Lessons From Breast Implant Litigation

Departure from Established Tort Theories Inappropriate for Breast Implant Litigation

Lessons from the residual newborn screening dried blood sample litigation.

journal of law, medicine & ethics Background Most babies born each year in the U.S. undergo mandatory newborn screening to detect serious medical conditions that can cause devastating effects if treatment is not initiated prior to the onset of symptoms.1 Not all of the blood collected from newborns is used during routine newborn screening, and many states retain the residual dried blood samples...

lyses? Lessons from Breast Cancer

his commentary, we discuss the challenges and tunities for epidemiologic studies in evaluating cancer as a set of discrete diseases. We show examf the strengths of the case-only design in assessing lative correlation of established risk factors and the ent cancer subtypes. We argue for the use of the nly study design as an important initial step in standing the extent of etiologic heterogeneity...

From Litigation, Legislation

Understanding Mass Tort Defendant Incentives for Confidential Settlements: Lessons from Bayer's Cerivastatin Litigation Strategy

Settlement agreements that require a plaintiff not to disclose or publicize any information about her claim are both common and controversial. Under some conditions, however, a mass tort defendant will rationally choose to discourage such secrecy. A defendant can use publicity to act as a commitment device akin to a most-favored-nation agreement to increase its bargaining power with plaintiffs....