On March 30 a case was argued before the US Supreme Court that has the potential to impact the use of nearly every generic prescription drug sold in America. The court heard oral arguments in a case involving generic drug manufacturers and their contention that they should be held to…
A surprising – and heartening – article in the sports section of the New York Times last week revealed that heightened awareness of the serious nature of sports-related concussions and other traumatic brain injuries has turned up in an unexpected forum: video games. The paper reports that “Madden NFL 12,…
Oregonians could learn some lessons about the dangers of drunk driving accidents from an incident unfolding to our south, in Northern California. A 64-year-old retired La Selva Beach man is facing serious charges after what media reports describe as a classic drunk driving hit-and-run accident. The Santa Cruz Sentinel, quoting…
A Florida judge has issued a key ruling in a closely watched wrongful death case that may have implications for student athletes here in Oregon and elsewhere. The case concerns the death of Ereck Plancher, a 19-year-old student and football player at the University of Central Florida. Plancher died in…
In terms of violence and physical contact baseball is a far cry from football or hockey, but today’s news brought word that the National Pastime is following in the footsteps of higher-impact competitions in seeking to address concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. According to an analysis published by Bloomberg…
A trial now underway in Washington is raising serious questions about railway safety. According to TV station KGW, the Longview, Washington trial focuses not only on safety policies at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, but on how carefully those policies are enforced. The Washington rail crash trial stems…
A Portland man faces the serious charge of second-degree assault after an alleged attack on a Portland bike rider that resulted in an Oregon bicycle accident, according to The Oregonian. The incident took place early Tuesday morning as Joe Santos, a Portland police sergeant, was riding his bike to work…
The state department of transportation plans to address issues raised by the death of a cyclist in a Portland bicycle accident last December on a notoriously dangerous stretch of SW Barbur in Southwest Portland. As I noted in a post last December, the issue most recently came to public attention…
An Oregon truck accident on Interstate 84 closed the road for several hours last week and sent two people to the hospital, though its most notable feature may have been that it was not even worse than accident reports indicate. According to the Associated Press the Oregon semi-truck accident began…
A report released this week by the consumer watchdog organization Public Citizen raises serious questions about the conduct of state medical boards, according to an analysis published by the Los Angeles Times. The charges, in turn, raise broader questions about the conduct of hospitals and doctors and the prevalence in…