Medical Liability News

May 18, 2012

Plaintiffs Have No Standing to Sue Over Off-Label Drug Uses

Legal Intelligencer | May 18, 2012

Angela Montgomery failed to show that her doctor prescribed the medicine, Rebetol, because of Schering-Plough's marketing strategy, the Third Circuit held in its 35-page opinion in In re Schering-Plough . The New Jersey-based drug company pleaded guilty in 2007 to criminal charges related to its marketing of the drug and agreed to a $435 million settlement with the government. Montgomery's suit was one of many civil suits that followed and was consolidated into a class action to be transferred to Schering's home state.

Tags: Medical Liability

LETTER: Tort Reform Would Save on Defensive Care

Wall Street Journal | May 18, 2012

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has suggested that doctors use their authority "to educate people" about the benefits of the Obama administration's health-care law. This is an absurd position, in that the law makes no provision for tort reform.

Tags: Medical Liability

May 14, 2012

Medical malpractice lawsuits have dropped in state

Scranton Times-Tribune | May 14, 2012

Medical malpractice lawsuits in Pennsylvania have dropped by more than 40 percent for four consecutive years compared to the two years before two rules were changed by the state Supreme Court in 2003.

Tags: Medical Liability, Pennsylvania

OPINION: A new approach to medical liability

MassLive | May 14, 2012

Ask any patient or physician who has been a party to a medical malpractice lawsuit about the experience and you’ll likely hear negative responses from both sides: It was a long, emotional and stressful endeavor that disrupted personal and professional lives.

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May 9, 2012

Pa. med-mal filings slightly up from 2010, still way down since rules changes

Legal Newsline | May 9, 2012

A six-year decline in the amount of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania stopped in 2011.

Tags: Medical Liability, Pennsylvania

April 30, 2012

Illinois couple files Avandia mass tort claim in federal district court in Pa.

Pennsylvania Record | April 30, 2012

An Illinois couple has filed a product liability complaint in federal court in Philadelphia against drug maker Glaxosmithkline, alleging the defendant’s drug Avandia, used to treat diabetes, caused the wife to suffer a heart attack five years ago.

Tags: Class Action, Medical Liability, Pennsylvania

April 27, 2012

Court: Attorney’s file not subject to FOIA

Arkansas News Bureau | April 27, 2012

Documents that a law firm requested from a lawyer on the opposing side in a medical malpractice case are not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, the state Supreme Court ruled today.

Tags: Arkansas, Medical Liability

April 26, 2012

Phila. judge dismisses Aria Health System as a defendant in medical malpractice case

Pennsylvania Record | April 26, 2012

A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge on Tuesday granted a motion made by a defense attorney for an area health agency seeking to have his client dismissed as a defendant in a medical malpractice case.

Tags: Medical Liability

April 23, 2012

Mesh devices trigger wave of tort cases

National Law Journal | April 23, 2012

Manufacturers are fighting nearly 1,000 lawsuits.

Tags: Medical Liability

Opinion: Lawsuit respite: Ohio’s tort reform has curbed soaring malpractice costs

Columbus Dispatch | April 23, 2012

Tort reform signed into law in Ohio nine years ago has significantly reduced medical-malpractice suits and associated costs. This was the hoped-for result when Gov. Bob Taft signed Senate Bill 281; the law capped “pain and suffering” damages at $500,000 per occurrence.

Tags: Medical Liability, Ohio