Civil Procedure › Health Law › Personal Injury

Court of Appeal Applies Howell Rule to Future Medical Expenses and Noneconomic Damages

In Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc., the California Supreme Court ruled that where a plaintiff’s medical care provider, pursuant to a prior agreement with the plaintiff’s health care provider, accepted less than...more

Howell Rule Applies When Medical Services Were Paid by Medicare, Court of Appeal Concludes

In Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. the California Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff’s recovery of medical damages is limited to the amount paid by the plaintiff’s health insurer and accepted by the health care...more

Counties in California Can Learn a Few Lessons from State on Inmate Health Care - BB&K Health Care Attorney Shares Tips on...

Inmates in the Riverside County jails served a federal class-action lawsuit last month, claiming the county is subjecting them to cruel and unusual punishment by depriving them of basic medical and mental health care. A...more

What's In A Word? N.C. Court of Appeals Invalidates Nursing Home Arbitration Clause Based on Language of the Agreement

Many nursing homes and assisted living communities commonly include arbitration agreements as part of their admission agreement and documents. Typically, these agreements require residents or their legal surrogates to...more

Weekly Law Resume - March 14, 2013: A Personal Injury Claim Involving Negligent Failure to Maintain and Inspect Hospital Equipment...

Catherine Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital Court of Appeal, Second District (February 27, 2013) Plaintiff Catherine Flores (“Flores”) was a patient at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. On March 5,...more

Second Circuit Labels Expert’s Testimony a Sham in Pharmaceutical Products Liability Litigation

As a little kid, I did not have an immediate appreciation that my actions could get me into trouble, and so, without thought, I told the truth. My dad would ask, “Did you write your name on the wall?” I would respond,...more

How Requiring Uninsured Patients to Pay Chargemaster Rates Impacts Personal Injury Cases

This week we discuss the Indiana Supreme Court decision in Allen v. Clarian Health Partners, Inc., which held that uninsured patients were required to pay the chargemaster rates and not a reasonable rate. Our analysis focuses...more

Time to Examine Tennessee’s Collateral Source Rule by William Walton

Originally published in the Tennessee Bar Association - December 1, 2012. Taking Another Look at Fye v. Kennedy - Damages in tort law are designed to compensate for injury and, in the words of one court, “only for...more

Cintron v. Montefiore Medical Center

State of New York Court of Appeals Denial of Appellant's Leave to Appeal

In this medical malpractice action, defendant-respondent hospital, skillfully represented by Aryeh Klonsky and Esther Widowski of Widowski Law Group LLP, moved for summary judgment to dismiss the patient plaintiff's case. ...more

Pharmaceutical Law Update -- October 2012: New Jersey Court Grants Summary Judgment Based on Lack of Warning Causation

A New Jersey federal court granted summary judgment to Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Baxter) last month based on a familiar legal concept rarely applied in the Garden State – warning causation. In Baker et al. v. APP...more

Attorney-Related

UPDATED THROUGH September 4, 2012 Attorney’s Fees – Appellate. Does section 57.105, Florida Statutes, support an award of appellate attorney’s fees for the filing of an administrative appeal without citing material...more

Torts

UPDATED THROUGH SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 Medical Malpractice – Harmless Error. Question certified: To avoid a new trial in a civil case, does the beneficiary of the error in the trial court have to show on appeal that it is...more

Missouri Supreme Court Holds Non-Economic Damage Cap is Unconstitutional in Medical Negligence Claim

Overruling its decision in Adams By and Through Adams v. Children’s Mercy Hosp., 832 S.W.2d 898 (Mo. banc 1992), the Missouri Supreme Court in a 4 to 3 decision held that section 538.210 RSMo 2000 is unconstitutional to the...more

Rapid Response to Data Breach Pays Off

The Oregon Supreme Court last week affirmed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against Providence Health & Services-Oregon arising out of the theft of patient data on backup media that were stolen from an...more

Illinois Court on Proving Liability for Medical Malpractice

Oftentimes, physicians are employed by more than one medical institution. This can make it difficult establish liability for negligent treatment in medical malpractice cases, since it is sometimes difficult to prove which...more

MIRTA RAMIREZ AS EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF NARCIZA TORRES V CRUZ ET AL

Decision and Order, Appellate Division, First Department

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the grant of summmary judgment by Bronx Supreme Court to our client in a claim involving the faiure to diagnose and treat colon cancer in a then 37...more

Cintron v. DEFENDANT HOSPITAL

Pre trial dismissal of high exposure medical malpractice actions provides tremendous cost savings to medical malpractice insurance...

Esther Widowski and Aryeh Klonsky of Widowski Law Group LLP successfully argued that defendant established its entitlement to summary judgment by showing that the treatment provided to plaintiff comported with good and...more

Faitro v. Top Surgeons et al.

Demurrer to First Amended Complaint

Defendants' demurrer to the First Amended Complaint's UCL, FAL and CLRA causes of action based on failure to plead reliance, and failure to plead requisite damages sufficient to confer standing under Simpson Strong Tie v....more

Faitro v. Top Surgeons et al.

Defendants' Petition to Compel Arbitration

Defendants filed their petition to compel individual arbitration of the putative class action claims pursuant to the United Supreme Court's ruling in Concepcion v. ATT. Briefing schedule and hearing date to be set by the...more

Next Up in the 'Tort War': Discounted Medical Expenses?

We recently blogged here about the California Supreme Court’s decision in Howell v. Hamilton Meats. In a long-awaited, and nearly unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court has held that an injured plaintiff whose...more

Weekly Law Resume - December 22, 2011: Gratuitous Write-Offs and Medicare Reductions After Howell

Rosa Elia Sanchez, et al. v. Randall Alan Strickland, et al.. Court of Appeal, Fifth District (November 4, 2011) This is one of the first cases after Howell to address gratuitous medical write-offs and medical...more

A Tale Of Two – No, Three – Drugs

It was the best of times, it was … no, check that, it was the best of times. In the recent decision, Wendell v. Johnson & Johnson, 2011 WL 6291792 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 15, 2011), the moving defendants all received summary...more

Presumption-of-Adequacy Defense Is Clarified and Reinforced

On Sept. 29, the Appellate Division took a significant step forward in clarifying and reinforcing the presumption-of-adequacy defense provided to manufacturers of prescription drugs under the New Jersey Product Liability Act...more

"Infected" Tissue Claim Not A Consumer Fraud Claim

Readers have seen my warnings about plaintiff attorneys trying to turn every marketing statement of opinion or puffing into a consumer fraud claim. Now comes a decision about a non-consumer product consumer fraud claim. A...more

Nevada Supreme Court Imposes Duty to Warn on Pharmacists

On November 23, 2011, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in Klasch v. Walgreen Co., Nev. No. 54805, 1123(11), that a pharmacist who has knowledge that a patient may be at risk with respect to specific prescription drugs may be...more