Health Law

Plaintiffs Bake Up Batch of Food Safety Suits Against Nestle

Lawsuits on behalf of children and young adults who reportedly became ill after handling Nestle Toll House cookie dough have been filed against the company in several states, including Georgia, Colorado, California and Washington. Cindy Sedbrook of South Denver, says her daughter is among dozens of individuals who may have…

Jun 26, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Insurance Co. Agrees to Settle Key Autism Case With 100 Families

As lawmakers across the country draft and pass legislation that requires insurance companies to pay for autism treatments, a Michigan insurance company has opted to settle with 100 families seeking to be reimbursed for autism treatments for their children. The $1 million class action settlement agreed to by Blue Cross…

Jun 23, 2009 10:14 AM CDT

Charges Dismissed Against W.R. Grace GC; EPA Declares First-Ever Public Health Emergency

Federal prosecutors moved early this week to dismiss charges against O. Mario Favorito, the legal counsel for W.R. Grace. Favorito was the final defendant in a the Libby, Mont., asbestos case, the Associated Press reports. His co-workers were acquitted last month. Along with his co-defendants, Favorito was accused in criminal…

Jun 18, 2009 2:31 PM CDT

Then There Were 2: Judge Scrubs Milwaukee Sick-Leave Ordinance

Until recently, there were three major local governments with sick-pay ordinances: San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee. But last week, a judge in Milwaukee tossed that city’s ordinance. In a 38-page ruling, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper held that the voter-approved measure that called for private employers to pay…

Jun 18, 2009 11:27 AM CDT

At Issue in Health Care Debate: Insurers Cancel When Policyholders Get Sick

When she developed aggressive breast cancer, a Texas nurse says, her insurer canceled her individual medical insurance policy. The purported reason was that she had failed to disclose information when she applied for the health coverage–she had once visited a dermatologist about her acne. Such stories of health coverage rescinded…

Jun 17, 2009 5:14 PM CDT

Obama Hints at Med-Mal Tort Reform, But Cutting Awards May Not Be Answer

Although he made no specific promises, President Barack Obama suggested in a speech yesterday at a Chicago meeting of the American Medical Association that his administration may support some type of medical malpractice tort reform as part of a national program to improve health care services. Appealing for physicians’ support…

Jun 16, 2009 4:02 PM CDT

‘Stealth Coop’ Can Smooth Neighbors’ Ruffled Feathers Over Backyard Chickens

Although some neighbors are squawking about a potential farm nuisance in an urban area, backyard chickens are a growing trend in cities throughout the country. Among those now struggling with the issue are officials in New Haven, Conn., who held a contentious public hearing on the issue this month, reports…

Jun 15, 2009 8:53 PM CDT

Health Care Lawyers Are a Hot Property

Law firms may be battling a slowdown in their corporate and securitization practices, but those with health care expertise are girding for more work. As a result of industry mergers and an expected health-care overhaul by the Obama administration, lawyers with experience in the industries of health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology…

Jun 11, 2009 6:24 PM CDT

Mattel Agrees to Record $2.3M Fine in Lead-Tainted Toy Recall

Agreeing today to pay $2.3 million in penalties without admitting to any law violation, Mattel Corp. and its Fisher-Price division concluded a Consumer Product Safety Act case in which the companies had been accused of knowingly importing lead-tainted toys from China. The fine was the largest ever imposed by the…

Jun 5, 2009 8:58 PM CDT

The EEOC’s Brave New World

Agency ponders new rules on handling genetic testing-related bias

Jun 2, 2009 2:30 AM CDT

Lawyer for Slain Abortion Doc Says He Never Showed Fear

A lawyer who represented slain abortion provider George Tiller said his client usually wore a bulletproof vest and drove a custom-made bulletproof SUV, but outwardly he appeared confident. “I never detected fear in him,” lawyer Dan Monnat told Inside Politics Daily. “He knew what he was doing was morally right,…

Jun 1, 2009 11:39 AM CDT

Judge Appoints Lawsuit Guardian Due to Client’s ‘Irrational Hostility’ to Lawyer

A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., has appointed a guardian to oversee a plaintiff’s interests in a more than decade-old copyright case, due to what he has described as her “paranoid outbursts” and “irrational hostility” to her own lawyer. Attorney Nathan Lewin’s request for a guardian ad litem was…

May 29, 2009 11:54 PM CDT

3 Lawyers Interacted with Missing Mom in Child Chemo Case

A Minnesota mother who allegedly fled last week with her 13-year-old son after a state-court judge said he must have potentially life-saving chemotherapy for a highly treatable form of cancer has now returned home with the teen. Colleen Hauser says she will abide by the court’s decision-making, and a case…

May 26, 2009 7:58 PM CDT

Supreme Court Grants Cert in Vioxx Investor Class Action

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether investors filed a lawsuit too late to recover losses associated with the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx. The suit could result in tighter deadlines in investor class actions, Bloomberg reports. At issue is how much notice is needed to trigger the two-year statute of limitations…

May 26, 2009 4:35 PM CDT

Mom Disappears with Son After Court Orders Chemo for the Boy

A judge who ordered a 13-year-old teen to receive chemotherapy has now issued an arrest warrant for the mother after she and the boy disappeared. Colleen Hauser had resisted treatment for her son, Daniel, because she is a member of Nemenhah, a religious group that favors natural healing methods used…

May 20, 2009 12:55 PM CDT