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CANCER CLUSTER TRIAL APPROACHES
Law Firm News |
2010/05/17 09:25
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p style=text-align: center; line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none class=MsoNormal align=centerstrong style=mso-bidi-font-weight: normalspan style=line-height: 200%; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0ptfont face=Times New Romanfont size=3CDC, COUNTY AND ILLINOIS STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTS ARE “INADMISSIBLE,” JUDGE RULES;/font o:p/o:p/font/span/strong/ppA state court judge is barring from evidence studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Illinois Department of Health, and the McHenry County Health Department in what is believed to be the largest brain cancer cluster cases in the U.S. courts. The first trial in the group of 31 cases is to begin here on June 7. /ppCourt of Common Pleas Judge Allan Tereshko last week ruled against Rohm amp; Haas/Dow Chemical, the defendant, deciding that the public health epidemiological studies are “irrelevant” to the case and “can only serve as a source of confusion and misdirection.”/ppThe brain cancer cluster victims from McCullom Lake, Illinois, are asserting that Philadelphia-based Rohm amp; Haas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow, poisoned the air and groundwater in the McCullom Lake community with vinyl chloride (among other toxic chemicals) discharged from its chemical-manufacturing plant into an unlined waste pit near their homes. The Plaintiffs allege that prolonged exposure caused them to contract rare malignant brain cancers and brain tumors; 10 of the victims have died./ppThe first three brain cancer victims – next-door neighbors who were each diagnosed with malignant brain cancer within the same year – filed suit in April 2006.nbsp; Less than a month later, the McHenry Health Department, using outdated cancer-rate data (based on zip codes) for the area that includes McCullom Lake, told local residents there was no epidemiological evidence of a brain cancer cluster.nbsp; McCullom Lake’s population is only about 1,000 people; the population of its zip-code region is roughly 50,000. nbsp; Later, the state Department of Health announced that more recent data showed that there was no epidemiological evidence of a brain cancer cluster in McHenry County – population more than 300,000.nbsp; Under public pressure, the county government then asked the CDC to review the analyses of the two health departments.nbsp; /ppThe Court’s order comes after attorneys for Rohm and Haas/Dow have claimed in pre-trial proceedings and in the news media that no public agency has found a brain cancer cluster in McCullom Lake.nbsp; Their statements rely on the flawed studies that the judge has now ruled inadmissible, according to Aaron J. Freiwald, lead trial attorney for the plaintiffs. /pp“The studies cited by the defendant were about as valid in this case as if you did a study of brain cancer rates in the entire state of Illinois or in all of the Western Hemisphere,” Freiwald said.nbsp; “They, too, wouldn’t tell you anything about brain cancer rates in McCullom Lake. When you do the math, using reliable, objective data, there is no escaping the fact there was and is a cancer cluster in McCullom Lake Village.”/ppThe trial Court, in granting Plaintiff’s Motion to Preclude evidence of the studies, noted that the studies supported by the defendants “do not attempt to discretely address the pattern of brain cancer represented in the significantly smaller subset which is the Village.” /ppThe first brain cancer cluster case to go to trial will be on behalf of Joanne Branham, who lived with her husband Franklin Delano Branham in McCullom Lake for 30 years.nbsp; Mr. Branham was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a lethal form of brain cancer, in 2004, just a few years after he and Joanne relocated to Apache Junction, Arizona, near Phoenix. He died just one month after brain surgery.nbsp; /ppJury selection is scheduled for June 3rd.nbsp;
Contacts:
Aaron J. Freiwald, Esq.
a href=mailto:ajf@layserfreiwald.comfont color=#336699ajf@layserfreiwald.com/font/a
215.875.8000
Stephan Rosenfeld (for Layser amp; Freiwald)
215.514.4101
a href=mailto:steph@idadvisors.comfont color=#336699steph@idadvisors.com/font/a/p |
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Appeals court grants Dish rare review of TiVo case
Court Watch |
2010/05/17 06:25
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pA federal appeals court on Friday granted Dish Network Corp. a rare, full-court review of a ruling it had earlier lost to TiVo Inc., one that could have resulted in the satellite TV company disabling millions of digital video recorders./ppInstead, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington breathed new life into litigation that Dish has consistently lost to TiVo. Dish's decision to seek an en banc review was seen as CEO Charlie Ergen's last straw effort as damages mounted. Ergen had even believed that the appeals court was unlikely to grant it./ppShares of DVR pioneer TiVo fell by $6.52, or 37.5 percent, to $10.87 in midday trading. Dish rose by $1.22, or 5.6 percent, to $23.18./ppBut it's uncertain whether Dish will have eventual victory given that TiVo has prevailed in a series of other court rulings./ppTiVo sued Dish in 2004 for patent infringement over a technology that stored and retrieved video on DVRs, which lets viewers pause, rewind and replay live TV. Dish lost the case on appeal, paid TiVo $104.6 million in damages and interest and was barred from using the technology.
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Oprah Winfrey’s company targets Boston law firm in suit
Court Watch |
2010/05/10 09:26
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pOprah Winfrey’s production company wants a federal judge to force a prominent Boston law firm to provide information about one of its former attorneys to bolster its case in a patent-infringement lawsuit against her book club./ppThe lawsuit poses serious threats to the entire publishing industry, according to Harpo Productions attorney Charles Babcock./ppWinfrey’s Harpo filed a motion last week to compel Fish amp; Richardson to hand over documents and give a deposition regarding Scott Harris, a former patent prosecution attorney in its San Diego office./ppHarpo is being sued by Illinois Computer Research, a Chicago holding company that bought Harris’ 2006 patent for Internet technology that allows readers to review digital excerpts from books prior to buying them. Harpo claims the patent is unenforceable. The case is set for a July trial in Illinois./ppHarpo wants Fish to comply with a subpoena, because it was party to a similar patent lawsuit that ICR filed against Google, then a Fish client, in 2007./ppICR, which is tied to Harris, added Fish as a defendant in that lawsuit after Fish forced Harris’ resignation several days following its filing./ppIn court documents, Fish claimed Harris used Fish resources to build a portfolio of patents and cash in on them by selling them to parties that he knew would file infringement cases against companies that included his own law firm’s clients. The suit was settled in 2008.
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DA opposes Polanski's request for sealed testimony
Law Center |
2010/05/10 09:26
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pRoman Polanski's request for access to sealed transcripts of testimony by a former prosecutor detailing alleged misconduct should be rejected because of the director's fugitive status, prosecutors argued Thursday in a court filing./ppPolanski's attorneys have asked a judge to unseal testimony taken earlier this year by the original prosecutor handling the case, Roger Gunson. They have said it will help their efforts to fight Polanksi's extradition from Switzerland, where he remains under house arrest./ppDeputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote in Thursday's filing that the request should be denied because Polanski has repeatedly refused to return to Los Angeles for sentencing./ppHe said allegations of misconduct in the case can and should be dealt with at Polanski's sentencing./ppA hearing on Polanski's motion is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
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Kagan Sided With Investors in Two Notable Securities Cases
Headline News |
2010/05/10 09:25
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pThe federal government has opposed business interests in two closely watched securities cases during Elena Kagan's time as solicitor general, although her brief tenure has overlapped with just a handful of notable business cases. /ppMs. Kagan has a light record on business issues outside of her 14 months of service as solicitor general, a role in which she represented the government at the high court. She hasn't served as a judge and her professional career has largely been devoted to government service and academia. /ppWith Ms. Kagan as solicitor general, the Obama administration has taken a friendlier approach to investor lawsuits. Ms. Kagan's office filed a legal brief supporting investors in a case that examined when shareholders could sue mutual-fund managers for allegedly charging excessive fees. Ms. Kagan argued that a lower-court ruling in the case did not provide enough of a check on potentially excessive fees. /ppIn another case, Ms. Kagan's office argued that shareholders of Merck amp; Co. Inc. didn't wait too long to file lawsuits alleging the drug maker misrepresented the safety of painkiller drug Vioxx. /ppThe Supreme Court, which decided both cases this spring, unanimously agreed with Ms. Kagan's position each time.
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US women due in court in Philly in terrorism case
Headline News |
2010/05/03 08:19
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pTwo American women charged in a global terrorism plot allegedly aimed at killing a Swedish artist are due in court in Philadelphia./ppCourt papers show the case is largely built on e-mails and online postings allegedly made by 46-year-old Colleen LaRose of Pennsburg and 31-year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colo./ppThe Colorado woman's defense lawyer, Jeremy Ibrahim, says he will ask Monday for copies of computer evidence. A judge may have to screen it first because prosecutors say some of it may be classified./ppLaRose is also expected to enter a plea to a superseding indictment. Both women have previously pleaded not guilty. They were arrested this year after returning from Europe.
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