Justinian Lane - Commentary on law, politics, and tort "reform."

Doctor is awarded $500,000 in punitive damages in wrongful termination lawsuit

Considering how vociferously that doctors argue they shouldn’t be sued, I always note when they file a lawsuit.  This doctor will learn firsthand how much of an injustice that damage caps are, as his $500,000 award will get reduced by $200,000.

A radiation oncologist who formerly worked for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute won a potential $3 million verdict in federal court yesterday on charges that her employer retaliated against her for raising concerns about discrimination.

….

In addition to back and front pay, the verdict includes $200,000 in compensatory damages, as well as $300,000 in punitive damages. The jury found that punitive damages should be $500,000, but under law, the cap is $300,000, said Dr. Gerszten's attorney, Colleen Ramage Johnston.

Source: Doctor wins suit against cancer institute

That 1.26 billion judgment? Get back to me if they collect.

Many years ago, I obtained a six-figure default judgment against a company that wronged me.  I had done EVERYTHING 100% properly to get this default.  I had a hearing on the record, went over service of process, put on some evidence – everything.  Yet all the company did was file a motion asking to have it overturned in the interests of justice, and BANG! my default judgment was worthless.  So I don’t pay a lot of attention to these:

What's the cost of not showing up to court? For PepsiCo Inc., it's a $1.26 billion default judgment. A Wisconsin state court socked the company with the monster award in a case alleging that PepsiCo stole the idea to bottle and sell purified water from two Wisconsin men.

Now the company is scrambling to salvage the situation. The damages award was handed down on Sept. 30. PepsiCo filed motions to vacate the order and dismiss the claims on Oct. 13, saying it wasn't even aware of the lawsuit until Oct. 6.

Source: Law.com - Price to PepsiCo for Not Being in Court: $1.26 Billion

I’ll literally eat a shoe if the plaintiffs in this case collect $1.26 billion dollars.

It’s never a good sign for a defendant when…

The jury asks for a “10-digit adding machine.”

In what could be a very favorable signal to the plaintiffs who are asking for tens of millions in damages, jurors in the case on Tuesday asked for and received a 10-digit adding machine to help them through their deliberations.

Source: Jurors request 10-digit adding machine in radio contest death case - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Doctors Sue To Prevent The Distribution Of The H1N1 Vaccine

I always take note when doctors file any sort of a lawsuit since doctors are generally supportive of measures to limit lawsuits against doctors.  This one jumped out at me because doctors are trying to prevent the distribution of the flu vaccine, which is a bit unusual to say the least.

A "stop the shot" campaign has hit federal and state courts. This past Friday, a group of New York doctors and health care workers asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order the federal government not to distribute the H1N1 vaccine. Specifically, they're challenging the legality of the licensing of the swine flu vaccine, alleging it was approved too quickly without appropriate testing for safety and effectiveness.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs, who filed their suit in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, are seeking an immediate court order to halt mandated H1N1 flu shots in New York state. New York has ordered that all health care workers receive the H1N1 vaccine or risk losing their jobs.

Source: Law.com - 'Stop the Shot' Campaign Against H1N1 Vaccine Hits Federal and State Courts

If I Sued 30,000 Corporations, Would I Be a Vexatious Litigant?

Somehow, I bet the court would answer that question “yes” even though it didn’t find the RIAA to be a vexatious litigant.

Levy also ruled that the RIAA, which has sued 30,000 individuals, was not a vexatious litigant, shooting down Beckerman’s counter-complaint against his courtroom opponents. “Plaintiffs have doggedly pursued their copyright infringement claim, but I find no evidence of undue vexatiousness or ill motive on their part,” Levy wrote.

Source: Judge Refuses to Punish Lawyer for Anti-RIAA Blogging | Threat Level | Wired.com

The tort “reform” movement’s tacit acceptance of the RIAA’s litigiousness shows that (a) the movement is about protecting corporations and not “reforming” anything, and (b) there’s nothing wrong with suing those who wrong you.

Technorati Tags: RIAA,vexatious litigants,tort reform

Is Wyeth the most hypocritical company in the U.S.?

Not too terribly long ago, Wyeth asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold that plaintiffs in civil litigation shouldn’t be able to sue a pharmaceutical company for failure to warn if the FDA approved the warning label.  Wyeth’s brief in that case was chock full of praise for the FDA, claiming that the FDA’s decisions shouldn’t be undermined by the courts, and that the trained professionals at the FDA are in the best position to make determinations.

Now, the FDA has approved a generic version of one of Wyeth’s drugs, and Wyeth is suing to keep the drug off the market:

Drugmaker Wyeth on Wednesday sued regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in an attempt to block the sale of a recently approved generic version of its intravenous antibiotic Zosyn. In the complaint filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., by Wyeth's lawyers at Sidley Austin, the company alleges that the generic is not an equivalent product and could harm critically ill patients. The complaint also names as defendants the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius, and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

Source: Law.com - Wyeth Sues FDA Over Generic Drug

So, if you’re trying to sue Wyeth, the company believes the FDA’s decisions in favor of Wyeth are always right.  But if you’re trying to compete with Wyeth, the company believes the agency is run by a bunch of boobs. 

Follow the link above and read Wyeth’s lawsuit and see if it strikes you as a company that just a year or so ago was singing the FDA’s praises. 

This is even worse because pharmaceutical companies always claim that lawsuits are keeping drugs off the market – but Wyeth just filed a lawsuit to keep a drug off the market!

Yet another example of “do as I say, not as I sue.”  And yet another example of a corporate hypocrite who crusades against civil lawsuits but won’t hesitate to file one when it suits their needs.

Technorati Tags: Wyeth,FDA,Zosyn,tort reform,preemption

Proof that lying and violating discovery orders pays

For proof, look no further than the actions of the tobacco industry:

Last month, a Los Angeles jury awarded $13.8 million in punitive damages to the daughter of Betty Bullock, a smoker who had sued Philip Morris USA Inc. before she died of cancer. It was a huge loss -- for the plaintiff.

Just seven years before, a different jury in the same case had awarded a record $28 billion in punitives. Philip Morris appealed that blow, and eventually a California appellate court ordered a retrial, leading to the much diminished result of Aug. 24.

What happened between 2002 and last month? Bullock's lawyer, Los Angeles solo practitioner Michael Piuze, did not return calls seeking comment. But Charles Tauman, president of the plaintiff-friendly Tobacco Trial Lawyers' Association, said he had spoken to Piuze, who "felt that the jury that he had was of a different character than the one ... in the original Bullock case. He felt they were harsher and less willing to be sympathetic."

Lawyers on both sides of smoker cases say Piuze's experience is unique only in the magnitude of the lost award. Hard statistics on recent personal injury lawsuits against tobacco companies are difficult to come by, but the anecdotal evidence about punitive damages is growing. Jurors today are less willing to impose severe punishment than jurors just a decade ago.

Source: Law.com - The Bloom Is Off the Rose for Tobacco Claims

The tobacco companies spent decades producing witnesses who lied under oath, violating discovery orders, and fraudulently using the attorney-client privilege to shield incriminating documents.  And now that those practices are mostly over, jurors don’t care about what big tobacco did. 

Oh well.  If jurors did care and returned a huge damage award, the courts would just reduce it anyway.

I think the judge thought this lawsuit was frivolous

What do you think?

Riches v. Bonds, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97655

OPINION AND ORDER

This case is frivolous and deserves no further judicial time. See Lee v. Clinton, 209 F.3d 1025 (7th Cir. 2000), and Gladney v. Pendleton Correctional Facility, 302 F.3d 773, 774 (7th Cir. 2002) ("Sometimes, however, a suit is dismissed because the facts alleged in the complaint are so nutty ('delusional' is the polite word) that they're unbelievable, even though there has been no evidentiary hearing to determine their truth or falsity.")

For the foregoing reasons, this complaint is DISMISSED pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i).

ENTERED: August 16, 2007

/s/ Robert L. Miller, Jr.

Chief Judge

United States District Court

Technorati Tags: frivolous lawsuits,Riches v,Bonds

It's all fun and games until... you go before the 7th Circuit

Researching a completely unrelated issue and I came across Bevolo v. Carter, 447 F.3d 979 (7th Cir. 2006).  The following passage made me laugh.

One of the “very special guests” from Missouri (and featured speaker) that evening was Professor Carter, a Kajukenbo expert and an 8th degree black belt. Evidently, Carter has the rare ability to “move people with his mind.” After dinner, Bevolo was introduced to Carter and asked Carter to demonstrate this uncanny skill. With a group of onlookers (including Bevolo's own family) present and with cameras in hand, Carter began his demonstration. The demonstration, however, included the use of Carter's well-trained hands as well as his well-trained mind. The mood in the air was light, and Carter demonstrated various pressure points on Bevolo, including pulling his hair and touching his arms. During the demonstration, Carter was talking with the crowd while Bevolo's family took pictures. After performing several maneuvers, including two that put Bevolo on the ground, Carter hit him in the neck. Carter did not intend to injure him, but serious damage was done with that one blow. None of the previous blows or maneuvers had caused any injury.

One of the stated goals of Kajukenbo is that, “[w]hen attacked, a student's instincts will take over and the body will react to the situation, diffusing it without hesitation.” Unfortunately for Bevolo, his body did not react to Carter's demonstration, nor did it make any attempt to diffuse the situation. As the old saying goes, “[i]t's all fun and games until someone loses an eye,” or in this case, until someone injures his neck and has to have a cadaver bone and a titanium plate surgically inserted.

New Documents At DangerousDrugs.US – Phospho-Soda and Ortho-Evra

I’ve posted a few new documents at www.dangerousdrugs.us. 

• Fleet hopes to bring Phospho-Soda back on the market.
• Dr. Suzanne Parisian Opines about the dangers of the Ortho-Evra patch
• And here is her expert report from the Ortho-Evra lawsuit referenced above
• Dr. Parisian offers an expert report in a Phospho-Soda case
• The Defendants in a phospho-soda lawsuit would prefer if Dr. Parisian didn’t testify
• The plaintiffs, however, would prefer if Fleet didn’t “blame the FDA.”
• On July 14th, another Fleet Phospho-Soda lawsuit was filed in NY.

If you have any documents from pharmaceutical lawsuits you’d allow me to post on my site, please email them to me. 

Technorati Tags: Phospho-Soda,Ortho-Evra