“[Attorney General Eric] Holder told POLITICO that between now and his departure… he will call for a lower standard of proof for civil rights crimes.” The Department has now confirmed that it will bring no federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting of Trayvon Martin, and it is anticipated on many sides that it will eventually decline to bring such charges in the shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. police [Mike Allen, Politico]
Archive for March, 2015
Blog slowdown (updated)
[Originally posted Feb. 25 and carried forward to Mar. 3] I’m slowing down the pace at Overlawyered while I attend to some personal matters. (Update: I’m recovering from surgery, which went well.) Comments moderation should now be back close to normal, but posting itself will remain at a lower volume through maybe the middle of March, depending on circumstances, as I rest and recuperate.
“Report Urges Britain To Take Small-Claims Cases Online”
“The proposal takes eBay’s dispute resolution system as a kind of inspiration.” Would the idea work here? [NPR]
Pharmaceutical roundup
- War on painkillers finds new casualty in ailing veterans [Washington Post, Brian Doherty]
- “Woman says ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ lube doesn’t deliver, should be registered with FDA” [Legal NewsLine]
- “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Twisted Anti-Vaxx History” [Russell Saunders, Daily Beast back in July]
- Using antitrust law, New York seeks to force maker to go on producing older formulation of drug [Ilya Shapiro on Cato brief in Second Circuit] Courts have mostly rejected claims of a duty to supply grounded in obligation to patients [James Beck, Drug & Device Law]
- “Patients see [biotech] startups and hope for a cure. Too many lawyers see them and hope for a payday.” [Standish M. Fleming, WSJ]
- Argument that policymakers undervalue pharmaceutical aids to heroin rehabilitation [Jason Cherkis]
- After suing the obvious defendants in New England Compounding Pharmacy contamination case, lawyers started in on the less obvious [Drug and Device Law, background on regulation-spurred rise of compounding pharmacies]
Federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee updates guidelines
571 pages of urgings from the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, so much to disagree with [Elizabeth Harrington, Washington Free Beacon (obesity “interventionists” at workplaces, initiatives to limit advertising and time spent looking at screens); Glenn Lammi; Julie Gunlock; Paul C. (“Chip”) Knappenberger, Cato (environmental impacts of food production)]
More: “Strategies are needed to encourage the U.S. population to drink water when they are thirsty.” [from the report, quoted approvingly (naturally) by NYT’s Mark Bittman, via James Taranto] And Baylen Linnekin: “Consumers can also have their say through April 8. Open your mouth before the DGAC shuts it for you.”