Reminder: Meeting with the ABC Director

Don’t forget tomorrow’s meeting with ABC Director Michael Langley. He’ll be at Arkadelphia Town Hall at 10:00 am to give a short presentation on becoming a wet county, with a Q&A session to follow. We hope to see you there!

Hospitals' treatment mistakes affect 1 in 7

A new study by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services shows that 1 in 7 Medicare patients are harmed by treatment mistakes. The report estimates that these types of mistakes contribute to 180,000 deaths every year. What other type of business can get away with making serious mistakes with 1 out of every 7 customers?

Arkadelphia Promise

Yesterday evening, a host of local and state dignitaries were on hand at a packed Badger Stadium to announce a new scholarship program. The Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship promises full college tuition to all Arkadelphia Public School students meeting certain academic criteria.  This is truly great news for the future of our community. Thanks to the sponsors, the Ross Foundation and Southern Bancorp, for making such a generous investment into our town’s children.

For more information, view the U.S. Secretary of Education’s address on the Arkadelphia Promise below:

Arkadelphia Promise Address by Secy. of Ed. Arne Duncan from Southern Bancorp on Vimeo.

Meeting with ABC Director Michael Langley

Michael  Langley, the Director of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control  Division, is coming to Arkadelphia for a town hall meeting about the  transition to a wet county. The meeting will be November 30, 2010, at 10:00am in the Arkadelphia City Board room.

If you’re interested in getting a license to sell beer and wine in your restaurant, opening a package store, or just curious about the process, you’re welcome to attend.

How much is a year of life worth?

A recent report by the Associated Press attempted to answer this question by looking at the costs of prescription drugs. That report concluded the cost of extending the life of terminal cancer patients by just one year can be as high as $800,000. That's how much Medicare and insurance companies are willing to pay for drugs that keep cancer patients alive. A more commonly-seen figure is $50–100,000, which is still quite a bit of money to most Americans.

This question — how much is a year of life worth? — is a touchy subject in the practice of law. Every single one of my clients who have been injured, or who lost a family member, wouldn't take any amount of money if they could just put everything back to the way it was before the wrongful occurrence. That can't happen, so every case involving personal injury or death requires a jury to place a dollar amount on the value of human life. That's a hard thing to do, but our civil justice system has no other way of correcting wrongs. There is no "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" justice in civil cases. Making someone pay for their mistakes comes down to just that: money is the only remedy for physical harm permitted in our civil courts.