Last week, a California court issued a ruling construed as being anti-industry. The decision defines a company's legal duty to its consumers when a competing and allegedly safer drug is in the development pipeline. Astonishingly, the judicial opinion also insinuates itself into corporate product-development strategies. But does this case really establish the broad anti-industry precedent that some fear?
Policy & Ethics
Benjamin Franklin's adage linking health and wealth has persisted through time, suggesting that financial security correlates with better health and increased lifespan. A recent study delves into this relationship, specifically exploring the impact of wealth inequality on longevity in the U.S. and considering potential increases in lifespan associated with reduced wealth inequality.
With the EPA finding that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans and the plaintiffs’ five-case winning streak against Bayer broken, things had been looking up on the Roundup event horizon. Alas, last week’s verdict dinged Roundup yet again. and some 40,000 cases are still pending. What can we expect next?
If Tylenol trials are off the table, what else tempts? How about the weed killer Roundup - the most popular and successful herbicide ever? Luckily for the plaintiff’s bar, there’s some evidence that it causes cancer. There’s also sound evidence that it doesn’t. Eighteen cases have gone to verdict. Bayer (which owns Monsanto, the product’s developer) won ten; the plaintiffs won eight. So, is the stuff human-harmful or not? Who decides in a court of law and how? And what’s next?
Prohibition of drugs simply doesn't work. Clamping down on Percocet and Vicodin resulted in a surge in heroin use. Fentanyl took care of that market and now even worse drugs called nitazenes are being found in fentanyl samples. Dr. Jeff Singer and I discuss this latest development in USA Today
Reflecting their baseless antagonism towards COVID vaccines, the state's legislature, governor, and attorney general have made decisions that will have deadly consequences for many Texans.
The Roman politician Cicero once said, “When there is no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.” Some interpret this to mean that the best defense is a good offense. I’ve another interpretation: When you have no explanation – deflect, defer, confound, and confuse the listener with irrelevancies. That about sums up the latest rhetoric of climate change deniers.
In December, Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the federal statutory law governing expert witness opinion's admissibility, changed. This change was made to emphasize “[E]ach expert opinion must stay within the bounds of what can be concluded from a reliable application of the expert’s basis and methodology.” This will have profound implications for mass tort cases that rely heavily on scientific evidence and the testimony of expert witnesses.
Electric vehicles (EV) have been hailed as our gateway out of fossil fuel "addiction." But recent declines in EV sales driven by reliability issues have raised tough questions about the future of this once-celebrated technology. It's an age-old question: bidet or no bidet? Let's see if science can bring clarity to this contentious debate.
Critical Economic Theory is not a new concept. Like critical race theory (which is seen through a more controversial lens), CET seeks to examine and understand how systemic economics is ingrained in various aspects of society, including law, institutions, and social structures.
Here's the premise: social justice and equitable care increasingly require that those individuals providing your healthcare look like you and share your lived experience. To that end, medical schools have fashioned (or refashioned) their mission statements to explicitly call for diversity in their student bodies. But as a new study shows, words and intentions are not sufficient.
From 1839 to 1842, the British attacked China over the Chinese government's decision to ban opium. The French joined the fray between 1856 and 1860. The military superiority of the Western powers resulted in the legalization of opium in China. Karma – in the form of China's payback to the Western powers – is a bitch.