AHLA's monthly podcast featuring health lawyer and blogger Norm Tabler's informative and entertaining take on recent health law and other legal developments.
To learn more about AHLA and the educational resources available to the health law community, visit americanhealthlaw.org.
AHLA's monthly podcast featuring health lawyer and blogger Norm Tabler's informative and entertaining take on recent health law and other legal developments.
To learn more about AHLA and the educational resources available to the health law community, visit americanhealthlaw.org.
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Speaker 2:This episode of A HLA speaking of health law is brought to you by A HLA members and donors like you. For more information, visit american health law.org.
Speaker 3:Hi, I am Norm Taber with this month's edition of the Lighter Side of Health Law. Gosh, I sure miss Dad. That's what Carmen Thomas is now saying, even though she never met him. In fact, she didn't even know his full name or who he was until 23 and me told her last year. So why does she miss him so much? Because she learned that his other two daughters, her half sisters , were sharing a $28 million mad mal award based on dad's death. That news apparently made Carmen realize how much she misses the old guy whom she'd never met. So naturally, she has sued her newly found half sisters for a chunk of the award. The case is Thomas v Eckhart, Essex County, Massachusetts Superior Court slogan as Pitard . A pitard is that little round bomb that anarchists are holding in old cartoons. The word is famous because Hamlet uses it in the phrase hoist with his own pitard, meaning he meant to blow someone else up, but he blew himself up instead. Well, here's a case of a huge law firm. The world's largest tripped up by a firm slogan Baker and McKinsey has thousands of lawyers in 70 or so offices around the world, but it has an unusual legal structure, namely the Swiss Rine , that's V-E-R-E-I-N structure, which regards each office as a separate legal entity. That structure is at the heart of a malpractice case against the firm. A client of the firm's London office claimed the firm had committed malpractice, but it didn't sue the London office or file the case in London. It sued the whole firm filing in Chicago. The firm responded that if the client had a claim, it was against the London office alone and should be filed in London. But the court ruled in favor of the client accepting the theory that all the offices are one big firm, not separate entities, and one reason was the firm's quote of business, which proudly proclaims quote , we are one firm. What one of us does all of us do? So be careful with those slogans. No ambulance chaser. Well, you can call Chicago attorney Ben Harrington, a lot of things, but not an ambulance chaser. He couldn't chase the ambulance because he was driving it. Ben saw a Chicago Fire Department ambulance parked and empty, apparently thinking it was a shame to see a perfectly good ambulance going to waste. Ben jumped in, started the engine, and drove merrily along for 60 miles with the Chicago PD and Illinois State Police in hot pursuit. The police threw down a spike strip and Ben drove over it with all the tires flattened. Ben drove along on the rims until finally stopped and arrested. Ben pleaded guilty to criminal trespass, was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution. Ben is no longer practicing law runaway judge. When a jury comes in with a verdict that defies the evidence, we call it a runaway jury. Well, here's a case of a runaway judge. After Wendy Metzler died, her husband sued the doctors who treated her at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale alleging they should have ordered a chest CT scan to further investigate her back pain after a car accident, the doctors insisted they had acted within the standard of care. The jury ruled in favor of the doctors. This is where the judge runs away. He said the jury got it wrong. He threw out their verdict and ended a $1.125 million judgment against the doctors on appeal. The appellate court said in effect, the trial judge was out of his mind. He had no right to throw out the jury's verdict. What's more, even if he had that right, which he didn't, on no planet would he have had the right to determine the size of the verdict. The case is Carlo versus Metzler, Florida First District Court of Appeal, Elmo accused of harming kids according to the plaintiffs in a Fifth Circuit case, Elmo is harming the kids of America. Yes, Elmo, the lovable Muppet on Sesame Street, or should I say apparently lovable and just how is Elmo going about his diabolical work? You're wondering? Well, it's clear argued the plaintiffs an anti-VAX group called Children's Health Defense. There's a Sesame Street video that announces Claire as day that Elmo has received a covid shot and just how does that threaten the kids of America? You ask simple. The plaintiffs respond knowing that their hero Elmo got the covid shot. Kids by the thousands will be tempted to sneak out and get the shot without their parents' consent or even knowledge. That's how devious Muppets like Elmo manipulate our kids. Well, for some reason the judges were not impressed by the plaintiff's argument. Maybe in part because all the parents live in states where it's illegal for kids to get shots without their parents' consent. By the way, as far as we know, Elmo did not contract covid. The case is Children's Health Defense versus FDA Fifth Circuit multitasking in the or. Well, here's another of those multitasking. In the OR cases, you know where according to Medicare bills, one surgeon was performing surgery on two or more patients at the very same time. This time, the hospital is Tennessee's Erlanger Med Center and the case has come up as a retaliation claim by former hospital employees who claim they were fired for trying to stop false billing, billing for simultaneous surgeries by the same surgeon. Erlanger responds that Medicare requires only that the surgeon be there for critical portions of the procedure. The fired employees respond that the surgeons were not there for all the critical portions. Besides that, they allege the law also requires that a backup surgeon be there for the rest of the procedure, but Erlinger ignore that requirement and let the operations proceed with only residents in the room. The case is US Xra L Adams versus Chattanooga. Hamilton County Hospital Authority, Eastern District Tennessee. A steal at that price. Here's a tricky one. If a store item is on sale, does a shoplifter get the benefit of the sale price? The issue came up with two men were caught on videotape stealing KitchenAid mixers at a Kohl's store in Parker, Colorado. They were charged with felony theft because the list price of the stolen items was 2090 $5, $95 over the $2,000 amount. That makes theft a felony rather than a misdemeanor. But hold on, cried the defense lawyer. Those mixers were on sale at the sales price. My client stole only $1,856 worth of goods. That's $144 below the 2000 required for a felony. He committed a misdemeanor, not a felony. So which is it? The regular price and a felony, or the sale price and a misdemeanor. The Coles spokesman had a quick and compelling answer, quote , sales, prices, promotions, coupons, all of that applies only to paying customers. I hope it's not too late. Here's a cautionary note for college basketball fans. As everyone knows, the NCAA owns the trademark March Madness for the basketball tournament, but they used to call it March Mayhem and they still own that trademark. Last year, they sued the Virginia Urology Center for registering the trademark vasectomy Mayhem. Why? Well, the lawsuit says vasectomy mayhem is confusingly similar to March Mayhem and is quote , likely to result in confusion of certain urology services with NCAA products. So be warned, if you or a loved one has purchased tickets to a basketball tournament, take a close look at them. If the venue is on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, well, good luck. The case is NCAA versus Virginia Urology Center, US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Complaint Department. Let me make this clear upfront . I really like women. I love my wife. My only child is a daughter. Her only child is a daughter, and that daughter's only child. My great-grandchild is a daughter. Nevertheless, I have to acknowledge that women are guilty of name theft. It's a gradual process and you have to take the long view even to see it, but it's there. Clear as day. When I was growing up, there were plenty of men named Shirley Gay, Evelyn or Evelyn and Beverly. Even Marian ? Yes, Marian. Did you know John Wing was born? Marian Morrison, but for men and boys, those names are gone. You know where they went over to ? Women and girls? You still hear and read about the names all the time, but they're always attached to women and those aren't the only ones. There are Allison , Ashley, Blair, Dana, Hillary and Whitney. I could go on all day, but I won't. The point is that women are stealing men's names. Mothers take a shine to a man's name and start applying it to their baby girls. It catches on with other mothers and they do the same. Then when enough girls have the name, mothers stop using it for their sons. They're afraid. It sounds too feminine. The name has been moved to the female side of the ledger and it's never coming back. Notice that it never works the other way. There are no names that move from feminine to masculine. Mothers are not saying, oh, Margaret would be a great name for my son. I love that Manly hard G Sound in the middle. No, Margaret and all other girls' names are safe and sound in the female column. Names move from male to female but not the other way. And if you're thinking the thievery is over, I have just two words for you, Glenn Close. If you have a complaint, send it to me. Well, that's it for this month's edition. I hope you liked it. I'll be back next month with another edition of the Lighter Side of Health Law.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe to A HLA speaking of health law wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about a HLA and the educational resources available to the health law community, visit American health law org .