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February 09, 2012

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Tassimo Recalls Coffee Brewers, Espresso Pads

Jury Finds Dallas Officers Deprived Man of his Civil Rights with False Arrest

BP Said to Seek Settlement of Spill Claims

City Settles Suit; Cameras Down in 2 Months

BP Wins Exclusion of Emails from Oil Spill Trial

Insurer to Consider Proposed Settlement

Lawsuit Filed Over Denial of Senior's Home Care

New Lawsuit Filed Against Catholic Church in Mont

Suit Filed Over Necklace's Claims of Health Benefits

Pain Doctor Faces Allegations of Improper Pain Pill Prescriptions, Witness Intimidation

5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Torts

Fort Worth Court of Appeals: Torts

Study: Many Doctors Hide the Truth About Medical Errors

 

 

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Products

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Tassimo Recalls Coffee Brewers, Espresso Pads

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The coffee brewer company Tassimo has issued a recall of more than 5.7 million brewers and espresso pads after the Consumer Product Safety Commission received reports that consumers were burned by the hot liquid. The agency said at least 160 people have reported being burned, and that some were hospitalized. The coffee makers were sold from June 2008 through February of this year.  Barbara Goldberg, Reuters  02/09/2012

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Laws/Cases

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Jury Finds Dallas Officers Deprived Man of his Civil Rights with False Arrest

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A federal jury ordered two Dallas police officers to pay a total of $169,000 to a man who spent 10 months locked up on false charges. A civil jury found that Senior Cpl. David Nevitt and Officer Jerry Dodd maliciously prosecuted and violated the constitutional rights of Thomas Hannon by hiding the existence of a video that showed he did not possess a bag containing drugs and a gun.  JASON TRAHAN , The Dallas Morning News  02/04/2012

Read Article: The Dallas Morning News    

 

BP Said to Seek Settlement of Spill Claims

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BP is negotiating with U.S. officials to settle pollution claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that may leave the company liable for as much as $17.6 billion in fines, a person familiar with the talks said. The government cited the energy company with violations of the federal Clean Water Act for the offshore spill, the biggest in U.S. history. Officials are seeking fines of as much as $4,300 for each of the 4.1 million barrels spilled after the explosion of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig.  Bloomberg, Houston Chronicle  02/09/2012

Read Article: Houston Chronicle    

 

City Settles Suit; Cameras Down in 2 Months

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Houston City Council approved a payout of at least $4.8 million Wednesday to settle a lawsuit and take down Houston's controversial red-light cameras, finally ending a legal battle that began after voters banned the devices in a referendum 15 months ago. The cameras were turned off and outlawed by council in August but have remained mounted at 50 intersections while the city's camera vendor pursued breach of contract claims in federal court.  Chris Moran, Houston Chronicle  02/09/2012

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BP Wins Exclusion of Emails from Oil Spill Trial

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BP won a court order keeping several potentially damaging emails out of a scheduled trial to determine responsibility for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan in New Orleans came a day after U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier rejected the oil company's effort to keep evidence about settlements it had already reached out of the trial. The rulings came as Barbier prepares to preside on February 27 over a non-jury trial to assign blame for the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.  Reuters, Yahoo News  02/09/2012

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Insurer to Consider Proposed Settlement

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Louisiana's property insurer of last resort will consider a proposed settlement Thursday in a dispute over slow handling of hurricane claims from 2005. Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. faces about $104 million in payouts to about 18,500 policyholders. State courts have rejected appeals by the insurer - and plaintiff attorneys seized company money to pay the judgment.  Associated Press, Yahoo News  02/09/2012

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Lawsuit Filed Over Denial of Senior's Home Care

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A lawsuit contends that a health insurer ran a scheme to avoid paying in-home care claims for potentially thousands of California's elderly. Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, or SHIP, had a claims process "designed to frustrate and confuse policyholders with needless demands for irrelevant information" in violation of its own policies and California law, according to the suit filed Tuesday in San Bernardino County Superior Court by the group Consumer Watchdog.  Associated Press, Chicago Tribune  02/09/2012

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New Lawsuit Filed Against Catholic Church in Mont

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Ten people filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming they were sexually abused as children by Roman Catholic priests and nuns in central and eastern Montana, including a priest who was on a board that reviews allegations of child sex abuse for the church. It is the fourth sex-abuse lawsuit filed against the Catholic church in Montana since last year and the second against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings  Associated Press, NECN  02/09/2012

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Suit Filed Over Necklace's Claims of Health Benefits

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A lawsuit has been filed against a sporting company over alleged misrepresentations of the health benefits of wearing one of the company's necklaces. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, says the product claims to "increase energy and focus and reduce fatigue and stress," but actually has no health benefits. The suit accuses the company of false marketing and misrepresentation of the product.  Mark Morris, Kansas City Star  02/07/2012

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Healthcare

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Pain Doctor Faces Allegations of Improper Pain Pill Prescriptions, Witness Intimidation

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A Corpus Christi pain doctor is facing allegations from the state medical board that he and his staff improperly prescribed pain pills to 16 patients, including one who died of an OxyContin overdose, and others with histories of substance abuse. The Texas Medical Board in January filed a complaint against Dr. Ryan Potter of Comprehensive Pain Management, alleging that he prescribed pills without documenting patients' needs, failed to recognize signs of possible abuse and continued to prescribe medication despite such signs of abuse.  Rhiannon Meyers, Michelle Villarreal, Corpus Christi Caller Times  02/09/2012

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TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES

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5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Torts

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The plaintiffs sued for damages allegedly sustained in a car accident. Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment on liability was granted and a jury trial was conducted on damages, resulting in a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs for $38,500. Plaintiffs claim the district court should have granted their motion for new trial. In Louisiana, the diagnoses and opinions of a treating physician are entitled to more weight than are those of doctors who examined the plaintiff only for litigation purposes. The presumption does not give a treating physician unlimited credibility. The judgment is affirmed. Fair v. Allen, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-30467, 02-03-2012.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  02/09/2012

Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)    

 

Fort Worth Court of Appeals: Torts

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The appellant appeals from the trial court's dismissal of her defamation claims against the appellees on jurisdictional grounds. Jurisdiction is determined using a minimum contacts analysis; whether the defendants could ultimately be liable in the suit is irrelevant. The trial court's order is affirmed. George v. Deardorff, Fort Worth Court of Appeals, No. 02-11-00173-CV, 02-02-2012.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  02/09/2012

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Studies/Reports

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Study: Many Doctors Hide the Truth About Medical Errors

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In a nationwide survey of 1,800 physicians, 17 percent had some level of disagreement with the notion that they should "never tell a patient something that is not true." Not only that, but 11 percent of those surveyed acknowledged that they had told a patient "something that was not true" in the past year. The survey, led by Lisa Iezzoni, director of the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, didn't ask doctors for specifics about the type of untruths they told. But at least some of them were probably more than just spin _ in another question, 55 percent of doctors acknowledged they had "described a patient's prognosis in a more positive manner than warranted."  McClatchy, New Orleans Times-Picayune  02/09/2012

Read Article: New Orleans Times-Picayune    


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