2nd Mom Sues Pa. County Claiming Newborn Taken Due to What She Ate: Poppy Seeds in Salad, This Time

A second mom has sued a Pennsylvania county and a local hospital, saying that her newborn was taken from her after she tested positive for opiates due to having eaten poppy seeds in ordinary food. This time, says plaintiff Eileen Ann Bower, it was poppy seeds in salad dressing she…

Jul 18, 2011 6:48 PM CDT

New Secondhand-Smoke Frontier Focuses on Shared Residential Buildings

Smoking has been banned in a number of public places and worksites. But, although individuals also have a right to live smoke-free in their own homes, if they wish, there’s no comparable law prohibiting smoking in residential buildings, the New York Post reported. And that’s creating work for a number…

Jul 14, 2011 6:17 PM CDT

If a Patient Has a Cold, Why Does a Doc Need to Know About Guns, a Federal Judge Wonders

Physicians fighting a Florida law that restricts them from asking all patients about guns or dropping a patient simply because he or she has a firearm could be facing an uphill legal battle. During a court hearing today on a lawsuit filed by several physician groups, an assistant attorney general…

Jul 13, 2011 10:11 PM CDT

Extremely Obese Kids Should Be Placed in Foster Care, Lawyer Argues in JAMA

Updated: Children who are extremely obese and in dangerously poor health should be placed in temporary foster care, a physician and a lawyer argue in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The commentary says foster care is more ethical than obesity surgery because long-term effects of the operation in…

Jul 13, 2011 12:39 PM CDT

UCLA to Pay Feds $865K to Settle Celebrity Medical Records Snooping Probe

The UCLA Health System has agreed to pay $856,500 to federal regulators as part of a settlement of a probe of snooping into celebrities’ medical records by hospital employees between 2005 and 2009. Employees at all three of its hospitals allegedly accessed celebrities’ medical records, in violation of their privacy,…

Jul 8, 2011 1:29 PM CDT

9th Circuit Stays Court Order Forcing Meds on Suspect in Shooting of Giffords and Chief Judge Roll

Granting an emergency motion by the suspect in a Tucson, Ariz., mass shooting spree early this year, a federal appeals court has ordered prison officials not to forcibly administer anti-psychotic medication to defendant Jared Loughner until the matter is finally decided. Loughner’s lawyers have argued that he was not given…

Jul 5, 2011 8:11 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Launches Medical-Legal Partnership to Aid Low-Income Families

Starting on its home turf in Arkansas, but with plans to expand the program, Wal-Mart’s legal department is providing free legal services for patients at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The medical-legal partnership is being touted as the first such partnership between a large corporate legal department and a major hospital.…

Jul 5, 2011 12:41 PM CDT

Portugal’s Decision to Decriminalize Drugs and Treat Users as Addicts Is Having Positive Results

A decade after Portugal instituted reforms aimed at treating drug users rather than punishing them, health experts say the number of “problematic” drug users is way down. The number of people who repeatedly use hard drugs and the number intravenous users has fallen in half since the early 1990s, Joao…

Jul 5, 2011 9:52 AM CDT

Lawyer Known as Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases Is Representing Whitey Bulger

Corrected: Alleged mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger is being represented at public expense by a well-known Boston lawyer known for taking on difficult cases. He is J.W. Carney Jr., once dubbed the patron saint of hopeless cases, the Boston Globe reports. He has represented people charged with killing their children,…

Jul 1, 2011 4:28 PM CDT

Second Lives: For These Former Justices, Retirement Is No Day at the Beach

Jul 1, 2011 7:49 AM CDT

Whodunit? Kentucky Cops Probe Source of Leaked Abortion Opinion

Kentucky police are investigating a mystery involving a leaked Kentucky appeals opinion on minors’ abortion rights. The once-secret opinion allows minor girls from other states to ask Kentucky judges for permission to have abortions without their parents’ consent, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. The newspaper published a story about the decision…

Jun 29, 2011 11:35 AM CDT

Fastest-Growing Practice Areas? Health Care, Energy, Financial Services, Report Says

Seven different practice areas are showing growth in fees, billable hours, recruiting and hiring, according to the Robert Denney Associates Inc. consultancy. The Wayne, Pa., firm’s semiannual “What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession” report released this month identified these seven hot practice areas: health care; energy; financial…

Jun 27, 2011 6:30 PM CDT

Six States Ban Abortions After 20th Week, Raising Constitutional Issues

Six states have passed laws banning abortions after the 20th week of gestation in an apparent conflict with Roe v. Wade, but no one has challenged the legislation in court. The laws—passed in Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Alabama—are based on the theory that a fetus can feel pain…

Jun 27, 2011 12:14 PM CDT

Judge Grants Protective Order, Tells NM Man to Take Down Billboard Saying Girlfriend Had an Abortion

Apparently rejecting a New Mexico man’s arguments that he has a free-speech right to put up a billboard in Alamogordo’s main thoroughfare concerning his views on abortion, a state-court judge has issued a protective order telling him to remove it immediately. However, Greg Fultz, 35, feels strongly about his constitutional…

Jun 24, 2011 2:05 PM CDT

Patients Injured by Generic Drugs Can’t Sue over Labels, Supreme Court Says

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the makers of generic drugs cannot be sued for failing to carry an adequate warning of side effects. Generic drug makers are required to use the same labeling as their brand-name counterparts under federal regulations as interpreted by the Food and Drug Administration,…

Jun 23, 2011 5:18 PM CDT