1. Vaccines immunize people; legislation immunizes vaccine manufacturers. Legislation in the United States Regulating liability for the manufacture, distribution and administration of vaccinesThomas Allan Heller, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: Infectious diseases have caused widespread misery, and have wreaked havoc physically, mentally, economically, politically, and socially. Fortunately, in more recent years, scientists have developed vaccines. Vaccines are generally very safe, but cause side effects in a small percentage of cases. The United States Congress has passed two major pieces of legislation that provide sweeping tort immunity to vaccine manufacturers and others. In 1986 Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) and in 2005 it passed the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP ACT). Both Acts were passed to encourage manufacturers to develop vaccines, particularly in times of public emergencies, in exchange for expansive liability protection. Both Acts established no-fault type compensation schemes to compensate those suffering injury or death from vaccines without having to resort to typical litigation. The author discusses both Acts in detail, in the context of the current Covid-19 crisis.
Keywords: vaccines, pandemics, Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, immunity from liability, National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act
Published in DKUM: 19.08.2024; Views: 68; Downloads: 10
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2. If at first you do not succeed : an overview of remedies available in the United States Courts of AppealsThomas Allan Heller, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: In the United States federal court system, from a procedural standpoint, it has been the historic policy that appeals to the Courts of Appeal lie only from final decisions by the district courts. This policy, dubbed the final judgment rule, is designed to prevent a piecemeal approach to appellate practice, and to enhance efficiency and fairness. Applied overly strictly, the rule can often lead to unfair results, and even irreparable harm. This article catalogues the primary exceptions to the final judgment rule, and discusses those instances when interlocutory appeals may be taken short of district court rulings disposing of all issues as to all parties, that is, final judgments.
Keywords: appeals, final judgment rule, collateral orders doctrine, interlocutory appeals, mandamus, appeal administrative orders, class actions
Published in DKUM: 17.06.2024; Views: 136; Downloads: 16
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3. The current status of the preclusive effects of judgments in the federal court system of the United States of AmericaThomas Allan Heller, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: Res judicata law in the United States of America has a long, extensive and complex history. The aim of this paper is to provide at least a working summary of some of the most important aspects of the current res judicata law in the federal court system of the United States. The flexible discovery, pleading and joinder rules have given rise to more expansive res judicata law. The paper will discuss what exactly constitutes a judgment; how the federal courts deal with finality of judgments in multiple party and multiple claim cases; the final judgment rule; the form of judgments; the methods to enter judgments and significance of entry of judgments; together with a detailed overview of the doctrine of res judicata itself, including the separate, but related twin doctrines of claim preclusion and issue preclusion.
Keywords: res judicata, merger and bar, claim preclusion, issue preclusion, collateral estoppel, finality of judgments, US Federal District Courts, civil procedure
Published in DKUM: 15.01.2021; Views: 774; Downloads: 0 |
4. Obligatory insurance as a form of social engineering : a comparison paper between the United States, Italy, Aruba and PolandThomas Allan Heller, Silvia Rigoldi, Jessica Burgos, Mateusz Sasinowski, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: Insurance has been around for centuries. Traditionally, it has been purchased to protect the purchaser, namely, the insured. Over time, the insurance industry has developed an increasing number of products, so that at present one can purchase insurance to cover nearly every risk imaginable. The concept of mandatory or obligatory insurance is a fairly recent development. It traces its origins to the widespread use of the motor vehicle and also employment. Obligatory insurance is designed to protect certain classes of persons, such as workers and those who sustain injury and damage at the hands of others. In this article, the authors compare the current state of obligatory insurance in four democratic countries: the United States, Italy, Aruba and Poland. The aim of the article is to catalogue the similarities and differences in obligatory insurance in those four countries. The countries studied all have obligatory insurance designed to offer some degree of protection to workers injured on the job, and in the course and scope of their work, and to those involved in vehicular collisions. The other primary takeaway from our research is that, predictably, there is less obligatory insurance in the United States than in the other countries studied.
Keywords: obligatory insurance, obligatory motor vehicle insurance, obligatory health insurance, obligatory professional liability insurance, workers, compensation insurance, social insurance
Published in DKUM: 15.01.2021; Views: 898; Downloads: 22
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5. An overview of medical malpractice law in the United States including legislative and the health care industry's responses to increased claimsThomas Allan Heller, 2017, review article Abstract: Medical Malpractice claims are frequently asserted in the United States. At various time and places, an extraordinarily high number of claims and payouts led to what some have called medical malpractice crises. Consequently, in some geographical locations physicians either could not purchase malpractice insurance as carriers withdrew from the market, or, insurance became increasingly expensive and the overall costs associated with the delivery of health care continued to rise. Other undesirable consequences of these crises included a shortage of qualified physicians in certain parts of the country. Many of the states responded to these problems legislatively through a long series of tort reform measures. The health care industry itself has evolved in numerous ways. In particular, many health care providers have turned away from traditional private insurance models to self-insured models such as captives. Further, the industry has continued to consolidate, with fewer, but larger hospitals and clinics, and with an increasing number of physicians employed directly by hospitals and large clinics. The results of all of these changes have had mixed results.
Keywords: medical malpractice, defensive medicine, medical malpractice crises, tort reform, consolidation of health care industry, group captives
Published in DKUM: 09.10.2018; Views: 1437; Downloads: 189
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6. An overview of the law of attorney fees in the United States : the American rule is not so simple after allThomas Allan Heller, 2018, original scientific article Abstract: It often is said that in the United States each party pays their own attorney’s fees, win or lose, absent a contractual provision to the contrary or some recognized ground in equity. This basic proposition, which is true as far as it goes, is based on the so-called American Rule, which provides that in the United States each side in a litigated case is responsible for paying their own attorney, regardless of the outcome of the case. On its face this proposition seems simple. On the contrary, however, the laws in the United States governing attorney’s fees are surprising quite complex. This article provides a general survey of the patchwork of laws, federal and to a lesser extent state, and the author will demonstrate that rules and laws governing attorney’s fees are often grounded in important public policy and fundamentally shape important issues, such as access to the courts and the legal system more generally. Unfortunately, many United States citizens have been priced out of the legal market under the current system.
Keywords: attorney’s fees, fee-shifting, fee arrangements, American Rule, court access
Published in DKUM: 03.08.2018; Views: 1085; Downloads: 164
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