March 15, 2006

At City Journal (published by the Manhattan Institute), Theodore Dalrymple reviews Paul Offit's "enthralling" new book The Cutter Incident, and the story it tells of a medical catastrophe and resulting lawsuit with far-reaching consequences: "The plaintiffs' lawyer was Melvin Belli, then the most famous and flamboyant tort lawyer in America. The trial outcome was in a sense a draw, rather than an outright victory for the plaintiffs, but it established a principle that would be nearly fatal to the production of vaccines." For more on The Cutter Incident, see Feb. 28. (& welcome Kirkendall readers).