ThePopTort

Vonage Settles Lawsuit With 32 States Over Sketchy Marketing Practices

Good news for victims of “voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)" phone giant Vonage’s unofficial “I just can’t quit you” campaign.

The company, has reached a settlement in a lawsuit with 32 state AGs over the company’s payment of “incentives to customer service representatives for retaining customers in lieu of cancellation,” which resulted in customers complaining “that cancellation was extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible.”

Another problem: “Vonage failed to say clearly that customers signing up for its service needed a high-speed Internet connection…[making] customers pay activation, cancellation and return shipping fees for equipment even when those customers, particularly senior citizens, were not aware of the need for high-speed Internet.”

Vonage must now offer refunds to eligible customers with pending complaints involving “unauthorized charges from January 2004 through March 16, 2010.”

Bad Med Mal Legislation Dies - Again

This is starting to feel like a zombie movie plot. 

A couple of weeks ago we cheered as the Hawaii legislature killed a bad piece of legislation that was trying to solve an insurance problem on the backs of injured patients.

And although we all thought it was gone, the bad legislation just wouldn't die. 

But, on Friday 

The House sent the bill back to committee on a voice vote, which effectively means no more action will be taken on the legislation.

House lawmakers, however, said they still are interested in creating incentives that would draw or keep doctors to rural areas and on the Neighbor Islands, where there is a shortage.

Looks like they were really able to kill it - this time for real. 

But, more importantly it seems like the Hawaiian legislature has got it right.  Keep good doctors practicing, offer incentives for doctors to practice in undeserved areas – but not at the expense of injured patients.

In the News...

Last week in Hawaii, legislation that would have sharply curbed the rights of victims of medical malpractice died in committee. The Judiciary Committee Chair Tommy Waters said,

"It's not doctors versus lawyers," he said. "I know the proponents of the bill want to frame it that way. For me, it's about victims' rights."

On Monday, the US Supreme Court allowed Michigan residents to continue with their case against the makers of the drug Rezulin.  Although to be clear, this court decision does not change the restrictive drug industry immunity law in Michigan.

In a story that sounds frighteningly similar to a story about a Long Island doctor, some 40,000 patients treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada are being notified that unsafe practices like reusing needles may have exposed them to hepatitis strains and HIV. But, at least in this case Nevada has shut down the clinic (New York has allowed Dr. Finkelstein to continue practicing without even a day's suspension of his medical license).

Tort “Reform” Discovers Paradise

Dear Boss,

I need a vacation.  I toil all day in my sunless cubical, working for the “man.”  And I’m thinking Hawaii.  It’s warm, it’s tropical and I deserve to watch the sunset while I drink rum drinks out of a coconut.  But there is no way I can afford to go there – not on my salary. 
 
However, I was thinking, if we created a crisis, something that people can really get behind, I could swoop in and fix it.  Right?  Medical malpractice crises have been popular in other states, so why not create one in Hawaii?  Then I could go and round up a couple of bogus stories from doctors about how they can’t practice anymore because of the cost of medical malpractice, promote that idea in the media, and get the legislature to introduce a couple of bills that will cap damages. 

No one will notice that we’ve taken away their access to the civil justice system unless they have been injured by medical malpractice.  Then it will be too late!  Just look at this story from a November 2007 Boston Globe article that took a look at what happened after Texas instituted medical malpractice caps:

"It's very frustrating," said Danny Lara, a registered nurse who had tears in his eyes as he retold the story. "Here we have what we believe is blatant malpractice, but no law firm will touch it. It's beyond me - doctors can literally get away with murder."

He fingered through a sheath of documents, including rejection letters and e-mails from lawyers. The family now has little hope to file a lawsuit. The two-year statute of limitations runs out next month.

So, what do you think?  Kill two birds with one stone?  I get to go to Hawaii on the corporate dime and we weaken the civil justice system in the state while we’re at it?

Sincerely yours,
Tort “Reform”