UPDATE AND ADDITIONAL TWIST ON STORY OF FL JUDGE’S RETAINED SPONGE

Since posting the story about the unfortunate Florida judge, I have come to learn that contrary to what I initially reported, the hospital has reached a settlement with the judge.  The judge is now suing the surgeons and the radiologist involved.  The article with the more comprehensive information appeared in the Miami Herald. Ashby Jones, of the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog , was wise enough to base its post on the Herald’s article, while I foolishly relied on Fox News, which failed to mention the hosptial’s action.

But the focus of my post remains the same. The individual physicians and their insurers should pony up, move on, and not drag out the litigation.  If they do drag it out, it will only add to the unnecessary costs that we would all be better off without.

The great thing about the Miami Herald article, though, is that the judge/victim had some pithy things to say about tort “reform.” Specifically, he is not a fan of caps on awards in medical malpractice cases.  According to the Herald:

Bailey would also like damage award caps placed on medical malpractice lawsuits lifted.

“I don’t know what all these caps are. That is not my area of the law,” Bailey told the paper. “But what I would like to see is when you have malpractice per se, something this egregious, the damages should be between the parties, a judge and jury without the state legislature dictating limits.”

And that, my friends, is what tends to happen, even to jurists, after you are personally touched by medical negligence.

AND IN OTHER NEWS….

THE PACE LAW REVIEW is looking for a few good writers.

The Editors of the Pace Law Review invite proposals from scholars and practitioners for our third annual issue on New York law that is slated for publication in Spring 2011. In the past, this book has examined a wide range of topics in New York law, including education, immigration, land use, and criminal procedure. The Review is most interested in timely pieces that comment on recently decided cases, areas of New York law that are quickly evolving, and issues that broadly impact the people of the State.

Please submit proposals of no more than 500 words to plr@law.pace.edu by October 15, 2010.  We welcome proposals for articles, essays, and book reviews.  All proposals should include the author’s name, title, institutional affiliation, contact information, and should concern issues related to the subject-matter described above.  Book review proposals should also include: (a) the title and publication date of the book proposed for review; (b) a description of the importance of the book to the general topic; and (c) any other information relevant to the book or proposed review (e.g. the reviewer’s expertise or any relationship with the author).  Authors are also welcome, but not required, to submit a CV.  We expect to make publication offers by October 31, 2010.

Completed manuscripts will be due December 1, 2010.

Best regards,

James Healy and Nicholas Tapert

Executive Articles Editors

Pace Law Review