Just when you thought it was safe to approach the altar: “An Irish Government minister has warned that burning incense in churches could be harmful to the altar boys and girls who help Roman Catholic priests celebrate mass. Jim McDade, who is a former family doctor, said the children were at risk because they inhaled the carcinogenic smoke produced when incense is burnt close by.” (James Helm, “Irish minister links incense to cancer”, BBC, Aug. 22).
Archive for August, 2003
Midwives disappearing in NYC
New York City may soon be left with only a single independent center for natural childbirth: “The Brooklyn Birthing Center says its insurance company has stopped covering midwives, and a costlier new policy could push them out of the baby-birthing business as well. The news comes less than a week after the highly regarded Elizabeth Seton Childbearing Center, which delivers more than 400 babies a year, announced it will shut down its West 14th Street [Manhattan] birthing rooms on Sept. 1 because of malpractice insurance costs it says have quadrupled.” All three independent midwifery centers in New Jersey closed in recent years; one remains in the Bronx which receives federal funding and insurance. (Susan Edelman, “Midwife Strife Hits Moms in Brooklyn”, New York Post, Aug. 17; Dan Mangan, “Midwife Crisis”, New York Post, Aug. 12). And in Tallahassee, Fla., a doubling of insurance rates has contributed to the closing of Full Circle Women’s Health, a nonprofit midwifery agency whose efforts have been credited with helping reduce the county’s high rate of neonatal mortality. (Jeff Burlew, “Area midwifery agency closing after 20 years”, Tallahassee Democrat, Aug. 13)(more on obstetric liability)(& update Sept. 3, letter to the editor Sept. 18)
Welcome Phila., Denver, Okla., Jacksonville readers
We’re named among the weekly “Web Winners” picks of Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Reid Kanaley, who recommends us for “such class-action gems as the one in California demanding discounts for men on ‘ladies night.'” (Aug. 14). Vincent Carroll, writing in Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, predicts that the forthcoming Kobe Bryant trial is unlikely to resemble the atrocious O.J. Simpson trial, and quotes our editor on the question of jury selection and its abuse (“Spectacle of O.J. trial won’t repeat itself here”, Aug. 16).
“Senioritis” victim sues for college admission
Hillsborough, N.C.: “A Guilford County high school graduate who recorded a perfect SAT score is suing UNC Chapel Hill, alleging the school refused to admit him after his grade point average dropped. Mark Edmonson, a National Merit Scholarship finalist, scored a perfect 1,600 on his SAT last year, but his grade point average fell from 3.8 to 3.5 in his senior year at Northwest Guilford High School. … ‘His senior year grades are C’s, D’s and F’s,’ Ziko said [Thomas Ziko, a lawyer for the state].” (“Student who aced SAT sues UNC for denying entry”, Charlotte Observer, Aug. 20). An earlier acceptance letter from UNC had said, “We expect you to continue to achieve at the same level that enabled us to provide this offer of admission”. Edmonson’s family is beginning to talk about how the university didn’t sufficiently take into account the consequences of his having a disability, attention-deficit disorder (Eric Ferreri, “UNC admission rescission sparks suit”, Durham Herald-Sun, Aug. 19) (via “Begging to Differ”, Aug. 21; Kimberly Swygert at No. 2 Pencil also comments (Aug. 21)).
Meanwhile, as Joanne Jacobs notes, “Blair Hornstine, who sued her school district for $2.7 million for trying to name a co-valedictorian, has settled for $60,000, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. She’ll get $15,000; the rest will go to her lawyers.” (see Jul. 12 and links from there). Kimberly Swygert has more as does the Weekly Standard’s Jonathan Last (Aug. 20)(& letter to the editor, Sept. 18).
Doctor slang? Think twice
“The inventive language created by doctors the world over to insult their patients – or each other – is in danger of becoming extinct,” according to one expert. “The increasing rate of litigation means that there is a far higher chance that doctors will be asked in court to explain the exact meaning of NFN (Normal for Norfolk), FLK (Funny looking kid)”, CTD (Circling the Drain, expected to die soon) or GPO (Good for Parts Only). (“Doctor slang is a dying art”, BBC, Aug. 18; Roger Dobson, “Doctors issue warning over misuse of slang”, British Medical Journal, Aug. 16). MedPundit (Aug. 18) also weighs in, and an Iain Murray commenter has compiled EMS acronym slang. (& welcome Law.com readers)
Australia: “$300,000 payout for psychotic killer”
Updating our report of Oct. 16-17: “A man acquitted of murder because he was psychotic has won a $300,000 payout after suing a hospital for negligently releasing him into the community.” (Louise Milligan, The Australian, Aug. 20). Supreme Court Justice Michael Adams “found Hunter Area Health Service and a psychiatric registrar had breached their duty of care by failing to detain [Kevin Presland] in Newcastle’s James Fletcher psychiatric hospital.” After Presland’s release he brutally murdered his prospective sister-in-law, Kelley-Anne Laws. Justice Adams “noted that while it was generally unacceptable for someone to recover damages where they had committed a crime, in this case ‘he was insane at the time of the killing and innocent of any crime'”. The murder victim’s mother “was devastated at yesterday’s judgement. ‘Don’t give it to him,’ said Christine Laws. ‘Put it back into the mental health system to help people … It was his choice to take marijuana, his choice to drink — nobody else’s. No one made him do it, yet the system sees fit to pay him. I can’t understand the law.'” (Leonie Lamont and Miguel Holland, “Judge awards woman’s insane killer $300,000”, Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 20).
Fen-phen: the defense strikes back
“Plaintiff lawyers have squeezed Wyeth for billions over its faulty weight-loss drugs. Now the company is pushing back with allegations of greed and wrongdoing.” The drug maker, which has paid out $13 billion since Redux and Pondimin were pulled off the market in 1997, thinks it can refute a huge portion of the 153,000 pending claims. “They’re out to humiliate the plaintiff bar and its expert doctors by handing their evidence over to law enforcement officials and medical licensing boards.” Meanwhile, plaintiff’s lawyers are fighting bitterly among themselves over charges of inadequate class representation as well as poor case-screening (Robert Lenzner and Rob Wherry, “Bad Medicine”, Forbes, Sept. 1; Kelly Pedone, “Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Want Fen-Phen Class Counsel Tossed”, Texas Lawyer, Aug. 18)(see Sept. 27-29, 2002; May 30-Jun. 1, 2003).
U.K.: safety signs, second ropes for rock climbers?
Sounds like an April Fool’s joke, but it’s the wrong time of year dept.: “Because of a bizarre decision by the Health and Safety Executive — that a European Union directive designed to promote safety on building sites must be applied to rock climbers — British mountaineers will have to endanger their lives by fixing two separate ropes up rock faces instead of one. It will also be necessary to fix safety notices on mountains to warn climbers when they are approaching icy or snow-covered surfaces.” The move is said to have dismayed Britain’s leading climbing and mountaineering organizations. (Christopher Booker, “Notebook: HSE has no head for heights”, Daily Telegraph (UK), Aug. 17)(and see Jul. 23, Jun. 30).
Mississippi ripples
Continuing fallout from the Mississippi scandal: “State Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. and two former judges are under indictment for loans guaranteed or paid off by Gulf Coast trial lawyer Paul Minor, but they are not the only ones to receive such help from Minor.” State Chief Justice Ed Pittman, for example, benefited from a $40,000 loan guarantee. (Jerry Mitchell, “Loan to chief justice cited”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Aug. 17). “Pascagoula lawyer Dickie Scruggs said he guaranteed an $80,000 loan to state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. in his 2000 runoff,” saying it was necessary to keep business interests from buying the court (“Tobacco lawyer: Influence not factor in funding help”, Aug. 17; Jack Elliott, Jr., “Scruggs defends Diaz, Tuck loans”, AP/Biloxi Sun-Herald, Aug. 15)(see Jul. 27 and links from there).
Well, that didn’t take long
A law firm “announced today that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County, Ohio on behalf of all persons and entities residing in the United States who lost electrical power during the massive energy blackout that began on August 14, 2003.” (PR Newswire/Yahoo, Aug. 18). “The Great Blackout of 2003 is sure to generate countless lawsuits aimed at holding someone liable for the massive economic losses it caused – but experts said yesterday the only ones cashing in may be the lawyers.” (William Neuman, “Only Lawyers To Get a $$ Surge From Big Losses”, New York Post, Aug. 16; Adam Liptak, “Plaintiffs Face Hurdles Proving Liability”, New York Times, Aug. 15)(more on law firm Cauley Geller: Stephen Taub, “The Suing Game”, CFO.com, Jun. 15, 2001; Wesley Brown, “Predatory Law Firms Hover as Company Woes Are Made Public”, Northwest Arkansas Morning News, Dec. 23, 2001 (PDF first, second pages)).