Health care workers and others will undoubtedly carefully study the impact of a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision pertaining to the discoverability of physicians' credential applications held by hospitals. But the decision may not affect as much as some fear it might.
A divided Illinois Supreme Court has upheld its decision 10 years ago to toss out a $10 billion class action judgment against tobacco giant Philip Morris, saying more recent statements from the Federal Trade Commission concerning how the agency had regulated the marketing of so-called “light” cigarettes does not grant lower state courts the authority to reopen the case or reinstate the judgment. On Nov. 4, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 to overturn a ruling by a state appellate court.
A state appeals panel has brushed aside an effort by a group of downstate landowners and other opponents of fracking to block from taking effect state rules to regulate the oil and gas extraction process, needed to allow the state to begin issuing fracking permits.
