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Seeking Out Help

Dan Hassett not only reads this column in the Waynesville Daily Guide in Missouri, he's also the editor and general manager. About twelve years ago, Hassett began seeing a doctor for cluster headaches, and the doctor prescribed blood pressure medication and lithium for it.
Over time, Hassett said the combination of drugs disrupted his thyroid, which triggered the symptoms of major depression. A National Institute for Mental Health website reports, "Certain medications, and some medical conditions such as viruses or a thyroid disorder, can cause the same symptoms as depression."
"I had a very severe depression for about a year because of the medication," said 60-year-old Hassett in a telephone interview. "I told the doctor I felt depressed, and he said I couldn't be depressed because I was on an anti-depressant (lithium). It got so bad I was driving on the way to work one day looking for trees or culverts to run my car into. I was suicidal."
Losing nearly all desire for work, he spent most days just struggling to remain functional. He wasn't talking about or sharing his condition much with anyone, including his wife. He had trouble eating, and often would lay in bed at night trembling. It took over his life, he said.
One day his problems came to a head. "The final morning I was driving to work feeling suicidal and beginning to consider drinking again because I had been an alcoholic and been sober for nine years," he said. "I wanted relief from the depression. My wife was following me in her car and was going to give me a ride to work after I dropped off my car. I knew I didn't want to kill myself, and I knew I didn't want to drink. So my wife took me to the hospital."
Over several days, doctors determined that Hassett's thyroid wasn't working properly, and he spent two weeks in a hospital. At the time, he was an army master sergeant serving in public affairs at Fort Leonard Wood. It didn't take long for his condition to improve.
He said to people experiencing major depression: "Just persist in finding help because what you are experiencing may not be what you think it is. In my case, I had no idea what I was experiencing was depression. I just knew I wanted to kill myself or start drinking again to relieve the pain."
Contact www.danieljvance.com (Blue Valley Sod and Palmer Bus Service grants make this column possible.)

Antitrust laws aim to protect competition

Q.:  I've been hearing about different types of antitrust suits brought by the government recently.  What is the purpose of the antitrust laws? A.:  The antitrust laws protect competition in our society.  In a fully competitive market, each competing business generally tries to attract customers by cutting prices and increasing the quality of its products.  Customers benefit from this competition through lower prices, better products and better services.
When competitors fix prices, rig bids, or divide up customers, consumers lose the benefits of competition.  Prices become higher than they should be because they do not accurately reflect the cost to produce a particular product.  Therefore, the government acts promptly against such practices to protect the interests of Americans. The antitrust laws are also designed to prevent one company from achieving an illegal monopoly by merging with or buying its large competitors or by engaging in conduct that illegally allows it to control market prices. 
Q.:  How are the antitrust laws enforced?  A.:  The antitrust laws are enforced through:  1) criminal and civil enforcement actions brought by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; 2) civil enforcement actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission; 3) criminal and civil enforcement actions brought by the states' attorney generals, including the Attorney General of Ohio; and 4) lawsuits brought by private parties.
A number of tools are used in investigating and prosecuting criminal antitrust violations.  U.S. Department of Justice attorneys often work with FBI agents to obtain evidence.  In recent years, the government has started to use court-authorized searches of business, as well as consensual taping of telephone calls, and informants equipped with secret listening devices.
The antitrust laws also allow private citizens and business injured by an antitrust violation to sue in court for three times their actual damages plus court costs and attorneys' fees.  States' attorney generals also bring civil suits on behalf of customers in their states who have been harmed by antitrust violations.  Groups of consumers often join forces to bring "class action" suits.
Q.:  As a consumer, how am I affected by violations of the antitrust laws? A.:  You might be affected by offenses such as price fixing and bid rigging.  Price fixing occurs when two or more sellers agree to increase prices a certain amount, or agree that they won't sell below a certain price.  Bid rigging more commonly occurs when two or more firms agree (generally in secret) not to bid against each other to supply products or services to local, state or federal government agencies, or when they agree on the amount of their individual bids.  Price fixing and bid rigging agreements provide no benefits to consumers, and they cause consumers to be misled and cheated by companies claiming to be competitors despite secret agreements not to compete fairly.
Q.:  What should I do if I believe the antitrust laws are being violated? A.:  Effective antitrust enforcement needs public support.  Because many antitrust violations are agreed to secretly, they are often difficult to detect.  For this reason, a very large percentage of antitrust investigations start with complaints by consumers, competitors, and company employees.  You may communicate antitrust complaints to law enforcement officials by telephone, mail, or in person.
To register an antitrust complaint in Ohio you can write or call your government antitrust enforcement agencies at the following locations: Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice, Carl B. Stokes United States Courthouse, 801 W. Superior Ave., 14^th Floor, Cleveland, OH  44113.  Phone:  216-687-8400 Federal Trade Commission, Eaton Center, Suite 200, 1111 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH  44114.  Phone:  216-263-3410 Ohio Attorney General, Antitrust Section, State Office Tower, 30 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH  43215-3428.  Phone:  877-244-6446
Law You Can Use is a weekly consumer legal information column provided by the Ohio State Bar Association.  This article was prepared by Donald S. Scherzer, a partner in the Cleveland office of Roetzel & Andress, a firm with offices throughout Ohio and Florida.  Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law.  Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.

My little boy is growing up. It's sad and exciting all at the same time.
Before he was born, so many years ago, I bought a baby blanket at a garage sale. It was brand new; still in the packaging. It was made of white flannel with blue satin trim around the sides and a little blue teddy bear embroidered on one corner. I didn't know, at the time, how much this little garage sale purchase would mean to my little boy after he was born.
This little blanket was wrapped around my son as we brought him home from the hospital. We took a hundred pictures of him that day and when the flash of the cameras became too much for him, he buried his little head in his new friend, who he eventually named "Blankie."
From that time on, Blankie was a constant fixture in my young son's life. He never sucked his thumb, but Blankie was always at his side. Blankie was in nearly every photograph we took of this child. Very rarely did my son cry out in the night and need to be comforted. He drew courage from his friend, Blankie.
No amount of reasoning could persuade my son from taking Blankie with him on his first day of kindergarten. He thought that as long as Blankie was with him, he could survive this very scary episode in his life. Finally, he agreed to keep Blankie in his backpack while he was at school. Blankie went with him every day until he thought he could handle it by himself.
As you can imagine, many years of that kind of affection and companionship has taken a toll on Blankie. It is now ragged, worn and threadbare. Its soft white flannel has turned a dingy gray that no amount of washing can brighten. The proud blue satin has mostly disintegrated. At some point my son asked me to sew more satin on. I really tried, but the flannel was so worn that it didn't hold the stitches. The little embroidered bear is now faded and sad.
My son knew it was time to let Blankie go, but he didn't have the heart to simply throw his old friend in the trash. He came to me with his dilemma.
I told him about a certain pillowcase that was my "blankie" when I was growing up. I told him I had found a beautiful box, folded up my ragged pillowcase, and placed my precious friend in it. I still have it…somewhere.
My son thought that was a good idea and asked if I would buy him a box. That's how I found myself going from store to store trying to find the perfect box for Blankie. It had to be sturdy since it would be Blankie's forever home. It couldn't be girly, because Blankie was apparently a boy. And it had to be worthy of a life-long friend.
I finally found a box that I thought my son would approve of. It was covered in blue satin, reminiscent of the color of Blankie's trim long ago. The top had a dignified silver bow.
When I presented my son with the box, he declared it perfect, much to my relief. He gently folded Blankie and placed it in the box with a few other childhood treasures. He slowly closed the box and placed it on a high shelf in view of his bed.
Blankie was thus honored and…my little boy had become a young man.