In light of this week’s settlement in the NBC Dateline case, this past column on talk show liability may be of some interest. From cop shows to talk shows, reality television can suddenly throw average citizens into highly stressful or embarrassing situations. In the recent Dateline case, such actions were alleged as the cause of the suicide of a prosecutor who was accused of sexually explicit communications with an adult posing as a child in a chat room.
Category: Torts
In Trenton, New Jersey, Dr. Santusht Perera has been suspended from practice after removing the wrong lung from a patient and then lying to the patient to try to cover it up.
Continue reading “New Jersey Doctor Suspended for Removing Wrong Lung From Patient”
Robert Burck has become an iconic figure in New York dressed in cowboy boots, white cowboy hat, and white underwear. So much of an icon, it appears, that the maker of M & M used a parody of his image in a commercial. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin has now ruled that he can sue for trademark infringement against Mars Inc. and Chute Gerdeman Inc. The culprit? that money-grubbing, opportunistic Blue M & M. He is seeking up to $100 million in punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees.
The details of the case against Daniel Watson, 31, of Birmingham, Alabama, in Australia are beginning to emerge. Watson is accused of killed his new wife Christina Mae Watson, 26, on their honeymoon while diving on a shipwreck.
Continue reading “Details Emerge in Case Against Daniel Watson in Alleged Scuba Murder”
In Chula Vista, California, the owner of a clinic near the Mexican border is accused of posing as a doctor and performing negligent abortions. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, allegedly caused serious injuries to women, as detailed in a 10 felony count indictment. After performing the procedures at Clinica Medica de la Mujer women allegedly discovered that they were still pregnant.
Continue reading “Fake Doctor Accused of Harming Women in Negligent Abortions”
For those who fear dentists, imagine one who will not allow you to leave. Dr. John Drew Laurusonis is accused with the false imprisonment of Frances Bales, 36, of Duluth after he suspected that she might not pay her bill. Charged with the good doctor is Leslie Ann York and Acquah Alexander from the Doctors Medical Center in Duluth.
Continue reading “Dental Detention: Dentist Charged with Holding Patient Against Her Will”
According to a Florida family, Dr. Wesley Meyers is something of a butterfingers. However, where other clumsy individuals drop fruit bowls, Meyers drops tools down the throats of his dental patients. After requiring a colonoscopy to remove the first tool (a screwdriver) dropped down his throat, Charles Gaal, 90, allegedly died after a second such accident when Meyers dropped another tool down his throat.
Continue reading “Florida Dentist Drops Devices Down Throat of Patient — Twice”
Police have to deal with unruly teens all the time, but in the case of Officer Derek Nugent anger overcame training. The teen is clearly yelling at the officers and being uncooperative, but Nugent is shown slamming the teen face first into a wall — the teen lost three teeth and the officer has lost ten days of pay in a suspension.
Continue reading “Shock Video: Kalamazoo Public Affairs Officer Slams Teen Head First Into Wall”
Macrida Patterson, 52, is suing in Los Angeles for a classic California tort: a defective thong. Patterson alleges that Victoria’s Secret sold her a “low-rise v-string” from its “Sexy Little Thing” collection that malfunctioned and caused a metallic piece to fly off an hit her in the eye. This is not the first such suit against the clothing giant.
Continue reading “Thong Tort: “Sexy Little Thing” Has Malfunction and Causes Eye Injury”
Just recently, an unlicensed chiropractor snapped the neck of a man and was arrested, here. Now a Canadian woman, Sandra Nette, has filed a class action the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors and the provincial government for half a billion dollars after she was left paralyzed after an upper spine manipulation procedure. She has not only filed the complaint but created the video below on her ordeal.
Continue reading “Woman Sues Chiropractors for Half a Billion Dollars After She Is Left Paralyzed”
New York may be looking at another tort case that explores the inherent value of a pet versus the value of the pain of its loss. Robert Machin was walking his Boston terrier Ginger in the Bronx when a street sweeper swerved to avoid a speed bump and sucked in the small dog.
Continue reading “New York Street Street Sweeper Kills Boston Terrier”
Rachelle Jackson, a Chicago nurse, was probably expecting a thankful reception from the colleagues of Officer Kelly Brogan, a police officer that she dragged from a burning police cruiser. Instead, she was arrested and stayed in jail for 10 months on charges that she robbed, battered and disarmed a peace officer. She now has $7.7 million worth of apologies from a Chicago jury. Defense counsel is irate, insisting that the officer said that Jackson put her into a strangle hold and took her gun.
Continue reading “Chicago Nurse Wins $7.7 Million After She Rescued an Officer Only to Be Arrested by His Colleagues”
Police have arrested a Sacramento, California man who used his own home for illegal chiropractic services. Antonio Arellano, 76, has been arrested after he snapped the neck of a patient — leaving him brain dead.
Continue reading “Unlicensed Chiropractor Snaps Patient’s Neck”
Officials at El Camino High School in Oceanside, California are under attack for an outrageous program where they falsely told children that several of their classmates had been killed in car accidents over the weekend. After widespread hysteria, the school officials admitted that it was hoax and was simply their effort to educate them through scared straight learning.
Various sites are now reporting that lawyer Cyrus Sanai is taking credit for the recent controversy involving Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Sanai has a long-standing dispute with both the Ninth Circuit and Kozinski over a rather arcane doctrine called the Rooker-Feldman doctrine — holding that district courts may not entertain lawsuits challenging the validity of state court judgments.
Continue reading “Kozinski Snitch Revealed: Lawyer Cyrus Sanai”