Mattel v. MGA Entertainment
California jury awards $100 million to Mattel in contract and copyright infringement damages against the maker of Bratz dolls. Mattel had sought as much as $2 billion.
Grubbs v. Wal-Mart Stores
Colorado man files the first suit over the recent salmonella outbreak, alleging he fell sick after eating contaminated jalapeno peppers bought from a Wal-Mart store.
Hasbro v. RJ Softwares
Game-maker sues the creators of "Scrabulous," alleging it is an online knockoff of Scrabble which copies "the essential and original elements" of the "venerable" board game.
• Four minors and their parents file a new challenge to the Hawaiian ancestry-only admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii. The plaintiffs want to have a 9th Circuit opinion denying a virtually identical claim overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Doe v. Kamehameha Schools
• Florida judge rules that ESPN did not defame promoter Don King in a documentary about his career. "[A]lthough the program might not constitute the best example of objective journalism, ESPN's conduct does not meet the standard of actual malice." King v. Walt Disney Co.
• 8th Circuit says Missouri prison officials did not violate a Native American inmate's religious rights by denying his request for a sweat lodge. "Providing inmates at a maximum security prison access to burning fires, red hot rocks, split wood, shovels, and deer antlers alone generate a unique and obvious set of security concerns." Fowler v. Crawford
• Santa Barbara judge finds Rob Lowe's former nanny did not defame the actor and his wife. "The Lowes ... have submitted no evidence of any defamatory statements that were not made in anticipation of this litigation." Lowe v. Gibson
• D.C. judge orders former White House Counsel Harriet Miers to testify before Congress about the forced resignations of nine U.S. attorneys. "The Executive’s current claim of absolute immunity from compelled
congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in the case law." Committee on the Judiciary v. Miers
• Indiana Court of Appeals says an employer is not liable for negligent hiring of a traffic controller who murdered two people in their home after leaving his jobsite. Cory and Jenna Clark "were not reasonably foreseeable victims who were injured by a reasonably foreseeable harm." Clark v. Aris, Inc.
• "Lolita Lawyer" sues American Express for providing information to law enforcement about his credit card transactions which led to his arrest for statutory rape in Canada. "As a direct and proximate result of such disclosures, Plaintiff was falsely arrested." James Colliton v. American Express
• 3rd Circuit throws out a $550,000 fine against CBS over the baring of Janet Jackson's breast. "[T]he FCC arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy excepting fleeting broadcast material from the scope of actionable indecency." CBS Corp. v. FCC
• Montana judge reinstates endangered species protections for the Northern gray wolf, which had been delisted by the Bush administration.
"Congress does not intend agency decision making to be fickle. When it is, the line separating rationality from arbitrariness and capriciousness is crossed." Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall
• Dissenting 7th Circuit judge says a condo owners' association discriminated against Jewish residents by barring them from displaying a "mezuzah" on their front door. "The Association might as well hang a sign outside saying 'No observant Jews allowed.'” Bloch v. Frischholz
Shrink Sued in Death of Girl, 4, Turned into "Zombie"
Rebecca Riley
An unusual medical malpractice suit filed in Boston alleges a psychiatrist who treated a 4-year-old girl for bipolar disorder is liable for her death from a prescription drug overdose –- even though her parents have been charged with intentionally overmedicating her.
The death of Rebecca Riley has become a "cause célèbre" for those who believe it is impossible to diagnose bipolar disorder in young children and that the drugs used to medicate the condition do more harm than good. PBS featured her in a recent “Frontline” documentary entitled “The Medicated Child.”
Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, a psychiatrist at Tufts-New England Medical Center, diagnosed Riley with both bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when she was only 28 months old and put her on a regimen of three powerful psychotropic drugs –- clonidine, Seroquel and Depakote.
Riley died at her family's home in Hull, Mass., on Dec. 13, 2006 and court records indicate the amount of clonidine in her system alone was fatal. Prosecutors have charged her parents with murder, alleging they falsely said their daughter was mentally unstable so she would qualify for Social Security disability benefits and then deliberately overmedicated her.
But in the malpractice complaint filed earlier this month, the administrator of Riley's estate alleges that Kifuji “negligently, carelessly, and without regard for the plaintiff's decedent's health and well-being, treated the plaintiff's decedent in a manner resulting in the plaintiff's decedent death.”
The drugs “made her a 4-year-old zombie," plaintiff's attorney Andrew C. Meyer told the Boston Globe. “We don't believe that she did suffer from bipolar or that this was the appropriate medication.”
Meyer also believes any conviction of Riley's parents for murder would not let Kifuji off the hook. “The primary responsibility falls on this doctor,” he said. “The failure of this doctor to respond to the warnings she was given and to thoroughly investigate the symptoms that her medication was causing ended with this very sad result here of a young girl dying.”
Diagnosing children with bipolar disorder has become fashionable since psychiatrists at Massachusetts General Hospital published research in 1995 indicating the disorder was much more common in children than previously thought. A 2006 study of mentally ill children in community hospitals found the proportion of children diagnosed as bipolar increased from less than 3 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2000.
Kifuji could well argue that, in this context, her treatment of Riley was within the standard of care. Some psychiatrists lean toward diagnosing early in childhood rather than leave a potential problem untreated.
"Rebecca Riley's death is a terrible tragedy," Tufts-New England Medical Center said in a statement. "The care we provided was appropriate and within responsible professional standards."
But there is virtually no scientific research on bipolar disorder in children less than 6 years old. “Diagnosing and treating preschoolers is what I would call uncharted waters,” the director of the Pediatric Bipolar Program at Mass. General told the Globe in a February 2007 article.
According to Meyer, moreover, a nurse at Riley's preschool warned Kifuji six weeks before her death that she suspected the child was overmedicated because Riley was often too tired to participate in school activities and appeared like a “floppy doll.” Kifuji did not reduce her medication after examining the child, Meyer said.
The attorney for Riley's father, John Darrell, has said neither parent knew enough about appropriate treatment to challenge Kifuji. "You've got two poor parents here of minor means financially, of minor education," he said.
A Texas auto dealership has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit involving its “Hands on a Hardbody” fatigue endurance contest after a judge ruled that it owed a duty to prevent sleep-deprived contestants from harming themselves. more
Woman Wins $1.5M in STD Transmission Case
In what may be one of the larger verdicts of its kind, an Iowa jury has awarded $1.5 million to a woman who sued a man for infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease after telling her he was disease-free. more
Judge OKs "Ambush" Interview Case vs. CNN
A Florida judge's ruling in a wrongful-death suit against CNN and talk-show host Nancy Grace is the second defeat for a TV network this year in a case involving a suicide that allegedly resulted from “ambush” journalism. more
Porn Star Name Suit Heading for Dismissal?
A Houston woman who alleges an actress in a porn film stole her name has admitted she has no “ownership interest” in the name Syvette Wimberly, perhaps dooming her hopes of winning an unusual privacy case. more
$6M Reverse Religious Bias Award Cut to $1M
A California judge has reduced a $6.5 million jury verdict to $1.3 million in the “reverse” religious discrimination case of a former employee of a temporary agency who claimed she was denied a promotion because of favoritism toward members of a religious group. more
8th Circuit Throws Out Switched-at-Birth Case
The medical malpractice case of two women who were switched at birth was thrown out by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after an oral argument in which the plaintiffs' attorney never really recovered from an early blunder. more
Reporter Sues Prankster for Poaching His Byline
A sports writer has good reason to be aggrieved with a Nebraska football fan who put his name on a hoax Internet story. But Oklahoma's publicity rights law may not support his claim for misappropriation of a byline. more
Disabled Woman Sues Over Drive-Thru Access
A discrimination suit filed by a hearing-impaired Nebraska woman against McDonald's may hinge on whether it is reasonable for the fast-food chain to slow down the processing of drive-through orders to accommodate the disabled. more
Skier's Suit Against Boy, 8, Settles for $25,000
A Pennsylvania man who became a lightning rod for anti-plaintiff hysteria after he sued an 8-year-old boy over a skiing accident has won a measure of vindication as the boy's parents agreed to a $25,000 settlement. more
Teacher, Nurse Blame Others for Mindless Acts
Lawsuits filed by a Connecticut teacher who appeared on the “Howard Stern Show” and an Ohio nurse who sent a homophobic e-mail to a gossip website are both examples of using the courts to avoid the consequences of unprofessional behavior. more
Cop Wins $40,000 Award Over Tainted Coleslaw
A Nebraska jury has served up a $40,000 award to a police officer and his family whose fast-food meal at a KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant included a “special” coleslaw that an employee had contaminated with his urine and saliva. more
Kramer v. Allergan, Inc. Subject: Botox Liability Document: Verdict Form
Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Subject: Bratz Doll Rights Document: Verdict Form
Amnesty Int'l v. McConnell Subject: Warrantless Wiretapping Document: Complaint
Troyer v. TMZ Productions Subject: Invasion of Privacy Document: Permanent Injunction
Rodriguez v. Rodriguez Subject: Celebrity Divorce Document: Petition
