Sydney Smith at MedPundit has a list of volunteer opportunities for medical professionals, and those in a position to donate medical supplies, in the hurricane aftermath. The text of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s executive order on out-of-state medical volunteers is here (PDF) and relevant excerpts appear on the Louisiana State Medical Society site. Briefly, Gov. Blanco’s order suspends licensure requirements for professionals licensed elsewhere and brings out-of-state medical personnel (but not, apparently, those who already practicing in Louisiana) under a liability umbrella by designating them as agents of the state for purposes of tort action provided they “possess[] current state medical licenses in good standing in their respective states of licensure and that they practice in good faith and within the reasonable scope of his or her skills, training or ability.” See Aug. 31, Sept. 2. More ways to help: NOLAHelp.com (via Ernie the Attorney).
Author Archive
Blawg Review #22
…hosted this week by Blawg Wisdom, is inevitably dominated this week by discussions of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on lawyers and the legal system (including a link to C.G. Moore’s account on this site) and the Court vacancies.
Caesarean sections in Australia
Use of the procedure seems to be following the American path, “and could soon hit a record of 32 per cent of deliveries — far higher than in countries such as Britain and New Zealand.” Among the factors:
Andrew Pesce, consultant obstetrician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, told the conference litigation was a factor in the caesarean rates.
No obstetrician had ever been sued for doing a caesarean, while some of the largest medical negligence payouts — including the $11 million Calandre Simpson case in 2001- – followed claims the doctor should have performed a caesarean section earlier, Dr Pesce said.
(Adam Cresswell, “Midwives left ‘powerless’ by soaring caesar births”, The Australian, Sept. 5). See Nov. 29, 2004; Jul. 18 and Aug. 13, 2003; and Feb. 5, 2001.
Katrina botch: heads must roll
Update: “Maris family, Anheuser-Busch settle lawsuit”
The beer giant agreed to pay at least $120 million in a confidential settlement to settle a defamation suit and other litigation arising from its termination of a beer distributorship held by the family of baseball great Roger Maris. (AP/Orlando Sentinel, Aug. 24; Tiffany Pakkala, “Maris deal taps Busch for $120m”, Gainesville Sun, Aug. 25). The dispute took the form of several distinct legal actions; in 2001 a Gainesville, Fla. jury awarded the Maris family $50 million following a three-month trial at which celebrated attorney Willie Gary, representing the family, was charged with repeated misconduct (see Apr. 1-2, 2002). However, a judge later threw out ethics charges against Gary (Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2004). In the latest round, Gary was again representing the family, this time in a defamation suit against the brewing company; a jury was preparing to return its verdict when the parties settled. (Gregory Cancelada, “Maris family, Anheuser-Busch square off in defamation suit”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 22).
Australia: High Court upholds injury-ad ban
By a 5-2 margin, Australia’s High Court has rejected a constitutional challenge to a ban imposed by the country’s most populous state, New South Wales, on advertisements intended to solicit personal-injury law work. Plaintiff’s lawyers had unsuccessfully argued that such ads amounted to political speech deserving of protection, but the court ruled that they were more plausibly understood as commercial solicitations. The two dissenters were Justice Michael McHugh, who apparently embraced a reading of the national constitution under which states could not constitutionally enact legislation “which has the effect or object of reducing litigation” — surprised our ATLA hasn’t come up with that one — and Justice Michael Kirby. (Michael Pelly, “Injury ad ban to stay, judges rule”, Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 2).
Katrina refugees
Employ them. (George Lenard, Sept. 2).
Gas price “gouging”, cont’d
The price spike (see Sept. 1) is the market’s way of reminding us that it’s better for fuel supplies to be redirected Gulf-ward (and toward other high-value uses) right now than for us to take that long holiday-weekend drive to the beach we’d been contemplating. Among those weighing in: Half Sigma, GrannyTiger, Radley Balko. More: Calif. AG Lockyer, who is not going to win any prizes for grasp of basic economic principles, finds it suspicious that gas prices in his state would soar even though the output of Gulf refineries is sent elsewhere.
Letter from Louisiana: triage and EMTALA
Longtime reader C.G. Moore, a 3L at Tulane Law who lives in St. Tammany Parish outside New Orleans, writes in to say:
My wife, 4 mo. old son, and I survived [Hurricane Katrina] (we live in St. Tammany parish, about 10 miles from lake Pontchartrain). I noticed you had a link to WWL television’s plea for medical personnel to assist the victims. I was in a unique position during the storm and afterward: my wife is an ER doctor, and we sheltered at the hospital where she works.
The doctors and nurses were incredible. They worked non-stop, under incredibly stressful conditions. Many didn’t know where their loved ones were, or whether they had survived, and there was no way to contact the outside world. Many lost everything to the flood waters, tornadoes, and fallen trees. And still, they worked 12-hour shifts (sometimes longer).
But one of the first hurdles they had to contend with was the effects of EMTALA in a disaster situation. [EMTALA is a federal law under which hospitals can be sued if they turn away patients needing emergency medical treatment. — ed.] Under EMTALA, ER physicians are cautious to the point of absurdity. But as the hospital quickly filled to capacity with seriously ill and injured patients, the ER was able to attend to life-or-death situations only. Strict triage procedures were needed to separate the “worried well” from the dying. Medical care really was a limited commodity. Although the magnitude of the catastrophe was clear to all, some patients and their families couldn’t understand that minor boo-boos didn’t merit immediate care (much less admission to the hospital, where it was air-conditioned and they could get a hot meal).
So, my concern is this: once the rubble is cleared and the power restored, the plaintiffs’ lawyers will ooze back into the scene — that this was a disaster situation won’t matter one iota — and they’ll use EMTALA to file lawsuit after lawsuit.
I really hope I’m wrong. But only time will tell.
“New liability frontier: instant messages”
As usual in the business context, spontaneous = dangerous, at least in a legal sense. “You can try to control it through policy,” says one consultant who advises companies on electronic discovery and risk management. “Or you can lock down the technology so people can’t do it.” (Dee McAree, National Law Journal, Aug. 31).