Health Law

‘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

Supreme Court Rejects Medical Marijuana Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to California’s medical marijuana law. San Diego County had sought to overturn the state’s medical marijuana laws in “a last, long-shot chance” before the Supreme Court, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. San Diego County, joined by San Bernardino County, claimed…

May 18, 2009 5:34 PM CDT

ACLU Suit Challenges Patents on Genes as First Amendment Violation

A suit filed by in New York federal court challenges patents granted to a company for two genes that can be tested to determine a person’s increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers. The suit argues such patents impede the free flow of information and violate the First Amendment, according…

May 13, 2009 7:01 PM CDT

Teflon Suit Dropped After Judge Denies Class Certification

A lawsuit claiming Teflon cookware poses a health risk was dismissed after plaintiffs lawyers failed in their bid to win class certification. The suit contended that a chemical used in the Teflon manufacturing process releases toxic particles when heated during cooking, the Associated Press reports. If successful, the suit could…

May 13, 2009 2:42 PM CDT

Farrah Fawcett ‘Sting’ Put Spotlight on National Enquirer

It wasn’t just dozens of high-profile medical files that a rogue worker at UCLA Medical Center peeped into between 2003 and 2007. It was nearly 1,000, reports the Los Angeles Times in a lengthy article today that focuses on one of the victims of the illegal invasion of privacy, actress…

May 12, 2009 12:19 AM CDT

Career Option for Struggling Lawyers: Get a Nursing Degree

As law firm layoffs and pay cuts proliferate, attorneys looking for a new gig might want to consider getting a nursing degree, suggests Legal Blog Watch. Those who become consultants and help lawyers evaluate cases can charge $100 to $150 per hour once they are established, according to the New…

May 11, 2009 7:39 PM CDT

Hong Kong Hotel Quarantine Spurs Swine Flu Policy Debate

The weeklong quarantine of nearly 300 people at a Hong Kong hotel has raised questions about use of the policy in fighting the A/H1N1 flu virus. The quarantine was imposed after a hotel guest tested positive for the virus that is commonly known as the swine flu, the Wall Street…

May 7, 2009 4:14 PM CDT