Consumer Law

We Read the News Today, Oh Boy

Posted on February 03, 2010
It?s that old ?lining their pockets? thing again. In Ohio, Christ Hospital has ?settled a federal whistleblower lawsuit accusing its acclaimed cardiac-care center of running an illegal kickback scheme.? Christ Hospital insists it did nothing wrong, but the government says...

?The Butcher Is Back?

Posted on February 01, 2010
It was an instance of medical malpractice so horrible that of all the many stories of medical negligence featured in the Hearst papers? important series last year, "Dead by Mistake," the paper led with this: ?Richard Flagg drowned in his...

The Toyota NHTSA Blame Game

Posted on February 01, 2010
What happens when you combine a reckless corporation and a feckless regulatory agency? You can certainly find one answer on today?s New York Times front page. The Times has a searing article about Toyota?s sudden-acceleration crisis, nudged into the public...

In Memorium: Martin Harnett

Posted on January 29, 2010
We are terribly sad to report that yesterday, Martin Harnett passed away due to complications stemming from medical malpractice at birth. He was 14-years-old. Martin and his mom, Donna, touched everyone who met them. The case of malpractice during Martin?s...

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Towers Perrin Flunks Torts Class

Posted on January 28, 2010
Today, we just want to bring your attention to the slammin' new study from Americans for Insurance Reform (a coalition of many public interest groups from around the country) that critiques the bogus but, unfortunately, often quoted annual "studies" from...

O?Connor vs. Kennedy With an Independent Judiciary at Stake

Posted on January 27, 2010
You know when the U.S. Supreme Court has turned truly fanatical when former conservative Justice Sandra Day O?Connor is sounding the alarm. Justice O?Connor, speaking at a DC symposium, said that last week?s Citizen?s United decision unleashing corporate election spending...

Today?s Distressing Safety Checklist

Posted on January 26, 2010
If you?re planning to go outside today, don?t get hurt, be careful driving, watch what you eat ? or at least, be very very careful! Here?s what we found in the news today: 1. A revealing yet frightening column in...

Witness Protection for Deadbeat Witnesses

Posted on January 25, 2010
One of the most sordid episodes of murder, assassination and human rights violations in modern history is reaching a fascinating point in U.S. courts. For those who recall the details of the brutal Pinochet regime in Chile, which came to...

Will the Supreme Court?s Citizens United Decision Declaw our State AG?s?

Posted on January 22, 2010
Right now, there probably no way to adequately describe the horror that the U.S. Supreme Court just rained down on this country with its decision yesterday in Citizens United v. FEC. As the New York Times put it today, ?With...

Child Safety, Regulatory Agencies, and the Ongoing Importance of Lawsuits

Posted on January 21, 2010
We?ve noticed a lot of stories in the news lately about federal regulatory agencies like the CPSC and the FDA cracking down on companies that sell and manufacture harmful products to kids. Massive recalls have taken place affecting strollers that...

Another Shout Out from our Neo-Con Friends as Auto Crash Victims and Teamsters Rally

Posted on January 19, 2010
It seems our friends over at Dick Cheney?s favorite think tank, the Manhattan Institute (MI), saw fit to take a break from honoring Martin Luther King yesterday to give props to our recent coverage of Christina Catalano?s brave face-off with...

A Week of Mixed Messages, Civil Justice Style

Posted on January 15, 2010
In the mid-1980s, both Maryland and Missouri enacted pretty severe ?caps? on compensation, which did nothing to reduce insurance rates for doctors. (Among other states. See Appendix for full list.) While the hopes of Maryland patients were dashed this week...

Chrysler Protest by Defect Victim Disrupts Auto Show

Posted on January 14, 2010
"My mother died because of a defective Chrysler product. If it was your mother, you would be up here, too." So said the brave Christina Catalano, whose mom is pictured here, as she ?seized the microphone? during the Detroit autoshow...

The Great ?Tort Reform? Overreach

Posted on January 12, 2010
There's been some recent news coverage that you don't see everyday. In all the frenzy to placate special interest lobbyists who want to cut off the rights of average folks to go to court, state and federal lawmakers often overreach...

Drugs Mean Never Having to Say You?re Sorry

Posted on January 11, 2010
We written before that the focus on ?litigation alternatives? in the health care bill is one big distraction. This includes talk about ?apology? proposals, where doctors and hospitals who commit malpractice ?apologize? to patients. Fine, but they don?t always work...

9/11 Lawsuits May Shine A Light on What Really Happened That Day

Posted on January 08, 2010
This week, there was an fascinating AP story illustrating one of the most important functions of the civil lawsuits?disclosing significant information about important public matters to the wider public. This instance concerns two of the brave families of 9/11 victims...

Nevada Hospital ER Shows ?Pattern? of Refusing Care

Posted on January 07, 2010
We?ve talked any number of times about the terrible hazards many patients have faced when seeking care from a hospital?s emergency room. And that makes sense, given that the ER is the location where most medical malpractice occurs. It?s bad...

Chinese Drywall, the U.S. Housing Bubble, and Civil Justice

Posted on January 06, 2010
The ?hot mess? that is the Chinese drywall fiasco seems to be getting hotter by the day?at least according to blockbuster investigative piece by Tim Elfrink in today?s Broward-Palm Beach New Times. While the story is striking on numerous levels,...

Docs Blinded by Dollar Signs

Posted on January 05, 2010
We?ve said many times ? and the evidence seems to keep on comin? ? that if there?s a problem with doctors? ordering too many tests, the reasons have to do with the fees they get, not ?lawsuits.? Like this story...

Katrina Hospitals Victims ?Literally dead in the water?

Posted on January 04, 2010
Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, much has been written about deaths that could have been prevented but for the negligence of various institutions. We?ve covered the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers, and its ?monumental negligence? for not maintaining...

New Civil Justice Law in China Starts the New Year Right

Posted on January 04, 2010
It?s time for our first bit of irony for The New Decade. While the business and medical lobbies have turned the U.S. civil justice system into an embattled and vulnerable institution, trying to strip victims here of their legal rights,...

A Great Decade for Civil Justice!

Posted on December 23, 2009
ThePopTort will be taking a bit of a breather over the holidays. In the meantime, enjoy our list of Top Ten Civil Justice Triumphs Of the Decade! The full post can be found at the Huffington Post, but below is...

After Nearly 7 Years of Torturous ?Tort Reforms,? Rural Texans Ask: Where are the Docs?

Posted on December 22, 2009
If you obliterate patients? rights, they will come (the doctors, that is). And if you don?t, they?ll leave. So goes the oft-repeated promise ? and threat ? of the insurance industry and medical lobbies. We?re all too familiar with how...

Al Franken?s Defense Amendment, Providing Recourse for Rape Victims, on its Way to Becoming Law

Posted on December 21, 2009
Clearing the way for the real squeaker 60-40 Senate vote on health care at 1 a.m. this morning, was another key weekend Senate vote ? the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill ? which passed Saturday night by a less squeaky margin...

Doctor?s Admission that ?Medical Errors are Our Bad? - May Get Attention in Health Care Bill

Posted on December 20, 2009
Enough people are talking about the pros and cons of the guts of the health care bill that we probably don?t need to stick our PopTort nose(s) in it, too. But we do have to say that when it comes...

Bank of America, Dinosaurs, and Mandatory Binding Arbitration

Posted on December 17, 2009
It?s been quite a good year for consumers complaining about hidden clauses in bank ?agreements? that force all credit card and loan disputes into the extremely biased process known as ?mandatory binding arbitration.? First, in March the U.S. Supreme Court...

Excessive Radiation From CT Scan Leads to Class Action Suit

Posted on December 16, 2009
We?ve got a quick update on a story we told you about last week involving an Alabama woman named Becky Coudert who developed a bald strip around her head after being over-exposed to radiation via a ?CT brain perfusion scan.?...

New York Hospital Executives Are Acting Like Wall Street Bankers

Posted on December 15, 2009
Wow, those executives really have some nerve, giving themselves outrageous bonuses and all. The bankers again? No, actually, this time we?re talking about executives at tax-exempt New York City hospitals! This incredible story was dug up by the New York...

Our Fanmail to ATRA!

Posted on December 15, 2009
You may know that every year, the less and less relevant "American Tort Reform Association", which represents hundreds of corporations and their lobbyists that seek immunity from lawsuits, issues a bogus "report" identifying certain areas of the country as "judicial...

Nursing Home Abuse, Compensation Limits and MICRA

Posted on December 14, 2009
If you know anything about what goes on in nursing homes these days, like our friends do at NCCNHR: The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, you might find it hard to believe that any politician would want to...

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