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A defense verdict was handed down by a California jury today in a medical malpractice trial concerning the death of actor John Ritter from an aortic dissection. (Previously: The Medical Malpractice Trial of John Ritter)

The family had previously settled with other defendants for $14M, according to press reports, and had continued on with respect to a radiologist that had done a study two years before his sudden death, and a cardiologist in the emergency room.

The jury found with respect to the radiologist that he had been advised two years earlier to follow up after the study (but also alleged that it wouldn’t have made a difference.) The case against the cardiologist revolved around the failure to do a radiological study that had been ordered when he presented to the emergency room.

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The following is a test of the Post by Email function of this blog. This is only a test. In the event of an actual blog posting you would be given instructions. Of some kind. This is only a test.

My brother Dan, a screenwriter, sat jury duty this week in New York. He live-blogged the experience, for publication when it was over:
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Tales From The Juror
Thoughts, observations, and ramblings, from the jury room at 111 Centre Street.

8 AM
In an effort to make sure I’m there on time, I get there before the building is even open. Big mistake. Have to wait out on the sidewalk. The day is not off to a good start.

9 AM
In my seat in the holding pen, verify that there is indeed free wifi access. The day gets slightly better.

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“Have you ever patronized a prostitute?” was the question asked of New York’s incoming governor, David (just one “t”) Paterson who is replacing Eliot (just one “l”) Spitzer. The answer is at Capitol Confidential;

A Google seach of “New York State” shows that Paterson is already the Governor, even though he won’t be sworn in for four more days (also via Capitol Confidential); Here’s the screenshot: Who’s The Gov.pdf

A reminder for new New York bloggers: Each Monday Nicole Black at Sui Generis does a round-up of New York blog postings for the last week and on Wednesday a round-up of news stories;

Blawg Review #150 is up at the Trusted Advisor, with a theme of, well, trust;

Marc (with a “c″) Randazza at The Legal Satryicon, in addition to opining on why Frank Zappa would have been a good elected official, adds me to his blogroll, writing:
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Vice President Dick Cheney has an implanted cardiac defibrillator. And it now appears that such devices can be hacked.

From an article in today’s Boston Globe (via Dr. Wes):

A new study demonstrates a large gap in the security of implanted devices that help regulate heartbeats and use wireless technology, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the University of Massachusetts, and elsewhere report today.

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In case anyone wondered why a personal injury blogger was covering the Eliot Spitzer scandal — aside from the fact that his New York office is two blocks away from me and news helicopters are buzzing overhead as he prepares to resign — it’s because it may have deep ramifications for medical-legal issues here.

Just two days ago, before the scandal broke, I wrote about 1,500 doctors rallying in Albany. I debunked the myths that the New York Medical Society was using to support artificial one-size-fits-all caps on medical malpractice suits in their discussions with elected officials.

Part of the Medical Society press release, which I didn’t discuss at the time, has this quote from Spitzer: (more…)

After I posted yesterday morning that Eliot Spitzer’s problems were likely well beyond the $4,300 of published reports, the New York Daily News reports today said that he may have spent as much as $80,000 on prostitutes, and that the may have used state funds to fly to and from the rendezvous points. The report also states that the liaisons have been found to go back about 18 months.

If true, this adds yet another layer to the hypocrisy of Spitzer, whose office last year went after New York State Senator Joe Bruno, the top Republican in the state, for using state funds (a helicopter) for political business.

Update: 3/12/08 — Payments may be as high as $80,000, and state funds may have been used for transportation.
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Original on 3/11/08 — Did Eliot Spitzer’s payments to the prostitution ring exceed $10,000, well above the $4,300 of initial reports?

I don’t generally delve into criminal law, but this jumped out at me, and it deals with “structuring.” According to a post at Overlawyered, these are the elements:

31 U.S.C. 5324 prohibits certain actions by any person who acts with the purpose of evading the reporting requirements of Section 5313 (Currency Transaction Reports). The definition of structuring for purposes of currency transaction reporting is found at 31 C.F.R. 103.11(gg). The elements of the structuring regulations are:

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Rumors out of Albany, via CBS radio is that Spitzer will resign and swear in Lt. Gov. David Paterson tonight. [Note: Paterson has only one “t,” which we might as well start getting used to.]

Feds have at least six different recordings from Client #9, believed to be Spitzer.

Spitzer’s statement:

Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals; it is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the State of New York. I am disappointed. I failed to live up to the standard I expect of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order.

He took no questions. Video of very brief press conference is here.

It’s hard to run as a law and order candidate, presenting yourself as squeaky clean, and survive this type of thing. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. It also doesn’t help him that he antagonized so many people, on both the left and the right. Who’s going to go to bat for him and tell him to ride it out?

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A small upgrade to the blog this week; Posts can now be emailed to people on a daily or weekly basis.

The Reason: While I had assumed that most folks would get blog postings via RSS feed, I noticed in the past month many coming to the site because some of my posts were passed around by email. Specifically, there were four posts that dealt with expert witnesses that bought a lot of new traffic: I posted a piece of evidence from one trial, about RICO suits against Allstate and State Farm, and a response from one of the RICO defendants.

Since many of the new visitors for this, or other stories, may be unfamiliar with RSS, I’ve added an email option.

Privacy: While it may be really tempting to sell all those email addresses I get — I bet I can get almost a penny apiece for the 50-100 that I may gather — I think I can resist that veritable gold mine. So even if I can figure out how to access those email addresses, I won’t do anything with them.

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