New Hampshire News

A judge has granted a request to remove Citgo from a New Hampshire lawsuit accusing the oil company and another petroleum giant of failing to warn state officials about the gasoline additive MTBE.

The state of New Hampshire is launching its case against two major oil companies in what is expected to be the longest and most complex trial in state history.

New Hampshire Supreme Court affirms malpractice screening panels In 2007, New Hampshire established an expert-panel system for use in medical malpractice lawsuits in order to cut back on frivolous suits and speed up resolution of cases. This system was recently challenged as unconstitutional, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court just handed down a decision upholding the use of such panels.

New Hampshire reached a $35 million settlement with Shell Oil Co. and Sunoco Inc. of a lawsuit over claims that the gasoline refiners and manufacturers used chemicals that contaminated groundwater.

A lawyer seeking a class-action lawsuit against Exeter Hospital in connection with the hepatitis C outbreak said his client list has grown to 169 people, including 11 former Exeter patients who have tested positive for the virus.

Tuesday was a big day for Philip Morris USA Inc. in litigation over light cigarettes. On Tuesday the New Hampshire Supreme Court threw out a rare class certification in a case brought on behalf of state residents who bought Marlboro Lights. On the same day the company tried to persuade a judge in Madison County, Ill., not to reinstate a $10 billion jury verdict that the Illinois Supreme Court overturned in 2005.

Altria Group Inc. (MO)’s Philip Morris unit won’t have to face a group lawsuit by New Hampshire smokers who claim the company misled them on the safety of so-called light cigarettes, the state’s highest court said.

As the legislator who took almost a month redrafting the state’s new “early offer” law to ensure that it provided a fair and beneficial opportunity to injured New Hampshire citizens, I believe some of the questions are due to the new law’s complexity and to not understanding the policy decisions made when drafting the law.

Look northeast, docs: Late last month, over a veto from Democratic Gov. John Lynch, New Hampshire lawmakers enacted an “early offer” system for medical-malpractice claims that could become a national model — much to the chagrin of trial lawyers everywhere.

The House of Representatives has joined the Senate and voted to override the Governor John Lynch's veto of legislation that would set up an "early offer" alternative to medical malpractice claims.