IT''S ALL ABOUT YOU
December 28, 2007
This is YOUR web site for YOUR practice. It doesn't belong to us, it belongs to YOU. Let's make 2008 the Year of Becoming Interactive. Let's make you the star(s).
Consumer Fraud Actions: The Applicability of the Learned Intermediary Doctrine
December 27, 2007
There is much uncertainty surrounding if and how well-established defenses to traditional product liability claims will translate in non-personal injury consumer fraud actions. At the forefront of this uncertainty is the applicability of the learned intermediary doctrine in consumer fraud actions involving pharmaceuticals or medical devices.
Verdicts
December 21, 2007
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Med Mal News
December 21, 2007
Recent happenings of interest.
Drugs and Devices
December 21, 2007
The Medical Device Amendments (MDA) to the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act contain an express preemption provision, namely 21 U.S.C. ' 360k(a), which prohibits states from imposing requirements different from, or in addition to, the specific federal requirements imposed on medical devices by FDA regulations. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has held, in a case involving ' 360k(a), that traditional state law claims are permissible and are not preempted if the common law duties involved parallel the duties statutorily imposed in the federal law and do not impose higher standards.
Is Ranking Physicians a Fair Practice?
December 21, 2007
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo recently spearheaded a statewide New York investigation into health insurers' use of physician-ranking programs. The investigation, which has made inquiries to insurers including United Healthcare, Aetna, CIGNA Healthcare, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Preferred Care and HIP Health Plan of NewYork/GHI, has now produced a settlement with CIGNA. Although the investigation is specific to New York, the issues raised are national in scope and worth serious consideration, since health insurers nationwide are increasingly utilizing physician-ranking systems.
Hospital LIability for Medical Research Studies
December 21, 2007
Your hospital and physicians have the opportunity to conduct a study on a new method for the early detection of a disease. They go through the necessary procedures of obtaining patients at risk for the disease, and those patients knowingly agree to participate in the program. However, there may be one problem with this scenario. According to a recent case out of New York, your hospital and physicians may have just established a hospital-patient and/or physician-patient relationship with each of the study participants, exposing all of them to the risk of multiple medical malpractice lawsuits.
Case Notes
November 30, 2007
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Ancillary Businesses Losing Appeal
November 30, 2007
Law firms once dreamed of owning separate businesses to bring in new streams of revenue, and while some achieved that goal, the industry is now largely backing away from a strategy that provided little economic benefit.
