Overlawyered » pharmaceuticals

As FDA and Congress fiddle

Walter Olson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:08:08 +0000

“Supplies of Critical Child Leukemia Drug Are Almost Gone” [Atlantic Wire] Earlier on the shortage of hospital and community drugs, and Washington’s role in it, here, here, here, here, and here.

Tags: FDA, pharmaceuticals

Long Island pharmacy massacre

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:45:32 +0000

Four people were killed when pill addict David Laffer robbed a Medford, N.Y. pharmacy. Now the survivors of victim Jamie Taccetta are suing a variety of defendants including the drugstore whose pharmacist was killed, the Suffolk County police and a former commissioner, “and pharmaceutical companies that make the drug oxycodone.” [CBS New York, Newsday]

Tags: Long Island, pharmaceuticals, third party liability for crime

February 9 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:07:43 +0000

Ninth Circuit panel strikes down California’s Prop 8 [Volokh, Kerr, Magliocca, Lithwick, Steve Chapman]
Judge dismisses PETA “killer whales enslaved” case [Caroline May/Daily Caller, CNN, earlier]
“Patent Troll Claims Ownership of Interactive Web – And Might Win” [Joe Mullin/Wired, earlier; more on testimony by Web father Tim Berners-Lee] Update: Ding Dong! Jury rejects claim;
“Further Analysis of the Bottle-Rocket Case” [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
As patients suffer: “The War Over Prescription Painkillers,” start of a Radley Balko series [HuffPo parts one, two so far]
Richard Epstein on federal fiat and Yale disciplinary procedure [Defining Ideas] Under new-style rules at Yale, will a professor even be aware he’s been accused and henceforth is to be “monitored”? [KC Johnson]
Jim Copland testimony on abuses in government contingent-fee litigation [Manhattan Institute, PDF] “Parens patriae” proposal to replace class actions with state attorney general suits, but with private entrepreneurial bar still in saddle [Adam Zimmerman/Prawfs on Myriam Gilles/Gary Friedman, SSRN]

Tags: animal rights, attorneys general, class actions, colleges and universities, Ninth Circuit, patent trolls, pharmaceuticals, same-sex marriage, Yale

February 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:03:31 +0000

“Hawaii may keep track of all web sites visited” [Declan McCullagh]
NEA (and now Obama) answer to public education woes: lock the exits by hiking school-leaving age [Steve Chapman, earlier]
On nomination filibusters, New York Times editorial policy has pulled a 360, not just a 180 [Whelan, 2003, 2005, earlier]
English copyright ruling “creates ownership in the idea of a photo’s composition” [Doctorow, BB]
New Maryland push for same-sex marriage will include stronger religious exemptions, a course I urged last year [Sun, my view] Detailed inquiry into the law of interstate marriage recognition and DOMA [Will Baude, Volokh]
When lawyers face prison for the advice they give [Jack Fernandez, Zuckerman Spaeder via Legal Ethics Forum]
FDA regulation of pharmaceuticals: “More reasons to discount adverse event reports” [Yeary, Drug & Device Law, the CPSC database analogy]

Tags: copyright, judicial nominations, Maryland, pharmaceuticals, photography, same-sex marriage, schools, United Kingdom

January 23 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:51:41 +0000

Copyright violations on PIPA sponsors’ websites? [VICE] “A SOPA Analogy” [David Henderson]
DEA agent who mistakenly shot self loses appeal [BLT, earlier]
“And people say libertarians lack empathy”: AP adopts pre-emptively disapproving tone toward advances in pain control [Coyote; related, Alkon on Primatene Mist]
Cordray, NLRB recess picks allow President to reward key Democratic interest groups [Copland, Examiner] Litigation Lobby gunning for ban on consumer finance arbitration as Cordray priority [CL&P] Mike Rappaport on the recess appointment clause [LLL, earlier here, etc.]
Keystone’s just the half of it: US environmental funders push shutdown of Canada energy production [Vivian Krause, Financial Post]
Hot potato, or just hot business sector? “Credit Suisse Parts with Litigation Finance Group” [WSJ Law Blog]
Speaking of shoplifters in elected office [Harrisburg Patriot-News on Perry County, Pa. case h/t commenter A.A.; earlier on California case]

Tags: arbitration, Canada, copyright, litigation finance, pharmaceuticals

January 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:52:42 +0000

Because judges should decide cases the way clamoring crowds want them to: “Occupy the Courts” [Althouse, Somin, earlier] Pittsburgh lawprof: bank’s office park has become public forum and is ours to seize [Daily Caller]
Some reactions to Megaupload indictment [Julian Sanchez, Ken at Popehat]
Kozinski, others trade quips at oral argument in Disneyland Segway ADA case [Courthouse News via Disabilities Law, earlier] “Ouch! Judge Posner eviscerates both a damages expert and the trial judge who let him testify against FedEx” [Technology Law Notes]
Victim of NYC gun laws: “Free Meredith Graves” [NRO] “NYC Business Bled To Death Over Toy Guns” [Moonbattery]
“Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Swipe: A Critique of the Infancy Rule in the Federal Credit Card Act” [Andrew Schwartz (Colorado), SSRN, via Ted Frank]
Federal drug cops unapologetic about role in Adderall shortage [Rob Port] A failure of central planning [Reuters, Jacob Sullum and more ("Does the DEA know what 'quota' means?")] Some trial lawyers pushing to ban the drug [via Ted Frank].
Go, my child, and steal no more: TSA agents who pilfered $40K from luggage get six months [AP via Balko]

Tags: Alex Kozinski, crime and punishment, debtor-creditor law, Disney, guns, NYC, pharmaceuticals, Pittsburgh, Richard Posner

N.J.: overdoses on Xanax, collects $4.1 million

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:06:56 +0000

“A man who overdosed on stolen drugs he ingested at a party in 2007 has settled his lawsuit with a pharmacy, several guests, the party’s host and the host’s mother for $4.1 million. … [Scott] Simon sued the pharmacy for not taking proper precautions to avoid the theft of drugs. He also sued several guests, the party’s host and the host’s parents, who were away for the weekend.” [AP via NJLRA, Schepisi & McLaughlin]

Tags: illegal drugs, New Jersey, personal responsibility, pharmaceuticals, social host

November 17 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:25:20 +0000

Executive with “Autism Speaks” group quits to found group more aligned with scientific opinion on cause of condition [SciAm]
Here comes the ban-cigarettes-entirely crusade [Peter Singer on forthcoming Robert Proctor "Golden Holocaust"] “Parents try to blame Four Loko for son getting shot” [Elie Mystal, Above the Law] Still-relevant cartoon from ’30s on Federal War on Drugs (or Booze, take your pick) [Perry]
Controversy over definition of medical disorders in DSM-V has implications for workplace law including ADA, FMLA [Labor Related, petition]
“Not Safe to Display an American Flag in an American High School” [Volokh]
“Criminal Defense Lawyer Charged in Alleged $1.5M Fraud On Clients Obtained Under False Pretenses” [ABA Journal, Greenfield; Texas]
Father of Notre Dame student who died says family never considered suing [Chicago Tribune]
“The Ignominious End Of The Digitek Mass Tort” [Beck]

Tags: autism, colleges and universities, don't, pharmaceuticals, psychiatry, tobacco

November 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:28:58 +0000

Seeking to address widespread pharmaceutical shortages, Obama executive order downplays government role in causing them [Fair Warning, WSJ editorial, earlier here, here, here, here, etc.]
“The school has a strict no-hugging policy….” [WKMG Orlando]
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens isn’t buying the “Thomas should recuse” meme [USA Today via Legal Ethics Forum]
Not COPPA-cetic: among other unintended consequences, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has encouraged parents to help kids to falsify ages online [Danah Boyd via Jim Harper, Suderman, Reason, Stewart Baker, earlier]
Lawmaking from the bench: Maryland high court strikes down law limiting landlords’ lead paint liability [Ronald Miller] “Maryland court sides with plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases” [Emily Babay, Examiner]
Trial lawyers help bail out Bexar County Democratic party [San Antonio Express-News]
Supreme Court agrees to hear case arguing that aggressive enforcement of local housing code violates federal Fair Housing Act [Magner v. Gallagher, SCOTUSBlog, Illinois Municipal League, http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2011/11/potemkin-village-hawaiian-style.html">Fisher/Forbes]

Tags: Clarence Thomas, fair housing, lead paint, Maryland, Mikal Watts, pharmaceuticals, privacy, slip and fall

Great moments in pharmaceutical litigation

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:35:51 +0000

“To recap – plaintiff alleged that she got a rash from a placebo and she attempted to prove her claim with testimony from her artist-husband and a mold-specialist who hadn’t read her medical records or the clinical study at issue.” A Connecticut court was not persuaded and dismissed the action. [Michelle Yeary, Drug and Device Law]

Tags: pharmaceuticals

Overlawyered » pharmaceuticals

As FDA and Congress fiddle

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