HEALTH CARE ROUNDUP

• Appeals Court: Whitman Not Liable in Sept. 11 Air Case
* Read the Opinion
• Audit: Vets With Brain Injury Still Not Getting Proper Care
• House Votes On Requiring Combustible Dust Rule Changes
* Injury and Accident Center
• Panel Finds Smog-Mortality Link
• Digitek Heart Drug Recalled
• Study: Pregnant Women With Pre-Existing Diabetes Doubles

FDA ACTIONS

• Auditors: FDA Has Long Way To Go On Foreign Inspections
• FDA Takes Closer Look at Lasik Complaints
• FDA Tells Merck: Fix Vaccine Plant Problems

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES

• Gibson v. Moskowitz
• County of Nassau v. Leavitt
• City of Hope Nat'l Med. Ctr. v. Genentech

HEALTH CARE ROUNDUP:

APPEALS COURT: WHITMAN NOT LIABLE IN SEPT. 11 AIR CASE
(Associated Press) - Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman cannot be held liable for telling residents near the World Trade Center site that the air was safe to breathe after the 2001 terrorist attacks, a federal appeals court said [last week]. Read more...

Related Resources
• Read the Opinion (Benzman v. Whiteman)

AUDIT: VETS WITH BRAIN INJURY STILL NOT GETTING PROPER CARE
(Associated Press) - Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say. Read more...

HOUSE VOTES ON REQUIRING COMBUSTIBLE DUST RULE CHANGES
(Associated Press) - House Democrats are pushing for new standards to protect workers from combustible dust explosions and fires after 13 people were killed in a Georgia sugar plant blast in February. Read more...

Related Resources
• FindLaw's Injury and Accident Center

PANEL FINDS SMOG-MORTALITY LINK
(Associated Press) - Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded Tuesday. Read more...

DIGITEK HEART DRUG RECALLED
(Associated Press) - Actavis Totowa LLC is recalling all lots of the prescription drug Digitek, used to treat heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms, because some of the drug's tablets might contain twice the approved level of the active ingredient. Read more...

STUDY: PREGNANT WOMEN WITH PRE-EXISTING DIABETES DOUBLES
(Associated Press) - The number of pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes has more than doubled in seven years, a California study found, a troubling trend that means health risks for both mothers and newborns. Read more...

FDA ACTIONS:

AUDITORS: FDA HAS LONG WAY TO GO ON FOREIGN INSPECTIONS
(Associated Press) - The Food and Drug Administration is making progress in conducting more inspections of foreign drug manufacturers, but still inspects relatively few facilities. Read more...

FDA TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT LASIK COMPLAINTS
(Associated Press) - - A decade after Lasik eye surgery hit the market, patients left with fuzzy instead of clear vision are airing their grievances before federal health officials. Read more...

FDA TELLS MERCK: FIX VACCINE PLANT PROBLEMS
(Associated Press) - The Food and Drug Administration is warning drugmaker Merck & Co. to fix problems at its main vaccine plant. Read more...

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES:

GIBSON V. MOSKOWITZ
(U.S. 6th Circuit, Apr. 29, 2008) - In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and state law action brought by the estate of a mentally disabled inmate who died from severe dehydration, a judgment pursuant to a jury verdict in favor of the estate is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) there was sufficient evidence to show deliberate indifference on the part of defendant-psychiatrist; 2) the evidence supported the compensatory and punitive damages awards; 3) the punitive damages award was not constitutionally excessive; 4) claims of evidentiary errors are rejected; 5) there was no error in applying Michigan's "high tier cap" on non-economic damages for medical malpractice; but 6) a remand was required as the district court failed to state a reason as to how it allocated the award between the statutorily capped malpractice claim and the deliberate indifference claims. Read more...

COUNTY OF NASSAU V. LEAVITT
(U.S. 2nd Cir., Apr. 25, 2008) - Denial of a preliminary injunction for defendants' alleged violation of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, arising from a reduction in federal funding to plaintiffs, is reversed and remanded where: 1) plaintiff had shown a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits; and 2) a finding of irreparable harm was not a dispositive issue. Read more...

CITY OF HOPE NAT'L MED. CTR. V. GENENTECH
(Supreme Court of Cal., Apr. 24, 2008) - In a breach of contract and fiduciary duty case against Genentech, judgment awarding plaintiff-medical center over $300 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages is reversed in part as to the punitive damages award where: 1) the trial court erred in instructing the jury that a fiduciary relationship is necessarily created when a party, in return for royalties, entrusts a secret idea to another to develop, patent, and commercially develop; and 2) punitive damages are not awarded for breaching a contract. Read more...