The Collateral Source Rule applies in Maryland

My Advanced Legal Writing students (at Thomas M. Cooley Law School) have repeatedly asked me to provide a sample brief that I would recommend. As a result of their constant questioning, I offer two opposing Amicus Curiae briefs.

Opposing parties filed Amicus Curaie briefs in a case regarding one heartbreaking and tragic CSX Rail Road injury case – sad, but interesting and very telling. Haischer v.CSX Transportation, Inc., 381 Md. 119 (2004).

The Maryland Trial Lawyers' Association (MTLA) filed a brief on behalf of the injured engineer.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed a brief on behalf of CSX Railroad.

In addition, I recommend that my students take a quick peek at the recent Haischer opinion in which the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the injured engineer, Mr. Haischer.

In Haischer, the Maryland Court of Appeals of examined when the collateral source rule applies in Maryland.

Q: So what did the Court hold?
A: The collateral Source Rule applies in Maryland.

Haischer's ruling presents very good news for Huggins and Huggins Law (and also for our client.) But, the opinion signals very bad news for the other side. Thus, Maryland’s Highest Court provided the "hook" on which we hang our client's argument.

Good news; our client's Quality of Life has certainly been altered.

Stay tuned, folks . . .

Once again, we offer you public THANKS, Chi, for all your dedicated research on the Collateral Source Rule in Maryland
.
By the way, congrats, Chi, on your recent success and swearing in to the New York and New Jersey bar exams. Stay focused.

Court rules in favor of Second Amendment gun right: (Associated Press)

From the National Rifle Association:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.

And that’s that.

Read the 157 page opinion and determine for yourself.

Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm

From the web page of MCRGO:

BREAKING NEWS: D.C. vs. Heller - Supreme Court rules that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm.
2008/06/26
www.scotusblog.com

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June 26, 2008

The Court has released the opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), on whether the District’s firearms regulations – which bar the possession of handguns and require shotguns and rifles to be kept disassembled or under trigger lock – violate the Second Amendment. The ruling, which struck down the provisions in question, is affirmed.

Justice Scalia wrote the opinion. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg. Today's opinion by Justice Scalia is available HERE.

Quoting the syllabus: "The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditional lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home."

We have worked for this decision for at least seven years.

And it feels real good to be on the right side of the issue.

The Right to Bear Arms is an INDIVIDUAL right; not a collective right.

The opinion translates into LOTS of work for us to do.

Click here to go to the MCRGO.org page.

W must be sure that cities, and counties, and state comply.

Happy Birthday to Nadine.

Digitek Class action suit filed in New Jersey

Digitek Recall Blamed on Shoddy Manufacturing, according to this June 4th, 2008 article on News Inferno:

A Digitek class action lawsuit filed on the heels of April’s Digitek recall raises serious questions about the way the defective pills were made. According to the Digitek class action lawsuit, a US plant that made some of the defective Digitek tablets was the subject of a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) warning letter in 2006.

The Digitek class action lawsuit, filed in US District Court in New Jersey, says that the FDA issued a warning letter to Actavis back in August 2006 for failing to provide periodic safety reports at its oral dose manufacturing plant in Little Falls, N.J. According to the complaint, some of the faulty Digitek came out of that plant. The Digitek lawsuit also claims that another FDA inspection in early 2006 revealed six potentially serious and unexpected adverse drug events dating back to 1999 for products that included generic Digitek, that weren’t reported to the agency.

The lawsuit was filed just weeks after Actavis Towtowa recalled Digitek tablets because some of the medication contained twice the active ingredient normally found in Digitek. According to the FDA, the Digitek defect could cause serious and even fatal reactions in users. The recall involved all lots of Bertek and UDL Laboratories Digitek (digoxin tablets, USP, all strengths) for oral use. Actavis Totowa, LLC is a United States manufacturing division of the international generic pharmaceutical company Actavis Group. Actavis manufactures the products for Mylan Laboratories, which are distributed by Mylan and UDL under the Bertek and UDL labels.

The FDA deemed the Digitek recall a Class I recall, meaning that the defective Digitek tablets could cause serious health problems or death. A double-strength Digitek tablet poses a serious risk of digitalis toxicity in those patients suffering from renal failure. According to the agency, there have been several reports of illnesses and injuries in patient taking Digitek. Actavis said it had 11 such reports. But because not all adverse reactions are reported to the FDA or manufacturers, the true number could be much higher.

The Digitek lawsuit names Actavis, Mylan and UDL as defendants. At least one of the plaintiffs in the Digitek class action lawsuit alleges she experienced “changed cardiac symptom episodes of nausea, and dizziness” from her Digitek consumption. Another plaintiff alleges he may have suffered serious personal injuries, including kidney damage, after taking the defective drug.

Click here to continue reading the article.

Could we be looking at the next Fen-Phen?

Bring it on!

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/3199

http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/phen/fenphenqa2.htm

Consider the Source, Part Two

Is the following "buzz" a real example of "egg on the face?"

This on-line story, published by Yahoo, validates my skepticism of dependence on on-line sources. And reminds me why I caution my law students to hit the books, in addition to depending on only on-line research.

Amazon Tribe:The Not-So-Lost Tribe

by Mike Krumboltz

June 23, 2008 06:09:40 PM

Even in an age when cynical sleuths can hyper-analyze stories for truth and accuracy, the occasional hoax still slips through the cracks. Such was the case with a so-called "lost Amazon tribe."

A few months ago, mainstream news outlets (including, ahem, Yahoo!) reported that a photographer had found a lost tribe of warriors near the Brazilian-Peruvian border. Photos of the tribe backed up his claim.

As it turns out, the story is only half true. The men in the photo are members of a tribe, but it certainly ain't "lost." In fact, as the photographer, José Carlos Meirelles, recently explained, authorities have known about this particular tribe since 1910. The photographer and the agency that released the pictures wanted to make it seem like they were members of a lost tribe in order to call attention to the dangers the logging industry may have on the group.

The photographer recently came clean, and news outlets, perhaps embarrassed at having been taken for a ride, have been slow to pick up the story. Now, the word is starting to spread and articles in the Buzz are picking up steam. Expect a lot more brutal truth in the coming days.

Once again, this Professor cautions you: Consider the Source.

Professor Huggins reminds everyone, self included: Consider the Source.

Road Rage and Aggressive Driving

Find out [which cities are the] worst and best to drive

By CRAIG HOWIE, AOL AUTOS

• Do you live in one of the nation's worst cities for road rage? If you live in a major metropolitan area on either coast, chances are you do. If you live in the Midwest or Northwest, odds are that you don't. In a nationwide study of driver habits, Miami ranks as the worst city for aggressive driving (for the second straight year) followed by New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington. But if road rage is a "cultural phenomenon" as one of our experts suggests, how best do we go about combating driver frustration across the nation?

So keep that finger to yourself.

http://autos.aol.com/article/safety/v2/_a/road-rage-aggressive-driving-states/20070806101009990001

Price of Gasoline dropped under $4.00 today.

How wonderful to drive down the main drag, and joyfully pull into the very first gas station; emphasize the word joyfully.

Yesterday, we dreaded approaching the time to fill up; fortunately the readout on the Cadillac lets us know exactly how many gallons remain in the tank. Also fortunately, the Caddy gets great gas mileage.

What a delight to marvel how much the prices dropped in one day.

We noted a huge difference from the price last night.

Hmmmmmmmmm . . .

Check out the 2008 CTS. Actually, I like the 2007 CTS better. Blue Chip rules!

Congrats to our new lawyers!

A legend is gone: Tim Russert died of a fatal heart attack while at work

NBC's Tim Russert Dies at Age 58

The political and media world lost a legend on Friday after venerable newsman Tim Russert died at the age of 58.

According to NBC’s Tom Brokaw, Russert collapsed and died while at work at the NBC bureau in Washington, D.C. Russert had just returned from a trip to Italy with his wife and son. He suffered a fatal heart attack, The New York Times reported on its Web site.

Click here to read the rest of the story …

Friday, June 13, 2008

Superstitious? Perhaps.

More Digitek lawsuits expected to be filed next week

Families Suing Mylan For Medication Mistake
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2008 ; 06:00 AM

More lawsuits are expected to be filed in the next week by a trio of West Virginia law firms against Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and other pharmaceutical companies.

Story by Beth Gorczyca Ryan

More lawsuits are expected to be filed in the next week by a trio of West Virginia law firms against Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and other pharmaceutical companies alleging medication the companies made and distributed did more harm than good.

So far, three lawsuits have been filed in West Virginia -- two in Kanawha County and one in Putnam County. But James C. Peterson, a lawyer with Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Deitzler PLLC in Charleston, said he expects three or four more lawsuits to be filed within the week or two.

Click here to continue reading.

Digitek lawsuits filed in West Virginia

Two new lawsuits allege that one patient died and another was injured after they consumed a heart drug distributed by Mylan Pharmaceuticals that contained twice the approved amount of the drug.

The lawsuits were filed last week in West Virginia for alleged injuries suffered by patients who took Digitek, also known as Digoxin.

The drug is used to treat various heart conditions, including atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and heart failure. The drug is designed to help the heart beat and contract more efficiently.

But Digitek "has a narrow therapeutic index, and thus, has a limited margin between effectiveness and toxicity," the lawsuits state.

The damages to patients were caused, the lawsuits allege, because the pills they recently consumed contained "twice the approved level of active ingredient."

The United States Food and Drug Administration set that "approved level."

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Thanks, Matt, in my Monday class at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.