AHLA's Speaking of Health Law

The Lighter Side of Health Law – February 2021

February 25, 2021 AHLA Podcasts
AHLA's Speaking of Health Law
The Lighter Side of Health Law – February 2021
Show Notes Transcript

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.

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Norm tab with this month's edition of the Lighter Side of Health Law. Strangest argument of the Month award. This month's strangest argument award goes to the plaintiff in a Georgia Med mal case during voir dire. It turned out that two prospective jurors were married to each other, questioned by both lawyers and the judge. The two insisted that they could act independently of each other. The court was satisfied, but the plaintiff's lawyer wasn't. She moved to strike both the husband and the wife for cause. When the plaintiff lost the case, she appealed. Did she argue that the court should have struck one half of the married couple for cause? No. She insisted that when a husband and wife were called, both of them must be struck. The appeals court couldn't make any more sense of the argument than the trial court. The case is Thomas versus Maier, Georgia Court of Appeals. The Platypus Award, the plaintiff post award named for the world's strangest animal goes to the person in healthcare. Who does or says the strangest thing of the month? This month's platypus goes to pharmacist, or should I say ex pharmacist Steven Brandenburg. Formerly with Wisconsin's Aurora Medical Center, Steve purposely spoiled 57 vials containing 570 doses of Moderna Covid 19 vaccine by removing them from refrigeration. At first Steve said it was an accident, but that wasn't very convincing since he had done it, not once, but twice. He eventually admitted that he did it on purpose. Why? Because Steve says the vaccine alters a person's d n a. That's strange enough, but even more strangely, Steve apparently believes that spoiled vaccine is good for you. So he silently watched as his colleagues administered vaccine that neither they nor the recipients knew was spoiled. Steve was arrested for recklessly endangering society, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property. 97 seconds can be an eternity. If you don't think 97 seconds can be an eternity, just ask the lead plaintiff's counsel in the price fixing class Action against Endo Pharmaceuticals make that former lead council, which is where the 97 seconds comes in. The lead plaintiff was a pension fund that purchased Endo stock in November, 2016. That purchase occurred somewhere around the time that the media reported publicly that the stock price had been artificially inflated. That posed the question whether the purchase occurred before or after the publication. The Pension fund and its council maintained that the purchase was before the publication, but that there was no way to know exactly when it was made. That turned out to be untrue. The Pension Fund's investment advisors had a record of the timing of the purchase down to the exact second. That record proved that the fund made the purchase shortly after the publication. How shortly? 97 seconds. But it may as well have been a week because it meant that the Pension fund had constructive, if not actual knowledge of the scheme when it made the purchase. The judge threw the pension fund out as Lee Plaintiff and the law firm out as lead counsel all for 97 seconds. The case is Alexandria Pelletier versus Endo International, Eastern District, Pennsylvania, having your case and settling it to when Rayanne Walling died, her husband Michael sued Dr. Brene for negligence and the Toledo Clinic for negligent credentialing. Michael alleged that the doctor failed to spot a deadly condition when he reviewed Ray Ann's x-ray and that the clinic was negligent for credentialing him. Dr. Brea testified that frankly, he could not remember even reviewing the x-ray and he conceded that yes, failing to do so falls below the standard of care. After his testimony, Dr. Brea gave up and settled with Michael. Michael proceeded with his negligent credentialing case against the clinic. It's a slam dunk, right? Yes, but maybe not the way you think. The court threw out Michael's case granting the clinic summary judgment and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Why? Because a negligent credentialing case requires a showing of negligence by the doctor who was credentialed. The standard form settlement agreement Dr. Breez signed, contained a denial of any negligence. But what about Dr. Brenna's testimony? Doesn't that prove negligence? No. Said the court. The testimony was evidence. But if the case against him had proceeded, there would've been competing evidence and the jury might well have decided that the doctor was not negligent. All of which proves that you can't have your case and settle it to the case is Walling versus Bria, Ohio. Court of Appeals Pharma bro. Part four. There ought to be a podcast dedicated solely to the antics of Farmer bro Martin Srey, the young man who acquired a monopoly on a life-saving H I V drug and raised the price by 5000% indicted for securities fraud. He argued the real reason they indicted me for these crimes is that I'm a jerk. The jury didn't think being a jerk was a good defense and sent Martin to prison. In part two. He was sued for a$250,000 debt and asserted the I am an idiot defense. The son of the creditor advised me to sign the note and only an idiot would've followed that advice. In part three, Martin sued to be released so that he could find a cure for Covid and save the world. The judge Sid, with the doj, which argued that a Martin knew nothing about vaccines and B, if he found a vaccine, he would probably hold it hostage. Now in part four, Martin is sued for early release claiming he's at high risk for Covid. Why is that? Well, reasons Martin, it's stressful in here. Stress is bad for my mental health and poor mental health will put me in the high risk category. Q E D G rule. The judge, I've read and reread the C'S risk factor list and mental health disorders just are not on there. Request denied. Part five will probably be when Martin Pleads Insanity citing his arguments in parts one through four as evidence. The case is US vre, Eastern District, New York, paying for the sins of your client. Here's a case that should send chills down the spine of every lawyer who hears about it. Lawyers, bill Am Long and Jennifer Daley represented Deborah Eldridge in suing her former employer Ed care Management for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and its Florida counterpart. The company repeatedly tried to get Deborah to return material she wrongfully took when she was fired, including a laptop, flash drive, disks, and boxes of documents. The lawyers knew she had all the requested property, but told her it was okay to return only one laptop and one binder. The upshot, bill and Jennifer, the lawyers must pay Ed care$400,000 in attorney's fees and they're both suspended from law practice for 91 days, all cause they allowed their client to hold onto her former employer's property. The cases are Florida Bar versus Daley and versus am Long Florida Supreme Court be kind to animals in some ways. It's an old story. Jennifer Emmy's husband ran off with the young op pair, so like a wronged woman and a lifetime movie. Jennifer asked ranch hand Tim Lindsay to kill the a pair. Tim was receptive. He suggested a fee, which Jennifer said was fine, but just as in a lifetime movie, Tim was only playing along together evidence against Jennifer, recording their conversations for the police who then arrested Jennifer for solicitation of murder. But there's a twist. Jennifer is not just any wronged woman. She's a nationally known animal rights lawyer. Founder of the nonprofit Animal Law Center, featured several times in a b a publications that made me think of the scene in Godfather one when Rocco has just shot Polly and Clemenza tells him, leave the gun, take the cannoli. I wonder, did Jennifer tell Tim, shoot the O Pair feed the cat. Well, that's it for this month's edition of the Lighter Side of Health Law. I hope you enjoyed it. Check your A H L A Weekly and Health Law Connections Magazine for the next edition.