Category: Summer 2010 Office Newsletter

Pennsylvania’s Crimes Code makes it a crime to possess any “instruments of crime.” Instruments of crime include all weapons used in planning or committing crimes. They also include body armor worn or possessed during the commission of a crime and any item “specially made or specially adapted for criminal use.” Even gun parts and guns […]

Polygraph tests, often called “lie‑detector” tests, are not admissible in court in Pennsylvania. While the science of polygraph testing is solid and reputable, the testing is considered by the courts to be “inherently unreliable” in determining guilt or innocence. Some people can successfully lie without detection, and some people are labeled dishonest when they are […]

A Pennsylvania medical center recently sued the state to recover sales taxes and won. The medical center purchased and installed MRI and PET/CT scan equipment in connection with the reconstruction of a building. An MRI device is imaging equipment used to identify disease and damage to soft tissue; a PET/CT scan device is equipment that […]

Following their 16‑year‑old son’s suicide, a Pennsylvania couple brought a federal lawsuit against the manufacturer of the antidepressant drug Paxil. The parents claimed that the manufacturer knew of the specific risks of teen suicides from Paxil but neglected to warn doctors, parents, and teens about the risks. The family doctor had initially treated the teenager […]

Employer Responsible for Shoddy Home Renovations A man whose work‑related injuries left him paraplegic recently succeeded in his workers’ compensation petition for repairs to his home bathroom. The Workers’ Compensation Act puts the responsibility on employers and their insurers for compensating injured workers for wage losses and medical benefits for work‑related injuries. The Act’s requirement […]