- Judge vacates $1.2 billion default judgment against PepsiCo [Watertown, Wisc. Daily Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, earlier]
- “Democrats’ first spokesman on medical malpractice: former head of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association.” [Ponnuru, NRO, on Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley] Related: Carter Wood at Point of Law, Washington Times, David Frum, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on provision in health bill discouraging states from adopting limits on lawyers’ fees or awards).
- Doubts about “scent lineups” in which police dogs are supposed to sniff out perps [Schwartz, NYT]
- Claimant in Staten Island Ferry crash ran into trouble when he couldn’t prove he was on the boat [NYLJ]
- New York courts strike out baseball injury claims on assumption of risk grounds [Hochfelder first, second, third posts; NYLJ]
- “Microsoft frowned on for smiley patent” [Slashdot via Coleman]
- “Step out of the loop, do something unusual” and run into an army of drones “whose sole job is to prevent their bosses from being sued.” [Never Yet Melted quoting British TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson on the U.S.]
- “A veterinarian’s view on ‘defensive medicine'” [Patty Khuly, USA Today]
Posts Tagged ‘medical malpractice’
November 3 roundup
- American Federation of Teachers backs off earlier aggressive trademark stance against critical website [AFT Exposed via Ron Coleman, earlier]
- Unintended but ever-so-predictable consequence of cash-for-clunkers: cheap used cars now a lot less cheap [Coyote]
- Strange that Pat Robertson doesn’t seem to know hate-crime laws cover crimes motivated by religious bias [Neiwert]
- Court rules against New York law firm’s debt collection practices [ABA Journal]
- Trouble amid the Lamborghinis: rumors swirl of financial defalcations at prominent south Florida law firm [WSJ Law Blog and more] Plus: Rothstein’s huge bipartisan political donations [DBR]
- Ohio: “Man dressed as a Breathalyzer for Halloween is arrested for DUI” [Obscure Store]
- Blawg star Mark Herrmann (Drug & Device Law) writes a brief in Supreme Court case on (unrelated) topic of prosecutorial immunity for misconduct [Scott Greenfield]
- Administration’s task force on medical liability reform meets amid signs it won’t accomplish much [Wood, ShopFloor; related, Stanley Goldfarb/Weekly Standard]
75 years of hospital records
Tampa: “When medical malpractice lawyer Michael J. Trentalange asked St. Joseph’s Hospital for every ‘adverse incident’ report made since the hospital opened in 1934, the hospital pushed back hard. In July, the hospital sued him, and Trentalange sued right back, the Web site Health News Florida reported.” (AP/Sarasota Herald Tribune via White Coat).
Anti-reform incentives in House health bill
Jennifer Rubin at Commentary has the scoop on how the bill’s language will reward states financially if they do not “limit attorneys’ fees or impose caps on damages”. P.S. And see Ted’s fuller treatment above.
“Nowhere is the argument over ‘over-lawyering’ more intense than in the field of medical malpractice….”
CBS Sunday Morning this weekend profiled author, lawyer and reformer (Common Good/”health courts”) Philip K. Howard. Related: Progressive Policy Institute to press health-court idea on Capitol Hill? [AP/Washington Post]
“Trial Lawyers Inc.: Health Hazard”
New from the Manhattan Institute’s Trial Lawyers Inc. project, on health care and the Litigation Lobby; a few of its highlights are summarized here, at Point of Law.
“Congresswoman: Tort reform to be a part of final health care bill”
Or at least something traveling under that name, if Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) is right. [Legal NewsLine] More: “CBO: Tort reform would reduce deficit by $54 billion” [Ed Morrissey/Hot Air] Liability insurance premiums in Georgia fell by 18% after state capped noneconomic damages [American Medical News]
“Zurich hospital turns away US health tourists”
“Zurich University Hospital has stopped treating North American ‘medical tourists’, fearing million-dollar claims from litigious patients if operations go wrong. Hospitals in canton Valais have also adopted measures to protect themselves against visitors from the United States, Canada and Britain.” [Swissinfo.ch via Mark Perry and Coyote]
If you’re not reading Point of Law
If you’re not following my other site, here’s some of what you’re missing:
- Advance-fee fraud (“Nigerian 419”) scam emails that pose as international product-liability payouts;
- Coverage of the recent Washington, D.C. developments on med-mal reform [Carter Wood and more];
- The soil from which ACORN grew;
- Judges keep swatting down California’s efforts to run its own foreign policy through reparations litigation;
- Which college majors lead to the lowest scores on the LSAT? Why, the most law-related ones;
- And the legal ethics of settlement negotiations.
Why not add Point of Law to your Google Reader or other RSS reader today, along of course with Overlawyered, if you haven’t yet?
“The menu of malpractice reforms”
Philip K. Howard has a by no means exhaustive list, in The Atlantic.