Announcements | 
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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 |
TTLA E-Clips Blog |
| TTLA E-Clips: The exact same publication you receive daily by email. You can check our site at your convenience or subscribe to our RSS feed. |
TTLA News Rapids Blog |
| Streams of news feeding into a river of information. Read the top news stories, the latest reports from advocacy groups and government agencies. You can check our site at your convenience or subscribe to our RSS feed. |
Laws/Cases |
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Suit Over Towels Left in Abdomen Settled |
| An Ohio man has been awarded $275,000 in a lawsuit against the federal government over two towels left inside him by doctors at a Veterans Administration hospital during a surgery. The plaintiff complained of stomach pains days after his kidney operation and a CAT scan revealed the two towels. As a result, the VA Medical Center in Cleveland, where the operation occurred, has purchased new equipment to better track surgical devices. Douglas Stanglin, USA Today 12/14/2011 | Read Article: USA Today |
Suit: Therapy Dog Denied Residence with Student |
| A student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney has filed a lawsuit against the school for denying her request to keep a therapy dog in her university apartment. The student, who has a psychological disability, uses the dog as part of her therapy, but the suit claims the university doesn't recognize therapy dogs under their policy for service animals in school buildings. The lawsuit said school officials called the dog a pet, despite medical documentation of the plaintiff's condition and the role the dog played in her treatment. Allie Grasgreen, USA Today 12/13/2011 | Read Article: USA Today |
Medtronic Agrees to Pay $23.5M to Settle Kickback Allegations |
| Medtronic Inc., the world’s largest maker of medical devices, has agreed to pay $23.5 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks to doctors to implant its pacemakers and defibrillators, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday. The government alleged that Medtronic caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid by using two post-market studies and two device registries as vehicles to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors. Associated Press, The Washington Post 12/14/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Federal Judge Dismisses Suit by Troops Who Allege Rape |
| A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by more than a dozen current and former service members who say they were raped and abused by their comrades. The suit was filed in February and named former defense secretaries Robert Gates and Donald H. Rumsfeld. Those who filed the suit said they wanted to force the Pentagon to change how it handles such cases. They say there is an atmosphere in the military conducive of rape and assaults. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Va., says in an order dated Dec. 9 that the current and former troops don’t have a right to sue under the law they cited. Associated Press, The Washington Post 12/14/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Victims of Ex-basketball Assistant Fine Sue Syracuse, Boeheim for defamation |
| Two men sued Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim and the school for defamation Tuesday, saying they were vilified as liars out for money after they accused his longtime assistant of molesting them. Former Syracuse ball boys Bobby Davis and Mike Lang said they were molested by Bernie Fine, who has since been fired and has denied the allegations. A third man also has accused the 65-year-old Fine, who had been Boeheim’s top assistant since 1976. Associated Press, The Washington Post 12/14/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Cameron Asks Court to Derail February BP Gulf Spill Trial |
| Cameron International Corp. asked a federal appeals court to derail a trial set for February to determine which companies should be blamed for the 2010 BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Cameron, which made the blow-out prevention equipment used for the Macondo well, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans to throw out the existing trial plan and rule that claims against the company should be tried before a jury. U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier, who is overseeing much of the spill litigation, has scheduled a nonjury trial for Feb. 27 in New Orleans to determine liability and apportion fault. Margaret Cronin Fisk and Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg 12/14/2011 | Read Article: Bloomberg |
Issues |
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Doctors' Legal Remedies Can Defeat Online Attacks |
| Reviews by patients have become common as blogs and review websites proliferate on the Internet. But doctors are seeking legal remedies to battle alleged online libel and defamation. Taking legal action against Internet posters is not always ideal, legal experts say. However, doctors who do so should be aware of how best to navigate the judicial process. Before claiming defamation, physicians should understand its meaning. Though gray areas exist, defamation generally is a statement that can be proven true or false, said Enrico Schaefer, an Internet defamation and copyright attorney who founded the law firm Traverse Legal PLC in California. Alicia Gallegos, American Medical News 12/14/2011 | Read Article: American Medical News |
More Texas Teens Die in Traffic Wrecks |
| More teenagers in Texas die in traffic accidents than in any other state. According to a report just released by Allstate, 556 teens lost their lives on Texas roadways in 2009. The report also said Texas needs to strengthen its teen driving laws. A lot has changed throughout the last 10 years when it comes to teen driving laws in Texas. Erin Cargile, KXAN Austin News 12/14/2011 | Read Article: KXAN Austin News |
NTSB: Ban Use of Cellphones While Driving |
| Texting, emailing or using a cellphone while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere, federal safety investigators declared Tuesday, recommending that all states impose a ban except for emergencies. Inspired by recent deadly crashes — including one in which a teenager sent or received 11 text messages in 11 minutes before an accident — the recommendation would apply even to hands-free devices, a much stricter rule than any current state law. The unanimous recommendation by the five-member National Transportation Safety Board would make an exception for devices deemed to aid driver safety such as GPS navigation systems. Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News 12/14/2011 | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
Insurance |
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