Exclusion of Personal Injury Damages: Have the Courts Gone Too Far?

The Internal Revenue Code (Code) sweeps into gross income all income from whatever source derived, including, but not limited to, compensation for services, interest, dividends, rents, and alimony payments.\u27 Specific statutory exclusions may exempt from gross income certain items that Congress has determined deserve favorable tax treatment. One such exclusion, section 104(a)(2), provides that gross income shall not include the amount of any damages received (whether by suit or agreement and whether as lump-sums or as periodic payments) on account of personal injuries or sickness. \u27 Congress enacted section 104(a)(2)\u27s predecessor in 1918, and in spite of subsequent revolutionary tax reform, this traditional exclusion remains in the present tax code. This exclusion relieves a taxpayer who has had the misfortune to be injured from including any subsequent damage award in gross income.\u27 Presently, neither the Code nor the related Income Tax Regulations define what constitutes a personal injury for the purposes of exclusion of damages under section 104(a)(2). Because the regulations do define damages received as amounts received through prosecution of a legal action based on tort or tort-type rights or through a settlement agreement, the essential requirement for exclusion is that the damages must derive from a tort or tort-type claim against the pay or Damages received on account of physical injuries clearly are personal and excludable from gross income even if lost earnings compose part of the award, and physical trauma is not a prerequisite for the exemption under section 104(a)(2).10 While the statutory exclusion for personal injury damages has remained static, courts have expanded the definition of what constitutes a personal injury and have brought within the scope of section 104(a)(2) certain types of damages whose exclusion from gross income is not justified by sympathy for personal injury victims. The courts have held that nonphysical torts such as injury to personal or professional reputation, employment discrimination, abridgment of constitutional rights,\u27 and tort-type remedies in contract actions\u27 are within the scope of section 104(a)(2) Part II of this Note examines the scope and legal background of section 104(a)(2), discusses its historical application in the punitive damages, defamation, and civil rights areas, and evaluates the tax consequences of alternative methods of calculating damages awards. Part III examines the present judicial expansion of section 104(a)(2) with particular emphasis on the conflict between the courts and the Internal Revenue Service (Service) concerning what constitutes excludable personal injury damages. Part III also considers the legislative amendment to section 104(a)(2) limiting the exclusion of punitive damages. Finally, Part IV explores a recommendation for future legislative action

Attentional Processes Associated with Victimization History and Posttraumatic Symptomatology in Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) puts women at risk for severe and chronic physical and mental health consequences, including elevations in IPV-related psychopathology and increased risk for future victimization. Previous research has examined attention as one of the key information processing mechanisms associated with elevated psychopathology and risk for victimization; however, the nature of attentional processing in response to IPV-related information in women exposed to IPV is poorly understood. Therefore, the current study aimed to further understanding of associations between attentional processing, IPV exposure, and related distress using measures of eye movement and subjective interpretations of IPV-related information. A sample of women exposed to IPV (n = 57) viewed sets of negative, positive, and neutral relationship images for 15 s each while having their eye movements monitored and later provided subjective ratings and interpretations of levels of risk and safety in those images. We examined associations of outcome measures with proximal victimization experiences and IPV-related psychopathology (i.e., depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and dissociation). Results indicated a bias to attend to negative relationship images relative to positive and neutral images, though this attention bias fluctuated over time and varied as a function of symptomatology such that depression corresponded with increases in attention to negative images over time and PTSD corresponded with decreases in attention to negative images. The general attention bias for negative images appeared to be explained by rumination on and/or difficulty disengaging from negative images, which was related to general elevations in psychopathology as well as exposure to revictimization by different perpetrators. Subjective interpretations and perception of danger cues were related to victimization history and level and type of IPV-related distress. We replicated these procedures with a sample of undergraduate students without IPV histories or related symptomatology (n = 33) and found that the overall attention bias for negative images was not replicated, despite general similarities in patterns of attention over time. Results therefore indicated associations between attentional processing and IPV exposure and related symptomatology. Implications for models of IPV-related psychopathology and attentional processing as well as directions for future study and interventions are discussed

Some Attitudes Towards Retirement among Middle-Aged Employees

Une étude du Ministère des affaires familiales et sociales de l'Ontario sur le vieillissement qui, commencée en 1959, ne se terminera qu'en 1978, a pour objet de connaître les changements sociaux, psychologiques et dans l'état de santé qui se produisent en cours de vieillissement ainsi que les adaptations qui y sont inhérentes. Deux mille travailleurs ontariens de 45 ans se sont prêtés à partir de 1948 à cette enquête d'une durée de vingt ans.Ces recherches ont montré jusqu'ici qu'une attitude positive vis-à-vis de la préretraite favorise une adaptation satisfaisante quand l'heure de la retraite en est venue. Aussi, comme les problèmes concernant l'adaptation à une vie de retraité ne se présentent pas seulement quand l'employé abandonne le travail, il faudrait commencer à s'en préoccuper beaucoup plus tôt dans la vie. Une étude du type de celle-ci permet d'analyser les changements qui se produisent dans le comportement de l'individu au cours des années qui passent.Une étude comparative sur les attitudes de 1,214 employés à l'âge de 54 ans et 48 ans indique qu'un plus grand nombre d'entre eux aspiraient à leur retraite à l'âge de 54 ans que six ans plus tôt. Des quatre facteurs choisis pour les fins de l'étude, lieu de résidence, niveau de revenu, milieu professionnel et degré de satisfaction dans la vie, qui étaient susceptible d'influer sur leurs attitudes à l'âge de 54 ans, seul le niveau de revenu s'est avéré significatif en ce qui a trait à la retraite. Moins de travailleurs songeaient à la retraite dans les groupes de niveau de revenus faibles que dans les groupes de niveau de revenus moyens ou élevés.À mesure que le sujet vieillit, il voit venir le moment de la retraite avec moins de réticence et il se montre favorable à laisser le marché du travail à un âge moins avancé. À l'âge de 54 ans, il estime que la retraite devrait être moins tardive qu'à l'âge de 48 ans. À l'un ou à l'autre âges, alors que, dans la grande majorité des cas, les employeurs estiment que l'âge normal de la retraite devrait être à 65 ans ou au-delà, la majorité d'entre eux optent pour un âge inférieur. À 54 ans, si l'âge jugé normal pour la retraite s'élève, la proportion de ceux qui la souhaitent s'abaisse.Les sujets considèrent davantage agréable à l'âge de 54 ans qu'à l'âge de 48 ans de pouvoir demeurer à la maison, de n'être pas astreint au train-train journalier du travail, de ne pas frayer avec des camarades de travail et de disposer de beaucoupde loisirs. À 54 ans, un plus grand nombre de sujets avaient apparemment trouvé des moyens de meubler les heures de loisir qui remplaceraient celles qu'ils passaient au travail. Les sujets qui, à l'âge de 54 ans, trouvaient agréable plutôt que désagréable de n'avoir pas à travailler aspiraient davantage à la retraite et à des heures de loisir plus nombreuses. Cependant, il n'en reste pas moins que, même s'il existe une tendance à vouloir être moins dépendants du travail, la majorité des sujets de 54 ans estimaient ennuyeux d'avoir à demeurer à la maison, de ne plus suivre leur train-train journalier, de n'avoir plus de contacts avec des camarades d'atelier ou de bureau.Cette dernière perspective est susceptible de donner la voie à une nouvelle forme de « gérontologie industrielle ». Il se peut que, par le passé, l'on ait tellement insisté sur la valeur du travail et des relations qu'il contribue à créer que ceci nuise à une adaptation réussie aux autres âges de la vie, ce qui hypothèque lourdement le passage du travail à la retraite. Mais, comme le signalait le docteur R.N. Butler dans un article del’American Behavioral Scientist en septembre 1970 sur le vieillissement dans la société contemporaine, « loin de libérer l'homme de ses valeurs, de ses tâches et de ses engagements, la menace de très nombreux changements sociaux et technologiques l'attache davantage à eux sous plusieurs rapports et dans plusieurs milieux ». Les dirigeants des syndicats et de l'industrie, les sociologues et les responsables de la santé publique n'ont pas tort de craindre l'impact grandissant du « choc du futur ».The Ontario Longitudinal Study of Aging 1959-1978 interviewed 1,214 male employees at ages 48 and 54 on attitudes towards retirement, a suitable retirement age and views on not working. Replies at both ages are examined as well as some of the conditions which may have influenced attitudes towards retirement at age 54. Chi-square analysis indicated more employees were favourably disposed to retirement at age 54 than at the earlier age. Income level alone, of four factors studied, was positively related to attitudes towards retirement

A Thought Is Just A Thought: A Buddhist Guide to OCD

Evidence-based studies have shown that individuals can significantly recover from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder through the Cognitive Behavioural Therapies of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). However once the affliction is no longer categorized as a disorder in accordance with the diagnostic criteria, the process of thought, and often intrusive thought, remains. The OCD cycle of thought to anxiety to compulsion” stems from a desire to reduce the suffering that the initial thought causes. This suffering comes in the form of negative feelings which often lead to compulsive behavior. The Buddhist path lays out a method for the reduction of unnecessary suffering, where mindfulness practice is key. This creative project, “A Thought is Just a Thought: A Buddhist Guide to OCD,” is both a handbook and a workbook for individuals that struggle with an OCD-inclined mind and are interested in developing a relationship with Buddhist psychology as a vehicle for deeper insight. Buddhist psychology can provide a new paradigm for individuals to understand their thoughts and how they, most often unknowingly, contribute to their own suffering. In both psychotherapy and Buddhist psychology, greater wisdom contributes to greater wellbeing. The goal of this handbook is to provide wisdom for the purpose of enhancing wellbeing for its readers

Love. Appropriation. Music. Baby : Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku girls

With the release of her debut solo album, 2004's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. , No-Doubt front-woman Gwen Stefani turned to the street fashions of Tokyo's Harajuku district for her inspiration. The platinum-blonde Stefani promoted herself by being constantly surrounded with an entourage of four voiceless Asian women, dubbed her "Harajuku Girls". They were on her CD cover, she dedicated a track to them, they performed in her videos, and they danced on her Harajuku Lovers live tour. Stefani even re-named them, "Love", "Angel", "Music", and "Baby" after her new record and clothing line, L.A.M.B. The Harajuku Girls function as Stefani's human accessories--silent, sexed-up, submissive, school-girl muses sent to save her from her dull whiteness. I introduce Stefani as an intertextual celebrity who appropriates, absorbs and crossreferences cultural texts and ethnicities in order to market and brand herself as a distinct entity in the worlds of music and fashion--all while resisting any static signification or "authentic" identity. This thesis questions: (1) how Stefani has appropriated Harajuku culture in ways that reinforce Orientalist ideas of Asian women; (2) how Stefani has used Harajuku culture in order to reinforce her whiteness and distinguish herself as a distinct celebrity brand; (3) if Stefani's representations reveal the performative nature of ethnicity and destabilize essentialist ideas of authenticity; (4) how we may compare the transcultural differences between Harajuku appropriation of American culture and Stefani's appropriation of it; and (5) what the political and cultural implications of Stefani's ethnic signifiers may be

Catheter-related bloodstream infections in neonatal intensive care units

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are regularly used in intensive care units, and catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) remains a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections, particularly in preterm infants. Increased survival rate of extremely-low-birth-weight infants can be partly attributed to routine practice of CVC placement. The most common types of CVCs used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) include umbilical venous catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters, and tunneled catheters. CRBSI is defined as a laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (BSI) with either a positive catheter tip culture or a positive blood culture drawn from the CVC. BSIs most frequently result from pathogens such as gram-positive cocci, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and sometimes gram-negative organisms. CRBSIs are usually associated with several risk factors, including prolonged catheter placement, femoral access, low birth weight, and young gestational age. Most NICUs have a strategy for catheter insertion and maintenance designed to decrease CRBSIs. Specific interventions slightly differ between NICUs, particularly with regard to the types of disinfectants used for hand hygiene and appropriate skin care for the infant. In conclusion, infection rates can be reduced by the application of strict protocols for the placement and maintenance of CVCs and the education of NICU physicians and nurses

Inflammatory cytokines and biofilm production sustain Staphylococcus aureus outgrowth and persistence: A pivotal interplay in the pathogenesis of Atopic Dermatitis

Individuals with Atopic dermatitis (AD) are highly susceptible to Staphylococcus aureus colonization. However, the mechanisms driving this process as well as the impact of S. aureus in AD pathogenesis are still incompletely understood. In this study, we analysed the role of biofilm in sustaining S. aureus chronic persistence and its impact on AD severity. Further we explored whether key inflammatory cytokines overexpressed in AD might provide a selective advantage to S. aureus. Results show that the strength of biofilm production by S. aureus correlated with the severity of the skin lesion, being significantly higher (P < 0.01) in patients with a more severe form of the disease as compared to those individuals with mild AD. Additionally, interleukin (IL)-β and interferon γ (IFN-γ), but not interleukin (IL)-6, induced a concentration-dependent increase of S. aureus growth. This effect was not observed with coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from the skin of AD patients. These findings indicate that inflammatory cytokines such as IL1-β and IFN-γ, can selectively promote S. aureus outgrowth, thus subverting the composition of the healthy skin microbiome. Moreover, biofilm production by S. aureus plays a relevant role in further supporting chronic colonization and disease severity, while providing an increased tolerance to antimicrobials

Failure of erythromycin to eliminate airway colonization with ureaplasma urealyticum in very low birth weight infants

BACKGROUND: Airway colonization of mechanically ventilated very low birth weight infants (birth weight < 1500 grams) by Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) is associated with an increased risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). While Uu is sensitive to erythromycin in vitro, the efficacy of intravenous (IV) erythromycin to eliminate Uu from the airways has not been studied. METHODS: 17 very low birth weight infants with Uu positive tracheal aspirate (TA) cultures were randomized to either 5 (8 infants) or 10 days (9 infants) of IV erythromycin lactobionate (40 mg/kg/day in 3 divided doses). Tracheal aspirate cultures for Uu were performed on days 0, 5, 10 and 15. RESULTS: Intravenous erythromycin failed to eliminate airway colonization in a large proportion of infants regardless of whether they received 5 or 10 days of treatment. Ureaplasma urealyticum was isolated from 4/15 (27%) of TAs obtained at 5 days, 5/12 TAs (42%) obtained at 10 days and 6/11(55%) TAs obtained at 15 days (combined group data). CONCLUSIONS: Erythromycin administered IV does not eliminate Uu from the airways in a large proportion of infants. Failure of erythromycin to eliminate Uu from the airways may contribute to the lack of efficacy of this drug in reducing the incidence of BPD in very low birth weight infants