Archive for February, 2008
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Actor John Ritter’s widow and children have brought a wrongful death lawsuit in California against a Burbank cardiologist who treated him on the day he died in September 2003. Story here.
Ritter, 54, died of torn aorta but was treated for a heart attack. The plaintiffs claim the cardiologist, Dr. Joseph Lee, should have recognized the aortic dissection and that the radiologist, Dr. Matthew Lotysch, should have detected an enlargement of the aorta in the body scan. Both doctors dispute the claims.
Of note, apparently “the Fonz” testified at trial, and John Ritter is the son of Western film star “Tex” Ritter.
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
NBC5i is reporting that at least two people (and possibly a third) are dead after an 18-wheeler overturned and crashed onto another vehicle at I35 and Continental Avenue in Dallas. Looks like the truck fell over a guardrail ramp and onto the lanes below. How horrific.
Tags: Dallas, truck wreck, trucking accident
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Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
A group of 11 plaintiffs, including the family of ex Dallas Cowboys player Ron Springs, filed suit recently in U.S. District Court in Marshall to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s medical malpractice caps.
The Houston Chronicle has a story here. The article suggests that the non-economic cap of $250,000 is per defendant, which is not the case. The $250,000 cap is per claimant (including all derivative plaintiffs such as spouses and children of the injured patient), no matter how many doctors or health care providers are sued. There is - in theory - the potential to stack two limits for a $500,000 cap, but I have yet to see a scenario where that would apply…nor have I heard of any across the state. And in some lobbyist’s fantasy world, there is a magical place where an injured patient could - just maybe - stack three limits for a $750,000 recovery. It’ll never happen, but that was part of the snake oil the insurance lobbyists sold elected officials and voters when tort reform passed in 2003.
In any event, hats off to the plaintiffs in Marshall.
Tags: Dallas, malpractice
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Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Now here’s an interesting twist in a bizarre case, as reported in the Houston Chronicle today:
HOUSTON — The famous saga of a woman who killed her cheating husband by mowing him down with her luxury car returns to court Tuesday in a civil case Clara Harris filed against her former defense attorney.
Jury selection is set to begin more than three years after Harris filed a lawsuit claiming Houston attorney George Parnham overcharged to defend her in the 2003 murder trial that garnered international attention.
Harris, 50, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for running over her philandering spouse in a hotel parking lot in 2002 after confronting him with his mistress. The lawsuit claims Harris hired Parnham for $75,000 but wound up paying more than $235,000.
Lawyers for Parnham, whose list of past clients includes Andrea Yates, have argued that Harris is the one who still owes money. “She’s mad about how much he charged her,” said Charles Babcock, who is representing Parnham.
Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday in the trial, which is expected to last about a week.
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Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Medicare, soon to be followed by private health insurers, will no longer pay for medical treatment of preventable injuries caused by medical errors. Medicare lists eight “hospital-caused preventable injuries,” including urinary tract infections from catheters, falls, pressure sores, and embolism. After October 1st, if a Medicare patient develops one of these eight injuries, Medicare won’t pay for treatment. Apparently under this plan, hospitals cannot bill the patient, either.
I don’t know what to think about this. On one hand, if it truly becomes a matter of economic incentive for the hospitals, perhaps they will take more precautions to avoid these problems. On the other hand, this could lead to decreased quality of care for those patients who end up with these preventable injuries which no one is paying to treat. The number-crunchers in hospital administration might try to cut their loses by withholding appropriate and expensive care. It also seems that the patient could be caught in a tug-of-war between the hospitals and the insurers over whether or not something was preventable in the first place.
Bottom line, patients will end up getting screwed by this. Woe be to those in Texas, where the tort-deform insurance lobbyists and many of your elected representatives have just about driven the last nails into injured consumers’ coffins.
Tags: insurance, texas
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
An Alon USA oil refinery in Big Spring exploded this morning. All workers are accounted for, according to CNN. No word yet on the environmental impact and property damage. I-20 is closed.
Something tells me explosions like this will become more commonplace. We seem to have had a rash of them lately.
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Saturday, February 16th, 2008
What tha…?
A lawsuit filed Friday by a former St. Louis Rams player and others seeks millions of dollars in damages from the alleged taping of Rams practices by the New England Patriots before the 2002 Super Bowl.
The Patriots won the game 20-17 in the Superdome.
The $100 million suit, filed on behalf of former Rams player Willie Gary in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, names the Patriots, team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick.
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Friday, February 15th, 2008
Just saw a report about multiple explosions involving gas pipelines in South Texas. The explosions occurred near the town of McCook in Hidalgo County, not far from the the U.S.- Mexico border.
Tags: texas
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
FWST covers the story here.
This seemed to me to be an incredibly challenging case. The wife of a long-time BNSF employee alleged that her stomach cancer was caused by years of cleaning chemicals off her husband’s work clothes. He and other workers used creosote in making railroad ties and they testified that they often went home caked in the chemical. The plaintiffs apparently presented evidence linking creosote to the wife’s cancer but it wasn’t enough to overcome the defense that she had a pack-a-day cigarette habit.
Tough case, particularly in Tarrant County, home of BNSF. Hats off to the plaintiffs’ attorneys for teeing it up, though.
Tags: workplace safety
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Monday, February 11th, 2008
A Tennessee minister, his wife and their two children died when an 18-wheeler hit their van as they were driving to help families devastated by last week’s tornadoes in that state. Michael Welch, wife Julie, 11-year old daughter Hannah and 14-year old son Jesse died when a Wal-Mart truck slammed into the back of their van and pushed it into the car in front of them. Criminal charges are pending against the Wal-Mart driver.
In an interview just a few hours prior to his death, Rev. Welch said of his and other ministers’ efforts to comfort families affected by the tornadoes, “We cling to God, because He’s all we’ve got.”
Amen.
Tags: truck, truck wreck, trucking accident
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