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Morbid obesity affects over 20 million Americans; indeed, between 3% and 5% of the adult population of the United States is morbidly obese, or clinically severely obese, the highest percentage of population of any country. Sabiston: Textbook of Surgery. 17th ed. Townsend, CM (ed) et al. Elsevier Saunders 2004 p. 357. Severe obesity and its co-morbidities are estimated to cause 280,000 deaths annually in the United States compared with 90,000 per year from breast and colon cancer. Given these numbers, it is not surprising that bariatric surgical operations are in more demand by patients than any other operation and have experienced the most rapid growth rate both of procedures performed and surgeons performing them than any area of general surgery over the past 3 years. Id.
Features
Why we are publishing this important Special Issue.
Features
It is not every day that a Circuit Court of Appeals sets aside as unconstitutional a federal tax statute. When the taxability of untold millions of dollars of personal injury settlements and verdicts is affected, people generally take note. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Aug. 22 struck down as unconstitutional an amendment made to Code ' 104(a)(2) (All references to the Code are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended). If the decision stands, it could be one of the most significant tax developments in decades.
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In September, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a congressionally created entity dedicated to the study of policy matters pertaining to the public health, issued the results of the study of federal drug safety policy commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The resulting report, titled 'The Future of Drug Safety, Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public' and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, has been widely anticipated in light of recent publicity surrounding Vioxx' and other drugs that, subsequent to FDA-approval, proved more dangerous than thought.
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Two Supreme Court rulings, <i>Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.</i> and <i>Kumho Tire v. Carmichael</i>, have had a profound effect on the treatment of expert testimony in the courts. In 1993, the Supreme Court, in Daubert, articulated guidelines for admissibility of scientific expertise as testimony. Later, in 1999, in <i>Kumho</i>, the Court focused on the admissibility of clinical expertise as testimony. More recently there has been increasing recognition of the inconsistency of trial courts in their construction and articulation of evidentiary standards to medical testimony. One proposed remedy is that 'Physicians should respond by correcting courts' misinterpretations of medical practice and assisting in the development of legal standards that encourage thoughtful and informed consideration of medical testimony by judges and juries.'
The latest rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Features
Recent happenings in this important arena.