Happy Logic Day! #BertrandRussell
Put a man on the edge of the abyss and – in the unlikely event that he doesn’t fall into it – he will become either a mystic or a madman… Which is probably the same thing… Bertrand Russell
Shaky Ground
Another perspective on the coming decision in Dobbs after the #BigLeak. … we will all wake up one day this summer and experience a fundamental right being pulled out from under our feet. We will feel powerless, lied to, vulnerable, and angry at just how fragile our rights can be. New York Review article by […]
Communication Breakdown (Electronic Medical Records Version)
Last week, a story on electronic health records ended up in this blog – reminding me of a 2018 post I made here concerning the increasingly deleterious effect on the accuracy of medical records caused by technology and user laziness or deception that it can promote. The 2018 post about changes in medical record-keeping can […]
Failed Episiotomy Bench Verdict
A federal judge has awarded $5 million to a New Hampshire woman who suffered years of pain and scarring after a botched surgery at an Army hospital to repair an injury she received in childbirth. The link to the NH bench verdict is here,
Papers, Please.
It’s my body and my health so why can’t I be the legal owner of my medical record? This important question was debated during a series of webinars run by The BMJ on patient access to medical records. Ownership and maintenance of medical records is a thorny problem in the era of electronic health records. Computer and […]
Theories On The Leak From People Who Actually Have The Background To Speculate
The leak will ultimately pale in importance to the court’s decision once it is issued; the ruling will directly affect the lives and rights of tens of millions of people. But in the meantime, the motives of the leaker are an important topic because they help explain why an institution that zealously guards its secrets […]
Don’t Damn Me (Libel versus Invasion of Privacy)
With the never-ending Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard trial ongoing in Virginia, libel is all the rage. It’s a hot tort, what with all the crazy talk and nasty, personal name-calling going on everywhere. If offended, keep in mind the standard of proof you may be required to meet. You don’t want a judge making […]
Disinformation: How To Manufacture A “Crisis” & Tort Reform To Solve It
Turns out, politics isn’t the only place where misinformation is used to ply the soil that grows bad ideas. In the 1980’s, health care providers and insurance carriers deliberately and falsely yelled that the sky was falling due to negligence claims and payouts. Their solution? Caps on damages in the most righteous and significant cases. […]
That’s pretty ‘berk’, as the Brits say
Sentencing Mitchell, Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC, said: “I don’t doubt you didn’t intend to undermine the course of justice but that is the effect of what you were doing.” As a solicitor, he added, Mitchell knew “the importance of court orders and the consequences of breaching them”. “I have formed the view […]
Stare Decisis and The Problem Of Encouraging Lying
Are we supposed to believe that the Justices who have signed on to the draft opinion shouting that Roe was “always” “egregiously wrong” – since it was decided in 1973 (almost fifty years ago) – were truth-telling during their confirmations when they praised Roe as “important” precedent that they’d never really thought about? If so, […]