Health Law

Happy Meals Banned in San Francisco, Targeted in Upcoming Lawsuit

Happy Meals are on the hot seat. A new San Francisco law bans restaurants from giving away free toys with unhealthy restaurant meals for children—a law that takes aim at McDonald’s Happy Meals. It’s the first major U.S. city to crack down on the toys and the second California jurisdiction…

Nov 3, 2010 2:18 PM CDT

Human Rights Group to Sue in UK in Effort to Prevent Export of Drug for Use in US Inmate’s Execution

In an effort to prevent, or at least postpone, the execution of a U.S. prison inmate on death row, a London-based human rights group says it has filed or will file suit in the United Kingdom to try to force a ban on the export from Britain of a scarce…

Nov 2, 2010 6:40 PM CDT

Lawyer with Alzheimer’s Diagnosed When His Wife Discovered Unpaid Bills

By the time Arthur Packel’s wife realized he had Alzheimer’s disease, the now-retired lawyer had stopped paying their bills for some time. And she couldn’t figure out what he had done with much of the money, reports the New York Times. Now Renee Packel, 75, works as a receptionist to…

Nov 1, 2010 11:37 PM CDT

Lawyer Rating Service Avvo Expands to Include Doctors

The controversial lawyer ratings website Avvo has taken on a new challenge. Today Avvo announced that it has launched a doctor-ratings directory that will offer information on physicians’ backgrounds, experience and disciplinary records. Avvo already rates lawyers on a 1-to-10 scale and includes their disciplinary sanctions. “Yes, it’s true,” Avvo…

Nov 1, 2010 4:38 PM CDT

It Feels Good to Share

Lawyers go online to tell their stories about surviving breast cancer

Nov 1, 2010 8:35 AM CDT

Law Prof: Entire Supreme Court Should Decide Recusal Due to Activist Wife

A Northwestern University law professor notes that Justice Clarence Thomas may find himself in a controversial position when the health-care reform issue reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, most likely in 2012. Thomas’ wife, Virginia Thomas, is a leading opponent of health care reform legislation that passed this spring, law professor…

Oct 28, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Mom of Disabled Law Student Gets Evidence, Wins Rehearing by Camping at Justice Ministry for 1 Year

Law student Antonio Meño Ortega didn’t like the way his nose looked. So he had cosmetic surgery two decades ago that left him in a coma after he was accidentally deprived of oxygen. To this day, 21 years later, he has never received any damages award for the injury because…

Oct 27, 2010 8:25 PM CDT

Dentists Sue Blogger, Say She Reneged on Deal to Pay Her Bill with Write-Up; But Later Withdraw Suit

Updated: Well-known mommy blogger Lyss Stern agreed to write a puff piece for an advertising supplement for the New York Observer to pay off a nearly $45,000 dental bill, then reneged on the deal, contends a New York lawsuit filed by a dental firm. Lowenberg & Lituchy DDS said in…

Oct 25, 2010 6:14 PM CDT

More Gov’t Regulations Prompt More Litigation For In-House Counsel

In-house counsel predict an imminent boost in litigation as government regulations continue to tighten. The legal departments at banking, health care and energy companies are especially preparing for the legal fallout from recent health-care reform legislation and the overhauled financial services industry, the Blog of Legal Times reports. One-third of…

Oct 15, 2010 7:00 PM CDT

Federal Judge Green-Lights Challenge to Health Care Reform Act

A federal judge in Florida has given the green light to a challenge by 20 states of the recent health care reform legislation backed by the Obama administration. However, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson yesterday dismissed a number of claims in the Northern District of Florida case even as he…

Oct 15, 2010 10:00 AM CDT

Dozens Arrested in $100M Medicare Case Bust; Doctor & Patient IDs Allegedly Stolen

Developing: Perhaps 100 people have been arrested in California, Georgia, Ohio, New Mexico and New York, in a record-breaking Medicare fraud case that allegedly involved $100 million in bogus billings and the use of stolen doctor and patient identities. Some 40 individuals were arrested in New York alone and an…

Oct 13, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

Allergan to Pay $375M in Criminal Case Over Off-Label Marketing of Botox

A federal judge in Atlanta yesterday okayed a $375 million settlement of a criminal case by Allergan Inc. concerning the company’s marketing of Botox drug for off-label purposes not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although Allergan denies wrongdoing, aside from one misdemeanor count over its marketing of…

Oct 6, 2010 5:05 PM CDT

Petition Asks Wisconsin High Court to Adopt Civil Gideon Rule

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is being asked to adopt a rule that would provide free lawyers to some civil litigants. The proposed rule would require free representation to protect poor litigants’ rights to “basic human needs,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Cases where the rule would apply involve food, shelter,…

Oct 1, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

‘Caffeine Intoxication’ Is a Recognized Mental Disorder

Initial defense claims of caffeine-induced insanity and a caffeine-induced false confession were abandoned before a Kentucky jury had a chance to determine their validity in the murder trial of Woody Will Smith. But caffeine intoxication is a recognized mental disorder, reports Time magazine. According to the latest version of the…

Sep 23, 2010 6:43 PM CDT

11th Circuit Must Decide: Did Lawyer with TB Plead a Sufficient Case Against CDC?

A lawyer who found himself at the center of an international furor after traveling with what was originally publicly proclaimed to be a highly contagious form of tuberculosis is fighting to revive a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alleging that the CDC violated his privacy by…

Sep 15, 2010 7:07 PM CDT