DePuy and several other manufacturers of knee replacement systems have collectively been the subject of thousands of product liability lawsuits. Litigation results have been mixed, and DePuy has settled some cases. No doubt the outcome in most cases depends on whether the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert is admitted or excluded. Today’s case involves DePuy’s successful exclusion of the plaintiff’s expert’s opinion and, as a result, summary judgment in its favor.
I was not familiar with this term before reading Hill v. Emergency Medicine of Idaho and Dr. Stuart Clive (3/27/25). Perhaps the court wasn’t either, because the opinion repeatedly puts “hindsight bias” in quotation marks. Or perhaps the quotation marks indicate an implied “so-called.”
We recently posted a general overview of failure to warn cases, https://www.videntpartners.com/blog/2024/product-liability-%E2%80%93-failure-warn. That post concluded as follows: “These cases often involve complex medical and scientific concepts, so working with experienced experts is essential. Vident Partners has safety experts (which includes failure to warn) in a wide variety of fields.”
In Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928), which we all remember from our first-year torts class, Judge Benjamin Cardozo restated, in his uniquely pithy manner, the common law rule that whether a duty of care exists depends on the foreseeability of harm: “The risk reasonably to be perceived defines the duty to be obeyed, and risk imports relation; it is risk to another or to others within the range of apprehension. . . .
The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case engaged two experts, who were deposed in the course of discovery. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment; the plaintiff submitted affidavits from the two experts in her opposition to the motion; and the defendants moved to strike the affidavits. The trial court granted the motion to strike and the motion for summary judgment because the affidavits included “information that is materially different from the deposition each affiant provided. There is no sufficient explanation for the change in testimony by either [expert], other than
Accountants play a key role in litigation by providing a range of specialized services that can support the legal process. Their expertise in financial matters allows them to offer insights and evidence that can significantly influence the outcome of a case. Here are several ways accountants can assist in litigation.
Neurology, the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the nervous system, encompasses many subspecialties, but there is no consensus as to what they are. The subspecialties recognized by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, https://www.abms.org/board/american-board-of-psychiatry-neurology/#abpn-n, and the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties,
Patents are governed by a unique, highly specialized body of law. Patent attorneys must pass a special patent bar exam and register with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and patent appeals are handled almost exclusively by a specialized court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On top of that, “The U.S.
Radiology is the branch of medicine that uses imaging technology to diagnose (diagnostic radiology) and treat (interventional radiology) diseases and conditions.
Diagnostic radiology encompasses several subspecialties, each focusing on specific imaging techniques or areas of the body. Some common subspecialties include:
Neuroradiology: Neuroradiologists focus on imaging the brain, spinal cord, head and neck. They interpret images from techniques such as MRI, CT and angiography to diagnose conditions like strokes, tumors, cerebral trauma and degenerative diseases.
A forensic engineer is a professional who applies engineering principles and expertise to investigate and analyze a wide variety of incidents, accidents and failures. The goal of forensic engineering is to determine the root cause of an event, often for legal or insurance purposes. Forensic engineers may work on cases involving structural failures, industrial accidents, transportation accidents, product defects, fires, and many more.
The responsibilities of a forensic engineer include:
