wealthy Republican candidate with money to burn, Illinois has seen a roughly 30 percent increase in the number of TV ads and the money spent to air them this election cycle compared to four years ago, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.
The review released Wednesday found candidates for Illinois offices spent more than $26.4 million to air an estimated 34,589 ads between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 8 of this year. That’s up from about $20.5 million for an estimated 26,554 ads during roughly the same time period in 2010, the last year Illinois elected a governor and other statewide officeholders.
The analysis includes only the cost of TV airtime, not expenses associated with producing the ads. It doesn’t include spending for local cable TV advertising, or for radio or the internet, so the total spending on political ads can be significantly higher.
The increase comes even as spending nationwide decreased by about 45 percent compared with 2010. That year, more than half of the spending on TV ads occurred between mid-September and Election Day — a sign that in Illinois, the air wars could just be getting started.
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September 26, 2014

September 26, 2014, 9:31 am
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Does Fitzgerald’s Record Make Him AG Front-runner Or Long Shot?
From the Chicago Sun-Times
He upset Republicans and Democrats alike, brought Chicago’s most notorious dirty cop to justice and sent the last two governors of Illinois to prison.
And he’s close pals with FBI director James Comey.
Who better to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder in the nation’s capital than gung-ho former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald?
That was the reaction Thursday of many in Chicago’s legal circles to news of Holder’s resignation.
But, experts say, the independence and aggressiveness that would make Fitzgerald an outstanding candidate to run the Justice Department likely counts against him in Washington, D.C., where some Republicans still nurse grievances over his prosecution of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
Nor is it clear that Fitzgerald is interested in becoming Attorney General for the last two years of President Barack Obama’s term. Calls on Thursday to Fitzgerald’s office at his law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom were not returned.
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September 29, 2014

September 29, 2014, 7:41 am
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Flight Disruptions Ease After Outage In Chicago
From the Wall Street Journal
With federal air-traffic controllers from adjacent Midwest facilities taking over management of flights after a key Chicago center was knocked out by a fire, airline traffic appeared to be recovering Sunday following two days of unusually high cancellations and delays.
But it was still slow going as Federal Aviation Administration controllers in other centers are dealing with an increased workload.
Over the weekend, the FAA said it restored traffic at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to 60% of its normal volume, and 75% at Chicago Midway International Airport. The agency said it "expects a substantial increase in operational capabilities by Monday." O'Hare is the nation's second-busiest airport by passengers.
As of Sunday evening, FlightAware.com reported 896 U.S. cancellations and flight delays numbering more than 3,000. At O'Hare, 28% of departures were scrubbed, or 374 flights, and at Midway 8%, or 26 flights.
On Friday U.S. airline cancellations totaled more than 2,300 and on Saturday, they declined to 950. By comparison, on the previous Sunday before the Chicago center outage, there were nearly 22,000 airline flights in the U.S., operating at 81% on-time, with only 174 cancellations, or 0.8%, FlightStats.com showed.
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September 30, 2014

September 30, 2014, 8:25 am
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Karmeier Pens Order Explaining Why He Won’t Recuse In Price v. Philip Morris
From the Madison County Record
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier took a rare step last week when he rejected a request to recuse himself from the court’s review of the long running legal battle over “light” cigarette labeling — he explained why.
In a 16-page order filed last Wednesday, the same day the court announced it would again hear arguments in Sharon Price v. Philip Morris, Karmeier discussed the reasoning behind his refusal and addressed the plaintiffs’ allegations he voted to overturn the $10.1 billion verdict against the tobacco company in 2005, the year after it funneled donations to his campaign for the high court.
Pointing out the rarity of the situation, both the motion seeking his recusal and his decision to comment on his denial in a rather public and official way, Karmeier made it clear he is not bowing out of the court’s upcoming review because he believes the plaintiffs failed to provide any evidence to back up their claims.
On behalf of the plaintiffs, St. Louis attorney Stephen Tillery in May asked Karmeier to recuse himself or for the court to disqualify him from participating in the case after Philip Morris appealed the Fifth District Appellate Court’s recent ruling.
The appeals panel in April reversed Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth’s December 2013 refusal to reopen to the case and effectively reinstated the 2003 bench verdict. The plaintiffs accused Philip Morris of deceptively promoting health benefits of “light” and “lowered tar and nicotine” cigarettes in violation of consumer fraud laws.
“In reality, the notion that movant (Philip Morris) was responsible for financing my run for office ten years ago is just that, a notion,” Karmeier wrote. “It is based entirely on conjecture, innuendo and speculation which, once started, took on a life of its own for a while in the press.”
Despite being presented with “voluminous materials” showing Philip Morris didn’t financially support his campaign, Karmeier claims Tillery has been “reduced to arguing that” the company’s lack of reportable contributions during the 2004 election cycle is a “good reason to believe that” it probably made undisclosed donations to him.
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October 1, 2014

October 1, 2014, 11:39 am
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Appellate Court Agrees State Owes Workers
From the Associated Press
An Illinois appellate court has ruled that back wages owed thousands of state government workers from 2011 to 2013 must be paid.
A panel of judges from the First District Appellate Court found that members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees should get the back pay, and the legislature's failure to appropriate enough money to cover the raises is not a reason to renege on them.
The ruling supports an independent arbitrator's decision that the government's failure to pay up violated the union contract. A circuit court agreed the money should go out.
The ruling rejects an appeal by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. A spokeswoman says Madigan is reviewing the opinion.
The ruling instructs a circuit court to follow the arbitrator's decision.
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October 2, 2014

October 2, 2014, 1:08 pm
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Airports Like O'Hare A Focus Point In Ebola Battle
From the Arlington Heights Daily Herald
In the wake of news that a man infected with the Ebola virus traveled from West Africa to Dallas late last month, it's hard not to consider the possibility that something similar could happen here.
O'Hare International Airport is one of the key hubs of international travel in the U.S., which could make the Chicago area, including the suburbs surrounding the airport, vulnerable to infectious diseases carried by passengers.
"We're one plane ride away from the worst health care in the world and worst health care conditions in the world," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said during a Daily Herald editorial board interview on Wednesday. "That's what we're seeing now in Texas."
National health officials acknowledge the danger, but they say that travel hubs like O'Hare are closely monitored.
"We regularly communicate with local emergency responders and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to stay on top of any exposure," said Christine Pearson, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pearson said that since the Ebola crisis has grown more serious in West Africa, the CDC has been provided new training and guidelines to flight crews, emergency workers and U.S. Customs officers at O'Hare and other airports.
"We're explaining what they should be looking for, how to recognize serious illnesses and how to notify us," Pearson said.
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October 3, 2014

October 3, 2014, 7:09 am
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Illinois Hospitals Face Fines Over Readmissions
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the Chicago area's most prominent research hospitals — and others that serve its poorest residents — face significant penalties from Medicare for having too many patients in recent years return for a second visit within a month of being admitted.
The federal program will send less reimbursement money to 118 hospitals in Illinois, about 65 percent of the state's total, in the coming year because readmissions are more common than expected, according to newly released data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, which serves many low-income patients, rated worst in the state on Medicare's assessment, nearing the maximum federal penalty of 3 percent.
At Rush University Medical Center, chosen by former President George W. Bush for a knee replacement, a top official said the hospital expects to lose about $1.1 million after too many people returned after getting joint surgeries there.
Doctors and administrators at several local hospitals said the assessment doesn't reflect the complicated social and procedural challenges they must confront. Still, many are taking steps to meet what they say is a laudable goal: improving the care patients get after they walk out of the hospital.
That effort often starts with a conversation, said Chad Whelan, chief medical officer for Loyola University Health System. Loyola was one of 43 Illinois hospitals whose Medicare penalty decreased or stayed the same compared with last year, while 82 hospitals saw their penalties increase.
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October 6, 2014

October 6, 2014, 7:09 am
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Illinois Prepares For 2nd Round Of Obamacare
From the Chicago Tribune
Another chance to get insurance under the federal health law is coming, but Illinois officials aren't expecting people who didn't sign up last year to jump at the prospect this time.
The Affordable Care Act's first open enrollment period drew what officials call the "low-hanging fruit" of the uninsured population: the sick and those who knew the law requires everyone to have insurance.
This year, the state is targeting people who often need a thorough explanation and several face-to-face meetings to understand their options. With a shorter enrollment period and a stiffer penalty for going without insurance this time, the state is intensifying its efforts to get the enrollment message out.
The law's second open enrollment period runs from Nov. 15 through Feb. 15, half as long as last year's enrollment period. The penalty for not having insurance will jump in 2015 to $325 or 2 percent of annual adjusted income, up from $95 or 1 percent of income.
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October 7, 2014

October 7, 2014, 5:59 am
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Illinois Health Care Professionals Preparing For Ebola
From the Bloomington Pantagraph
While the risk of contracting Ebola in Central Illinois remains low, hospitals and county health departments are preparing for possible cases.
"We're staying alert," said Kera Brossette of the McLean County Health Department.
President Barack Obama said Monday the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers arriving from West Africa amid growing concern about the potential for the spread of the virus. The White House, however, continued to rule out any blanket ban on travel from West Africa.
Also keeping an eye on the situation are officials at Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities, both of which have active international programs.
At Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal, patients are being asked about travel history, Infection Preventionist Pam Bierbaum said Monday. The staff is monitoring information coming out of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and keeping in contact with the county health department while ensuring that they are ready to detect possible cases and respond while protecting employees, Bierbaum said.
At OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, Employee Health Nurse Pamela Madden said: "We have our pandemic plan in place and have successfully tested both staffing influx and patient surge capacity. The ED (emergency department) has Ebola screening in place and are reviewing their haz-mat (hazardous materials) protocols.
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