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This branch of government enacts both laws and taxes.

Scotty is negligently injured by Dr. Spock during a surgery where the harm is based on pain and suffering.  Can Scotty recover monetary damages in a negligence lawsuit where the only damages are based on pain and suffering and not any form of economic damages?

Punitive damages are intended to

In order to qualify as an expert witness in a medical negligence trial and testify about the medical procedure in question, the offered expert must

The surviving husband of a passenger/patient in an ambulance crash sued the federally owned Veteran Affairs (VA) Hospital and Timely Wheels, the ambulance manufacturer. The husband alleged that his wife died as a result of the defendants’ negligence. At the scene of the fatal crash, police were present. Right before taking his last breath, the driver admitted to texting on his phone when the crash took place. The husband wishes to include the driver’s statement into evidence. Should the judge in this case admit the driver’s statement?

__________ is the process of investigating the facts of a case before trial.

Jared, age 18, agrees not to smoke when his doctor, Dr. Blue, age 40, promises to pay him $1,000 for not smoking until age 22. Will a court compel Dr. Blue to pay Jared $1,000 if Jared does not smoke?

In the remote State of Sinister, Hi End Wheels, Medium End Wheels and Low End Wheels are direct competitors in the sale of wheelchairs. They are also the only three vendors of wheelchairs in the state. As business has become slow for all three companies, they agreed to all establish a higher set price for sales of wheelchairs for people over the age of 80. Agatha Angry, 87, asserts this is not fair! As a retired attorney, she thinks this may be in violation of a federal law. Is she correct?

Peter Samprini is a famous tennis player, well-known for winning numerous tennis tournaments worldwide. Peter had his annual physical at his primary care physician’s private office in Malibu. Peter was in a bad mood, and was fairly rude to the physician. To get back at Peter, the physician told his entire country club that Peter only won the tennis tournaments because Peter used a special racket that was not allowed under tennis rules. In actuality, Peter used a racket that was allowed under tennis rules. If Peter brings a claim in defamation against the physician, is Peter likely to prevail?

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND SUBQUESTIONS, 1-3 Virginia General Hospital (VGH) is a full-service nonprofit/charitable hospital serving the northern Virginia area.  The hospital is generally well-administered and attempts to comply with all requirements to ensure the safety of patients (as any good hospital should).  James Contin applies to VGH for an open managing pharmacist position.  James was last employed 6 months ago by a national pharmacy company, and he explains the gap in employment as a well-deserved vacation when he travelled the world.  What he doesn’t tell VGH is that he spent his time after the previous employment selling illegally procured Oxycontin to private school kids.  He was caught and indicted, and after being arraigned was released on bail.  Because the parents of the kids didn’t want word getting out that their kids were doing such bad things, they dissuaded local media from covering the story.  Through an error in the court’s computer system, James’ indictment doesn’t yet appear in the database that is accessible to the public even though it definitely should :(. During the hiring process, VGH obtained a criminal background check on James, as required by state law.  However, since the faulty court records system prevented James’ current legal troubles from being included in the system that VGH accessed, it was unaware of the indictment and James’ release on bail.  James also didn’t inform VGH that he had been indicted for selling Oxycontin illegally—why would he, he wants the job!  Since the criminal activity happened following the end of his previous employment, that employer, other prior employers, and James’ references are all unaware of James’ criminal activity.  And since James hasn’t been convicted and no separate complaint was made by anyone to the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, he still holds a valid Virginia pharmacist license. INCIDENT 1:  Once James was hired as a pharmacy manager at VGH, he realized how lucrative his new job could be.  His mounting legal expenses necessitated more money than the job alone provided, so James reached out to some former customers. Eddie, a junior at the private high school, visited James just outside of the VGH hospital building, where he purchased 10 oxycontin tablets that James had taken from the pharmacy stocks.  Given his role as manager, James has the authority to access these controlled substances, and he falsified records to hide his theft.  VGH uses an audit system for its pharmacy, but the number of pills was small enough that this system, and really no system, was able to quickly identify the theft.  After making the purchase, Eddie went back to his house where he invited 2 friends over.  Each of them took 3 oxycontin pills, overdosed, and died.  Eddie’s parents found all 3 teenagers a few hours after they died. Eddie’s parents, as well as the parents of the other 2 teenagers, want to file a lawsuit against VGH and James for the deaths of their sons. What is the most likely cause of action that these potential plaintiffs can claim in their complaint? What are the legal elements/requirements that the plaintiffs must prove to be successful? Will the provided statute be helpful to the plaintiffs in making their prima facie case, and why or why not? Using the legal elements/requirements identified in (b), analyze the facts and determine whether VGH AND/OR James will be held liable for the deaths of the 3 teenagers. Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit by the parents for the deaths of their sons, Virginia is determined to make an example of VGH and wants to penalize VGH for violating Code of Virginia § 32.1-126.02. Will the state be successful, and why or why not? Relevant Statute For Incident 1: 32.1-126.02. Hospital pharmacy employees; criminal records check required. A licensed hospital shall obtain, within sixty days of employment of any compensated employee of the hospital whose duties will provide access to controlled substances as defined in § 54.1-3401within the hospital pharmacy…an original criminal history record information from the Central Criminal Records Exchange. The cost of obtaining the criminal history record information shall be borne by the hospital…. A person who complies in good faith with the provisions of this section shall not be liable for any civil damages for any act or omission in the performance of duties under this section unless the act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct.   INCIDENT 2:  VGH has developed a standing order and protocol for the administration of vaccines by hospital staff/employees, as permitted by Virginia Code § 32.1-126.4.  The protocol authorizes pharmacists to administer vaccines, meaning that James is authorized to perform this procedure by VGH (and pharmacists are legally permitted to administer vaccines under Virginia law), and also authorizes physicians to provide specific directions on whether an how vaccines might be administered for individual patients.  Christopher comes to the pharmacy seeking a pneumococcal vaccination.  Christopher’s physician had declined to vaccinate him because he has an allergy to one of the vaccine components, which is a contraindication for vaccination.  The physician entered a note in Christopher’s medical record (accessible to James) explaining Christopher’s request, the physician’s reasoning for declining to administer the vaccine, and a description of the conversation he had with Christopher at the time.  Despite his physician’s refusal and explanation, Christopher was REALLY worried about pneumococcal disease and was determined to get vaccinated.  When Christopher came to the pharmacy, James was really busy filling prescriptions and performing other duties, so he just grabbed the vaccine, asked Christopher if he had any allergies to vaccine components and, when Christopher said no, went ahead and administered the injection.  Because of his heavy workload, James didn’t take the time to access Christopher’s medical record, which contained the note about Christopher’s allergy to the vaccine.  Within minutes of receiving the vaccine and while he was walking down the stairs to exit the hospital, Christopher experienced a reaction to the vaccine based on his allergy, which caused him to fall down the stairs and break his leg. Christopher wants to file a lawsuit against VGH for the harm suffered after being administered the pneumococcal vaccine. What is the most likely cause of action that Christopher can claim in his complaint? What are the legal elements/requirements that Christopher must prove to be successful? Will the provided statute be helpful to Christopher in making his prima facie case, and why or why not? Using the legal elements/requirements identified in (b), analyze the facts and determine whether VGH will be held liable for Christopher’s injuries. Relevant Statute For Incident 2: 32.1-126.4. Hospital standing orders or protocols for certain vaccinations. A hospital may provide or arrange for the administration under a standing order or protocol approved by a member or committee of the hospital’s medical staff of (i) influenza vaccinations and (ii) pneumococcal vaccinations, thus waiving the requirement for specific written physician orders for influenza and pneumococcal immunizations. However, no such standing order or protocol shall supersede a physician’s authority to issue specific written orders relating to immunizations. Any standing order or protocol authorized by this section shall require that the vaccinations be administered in accordance with the most recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after (i) ascertaining that the vaccination is not medically contraindicated for the patient, (ii) determining the patient’s wishes and any religious objections, and (iii) obtaining informed consent from the patient or his legal representative.