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Family Safety
Homeowners Sue Over Sewage Damage
Homeowners have sued after their homes were badly damages by backed-up raw sewage caused by recent flooding. If your home has been damaged by sewage backed up because of inadequate drains, contact Lexington, Kentucky lawyer Robert Abell at 859-254-7076.Understaffing at Nursing Homes Leads to $670 Million Verdict
Understaffing at nursing homes has led to a $670 million verdict against a California nursing home. If a family member has been mistreated or injured because of poor or negligent care at a Kentucky nursing home, contact Lexington, Kentucky nursing home lawyer Robert Abell at 859-254-7076.Nursing Home Death Results in $29.1 Million Verdict
A nursing home found liable for the neglect and eventual death of a nursing home resident lost a $29.1 million verdict.$30.3 Million Asbestos Exposure Award Affirmed
Mesothelioma is a disease caused by direct and indirect exposure to asbestos. The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed $30.3 million verdict for the family of a 50-year-old advertising executive who died from mesothelioma. If you were a family member has been injured or harmed due to your exposure to asbestos, contact Lexington, Kentucky injury attorney Robert Abell at 859-254-7076.Patient Safety Endangered By Prosecution of Whistleblowing Nurse
A nurse in Texas reported a doctor to the Texas Medical Board for endangering patients. She was prosecuted but ultimately acquitted by a jury -- a chilling prospect for other nurses interested in protecting patients.Nursing Home Abuse Case Yields $7.75 Million Verdict
Has your family member been abused in a nursing home? You have the means to hold the nursing home liable and accountable. Contact Lexington, Kentucky lawyer Robert Abell.Sad State of Kentucky Nursing Homes Detailed In Government Report
Kentucky's nursing homes overall are the 15th worst in the United States. Learn more about protecting your family and loved ones from nursing home neglect and abuse.Health Care Reform: One Doctor Says Tort Reform Not The Answer
Allegations that malpractice lawsuits unjustifiably increase health care costs is one item pushed by insurance industry advocates, who wave the banner of "tort reform." "Tort reform" should be understood as a synonym for releasing corporations and insurance companies from accountability, responsibility and liability. Dr. Rahul K. Parikh in an interesting essay on salon.com, "I'm a doctor. So sue me. No, really," reports among other things as follows:- Instead of a swamp of frivolous lawsuits, what the data shows is a system that functions. Insubstantial claims tend to collapse, while the medical industry usually opts to pay off injured patients instead of going to trial. The doctors and the insurers choose to fight to win when they think they can, and when there is enough money at stake, and usually do win.
- There are two more arguments tort reformers use to make their case for change: The first is that defensive medicine drives up the cost of care. The second is that skyrocketing malpractice premiums are driving doctors out of business, cutting patients' access to care. In both cases, however, the facts don't substantiate those claims.
Only 3% of Medical Malpractice Incidents Result In Malpractice Suits
Overlooked amid the ongoing clamor that Americans give up their constitutional rights and accept damages caps in medical malpractice lawsuits are studies finding that only about 3% of the actual incidents of malpractice result in a lawsuit. In an interesting and thoughtful discussion of health insurance reform by David Leonhardt in the New York Times, Medical Malpractice System Breeds More Waste, the rarity of the malpractice suit is mentioned: only about 3% of the actual incidents of malpractice result in a lawsuit. The article links to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that reaches these findings, Relation Between Malpractice Claims and Adverse Events Due to Negligence.
Sealing Court Documents Harms Public
Sealing court documents prevents families from learning about dangerous products and is harmful to the public interest. Congress is considering the Sunshine In Litigation Act to end the practice and promote family safety.
Here's an example according to the American Association for Justice: Bausch & Lomb has settled more than 600 contact lens solution cases in the last year. The solution is said to cause fungus infections and can cause blindness. Yet Bausch & Lomb forced all court documents in the case to remain sealed, keeping contact solution users and doctors without any knowledge of the causes of the infections. Among the sealed documents are internal investigations into the cause of the fungus infections and details of outdated company testing procedures used for market approval-standards which are widely used by other contact solution manufacturers. Read here the AAJ's press release: Loophole In the Courts Leaves Dangerous Products On the Market: Car Tires and Contact Lens Solution Just Two Examples.
Another example is a lawsuit filed against Cooper Tires contending defects allowed the tread to separate from the tires and caused the deadly rollover that killed eight students and a teacher from Utah State University. A key piece of evidence is a memo that the lawyer representing the families located in a court record in Mississippi. The memo shows that Cooper Tires did away with the basic safety feature that would have prevented the deadly tire separations and associated rollover problems. The families' lawyer, Bruce Kaster, testified to the House Judiciary Committee: "Tens of thousands of Americans, if not hundreds of thousands, have been killed or seriously injured by defective products that manufacturers are aware of, but the public is not," because they manage to seal sensitive documents in court. The Deseret News reports further: Do Courts Sanction Suit Secrets?
State Acts To Curb Nursing Home Abuse
Kentucky state officials acted to curb resident abuse in nursing homes by asking the state's nursing homes to adopt rules prohibiting their employees from photographing residents with their cell phones reports kentucky.com, "State Officials Ask Nursing Homes To Stop Cell-Phone Abuse." A recent investigation at Bluegrass Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lexington found that staff members had taken photos of residents, some where the resident was only partially clothed, and demeaned them by attaching sexually explicit lyrics to the photos and sent them by text message to co-employees and others.Estate of Wife Exposed to Asbestos On Husband's Clothing Awarded Damages
The estate of woman who was exposed to asbestos when washing her husband's work clothes and was killed by mesothelioma was awarded more than $2 million by a Bloomington, Illinois jury reports Pantagraph, "Jury Awards More Than $2 Million In Bloomington Asbestos Case."Robert L. Abell represented workers exposed to asbestos in the course of their jobs and family members exposed to asbestos on the clothing that the workers wore home in the case, Perkins v. Serv-Air. To read the workers and family members amended complaint click here.
Care of Patient With Unstable Psychiatric Condition Required by Federal Law
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires that hospitals participating in Medicare and with an emergency room provide care to persons with an emergency medical condition and that such care be provided until the condition stabilizes. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Moses-Irons v. Providence Hospital, No. 07-2111 (April 4, 2009), that a hospital can be liable to the estate of a person killed where the hospital has knowingly released a psychiatric patient before his condition has stabilized.
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