Pennsylvania Law Monitor
Pennsylvania Law Monitor Blog
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Committee Considers Change to Med Mal Venue Rule
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
Currently in Pennsylvania, a medical malpractice lawsuit may only be filed in the county where the alleged malpractice occurred. This more restrictive than the venue rule for other types of civil cases, which provides more flexibility and gives plaintiffs more control over where their lawsuit is filed.
Pennsylvania Man Not Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees in Homeowners Association Declaration Amendment Lawsuit
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled this month that a man from Pittsburgh is not entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and court costs from litigation he won against his homeowners association. Matthew Serota filed suit against the London-Towne Homeowners Association in 2015 after the association amended its Declaration of Covenants,… Continue reading
23 Infants Contracted Infections at CHOP
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
The June 2017 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control included a report from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) which described 23 infants in their intensive care unit (ICU) who contracted eye infections after eye examinations. In the report, CHOP attributed the cause of the outbreak to some… Continue reading
Zoning Concerns from Listing Your Property on Airbnb
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
One of the topics generating a great deal of attention in zoning relates to people leasing their residential homes via Airbnb. This issue came up in Reihner v. City of Scranton Zoning Hearing Board No. 256 C.D. 2017 (PA Commw. Ct. Dec. 8, 2017). The owners of a single family… Continue reading
Telemedicine – Are There Increased Risks With Virtual Doctor Visits?
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
“Telemedicine” or “Telehealth” are the terms most often used when referring to clinical diagnosis and monitoring that is delivered by technology. Telemedicine encompasses healthcare provided via real time two-way video conferencing; file sharing, including transmission of health history, x-rays, films, or photos; remote patient monitoring; and consumer mobile health apps on… Continue reading
Don’t Ignore Vehicle Safety Recalls
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
Vehicle Safety Recalls Are Often Ignored A recent study by Carfax indicated that more than 63 million vehicles in the United States (one in four vehicles on the road) are being driven with unfixed safety recalls. J.D. Power and Associates estimated the number to be 45 million vehicles, while acknowledging… Continue reading
FDA Issues Warning About Dietary Supplements Containing Active Drug Ingredients
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
The FDA has issued a safety alert to consumers involving several dietary supplements including Rhino 7, Papa Zen, Fifty Shades, and Grande X. The safety alert warns consumers that the products may include undeclared active prescription drug ingredients. The products are labeled as a dietary supplement and each is packaged… Continue reading
Should Surgical Outcomes for Individual Surgeons Be Available to the Public?
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
In the 1980s, journalists used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain data on individual cardiac surgeons’ surgical outcomes from the New York State Department of Health. A recent JAMA article discusses that type of data and takes the position that despite its limitations, the data should be publicly reported…. Continue reading
FDA Issues Warning Letter Concerning Stomach Balloons Used to Treat Obesity
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
After the sudden deaths of five people following the placement of inflated silicone balloons in their stomachs to treat obesity, the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to health care providers on August 10, 2017, warning of potential risks associated with the intragastric balloons. All five reported deaths happened within… Continue reading
Is Doctor’s Disclosure of Patient’s HIV-Positive Status Medical Malpractice?
Posted in Pennsylvania Law Monitor
A recent New Jersey case addressed a statute of limitations issue pertaining to claims arising from a physician’s disclosure of a patient’s HIV-positive status to a third party without his consent. Plaintiff was a patient of the defendant physician, a board-certified nephrologist. He was being treated for acute kidney failure…. Continue reading
