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| | New study: Tort reform has not reduced health care costs in TX, Austin American Statesman 6-21-12 | |
| | New study: Tort reform has not reduced health care costs in Texas Austin American Statesman 6-21-12: A new study found no evidence that health care costs in Texas dipped after a 2003 constitutional amendment limited payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits, despite claims made to voters by some backers of tort reform. Access Will Tort Reform Bend the Cost Curve by Myungho Paik, Bernard S. Black, David A. Hyman, and Charles Silver. Click on the headline to access the article and the full study. | | Products | |
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| | FDA Questions Safety of Metal Hips | |
| | Metal hip replacements implanted in a half-million Americans may be failing earlier than expected, but it could be years before U.S. health regulators have a clear picture of the problem. The FDA holds a two-day meeting starting Wednesday to scrutinize the safety of metal-on-metal hip implants, following years of patient reports of pain and swelling that sometimes requires removal of the devices. It is a challenging, but familiar, predicament for the FDA: reviewing the safety of a device that was expected to be superior, but which may actually be more dangerous than what came before. Associated Press, The Washington Post 06/26/2012 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | In Documents on Pain Drug, Signs of Doubt and Deception | |
| | A research director for Pfizer was positively buoyant after reading that an important medical conference had just featured a study claiming that the new arthritis drug Celebrex was safer on the stomach than more established drugs. The truth was that Celebrex was no better at protecting the stomach from serious complications than other drugs. It appeared that way only because Pfizer and its partner, Pharmacia, presented the results from the first six months of a yearlong study rather than the whole thing. KATIE THOMAS, The New York Times 06/26/2012 | | Read Article: The New York Times | | J&J Sold Vaginal Mesh Implant After Sales Halt Ordered | |
| | Johnson & Johnson continued to sell a vaginal mesh implant for 9 months after regulators told the company to stop marketing the device, according to court records. The FDA told J&J on Aug. 24, 2007, to halt Gynecare Prolift sales until the agency decided whether the device was “substantially equivalent” to other products on the market. The FDA cleared the device in May 2008 without ordering sanctions, after nine months of negotiations with J&J’s Ethicon unit. The company faces more than 1,400 lawsuits by women who say the mesh caused organ perforation, pain, scarring and nerve damage. David Voreacos and Alex Nussbaum, Bloomberg 06/26/2012 | | Read Article: Bloomberg | | Laws/Cases | |
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| | Closed Captioning Suit Against Nexflix to Proceed | |
| | A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Netflix Inc. over the company's failure to provide closed captioning on all its streaming shows and movies. Without closed captioning, millions of deaf or hard-of-hearing people cannot take advantage of the service, a problem the lawsuit says is discriminatory. The judge dismissed Netflix's argument that its on-demand service shouldn't be considered under the American's with Disabilities Act. Dawn C. Chmielewski, LA Times 06/25/2012 | | Read Article: LA Times | | Virginia Stun Gun Suit Dismissed | |
| | A federal judge in Virginia has dismissed a stun-gun lawsuit against a Portsmouth police officer and other city and police officials. The lawsuit accused the officer of unlawfully shocking the plaintiff with a stun gun during an August 2009 arrest. In his ruling the judge wrote that while the officer may have acted in "poor judgment," it was unreasonable to believe the officer could have known his actions were "unlawful." Janie Bryant, Virginian Pilot 06/26/2012 | | Read Article: Virginian Pilot | | Issues | |
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| | States Consider Raising Fines for Distracted Driving | |
| | Growing concern over the continued use of cellphones by drivers has some states reviewing laws against the practice and exploring stiffer fines and harsher penalties. A 2010 study by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that current texting bans are not reducing the risk or amount of crashes. But some question whether tougher punishment is the answer. Shawn Ghuman, USA Today 06/26/2012 | | Read Article: USA Today | | Business Litigation | |
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| | One Suit Related to Madoff Ponzi Scheme Settled | |
| | Money manager Ezra Merkin will settle a $410 million lawsuit with the state of New York over accusations that he guided client funds to Bernard Madoff. The lawsuit accused Merkin of "recklessly" feeding billions from his funds to Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Under the settlement, $405 million will be paid out to the investors over a three-year period. Karen Freifeld, Chicago Tribune 06/24/2012 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune | |
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