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• TTLA Home • Search Litigation Bank • About	September 21, 2007
-  Physician Error Spread Cancer, Woman Claims -  Older Workers Seek to Recover Withheld Wages -  State High Court Rules to Limit Insurance Liability -  Bus Company Negligent for Exposing Students to TB -  Ruling Could Affect Canceled Health Coverage Cases -  Appellate Ruling Bolsters Asbestos Case -  Barred Doctor Sets Up Shop in New State -  Parasites Prompt Baby Colic Remedy Recall -  California Recalls Free Lunchboxes     This Service Sponsored Exclusively by The James Street Group A Member Service of Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Announcements   Donate an item for the TTLA Annual Fundraiser Last year, the donation of your auction items generated over $70,000 in non-dues revenue! Please consider donating an item for the TTLA Annual Fundraiser on November 29th. Download the donation form at www.ttla.com/annual. Questions? Contact rreedy@ttla.com.     Laws/Cases   Physician Error Spread Cancer, Woman Claims An Iowa woman filed a lawsuit against her gynecologist for allegedly failing to tell her that he cut open a tumor he removed from her ovary, spilling cancerous tissue into her abdomen and causing the cancer to spread. According to lawsuit, the woman did not learn of the accident during surgery until three years later. An attorney for the woman declined to comment on specific evidence that the accident caused a recurrence of cancer.  Tony Leys, DesMoines Register  09/20/2007 Read Article: DesMoines Register       Older Workers Seek to Recover Withheld Wages An Equal Opportunity Employment Commission lawsuit accuses the BaltimoreCounty government of requiring older employees to pay more for their pensions than their younger counterparts. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two retired correctional workers, claims that longstanding county policy has illegally required some workers to contribute a greater portion of their paycheck to retirement. The EEOC is seeking reimbursement for withheld wages and a change in the county’s pension system.  Josh Mitchell, BaltimoreSun  09/20/2007 Read Article: Baltimore Sun       State High Court Rules to Limit Insurance Liability In two separate rulings released Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court may allow property insurers to pay actual losses for disasters, vastly limiting liability. The rulings overturn a lower court decision that allowed homeowners to recover losses equal to the policy value of windstorm insurance even if some damage may have been caused by flooding. The high court’s decisions stemmed from two cases that argued homeowners should be allowed to recover their full policy limit if their homes were totally destroyed.  Beatrice E. Garcia, Miami Herald  09/21/2007 Read Article: Miami Herald       Bus Company Negligent for Exposing Students to TB A jury has ruled that a bus driver and travel company are negligent for exposing six high school band members and a chaperone to tuberculosis. The jury has ordered Garcia Holiday Tours and the driver, Raul Garcia to pay $5.25 million in damages. The driver, who coughed repeatedly during the trip, was diagnosed with the disease nine days later.  AP, The New York Times  09/21/2007 Read Article: The New York Times       Ruling Could Affect Canceled Health Coverage Cases An appellate court is expected to hear arguments next week in a case that is challenging a Blue Shield policy that allows the insurer to rescind coverage based on errors during the application process. At issue in the case is whether it is necessary for the insurer to show that the policyholder intended to deceive the company. A positive ruling in the case could open the door for more plaintiffs’ cases to succeed at trial.  Matthew Hirsch, Law.com  09/21/2007 Read Article: Law.com       Appellate Ruling Bolsters Asbestos Case The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a number of lower court rulings Thursday that will allow government attorneys greater latitude in pursuing asbestos claims against W.R. Grace & Co. Specifically, the court ruled that the government can allege that company and former top officials conspired to "knowingly endanger" miners and residents of a mining town by exposing them to asbestos. Additionally, the government will be allowed to present an expanded definition of the term asbestos in evidence.  Katie Oyan, HoustonChronicle  09/21/2007 Read Article: Houston Chronicle       Healthcare   Barred Doctor Sets Up Shop in New State A surgeon who was prohibited from practicing in Massachusetts last year for allegedly providing substandard care that resulted in deaths and severe complications is practicing again in Illinois. Illinois officials said they are investigating Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez’s professional record, but are awaiting complete information from the National Practitioner Data Bank/Health Integrity and Protection Data Bank. The wife of a man who died under Mendez’s care inIllinois has begun preliminary steps to file a lawsuit against the doctor.  Deborah L. Shelton, Chicago Tribune  09/20/2007 Read Article: Chicago Tribune       Products   Parasites Prompt Baby Colic Remedy Recall Bottles of an herbal baby supplement, marketed as a remedy for colic and teething pain, have tested positive for a parasite, federal authorities announced Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration warned parents not to give babies bottles of apple-flavored Baby's Bliss Gripe Water because the supplement tested positive for a parasite that can cause diarrhea and intestinal infections. MOM Enterprises, the product’s maker, has recalled more than 17,000 bottles of the supplement.  AP, The Washington Post  09/21/2007 Read Article: The Washington Post       California Recalls Free Lunchboxes California health officials are recalling 300,000 canvas lunch coolers because some of them were made with unhealthy levels of lead. The Chinese-made lunch boxes were distributed throughout the state since 2004 to promote healthy lifestyles and eating habits. No injuries have been reported as a result of the lunch boxes but no level of lead exposure is safe, the California Department of Health warned.  Abigail Goodman and Marc Lifsher, LA Times  09/21/2007 Read Article: LA Times
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