Free Republic

The overall cost and frequency of so called $50m plus ‘super losses’ in the US healthcare insurance sector are on the rise according to specialist healthcare insurer Hiscox. Despite the clear benefits of the implementation of quality and patient safety measures, the large losses keep on getting larger with, in the last two years alone, juries awarding well over $1bn in total damages for just seven medical liability cases. While there are many healthcare institutions who continue to risk manage their more modest loss levels well, many others are experiencing mid-sized losses getting steadily larger together with a rise in...

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday on two charges of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., ordered Al-Arian transferred out of the custody of immigration authorities and into the custody of U.S. Marshals. Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, wrote on his blog that the court where Al-Arian is being prosecuted "is called the 'Rocket Docket' because it prides itself on moving these cases at a breakneck pace..." At the arraignment, Al-Arian did not enter a plea, but the judge entered a...

SEATTLE -- The parents of a 23-year-old who was killed trying to prevent the demolition of an occupied Palestinian home have appealed a judge's decision to dismiss their lawsuit against Caterpiller Inc., the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her. "He applied the wrong legal standard and ignored the facts," said Maria LaHood, a lawyer with the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. Rachel Corrie was killed three years ago by an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer. She was trying to stop him from demolishing a Gaza Strip home while the family was inside; though witnesses said she...

I was wrong. Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda. It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a...

Money from the landmark settlement with Big Tobacco helped pay for a a golf course sprinkler system in New York State.  (ABC News) Money From Settlement With Big Tobacco Goes to Fund Auto Speedway, Golf Course Sprinklers Nov. 4, 2005 —  Less than three percent of the $250 billion settlement between the tobacco companies and the fifty states has been used to fund anti-smoking campaigns.When the tobacco industry settled out of court with the 50 states seven years ago this month, state officials said the money would be used to prevent kids from starting to smoke. Anti-Smoking Campaigns ForgottenYet, in...

Lawsuits seeking millions in damages have been filed in federal court in Victoria by survivors of seven illegal immigrants who died in Victoria County's infamous 2003 human-smuggling case. The suits allege that the Savanna, Ga.-based Great Dane trailers, manufacturer of the trailer in which the immigrants rode during their ill-fated journey from the Mexican border, failed to install escape latches inside the fully insulated refrigerator trailer, which had no ventilation system. The oversight left the trapped occupants with no access to fresh air, no means of escape, and placed them in danger of suffocation and death, the suits claim. The...

YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF AMBULANCE-CHASING BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE AMBULANCE-CHASING OUT OF THE BOY   POURQUOI JOHN KERRY EST DANGEREUX POUR L'AMÉRIQUE by Mia T, 10.14.04   YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF AMBULANCE-CHASING BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE AMBULANCE-CHASING OUT OF THE BOY (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) COPYRIGHT MIA T 2004   election update!JOHN KERRY IS UNFIT~THE SERIES RAISING TAXES, YOU POOR SLOBS + TERESA'S 11.5% TAX RATE (LAISSEZ-LES MANGER LE GÂTEAU)THE LETHAL DANGER OF JOHN KERRY: SPACE-TIME, TESSELLATIONS OF THE PLANET + TERRORISMKerry aims for 9/10, the good old days...

BOSTON - One day after getting married, a lesbian couple filed a medical malpractice lawsuit asking that one of the women receive damages because doctors failed to detect breast cancer in her spouse. The lawsuit filed Friday claims "loss of consortium" for Michelle Charron, 44, because of the advanced breast cancer in new wife Cindy Kalish, 39. Loss of consortium is a legal claim long available to spouses, but only newly available to gay and lesbian couples since the state began allowing same-sex marriage Monday. The lawsuit provides a glimpse into the kinds of legal battles involving gay and lesbian...

EXCERPT: Consider the State Department's decision to hire former Clinton Counsel Gregory B. Craig, of Williams & Connolly, LLP, to represent itself against a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former employee Linda Shenwick. She alleges that she was transferred and fired for exposing mismanagement and abuse at the United Nations. The contract calls for Williams & Connolly to be paid as much as $1.46 million, with senior partners such as Craig to be paid upwards of $500 an hour... Conservatives despise Craig for his work defending Clinton during impeachment and representing Elian Gonzalez's father... ...Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage...