Announcements | | | IRS Issues Regulations on Damages Received from Physical Injury or Sickness | | The IRS has released final regulations relating to the exclusion from gross income for amounts received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness. The final regulations in TD 9573 reflect amendments under the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 and affect taxpayers who have received damages on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness and taxpayers paying these damages. The regulations take effect on Jan. 23, 2012. They delete an earlier requirement that to qualify for exclusion from gross income, damages received from a legal suit, action, or settlement agreement must be based upon “tort or tort type rights.” The regulations provide, instead, that the Section 104(a)(2) exclusion may apply to damages recovered for a personal physical injury or physical sickness under a statute that does not provide for a broad range of remedies, and that the injury need not be defined as a tort. Source: Accounting Today. Click on headline to learn more. | Best Kept Trial Secrets: What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas | | Don't gamble with your cases. 48 hours in Vegas can change your practice forever! Join some of TTLA's battle-tested veterans and emerging superstars in Las Vegas for a CLE experience that'll change your luck in the courtroom. February 23-25, 2012, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, 8 hrs. MCLE w/ 1 hr. Ethics | Products | | | Lawsuit Seeks Records From Toyota Investigation | | Concerned that regulators are dismissing electronic problems in Toyota vehicles, an auto safety firm said Tuesday that it had sued the federal government to get records of its investigation into the unintended acceleration of a Prius last year. he freedom-of-information lawsuit by the firm, Safety Research and Strategies, said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was withholding documents and videos that may depict an acceleration incident caused by electronic systems in a Prius instead of the floor mats or pedals covered by Toyota recalls. The suit seeks transcripts, recordings, photographs and videotapes generated by a visit of two federal investigators to the home of a senior government official who had complained about sudden, unexplained acceleration of his own Prius. BILL VLASIC, The New York Times 01/25/2012 | Read Article: The New York Times | Laws/Cases | | | Lawsuit Seeking Documents in Prius Investigation | | The auto safety firm, Safety Research and Strategies, has filed a lawsuit against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for allegedly withholding documents and video on their investigation into unintended acceleration accidents by the Toyota Prius. The freedom-of-information lawsuit looks to "force the government to release internal records that could cast doubt on whether it sufficiently investigated possible electronic problems in Toyota vehicles," The New York Times reports. The firm is asking for transcripts, recordings, photographs and videotapes from the investigation. Bill Vlasic, The New York Times 01/24/2012 | Read Article: The New York Times | Sledding Injury Lawsuit Settled in Iowa | | The Sioux City, Iowa, city council has agreed to pay $487,632 to settle a lawsuit filed by a local man who was injured in a sledding accident in a nearby park. The man suffered spinal injuries and is paralyzed from the waist down after he slid into a parking sign in the park while on the sled. The settlement will also include $1.97 million from the insurance company and an additional $300,000 from a third party. Lynn Zerschling, Sioux City Journal 01/25/2012 | Read Article: Sioux City Journal | Teen's Suicide Prompts Suit Against School | | A Utah family has filed a lawsuit against a Salt Lake City school district over their son's 2010 suicide, allegedly caused by bullying. The lawsuit claims students at the school taunted, threatened and beat up the boy for years and that school officials did nothing to stop the bullying. The parents say the school should have offered "meaningful interventions" to the boy and his parents, but did nothing. The suit is seeking unspecified damages. Rosemary Winters, The Salt Lake Tribune 01/20/2012 | Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune | Five Penn. Doctors Accused of Defrauding Medicare | | A whistleblower lawsuit has been filed against five Pennsylvania cardiologists and a local medical center for allegedly defrauding Medicare. According to the suit, the doctors billed Medicare for "unnecessary angioplasty and other procedures." According to the suit, the defendants had twice the rate of intervention after catheterization compared to other local doctors. Larry Husten, Forbes 01/24/2012 | Read Article: Forbes | Healthcare | | | Hospitals Offer Patients Perks | | A growing number of hospitals are seeking to attract new patients and keep existing ones by offering them an array of perks, from free parking and gift-shop discounts to wellness seminars and health screenings. Some of the most popular programs are social mixers that have nothing to do with health care. It’s all part of a changing competitive environment in which hospitals market themselves directly to patients, who have begun to take a much more active role in choosing their health-care providers — and are on the hook for a greater share of the costs. Michelle Andrews, The Washington Post 01/25/2012 | Read Article: The Washington Post | | | | |