Cameron Diaz has won her lawsuit over unauthorized sale of photos of her topless.
Out of Town
I am out of town today giving a speech for the Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys. I won’t likely get a chance for a substantive post, unfortunately.
Lanier v. Merck, Round 2, Post 17
The New Jersey Vioxx case is to the jury – the defense did its closing argument yesterday.
Also, here is an interesting article about jury questions in the Vioxx case.
Vacanies on the Tennessee Supreme Court
The Appellate Cour Nominating Commission will be meeting on April 20 and 21, 2006 to select three people to recommend to the Governor to serve on one of the two open spots on the Tennessee Supreme Court.
As of the application deadline of March 31, 2006, at 4:30 p.m. CST, the following persons have submitted their application for this judicial position:
Judge Gary R. Wade
Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.
D. Bruce Shine
Judge J.C. McLin
George T. “Buck” Lewis
J. Houston Gordon
Chancellor Richard H. Dinkins
Philip A. Condra
Stephen A. Cobb
Judge Frank G. Clement, Jr.
Judge D’Army Bailey
Lead Paint
Litigation against paint manufacturers for using lead in paint has been underway for years and the industry has always won.
Until now.
Here is a fascinating story about lead paint litigation in Rhode Island and the recent jury verdict for the State of Rhode Island after more than five months of trial. It includes juror interviews.
The Ugly Side of Tort Reform
Texas passed damage caps and other legal “reform” measures and now people are starting to understand the harm that we predicted would occur.
This article explains the costs.
An excerpt: “But the reforms have exacted a high price, particularly among the very old and very young, patient advocates say. Because they can’t ask juries for large pain and suffering awards anymore, lawyers now look for cases in which a patient or survivors have suffered a large economic loss – generally, lost wages as a result of injury or death. Complex malpractice cases can cost $100,000 to prepare. If injured patients’ best earning days are behind them, or the patient is a child whose future income is impossible to predict, the potential rewards may be too small to make the case worth filing.”
Cost of Infections
The Washington Post tells us that hospital-acquired infections cost more than $600M per year – and that is just in Pennsylvania!
An excerpt from the article: “Doctors, nurses and patients’ relatives have long known the risks of contracting an infection while in a hospital. But there has been little quantifiable data available on the cost of those infections, from a financial or a medical perspective. The average hospital payment for a Pennsylvania patient who did not have an infection was $8,078, compared with $60,678 for patients who did, according to the report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if doctors and hospitals spent their time and money trying to prevent infections rather than trying to reduce their financial responsibility for negligence? The cost of malpractice insurance in a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of hospital-acquired infections.
Lanier v. Merck, Round 2, Post 16
The defense in the New Jersey Vioxx case has rested. Read more here.
Kim McMillan Announces Intention Not to Run for Re-Election
Kim McMillan has announced that she will not run for re-election to the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Kim is a Democrat from Clarksville and has served for six terms (twelve years). She is the first female Majority Leader of the House in the history of the state.
Kim is one of the brightest and most articulate people in the House. She is also one of the few remaining lawyers in the Legislature.