A motion filed by Ameritox Ltd. requesting sanctions against Millennium Laboratories (ML) for allegedly destroying e-mails, among other allegations, was denied in a Feb. 26 order by the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida. In the motion, Ameritox alleges ML effectively destroyed evidence in the ongoing lawsuit by improperly redacting documents and destroying documents. ML denied the allegations. The hearing concerning the destruction of evidence was conducted Feb. 4 and the judge denied the motion in the Feb. 26 written order. The motion requested the following sanctions: (1) an order finding that liability has been established on all of Ameritox’s claims, (2) an adverse inference that the evidence Millennium destroyed would have contained information to prove Ameritox’s claims, (3) the appointment of a special master, paid for by Millennium, to review the redacted documents, and (4) attorneys’ fees and costs associated with investigating the missing evidence and bringing its motion, as well as any other relief deemed appropriate. ML responded that Ameritox claims of misconduct are inaccurate and that Ameritox has not met its burden of proof that any sanctions are warranted. ML addresses each of the allegations with counter arguments of its own. The judge essentially agreed with […]
A motion filed by Ameritox Ltd. requesting sanctions against Millennium Laboratories (ML) for allegedly destroying e-mails, among other allegations, was denied in a Feb. 26 order by the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida.
In the motion, Ameritox alleges ML effectively destroyed evidence in the ongoing lawsuit by improperly redacting documents and destroying documents. ML denied the allegations. The hearing concerning the destruction of evidence was conducted Feb. 4 and the judge denied the motion in the Feb. 26 written order.
The motion requested the following sanctions: (1) an order finding that liability has been established on all of Ameritox’s claims, (2) an adverse inference that the evidence Millennium destroyed would have contained information to prove Ameritox’s claims, (3) the appointment of a special master, paid for by Millennium, to review the redacted documents, and (4) attorneys’ fees and costs associated with investigating the missing evidence and bringing its motion, as well as any other relief deemed appropriate.
ML responded that Ameritox claims of misconduct are inaccurate and that Ameritox has not met its burden of proof that any sanctions are warranted. ML addresses each of the allegations with counter arguments of its own. The judge essentially agreed with ML, saying in the order that Ameritox failed “to adequately demonstrate that Millennium has wrongly withheld, lost, or destroyed evidence material to this litigation of such import that terminating sanctions or evidentiary presumption(s) are warranted.” However, the court ordered ML to produce to Ameritox unredacted copies of e-mails related to certain aspects of the case.
In all, the judge comments that while the claim of alleged evidence destruction is not without some basis, on the whole, it is supported by suspicion and not proof.
The ongoing case, which has generated a large stack of motions and orders, will apparently continue. The latest documents were submitted to the case file on March 19 and the end to this case still seems to be somewhere in the future. G2 will continue to monitor and report on its progress until the final documents are filed and the final resolution is reached.
Takeaway: Stamina and resolve are required in health care lawsuits as many lawsuits continue for several years and involve a plethora of motions, responses, and other documents as part of the case file, all of which must be properly and timely filed.
