Friday, July 27, 2007

And this little piggy went ALLLLLL the way to the state Supreme Court

An oral surgeon in Washington state was just awarded $750,000 from his insurance company by the state's highest court after the insurance company refused to cover a lawsuit filed against him when he implanted temporary tusks in the mouth of his assistant whose family raises potbellied pigs. Here's the back-story:

The oral surgeon, Dr. Robert Woo, implanted two tusks in his assistant's mouth while she was under anesthesia to replace two of her teeth with implants. He snapped photos of her with the tusks -- some with her eyes propped open -- and then removed the tusks and finished the procedure normally. When she woke up, everything was normal, but eventually the photos made their way around the office and back to her. She quit. And sued.

The insurance company refused to cover the lawsuit, saying that practical jokes aren't covered by his plan. Dr. Woo settled out of court and paid the woman $250,000.

Then he sued the insurance company.

A county superior court jury ordered the insurance company to pay Woo $750,000 plus the out-of-court settlement.

The insurance company appealed. The state Court of Appeals sided with the insurance company, agreeing that the prank had nothing to do with Woo's dentistry.

Woo appealed. And on Thursday, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Woo. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that that "Woo's practical joke was an integral, if odd, part of the assistant's dental surgery and 'conceivably'' should trigger the professional liability coverage of his policy," according to the AP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

And this is about our adventures at Coney Island HOW.....? >:(