It was Bishop Berkeley who asked rhetorically, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” The judge in Pediatric Nephrology Assocs. v. Variety Children’s Hospital didn’t mention either the Bishop or the tree, but he used the same approach to dispose of a case brought by a …
Shakespeare on Medical Staff Credentialing
November 8, 2017 Leave a Comment
Who says a background in English literature has no practical value? Certainly not the attorneys defending Dimensions Health in a class action filed on behalf of patients treated by an OB/GYN on the Dimensions medical staff. Their Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss prominently invokes one of the Bard’s …
The High Price of Frivolous Filings
October 26, 2017 Leave a Comment
If the facts recited by a federal court in its 148-page order are correct, two Florida plaintiffs’ law firms have given new meaning to the term frivolous filing. As a consequence of the filings, the court imposed sanctions of $9.1 M, in addition to a public reprimand and an ethics referral to the Florida …
In-Vitro Fertilization Inconceivable to Legislature
October 20, 2017 Leave a Comment
On Oct. 16 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the statute covering children “conceived by means of artificial insemination” doesn’t cover children born by means of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Why? Well, for one thing, the statute was enacted in 1964, and the court says that IVF was unknown until the …
Tort Reform by Any Other Name
July 27, 2017 Leave a Comment
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but tort reform still smells bad to traditional opponents despite an attractive title. That’s why most observers believe that the House-passed “Protecting Access to Care Act,” H.R. 1215, is going nowhere. Opponents don’t oppose the goal of protecting access …
Iowa Supreme Court Recognizes Wrongful Birth Action
June 15, 2017 Leave a Comment
On June 2 the Iowa Supreme Court expressly recognized the right of parents to sue for wrongful birth. Pam and Jeremy Plowman allege the following: Pam underwent ultrasound in week 22 of her pregnancy. The radiologist’s report noted fetal head abnormalities and recommended follow-up. But her OB/GYN told her …