In medical negligence litigation, one must understand exactly what went wrong, and when, before one may litigate a case. It is this microscopic attention that requires lawyers to dissect a case in minute detail that would inspire envy in a forensic pathologist. Unfortunately, the fact is that few physicians want to engage in such analysis. Once we understand the who, what, where, and when, however, 'why' becomes much more clear, thus leading to answers as to how future accidents and miscalculations can be prevented.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 42 U.S.C.A. ' 1320(d) <i>et seq.</i> (HIPAA), was meant to offer a baseline for the disclosure of individual medical information. The law, calling for standards to be promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, became effective in April 2001 and full compliance was required by April 2003. <i>Crenshaw v. Mony et al.</i>, 318 F. Supp. 2d 1015, 1027 (D.S.D. Cal. 2004). The regulations are hardly a model of clarity, even for federal regulations, and frequent reference to state law and state reporting agencies can heighten the confusion.

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On April 11, a jury in Atlantic City, NJ, ordered Merck &amp; Co. to pay $9 million in punitive damages to a user of Vioxx, finding the drug maker knowingly withheld data from federal regulators about the painkiller's cardiovascular risks. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004 when a study showed it doubled heart attack risk after 18 months of use. The Atlantic City trial was the first involving plaintiffs who had used Vioxx longer than that period of time.

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More than a million tissue transplants and medical device implants were performed in 2005, according to available estimates. It is reported that the organ and tissue transplantation market in the U.S. was valued at more than $11 billion in 2005. Today, the multi-billion-dollar biomedical industry continues to expand well beyond its more humble origins of blood, organ and tissue banking. These developing biotechnologies have forced courts to address novel issues and concerns regarding a new generation of biosurgical implants outside the parameters of settled judicial and statutory frameworks dealing with medical implants. The widespread usage of such new implants has also called into question the settled case law that hospitals and physicians may not be held strictly liable for the implantation of defective medical device products.

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Most remember the era of Wang computing, where you bought your hardware, software, service and support through one company. As the personal computer, networking, and open software platforms started taking off in the late 1980s, law firms realized the need to move away from the dinosaur and toward technology advancements offered by a broader landscape of providers.<br>A similar analogy applies to today's multi-function devices (MFDs) (compared to yesterday's copiers), and the transition from hardware-centric cost recovery devices to increasingly functional cost recovery software embedded within the MFDs.

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<i>Learn a new way to manage your e-mail and the plethora of tasks that come with it, and most attorneys can gain a whopping 25% increase in their productivity.</i><br>It sounds incredible, but that's what my clients report. Furthermore, taking control of your e-mail is nothing less than taking control of your life.

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The litigation system we inherited is not well-suited to resolving marital disputes. Those of us who have litigated divorces for decades have come to understand that litigation is not the preferred route to deciding marital discord. Most family court judges overtly state that the litigants would be better served by an amicable resolution reached after each spouse's needs have been considered rather than a contested trial. In fact, one court of appeals judge in California has noted that 'family law court is where they shoot the survivors.'

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Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.