Advisen FPN

Patients accessing ED records: Liability for physicians?	Liability
Patients accessing ED records: Liability for physicians? Don't act like you have something to hide A growing number of hospitals are allowing patients to view their own medical records electronically.

Dentist's patient awarded millions: Jury rules oral surgeon performed negligently	Medical Malpractice
Aug. 27--A Spokane jury ruled Tuesday that a dentist was negligent in performing a series of aggressive jaw surgeries in 2000 and 2001 -- awarding Kimberly Kallestad a total of $14.8 million in economic and non-economic damages.

Settlement brings end to hospital lawsuit in Eugene, Ore.	Management Liability
Aug. 26--A long-running antitrust lawsuit that pitted the region's two main hospitals in a bitter, costly battle over control of the local health care market has been settled.

Timing, politics stymied Patients' Bill of Rights	Healthcare
Aug. 27--Seven years ago, President Bush invited Rep. Charles Norwood to the White House to discuss the Georgia congressman's long-lived efforts to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights. For much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, lawmakers on Capitol Hill haggled over proposals to protect patients from intrusions by insurers.

A real time-saver: Check-in computers are well-received.	Healthcare
Aug. 27--Less than two minutes. That's all the time it took for Adrienne LeCause to check in for a routine ultrasound, verify her insurance records and take care of her co-pay.

Three Years After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Watches Another Storm Approach	Catastrophe
Almost three years to the day Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana as one of the strongest U.S. hurricane on record to make landfall, the same area is bracing itself for the season's seventh-named storm, Gustav. Forecasters say it could reach somewhere on the Gulf Coast by Sept.

NY AG confirms probe into Goldman, Fidelity	Management Liability
NEW YORK_The New York attorney general's office said Wednesday it is investigating whether Fidelity Investments was given incentives by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Cuomo says Xcel will disclose global warming risks	Business & Economy
ALBANY, N.Y._New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Xcel Energy has agreed to disclose risks to investors from its stake in coal-burning power plants and any related liability from global warming, lawsuits and new regulations or laws.

Florida Claims From Tropical Storm Fay Continue to Rise	Catastrophe
Tropical Storm Fay never reached hurricane status, but the pesky, slow-moving system has left a growing number insurance claims in its wake.

Advisen MSCAd Featured Case: Billion dollar Superfund settlement - MSCAd case 620827

Environmental

A 2000 settlement with Aventis CropSciences USA, Inc., now Bayer CropScience, will fund approximately $1 billion in future clean-up costs at the Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, historically the largest point source of toxic metals in the country and the source of the most acidic mine drainage in the world. The settlement, on behalf of the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce and several state agencies, is one of the largest settlements with a single private party in the history of the federal Superfund program.

California Presses Its Green Chemistry Initiative	Environmental
Morrison & Foerster LLP California Presses Its Green Chemistry Initiative 27 August 2008 California has undertaken a number of new initiatives in its environmental and product liability laws.

Exxon Shipping Company Et Al Petitioners v Grant Baker et al" Supreme Court Of The United States (25 June 2008)	Liability
Barry & Nilsson "Exxon Shipping Company Et Al Petitioners v Grant Baker et al" Supreme Court Of The United States 27 August 2008 The Facts On 23 March 1989, the super-tanker Exxon Valdez was loaded with 53 million gallons of crude oil.

Brain tumors prompt town's lawsuits	Environmental
Two class action lawsuits filed on behalf of residents of Cameron, Mo., allege an area plant caused a sudden outbreak of brain tumors among residents.

Target settles suit with Nat'l Federation of Blind	Liability
NEW YORK_Target Corp. has agreed to pay $6 million in damages to plaintiffs in California unable to use its online site as part of a class action settlement with the National Federation of the Blind, a leading advocacy group for blind people.

Workers' comp costs to fall	Workers Compensation
Aug. 27--ALBANY -- Employers should see the rates they pay for workers' compensation insurance fall another 5 percent on average next year, Gov. David Paterson announced Tuesday. The decline follows a 20.5 percent average decrease this year.