- Ben Glass | February 27, 2006 7:21 AM |
Category:
MiscellaneousA Page County (Virginia) jury has a awarded a man $922,000 after surgery to replace the shoulder joint resulted in an arm that could not be used at all.The patient was 52 years old at the time, making $46,000. The plaintiff's subsequent treating orthopedic surgeon testified that the original surgeon place the prosthesis too high, violating the standard of care. The malpositioning of the device...
- Ben Glass | February 27, 2006 5:00 AM |
Category:
Medical MalpracticeStudies published last week by the Journal of the American Medical Association reveal the shocking disclosure that most hospitals and health plans don't require board certification by those wishing to hold themselves out to the public as "pediatricians." In the article about hospitals 78 percent of hospitals did not require doctors to be board certified as pediatricians before they were given...
- Ben Glass | February 24, 2006 8:09 AM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsBoise personal injury attorney Jeff White has written a great note about insurance companies are working to keep their payments to you low (surprise, surprise) for losses to your cars. It seems that the insurance companies are once again reaching deep into the "black box" of computer databases to find the "truth" after an automobile accident.
- Ben Glass | February 23, 2006 9:33 AM |
Category:
Medical MalpracticeA Seattle, Washington newspaper is reporting on a compromise tort reform law agreed to by doctors and lawyers. The bill includes a provision similar to what we have in Virginia medical malpractice cases in that if a doctor or other health care provider apologizes or says he's "sorry" following a medical mishap, that statement is not admissible in a later lawsuit. This makes a lot of sense and...
- Ben Glass | February 22, 2006 8:38 AM |
Category:
MiscellaneousThe Charleston (WV) Daily Mail continues to report on Senator Chafen's efforts to rein in personal injury lawyer advertising.Now, however, they've quoted him as saying that he "wishes the State Supreme Court would ban lawyer ads altogether." That's nuts. Especially when coming from someone running one of the biggest personal injury law firms in West Virginia. Yes, that's right. The Senator...
- Ben Glass | February 20, 2006 5:12 PM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsMost people believe that if they are in an accident their health insurance will pay the bill, acting as an insurer. In most cases, however, the health insurance company is only loaning you the money, to be repaid if you recover that money in an lawsuit. So, for example, you are in a car accident and incur $25,000 of bills. Your health insurance company pays. You later recover $100,000 for your...
- Ben Glass | February 20, 2006 1:54 PM |
Category:
MiscellaneousThe West Virginia legislature is considering a bill to crack down on lawyer advertising. Apparently some folks don't like those ads that show fistfulls of dollars! (Neither do I). I happen to think it's a good idea and bona fide personal injury lawyers in West Virginia (or anywhere else where ads are toned down) have nothing to worry about. Kevin O'Keefe had a comment about this in his blog....
- Ben Glass | February 18, 2006 7:33 AM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsI was in court Friday. Unfortunately I was suing two lawyers who had given bad advice to a car accident victim and then had let the statute of limitations run. His claim against the drivers and insurance companies for his personal injuries was forever barred.Problem is that neither of the two lawyers who represented him carry legal malpractice insuranceIncredible as it may seem, while most...
- Ben Glass | February 16, 2006 12:00 PM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsHow many times have you heard some idiot parent say "Oh, well, the kids are going to party anyway, I'd rather them do it at my house. It's safer?" While this particular case, fortunately, did not end up in a drunk driving accident and injury the judge slammed the door shut behind two really irresponsible "parents."The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld a 27-month jail sentence (yes, 27 months! In...
- Ben Glass | February 16, 2006 9:50 AM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsBoise personal injury attorney Jeff White has a great post about a $3 million dollar verdict over a big insurance company's refusal to pay valid claims. Some states do a lot to protect policyholders. Virginia, unfortunately, tends to protect the insurance companies from "bad faith" types of lawsuits.
- Ben Glass | February 16, 2006 9:37 AM |
Category:
Automobile AccidentsHere's an article from a local newspaper. It's well intentioned in that insurance of all sorts is important but its often confusing for the consumer. The problem here is that the article resorts to the common scare tactics of "multi million dollar lawsuits are increasing." That's just "noise." The articles misses a very important teaching point.One of the most important insurance policies you...
- Ben Glass | February 16, 2006 6:00 AM |
Category:
Medical MalpracticeWe've all heard that the main reason we pay so much for health insurance is because doctors pay so much for malpractice insurance. And the reason malpractice insurance rates go up is because "verdicts are out of hand." I've even seen doctors with big signs in their offices saying this. Only problem is that it's not true and study after study shows this.OK, so you would think that in states that...
- Ben Glass | February 15, 2006 10:33 AM |
Category:
Medical MalpracticeAn article in the Honolulu Advertiser discusses the case of an Army Staff Sgt. who underwent surgery for acid reflux disease. Unfortunately the surgeon severed two nerves, and now half of the soldier's diaphragm is paralyzed.The article tells the tale of Army Staff Sgt. Michael McClaran:"The severed nerves affected Michael McClaran's respiratory and digestive systems. As a result, he has...
- Staff Writer | February 15, 2006 9:15 AM |
Category:
MiscellaneousKarin Rives of the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer ezamines the difficulties of pursing ERISA disability claims. She focuses on Roger Dean Brown's fight against MetLife, and among other things, she notes the advantages the ERISA statute provides to insurers:ERISA also makes disability cases hard to win. Insurers have the right to deny a claim if their own in-house doctors and nurses who review...