Inaugural Shatter the Stigma event raises money to help South Floridians affected by Mental Illness

Funds to support outreach and patient services from psychiatrists at UHealth – the University of Miami Health System

MIAMI – October 22, 2015 – More than 150 community leaders attended Shatter the Stigma, an inaugural mental health awareness fundraiser addressing the stigma surrounding mental illness and the lack of resources available for treatment in South Florida. The event, which raised money to help support outreach and patient services provided by psychiatrists and other mental health experts at UHealth – the University of Miami Health System, took place Thursday, October 8, at de la Cruz Collection in Miami’s Design District. Shatter the Stigma featured a performance by comedian, Pulitzer Prize winner and author Dave Barry as well as a silent auction, cocktail reception and dinner.

The event was hosted by the de la Cruz family and underwritten by Harley and Sherry Tropin. During the event, Tropin, president of Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton and honorary chair of the event, spoke about the need to remove the stigma to make it easier for people to seek help, and to obtain funding for mental health research.

“Besides raising money, Shatter the Stigma helped bring visibility to how debilitating both mental disorders, and the associated stigma, can be to those affected,” Tropin said. “Our Advisory Board is committed to helping the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine expand its services and its research ability.”

Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said “I am heartened and encouraged by the tremendous outpouring of support from the Miami community for our efforts to finally put an end to the stigma associated with mental illnesses, now clearly shown to be diseases of the brain.”

Florida is ranked last in the country in mental health funding, with the state spending on average $49 per person, versus the national average of $122. South Florida in particular lacks resources, services and treatment options to assist individuals suffering from mental illness, with Miami leading the nation for serious mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Miami-Dade has the largest percentage of people with serious mental illnesses of any urban community in the U.S., about 9.1 percent of the population – roughly more than 200,000 people.

In addition to Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, event sponsors included: the Jodie and Phil Bakes family; Cisneros Corporation; Demetree Global; the Havenick Family; Deborah and Bruce Kaye; Wyatt Koch; Gabrielle Anwar Malnik and Shareef Malnik; Jackie Soffer Robins and Craig Robins; Ocariz, Garrastacho, Hevia LLLP; Grisell and Hiram Ocariz; Dr. David and Susan Racher; the Bitterman/Shepard family; Leslie and Marty Steinberg; Mary Feldman and Mark Schnapp; Marty Taplin; and Betsy and Mark West.

About Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton

Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton is a complex commercial litigation firm founded in 1983 that focuses its practice on bet-the-company commercial cases, bankruptcy matters and class actions. For more information, visit www.kttlaw.com.

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Drink Beck’s? You may be owed some money

By: The Associated Press

Anheuser-Busch, the company behind both Budweiser and Beck’s, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit. (AP)

U.S. drinkers of Beck’s beer who thought the American-made brew they were buying was still a fancy, century-old German import can get cash payments under a $20 million settlement approved Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit over deceptive packaging.

On tap: People with proof they bought Beck’s at retail outlets could get up to $50 per household. Those without receipts can qualify for $12 maximum. Claims may be filed through Nov. 20 via a court-approved website: www.becksbeersettlement.com .

The settlement, approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan, came in a lawsuit filed in 2013 by several Beck’s drinkers who noticed there was almost no visible “made in the U.S.A.” language on the beer’s packaging even though it has been brewed in St. Louis, Missouri, since 2012.

Instead, in big letters, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand emphasized its “German Quality,” noted that it was made under the “German Purity Law of 1516” and originated in Bremen, Germany.

All may be true, said plaintiffs’ attorney Tucker Ronzetti, but the point of the lawsuit is that a beer made in St. Louis shouldn’t be passed off as the import it once was — with premium pricing to boot.

“They realized they had been deceived,” Ronzetti said of the plaintiffs. “The packaging didn’t really explain that it was a domestic beer.”

There was some U.S.-made language on the packaging and bottles, but it was difficult to find. For example, a Beck’s drinker had to turn a 12-pack upside down to find the country of origin on the box’s bottom. Still, U.S. regulators approved the designs.

The original Beck’s brewery, founded in 1873, remained in the same family until 2002, when it was purchased by the Belgian conglomerate now known as Anheuser-Busch InBev. Court documents show that Anheuser-Busch decided for cost reasons to shift brewing for Beck’s U.S. market in 2012 to St. Louis, where the company makes Budweiser and other beers.

Yet the Beck’s packaging still emphasized Germany, something Ronzetti’s lawsuit claimed was misleading and false advertising. One Miami plaintiff, Francisco Rene Marty, said in court papers he bought a six-pack or 12-pack of Beck’s every week partly because it was supposedly brewed in Germany using local ingredients that gave it a distinctive taste.

Marty said he “would not have purchased Beck’s had he known (Anheuser-Busch’s) representations were false.”

Anheuser-Busch initially tried to get the lawsuit thrown out but finally agreed to the settlement earlier this year and changed its packaging to more prominently show that Beck’s is made in the U.S. Under the settlement, the company does not admit any wrongdoing.

“We reached a compromise in the Beck’s labeling case,” said JornSocquet, Anheuser-Busch vice president for marketing. “We believe our labeling, packaging and marketing of Beck’s has always been truthful, transparent and in compliance with all legal requirements.”

An estimated 1.7 million U.S. households could qualify for settlement payments. According to court documents, in 2012 the company sold more than 2.6 million cases of Beck’s in the U.S. at an average price of about $27 each.

Ronzetti, who negotiated a similar settlement last year involving Japan-originated Kirin beer also owned by Anheuser-Busch, and his legal team will receive a flat $3.5 million in fees and expenses — about 11 percent of the potential payout to consumers.

The settlement applies only to Beck’s beer sold at retail outlets, not at bars or restaurants.

Click here for the original article.

Refunds coming for Beck’s beer drinkers

By: The Associated Press

A federal magistrate in Miami is expected to approve refunds Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, for U.S. consumers who bought Beck’s beer. The brewing giant settled a lawsuit that claimed Beck’s packaging hid the fact the beer is made in Missouri and not Germany. (Credit: AP)

Click here for the original article.

 

 

Beck’s Beer Offers Buyers Cash to Settle Suit Over Packaging

By: The Associated Press

Drinkers of Beck’s beer in the United States who thought the American-made brew they were buying was still a century-old German import can get cash payments under a $20 million settlement approved Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit over deceptive packaging. People with proof they bought Beck’s at retail outlets could get up to $50 per household. The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed in 2013 by several Beck’s drinkers who noticed there was almost no visible “made in the U.S.A.” language on the beer’s packaging even though it has been brewed in St. Louis since 2012. Labels instead emphasize the beer’s supposed “German Quality,” and that it was made under the “German Purity Law of 1516” and originated in Bremen, Germany. A Beck’s drinker would have had to turn a 12-pack upside down to find the country of origin on the bottom. Beck’s, founded in 1873, remained in one family until 2002, when it was bought by the conglomerate now known as Anheuser-Busch InBev. The brewer has since changed packaging, and under the deal does not admit wrongdoing.

Click here for the original article.

Beer Money: $20M Settlement in Lawsuit Over Beck’s Packaging

By: Curt Anderson

U.S. drinkers of Beck’s beer who thought the American-made brew they were buying was still a fancy, century-old German import can get cash payments under a $20 million settlement approved Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit over deceptive packaging.

On tap: People with proof they bought Beck’s at retail outlets could get up to $50 per household. Those without receipts can qualify for $12 maximum. Claims may be filed through Nov. 20 via a court-approved website:www.becksbeersettlement.com .

The settlement, approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan, came in a lawsuit filed in 2013 by several Beck’s drinkers who noticed there was almost no visible “made in the U.S.A.” language on the beer’s packaging even though it has been brewed in St. Louis, Missouri, since 2012.

Instead, in big letters, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand emphasized its “German Quality,” noted that it was made under the “German Purity Law of 1516” and originated in Bremen, Germany.

All may be true, said plaintiffs’ attorney Tucker Ronzetti, but the point of the lawsuit is that a beer made in St. Louis shouldn’t be passed off as the import it once was — with premium pricing to boot.

“They realized they had been deceived,” Ronzetti said of the plaintiffs. “The packaging didn’t really explain that it was a domestic beer.”

There was some U.S.-made language on the packaging and bottles, but it was difficult to find. For example, a Beck’s drinker had to turn a 12-pack upside down to find the country of origin on the box’s bottom. Still, U.S. regulators approved the designs.

The original Beck’s brewery, founded in 1873, remained in the same family until 2002, when it was purchased by the Belgian conglomerate now known as Anheuser-Busch InBev. Court documents show that Anheuser-Busch decided for cost reasons to shift brewing for Beck’s U.S. market in 2012 to St. Louis, where the company makes Budweiser and other beers.

Yet the Beck’s packaging still emphasized Germany, something Ronzetti’s lawsuit claimed was misleading and false advertising. One Miami plaintiff, Francisco Rene Marty, said in court papers he bought a six-pack or 12-pack of Beck’s every week partly because it was supposedly brewed in Germany using local ingredients that gave it a distinctive taste.

Marty said he “would not have purchased Beck’s had he known (Anheuser-Busch’s) representations were false.”

Anheuser-Busch initially tried to get the lawsuit thrown out but finally agreed to the settlement earlier this year and changed its packaging to more prominently show that Beck’s is made in the U.S. Under the settlement, the company does not admit any wrongdoing.

“We reached a compromise in the Beck’s labeling case,” said JornSocquet, Anheuser-Busch vice president for marketing. “We believe our labeling, packaging and marketing of Beck’s has always been truthful, transparent and in compliance with all legal requirements.”

An estimated 1.7 million U.S. households could qualify for settlement payments. According to court documents, in 2012 the company sold more than 2.6 million cases of Beck’s in the U.S. at an average price of about $27 each.

Ronzetti, who negotiated a similar settlement last year involving Japan-originated Kirin beer also owned by Anheuser-Busch, and his legal team will receive a flat $3.5 million in fees and expenses — about 11 percent of the potential payout to consumers.

The settlement applies only to Beck’s beer sold at retail outlets, not at bars or restaurants.

Click here for the original article.

2015 Inaugural Shatter the Stigma Event

Click here for the original article.

Shatter the Stigma

Univision WLTV Channel 23 “Al Amanercer”

“El Estigma de la Salud Mental”

October 6, 2015

Shatter the Stigma

Click here for the original article.