Health Law

Hard-Hit By Katrina, La. Hospital Workers Revised Health Rules

When the power failed at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit four years ago, overworked physicians and staff isolated for days in the sweltering building without adequate supplies had to decide for themselves how to handle an emergency that was virtually unprecedented in the history of…

Aug 27, 2009 9:00 PM CDT

Michael Jackson’s Death a Homicide

After weeks of speculation and media reports based on leaked information, it’s now official: Michael Jackson’s death on June 25 was a homicide, caused by a lethal amount of the intravenous anesthetic propofol, reports the Los Angeles Times. However, the Associated Press, citing an unidentified source, says the Los Angeles…

Aug 24, 2009 8:50 PM CDT

Is Michelle Obama More Powerful than Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Forbes Says Yes

What do Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor have in common with the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the general counsel of Pfizer? All are among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to Forbes magazine. The magazine ranked Ginsburg the 48th most powerful woman, Sotomayor…

Aug 24, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

Va. Tech Gunman Never Treated Despite Court Order, Mental Health Records Show

Mental health records released today for the gunman who massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in April 2007 before killing himself show that he was never treated by the school’s counseling center despite multiple “triage” evaluations and a court order requiring that Seung-Hui Cho receive treatment. The records had been…

Aug 19, 2009 11:21 PM CDT

Addicted Surgical Technician May Have Infected at Least 23 Patients With Hepatitis

Addicted to a powerful painkiller, Kristen Diane Parker admittedly stole fentanyl from empty operating rooms at the Denver, Colo., hospital in which she worked. But by substituting syringes of saline solution for syringes of fentanyl, the 26-year-old surgical technician didn’t just put patients at risk of inadequately treated pain, according…

Aug 17, 2009 6:56 PM CDT

Surgeon Who Kept Bullet from Suspect Gets Probation

The trauma center chief at Tampa General Hospital in Florida pleaded no contest today to two misdemeanor charges concerning a bullet he removed from a suspect during surgery in April. Dr. David Ciesla, 42, will get two years of probation and be required to perform 100 hours of community service…

Aug 17, 2009 6:07 PM CDT

Dick Armey Leaves DLA Piper, Cites ‘Load of Guff’ Over FreedomWorks

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey has resigned from DLA Piper because of controversy over his association with a group opposing health reform. Armey says he is resigning because of critics who wrongly linked his work at the nonprofit group FreedomWorks to his work at DLA Piper, the National Law…

Aug 17, 2009 3:04 PM CDT

1st Cir. Revives ‘Civil Action’ Lawyer’s Whistle-Blower Suit Against J&J

A federal appeals court has revived a whistle-blower suit against a major pharmaceutical company concerning the marketing of its anti-anemia drug Procrit. The Medicare fraud suit brought against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ortho Biotech, by former pharmaceutical sales representatives potentially could result in a multibillion-dollar damages award, according…

Aug 13, 2009 9:53 PM CDT

Stanford Law Prof Dies from Bike Accident Injuries

A professor emeritus who taught at Stanford Law School since 1969 has died from injuries he suffered in a July 14 bike accident. John Barton wrote the undergraduate textbook International Arms Control, considered the standard, the Mercury News reports. He died at the age of 72 from brain injuries suffered…

Aug 7, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

4th Cir. Upholds Jury Verdict for McGuireWoods in FMLA Case

An attorney working as a legal secretary at McGuireWoods lost at trial and has now lost again on appeal in a case alleging that the law firm retaliated against her for asserting her right to take family medical leave to care for her ailing mother and libeled her after she…

Aug 6, 2009 11:31 PM CDT

Wyeth Paid for Articles Promoting Use of Company’s Hormone-Replacement Drugs

Evidence unsealed last month in a complex federal case against a drug manufacturer shows that Wyeth paid for at least 40 ghostwritten articles in medical journals promoting the use of replacement hormones in menopausal women. The practice of publishing ghostwritten articles is controversial, because bioethicists say it obscures the connection…

Aug 6, 2009 10:25 PM CDT

Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Police About Pittsburgh Health Club Shooter’s Website?

A law firm systems analyst described in detail his troubled thoughts on at least one one website before going on a fatal shooting rampage at a suburban Pittsburgh health club this week that may have been triggered by his apparent anger at being rejected by women. So why didn’t anyone…

Aug 6, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

ABA Supports Universal Access to Health Care #ABAChicago

The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates today approved a resolution calling for access to quality health care for all Americans, regardless of income. It passed on an overwhelming voice vote, and no one spoke in opposition to the measure. The ABA has been on record since 1972 as being in…

Aug 4, 2009 2:28 PM CDT

Biting Back at Obesity

The Big Apple’s calorie-counting law is staying on the menu

Aug 2, 2009 1:50 AM CDT

‘No Idea’ When Jackson Autopsy Will Be Released, as Medical Probe Expands

Public release of the result of Michael Jackson’s autopsy is being delayed indefinitely by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, as an investigation of the medical personnel who treated the renowned pop singer before his June 25 death expands. Assistant chief Ed Winter of the coroner’s office says he has…

Jul 31, 2009 5:41 PM CDT