Features
Products Liability and the Illegal Acts Doctrine
In products liability cases in most states, a plaintiff's conduct that contributes to his or her harm does not bar a claim, but instead may be considered by the jury in weighing the comparative fault of the parties. But should a case even have to go to a jury when the very harm that the plaintiff is suing for resulted from the plaintiff's own criminal misconduct?
Features
New Worklife Expectancy Tables Are Here
Anthony M. Gamboa, Jr. of Vocational Econometrics Inc. (VEI) has produced a new edition of the New Worklife Expectancy Tables (the Tables), which purport to show, using statistical averages, how much work loss an injury will cause over the injured person's lifetime. The Tables are used almost exclusively by plaintiffs to establish damages, especially plaintiffs who have been injured and expect to return to work, or who have missed no work at all at the time of trial.
Features
Attorneys Gear Up for Virtual Medicine
The number of doctors and hospitals making virtual house calls has exploded in recent years, which has lawyers cautioning the medical community about the legal dangers of treating and monitoring patients via the Internet. Attorneys warn that virtual medicine ' which has popped up in hospitals and clinics in more than a dozen states in the last 2 years ' could open the floodgates to malpractice claims, privacy disputes and licensure problems.
Features
Pay for Performance
Over the past year, hospitals, doctors and health insurers have been meeting to discuss pay-for-performance (P4P), the latest attempt to correct our dysfunctional health-care payment system. The general concept is actually quite simple: Providers of health-care services would be paid more if they achieve certain performance metrics and less if they don't.
Med Mal News
The latest news of importance to you and your practice.
Drug & Device News
Important happenings in the drug and device arena.
Features
Peer Review Proceedings Are Not Always Confidential
The peer review process is indispensable to promotion of quality in medical facilities. A major component of the process is honesty; without open investigation and discussion of adverse events and their causes, meaningful reforms for avoiding the same occurrences again are less likely to be made. To ensure open discourse, nearly every state has enacted laws protecting the confidentiality of peer review proceedings. However, federal law may not always be so deferent to the privacy concerns of the peer review committee. In certain circumstances, what most participants thought would be a closed record under state law might be opened by competing federal law enacted to protect the disabled.
Features
Bariatric Surgery Today
It is now common knowledge that the Centers for Disease Control and the American Medical Association consider obesity to be a high-priority medical problem. To combat the growing epidemic, bariatric surgery, which is indicated for 'severely' or 'morbidly' obese patients ' generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) over 40 (a 'normal' BMI is 19-25) ' has become increasingly popular. Surgery may also be indicated for patients with a BMI between 35 and 40, if there are significant co-morbid conditions.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Second Circuit Reinforces Bankruptcy Code Settlement Payment Safe HarborThe Second Circuit affirmed the lower courts' judgment that a "transfer made … in connection with a securities contract … by a qualifying financial institution" was entitled "to the protection of ... §546 (e)'s safe harbor ...."Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Questions Every Law Firm Business Development Leader Should Be AskingIn a legal marketplace transformed by technology, heightened client expectations, and fierce competition, law firm leaders must approach strategy with rigor and clarity. The following questions, accompanied by relevant statistics and explanations, offer a focused guide for uncovering opportunity and driving sustainable growth.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
