InjuryBoard Local Blogs

U S Senate Debate: Still No Talk About The 98,000 That Die Each Year

Mike Bryant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT

It's been interesting to watch the U S Senate debate today. There is more to go, so I'm sure they might just touch on just about everything. About 30 minutes ago, Senator McCain started the fraudulent claims that medical malpractice reform would make a significant difference. Sure, half of one percent savings by eliminating all claims would be a great difference. To your Insurance contributers Senator McCain.

Let's talk about the 98,000 people that die each year due to medical errors. Let's go after those numbers and reduce them. You do that and you will bring down malpractice claims. You will get rid of the few doctors that do a majority of the malpractice. You will save lives.

We will see how the rest of the night goes. Hopefully, it will get around to what is best for the American consumer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Hampton Roads toxic drywall victims take their battle to state insurance officials

John Cooper — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:07:56 GMT

Hampton Roads homeowners saddled with toxic Chinese drywall are facing another challenge: Getting home insurance companies to cover their losses.

"I always thought insurance would cover this,” homeowner Larry Ward told WAVY-TV earlier this week. “I went right to my insurance company asked them about this. Evidently there are some exclusions in every policy.”

I wrote about this difficult issue in October, and my colleague Jim Lewis wrote about a tour federal officials took of Chinese drywall-afflicted homes in Hampton Roads.

Many insurance policies have “pollution exclusions,” often taken to refer to something outside the home – a chemical spill, for example – damaging the inside of the home.

But it’s not clear whether pollution exclusions cover the damage caused by toxic Chinese drywall. However, insurance companies have denied toxic Chinese drywall claims in other states by citing the pollution exclusion.

State insurance officials in Virginia are studying the issue; Virginia Beach City Councilman Bill DeSteph wants the state insurance commissioner to rule that the pollution exclusion can’t be applied to Chinese drywall. DeSteph has also been lobbying on behalf of residents in the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ward has had to abandon his home, fearing for the safety of his children. Repair quotes from contractors have run from $220,000 to $450,000. His insurer has not denied his claim, but it hasn’t accepted it either. He told WAVY that his claim is now in his insurance company’s litigation department.

"You just have no clue of what damage it's causing, and how frustrating it is to have a beautiful home and have to walk away from that home," Ward told WAVY.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices ) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.

(MM)

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Defensive Medicine: There Is Someone On The Defense All Right

Mike Bryant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:07:00 GMT

The conservative blogs are loaded with talk of tort reform. We here at the Injuryboard continue to write about it. Guess the claim that no one is talking about it, is not only false, but intentionally misleading. It's interesting, how many of these posts get a comment with a link to the town hall site, which is claimed to have all of the answers. I spent some time looking at the link and it really does defy logic.

There is a section on defensive medicine and the very next section is entitled: "There Is No Proof That Threats of Litigation Deters Injuries" . What?????????????????? The reality is that while they use some facts, they stretch those facts and push frivolous arguments to come to a conclusion that fits for them. Even their damages charts distort the numbers to include extra fees that I would guess is the defensive medicine that actually the plaintiff was injured from. I would expect the executive compensation or medical charges costs includes even less for the injured consumer.

If you still have questions spend a little time with the American Association for Justices paper on the issue of the defensive medicine claim.

Ask the tough questions:

What tests are doctors doing that are actually not needed?

Have they ever found cancer or other medical life threatening issues with those tests?

Who got the money for those tests?

Why are so many people still dying in American hospitals?

Would more tests actually reduce the number of claims and keep more consumers alive?

My guess is that anyone claiming the existence of these tests really won't want to answer these questions. Mainly, because it simply doesn't happen and if it does they are involved in FRAUD. But, let's keep talking about it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Fatal Virginia Beach (VA) accident raises questions about minivans

John Cooper — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:36:31 GMT

The unfortunate accidental death of Virginia Beach grandmother Scarlet A. Harvell has raised important questions about the safety mechanisms automakers build into vehicles.

Harvell, 54, was unloading groceries from the minivan Monday afternoon when one of her young grandchildren apparently climbed behind the wheel and put the van into gear, WVEC-TV reported.

The van rolled backwards, The Virginian-Pilot reported, with an open door striking Harvell and knocking her down. She suffered a serious head injury and died at an area hospital Tuesday evening.

Virginia Beach police are still investigating the crash, and authorities have not released the make, model or year of the minivan.

But 221 people died in 2007 when they were struck by autos in reverse, The New York Times reported in April. About 14,000 people were hurt in the same period, The Times said, citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Not all automobiles come with a brake transmission safety interlock (BTSI). This safety mechanism requires the driver to apply pressure to the brakes before the auto can be shifted into gear.

Since most children cannot reach the brake pedal, this means they cannot put a vehicle into gear simply by moving the transmission lever.

ABC News reported in 2006 that Chrysler minivans – Chrysler also manufactures the Plymouth brand – do not have the brake transmission safety interlock.

"They advertise it for families," Joan Claybrook, a consumer advocate, told ABC. "And yet it's a killer vehicle. This vehicle can kill people inadvertently."

The NHTSA has this advice to avoid accidental vehicle rollaway:

– Teach children not to play in or around autos

– Supervise children carefully in and around autos

– Lock the auto when left unattended

– Never leave keys in the car

– Always activate your emergency brake when you park

– Check whether your vehicle has a brake transmission safety interlock.

(MM)

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Report Says If You Eliminate Lawsuits The Defendants Save Their Money And Make More

Mike Bryant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Republicans are touting a report from the Congressional Budget Office that if you cut malpractice claims, there will be money saved. I would go further and say that if you eliminate all lawsuits, money will be saved. Defendants across the land could rejoice. But who will save the money?

- The wrongdoer who was going to be forced to pay and their insurance company?

Anyone else?

- Society won't because they will have to bare the burden of the injured who cannot seek relief from those who are negligent.

- The injured won't as they will have to bare what they can of the costs of their losses.

- Our system won't as a constitutional right of redress in court is stripped away.

So how about just a little bit of change? Maybe damage caps. Look at the list again and ask the same questions. You will get the same answers. Maybe you only strip the Constitutional protection a little bit, but hey it's only a right.

We do need to pay for a health system. So maybe the trade off needs to be looked at. How exactly does tort reform do that? Does it add money directly into the system the way that administrative and red tape changes do? Only if you accept the folly that fraudulent defensive medicine really exists. But accepting that as true, wouldn't you have to go back to eliminating the suits to make that really work?

Would the fantasy doctor who used to worry about lawsuits, so much that he did unneeded and criminal tests, now suddenly feel free to do the right thing? Who will that right thing benefit if we already know that this doctor doesn't seem to be bound by medical ethics?

I know we will get those dirty lawyers who give money to those dirty Democrats. I guess if you expect those two groups as being true enemies, I'm surprised you read this far. But since the Democrats would have to pass the bill and it will be up to us lawyers to still protect you when you are injured or wronged, you better go back to that original plan of eliminating every suit. "Start that revolution" , as Shakespeare is sometimes half quoted. Oh and make those wrongdoers oh so happy.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Health Care By The Numbers

Mike Bryant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:58:00 GMT

The Congressional Budget Office released a report this past month that found: wait for it, that if we had tort reform money will be saved. Shocking, if you stop making the negligent and the grossly negligent pay for the damage they do, they get to keep their money. Those reports don't surprise me , nor do they scare me as a trial lawyer. Because, the question keeps going back to: saves money for whom?

The only way you get savings from the system is at best indirect. That the Medical Malpractice Insurance companies will do something that they have in the past been reluctant to do, which is lower premiums, and as a result, those savings will be passed on to the health Insurance companies, who will then pass those savings onto the consumers. The other potential savings will be that all of these doctors who are prescribing unnecessary and fraudulent tests will stop doing this and there will be savings there. This is a lot of very questionable gate keepers who we are expecting to do the right thing for others and not just for themselves.

But let's look at the CBO's numbers. Surprise, they are exactly what trial lawyers have been saying; one half of one percent of the whole system. Yes, this is the shocking number that some Republicans are claiming can be used to fix the whole medical reform mess. Now, I'll admit that 11 billion dollars is a lot of money, but what does it compare to?

There is the report from Washington University, which found that in 2007 there was $2.7 trillion (yes that's a trillion) spent on health care overall. So to start with, we are really talking about numbers that need to be compared, and not just blow horned by town meeting paid infiltrators.

The same report found that there is also $68 billion that is lost in fraud. That number works out to the fraud being 80% by the medical providers ( the ones that we want to give the savings back), 10% by consumers, and balance by others such as the insurance companies themselves.

Let's look at the Insurance numbers as the American Association for Justice did recently,they found:

Today, while premiums and health care costs skyrocket, malpractice insurers have average profits higher than 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

The key findings of the report, which analyzes the annual financial statements of the 10 largest U.S. medical malpractice insurers, include:

The average profit of these insurance companies is higher than 99 percent of all Fortune 500 companies and 35 times higher than the Fortune 500 average for the same time period.

Malpractice insurers have seen their profit margins range from 5.9 percent to 74.8 percent, with an average of 31.2 percent.

Medical malpractice insurers have underestimated profits and overestimated losses, creating overblown insurance “crises” to garner support for limiting patients’ legal rights. Then years later after the “crises” abated, revised filings show the companies were never in the financial peril they claimed.

After overestimating losses, insurers have since reported that losses over the last five years have been approximately 13.5 percent lower than initially reported.

By overestimating losses, companies have underestimated profits. Insurers averaged about 5.1 percent higher profits last year and 12.4 percent higher profits two years ago; these levels of profits will likely rise as upward revisions are made.

Medical negligence laws were passed under false pretenses. Overblown reported losses were used by the insurance industry to justify new measures restricting the rights of those injured by medical negligence.

Yep, there is gobs of money being made, and I would bet they are funneling right into those U S Chamber ads that are calling for tort reform and fighting against a system they just love to gouge.

There are far better ways to fix this system and to pay for it without changes that deny people their constitutional protections.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

What You Do At the Scene of a Car Accident Can Make or Break Your Personal Injury Case

John Cooper — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:05:22 GMT

Odds are you will be involved in a car accident at some point in your life. In fact, The typical person will be in 4.5 wrecks on average in their lifetime. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that 2.35 million people were injured in a car accident in 2008 alone. If you find yourself involved in even a minor accident what you do at the scene may determine how smoothly your recovery process goes later on.

Get All the Facts

Once you have pulled your car to the side of the road and called for emergency assistance it is time to start collecting information. There is no such thing as too much information in a car accident. Talk to the other driver. Get their insurance information, name, address, license plate number and driver’s license number if you are able. Talk to the police. Ask for a business card and an incident number. This number will help you obtain a police report later on. Locate any witnesses that remained at the scene. Get their name, phone number and address so your lawyer can contact them about your accident. Also, be sure to jot down any information you can about the accident including the speed and direction you were traveling and any facts you can remember. If you injuries are severe enough, then you may not be able to do all this investigation, so if possible call a friend or relative to come help you at the accident scene.

Do Not Take the Blame

Car accidents can be jarring and often victims are not thinking clearly while their adrenaline is pumping. Even if you think you are to blame for the accident, do not accept liability. Do not discuss the accident with the other driver or any witnesses, only the police. There may be factors in the accident you are not aware of.

Seek Medical Attention

Adrenaline not only causes you to think unclearly, it can also mask pain. The police officer will ask you if you are hurt or need an ambulance, so be sure to tell him if you are hurt, or if unsure, tell the cop that you don't know the extent of your injury, but will drive yourself to the doctor. Even if you think you are not seriously injured you should still see a doctor. Many people sustain injuries in car accidents they were not aware of at the time. Be sure to tell the doctor if you are nauseas, light headed, dizzy, confused, disoriented, or have tinnitus as these could be a sign of a serious medical condition.

It is important that you seek medical attention as soon as possible. The longer you wait to see a doctor the easier it will be for your insurance company or the other driver to argue that you sustained your injuries after the car accident.

Hopefully you will never be involved in a car accident, but if you are, spend your time wisely. Get all the information you can, be careful not to accept liability, and see a doctor as soon as you are able. Remember that some information may be hard to recover after you leave the crash scene, like the names and numbers of eyewitnesses.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Woman hit, killed in crosswalk on Geary Boulevard

Claude Wyle — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:11:35 GMT

A 70-year-old woman walking across Geary Boulevard at Ninth Avenue was killed Thursday morning when the driver of a white van hit and killed her while making a left turn.

This was the 23rd pedestrian traffic fatality in San Francisco this year. The crash happened about 8:15 a.m. when the van, heading south on Ninth Avenue, turned onto eastbound Geary Boulevard and hit the woman, police spokesman Officer Samson Chan said.

The victim was identified as Jon Kong, a resident of the Richmond district. Kong was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries after she was hit by a car and was pronounced dead shortly afterward, Chan said. No one else was hurt.

Transportation for America’s nationwide survey found the San Francisco region, which includes Oakland and Fremont, is second only to New York for the highest percentage of traffic deaths among major cities in the country. As bike accident attorneys, we think this is unacceptable, but what can be done? Here are some suggestions from sf.streetsblog.org:

Use police reports analyze a large sample of recent fatal pedestrian accidents with the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT). PBCAT is a software application designed to assist state and local pedestrian and bicycle coordinators, planners, and engineers in addressing pedestrian and bicyclist crash problems.
Compile the actual investigative follow-up from the crashes -- were charges filed, were other countermeasures recommended or implemented?
Condense the results into a report that breaks out the most common factors, outcomes and recommended countermeasures.
Convene a pedestrian safety summit with NJ DOT, Traffic Safety, law enforcement, elected officials, pedestrian safety experts and transportation planners all at the table.
The summit would then generate a list of recommendations and goals for the state and local governments to implement.
Follow up with an evaluation of the process. Did the recommendations actually contribute to reducing pedestrian deaths?

These are all excellent suggestions; please join us in an effort to convince city officials to take some of these steps and save lives.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Traps and Pitfalls in Representing Truck Accident Victims

Michael Phelan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:37:19 GMT

Truck accident insurance investigation teams and defense lawyers are some of the most competent adversaries a plaintiff lawyer will encounter. The truck company investigators are often at the scene of the accident before the vehicles are removed from road. They know there is valuable information to be retrieved not only from the scene, but also from the vehicles. They are trained to remove the driver's logs from the truck cab and to download the data from the truck's electronic data systems. These systems include black boxes, GPS, satellite communications systems, and on-board computers. Obviously, much useful information about the truck driver's driving hours and statements about the cause of the accident, as well as the truck's speed, movements, and location may be gleened from the combination of the driver logs and the electronic data. For example, the GPS can show driver location during the course of the driver's trip. Combined with the driver logs, this information could establish that the driver exceeded legal driving hours, which leads to fatigue, sleepiness, and sometimes amphetamine use. The problem some lawyers do not appreciate is that most, if not all, of this data can be legally destroyed by the truck company six months after the accident. Attached is a December 2008 memo from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which outlines the requirment that truck companies maintain GPS data from truck accidents for six months. I downloaded this memo from an excellent blog by a prominent truck accident lawyer in Tennessee.

Over the years, I have been asked by other lawyers to assist with truck accident cases and have found that in many instances necessary evidence from the truck had not been preserved. Sometimes this is because the victim did not realize the importance of hiring a truck accident laywer right away. Other times it was because the lawyer did not realize that much of the important evidence could disappear six months after the accident. It is crucial to send a preservation letter to the trucking company and get a professional investigation team on the case as soon as possible.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Phelan

Virginia Research Librarian Struck by Bus Wins $8 Million in Damages

David Mittleman — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Richmond, Virginia: a research librarian at the Library of Virginia who was struck by a GRTC Transit System bus in 2007 recently won $8 million in damages. Meikiu Lo, age 34, suffered spinal and shoulder damage, multiple hip and pelvis fractures, and has suffered chronic pain since her accident in which a GRTC bus struck her as she crossed the street beside the library. Lo had waited on the sidewalk until the street was clear prior to crossing and was also approximately 2/3 of the way across, when the bus struck her while making a right turn.

The jury deliberated for one hour prior to reaching their decision to award Lo the entire amount in damages that her attorneys requested on her behalf. The medical evidence presented in the case showed that Lo will likely undergo multiple surgeries for hip replacement before she reaches 50 years old.

The bus company offered to settle the case for $1.8 million, and also fired the bus driver at fault. However, this isn’t the only bus accident that the company will have to deal with; in fact, on September 30, 2009, Loucendia Reed Lambert, age 55, was struck by a GRTC bus while crossing the street to her job at the Department of Health. She subsequently died as a result of her injuries. The bus driver involved in the incident is scheduled for a hearing next week in Richmond General District Court on charges of reckless driving.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman