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Verdicts Down Significantly in Phila. Courts in 2015
Mar 7, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer
By Max Mitchell
..The top three verdicts for 2015 included a more than $46 million award against a security firm for failing to adequately protect employees at a Kraft factory from a disgruntled worker who eventually gunned down two co-workers, a $12.5 million award for an allegedly defective pelvic mesh device, and a $10 million medical malpractice win. -
'Women Should Be More Aware About Health Issues'
Mar 8, 2016 | The New Indian Express
...“With proper antenatal and postnatal care, women can avoid all the problems as a consequence of pregnancy and delivery such as the pelvic organ prolapse, which typically appear late in life,” she adds
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Verdicts Down Significantly in Phila. Courts in 2015
Mar 7, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer
By Max Mitchell
While the number of cases being tried at the First Judicial District continue to fall for the third year in a row, the amount plaintiffs took home in 2015 was a 60 percent drop from what juries awarded the year before.
According to court statistics focusing on trials held in Philadelphia in 2015, a total of 177 major jury cases were tried to verdict in the FJD last year, and juries awarded nearly $109 million to plaintiffs. That is a 9 percent decline over the 195 cases tried in 2014, and a 60 percent drop in money awarded to plaintiffs.
In 2014, juries awarded roughly $272 million, which was the highest grossing year for plaintiffs in at least the past five years. The amount juries won in 2015 was the lowest amount in at least five years.
Along with having the lowest amount of winnings for plaintiffs, Philadelphia juries also awarded $3,000 for defendants in 2015, which is the highest amount for defendants since at least 2010.
Overall, juries in 2015 were split down the middle in terms of plaintiffs and defense verdicts, with 50.3 percent finding in favor of plaintiffs and 49.7 percent in favor of defendants. That even split is largely on par with past years.
The top three verdicts for 2015 included a more than $46 million award against a security firm for failing to adequately protect employees at a Kraft factory from a disgruntled worker who eventually gunned down two co-workers, a $12.5 million award for an allegedly defective pelvic mesh device, and a $10 million medical malpractice win.
The top two cases, Masciantonio v. U.S. Security Associates and Hammons v. Ethicon, were both tried by Kline & Specter attorney Shanin Specter. Masciantonio was tried before Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson, and Judge Mark I. Bernstein handled Hammons.
In 2015, 74 major jury motor-vehicle cases were tried, which was the most frequent cause of action the court saw. Forty-two major jury trials involved premises liability claims, and 27 involved other personal injury cases. Twenty-one medical malpractice cases also came through the FJD.
According to the numbers, 61 percent, or $66.5 million, of the amount juries awarded in 2015 came out of the court's complex litigation track. The expedited track accounted for nearly 30 percent, or $33.5 million, of the money awarded.
Eight percent of the awards for plaintiffs, or nearly $9 million, came through the standard track, as did all the awards for defendants.
The standard track also saw 68 percent of the trials held during 2015, with the complex track accounting for 18 percent of the verdicts and the expedited track counting for 14 percent trials.
The court's numbers also show that, in 2014, juries awarded about $105 million more for plaintiffs in expedited trials than in 2015—for a total of $138 million—and nearly $60 million more for plaintiffs with cases in the standard track—totaling nearly $68 million in 2014. Juries hearing cases on the complex track in 2014 awarded slightly less than their 2015 counterparts with a total of $65 million.
The mass tort program saw a total of eight cases in 2015, with 75 percent finding for plaintiffs and awarding nearly $19 million, court numbers said. Those break down to four trials involving the antipsychotic Risperdal, in which juries awarded a total of $4.75 million, two asbestos verdicts, one contract case, and the one pelvic mesh trial.
Eight mass tort cases were also tried in 2014, and juries found in favor of the plaintiffs 62 percent of the time, but only $5.5 million was awarded. Those cases included seven asbestos verdicts and one trial involving Topamax, over claims that the anti-seizure drug caused birth defects.
The number of trials out of the mass tort center has been steadily declining, according to the numbers. In 2010, 47 cases, including 19 asbestos and 19 firefighter hearing loss cases, were tried out of the mass tort program. Juries awarded nearly $90 million to plaintiffs that year.
However, that dropped sharply to 19 mass tort trials in 2011, in which juries awarded nearly $12 million.
Juries awarded only $773,000 in the six mass tort cases tried in 2012. The following year juries heard 13 mass tort cases, including 11 asbestos suits and two Topamax trials, and awarded $28 million.
Plaintiffs received an additional $1.3 million following arbitration appeals in 131 cases in 2015. That is a 10 percent increase in the amount awarded to plaintiffs through 126 arbitration appeals in 2014.
The court's commerce program saw only two trials in 2015. One resulted in a $5.5 million verdict, and the other was a defense verdict. The commerce program did not see any cases in 2014.
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'Women Should Be More Aware About Health Issues'
Mar 8, 2016 | The New Indian Express
Good health and education are two important pillars on which life of individual progresses.Since longevity of human life has doubled from 40-50 years to 80-90 years in the last century, sustenance of health for these many years is essential to be able to enjoy the extra lease of life which is not just 4-5 years but 30-40 years.
Dr Mala Raj at Firm Hospital says the single most important factor which is lacking in women is awareness about health concerns. “Women are today in the forefront. They should know how to take charge of their lives and cannot afford to neglect their health,” she says.
She opines that awareness in women will bring about awareness in the whole family and likewise in the whole community. “As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in the 1200s “healthy mind is a healthy body”. One could also say nowadays, as a result of increase in stress, that “healthy body is a healthy mind,” she adds..
Stress leads to many health issues like PCOD (polycystic ovarian disease), obesity, infertility, HT, DM and heart diseases. PCOD is a complex genetic disorder that could also be familial. “It has both adverse reproductive and metabolic implications for the woman,” she warns.
Most woman consider having a baby as one of life’s most rewarding experiences. But Dr Mala say, proper preconception care is not directed at prospective parents expecting a baby, but at parents wishing to become to have a baby. “With proper antenatal and postnatal care, women can avoid all the problems as a consequence of pregnancy and delivery such as the pelvic organ prolapse, which typically appear late in life,” she adds.
With the incidence of cervical cancer on the rise, women should be aware of both preventive measures like immunisation against cervical cancer and screening like the Pap smear test. “These days a woman over 40 years faces middle years with confidence. Medical science has changed her ‘over 40 years’ and have added years to her life making her feel like a changed and different person,” she says.
She adds that today, women know that first 40 years are the years of getting and reaching there and thinking about how to deal with the world.
“They are multitasking from taking new jobs, changing careers, marrying and having children. Days have changed and modern medicine have influenced so much in women’s health that today’s women know that they can handle their lives in a much better way. It is an inspiration to be a woman. Celebrate womanhood. Happy Women’s Day,” she smiles.
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