As many Minnesota Litigator readers know, the confirmation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Richard Nelson (D. Minn.) as district court judge for the U.S. District Court for the district of Minnesota is being held up by the Republicans in the U.S. Senate.  Meanwhile, those being considered for her U.S. Magistrate Judge position must bide their time.  Mag. Judge Nelson is not alone.  President Obama is stymied and can only seek to leverage the Repu… Continue reading →

Update #3 (August 24, 2011):  It turns out that “eliminate” actually does not mean “eliminate,” after all.  Go figure.  Text must yield to context.  The trial court must not “make fortress out of the dictionary.”  On this basis, Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James B. Loken reversed the permanent injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle, Sr. in the Buetow v. ALS case described… Continue reading →

…s of the drug, an antibiotic. Levaquin included a warning but sometime after Schedin’s incident, the warning was changed and made more prominent (made into a “black box” warning in 2008).  Subsequent warning label changes would be a classic “subsequent remedial measure” inadmissible at trial if it were not for the fact that the label change was mandated by the FDA, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim has held. … Continue reading →

The interesting fact pattern that gives rise to the problem in this case is what are the duties of a generic drug manufacturer if, after a drug’s initial federal approval (and approval (and then mandated use) of a specific warning label), new information comes to light about potentially harmful side effects?  Can a claim be brought against the manufacturer under state law for failure to warn? Gloria Mensing took a medicine, MCP, a gene… Continue reading →

The case of plaintiff/former employee Richard Crummy against his former employer, Enterprise Minnesota, is a sad story, all told, but apparently one with a happy ending for Mr. Crummy (bearing in mind that “appeals happen,” of course). As Hennepin County Judge Margaret A. Daly saw the case that was tried before her in a three-day bench trial last month, “common sense and good judgment, not to mention compassion,  went out the w… Continue reading →

Update #6 (September 7, 2011):  Thwack! The ultimate sanction applied…. Update #5 (August 18, 2011): Plaintiff’s counsel takes up Mag. Judge Franklin L. Noel’s sanctions with U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle, Sr. (D. Minn.).  From the plaintiff’s perspective the burden of making a strong claim of calculated intentional misconduct (in this case, racial discrimination) without taking discovery seems huge, onerous, … Continue reading →