PROTECT CONSUMER JUSTICE.ORG

A thoughtful essay by two physicians indicates doctors have more motivation to avoid being second-guessed by review panels of their peers than to avoid lawsuits.

That’s the question raised in a false advertising lawsuit filed in federal court in Southern California. The plaintiffs contend most of what Taco Bell promotes as “seasoned ground beef” is not beef.

A New York Times report says federal agencies value a life at between $6 million and $9 million. California law values some lives at no more than $250,000…if they are killed by medical negligence.

A report by NASA engineers found “no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas.” But the report acknowledged it was not a vindication of the vehicles’ electronics system.

A Harvard School of Public Health study often cited as evidence of abundant “frivolous” suits actually found “portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown.”

Industry watchdog Safety Research and Strategies Inc. is reporting that nearly 6,500 incidents of sudden unintended acceleration by Toyota vehicles in recent years have caused nearly 2,500 crashes and more than 50 deaths.

Video showing abuse of a woman at a Fair Oaks, Calif., residential care facility who later died in part as a result of overdoses of medications–including one drug that had not been prescribed–has led the state to order the facility to shut down.