Archive for January, 2004

More weblogs threatened with lawsuits

The widely discussed Luskin/Atrios affair last fall (see Oct. 30) was just the start, it seems, as far as webloggers being menaced with litigation over their sites’ contents. In November Justene Adamec of CalBlog (Nov. 14) received a demand letter from a lawyer for a telemarketing firm “threatening to sue me and ‘my agents’ for invasion of privacy, misrepresentation and interference with economic relations” because of critical discussion about the firm in readers’ comments at the site. See also Damnum Absque Injuria, Nov. 9 and Nov. 14 and Right on the Left Beach, Nov. 15 and Nov. 17, which have useful information on the workings of this particular telemarketing firm/directory publisher, Infotel by name. And last month Michael Airhart at Ex-Gay Watch (Dec. 23) received a letter from LightHouse World Evangelism, Inc. located in Rohnert Park, Calif., threatening a defamation suit over a post in which Airhart expressed decided doubt about the medical claims made by Pastor Matthew C. Manning, who has appeared on Pat Robertson’s broadcast “700 Club” to say that he was healed by faith from HIV/AIDS.

Asbestos: send in the prosecutors?

Prof. Lester Brickman of Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, a noted legal ethicist and the leading academic critic of the asbestos litigation, has a devastating new 137-page article out in the Pepperdine Law Review. His contention: mass attorney solicitation of claimants has combined with willfully unreliable medical screening and witness-coaching by law firms to generate hundreds of thousands of fundamentally fraudulent claims which are obtaining unjustified payouts in the billions and even tens of billions of dollars. The only likely catalyst for reform at this point, he argues, would be a full investigation by a grand jury armed with subpoena powers. (Stuart Taylor, Jr., Dec. 31; Paul Hampel, “Many asbestos suits are fraudulent, professor says”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 13). The article, not online but available to those with LEXIS access or in law libraries, is Lester Brickman, “On the Theory Class’s Theories of Asbestos Litigation: The Disconnect Between Scholarship and Reality”, 31 Pepp. L. Rev. 33. For our coverage of asbestos, see, e.g., Nov. 12, Oct. 24, Sept. 25, and earlier posts.

More medical privacy madness

More presumably unintended consequences (see Oct. 23, Nov. 9) of HIPAA, the new federal law menacing institutions with $10,000 fines for releasing too much information about patients:

* “When Arkansas announced three flu deaths among its 2.8 million residents on Dec. 5 … it wouldn’t say whether the victims were young [despite intense public interest in whether this year’s flu was killing otherwise healthy children]. After consultation with its lawyers, it added only that the deaths involved adults in any of a dozen or so high-risk groups. In Iowa, state doctors wouldn’t list the hometown of a 1-year-old who died of the flu and wouldn’t say how long the child was ill, when it died or whether it had had a flu shot. It also wouldn’t say whether the child was boy or a girl.” (“Ark. Limits Info Regarding Flu Deaths”, AP/ABCNews.com, Dec. 30).

* Volunteer groups bringing holiday toys, teddy bears, and brownies to Quad Cities hospital wards are sometimes being told to leave the items with hospital staffs rather than visit the wards, and Santa Claus can make an appearance only if a separate guardian’s consent is obtained for each hospitalized child, according to the Moline Dispatch (Kurt Allemeier and Tory Brecht, “Privacy concerns limit Santa?s hospital visits”, Dec. 25; also see Martha Irvine, “How gifts can overwhelm children’s hospitals”, AP/Boston Globe, Dec. 25).

* And after Joynal Abedin became a victim of a fatal hit-and-run in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Adelphi, Md., his family did not learn of his fate for two weeks until it received a $17,000 bill from Washington Hospital Center in the mail; the hospital’s fear of medical privacy breaches was one factor contributing to the delay. (Yolanda Woodlee, “Hospital Bill Is Family’s Only Clue”, Washington Post, Jan. 20)

Edwards’ persuasive powers

Having long taken an interest in the career of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (see Sept. 16, Aug. 27 (talk about bad predictions!), Aug. 5, earlier posts), we are not entirely surprised that the silver-tongued trial lawyer/politician did so well among Iowa Democrats, not to mention charming such commentators as Mickey Kaus (scroll to second “P.P.S.” item) and Andrew Sullivan (second item). As we’ve had occasion to note, before entering politics Sen. Edwards had some of his greatest success representing families of kids with cerebral palsy against the doctors who’d allegedly botched their deliveries — this despite a steadily mounting pile of research (see Feb. 27, 2003) tending to refute the popular theory that cerebral palsy is commonly caused by obstetricians’ conduct during labor and delivery. Last March, in a letter to the editor printed at this site, Mississippi physician S.W. Bondurant wondered whether the press would look into the question of whether Edwards’s trial wins were based on sound science. Now reporter Marc Morano of the conservative CNSNews.com takes on that assignment (“Did ‘Junk Science’ Make John Edwards Rich?”, CNSNews.com, Jan. 20). Just to clarify my own views, which are quoted at some length: I don’t assert that every lawsuit blaming obstetricians for infant brain damage is unfounded. The problem is that our system gives wide leeway for cases of debatable scientific merit to be filed and then, after a battle of the hired experts, decided by appeals to jury emotion. (& welcome visitors from sites including Kaus (Jan. 20), Sullivan, MedPundit, Rangel M.D., Blog 702, MedRants, and many others)

Bad-teacher removal: consensus now complete?

As Joanne Jacobs puts it, remarkable and refreshing: “The New York City teachers’ union proposed yesterday cutting to six months the time it takes to remove incompetent teachers, speeding up a process that can now drag on for years.

“As part of a broad overhaul of the disciplinary process and evaluation system for teachers, the union president, Randi Weingarten, also called for ending so-called rubber rooms, where more than 200 teachers facing charges of malfeasance are sent to languish, some for years, while still receiving full pay. She proposed the appointment of a special master and a task force of pro bono lawyers to clear the backlog of cases.” (David Herszenhorn, “Failing City Teachers Face a Faster Ax”, New York Times, Jan. 15) (more)

My crow’s offed

A 17-year-old “computer geek” in Victoria, B.C. named Mike Rowe thought it would be fun to name his website design company MikeRoweSoft. Then he heard from lawyers for the world’s largest computer company, informing him he was committing copyright infringement. “I didn’t think they would get all their high-priced lawyers to come after me,” Rowe said. (“Mike may be Rowe, but ‘soft’ is trouble”, AP/Seattle Times, Jan. 19; “Microsoft won’t go soft on Mike Rowe”, CP/London (Ont.) Free Press, Jan. 19). Update Jan. 27: parties settle dispute.

“Junk mail ‘did not damage dachshund'”

Updating our Jan. 4 entry: “A [British] couple have lost a court case in which they claimed their dog had been partially paralysed jumping for a Safeway leaflet left hanging in their letterbox.” Retired company director Gordon Musselwhite and his wife Susan of Yealmpton, Devon “claimed ?2,906 in vets bills and legal expenses as a result of the alleged incident” but the grocery company, which is unrelated to the Safeway chain in the U.S., prevailed in a small claims court in Plymouth: “I do not find a suspended leaflet equates to negligence,” said the judge. (Ananova, Jan. 19)

Canadian snow plowers

Not so rugged North dept.: Snow removal contractors across Canada are struggling with rapidly rising liability insurance premiums. “Rates for snowplowers have gone up about 500 per cent over the past two years,” said Rocco Scarano, a broker with Dynes Insurance Brokers in Richmond Hill. The reason, say those involved, is the growing willingness of claimants to blame the contractors for slip-fall incidents. “Slip and falls are anathema to the snowplowing industry because everybody thinks they should get 30 grand for a slip and fall. These settlements individually aren’t huge, but cumulatively, they’re hugely costly,” said Catherine Swift of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (“Slip-and-fall lawsuits on the rise”, Canadian Press/CTV, Jan. 19)

“Compensation battles inflict new wounds on 9/11 families”

“The million-dollar federal payments that Congress designed to help the nearly 3,000 families of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have sparked feuds within hundreds of the families.” Stepfamilies, domestic partners, and surprise claimants asserting previously unsuspected overseas marital or blood relationships have all gotten into bitter disputes. Understatement alert: “When money is involved, there’s even more incentive to come forward,” says a NYC court official. (Martin Kasindorf, USA Today, Jan. 19). See Sept. 11.

“Library cat” trial set to begin soon

Welcome San Diego Union Tribune readers: trial is set to begin Jan. 26 in Richard Espinosa’s lawsuit over the incident in which a cat who resided at the Escondido public library attacked Espinosa’s state certified assistance dog, who helps him control panic attacks. Espinosa wants $1.5 million. For our earlier coverage of the saga see May 7, 2001, Jun. 13, 2001 (letter from Espinosa), Dec. 4, 2001, and Apr. 15, 2002. (Dana Littlefield, “Court TV loses bid for cameras at cat trial”,(Jan. 16) (mentions this site)