Washington voters this week rejected two competing measures related to medical malpractice. The first, supported by doctors, hospitals, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, would have capped awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases, and also would have stated that doctors can refuse to serve patients if they do not…
Tort cases are a rare commodity in the SCOTUS (Thank God) but one was argued earlier this week. A woman tripped on packages and other matters left on her porch (rather than in her mailbox) by the Post Office and and brought suit under the FTCA. The issue is “whether…
Today I am off to Chattanooga for two days of a seminar sponsored by Justice Programs. The 15-credit hour seminar (which includes 3 E & P hours) is designed for lawyers who practice civil litigation. The seminar will also be held in Knoxville on November 17 and 18 and in…
It is 1 to 1 and we now move to federal court for round 3 in the Vioxx wars. The first federal trial is in Houston, where Jere Beasley from Alabama will serve as lead counsel for the plaintiffs and Phil Beck from Chicago will serve as lead counsel for…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted a Rule 11 application in Johnson v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Ins. Co. With this case, the Tennessee Supreme Court will decide whether the tort of “bad faith” exists is Tennessee. Judge Inman’s decision in this case renders the tort virtually meaningless. It requires almost…
Plaintiff’s lawyers don’t really do legal research, do they? Only the plaintiff’s lawyers who want to win. If you don’t know the law it is difficult to make intelligent case selection decisions. There is nothing wrong with pushing the envelope, but you need to know you are pushing the envelope…
I came upon a new blog – Insurance Scrawl – written by Marc Mayerson in D.C. Here is how Marc describes the purpose of the blog: “Insurance Scrawl focuses on the law of insurance, the insurance of business, and the business of insurance. It is the first insurance blog (or…
The Washington Post reports that “Americans pay more when they get sick than people in other Western nations and get more confused, error-prone treatment, according to the largest survey to compare U.S. health care with other nations.” The Post also states that “Americans also reported the greatest number of medical…
Apparently not every doctor in America is willing to accept the propaganda from liability insurance carriers that “your rates are the fault of greedy trial lawyers.” This doctor wants information, and is pushing legislation to get it. Read more here.
Jurors have apparently reached a verdict in the second Vioxx case. It is expected to be announced in the next few minutes. (From ABC News).