Justinian Lane

Inter Alia on the Internet

Still catching up on the world, so pardon me if any of this is stale.

• The Pop Tort asks when Illinois will get honest reporting about the medical malpractice insurance “crisis.”  The Pop Tort also writes about another tort “reform” hypocrite – the guy from the Bush Administration suing over Swing Vote. 
• There’s a lot of coverage on a NYTimes article about hired expert witnesses in America.  Many in the “reform” community suggest that hired experts are biased and likely to give false testimony.  There may be some truth to that.  But if we’re against hired experts in the court, shouldn’t we also be skeptical of the hired experts who tell the FDA that a new drug is safe?  Commentary at: Law & Econ Prof Blawg,
• ““Tort reform” will mean a return to the bad old days when making a buck was all that mattered.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Speaking of the “bad old days,” check out my post   entitled, “How it was in the good old days - before greedy trial lawyers ruined America.” 

• Pharmaceuticals consider a doctor to be “fully engaged” when he or she often prescribes that pharmaceutical company’s drugs.  How do you get the doctor to “get off the fence” and become fully engaged?  Assign your sales reps to buddy up to the doctor, even though "most would say sticking to safety and efficacy studies rather than relying on emotional sales strategies is a more ethical option.”

• Speaking of pharmaceutical sales reps, their average salary is now up to $94k. 

• About damned time: Trial lawyers have won a lawsuit that bars a Las Vegas health club from charging women less than men.  This opens the door to prohibiting nightclubs that charge women less for entry or drinks.  In fact, there’s a lawsuit pending over a topless pool that charges men $50 to come in, and women $10.      

• In one survey, 94% of lawyers use Facebook and 46% use LinkedIn.  Well, TortDeform readers, what’s your social network of choice?  I’m on both and you’re all invited to “friend” me. 

• More about the beautiful beach in Illinois that’s been contaminated by asbestos thanks to one of the deadliest companies in history, Johns-Manville.  Interesting asbestos fact: Henry Johns (the Johns in Johns-Manville) died because of asbestos when he was only 40.

• Amerika the beautiful?  Residents in a small town in Arkansas are living under a 24-hour curfew, complete with assault-rifle-toting police who question citizens who dare to leave their houses. 

• Who files frivolous lawsuits?  Wealthy individuals and corporations. 

• Did “groupthink” contribute to the Las Vegas hepatitis C problem? 

• Did DuPont and the Governor of West Virginia “improperly collude” in an appeal of a $196 million punitive damages award? 

Posted at 11:55 AM, Aug 14, 2008 in Roundup | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)