Archive for May, 2010
What Justice Looks Like: "Pants" Judge Loses Appeal
Posted by Jeff Downing in Constitutional Rights, Employment Law Friday, 28 May 2010 08:47 No Comments
Soo and Jin Chung, the drycleaners who were sued for $67 million, can take some solace from the fact that former judge Roy Pearson is out of a job.
From Law.com:
‘Pants Judge’ Loses Wrongful Termination Appeal
Former administrative law judge Roy Pearson Jr. just can’t catch a break in his quest to hold someone accountable for losing his job with the District of Columbia.
Pearson, recall, was the judge who filed a multimillion-dollar suit against a dry cleaner over a lost pair of pants. The suit didn’t go unnoticed. In 2007, Pearson was denied reappointment to his post as a D.C. administrative law judge. Pearson sued, making a host of claims.
When Pearson’s wrongful termination suit was dismissed by the federal district court in Washington, he turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Thursday, a three-judge panel upheld the dismissal of the suit . . . .
“The district court correctly concluded Pearson’s testimony before the D.C. Council and private communication with the Council’s staff were not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” D.C. Circuit Judges Douglas Ginsburg, Karen LeCraft Henderson and Merrick Garland said in a two-page judgment Thursday.
The judges pointed to a D.C. Circuit ruling last year in an unrelated case where the court said that a public employee speaks without First Amendment protection when he reports conduct that interferes with his job responsibilities. “Pearson did just that,” the panel judges said Thursday.
Pearson’s suit against his dry cleaner was also not protected speech, the appeals court said. “That suit did not involve a matter of public concern; as the district court stated, it was more properly ‘characterized as a personal vendetta against a dry cleaners over a pair of pants.’”
Near Fatal Medication Error Results in Lawsuit by Actor Dennis Quaid
Posted by Jeff Downing in Defective Products, Keating O'Gara Law Firm, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Medication Errors, Nebraska Medical Malpractice Attorney, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Wednesday, 26 May 2010 12:10 No Comments
Actor Dennis Quaid has sued Baxter Healthcare Corp., the manuracturer of Heparin, for negligence in not properly labeling its product. From the Contra Costa Times:
Actor Dennis Quaid sues drug maker
Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly have filed a lawsuit against a drug maker alleging similar labels for the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug caused a mix-up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center threatening the lives of his newborn twins in 2007.Quaid filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of his children against Baxter Healthcare Corp. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Both Heparin and the lower dose version, Hep-lock, are packaged in similar vials with blue backgrounds and very small print on both labels, according to the complaint.
Quaid’s twins, who were born in November 2007, were both administered multiple near-fatal doses of Heparin to treat staph infections, according to the lawsuit.
The children, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, were given 10,000 units of Heparin, rather than the 10 units of Hep-Lock they were prescribed, according to the complaint.
Baxter Healthcare should have recalled the vials of Heparin containing 10,000 units because the company knew infants had died because of similar medication errors, according to the lawsuit.
The company also was obligated to warn healthcare providers of the previous medication mistakes, the suit states.
The children suffered internal injuries and shock, but the extent of what happened to them will probably not be known for years, according to the suit.
Newborns and infants are often given Hep-Lock to flush their prevent clotting because their intravenous lines are so small . . . .
The twins’ overdose is just one of the estimated 100,000 fatalities stemming from medical errors that occur every year in American hospitals and from pharmaceuticals. If you or a loved one have been injured by medical malpractice or through a medication errorand would like to talk with an experienced Nebraska defective drug lawyer, call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.
