Changes to MS Law – Bill 2901

As a Mississippi citizen, it’s important to stay on top of current law changes. The lawyers at DAVIDSON BOWIE, PLLC also pay close attention to new laws so we can represent our clients to the best of our abilities.

There have been some important changes to laws and amendments in our State recently. Below is a brief summary about one of the most crucial changes we’ve seen so far – A new bill that was passed in 2019 that may affect those considering filing a premises liability claim.

Property Owners’ Liability Bill

The Bill is referred to as Bill 2901 or the “Landowners Protection Act” and limits the liability of landowners when someone is injured on their property.

Landowners are responsible for keeping their properties free of safety hazards for those who visit it. In the past, if someone visited their property and suffered from a slip and fall accident and received an injury, it was likely that the property owner would be held liable for the costs of the injuries. The injured person could have then used this compensation to pay for the costs of the injuries and damages.

The changes this Bill brings limits the liability of the landowner.

Supporters of Bill 2901 suggest that it would clearly state what the landowner is and is not responsible for. Those who do not support Bill 2901 believe that it will negatively affect those who are harmed. This could have implications of injured people not being able to hold a landowner liable for their injuries. However, the concept of negligence will make this situation complicated. It’s unclear of how liability will be assigned as of yet, but it may make future premises liability cases difficult for those who are injured.

DAVIDSON BOWIE, PLLC is on Your Side

We know how uncertain a personal injury case can be and we are here to offer clarity. When someone acts negligently and you are harmed as a result, that person should be held accountable. While the passing of Bill 2901 may make resolving a premises liability case more difficult, we are committed to doing what we can to fight for the rights of our clients. You shouldn’t have to pick between affording care, paying off a bill, or putting food on the table.

If you’re questioning the validity of a claim you’re considering or how this bill may affect your case, we encourage you to contact our firm today.

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AG’s office will investigate drug makers over opioid addiction in Arkansas

Citing what she called “staggering” statistics, including Arkansas’ #2 ranking for overall opioid prescriptions, and #1 ranking in the number of teens abusing prescription painkillers, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced today that her office will bring on extra help from private firms to investigate the corporate manufacturers of opioid drugs, with an eye toward potential litigation or prosecutions.

According to data released in December by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arkansas is currently second only to Alabama in the overall number of opioid prescriptions, with an average of 114.6 prescriptions per 100 residents. The national average is 66 prescriptions per 100 people. Greene County in Northeast Arkansas has the highest opioid prescription rate, at 177 per 100 residents.

Saying the investigation will be complex and will take significant time, Rutledge said her office has entered into contracts with several firms to assist in the probe, including Dover, Dixon, Horne PLLC of Little Rock, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of Seattle, Mike Moore Law Firm and Davidson Bowie, PLLC of Mississippi and McGowan Hood Felder of South Carolina. The firms drawn from outside Arkansas currently represent other states suing pharmaceutical companies.

At today’s press conference, Rutledge would not specify which pharmaceutical companies would be investigated, what the litmus test would be to move from investigation to litigation or prosecution, or how long the investigation phase was expected to take.

Last month, the Association of Arkansas Counties and the Arkansas Municipal League sued multiple drug makers over opioid addiction in Arkansas, with defendants in the Assoc. of Arkansas Counties suit including Purdue Pharma, Johnson and Johnson, McKesson Corporation, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Cardinal Health, Inc. and others.

*Davidson Bowie, PLLC represents the State of Arkansas in the ongoing opioid litigation.*

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America’s Opioid Crisis Looks a Lot Like Big Tobacco Spats of Yesteryear

While the opioid crisis has made headlines across the country little has been done at a federal level that could truely make a dent in the nation-wide epidemic. And thus, the industry has widely ignored the issue, paying nominal fines along the way and placating consumers with statements about their willingness to address the issue.

The biggest victim of the opioid crisis, is of course, the patients who get addicted to these drugs. At the same time the crisis could seemingly turn a number of companies on their heads much in the way that big tobacco suits of the late 1990s forever changed the tobacco industry.

Drug companies have been asked to come to negotiating table to discuss potential settlement as 41 states have demanded documents over allegations for unfair sales practices, Medicaid fraud and creating a public nuisance, among other things. So far, not much has come of these suits, but that could change.

Ohio is ground zero, where ten people die every day from opioids leaving behind families and friends and creating holes in cities and towns in the Buckeye state that don’t heal easily. And there is a cost beyond the human. Children moved from addicted parents to foster care cost $45 million a year. Indeed, half the kids in foster care come from parents addicted to opioids. Counseling and medication costs $216 million a year. Treating kids who are born drug dependent adds another $130 million. Ohio estimates that work lost because of the opioid crisis, fatal overdoses, and medical expenses costs $4 billion a year. From 2011 to 2015 3.8 billion doses of opioid meds were prescribed in Ohio. The state only has 11.6 million residents. In 2016, it lost 4,050 of those residents to overdoses of opioids, heroin and fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid, according to Ohio’s own data. 

*Davidson Bowie, PLLC represents the State of Ohio in the ongoing opioid litigation.*

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Lawyers Hope to Do to Opioid Makers What They Did to Big Tobacco

Mike Moore, a pioneer of cigarette litigation, is encouraging states to sue drug companies over the painkiller epidemic.

The legal front widening against makers of opioid painkillers has something in common with landmark tobacco litigation of the 1990s: attorney Mike Moore.

As Mississippi’s attorney general in 1994, Mr. Moore filed the first state lawsuit against tobacco companies, saying they harmed public-health systems by misrepresenting smoking’s dangers. He helped marshal the subsequent spate of State litigation and then the talks that led to a $246 billion settlement.

*Davidson Bowie, PLLC represents the State of Mississippi in the ongoing opioid litigation.*

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