- Joe Nocera’s recent column on the Vioxx settlement infuriated loyalists of the plaintiff’s bar, and they won’t like his new one on lead paint litigation much better [NY Times]
- Trial of Overlawyered favorite Jack Thompson over ethical charges leveled by Florida bar wraps up, but judge won’t rule right away [GamePolitics earlier, more recent posts]
- Two joggers hit by driver alongside Pacific Coast Highway will share $49 million from city of Dana Point — allegedly the bike lane was too wide — so now here come the concrete barriers [LA Times]
- Do makers of anti-PC documentary “Indoctrinate U.” owe cash to Indiana U. for infringing on its logo? [Maloney, OpinionJournal, Coleman] Update Dec. 11: settled.
- Casselberry, Fla. cop who sued parents after boy’s near-drowning in pool has now lost her job following public outcry over the incident [Orlando Sentinel; earlier]
- Lawyer who says he was defamed by commenters on DontDateHimGirl.com is back in court [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ambrogi, On Point; earlier here, here, etc.]
- Outspoken blog of BU prof Dr. Michael Siegel ticks off “tobacco control” activists [Beam, Globe]
- Warning label alert: old Sesame Street episodes unsafe for children? [Stier, Wash. Times]
- Furor mounts in and out of Canada over “human rights” complaint against Maclean’s over Mark Steyn book excerpt [Wente, Globe and Mail; Eteraz, UK Guardian; Steyn, NRO; Kimball]
- Judge rejects lawsuit by animal rights group challenging UCSF animal testing [SF Chronicle]
- New at Point of Law: How do all those big cases wind up in Judge Jack Weinstein’s court, anyway?; latest Richard Epstein podcast is on antitrust, Microsoft, AT&T, etc.; abuse of the Family and Medical Leave Act; welcome new contributor Marie Gryphon; Yale Law clinic sues Yale-New Haven Hospital; bar official dismisses concerns about cy pres slush funds; breastfeeding accommodation on the job, via lawsuit?; just what New York needs, a new state law school at Binghamton; and much more.
Related posts
In animal rights; antitrust; cy pres; firefighters rule; free speech in Canada; hospitals; Indiana; Jack Thompson; Jack Weinstein; lead paint; libel slander and defamation; Mark Steyn; Pittsburgh; Richard Epstein; roundups; tobacco
With respect to item 1:
“Once a drug has been approved, there is a marketing enthusiasm that takes over that doesn’t want to deal with the risks and wants to promote the drug,” said Bruce Psaty, a drug safety expert at the University of Washington.
This illustrates a common defect in reasoning. When is something proved? The state of affairs when Vioxx was first marketed was the existence of an efficacious and safe drug according to hundreds of millions of dollar of testing. That isn’t what Dr. Psaty said.
After the invasion of Iraq, US troops looked for WMD’s. The best they found was some bug spay near a river. Then Dr. Kaye was sent in. He went through close to half a billion dollars searching for anything. His successor was in business for about the same about of time as Dr. Kaye. So nearly one billion dollars was spent looking for WMDs or anything at all. One billion dollars! Still Mr. Leon Charney, one of the smartest guys in the world, wonders if the WMDs remain hidden in Iraq.
A second question in item 1 is what happens when people put on the robes of judges? If it indeed impossible to prove that Vioxx caused any particular heart attack, then the value of any claim would be zero. Yet the judges encouraged a settlement that was blatant extortion.
Uh-oh! Now he’s in trouble! The incorrigible Stan Glantz sez he’s “lost it”…
“I view him as a tragic figure - he has completely lost it,” says University of California tobacco researcher Stanton Glantz.”
Good ol’ Stan, you can always count on him to leap in front of any cameras or reporters in the tri-state area…
Regarding the Casselberry, Florida police officer—how long do we have to wait now for the wrongful termination suit? And, her suit—although lacking jury appeal for obvious reasons—seems to have no less merit than many other “slip & fall” claims.
Stanton, BTW, was a Mechanical Engineer last I looked. I guess that qualifies him as a “tobacco researcher”…
Regarding the Casselberry, Florida police officer firing: Now they just need to disbar her lawyer, David Heil, for making outrageous and slanderous statements about the victim’s family. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be looking out for his client? His accusatory statements to the media greatly contributed to the public outrage, and eventually cost his client her job and simultaneously prevented any hope for a settlement.
Wow, I never thought there really was a site like DontDateHimGirl.com. I always thought they were material for comedies. A site like this is quite horrifying. Granted it can be used for good, to warn girls against really schmucks, but it also can end up being a place of hate against a malicious and vengeful ex out to ruin someone. Or end up a terrible prank on someone.
Wonder if there is a comparable site, something like “dontdateherguy.com”, “jailbait.com”, etc., somewhere out there!
“Wonder if there is a comparable site, something like “dontdateherguy.com”, “jailbait.com”, etc., somewhere out there!”
Of course not! That would be libelous and sexist! You can’t talk about WOMEN that way, for goodness sake!
While I was saying that for humor, it basically holds true in many areas of life in the US right now… :-/