The lawsuit represents an innovative form of offensive warfare against the movie industry, which like the Recording Industry Association of America has turned to litigation to try and stem the wave of illegal file-sharing of copyright materials.

FORBES: Class Action Turns Tables On Copyright Lawyers

But two recent studies, including one in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association and one in the British Medical Journal, found that heel patients who received shock wave therapy did no better than patients who received a fake treatment.

FORBES: The Big Hurt

After Markel's findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Barry wrote a letter in response, saying it wasn't swift action but rather an earlier wave of mild flu, acting like a vaccination, that was probably responsible for New York's relatively low caseload.

CNN: Scientists dig for lessons from past pandemics