"What duty does an HIV-positive individual have to avoid transmitting the virus? What level of awareness should be required before a court imposes a duty of care on an HIVpositive individual to avoid transmission of the virus? What responsibility does the victim have to protect himself or herself against possible…
The case: Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital, 984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999). Author: Justice Janice M. Holder. Why it is a Blue Chipper" Jordan overruled past precedent that misread the wrongful death damages statute and permitted, for the first time, a factfinder to award damages for the loss of love,…
Insurance Journal reports that a lawsuit has been filed against Bacardi, the manufacturer of 151 rum. The article says that "a bartender, who was not identified in the lawsuit, was pouring shots when a customer lit a menu on fire and placed it in the stream of alcohol. A bottle of Bacardi…
A website has been launched that will help doctors and the public identify patients and lawyers who filed medical malpractice cases. Here is a nice summary: "The LitiPages.com Attorney Database allows victims of medical malpractice to screen prospective attorneys and, if they so choose, avoid lawyers who consistently fail to…
You resolve a case by settlement or judgment and the check is sent to your office. The check has been deposited in your trust account, has cleared the bank, and the proceeds are now ready for distribution. There are several health care providers who gave care to your client concerning…
My friend Keith Williams posted a comment that asked about the Tennessee ethics opinion that discusses how to handle the issue raised in the proceeding post – how should we handle liens asserted by health care providers when we have not signed a contract obligating us (as lawyers) to recognize…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a homeowner "owed a duty of reasonable care to the plaintiff relative to the storage of firearms kept in her home, to which a mentally unstable and violent person was given unsupervised access." Accordindly, the Court reversed a grant of summary judgment…
The Tennessean reports that the new federal courthouse in Nashville will be named for Senator Frist. The same Senator Frist who has repeated tried to keep medical malpractice victims from being able to access to the civil justice system. The same Senator Frist who, after diagnosising Terry Schaivo via videotape,…
You knew it would happen sooner or later. A same-sex couple in Connecticut has filed a loss of consortium claim in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Connecticut has a civil union statute that gives same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples. Given the state of the law in Tennessee it…
A jury in Texas has returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the first Duragesic pain patch case to go to trial. Plaintiffs alleged that Michaelynn Thompson "died because the Duragesic patch released too much fentanyl, a strong pain reliever, into her body." This article reports that there are 100…