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Month: April 2008

The evil of preemption&immunity for negligent conduct

The evil of preemption&immunity for negligent conduct

The New England Journal of Medicinehas published a perspectivebyLeonard H. Glantz and George J. Annas "The FDA, Preemption and the Supreme Court" that has provocative ideas about the subject. They acknowledge the obvious fact that:"Everyone would like to be immune from lawsuits" but, note that providing immunity deprives injured people of their day in court. Immunity, they point out, undermines the tort system’s goal of deterring unreasonably dangerous actions or omission. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court in Riegel v….

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Denials aren’t always heard as denials

Denials aren’t always heard as denials

My friend Eric Oliver is a communications specialist and trial consultant (www.Eric-oliver.com) at MetaSystems in Michigan. His publication News from the Mental Edge is always informative. His last issue (Winter 2008) reprints an article from the Washington Post "Difficulty in debunking myths rooted in the way the mind works." You may have read about the strange fact that no matter how often the truth that Iraq was not involved in the Trade Center disaster is repeated a majority of people…

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Lessons from the roman army

Lessons from the roman army

In the days of Roman glory it has been pointed out that the Roman army wasunconquerable. They might lose a battle or even a campaign, but they refused to accept losing a war. In the face of total defeat the Roman army would not admit defeat. This "Roman persistence" was the determining factor in the greatness of the Roman empire. In 212 BC Hannibal’s army routed the Roman army in total defeat. But, the Romans refused to surrender to Hannibal…

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