“An elderly Pennsylvania husband and wife are being asked to pay their deceased adult son’s medical bills under a law making family members responsible for a loved one’s unpaid bills. The case is a reminder that such ‘filial responsibility’ laws may go both ways – requiring parents to pay the debts of adult children as well as the children to pay for their parents’.” 28 states have laws obliging adult children to pay the nursing home and medical bills of their parents or more rarely, as in this story, vice versa. The filial-responsibility laws have not been much enforced, “but lately states and health care providers have started taking a second look at them to recover medical expenses.” [Elder Law Answers; Paul Muschick, Allentown Morning Call]
Archive for March, 2015
Update: Sixth Circuit green-lights “Raging Bitch” ale
Frederick, Md.’s Flying Dog Brewery, represented by attorney and friend of this site Alan Gura, prevails at the Sixth Circuit over Michigan effort to ban name of its “Raging Bitch” ale [Flying Dog, earlier]
Eight plaintiffs file 61 percent of ADA lawsuits in Pennsylvania
Just because your mobility is limited doesn’t mean you can’t really get around, lawsuit-wise [Jim Boyle, Legal NewsLine]
“Study Confirms That E-Cigarettes Generate Virtually No Toxins”
Maybe I’m too cynical, but it always struck me that in proposals to ban vaping the supposed risks to bystanders were just a pretext anyway. “A new study of leading American and British brands, reported in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, confirms [earlier reports of low sidestream exposures], finding that the levels of potentially problematic substances in e-cigarette aerosol [reaching nearby persons] are about the same as those detected in ambient air.” [Jacob Sullum; recent ban in Montgomery County, Maryland]
Police and community roundup
- Noting statistical disparities, DoJ blames evils of Ferguson, Mo. policing on racism, conservatives push back [Dara Lind/Vox, Peter Kirsanow, IBD] Many of same trends in policing and incarceration found in cities where voters, elected officials and police forces are black-majority [Reihan Salam]
- “Resisting arrest” when there are no other charges against you: an odd crime may soon get odder if New York lawmakers yield to demands that it be made a felony [Scott Greenfield]
- Interview with former Virginia Attorney General and corrections reformer Mark Earley [Chase Madar, American Conservative]
- “How to Address Anger Over Shootings By Police? Hide Cops’ Names, Of Course!” [J.D. Tuccille; New York Times (“In many jurisdictions, including New York State, simply determining the names of officers involved in fatal shootings can be a struggle.”), earlier Virginia]
- Did Detroit really do itself a favor with its massive crackdown on noncompliant businesses? [Scott Beyer, Governing]
- “Governors Highlight Criminal Justice Reform in State of State Addresses” [ALEC “American Legislator”]
- Minnesota bill would bar police agencies from investigating own officer-involved shootings [KMSP via Radley Balko]
The trouble with “cultural patrimony”
One of the problems with shipping all great antiquities and works of historical significance back to their lands of origin, as some demand, is becoming clearer in the Middle East, as Islamic State authorities destroy the Assyrian heritage site at Nimrud along with thousands of rare texts from the Mosul library and seemingly whatever other remains of pre-Solomonic and religiously disapproved civilizations their bulldozers and torches can reach. [New York Times]
New book on silicone breast implant litigation affair
A new book by Dr. Jack Fisher revisits the silicone breast implant litigation fiasco, a tale often mentioned in this space, including the FDA’s role [Josh Bloom, Science20 via ACSH]
“Woman seeks $100,000 from Portland restaurant for rude service”
“A woman dining alone on Valentine’s Day has filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the Northeast Portland restaurant she tried to eat at claiming they were rude and upset her.” She is representing herself. [Oregonian]
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“How Are Small Banks Faring under Dodd-Frank?”
New Cato Research Briefs in Economic Policy No. 20 takes up a question often raised in this space before [Hester Peirce, Ian Robinson, and Thomas Stratmann, Cato]