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• TTLA Home • Search Litigation Bank • About	September 06, 2007
-  Court Clears the Way for Katrina Hospital Lawsuits -  Families Agree to Settlement in Nightclub Fire -  Mother Settles with Hotel in Drowning Death -  SEC Targets Alleged Fraudulent Timeshare Ring -  Workers File Race Bias Lawsuit Against Gambling Boat -  State High Court Reverses Vioxx Class Action -  Popcorn Manufacturer to Pull Chemical Flavoring -  El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts -  El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts -  El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts -  Texas Supreme Court: Torts -  Texas Supreme Court: Workers Compensation -  Report Finds Trade Center Cleanup Lacking -  Myths, Misinformation Tough to Dispel, Studies Show     This Service Sponsored Exclusively by The James Street Group A Member Service of Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Announcements     Laws/Cases   Court Clears the Way for Katrina Hospital Lawsuits The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that lawsuits filed against hospitals involving allegations of mishandled care during Hurricane Katrina do not have to be treated as malpractice cases. The court’s ruling clears the way for lawsuits to proceed without standard medical malpractice investigations. The decision also allows plaintiffs to bypass a $500,000 state cap on medical malpractice awards.  Janet McConnaughey, New Orleans Times-Picayune  09/06/2007 Read Article: New Orleans Times-Picayune       Families Agree to Settlement in Nightclub Fire The families of persons killed and injured during a 2003 fire at a Rhode Islandnightclub have tentatively agreed to settle a lawsuit against dozens of defendants. The fire occurred when pyrotechnics for a rock band ignited flammable sound-absorbing foam located throughout the club, killing 100 people and injuring 200. Plaintiffs hope that the settlement will be the first of several agreements with defendants in the case.  Eric Tucker, Yahoo News  09/05/2007 Read Article: Yahoo News       Mother Settles with Hotel in Drowning Death The mother of a boy who drowned in an improperly cleaned hotel swimming pool has reached a $3.1 million settlement. According to the lawsuit, the pool’s water was so dirty that it prevented rescuers from saving the boy struggling beneath the surface. According to the attorney for the plaintiff, the hotel failed to meet state requirements regarding the pool’s cleaning and maintenance.  Steve Patterson, Chicago Tribune  09/06/2007 Read Article: Chicago Tribune       SEC Targets Alleged Fraudulent Timeshare Ring The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed lawsuits against 26 people and companies for allegedly targeting retirees and other seniors in a fraudulent timeshare scam. According to the SEC, the ring bilked investors out of more than $310 million. The primary figure in the alleged scam, Michael E. Kelly, is currently facing indictment by federal prosecutors.  David Scheer, Bloomberg  09/05/2007 Read Article: Bloomberg       Workers File Race Bias Lawsuit Against Gambling Boat Current and former employees of the Casino Queen, a riverboat gambling ship, were the subject of racial discrimination, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in St. Louis claims. Twenty-five plaintiffs allege that they were the target of racial slurs and harassment from Caucasian workers and were routinely discriminated against in pay and promotion. According to an attorney for the plaintiffs, racial discrimination was a pervasive problem throughout the ship.  Robert Patrick, St. Louis Post Dispatch  09/06/2007 Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch       State High Court Reverses Vioxx Class Action The New Jersey Supreme has reversed two lower court decisions approving a nationwide class action lawsuit involving the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx. The lawsuit, brought by a New Jersey union health plan, argued that Vioxx’s maker, Merck & Co., should have disclosed potential risks earlier. Vioxx was removed from the market in 2004 after research found that it increased the risk of heart attack and strokes.  AP , The Washington Post  09/06/2007 Read Article: The Washington Post       Products   Popcorn Manufacturer to Pull Chemical Flavoring The day after a doctor warned federal regulators that a chemical in microwave popcorn may harm consumers, the nation’s largest popcorn manufacturer said that it will remove the chemical from its recipes. ConAgra Foods announced Wednesday that it will phase out the use of diacetyl as a flavoring ingredient. Diacetyl, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, has been linked to the rare life-threatening lung disease, bronchiolitis obliterans.  Andrew Schneider, Seattle Post-Intelligencer  09/06/2007 Read Article: Seattle Post-Intelligencer       TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES   El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts The court did not err in denying Dr. Gary Grindstaff's motion to dismiss pursuant to the Texas Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act. Grindstaff v. Michie, El Paso Court of Appeals, No. 08-06-00175-CV, 8-30-2007.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  09/06/2007 Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)       El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts The trial court could have reasonably determined that the report provided a fair summary of Dr. Jeff Cartwright's opinions as to causation because it linked the failures of Dr. Eric Sides to appreciate and diagnose Maria Guevara's toe problems and to document the surgery he performed to the subsequent infection in her knee. Sides v. Guevara, El Paso Court of Appeals, No. 08-06-00213-CV, 8-30-2007.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  09/06/2007 Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)       El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts The trial judge did not abuse his discretion in dismissing all of the health-care liability claims against El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery Group. Maes v. El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery Group, El Paso Court of Appeals, No. 08-06-00071-CV, 8-30-2007.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  09/06/2007 Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)       Texas Supreme Court: Torts Non-expert evidence alone is sufficient to support a finding of causation in limited circumstances where both the occurrence and conditions complained of are such that the general experience and common sense of laypersons are sufficient to evaluate the conditions and whether they were probably caused by the occurrence. Guevara v. Ferrer, an heir and assignee of Arturo Labao, Texas Supreme Court, No. 05-1100, 8-31-2007.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  09/06/2007 Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)       Texas Supreme Court: Workers Compensation Entergy Gulf States Inc. was a general contractor and thus a deemed employer under the Texas Labor Code. Accordingly, Texas Labor Code §406.123 barred John Summers' tort claims. Entergy Gulf States Inc. v. Summers, Texas Supreme Court, No. 05-0272, 8-31-2007.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  09/06/2007 Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)       Study   Report Finds Trade Center Cleanup Lacking A report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office says that a government funded cleanup of residences that were exposed to toxic dust during the collapse of the World Trade Center is seriously flawed. According to the report, recent cleanup efforts are underfunded and fail to reach areas seriously affected by the collapse.  Anthony DePalma, The New York Times  09/06/2007 Read Article: The New York Times       Myths, Misinformation Tough to Dispel, Studies Show Studies by a University of Michigan social psychologist and others are helping to bring insight into why myths, urban legends and misinformation are so difficult to counter. According to the studies, people are particularly prone to remembering false statements as true, especially after the false statements are repeated or dispelled. Scientists hope that this research will help policy makers, health officials and others combat bad information with good.  Shankar Vedantam, The Washington Post  09/04/2007 Read Article: The Washington Post
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