Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

“International monitors at US polling spots”

Great moments in international human rights: “United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups … Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week.” OSCE stands for “Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects.” [Alexander Bolton, The Hill]

More: Julian Ku writes that although the OSCE is transnational, it is not “U.N.-affiliated,” and notes that contrary to some speculation, the observers’ appearance was unrelated to a separate request to the U.N. by the NAACP asking it to regulate voting methods in the U.S.

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Italy: scientists sent to prison for faulty earthquake predictions

“Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L’Aquila. A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter. Prosecutors had said the defendants gave a falsely reassuring statement before the quake after studying tremors that had shaken the city.” [BBC, earlier] More: Orac.

Speaking of science and the Italian courts, Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a litigant claiming cellphone use caused his brain tumor; most authorities have found no such link [Telegraph]

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The foreign policy debate

A few selected tweets:

And about the last debate:

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Pharmaceutical roundup

  • False medical reports lead to echo-mill conviction [Drug and Device Law]
  • Leads for sale in mass tort cases: Actos $450, Yaz $400, Yazmin $400, Ocella $425 [Ron Miller]
  • Ninth Circuit: securities suit vs. pharmaceutical company can’t piggyback on allegations of flawed clinical trials [The Recorder]
  • Dubious management idea: subordinate policy/legislative advocacy to corporate social responsibility (CSR) department [Susan Crowley/PharmExec]
  • “Former Glaxo VP: ‘The Criminalization of the Practice of Law Is Here’” [WSJ interview with Lauren Stevens]
  • Given the state’s legal climate, does it really make sense for a big pharmco to retain its headquarters in Pennsylvania? [Ted Frank] Sounds rather appetizing actually: defendant J&J said to have run into Louisiana home cooking [Eric Alexander, D&D Law]
  • On the life-threatening shortages of sterile injectables [earlier here, etc.] here’s the official line of Margaret Hamburg’s FDA, as dutifully transcribed by the Times: if “nearly a third of the industry’s manufacturing capacity is off line because of quality issues,” it’s because that capacity had been operating in an recklessly unsafe manner, and it in no way reflects on the FDA’s stringent new GMP regulations on manufacturing processes, with which drug makers could easily comply were they not so inured to putting up with weevils, rust and urine on the production line. Note however this significant bit: “The shutdowns have contributed to a shortage of critical drugs, and [loosely state-regulated] compounding pharmacies have stepped into the gap as medical professionals scramble for alternative sources. But several serious health scares have been traced to compounding pharmacies in recent years,” including a deadly new meningitis outbreak. [Katie Thomas, NYT]

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New Orleans Saints class action

“A New Orleans Saints fan named David Mancina has filed a putative class action against Roger Goodell and the NFL, alleging that Goodell and the league’s suspension of Saints players entitles Mancina and other Saints fans to damages from (I am not making this up) ‘the diminishment in the value of their tickets; their personal emotional reaction to the unwarranted penalties inflicted on their beloved team, players, coaches, and executives; and the deliberate reduction of the competitive capability of the Saints due to the selective gutting of the critical components needed to justify the loyalty of Plaintiff and the class.'” [Howard Wasserman, Prawfs, who does not think much of the suit, headlining it “Today in Sanctionable Lawsuits”]

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NLRB and labor law roundup

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