The Civil Practice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee meets today to hear testimony on the medical malpractice reform bill sponsored by Rep. Doug Overbey. The legislation caps damages non-economic losses at $250,000 against providers and $250,000 against factilities, with no more than $500,000 awarded in any one case. It…
The trial of the Vioxx cases in New Jersey is winding down. Here is a recent update.
This article from Lawyers Weekly U.S.A. explains that insurance defense lawyers are seeing an increased in the number of professional negligence claims filed against them. An excerpt: “According to an ABA study released last summer, malpractice claims against personal injury defense lawyers increased 6 percent from 1999 to 2003 –…
John Ritter died of an aortic aneurysm in 2003. His family filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against various health care providers. It now appears that the case has been settled. I met John Ritter in New York 5 or 6 years ago. I went to a play and at the…
Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. my grandmother died at home at the age of 97. My wife Joy and I leave for Wisconsin this morning; the funeral is Saturday in Platteville, a college town of 10,000 people. Platteville is in the Southwest corner of the state and about nine miles…
Punitive damages in Tennessee are rarer than hen’s teeth. But that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be sought in appropriate cases – of course they should. However, it is not enough to simply say: “what the defendant did was bad, real bad” and hope that you can carry the day.…
The defense starts it case in the New Jersey Vioxx trial. The trial is expected to be over next week.
This op-ed piece from today’s New York Times is so good it needs to be repeated in full in this blog. The Doctor Will See You for Exactly Seven Minutes By PETER SALGO WHEN politicians speak of America’s health care needs, they often miss an important point: the doctor-patient relationship…
Here is an editorial from Wausau Daily Hearld Wisconsin, the county seat in my home county in the Northwoods. A sample: “Now legislators have pulled another number from thin air and set it as the cap after hearing tales of horror and woe from the state’s physicians. You likely heard…
Motion for directed verdict denied. Merck has now begun to offer its defense to the two Vioxx cases consolidated for trial in New Jersey. Read more here. Meanwhile, the California Vioxx cases are heating up. Learn more here.