Health Law

Mom of Disabled Law Student Gets Evidence, Wins Rehearing by Camping at Justice Ministry for 1 Year

Law student Antonio Meño Ortega didn’t like the way his nose looked. So he had cosmetic surgery two decades ago that left him in a coma after he was accidentally deprived of oxygen. To this day, 21 years later, he has never received any damages award for the injury because…

Oct 27, 2010 8:25 PM CDT

Dentists Sue Blogger, Say She Reneged on Deal to Pay Her Bill with Write-Up; But Later Withdraw Suit

Updated: Well-known mommy blogger Lyss Stern agreed to write a puff piece for an advertising supplement for the New York Observer to pay off a nearly $45,000 dental bill, then reneged on the deal, contends a New York lawsuit filed by a dental firm. Lowenberg & Lituchy DDS said in…

Oct 25, 2010 6:14 PM CDT

More Gov’t Regulations Prompt More Litigation For In-House Counsel

In-house counsel predict an imminent boost in litigation as government regulations continue to tighten. The legal departments at banking, health care and energy companies are especially preparing for the legal fallout from recent health-care reform legislation and the overhauled financial services industry, the Blog of Legal Times reports. One-third of…

Oct 15, 2010 7:00 PM CDT

Federal Judge Green-Lights Challenge to Health Care Reform Act

A federal judge in Florida has given the green light to a challenge by 20 states of the recent health care reform legislation backed by the Obama administration. However, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson yesterday dismissed a number of claims in the Northern District of Florida case even as he…

Oct 15, 2010 10:00 AM CDT

Dozens Arrested in $100M Medicare Case Bust; Doctor & Patient IDs Allegedly Stolen

Developing: Perhaps 100 people have been arrested in California, Georgia, Ohio, New Mexico and New York, in a record-breaking Medicare fraud case that allegedly involved $100 million in bogus billings and the use of stolen doctor and patient identities. Some 40 individuals were arrested in New York alone and an…

Oct 13, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

Allergan to Pay $375M in Criminal Case Over Off-Label Marketing of Botox

A federal judge in Atlanta yesterday okayed a $375 million settlement of a criminal case by Allergan Inc. concerning the company’s marketing of Botox drug for off-label purposes not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although Allergan denies wrongdoing, aside from one misdemeanor count over its marketing of…

Oct 6, 2010 5:05 PM CDT

Petition Asks Wisconsin High Court to Adopt Civil Gideon Rule

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is being asked to adopt a rule that would provide free lawyers to some civil litigants. The proposed rule would require free representation to protect poor litigants’ rights to “basic human needs,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Cases where the rule would apply involve food, shelter,…

Oct 1, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

‘Caffeine Intoxication’ Is a Recognized Mental Disorder

Initial defense claims of caffeine-induced insanity and a caffeine-induced false confession were abandoned before a Kentucky jury had a chance to determine their validity in the murder trial of Woody Will Smith. But caffeine intoxication is a recognized mental disorder, reports Time magazine. According to the latest version of the…

Sep 23, 2010 6:43 PM CDT

11th Circuit Must Decide: Did Lawyer with TB Plead a Sufficient Case Against CDC?

A lawyer who found himself at the center of an international furor after traveling with what was originally publicly proclaimed to be a highly contagious form of tuberculosis is fighting to revive a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alleging that the CDC violated his privacy by…

Sep 15, 2010 7:07 PM CDT

Federal Appeals Court Stays District Judge’s Ban on Stem Cell Research

In a three-paragraph order today, a federal appeals court has temporarily lifted a district judge’s preliminary ban on government funding of some research on stem cells from human embryos. By preserving the status quo for now, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., panel plans…

Sep 9, 2010 8:14 PM CDT

Woman Left Blind After Reaction to Pain Meds Wins $21M Verdict

A woman who says she was blinded and burned by a prescription pain medication has been awarded $21 million by a federal jury in New Hampshire. The plaintiff, Karen Bartlett, had claimed the anti-inflammatory drug sulindac had caused Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, skin diseases that can cause death,…

Sep 9, 2010 4:19 PM CDT

U of Iowa Law School Offers Free Web Course on Health Care Reform Act

In what may be a one-of-a-kind move, the University of Iowa College of Law is offering all comers the opportunity to attend a free online 14-week course on the nation’s new health care reform law. Already, nearly 500 people have reportedly expressed an interest in attending. The class will be…

Aug 26, 2010 11:10 PM CDT

Patient Rights Pitted Against Civil Rights in Nursing Home Bias Case

An Indiana patient rights law led one Indiana nursing home to go along with the wishes of a resident who specified she wanted only white caregivers. The law says patients can choose their “providers of services” and nursing homes must reasonably accommodate residents’ preferences, the Associated Press reports. Plainfield Healthcare…

Aug 25, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Judge Blocks White House Plan to Expand Stem Cell Research

Finding that a plan by the Obama administration to expand federally funded research using human embryonic stem cells likely is prohibited by a federal law banning the use of government funds for projects that destroy embryos, a federal judge today has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the plan. “This court…

Aug 23, 2010 10:25 PM CDT

Pregnant Woman’s Forced Bed Rest Order Reversed

A Florida appeals court has ruled 2-1 that a Tallahassee judge was wrong to forcibly hospitalize a pregnant woman. The 1st District Court of Appeal held that the ruling violated Samantha Burton’s right to refuse medical treatment, the Associated Press reports. Writing for the majority (PDF), District Judge Clark Nikki…

Aug 12, 2010 8:58 PM CDT