The New Jersey trial judge is going to let the jury decide the punitive damages issue. The arguments on punitives will be heard on Monday.
Read more here.
Chiropractor Testimony Just Decreased in Value
Chiropractors get a bad rap and almost certainly an unfair rap. But this type of news stories do not do the profession any good.
Time travel?
Deaths from Medical Malpractice
It is getting worse. A study of patients in our Medicare population has found an alarming number of incidents and deaths.
The study looked discharge records of Medicare patients and used 16 of “20 indicators for potentially preventable patient safety incidents that could be readily identified in hospital discharge data. This tool set of 20 evidence-based PSIs was created and released to the public in 2003 to be used by various healthcare stakeholders to assess and improve patient safety in U.S. hospitals.”
They found:
Lanier v. Merck, Round 2, Post 19
Now, the punitive damage phase. Read here.
Lanier v. Merck, Round 2, Post 18
The jury returned a verdict in the New Jersey Vioxx trial yesterday afternoon.
The jury found that Merck had failed to warn the men about the risks of heart attack and stroke associated with Vioxx but found a causal link between the drug and a heart attack for only one plaintiff.
McDarby, who said he used the drug for four years, was awarded $3.0 million. His wife was awarded $1.5 million.
A Win for Cameron
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