| Announcements | | 
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| | Escabedo Rapid Response Webcast July 29, 2011, 10:00am—Noon | |
| | In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in Haygood v. Garza de Escabedo, TTLA assembled a rapid response team to help you contend with the issues raised by the opinion. The CLE Committee, in conjunction with the Amicus Committee and other TTLA leaders, has put together a program on the subject. In addition to the live program, speakers have prepared possible forms for the future including 18.001 affadavits and depositions on written questions which have been modified in response to Escabedo. These will be available for download to all attendees. We'll be streaming live via the internet, so you can attend from your office. This program will be available via our CLE On-Demand tools at www.ttla.com on Monday, August 8. | | Products | |
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| | FDA: U.S. Drug Research Firm Faked Documents | |
| | Drug companies that had medicines tested by contractor Cetero Research might have to reevaluate results, U.S. regulators warned after the firm was found faking documents and manipulating samples. The FDA said two 2010 inspections, an internal company investigation and a third-party audit uncovered "significant instances of misconduct and violations" at a Cetero facility in Houston. Reuters, Reuters 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: Reuters | | Laws/Cases | |
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| | FL Court Accuses Ford Motor Co.of Hiding Deadly Acceleration Glitch | |
| | For the first time, a FL court has found validity in decades of complaints by drivers that faulty electronics can cause their cars to rocket out of control. In doing so, a 5th Circuit Court judge has accused Ford Motor Co. of hiding or destroying records of its own engineers' concerns about sudden acceleration caused by electronics — instead blaming accidents on drivers inadvertently hitting the gas pedal. The ruling this month by Senior Judge William Swigert reversed his jury's verdict on behalf of Ford 17 months ago. John Barry, St. Petersburg Times 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: St. Petersburg Times | | Debit-Card Overdraft Suit Wins Class-Action Status | |
| | Consumers who say they were wrongfully charged overdraft fees won class-action status Tuesday in their lawsuit against a San Francisco bank, the first in a series of cases pending against some of the nation’s largest financial institutions. The suit claims that Union Bank processed debit-card transactions from largest to smallest, rather than chronologically, to increase the risk that customers would overdraw their checking accounts. The case is part of multidistrict litigation, involving about 30 banks, that is before U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in the Southern District of Florida. Ylan Q. Mui, The Washington Post 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Mass Gun-Maker Agrees to Pay $600,000 | |
| | A Massachusetts gun-maker has agreed to pay nearly $600,000 to the families of one man who was killed and another man who was wounded in a shooting involving a gun allegedly stolen from the company, a national gun-control group announced Tuesday. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence announced the settlement in Washington, D.C., calling it the largest damages payment ever made by a gun manufacturer accused of negligence leading to the criminal use of a gun. Associated Press, The Washington Post 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Stem Cell Research Funding Lawsuit Tossed | |
| | A U.S. District Judge has tossed out a lawsuit against the Obama Administration that was attempting to halt the President's policy of giving funds to embryonic stem cell research. The judge said the administration could continue to fund the research because the research does not result in "a human embryo or embryos [being] destroyed." Those who opposed the funding object because "the cells were obtained from destroyed human embryos," USA TODAY reports. David Jackson, USA Today 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: USA Today | | Energy Company Settles Wages Lawsuit | |
| | Kinder Morgan and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners will pay almost $830,000 to settle a federal wage and labor lawsuit filed by more than 4,600 current and former employees. The lawsuit claimed the company "improperly rounded work hours in the company's favor and failed to pay employees at several locations who attended meetings before their shifts began." The settlement will affect workers in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota and Texas. L.M. Sixel, Houston Chronicle 07/26/2011 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | Judge Rules for Seguin Listeriosis Victim's Family | |
| | The family of an 81-year-old Seguin man who died of listeriosis during an outbreak last year was awarded a $1.1 million default judgment Tuesday against a San Antonio produce company. Hermilo Castellano Sr. died in June 2010. His was one of five listeriosis deaths in an outbreak investigated by state health officials, four linked to cut celery produced by Sangar Produce & Processing Co., which was ordered closed in October. At least 10 people in Bexar, Travis and Hidalgo counties were infected with listeria bacteria during the outbreak. Testing by the Texas Department of State Health Services conclusively linked nine to the company's celery, and cited Sangar for a number of deficiencies at its San Antonio plant. DON FINLEY, Houston Chronicle 07/25/2011 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES | |
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| | Dallas Court of Appeals: Health Law - health care liability claims | |
| | Appellee Veasna "Sandee" Sok sued Bioderm Skin Care LLC and Quan Nguyen MD, seeking to recover damages for burns she suffered during a laser hair removal procedure at Bioderm. Appellants contend the trial court erred in denying their motion to dismiss Sok's claims. Appellants argue those claims are health care liability claims as that term is defined in Chapter 74 of the civil practice and remedies code. Sok's claims are not health care liability claims. Sok was not required to serve expert reports pursuant to Chapter 74. The trial court's order denying appellants' motion to dismiss is affirmed. Bioderm Skin Care LLC v. Sok, Dallas Court of Appeals, No. 05-10-00044-CV, 06-28-2011. , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) 07/27/2011 | | Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) | |
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