AAJ: Delay in Provision Targeting Medicaid Clients | Message from Linda Lipsen, AAJ CEO "We have achieved a two-year delay on a provision included in the recently enacted Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) that was harmful to Medicaid plaintiffs. The provision would enable a state to claim all of a Medicaid client’s settlement or judgment." Click on the headline to learn more. |
911 Dispatcher's Mistake Results in Lawsuit | 
| A lawsuit has been filed over an August 2013 incident in which a Hartford, Conn. dispatcher and two police officers mixed up the location of a shooting victim. The dispatcher gave the officers the wrong address after a call reported shots being fired and after being rerouted to the correct location, the officers did not see the victim, who was not found until one day later. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, names as defendants the two officers, the dispatcher, the police chief, the city of Hartford and the city's former head of telecommunications.
Christine Dempsey, The Hartford Courant 04/01/2014    | Read Article: The Hartford Courant |
Nevada Sees Class-Action Health Coverage Lawsuit |
| A Las Vegas man who has had trouble getting health coverage has become a co-plaintiff in the first class action lawsuit filed over the Nevada's insurance marketplace. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Nevada and alleges that numerous people across the state have paid for but not received health coverage. The lawsuit names as defendants the state of Nevada, Xerox and the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, which runs Nevada Health Link.
Jennifer Robison, Las Vegas Review Journal 04/01/2014 | Read Article: Las Vegas Review Journal |
Ex-Astro Says Police Ruined Pitching Career |
| Brandon Backe's once-promising career as an Astros pitcher took him to the World Series in 2005, but in 2009 his skill had deserted him and he was in constant pain. Backe, 35, blames the sudden downward spiral of his career on a beating by Galveston police officers in October 2008. Backe and 11 others say they were brutally beaten when more than 30 Galveston police officers burst into a wedding party at the H2O outdoor bar. Police say the accusations are exaggerated and any force used was justified.
Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle 04/02/2014 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
A Dallas Anesthesiologist Admits He Texted, Used Facebook During a Deadly Surgery | | Mary Roseann Milne, 61, checked into Medical City Dallas on April 13, 2011 for an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat. The procedure, an AV node ablation, is routine, at least as far as heart surgeries go, but something went wrong. Ten hours after her surgery began, Milne was pronounced dead. The family has filed a medical malpractice suit against Medical City and two individual doctors involved in the procedure: surgeon Dr. Robert Rinkenberger and anesthesiologist Dr. Christopher Spillers. It's set to go before a Dallas County jury in September. One of the claims the jury will decide is whether Milne was a victim of "distracted doctoring" on the part of Spillers. According to the family's attorney, depositions in the case provide a clear window into the roles personal technology and social media can play in the operating room.
Eric Nicholson, Dallas Observer 04/02/2014 | Read Article: Dallas Observer |
13 GM Traffic Deaths Are Tied to a 57-Cent Part |
| The fix for a faulty ignition switch linked to 13 traffic deaths would have cost just 57 cents, members of Congress said Tuesday as they demanded answers from General Motors' new CEO on why the automaker took 10 years to recall cars with the defect. At a hearing on Capitol Hill before a House subcommittee, GM's Mary Barra acknowledged that the company took too long to act. She promised changes at GM that would prevent such a lapse from happening again. But as relatives of the crash victims looked on intently, she admitted that she didn't know why it took years for the dangerous defect to be announced. And she deflected many questions about what went wrong, saying an internal investigation is under way.
TOM KRISHER and DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP, Houston Chronicle 04/02/2014 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
Chrysler Recalling 870,000 SUVs for Brake Defect |
| Chrysler is recalling nearly 870,000 SUVs because corrosion may make the vehicles' brakes harder to use. Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs from the 2011 through 2014 model years are involved. Chrysler says crimp joints in the brake boosters can corrode if they're exposed to water. If the water freezes, the boosters won't aid braking as they usually do.
Associated Press, Houston Chronicle 04/02/2014 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
Report: Vacant Texas Federal Judgeships Languish |
| Ten federal judgeships have sat vacant in Texas for an average of nearly two years, creating a backlog of more than 12,000 cases, according to a report by two progressive advocacy groups that blame the problem on the state's U.S. senators. The report, given to The Associated Press notes that only six judges have been appointed to U.S. District Court vacancies in Texas under Obama — and none since Cruz took office in January 2013. By contrast, 17 such vacancies had been filled by this point in Republican President George W. Bush's second term, when Cornyn and Cruz's predecessor, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, were in office.
WILL WEISSERT, AP, Austin American Statesman 04/02/2014 | Read Article: Austin American Statesman |
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