| Laws/Cases |  |  |
| Court Denies Right to Unapproved Drugs | | Terminally ill patients do not have a constitutional right to take experimental drugs, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The Appeals Court for the District of Columbia voted 8-2 that the current drug safety approval process does not violate the 5th Amendment due process clause. Food and Drug Administration officials argued that an alternative outcome would have thrown the drug approval process into disarray. Andrew Pollack, The New York Times 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Judge Allows Design-Defect Theory in Tobacco Case | | A Manhattan Supreme Court justice has ruled that the daughter and husband of a woman who died of lung cancer can seek punitive damages against Philip Morris under a design-defect theory. Last week a New York District Court judge vacated a $20 million verdict against tobacco companies that was argued under a similar theory. The judge in the most recent case reasoned that the plaintiff could proceed because they were not bound by the terms of a state settlement that prohibited punitive damages against tobacco companies. Beth Bar, Law.com 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: Law.com |
| Dole Chief Denies Banana Workers’ Charges | | Dole chief, David DeLorenzo, testified Tuesday that he did not believe that Honduran banana plantation workers had been made sterile by a pesticide known as DBCP. In the lawsuit against Dole, workers claim that they suffered infertility problems as result of using the pesticide on Dole’s plantations during the 1970s. Dole faces five lawsuits in Los Angeles County filed by at least 5,000 workers Noaki Schwartz, Yahoo News 08/07/2007
| | Read Article: Yahoo News |
| HEALTHCARE | | |
| Number of Hospital Burn Centers on the Decline | | As hospitals across the country increasingly close burn centers, experts fear the nation will be unprepared to treat casualties from a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The American Burn Association estimates that the number of burn centers in the country has fallen from 132 to 127 since 2004. Many hospitals have closed their burn centers because of the steep cost of maintaining the highly specialized units. Bill Poovey, The Washington Post 08/06/2007
| | Read Article: The Washington Post |
| ISSUES | | |
| Families of Emergency Workers Blocked From Death Benefit | | When the wife of Michael D. Falkouski applied for a new congressionally enacted death benefit for emergency workers who die within a day of responding to a call, she was met with a rejection notice. The Justice Department told Falkouski’s wife that her husband’s response to the fire at which he collapsed was a routine duty not covered under the benefit. Since the death benefit was created in the 2003, the Justice Department has granted just 10 of 52 claims. Hundreds more are being processed. Tina Kelly, The New York Times 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Wrongfully Deported Man Reunited With Family | | A developmentally disabled California man, who was mistakenly deported to Mexico earlier this year, has been returned to the United States. The man, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody near Calexico, Calif. and later reunited with his family. The man's family has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and immigration authorities over the deportation. Randal C. Archibold, The New York Times 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| PRODUCTS | | |
| FDA Failing to Test Imported Seafood | | A recent investigation found the Food and Drug Administration failed to screen at least 1 million pounds of imported seafood despite an alert that required the food be tested. The seafood, imported from China, was placed on an FDA watch list because of safety concerns. China is the United State’s largest foreign supplier of seafood, importing more than 1 billion pounds in 2006. Justin Pritchard and Adam Goldman, The Washington Post 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The Washington Post |
| TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES | | |
| Plight of Louisiana’s Displaced Worse than Suspected | | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center waived sovereign immunity, because the plaintiffs demonstrated a misuse of equipment in the July 2001 endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography prodecure performed by Dr. Saket Prasad. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center v. Lucero, El Paso Court of Appeals, No. 08-05-00297-CV, 8-2-2007. Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) |
| STUDY | | |
| Plight of Louisiana’s Displaced Worse than Suspected | | Two new studies released Tuesday indicate that the 2005 hurricanes affected Louisiana residents more adversely than was previously estimated. One study, conducted by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, found that almost half a million Louisiana residents were forced to relocate as a result of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. A second survey, lead by Louisiana State University researchers, concluded that the poorest residents of evacuee trailer parks were far more likely to be unemployed and to have been the victims of crime Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The Washington Post |
| Underinsured Kids Lack Access to Vaccines | | Children with inadequate insurance are often left wanting for new vaccines, a new study found. According to researchers, the lack of coverage by many private insurers puts many children at risk and places an added burden on state run vaccination programs. The out of pocket expense for vaccinations against chickenpox, pneumonia, hepatitis A, human papillomavirus and rotavirus can cost close to $400. AP, The New York Times 08/08/2007
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
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