The plaintiff, who had been prescribed Zoloft and Ambien, “reportedly fell asleep while ‘inspecting’ his gun” and shot himself inadvertently on waking. He “is now suing his doctor for medical malpractice, saying that prescribing both an anti-depressant and a sleep aid together deviated from accepted standards of medical care. He has a separate product liability claim pending against the drug manufacturers.” [New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance, FindACase]
Susan Saladoff documentary “Hot Coffee” at Sundance
At Abnormal Use, Nick Farr brings some scrutiny to what’s looking like the big trial-bar media venture of the season.
P.S. And a follow-up that really stands on its own as a resource: “The Stella Liebeck McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case FAQ“
Jump in world prices raises specter of food riots
Now why again do we subsidize the making of corn into ethanol at great cost? [Kenneth Anderson, Opinio Juris]
“The Facebook deal moves offshore”
“Do we really want to exclude Americans from investing in high-flying American companies?” [Larry Ribstein, Truth on the Market]
January 24 roundup
- Trouble with hunting bad/burdensome regulations: most of them have entrenched advocates [NY Times] “Obama — the Great Deregulator?” [Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe]. Earlier here and here;
- Now we find out: tax hikes on outsourcing in 9/11 compensation bill infuriate India, were never vetted by Hill tax panels [PoL; more on Easter eggs in bill] Law firm that advertises for 9/11 dust clients is fan of Sen. Gillibrand [Stoll]
- France will stop censoring some historical images of smokers in ads [NY Times]
- “2010: The Year of the Angry, Company-Suing Plaintiff” [WSJ Law Blog] “The most sued companies in America” [Fox Business, counting federal-court suits only]
- Death by drunk driving: As bad as purposeful murder? Worse? [Greenfield]
- EPA gets specific on its plans to advance “environmental justice,” combat disparate racial impact in project siting, etc. [WLF, Popeo, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
- Winners of Chamber’s “Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010” competition [US Chamber ILR]
- “If the FCC had regulated the Internet” [Jack Shafer, Slate]
“Even if it’s a 15-year-old, we hold 15-year-olds to certain levels of responsibility.”
Headline: “Teen hit with own golf ball sues for millions.” The youth was using a Hillsboro, Ore. driving range in the rain and his ball ricocheted off a metal awning post back into his face. [KATU]
N.Y.: “Senator Alesi Sues Couple that Declined to Press Charges Against Him”
“State Senator Jim Alesi fell off a ladder and broke his leg at someone else’s unfinished home three years ago – and now he’s blaming the homeowners for his injury. Alesi is also suing the home builder, Louis DiRisio.” Alesi has said he was checking out the development and didn’t realize the house in question, which he entered through an unlocked basement door, had already been sold to owners. The homeowners’ right to sue Alesi for trespassing has now expired under the statute of limitations, and they may be rethinking their decision not to press charges at the time. [WHAM, WHEC, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle] Update: he drops suit.
Canadian court: alcoholism following accident is compensable injury
After a pedestrian was hit by a truck and suffered a broken elbow and other injuries, he began to drink excessively and developed clinical alcoholism with serious health consequences. Doctors testified that the man’s “pain and mood” following the injury contributed to this development, in combination with genetic predisposition (both his parents were alcoholics). A judge in the province of British Columbia found that the “alcohol abuse was caused by the Accident and that such alcohol abuse was reasonably foreseeable,” so that compensation for it could be recovered as part of the lawsuit. [BC Injury Law]
February 10 deadline for CPSIA testing rules
Already postponed in their effect more than once, the testing rules required by the 2008 law are still impractical enough to threaten widespread business disruptions and closures. While the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission has come to agree that the law does not require endlessly reduplicative testing of the same components, “the hoped-for market for ‘CPSIA tested and certified’ components has not yet developed.” CPSC needs to extend the deadline while awaiting a more workable regulatory fix or better yet Congressional reconsideration. Carter Wood explains.
More: on the brighter side, the newly constituted House Energy and Commerce committee was quick out of the gate with a public meeting on CPSIA reform [Rick Woldenberg, statement, reminder of unhelpful role of “consumer” groups] And Wacky Hermit offers a CPSIA Primer.
PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGE from Elise Bake, Der Ball Der Tiere (“The Animals’ Ball”, German, 1891), courtesy ChildrensLibrary.org.
“Yes, you should be fired for that Facebook post”
Suzanne Lucas takes a position that may be unpopular but, as I argue at Cato at Liberty, has much logic to it.