Among the many other effects of the new federal medical privacy law (see Oct. 23, Nov. 9, Jan. 21): clergy “now can look in on only those patients who have requested visits”. Result: if a longtime parishioner is admitted to the hospital unconscious, or just doesn’t realize that an affirmative request is required, the clergyman may be barred from entering the room to pray with or for them. “Before HIPAA, [Father Casey] Mahone said he could look at a list of Catholic patients and visit the ones he knew. ”People kind of had the mentality that they were going to be “discovered” by their priest in the hospital,’ he said. ‘If we didn’t find them, they were disappointed.'” “[Rev. Jack] Flint said he wanted to pray with a woman before she died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. ”But because (the hospital) couldn’t release her name, I was lost,’ he lamented. ‘I didn’t get to do that.’ Instead of his calling her family to pray at her bedside, her family called him to pray at her funeral.” (“Health privacy law hinders clergy visits at hospital”, AP/Morgantown, W.V. Dominion Post, Feb. 3). More: GruntDoc, Feb. 5 (and see reader comments).
Archive for February, 2004
Lerach to Forbes: just go away
Cover story in Forbes examines fissiparous but still pre-eminent class-action firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, with details about the investigations of the firm under way for the past two years before federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Among topics explored in the article: the firm’s relationships with repeat plaintiffs, with unions and with short sellers. Name partner Melvyn Weiss gets the cover photo; meanwhile, his West Coast counterpart William Lerach, “after initially responding to some questions from FORBES, refused to be interviewed and instructed in a terse e-mail: ‘Please don’t call, write or stop by ever again.'” (Robert Lenzner and Emily Lambert, “Mr. Class Action”, Forbes, Feb. 16)
Whiz, crash, sue
State police said 17-year-old Stephen Pappadake was doing 80 mph in a 30 mph zone one morning last April in Somers, N.Y. when he illegally passed several cars in a no-passing zone, lost control of his car, swerved to avoid another vehicle, and was killed in the resulting crash of his Honda sedan. “But a lawsuit filed this month in Putnam County Court seeks to place the blame for Pappadake’s death on the driver of one of the vehicles he passed. The suit, filed on behalf of Pappadake’s estate and his parents, Robert P. and Nancy Pappadake, names a Putnam Valley woman who allegedly drove a Jeep Cherokee that Pappadake passed as the cause of the fatal crash. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Mitchel H. Ashley of the Manhattan firm of Shandell, Blitz, Blitz and Bookson, makes no mention of the police finding that Pappadake was speeding and passing cars illegally before the fatal crash. Instead, it blames Putnam Valley residents Christina Swartzwelder, who was driving the Jeep, and John Swartzwelder, who owns it.” (Terry Corcoran, “Fatal crash prompts lawsuit”, New York Journal News (Westchester County, N.Y.), Feb. 1)
27-hour billable day…
…draws ire in Oz. (Michael Pelly, “Lawyer’s 27-hour day fuels calls to set legal bills to rights”, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 4).
Radio Wed. a.m.
Tomorrow (Wed.) morning at 7:30 a.m. EST I’m scheduled to be a guest on Jim Blasingame’s national radio program, “Small Business Advocate“, discussing my latest book, The Rule of Lawyers (more on host/book).
And the answer is, “Goldman Sachs”
The question is, “Which is the odd name out in a list of John Edwards’ top ten contributors?” The other nine names on the list are all in the attorney line of work, but one of them — Hartford’s Robinson & Cole — could also be considered an odd name out, since it doesn’t specialize in plaintiff’s litigation (Greg Gordon, “Lawyers top Edwards’ list of supporters”, Sacramento Bee, Feb. 1).
The Chicago Sun-Times, meanwhile, finds that Edwards isn’t the only candidate drawing heavy backing from Chicago’s personal-injury bar. While big-league tort lawyers Phil Corboy and Tom Demetrio are backing Edwards, for example, Robert Clifford is supporting Kerry. “I have maxed out [donating] to Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt — those are the three I really favored,” said Gene Pavalon. “Kerry and Edwards are my two friends, and they’re friends, and it’s going well for both of them,” said Joe Power. “They’re both consumer-oriented individuals who many trial lawyers have helped.” (Abdon Pallasch, “Edwards among top lawyers, but not all elite attorneys here back him”, Feb. 3)(more on Edwards’ fund-raising: Jan. 23 and links from there, Jan. 27)
Dad-blamed paternity laws
“When the government accuses you of fathering a child, no matter how flimsy the evidence, you are one month away from having your life wrecked.” What if you’ve got DNA evidence conclusively proving you aren’t the dad? Sorry, but that won’t necessarily help. “The system aimed at catching ‘deadbeat dads’ illustrates how a noble-sounding effort to help children and taxpayers can trample the rights of innocent people.” (Matt Welch, “Injustice by Default”, Feb.)(see Aug. 7-8, 2001; May 22, 2000).
“Lawyers try new tacks in malpractice suits”
Trial lawyers are finding new ways to transfer money from the pockets of doctors to attorneys. An Ohio jury voted 6-2 that Cleveland doctor Franklin Price was liable for $3.5 million because he didn’t do enough to help Lawrence Smith lose weight and stop smoking, and thus avoid a fatal heart attack. (Tanya Albert, “Jury says doctor didn’t do enough to help obese smoker”, American Medical News, May 12, 2003). In Florida, Miriam Kamin is about to go to trial in a lawsuit against Baptist Hospital of Miami not because they misperformed her pancreatic surgery, but because she feels that the hospital should have referred her to a hospital that performs the operation more often. And in Ohio and Texas, plaintiffs are trying to avoid medical malpractice caps by restating the claims as “corporate negligence.” (Tanya Albert, American Medical News, Feb. 9).
For Texas trial lawyers, revenge time
Throwing their weight around: “Across Houston and the state, plaintiffs’ attorneys are backing primary opponents to Democratic legislators who bucked the party last year and supported Proposition 12, part of a Republican-led effort to cap medical malpractice damages. … The Texas Trial Lawyers Association had no public comment. But one association member privately said trial lawyers intend to make it rough on legislators who oppose them.” Republicans aren’t safe either, with the chief author of the bill, Rep. Joe Nixon (R-Houston), facing a primary challenge from a plaintiff’s lawyer. (John Williams, “Alliances put heat on tort reformers”, Houston Chronicle, Jan. 31).
Update: jury rejects “Library Cat” suit
“It took a jury little more than two hours of deliberation Friday to reject a claim from a man that the city of Escondido violated his civil rights when a cat living in a city library attacked his assistance dog more than three years ago.” For our earlier coverage of Richard Espinosa’s suit, which had demanded $1.5 million, see Jan. 18 and links from there. (Teri Figueroa, North County Times, Jan. 30).