Category Archives: Personal Injuries
Lauletta and Vergara, ‘Workplace Litigiousness and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Workers’ Compensation Reform’
ABSTRACT We study a reform to the workers’ compensation system in Argentina that, motivated by a large increase in workplace litigiousness, mandates that workers go through a mediating government medical commission after a workplace accident to determine the degree of disability, whether the injury happened in the workplace, and the corresponding compensation before additional legal […]
Warren, Cyhlarova, Carlisle, Knapp and Nolte, ‘The contaminated blood scandal in England: exploring the social harms experienced by infected and affected individuals’
ABSTRACT During the 1970s and 1980s, over 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C because of treatment with blood and blood products for conditions such as haemophilia or through blood transfusion. We used the social harms perspective to understand the experiences of those affected. We conducted in-depth interviews with 41 […]
Chen Meng Lam, ‘The continued search for clarity on the scope of a doctor’s duty of care’
ABSTRACT The scope of duty test for determining liability in cases of clinical negligence is, as confirmed in Meadows v Khan [2022] AC 852, governed by the purpose of the duty, which is in turn determined by the risks of harm against which the doctor has the duty to guard. While Meadows made clear that […]
Cowart and Bock, ‘Tort Immunity Waiver for Vaccine Injuries: Ethical and Legal Perspectives’
ABSTRACT The COVID pandemic highlighted the importance of vaccine development and availability worldwide. Operation Warp-Speed in the United States accelerated vaccine production by several major pharmaceutical manufacturers, averting some of the normal administrative processes. The result has been a financial windfall for those companies. Some recent data has shown that the COVID vaccine can cause […]
‘Costs of clinical negligence’ (National Audit Office)
BACKGROUND TO THE REPORT Clinical negligence is a breach of a legal duty of care which directly caused harm to the patient. If clinical negligence has occurred, a patient or their representative may claim for damages against the clinicians or their employers. NHS services are legally liable for any clinical negligence and must pay compensation […]
Luke Meier, ‘Failure-to-Warn Suits Against Pharmaceutical Companies: Physician Testimony, Causation, and Summary Judgment’
ABSTRACT It is hard to win a tort suit against a pharmaceutical company. The theory that a drug or medical device has been incorrectly designed is often foreclosed under existing law. A plaintiff pursuing a tort suit based on a warning theory might have her claim preempted by federal law. Even if a plaintiff can […]
Colin James, ‘Vicarious Trauma and Burnout in Law: Managing Psychological Stress to Promote Safety, Performance, and Wellbeing in Legal Practice’
ABSTRACT Law is a stressful profession with high rates of depression and suicide, including alcohol and substance abuse, and high turnover and attrition. A common source of stress for many lawyers is trauma: working with distressed, injured and traumatised people as clients, parties and witnesses, including people with PTSD. Lawyers who are unaware of trauma […]
Abba Elgujja, ‘Reconstructing Medical Negligence for AI-Driven Care: Toward a Nigerian Standard of Reasoned Justification’
ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping clinical decision-making in Nigeria, exposing gaps in doctrines built for exclusively human judgment. This article reconstructs medical negligence for AI-driven care by proposing a Nigerian Standard of Reasoned Justification (SRJ) – a unified test that requires empirical competence, logical defensibility, respect for autonomy, and institutional responsibility. Grounded in Okonkwo […]
Omri Ben-Shahar, ‘Safety score liability’
ABSTRACT Data technology is increasingly deployed to assign safety scores to people and products. Could these scores be used to apportion liability for accidents? Instead of liability based on ad-hoc care level (the negligence rule), ‘safety score liability’ imposes liability commensurate with the habitual propensity to behave unsafely. This article describes how such a regime […]
Beau Baez, ‘Unfit For Human Consumption: A Bone to Pick with Boneless Wings’
ABSTRACT This article examines defective food laws after a recent case where the Ohio Supreme Court held that ‘boneless’ chicken wings can contain bones. The result in that case is a man with permanent and significant injuries is precluded from recovering for his harm after eating a ‘boneless wing’ with a bone hidden inside. The […]