Mass Fraud in Mass Torts/Federalist Society

http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/PubID.177/pub_detail.asp

MP3 download link:
the download link doesn't work but if you have iTunes, you can download it if you search for it under "Federalist Society Audio" (it's a very interesting discussion on problem with mass torts, demonstrating that free market does work and that if incentives are right, people will try to get money whether they deserve it or not).

Mass Fraud in Mass Torts? - Event Audio
Mass Fraud in Mass Torts? 10-12-06 - MP3
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The stakes in mass tort litigation are extremely high, with settlements and awards ranging into the billions of dollars. Many mass tort cases are founded upon medical or scientific evidence developed by the plaintiffs and their experts.

Is there any evidence that significant fraudulent practices have developed with regard to the generation of scientific and medical evidence in support of mass tort litigations such as breast implants, fen-phen, mold, asbestos, and silica, or are such assertions nothing more than attempts by defendants to divert and distract?

Are procedures in place to identify the existence of any such fraud and to appropriately sanction those who engage in it?

Do some courts, by denying or limiting discovery, exacerbate any problem that might exist?

If this is a genuine problem, should specialized laws or court rules be created to deal with the specialized problems of fraudulent diagnoses and testimony by scientific and medical experts in the context of mass tort litigation? These and other questions will be addressed by our panel of experts.

Panelists included:

* Professor Lester Brickman, Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
* Patrick M. Hanlon, Esq., Goodwin Proctor
* Professor Francis E. McGovern, Duke University School of Law
* Joseph F. Rice, Esq., Motley Rice LLC
* Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (Moderator)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
 
You do realize that its because of mass tort litigation that asbestos isn't used in building materials anymore.
 
Capitalism = absolute perfection as history has shown no problems with laissez faire. :rolleyes:

Lawyers = pure evil bent on the destruction of everything good and noble. After all, lawyers are all billionaires who lives in their own protective enclaves so they have no concern about society. :barf:
 
Tort actions punish people and companies for their dangerous actions when those actions are not quite bad enough to be illegal. Along with this important punitive function, torts also help to "make whole" people who have been mangled/impoverished/infested with disease as a result of somebody else's sloppy work/stupidity/bad decisions.

Sometimes it gets a little out of hand, but it serves a valid purpose in our society.

As for junk science developed for legal use only, the rules of evidence have been warped in an attempt to keep it under control but I forget the name of the most recent case that lays out the new policy...

I'll dig up the name and a link tomorrow.

Edit: OK, I just remembered it. The case is Daubert v. Merrell Pharm. and the new rules of scientific evidence are in there. I don't think this link is to the whole decision, but it's probably an OK summary. Check out the Supreme Court website for the unabridged fun.

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-102.ZS.html
 
Lawyers = pure evil bent on the destruction of everything good and noble. After all, lawyers are all billionaires who lives in their own protective enclaves so they have no concern about society.

Sarcastic, I hope?

WildifnotAlaska
 
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