Personal Injury Roundup No. 27 (3/6/09)

Here is the Spring Break edition of the Roundup.  Notice it’s shorter than usual.

Reform, Legislation, Policy

• Hawaii’s House Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that could lead to caps on noneconomic damages in med mal claims against doctors in five specialties.  (Honolulu Advertiser)
• Utah Senate gives initial passage to a bill raising the burden of proof in emergency room med mal cases to “clear and convincing” evidence.  (Salt Lake Tribune)  Arizona has attempted to pass this legislation several times.  I commented on it in this post.
• Oklahoma House passes a tort reform bill that would, among other things, cap noneconomic damages at $300,000.  The bill moves on to the Senate.  The Governor has not yet weighed in.  (NewsOK)
• Physicians rally in Albany for decreased med mal insurance premiums and the ability to collectively bargain with insurers.  (Times Union)

New Lawsuits

• The Massachusetts AG’s office has criminally charged a man for insurance fraud.  After legitimately breaking a tooth while eating in a restaurant, the man has collected approximately $36,000 for repeatedly making the same claim at different restaurants.  (ABA Journal)

Trials, Settlements & Other Ends

• Chesapeake, VA settles a wrongful death case of a man hit by an animal control truck for $275,000.  (VLW Blog)
• 9/11 settlements approved (WSJ Law Blog)

Appeals

• Wyeth v. Levine has finally been decided, and the blogosphere is full of commentary.  (Drug & Device Law, Public Citizen, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Point of Law, Overlawyered, Consumer Class Actions & Mass Torts)

Miscellaneous

• Although in the intellectual property context, there is a podcast available here that features a punitive damages panel including Cathy Sharkey (NYU), Thomas Colby (GW), and Dan Markel (FSU).  (Via Solove/Co-Op)

–CJR