News in brief - Dec. 17, 2007

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Ohio high court overturns $30 million verdict - New study: Illegal Latino immigrants use Calif. health care less than U.S.-born Hispanics

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Ohio high court overturns $30 million verdict

Ohio physicians praised a state Supreme Court decision that tossed out a $30 million medical liability verdict because the plaintiff attorney's misstatements and inappropriate courtroom behavior influenced jurors.

On Oct. 25, justices ordered a new trial in the birth injury case, Harris v. Mt. Sinai Medical Center. The award was believed to be the state's largest.

The court said plaintiff lawyer Geoffrey Fieger used "theatrical" conduct and "repeatedly mischaracterized testimony in an attempt to mislead or confuse the jury."

In addition, "improper expert testimony and the alleged misconduct functioned to taint more than just the amount of the verdict; indeed, they tainted the jury's finding of liability itself," the 6-1 opinion states.

Doctors agreed in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Ohio State Medical Assn. and the American Medical Association/State Medical Societies Litigation Center.

But a lone dissenting justice said only the issue of damages should be re-decided -- not the entire case -- and suggested a reduced $10 million verdict.

Fieger is asking the high court to reconsider a new award hearing, according to his co-counsel, Jack Beam. He said Fieger had the right to advocate for his client and did nothing wrong.

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New study: Illegal Latino immigrants use Calif. health care less than U.S.-born Hispanics

Illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries use the health care system less than do Latinos born in the United States, according to a study in the Nov. 26 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers examined data from a 2003 telephone survey of 42,044 California residents. Among the findings:

• Illegal Mexican immigrants had 1.6 fewer physician visits the past year than did U.S.-born Mexicans. Illegal immigrants from other Latin American nations had 2.1 fewer physician visits than their U.S.-born counterparts.
• Illegal Mexican immigrants were less likely to have a usual source of health care and were more likely to report negative experiences than were U.S.-born Mexicans.
• Patterns of access to and use of health care services improved when an immigrant's legal status changed from undocumented to green card or naturalized citizen.

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