Overlawyered » medical malpractice http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 February 14 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:08:05 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27567
  • “Brazil Sues Twitter in Bid to Ban Speed Trap and Roadblock Warnings” [ABA Journal]
  • Obama nominates Michigan trial lawyer Marietta Robinson to vacancy on Consumer Product Safety Commission, ensuring aggressively pro-regulatory majority [Bluey, Heritage]
  • “AMA reports show high cost of malpractice suits” [HCFN] “Average expense to defend against a medical liability claim in 2010 was $47,158″ [American Medical News, more] Survey of 1,200 orthopedic surgeons finds defensive medicine rife, at cost of billions, accounting for 7 percent of all hospital admissions [MedPageToday]
  • “Sue us only in Delaware” bylaws would kill off forum-shopping and what fun is that? [Bainbridge]
  • Trial by media: Lefty “SourceWatch” posts, then deletes, docs from Madison County pesticide suit [Madison County Record]
  • Think you’ve beaten FCPA rap? Meet the obscure “Travel Act” [Mike Emmick, Reuters] Federal court expands “honest services fraud” in lobbying case [Paul Enzinna, Point of Law]
  • “On the horrors of getting approval for an ice-cream parlour in San Francisco” [NYT via Doctorow/BoingBoing]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/feed/ 1     December 19 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:09:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26261
  • Too much of a stretch: US nixes copyright in yoga exercises [Bloomberg, earlier]
  • “Know your rights dealing with cops” material construed as probative of criminality [Popehat] Is Justice Scalia really an “unlikely” champion of defendants’ Constitutional rights? [LATimes, Adler] “Overcriminalization: The Legislative Side of the Problem” [Larkin/Heritage, related Meese] When feds spring false-statements trap, it won’t matter whether you committed underlying offense being investigated [Popehat] “‘Clean Up Government Act’ sparks overcriminalization concerns” [PoL]
  • Former Attorney General Mukasey on ObamaCare recusal flap [Adler]
  • American Antitrust Institute proposals might be discounted given group’s longstanding pro-plaintiff bias [Thom Lambert]
  • NYC: “The tour guide said that the way to get rich is to be a zoning lawyer.” [Arnold Kling]
  • “Obama’s Top Ten Constitutional Violations” [Ilya Shapiro, Daily Caller] In at least two major areas, “Obama has broken with precedent to curtail religious freedom” [Steve Chapman]
  • Ted Frank-Shirley Svorny med mal debate wraps up [PoL, Bader]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/feed/ 0     December 7 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-7-roundup-4/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-7-roundup-4/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:21:44 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25872
  • Debate on medical malpractice between Ted Frank (Manhattan Institute) and Shirley Svorny (Cato Institute) [PoL]
  • Lawyers, accountants have done well from litigation-ridden Pearlman Ponzi aftermath [Orlando Sentinel]
  • Book drop “inherently dangerous”, says rape victim’s family suing library designers [Florida, LISNews]
  • “The iTunes Class Action Lawsuit You’ll Never Hear About”[NJLRA] “Jackson v. Unocal – Class Actions Find a Welcome Home in Colorado” [Karlsgodt]
  • Another tot accused of sexual harassment, this time a first grader [Boston Herald, earlier (six year old's "assault")]
  • Profile of lawyer who defends fair use of clips for documentary makers [ABA Journal]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-7-roundup-4/feed/ 3     Medical roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/medical-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/medical-roundup-2/#comments Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:21:13 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25870
  • Talking back to the “malpractice litigation is no big deal, docs should grin and bear it” theorists [David Sack, ACP via White Coat] “Worst states for medical malpractice risk” [White Coat]
  • Jury awards $25 million against hospital that didn’t file abuse report after boy came in with broken wrist [Fayetteville, N.C. Observer]
  • “Doctors Question Disability Decisions as Agency Moves to Speed Up Process” [WSJ via Walter Russell Mead]
  • New “Federalist Society equivalents” in medicine (Benjamin Rush Society), business, foreign affairs [John J. Miller, Philanthropy]
  • Fieger wins $144 million verdict blaming hospital for newborn’s cerebral palsy [suburban Detroit Tribune]
  • Feds force birth control coverage on Catholic organizations, and free association suffers [Roger Pilon, Cato]
  • Phone call from doc to patient’s home did not establish subsequent jurisdiction to sue there [Madison County Record] NY steps up program to streamline courts’ handling of med-mal claims [WSJ]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/medical-roundup-2/feed/ 3     “Admitted Drug Dealer Sues Doctor Who Prescribed Painkillers” http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/admitted-drug-dealer-sues-doctor-who-prescribed-painkillers/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/admitted-drug-dealer-sues-doctor-who-prescribed-painkillers/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:38:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25884 Pennsylvania: “A York man who pleaded guilty to illegally selling prescription drugs is suing the doctor who prescribed the painkillers to him for medical malpractice and medical negligence.” [York Daily Record]

    And from the same state: veteran who broke into a pharmacy to steal drugs sues Veterans Administration for not having given him better mental health counseling. [Times-Leader]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/admitted-drug-dealer-sues-doctor-who-prescribed-painkillers/feed/ 2     October 28 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-28-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-28-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:32:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24992
  • Self-parody watch: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) wants federal program to dispense free diapers [Fox News]
  • Trial-lawyer-friendly Florida Supreme Court could strike down state’s 2003 malpractice limits [Orlando Business Journal]
  • Don’t forget to thank Wal-Mart lobbyists for that debit fee charge [Mark Perry]
  • “Should insurers [be compelled by law to] pay for eating disorders?” [NYT "Room for Debate"]
  • Texas man drops suit against former fiancee [Above the Law]
  • “$75,000 Settlement for Muslim Teacher Denied 19 Days’ Unpaid Leave for Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)” [Volokh]
  • Epidemiology for hire: “The Texas Sharpshooter Goes Free Range” [David Oliver]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-28-roundup-2/feed/ 3     “I always tell my clients, if you start a big disturbance, you’ll get a bigger compensation package.” http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/i-always-tell-my-clients-if-you-start-a-big-disturbance-youll-get-a-bigger-compensation-package/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/i-always-tell-my-clients-if-you-start-a-big-disturbance-youll-get-a-bigger-compensation-package/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:52:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25085 Although not conducted through the legal system, some battles in China over alleged injury from medical malpractice make for an interesting compare-and-contrast exercise, right down to the role of contingent fees:

    Medical personnel advocates complain that the more violent incidents are staged by hired thugs, paid by families of the deceased in hopes of winning compensation from the hospitals. … The Chinese have even coined a word for the paid protesters: yinao, meaning “medical disturbance.”

    “It has become a very sophisticated system for chasing profits. Whenever somebody dies in a hospital, the yinao will get in touch with the family and offer their services in exchange for 30% to 40%,” said Liu Di, who is setting up a social network for medical professionals.

    [L.A. Times]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/i-always-tell-my-clients-if-you-start-a-big-disturbance-youll-get-a-bigger-compensation-package/feed/ 2     Libertarians and medical malpractice http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/libertarians-and-medical-malpractice/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/libertarians-and-medical-malpractice/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:06:26 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25259 What kind of medical liability market would emerge if courts decided to begin upholding freedom of contract? I take up that question — and explain some of my misgivings about efforts to portray today’s medical malpractice sector as somehow a free-market arrangement — at Cato at Liberty (& welcome Elie Mystal/Above the Law, GruntDoc, Ramesh Ponnuru readers).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/libertarians-and-medical-malpractice/feed/ 3     Massachusetts: “Innovative Medical Liability Reform” http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/massachusetts-innovative-medical-liability-reform/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/massachusetts-innovative-medical-liability-reform/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:21:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24712 A new report for the Pioneer Institute by John Biebelhausen (Colorado) and Amy Lischko (Tufts) examines a range of policy options for improving the Massachusetts medical malpractice system, including “less traditional” options such as “contract liability,” a “method for patients to contract directly with doctors or health systems to establish pre-determined rules for compensation in the case of injury due to physician negligence.” ["Innovative Medical Liability Reform: Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods"]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/massachusetts-innovative-medical-liability-reform/feed/ 5     September 21 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-21-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-21-roundup-3/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:39:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24681
  • Free-Range Kids highlight roundup: Tenn. mom faces child neglect charges if she lets her 5th grader ride bike to school (more); “An Alert for an 11-y.o. Missing for 2 Hours?“; “As recently as 1979, a first-grader could…”
  • Political crusades against chain stores are nothing new [Perry]
  • “Are You a Surgeon? Sorry, You’re Going to Face a Malpractice Claim By Age 65″ [WSJ Health Blog] Was patient an “obvious” stroke victim? [Duluth N-T via WhiteCoat] Malpractice risks with special needs patients [KevinMD]
  • Ethics trial begins for former Maricopa County attorney and Overlawyered favorite Andrew Thomas [ABA Journal]
  • Has defense lawyer in Connecticut home invasion case gone too far? [NYT]
  • “Reason.tv: Regulation and the Entrepreneur”
  • “A Decade After 9/11, Police Departments Are Increasingly Militarized” [Balko, Hinkle, more]
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