SUIT OF THE WEEK: PSYCHIATRIST CAN'T SUE OVER "LOONEY
TUNES".
A psychiatrist can't sue a plaintiffs' lawyer for slander
for describing her on national television as a "terrible
witness," "mentally unbalanced" and "one of the
Looney Tunes," the Ninth U.S. . . .
OOPS: GARAMENDI PULLS OUT BEFORE GETTING INTO RACE.
Only hours before the deadline for filing and after Liability &
Insurance Week had gone to press last week, California Insurance
Commissioner John Garamendi decided not to be a candidate for . . .
JUDGE REINSTATES $12 BILLION APPEAL BOND AGAINST PHILIP
MORRIS.
Madison County Judge Nicholas Byron Aug. 15 reinstated the $12
billion bond he had ordered Philip Morris to post if it was to appeal
his $10.1 billion judgment in a class action lawsuit brought by . . .
LIBYA AGREES TO PAY UP TO $2.7 BILLION FOR LOCKERBIE
BOMBING.
The government of Libya accepted responsibility last week for the
bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, last week and
agreed to pay up to $10 million to each of the families of . . .
WATCH ON THE MEDIA.
Newsweek devoted the cover story in its Dec. 15 issue to
"Lawsuit Hell: How Fear of Litigation Is Paralyzing Our
Professions."
Publication was accompanied by a special series called "Civil
Wars" . . .
TEXAS WOMAN ASKS JUDGE TO CUT $1.3 MILLION JURY AWARD IN
HALF.
The lawyer for a woman who won a jury award of more than $1.3
million in a lawsuit over alleged injury from the weight-loss drug
cocktail Fen-Phen has asked the state judge in the case to cut the . . .
OREGON JURY ORDERS FARMERS INSURANCE TO PAY $9.5 MILLION.
An Oregon jury has returned a $9.5 million fraud verdict against
Farmers Insurance Co. in a class action brought by some 7,500 Oregon
policyholders who claimed the insurer failed to pay all their . . .
NEW JERSEY JURY AWARDS WOMAN $15 MILLION IN FACIAL SURGERY
SUIT.
A U.S. District Court jury in Camden, NJ, has awarded found a
plastic surgeon liable for $5 million in damages to a woman who
developed a bacterial infection after plastic surgery and to . . .
NEW YORK INSURERS SUE TO RECOVER MILLIONS IN AUTO FRAUD
SCAM.
Four insurers have filed suit in the Supreme Court of New York to
recover over $100 million for thousands of no-fault claims paid as a
result of alleged staged auto crashes resulting in phony . . .
FLORIDA: ELIAN'S RELATIVES SUE U.S. OVER RAID.
Relatives of Elian Gonzalez, the rescued Cuban boy who was taken
from members of his family in Florida to be returned to his father in
Cuba, have sued the agents who broke open the door and took . . .
HMO PROFITS UP 81% IN 2002, REPORTS WEISS RATINGS.
The nation's health maintenance organizations reported an 81
percent increase in their collective net earnings last year, reports
Weiss Ratings of Jupiter, FL.
Total combined profits reached $5.5 . . .
CORPORATE PENSION FUNDS ARE HEALTHIER THAN ONE YEAR AGO.
A number of U.S. companies are reporting their pension plans are in
much better shape than they were one year ago.
General Motors has reported it put $13.5 billion into its pension
fund during . . .
DOT ISSUES ORDER AGAINST UNITED OVER DISABLED PASSENGERS.
The Department of Transportation issued an order Dec. 11 finding
United Air Lines had violated federal law in its treatment of air
travelers with disabilities and was assessed a civil penalty of . . .
BUSH REAUTHORIZES NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM TO APRIL
1.
President Bush signed a bill Dec. 10 reauthorizing the National
Flood Insurance Program through March 31, 2004.
The House had voted 352 to 67 to reauthorize the program through
2008, but the . . .
CONGRESS ADJOURNS WITHOUT TAKING FINAL ACTION ON PENSION
FIX.
Congress adjourned the week of Dec. 8 without taking final action
to replace the current 30-year Treasury bond interest rate as the rate
employers must use to calculate employee pension plan . . .
FRANCE, U.S. REACH $760 MILLION SETTLEMENT OVER EXECUTIVE
LIFE.
U.S. prosecutors reached a $760 million settlement Dec. 11 with the
government of France and French tycoon Francois Pinault to resolve the
Executive Life insurance fraud case that arose in 1991-92 . . .
TREASURY ISSUES INTERIM GUIDANCE ON HEALTH SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS.
Treasury Secretary John Snow issued interim guidance on Health
Savings Accounts immediately after President Bush signed the Medicare
prescription drug legislation into law Dec. 8.
"An important . . .
HALLIBURTON NEARS $4 BILLION SETTLEMENT ON ASBESTOS
CLAIMS.
Halliburton came closer Dec. 11 to completing the $4 billion
settlement it proposed one year ago to resolve its liability to asbestos
claimants.
The proposed settlement includes a $2.775 billion . . .
INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS ELECT CSISZAR PRESIDENT.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has elected
South Carolina Insurance Director Ernst Csiszar to serve as its
president in 2004.
He is succeeded as vice president by North . . .
CONGRESS ADJOURNS AFTER SENATE STALEMATE OVER GOP
PRIORITIES.
The first session of the 108th Congress ended last week with Senate
Democrats showing they could thwart the GOP agenda on establishing an
asbestos fund, confirming judicial nominations, limiting . . .
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