| Announcements |  |  |
| Register NOW for TTLA s Annual Conference! | | Events include Car Wrecks and Catastrophic Injury seminars, Annual President s Luncheon featuring John Edwards as Keynote Speaker, List Server Reception, Advocates Annual Meeting, Women s Initiative Luncheon, Annual Board and Membership meeting, Annual Auction Party and more! Learn more and register today at www.ttla.com.
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| Laws/Cases | | |
| Appeals Court May Review Controversial Tax Decision | | Claiming the case is one of "exceptional importance" to the execution of the nation's tax laws, the Bush administration recently asked the full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (DC)to rehear Murphy v. U.S. The three-judge panel found that compensation for loss of a personal attribute is not received in lieu of income. The government states that the ruling is the first in over 85 years in which an exercise of congressional income-taxing power is struck down as unconstitutional. Marcia Coyle, The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required 10/27/2006
| | Read Article: The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) |
| Nurse's Denied Injury Claim Leads to Jury Award | | A former nurse at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Houston, TX required neck and back surgery after an altercation with a psychiatric patient in 2002. His insurance claim was denied, he appealed the denial through state agencies and eventually got an order for the surgeries, by then much of the damage was irreversible. The jury found the insurance adjusting company Cunningham Lindsey Claims Management Inc. and an independent adjuster, who denied the claim, liable in the case and awarded more than $2 million in compensation and $2.2 million in the equivalent of punitive damages. Brian Rogers, Houston Chronicle 10/28/2006
| | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Healthcare | | |
| More Patients Dying Over Slow Action on Stent Placement | | Despite the controversy over the risks of heart stents, cardiologists report that many more patients are dying each year from doctors' failure to promptly install stents when patients arrive at hospitals. The doctors cite studies that found stents increase the survival rates of patients who have had heart attacks when compared to "clot-busting" drugs. Barnaby J. Feder, The New York Times 10/26/2006
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Insurance | | |
| AG Accuses Company of Abuses in Life Insurance Policies | | New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer is suing Coventry First for alleged bid-rigging and fraud involving life insurance policies for the ill and elderly. The company has acquired over $3.6 billion worth of policies in the rapidly growing but recently regulated "life settlement" industry. Spitzer's suit accuses Coventry of making secret payments to life-settlement brokers in order for them to convince the elderly and ill to sell their policies at lower prices. Charles Duhigg and Jospeh B. Treaster, The New York Times 10/27/2006
| | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Insurer Settles Medicaid Dispute With U.S. Attorney's Office | | A $5 million settlement will resolve a Keystone Mercy Health Plan benefits-claims dispute with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. Keystone allegedly failed to return overpayments for Medicaid services to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare. The lawsuit stemmed from a whistleblower's complaint who will also receive $780,000 from the settlement. Linda Loyd, Philadelphia Inquirer 10/27/2006
| | Read Article: Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Issues | | |
| NIH's New Ethics Rules May Reduce Their Workforce | | A survey commissioned by the government's premier medical research agency found that nearly 40 percent of scientists at the Nation Institutes of Health are looking for other jobs or are considering doing so. The enforcement of new ethics rules lessens their chances of earning outside income. The policy bans income from private consulting for drug and biotechnology companies. Rita Beamish, The Washington Post 10/30/2006
| | Read Article: The Washington Post |
| 60 Minutes: Execs Were Aware of BP Safety Hazards | | A 60 Minutes segment reported that BP executives knew of the safety hazards in the Texas City refinery before the fatal 2005 explosion. The blast killed 15 and injured several others. The investigation found the refinery was repeatedly warned about safety issues and a survey of employees, conducted prior to the blast, revealed workers believed management put production and profits before safety. Mike McDaniel, Houston Chronicle 10/27/2006
| | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
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