Vested Interest - News and Notes - July 2002 Issue

Roundup Targets Jurors

In Sunbury, Pennsylvania, one county was so desperate for female jurors that sheriffs deputies subpoenaed dozens of women in grocery stores, gas stations and a high school. The sheriff even ordered his own wife and daughters to appear for jury duty. A judge ordered the sheriff to round up 50 women after a jury pool the previous week included some 140 men but only 10 women. Court rules say juries must be representative of the community they serve. A predominately male jury could open the door for defendants to appeal convictions. (AP – May 21, 2002)

Reinsurers Show Strong Rebound

In spite of the losses the reinsurance industry suffered during the last three months of 2001 as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the industry appears to be making a markedly strong rebound. A survey of 30 property/casualty reinsurers released by the Reinsurance Association of America showed their combined ratio during the first three months of 2002 at almost a breakeven 101.8. In comparison, the combined ratio for the first quarter of 2001 was 106.4 and for 2000 was 112.4. (Liability & Insurance Week – June 3, 2002)

Legal Malpractice Insurance Rates on the Rise

Legal malpractice insurance rates are on the rise after years of decline. As law firms renew their policies, many are paying premiums that top last year’s rates by 25 percent and more. Insurance professionals say rates are going up on virtually all types of policies, including homeowners’ insurance and auto insurance. The reason, they say, is that insurance companies’ costs and risks are rising. The cushion that companies once could count on by investing premiums in the stock market is gone. (The National Law Journal – June 4, 2002)

MMR Vaccine Not Cause of Autism

A comprehensive examination of 50 years of research on the combined vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella has concluded parents’ fears the shots could give their children autism or bowl disease are unfounded. Experts say the study, together with other recent authoritative reviews, show definitively there is no evidence of a connection between the inoculations and developmental and bowel problems in children. Fears over the MMR vaccine intensified in 1998 after a British study raised the possibility of a connection between the vaccine and child ailments. (AP – June 12, 2002)

Smoking Even Worse Than Thought

Tobacco smoke is even more cancerous than previously thought for both smokers and nonsmokers who breathe fumes, causing cancer in many more parts of the body than previously believed. A comprehensive review of medical studies by researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed passive smoking causes cancer and the chemicals and gases in tobacco contribute to cancer in the stomach, liver, kidney, uterine cervix, and myeloid leukemia. An estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes or bidis and expose billions more non-smokers to the carcinogenic chemicals. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. About one half of persistent smokers will be killed by a tobacco related disease and half of those deaths will occur in middle age. (MSNBC News Services – June 19, 2002)

AMA Endorses Resident 80-Hour Work-Week

The AMA endorsed a new 80-hour-a-week work limit for medical residents to try to keep doctors-in-training from becoming so bleary-eyed that they hurt themselves or their patients. Under the new policy recommendation, residents will not work more than 80 hours per week or 24 hours at a stretch. This policy is nearly identical to the rules announced earlier this month by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which oversees teaching hospitals. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine estimated that mistakes kill at least 44,000 hospitalized Americans yearly. Doctors at the AMA meeting said there are no figures on how many of those deaths were due to overworked, sleep-deprived residents. (AP – June 21, 2002)

Group Petitions FDA to Stop Sale of Drug

The nonprofit consumer group Public Citizen is petitioning the FDA to immediately remove the weight-loss drug sold under the trade name Meridia from the market because a number of people taking the drug have died. Public Citizen stated that the drug’s benefits appear to be minimal in light of its serious potential side effects, including an increase in blood pressure while losing weight. The FDA has received about 400 adverse event reports from the time the drug was first marketed in 1998 to September 2001. (Products Liability Law Reporter – June 2002)

State Farm to Cut Back on Policies in 20 States

State Farm Insurance Co., the nation’s largest insurer of homes, is cutting back or placing a moratorium on writing new homeowner policies in more than 20 states because of recent losses. The action is being taken to counter a net loss of $5 billion reported in 2001, when a series of natural disasters caused claims to increase dramatically. Refusing to take on new business shelters the company from taking on additional liability. (AP – June 21, 2002)