Personal Injury Roundup No. 34 (5/1/09)

I've got a couple more days until the exams roll in for grading, so I'm off to Brooklyn for the weekend.  Here's a look at some of what happened this week in tort law.

Reform, Legislation, Policy

• CEO of Universal Health Services, a hospital management company, thinks med mal liability reform should be on the table [CNBC]
• Developments in Oklahoma liability changes [Insurance Journal] (don't confuse this story with the much more entertaining story about Oklahoma naming the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize" the official state rock song)

New Lawsuits

• Andrew Speaker of TB fame/infamy sues the CDC, who is no doubt not at all busy right now. [TortsProf] 
• No suits yet (that I know of), but hotel lawyers are thinking about swine flu carefully. [Hotel Law Blog] 
• Included only for the title: "Calzone Victim Files New Lawsuit."  Yes, it really is about a calzone, the delicious cheesy foodstuff.  [News-Journal Online]

Trials, Settlements & Other Ends

• Wyeth v. Levine decision breaks logjam; lots of pharma trials coming. [Bloomberg] 
• Another trial starting in chicken litter cases in northwest Arkansas.  [NWANews.com]

Appeals    

• Part of Arkansas tort reform measures struck down as unconstitutional. [Johnson v. Rockwell (PDF)] 
• Suit over alleged overseas torture allowed to continue, rejecting "state secrets" defense.  [Washington Post]

Miscellaneous

• Ron Miller asks for a link, I provide one.  Plus, it's a good batch of links.  [Maryland Lawyer Blog] 
• Chris is looking for Prosser references in pop culture.  I hope some hip hop artist somewhere has thrown in a Prosser line, perhaps rhyming with "bosser"?  [TortsProf]
• Botox gets a black box in non-cosmetic use context, though patients getting the cosmetic use should be warned too (and, yes, there are Google ads for Botox Lawyer, and I bet this post will get some comment spam too). [WebMD]

--BC