Timothy A. Carney's avatarGableGotwals Insurance Law Update

In insurance “bad faith” cases, the main issue is typically whether the insurer, in addressing the claim of its insured, acted reasonably and in good faith, or whether its conduct was unreasonable and in “bad faith.”  In order to address these issues, courts sometimes allow testimony from so-called “bad faith” experts to address insurer practices and industry standards.  The Tenth Circuit, and Oklahoma federal courts, have been reluctant to allow such expert evidence, as was recently found in Higgins v. State Farm Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 2012 WL 2369007 (N.D. Okla. June 21, 2012).  In Higgins, the court rejected testimony from experts by both parties as to claims handling standards and bad faith.  Higgins involved an insurer’s denial of uninsured motorist benefits relating to a motor vehicle accident of its insured.  The plaintiff in Higgins sponsored a practicing attorney who had many years of experience litigating insurance claims as…

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Marijuana Health Risks

Medical News: Health Risks of Marijuana Still Not Nailed Down – in Psychiatry, Addictions from MedPage Today

Car wrecks may be the most significant and well-documented adverse health effect of smoking marijuana, as clear evidence that it causes schizophrenia or other health problems is largely missing, a literature review showed.

Overall, “the public health burden of cannabis use is probably modest compared with that of alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs,” Australian researchers reported in the Oct. 17 issue of The Lancet.