Probe of Whitney Houston’s Death Likely to Look at Docs Who Prescribed Drugs to Her, Experts Say

Although it will be weeks before an official cause is established, authorities investigating the weekend death of renowned pop diva Whitney Houston, 48, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel are likely to look at whether medication prescribed by doctors played any role. She was reportedly found submerged in a bathtub. While…

Feb 14, 2012 11:46 PM CST

Tenn. Firm Taps Former Fulbright & Jaworski Health Care Partner to Head New DC Office

A 220-attorney law firm based in Tennessee is opening an office in Washington, D.C., with a former Fulbright & Jaworski health care partner at the helm. In addition to John Kelly, who was an assistant chief for health care fraud at the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division before heading into…

Feb 14, 2012 12:35 AM CST

Sanctions Sought for Law Firm Accused of Using Inadvertently Produced Info to Solicit New Clients

Counsel for some of the defendants in complex nationwide litigation concerning claimed defects in ASR hip implants marketed by a unit of Johnson & Johnson are asking a Georgia judge to sanction an Atlanta law firm. Childers Schlueter & Smith was already representing plaintiffs in some of the approximately 4,500…

Feb 13, 2012 9:30 PM CST

Justice Ginsburg: Roe v. Wade Decision Came Too Soon

The U.S. Supreme Court may have moved too quickly when it found a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Speaking at a Columbia Law School symposium on Friday, Ginsburg said the court could have delayed hearing the case while state law evolved…

Feb 13, 2012 12:29 PM CST

Did FDA Regulations Cause a Drop in America’s Transfat Levels?

Americans may be at less risk of heart attacks today because of labeling requirements by the Food and Drug Administration. A new study has found that transfat levels in the blood of white Americans dropped by 58 percent from 2000 to 2009, report the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal…

Feb 9, 2012 3:50 PM CST

Federal Judge in Texas Says Requiring Sonograms Before Abortions to Go Forward

A Texas federal judge ruled today that he would not block a state law requiring women to have a sonogram before having an abortion, following a directive by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the statute is constitutional. Previously U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks had…

Feb 6, 2012 10:59 PM CST

Resolution Supports Equal Access to Therapeutic Courts for Noncitizens

Therapeutic courts such as drug and domestic violence courts are effectively off limits to noncitizens, partly because the programs often require a conditional guilty plea that could result in deportation. A resolution addressing the issue was approved on Monday by the ABA House of Delegates. The resolution states that the…

Feb 6, 2012 4:57 PM CST

Scalia Denies Abortion Views Influenced by Religion, Calls His GPS Opinion ‘Defendant Friendly’

Updated: Justice Antonin Scalia doesn’t shy from controversy, even before a large crowd of ABA members. On Saturday during the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, Scalia answered questions posed by Boston University law dean emeritus Ronald Cass and then from the audience. Topics included abortion, religion, lawyer pay and…

Feb 5, 2012 12:03 AM CST

Sugar Is So Toxic It Should be Regulated Like Alcohol, Researchers Say

Elevated risks for heart disease, liver failure and obesity are among the claims researchers are making a bid for stricter government regulation of sugar. The toxicity of sugar to the human body and its detriment on society compares to alcohol and tobacco, according to a commentary in the current issue…

Feb 2, 2012 10:58 PM CST

HIV-Positive Man Gets Hearing on Failed Bid to Join Atlanta Police Force

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a man with HIV is entitled to a hearing on whether he can legally be denied a job as an Atlanta police officer because of his medical condition. A federal court had previously dismissed his suit seeking a hearing.…

Feb 2, 2012 5:09 PM CST

Med-Mal Lawyer Sees More Botched Plastic Surgeries; ‘Board Certified’ Can Be Misleading

Doctors in all but four states can call themselves “board-certified” without specifying the specialty. That caused confusion for a woman identified as “Joan,” who got a facelift and tummy tuck in 2010 from a board-certified doctor in Beverly Hills, Calif., the New York Times reports. Joan didn’t realize the physician…

Feb 1, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Is There a Conflict? Md. Hospitals Offer Injured Patients a List of Reduced-Fee Med-Mal Lawyers

The corporate parents of about two dozen hospitals in Maryland compile lists of medical malpractice lawyers willing to sue them and hand them out to injured patients. The doctors on the lists are willing to handle med-mal cases for a reduced contingency fee, often with the expectation of quick settlements,…

Feb 1, 2012 11:30 AM CST

Dissecting the Health Care Case: Election-Year Term Mirrors New Deal Era

Feb 1, 2012 9:20 AM CST

Suit Claims Tostitos and SunChips Aren’t Really ‘All Natural’

A New York man claims in a lawsuit that Tostitos and SunChips aren’t made with “all-natural ingredients” as touted because some of the corn and oils come from genetically modified plants. The suit, filed in federal court for the Eastern District of New York, seeks class action status, Reuters reports.…

Jan 31, 2012 1:21 PM CST

6 Staff Docs and Scientists Sue FDA Over Secret Gov’t Surveillance of Personal Gmail Accounts

Six doctors and scientists have sued the Food and Drug Administration after discovering that the agency snooped into their personal Gmail accounts, which the staffers accessed from their government computers. Government documents show that the secret surveillance took place, over a two-year period starting in January 2009, after the staffers…

Jan 30, 2012 11:27 PM CST