Posts Tagged ‘Pennsylvania’

March 18 roundup

  • Justice done in Tewksbury, Mass. as feds won’t appeal loss in Motel Caswell forfeiture case [Institute for Justice]
  • Oh, FTC: “Government Now Says Tweets Have To Include ‘The Fine Print'” [Business Insider]
  • Judge lifts “no Facebook posts” order against class action objector [Paul Alan Levy, ABA Journal, earlier]
  • House Judiciary Committee hearing on litigation abuse feature Ted Frank, John Beisner [link to video, Chamber-backed LNL]
  • Update: minister who aided Miller-Jenkins custody-napping gets 27 month sentence [AP,earlier]
  • Pennsylvania high court judge convicted on charges of using state staff for campaign [AP] Also in Pa., wife/chief aide of high court justice “has received 18 payments as referral fees for connecting law firms with clients” [Philadelphia Inquirer] “Arkansas Supreme Court Justice reports $50k gift from plaintiff lawyer” [LNL]
  • Widow sues church for refusal to accept NASCAR-themed cemetery headstone [IndyStar]

“Lehigh U. student sues over grade, seeks $1.3 M”

In a case that went to trial Monday in Northampton County, Pa., Megan Thode is suing Lehigh University over the C+ she was given in a graduate education course. Thode, the daughter of a Lehigh faculty member, “was attending the Bethlehem school tuition-free in 2009 when she received the poor mark in her fieldwork class. … She needed a B to take the next course of her field work requirement.” [Allentown Morning Call] Update: Judge rules against her.

Pharmaceutical roundup

  • False medical reports lead to echo-mill conviction [Drug and Device Law]
  • Leads for sale in mass tort cases: Actos $450, Yaz $400, Yazmin $400, Ocella $425 [Ron Miller]
  • Ninth Circuit: securities suit vs. pharmaceutical company can’t piggyback on allegations of flawed clinical trials [The Recorder]
  • Dubious management idea: subordinate policy/legislative advocacy to corporate social responsibility (CSR) department [Susan Crowley/PharmExec]
  • “Former Glaxo VP: ‘The Criminalization of the Practice of Law Is Here’” [WSJ interview with Lauren Stevens]
  • Given the state’s legal climate, does it really make sense for a big pharmco to retain its headquarters in Pennsylvania? [Ted Frank] Sounds rather appetizing actually: defendant J&J said to have run into Louisiana home cooking [Eric Alexander, D&D Law]
  • On the life-threatening shortages of sterile injectables [earlier here, etc.] here’s the official line of Margaret Hamburg’s FDA, as dutifully transcribed by the Times: if “nearly a third of the industry’s manufacturing capacity is off line because of quality issues,” it’s because that capacity had been operating in an recklessly unsafe manner, and it in no way reflects on the FDA’s stringent new GMP regulations on manufacturing processes, with which drug makers could easily comply were they not so inured to putting up with weevils, rust and urine on the production line. Note however this significant bit: “The shutdowns have contributed to a shortage of critical drugs, and [loosely state-regulated] compounding pharmacies have stepped into the gap as medical professionals scramble for alternative sources. But several serious health scares have been traced to compounding pharmacies in recent years,” including a deadly new meningitis outbreak. [Katie Thomas, NYT]

“Middle Schooler Forced to Take Drug Test to Join Scrapbooking Club”

“States with middle schools that conduct drug testing include Florida, Alabama, Missouri, West Virginia, Arkansas, Ohio, New Jersey and Texas,” as well as Pennsylvania, where the 12 year old girl in question was attending public school in Milford when subjected to the condition. [New York Times via Nick Gillespie, Reason]

From the comments: “Members of Congress, however, are not required to take such a test, as they work at less-critical tasks.” [ras]

Torts roundup

  • Dixon v. Ford Motor Company: “The Best Causation Opinion of 2012” [David Oliver] “Any exposure” causation: “Pennsylvania Supreme Court delivers significant asbestos ruling” [Point of Law]
  • Maryland high court may consider pro-plaintiff shift from contributory negligence to comparative fault [Sean Wajert]
  • In last-minute ploy, Albany lawmakers extend time limits for suing local governments [Torch via PoL, Times-Union]
  • Mental diagnoses: what to do when courtroom experts armed with DSM-5 shoot from the hip [Jim Dedman, Abnormal Use]
  • California appeals court, legislature decline to go along with trial lawyers’ crusade against Concepcion and class arbitration waivers [WLF, CL&P]
  • Critics challenge legality of Louisiana AG’s use of contingency lawyers [Melissa Landry, Hayride]
  • To curb client solicitation, NJ mulls withholding crash reports from noninterested parties for 90 days [NJLRA]

Complaint: restaurant’s church-bulletin discounts violate bias law

“For more than a year, Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen in Columbia, Lancaster County has offered a Sunday special: Diners who bring in a current church bulletin receive 10 percent off the purchase of their dinners.” Local atheist John Wolff, “who said he’s never been to Prudhomme’s, recently filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission claiming the 22-year-old restaurant should not give discounts based on religion.” The co-owner of the restaurant said the promotion was an effort to stimulate Sunday business and that she doesn’t care whether customers have any particular views on religion. [Sue Gleiter, Harrisburg Patriot-News]

Judges roundup

The good, the bad, and the beyond belief:

Free speech roundup

  • Courtesy Stanley Fish, Prof. Jeremy Waldron gets a long, favorable hearing in the New York Times for his let’s-suppress-hate-speech proposals [Opinionator]
  • On the other hand, free speech scores huge victory in Canada as parliament mostly along party lines votes to repeal notorious Section 13 of Canadian Human Rights Act, authorizing private federal complaints over alleged hate speech [Jonathan Kay]
  • “Christian Nation” historical writer and Texas curriculum reshaper David Barton sues critics; don’t let him find out what Ed Brayton keeps writing [Reason]
  • Pennsylvania bill: “Crime for Minor to Post or Send Messages That ‘Emotional[ly] Distress’ Another Minor?” [Volokh]
  • Norfolk, Va. business puts up a big sign protesting eminent domain scheme to seize its property; guess what happens next [Marc Scribner, Open Market]
  • Chris Evans nastygram to Lipstick Alley: Has Hollywood already forgotten about the Streisand effect? [Paul Alan Levy, Mike Masnick/TechDirt] Also at Public Citizen, the dispute over a boilermaker union official’s effort to unmask an online critic has now been settled (earlier);
  • Interesting bank case: “Employer SLAPPed for Suing Ex-Employee” [Shaw Valenza]