Announcements | 
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Volunteer to End Distracted Driving |
| The American Association for Justice and the non-profit group End Distracted Driving (EndDD) have teamed up to engage plaintiff’s lawyers in helping to spread the message about the dangers of distracted driving, and to get attorneys involved in the movement to end this dangerous practice. As April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, TTLA is encouraging our membership to get involved and become advocates for safer driving in our Texas communities. Please see the message below, and click on the links to find out how you can volunteer to help end distracted driving in Texas. Click on the headline to learn more. |
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Hospitals May Be the Worst Place to Stay When You're Sick |
| Today, more than a decade into the fight against medical errors, there's little reason to believe the risks have declined substantially for the 37 million people hospitalized each year. In fact, recent studies suggest a problem that's bigger and more complex than many had imagined. A report released in January on Medicare patients found that hospital staff did not report a whopping 86 percent of harms done to patients. If most errors that harm patients aren't even reported, they can never be tracked or corrected, the Health and Human Services Department report pointed out. This latest study built on an earlier HHS study of Medicare patients that found one in seven suffered serious or long-term injuries, or died, as a result of hospital care. Researchers said about 44 percent of the problems were preventable. Katharine Greider, AARP Bulletin 03/06/2012 | Read Article: AARP Bulletin |
Products |
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Infiniti Q45 Sedans Recalled Over Airbag Issues |
| Nissan has issued a recall of 1,349 Infiniti Q45 sedans, model years 2003-2005, due to potential problems with the front side airbags. Due to problems with the electrical wiring, the airbags may not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury. So far, the company has not received any reports of injuries associated with the recalled vehicles. Colin Bird, Chicago Tribune 03/05/2012 | Read Article: Chicago Tribune |
Psychiatric Prescriptions Under State Investigation |
| A Texas health agency has begun investigating more than three dozen healthcare providers who prescribed large quantities of powerful psychiatric drugs -- some to children -- after a U.S. senator raised questions about the medications. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has referred three providers to the attorney general for criminal prosecution, state Health Commissioner Thomas Suehs wrote to Sen. Charles Grassley last month. Some have been excluded from the Texas Medicaid program, including one convicted in a criminal case and another accused of inappropriate billing and coding of hours related to patient services. Darren Barbee, Star Telegram 03/06/2012 | Read Article: Star Telegram |
Laws/Cases |
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Supreme Court to Consider Wiping Out Foreigners’ Ability to Sue Over Rights Abuses Abroad |
| The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider eliminating the right of foreigners to use American courts to sue those they claim are responsible for human rights abuses abroad. In an unusual move, the justices put off a decision in a case they heard last week asking whether businesses could be sued under a 1789 law for their alleged complicity in war crimes, killings and other atrocities that take place in foreign countries. Instead, the court said it wants to explore the broader question of whether anyone — individuals or businesses — can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute for violations of international law that occur in other countries. Associated Press, The Washington Post 03/06/2012 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
9 More Men Claim Sexual Abused by Late Red Sox Clubhouse Manager |
| Nine more men are accusing a now-dead Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager of sexual abuse, including assaults at Fenway Park and Memorial Stadium, former home of the Baltimore Orioles. 11 men have now come forward to him to claim abuse by Donald Fitzpatrick between the 1960s and early 1990s. Ten of the men worked in their teens as clubhouse attendants, including eight who worked for the Red Sox and two for the Orioles. Another man says he was 12 when Fitzpatrick lured him to his Randolph home with promises of baseball memorabilia, then molested him. Associated Press, The Washington Post 03/06/2012 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Judge Frees Travelers From Big Payout for Manville Asbestos Creditors |
| A federal judge recently freed insurer Travelers from obligations to pay out $510 million in long-running litigation over asbestos liabilities in the three-decade-old bankruptcy of Johns Manville Corp. Under settlements struck nearly a decade ago, Travelers agreed to pay $445 million to individuals who said they were injured after being exposed to asbestos in Manville’s insulation and other building products. According to Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl last week ruled that Travelers doesn’t have to make these payments, or another $65 million in interest, because a condition of the deals wasn’t met. Jacqueline Palank, WSJ Blogs 03/06/2012 | Read Article: WSJ Blogs |
School District Settles Bullying Lawsuit |
| The largest public school district in Minnesota has settled a lawsuit filed by a group of current and former students who claimed they were harassed and attacked due to their sexual orientation, or perceived orientation. The $270,000 settlement comes a year after the suit's filing, which claimed the students were subjected to "daily anti-gay slurs" as well as physical attacks. One of the plaintiffs said the harassment led him to attempt suicide. David Bailey, Chicago Tribune 03/05/2012 | Read Article: Chicago Tribune |
Jury: Ford Not Responsible in Fatal Crash Lawsuit |
| A Missouri jury ruled that Ford Motor Co. does not owe damages in a suit filed over a crash that killed a state highway trooper and severely burned another man. In the case, lawyers for the plaintiff argued Ford knew that police vehicles involved in wrecks had the "propensity to catch fire in rear-end crashes." The jury sided with the defendant, who argued that the vehicle was designed with the highest standards, but that no "gas-powered vehicle is fireproof in such extreme collisions." Tony Rizzo, Kansas City Star 03/06/2012 | Read Article: Kansas City Star |
Issues |
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Teams Could Be Held Liable for Injuries Traced to Bounties |
| The New Orleans Saints will almost certainly receive fines, suspensions and/or the loss of draft picks because of the bounty system administered by the former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams that encouraged Saints players to injure opponents — and for the apparent cover-up by team officials that followed. But that could be just the beginning of their punishment. According to two sports law scholars, the team, Williams and individual players could be held liable in court if an opponent can prove that a member of the Saints injured him on a play that is outside the norm for football and that the Saints player acted with reckless disregard for the opponent’s safety. JUDY BATTISTA, The New York Times 03/06/2012 | Read Article: The New York Times |
Even Mild Concussions Can Cause Lingering Symptoms |
| Children with even relatively mild concussions can have persistent attention and memory problems a year after their injuries, according to a study that helps identify which kids may be most at risk for lingering symptoms. In most kids with these injuries, symptoms resolve within a few months but the study results suggest that problems may linger for up to about 20 percent, said study author Keith Owen Yeates, a neuropsychologist at Ohio State University's Center for Biobehaviorial Health. LINDSEY TANNER, AP, Yahoo News 03/06/2012 | Read Article: Yahoo News |
Pamela Yip: Lawsuits Soar Against Debt Collectors |
| Consumers aren’t ceding to debt collectors without a fight. The number of federal lawsuits filed against debt collectors in the Dallas-based Northern District of Texas has seen a steady increase since 2006 when 13 were filed. By 2009, that figure had risen to 49. They then jumped to 118 in 2010 and 134 last year.Complaints about debt collectors ranked second last year among total consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. Pamela Yip, The Dallas Morning News 03/06/2012 | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
Healthcare |
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Legal Risks of Going Paperless |
| Across the country, the move from paper to electronically stored health data is growing. Studies are mixed about how EMRs will impact liability for physicians. A 2010 survey by Conning Research and Consulting, an insurance industry research firm, found that most insurers believe medical claims will rise during the move from paper to electronic records. Lawsuits probably will decrease after an adjustment period, the study said. A report in the Nov. 18, 2010, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine said doctors should expect a varied landscape of liability risks and benefits as EMR adoption unfolds. Alicia Gallegos, American Medical News 03/06/2012 | Read Article: American Medical News |
Technology |
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How Do You Take to ‘Social’ out of Social Media in Jury Trials? |
| The rules have always been pretty straightforward: jurors aren’t allowed to do their own research and they shouldn’t communicate about the case they are hearing. But those seemingly simple instructions have gotten far more complicated in recent years. the Wall Street Journal reported on how the use of social media is disrupting the jury trial. While juror misbehavior is nothing new, social media have made it extremely easy—and tempting—to break the rules, and lawyers are increasingly using that as a reason for appeals, legal experts say. Joe Palazzolo, Blog, WSJ Blogs 03/06/2012 | Read Article: WSJ Blogs |
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