Greedy Trial Lawyer
News Defused
Federal Judges Are Bewailing Again
Category: News Defused
Federal judges have perfected the art of bewailing. Whenever the opportunity arises they bewail the poverty in which they live. They seize upon any available statistic as an argument for higher pay, even if they have to twist the facts 180 degrees.
Judges Make More Headlines Bewailing Low Pay
Federal judges think they're paid too little. They earn $165,200 a year, placing them in the top 10% income bracket among Americans.Here is a provocative chart, courtesy of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, that accompanied the story:
Empty Benches: Number of federal circuit and district court judges departing, by decade:
1958-69: 3
1970-79: 22
1980-89: 41
1990-99: 55
2000-2009: 68 (51 have left: 17 are projected departures)
"This trajectory is of great concern to us, and we are fearful that we are approaching the tipping point," says Brock Hornby, a federal judge in Maine and chair of a judges' panel on salaries. He called the rising number of departures "historic."
From WSJ Law Blog
I calculate the percentage increase in departures of federal judges from the 55 in the 90's to the 68 in the first decade of the our new century to be 24%. Standing alone that increase may seem "historic" to Judge Hornby, but doing some more math shows a very different picture.
The percentage increase in departures from the 80's to the 90's was 34%. And, from the 70's to the 80's was 86%. These percentages indicate that the increase in departures is actually at an "historic" low in this decade.
Furthermore, if the overall size of the federal judiciary has been dramatically increasing decade after decade, which numerous studies of the federal judiciary since the early 1900's show is the case, a substantial increase of departures would have to be expected. The graphs in one study show upward growth curves which would be the envy of any Fortune 500 company. Let's face it - the federal judiciary is a very protected and favored industry. Outsourcing to foreign countries is not an option. Judges get lifetime appointments during which they can annually complain about their compensation. More and more lawsuits and criminal prosecutions occur each year as our population increases.
With due respect, your Honors, cut the bewailing.
Your Widow Has A Better Chance Of Reading Your Medical Records Than You Do
Category: News Defused
You can file this item in the "Great Ideas With No Prospects For Success" category.
Another Reason Patients Should Review Their Health Records
You should check to see if your doctor is using your medical records for CYA purposes. This is especially true if you are a patient with a potentially expensive medical problem which, if your doctor followed all the guidelines to the letter, could result in substantial "medical loss" for the third-party payer (i.e., the doctor's boss).[There are times when...] your doctor's note does not accurately reflect what happened to you, or what you actually told him about [an] episode. Instead, it alters the facts just enough to make it seem reasonable for him to skip any further medical evaluation. If you have no further problems, no unnecessary dollars will have been spent and everybody's happy. If you die, that's terrible and all, but nobody reading the records will be able to fault him for doing what he did (or rather, for not doing what he didn't). So it's a win-win.
This is another reason for routinely reviewing your health records. In an era of covert rationing, you can protect yourself by not exposing your doctors to the ever-present temptation to "spin" the records. (Some doctors are regular DJs.) If your doctor knows you are going to read whatever he puts down, he's a lot less likely to color the story to your disadvantage.
From The Covert Rationing Blog
Now, try to make arrangements wth your doctor to obtain regular copies of your medical records. Military secrets would be easier to get.
Psychiatrists May Be Group Averse
Category: News Defused
For many years I have observed that a high percentage of the psychiatrists who evaluate and treat my clients are, themselves, in need of a mental health evaluation and long-term therapy. So, when I came across this news article from Canada I was not surprised.
Disorders plague court psychiatrists, judge concludes
EDMONTON - Name-calling, factions and conspiracies are common in the "dysfunctional" office of more than a dozen psychiatrists who analyze criminals for the courts, an Edmonton judge has found.In a 55-page decision released Friday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Erik Lefsrud ruled that allegations of defamation in the department were unfounded, but the department was plagued by infighting and lack of leadership.
"What emerged is a picture of a very dysfunctional working environment in which name-calling, finger-pointing, intransigence and conspiratorial workings have thwarted the best intentions of all the psychiatrists involved," he wrote.
"How such a group of obviously intelligent professionals could work themselves into such a state is beyond comprehension.
It is well within my comprehension that a group of psychiatrists would exhibit dysfunctional behavior. In fact, I would doubt that any group of a dozen psychiatrists could avoid name-calling, finger-pointing, intransigence and conspiratorial workings. It may be in their genes.
Off-Label Use Sometimes Works, More Often Fails
Category: News Defused
A medical experiment was successful - at least partially successful. Does this singular success mean we should encourage, support or defend off-label use of medical devices or drugs? One legal blog appears to argue it does.
Why We're Proud To Support Off-Label Use
Today's papers, both in Philly and Cleveland, are reporting on a remarkable medical story. It's as close to a resurrection as today's scientific, secular world is likely to see. A man hospitalized in New Jersey, in a near-vegetative state for six years after being mugged, had his consciousness restored by deep brain stimulation.The Neurological Restoration group at the Cleveland Clinic in Hermann's home town apparently achieved this near miracle by using a "pacemaker-like" device and to deliver electric current to the man's thalamus. Supposedly there are as many as 400,000 patients in similar circumstances.
....it sounds like off-label use to us - the therapeutic use of an FDA approved drug or device for indications other than those for which it has been approved.
Off-label use - the next life it saves could be your own.
From Drug and Device Law
And, the next life lost to off-label use could be your spouse's.
For patients in vegetative or near-vegetative states, with virtually no hope of recovery, off-label use of approved medical devices would not likely be the most far-out treatment option considered. In fact, in such a circumstance who would deny the patient any treatment option presented by any practitioner of the healing arts who seems capable of rational thought.
But, the much more common off-label use of drugs is not limited to these unfortunate patients. And, the harm often far outweighs the anecdotal benefits.
Guess Who Is Fighting To Protect The Health Of Truck Drivers
Category: News Defused
American Trucking Associations is fighting to protect the 24-hour circadian rhythm of America's truck drivers. That's what the press release says.
Trouble in Truckin': Court Limits Hours Behind the Wheel
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the Bush administration's rules that increased the number of hours a trucker can spend behind the wheel. In an article by Stephen Labaton in the New York Times, we read that the Bush approach increased weekly hours to 77 from 60 over 7 consecutive days, and to 88 hours from 70 over 8 days. The rules also permitted up to 11 hours of driving per day.The court found that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had ignored the results of its own study, [this is news?] which reviewed more than 50,000 truck accidents from 1991 to 2002. Using the data, the study extrapolated a substantially higher risk of fatigue-related accidents in the extra hours of service allowed by the new rules.
The American Trucking Associations have already challenged the ruling. Their press release states:
The current rules limit driving time to 11 hours and mandate a 10-hour rest time. ATA supports the current regulation, which promotes a regular work-rest cycle for truck drivers and a schedule that is closer to a 24-hour circadian rhythm. The 11th hour of driving time safely provides flexibility for trucking operations without increasing driver fatigue. The 34- hour restart gives drivers much greater flexibility to manage their time, relieving stress and allowing more time at home.
Promise To Resign Or Else
Category: News Defused
In the waning days of the Bush administration Congress has finally started to exercise its clout on presidential appointments. The Senators are extracting resignation promises from nominees. No more consents for unprincipled hacks.
President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, James Holsinger, on Thursday during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing said he is dedicated to science and would resign if the Bush administration officials pressured him to skew his recommendations for ideological reasons, the Los Angeles Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 7/13).
Why not, instead, a promise to do the damn job as the nominee knows it should be done even in the face of pressure to skew recommendations? That would be unique.
The Potential Juror From Hell
Category: News Defused
In my years of trial practice I have been dealt jurors with less than desirable opinions and personal traits. Some of them had also intentionally sought to avoid jury service. I suspect the juror described in this New York Times article actually was compelled to serve in one of my cases. If not, it was his twin brother residing in another state.
Jury Duty Excuses Could Bring Charges
BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) -- A Cape Cod man who claimed he was homophobic, racist and a habitual liar to avoid jury duty earned an angry rebuke from a judge on Monday, who referred the case to prosecutors for possible charges.''In 32 years of service in courtrooms, as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney and now as a judge, I have quite frankly never confronted such a brazen situation of an individual attempting to avoid juror service,'' Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson told Daniel Ellis, according to a preliminary court transcript of the exchange.
Ellis then admitted he really didn't want to serve on a jury.
''I have the distinct impression that you're intentionally trying to avoid jury service,'' Nickerson said.
''That's true,'' Ellis answered.
Memo to Judge Nickerson - At least Daniel Ellis openly admitted what he was doing and was removed from the jury pool. My concern is the juror who has all the same feelings and intentions who remains on the jury and takes out his frustration on my injured client.
Cap On Frivolous Tort Reformers Needed
Category: News Defused
Mention the cost of medical malpractice insurance and some people immediately leap to ending frivolous lawsuits and putting caps on damages. Most of these folks label themselves tort reformers.
Exhibit A:
NY Gov Spitzer Looks Into Spiraling Malpractice Insurance Costs
With doctors' malpractice insurance in the Empire State going up 14 percent, Governor Eliot Spitzer has decided to appoint a commission to find out why these insurance costs are spiraling. According to Walter Olson of Point of Law, with the new rates, an obstetrician in Brooklyn will be paying $173,000 a year and a Long Island neurosurgeon $309,000 annually.We tort reformers know exactly where that review will wind up: Focused on the plaintiff bar. This might be the beginning of the end to frivolous lawsuits and no-cap on awards.
From Law And More
Does knee jerk reaction come to mind?
Because of the wonders of the federal system of government in the U.S. we have had years of damage caps and have banned frivolity in just about every courthouse. Yet, through tremendous perserverance, medical providers keep violating the standard of care and insurance companies continue making outrageous profits. Is it possible the problem is not with the plaintiff bar?
What the country really needs is a cap on frivolous tort reformers. Followed by caps on insurance profits and a banning of frivolous commissions.
Another Day In Iowa, Another Litmus Test Announcement
Category: News Defused
There must be something about the air in Iowa. It causes presidential candidates to see things very clearly and to announce litmus tests for Supreme Court nominees. They must feel voters like the certainty of using litmus paper as opposed to writing promises and positions on toilet paper which is often flushed after election. A recent example of a litmus test pronouncement:
Richardson would test nominees with Roe v. Wade
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday that if he is elected president, he would use abortion as a litmus test for Supreme Court nominees, rejecting candidates who don't support the 1973 decision legalizing abortion."I know that I am going to upset some people," Richardson said. "I would say, 'Do you believe Roe v. Wade is settled law?' and if they say, 'Yes,' they have a good chance of being picked. If they say 'No,' I will not pick them."
Richardson, running in a crowded field for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke to about 150 people at a forum at Drake University in Des Moines. He said he would not "dance around" abortion and other civil rights issues when questioning potential nominees.
Presidents must use particular care in selecting Supreme Court nominees because they have the potential to shape legal policy for generations, he added.
"That is the biggest legacy of a president, and we are already paying for the Bush legacy in these last few decisions on privacy and choice with this Supreme Court," Richardson said.
I agree with Gov. Richardson about the importance of Supreme Court appointments, but think litmus tests belong in chem labs.
Doctors Object To Retail Medicine
Category: News Defused
WOW!! The AMA is considering calling for a ban. The guardians of the health of the nation are discussing a rising threat to....their wallets.
The American Medical Association should call for a ban on in-store clinics being opened by retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Walgreen Co., several doctors groups urged at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago on Sunday.Faced with an onslaught of competition that is forecast to bring several thousand retail health clinics to U.S. consumers, AMA members testified that such clinics are endangering patient care, particularly for children. The doctors say the clinics, largely staffed by advanced-degree nurses and physicians' assistants, are largely unregulated and, therefore, put patients' health at risk.
"There is no more urgent issue than this for the AMA," Dr. Kamran Hashemi, a family physician from South Barrington, said, urging the organization to push for more regulation of retail clinics. "This issue speaks to what all of us do every day in practice." If the AMA does nothing, Hashemi said, "in five years, the chairs [at the AMA] meeting will be filled with representatives from Walgreens, Wal-Mart" and other retail outlets.
From the Chicago Tribune
Show Me The Money, Not A Task Force
Category: News Defused
Diane Levin, posting on the Online Guide to Mediation, tells us how one civil lawsuit was settled when the defendant governmental entity agreed to launch a task force. At the end of these excerpts from Diane's well-intentioned article I will have some observations.
Creative path to resolution: money not the only way to settle lawsuits
The images on the five o'clock news tell the story: greedy plaintiffs, overreaching lawyers, justice in chaos.This month's issue of the American Association for Justice's Law Reporter paints another picture. In a print article, "Family of slain journalist agrees to nonmonetary settlement with city to improve emergency services, " it reports on the unexpected outcome of a lawsuit stemming from the death of a prominent journalist as the result of alleged deficiencies in the District of Columbia's emergency services.
According to the family's lawyer, their goals in litigation shifted from obtaining monetary compensation from the defendants to instead finding ways to ensure that other families would be spared a similar experience. In exchange for the family members dismissing their claims against the District, the District agreed to establish a task force to investigate the circumstances surrounding the response of the District's Fire and Emergency Medical Service and to issue a report of recommendations for improving the delivery of emergency medical services.
The family's attorney observed, "I hope that the example set by the Rosenbaum family will prompt other attorneys to consider creative resolutions to cases where the focus shift from an entirely monetary settlement to a resolution that has a broader impact than just on the litigants in the case." [This may mean that the task force was in addition to significant monetary compensation.]
Mediators of course will nod their heads in recognition--this is a story familiar to all of us. It's too bad it's not a story familiar to the public. Lawyers and mediators alike need to do a better job of telling these stories--stories which reveal the creativity and change that justice can produce.
Without minimizing the personal and public good which undoubtedly could come from this particular task force and any non-monetary agreement in settlement of an injury or death claim, I point out the following:
1) The governmental entity should have had the responsibility to create a task force or to otherwise remedy the deficiencies in its EMS operations without the need for this incentive.
2) No single person or family should be required to bribe a governmental entity (by relinquishing a valid claim for compensation) to do the right thing, whatever it is.
3) No governmental entity should accept this bribe to do what should be done (while smiling behind the backs of the victim or family of the victim).
4) Personal injury lawyers are supposed to fight for just compensation for each individual client. Clients should not be persuaded to accept, as total compensation, something as hollow as a task force. Mediators need to be extremely careful, especially in wrongful death cases, to keep the proper goal of a civil lawsuit on the table. Shifting to remedies in the public good (remedies that should be added to just compensation rather than substituted for it) may be a productive mediation skill but not one that should be utilized in the place of normal efforts at reaching fair economic compensation.
The bottom line - a greedy trial lawyer is not a mayor, city commissioner, legislator or policy-maker; he needs to focus on maximizing the compensation of each victim he represents. That is what his clients deserve and what best serves the civil justice system.
Lessons To Be Learned From Very Expensive Pants
Category: News Defused
RiskProf is having some fun with what is probably the most expensive pair of pants in the history of jurisprudence.
We Need More Flacks Like this One
The trial of the Administrative Law Judge who is claiming $54 million for a lost pair of pants at a DC dry-cleaner is being live blogged by a reporter from the Washington Post.Interesting tidbit ....
One colorful courtroom personality I forgot to mention earlier was a flack for the American Tort Reform Association, who showed up in a seersucker suit with a green lapel button reading: "$65 Million "Pantsuit' Perverts DC's Consumer Protection Law." So he was off by a few million (Pearson initially sued for $65 million but later reduced his claim to $54 million). The point stands. Everyone who wanted a button got one.
I'd like a button!
According to RiskProf, "the web log is our outlet for discussion of public policy regarding risk and insurance issues." Maybe, just maybe, the Administrative Law Judge is using his lawsuit to accomplish the same purpose.
The Wheels Of Progress
Category: News Defused
New products often require a period of adjustment. Think about how long it must have taken for folks to get comfortable with riding escalators.
Heely Injuries a Case of a Lack of Safety or Product Liability?
A recent report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that 64 injuries and one death were reported last year involving the Heely, which is a popular children's shoe containing a wheel on the bottom that can be used to roll around like a roller skate.It will be interesting to see if there are any more stories in the future about Heely injuries or whether this is just a matter of the need for better safety with the product.
Source: The Injury Blog
Despite the injury reports for this extremely creative product the idea of putting wheels on traditionally wheel-less products or devices is brilliant. It opens the door to mobility enhancements in products foolishly designed to be stationary or, at least, carried.
Here are just a few applications of the Heely concept:
* Pots, pans and kettles. With the new smooth range tops there is no reason to prevent these common kitchen implements from zipping from spot to spot on wheels.
* Gas station pumps. Why is it only the cars that get to move around?
* Vases. This would avoid all the heavy lifting.
* Toilets. For the men who want to shave while attending to nature's call this would be the answer.
* ATM's. They could go where the people go instead of just sitting in holes in the wall.
The Libby Sentencing Watch - The Watergate Lesson
Category: News Defused
Expecting Scooter Libby to say anything significant at his sentencing today is...well, naive. And, remorse is not even a remote possibility. Scooter's defense was compromised by his desire to protect his buddies in the Bush Administration. Why would he now destroy his prospects for a pardon from his Chief Buddy?
On the other hand, if he were to draw a couple of years in prison without any suspension for an appeal and, after a few months in the slammer was not seeing a pardon on the horizon, that is another story. I believe Watergate tongues loosened under similar circumstances.
Libby faces sentencing Tuesday, but will he speak in court?
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawyers, politicians and pundits have had their say for years. Now, as former White House aide I. Lewis «Scooter» Libby faces sentencing in the CIA leak trial, the world may hear from someone new: Libby himself.Libby has not spoken publicly about the case since his 2005 indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Throughout his monthlong trial, and following his conviction in March, he always let his lawyers do the talking.
On Tuesday, however, before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton hands down a sentence, he will ask the former vice presidential chief of staff whether he has anything to say.
Defense attorneys, who argue that Libby should not have to serve any jail time, have not said how Libby will respond. It's a delicate decision, one made more difficult because Libby has maintained his innocence and is appealing his conviction.
«The only thing any sentencing judge wants to hear is remorse, and if they don't think it comes from the heart or they think they're only sorry for getting caught, for losing their job, or for going to jail, it doesn't count,» said Hugh Keefe, a Connecticut defense attorney who teaches trial advocacy at Yale University.
Has Starbucks Lost Its Mojo?
Category: News Defused
The purity and goodness of the Starbucks experience has always been the dedication to the coffee and its natural accompaniments. Now, the accompaniments have broadened to include music CD's. Will the experience next include movie trailers for the Captain Starbucks Trilogy of science fiction flicks?
Starbucks' Music Label Releases First CD
SEATTLE -- Caffeine junkies who go to Starbucks for their daily fix will get a nonstop dose of Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" on Tuesday as the coffee company's new record label releases its first CD.Starbucks Corp. estimates that some 6 million people will be among the first to hear the new album as they line up for their lattes in more than 10,000 stores in 29 countries, where it will be playing on continuous loop throughout the day.
It's a tactic most retailers would not likely attempt "probably for no other reason than not wanting to drive their workers insane," quipped Mike McGuire, a media analyst for Gartner Inc.
Still, McGuire said Starbucks has proved to be adept at selling music and thinks it's smart for the company to tap into its vast customer base.
"Let's face it. The energy has kind of gone out of the CD store launch," McGuire said, "so you've got to go where (consumers) are, which is typically buying coffee at a Starbucks."
Christian Right May Not Be Right, But It Is Heard And Heard And Heard
Category: News Defused
How important is it to be quoted, mentioned or interviewed as a religious leader? Apparently, conservative religious leaders have found it to be very important. And, the news folks are helping them become the dominant voice of religion in America.
LEFT BEHIND: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media
It would surprise few people, conservative or progressive, to learn that coverage of the intersection of religion and politics tends to oversimplify both. If this oversimplification occurred to the benefit or detriment of neither side of the political divide, then the weaknesses in coverage of religion would be of only academic interest. But as this study documents, coverage of religion not only overrepresents some voices and underrepresents others, it does so in a way that is consistently advantageous to conservatives.As in many areas, the decisions journalists make when deciding which voices to include in their stories have serious consequences. What is the picture of religious opinion? Who is a religious leader? Whose views represent important groups of believers? Every time a journalist writes a story, he or she answers these questions by deciding whom to quote and how to characterize their views.
Among the study's key findings:
*Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders.
*On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable news channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
*In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.
Despite the fact most religious Americans are moderate or progressive, in the news media it is overwhelmingly conservative leaders who are presented as the voice of religion. This represents a particularly meaningful distortion since progressive religious leaders tend to focus on different issues and offer an entirely different perspective than their conservative counterparts.
Source: MediaMatters
Could all of this have anything to do with the decreased acceptance of evolution? Or, the embryonic stem cell blockade at the federal level? Or, the restrictions on sex education in our schools? What good is a free press if it consciously or unconsciously favors one brand of religion in our media?
No Medicare Payments For "Avoidable Hospital Associated Complications"?
Category: News Defused
Stand back. AHAC's are about to debut. Your government is trying to save some of your money. Medicare has a novel idea, but it likely will open Pandora's Box.
Medlaw.com reports the following:
Medicare has issued a proposal that will stop paying for avoidable hospital associated complications (AHAC's), and with it, major private insurance companies are expected to follow the lead and cut out payments for this common and expensive complications. The denial process will alert patients to the fact that their condition resulted from hospital error, and can be expected to increase malpractice claims for such complications and create a legal argument that these issues are automatically malpractice. The issues targeted by the plan include:1. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
2. Bed sores.
3. Objects left in after surgery.
4. Air embolism, or bubbles, in bloodstream from injection.
5. Patients given incompatible blood type.
6. Bloodstream staph infection.
7. Ventilator-associated pneumonia.
8. Vascular-catheter-associated infection.
9. Clostridium difficile-associated disease (gastrointestinal infections).
10. Drug-resistant staph infection.
11. Surgical site infections.
12. Wrong surgery.
13. Falls
The proposed regulations are open for comment and are planned to take effect in October 2008.
Who decides what is an avoidable hospital associated complications? Is the hospital always legally responsible for the wrong surgery or objects left in after surgery or a fall? What is the patient/victim to do about the billing he or she will likely receive from the hospital for the care necessitated by each scenario? [Will hospitals just waive their legal right to payment from patients?] Why are these items any different from delayed or erroneous diagnoses by doctors which cause many hospitalizations and lengthen others and, yet, are fully paid by Medicare? What about misfilled prescriptions which sometimes cause unnecessary hospitalizations?
My initial reaction to the Medicare proposal: this dog won't hunt.
PowerPoint Has Its Place, But Is It In Closing Argument?
Category: News Defused
Have you noticed the closing arguments on all of the top-rated television programs are never more than 3 minutes long and deliver strong, convincing and concise messages? And, they never include PowerPoint or other "gadgets" to augment the oral presentation.
Count me as one vote for fewer gadgets and better crafted and delivered arguments despite the thoughts and recommendations of many top trial lawyers.
Are Gadgets Replacing Oratory [In The Courtroom]?
"From PowerPoint presentations to slick graphics flashed on interactive whiteboards, computers are transforming the way justice is delivered to defendants who want their day in court...."
The quoted article is an example of the way lawyers are perceived in the lay press. But it's not really true that gadgets are replacing oratory; rather, gadgets are enabling a new kind of oratory. It's one that all lawyers should be familiar with. Though some lawyers with lesser-damage cases think that the use of technology might result in "over-trying" a case, one could argue that even if juries don't expect or demand technology in every case, they certainly won't object to it in a way that would be harmful to the client. The quoted article proves the point.
From the Illinois Trial Practice Weblog
The question of jury objections or non-objections to gadgets may miss the point. Would the jury be better persuaded by fewer words delivered from the heart without any electronic or digital embellishment?
The Drug Reps Of Italy Welcomed By GP's
Category: News Defused
I won't be traveling to Italy for my medical care.
Italian Doctors Get Their Information On Medicines From Drug Company Sales Reps
Lorenzo Moja (Italian Cochrane Centre, Milan, Italy) and colleagues say that Italian doctors still rely heavily upon the pharmaceutical industry for their information needs. For example, a recent survey showed that general practitioners in Italy receive eleven visits per week by drug company sales representatives, and that many doctors believe that the information they receive from these reps is complete and sufficiently reliable.
The survey should have determined where the Italian docs get their information re good wine and pasta dishes. That is why we should go to Italy.
Never Let Your Butler See The Blood On Your Hands
Category: News Defused
I predict we will have butlers and valets squealing on their employers. No secrets will be safe.
CHAUFFEUR SPEAKS AT SPECTOR TRIAL
Phil Spector's chauffeur has told a Los Angeles court that the music producer admitted to killing somebody the night Lana Clarkson was found dead in Spector's home.Adriano De Souza, who was Spector's driver, said he was sitting in his car outside the music producer's mansion when he heard a "pow".
He said Spector then came out of the house holding a gun and told Mr De Souza: "I think I killed somebody".
Mr De Souza also said that Spector had blood on his hand when he told him what had happened and that when he entered the mansion he saw blood on Ms Clarkson's face.
Spector is accused of murdering the B-movie actress Ms Clarkson at his LA home. The producer denies the charges and his defence team says the actress shot herself.
"Financial Realities" versus "Political Realities"
Category: News Defused
Nobody ever resigns a government position because they screwed up. They almost always have a stock explanation tied to family responsibilities and economics.
The latest example:
Deputy U.S. Attorney General McNulty Resigns
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty has announced that he will resign late this summer. He is the most senior official to step down from the Justice Department in the ongoing scandal over fired U.S. attorneys.McNulty did not mention the fired prosecutors in the letter announcing his resignation. He told the attorney general, "The financial realities of college-age children and two decades of public service lead me to a long overdue transition in my career."
I suspect there is a form book for government employees that contains this recommended template: The financial realities of ______________________ and _________ years of public service lead me to a long overdue transition in my career.
The political realities requiring the departure would be refreshing and informative. But, that would probably reduce the market value of the subsequent book deal.
"When You Open Your Eyes You Will Not See The Judge"
Category: News Defused
Hypnosis has lost a round in the Canadian Supreme Court.
Ruling halts courts' use of hypnosis in evidence
Evidence obtained from witnesses under hypnosis is dangerously unreliable and cannot be used in Canadian courtrooms, the Supreme Court of Canada said in a major ruling yesterday."At the present time, there is no way of knowing whether such information will be accurate or inaccurate," Madam Justice Marie Deschamps wrote for a 6-3 majority. "Such uncertainty is unacceptable in a court of law."
Lawyer James Lockyer, who brought the case to the court, said that he knows of 20 to 30 cases in the past decade where hypnosis evidence was used. "Had the court ruled that hypnosis was admissible, it could have led to it being used regularly by police forces," he added in an interview.
Mr. Lockyer was representing Stephen John Trochym, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Donna Hunter, in 1992, based partly on the evidence of a witness who, while under hypnosis, altered her testimony to conform to the police theory of the crime.
The court majority said yesterday that witnesses who are hypnotized are liable to fabricate recollections, embroider existing memories or modify their recollections in a way that favours information they have received from authority figures.
The question now is what will the Canadian courts do to prevent testimony from non-hypnotized witnesses who fabricate recollections, embroider existing memories or modify their recollections in a way that favours information they have received from authority figures? These witnesses show up every week in every courthouse throughout the U.S. - has the Canadian system found a way to bar them from testifying?
The Bush Doctrine - Take This Tax Deduction And Get Plenty Of Sleep
Category: News Defused
Joe Paduda, at Managed Care, sees through the nonsense in the State of the Union address about a new plan to provide health insurance for the uninsured.
So a lot of folks are finding good things in Pres. Bush's plan to use tax policy to help uninsured people get health insurance.Not me. I see it as the worst kind of incrementalism, on a par with consumer-directed health care. To the naive, it promises a quick solution using financial gimmickry that will not cost anyone very important much of anything, and may help a few folks get coverage thru a state program.
But it won't do anything to fix the underlying problem - people who need insurance can't get it, and if they can, many can't afford it, leaving the rest of us to pay for their health care. Meanwhile, insurance companies compete not on the basis of how healthy they can keep us, but on how good they are at denying coverage to anyone who may have a claim.
In the world of George W. Bush, sadly, providing a tax deduction can solve every problem. Mr. President, some of us don't earn enough money to worry about tax deductions. That is why we don't have health insurance or a brand new car.