My mother passed away last month due to gross medical negligence/malpractice. She went to a county run health clinic. I am being told by attorneys that they wouldn’t make enough money on the suit for it to be worth their while due to federal regulations on settlement amounts. I have googled, but apparently, I have not put in the correct search terms. Could someone please tell me what these are, and if it would be possible for me to persue action myself?
You have been contacting lawyers that work under contingency where you don’t pay them they take a % of the settlement.If they don’t think there will be a settlement they will not take the case. The only way you could do this is to hire a lawyer that you pay by the hour which is very expensive.
I am looking for a go get ‘em kind of medical malpractice/negligence lawyer in Austin. My mother passed on June 5th due to medical malpractice/negligence at the age of 62. I have tried the lawyer referral service, but it doesn’t take into account the attorney’s workloads or their want to take on a tougher case. I have tried looking it up online, but again, I spend a lot of time on the phone with people that don’t want to spend the time necessary for the case, but would rather take a quick 1 week settlement. Any suggestions?
You might have to dig into your pocket on this one. This is not the easy money kind that they like.
…or should a member of the family approach to the responsible party, asking for compensation-first? This is an absolute negligence case, and two Registered Nurses are are family members, and wittnesses.
You need a lawyer.
It’s not like car insurance. There isn’t any claim, until the suit papers get filed.
I am looking into finding a lawyer for Legal Negligence, i have been fighting work cover since I was injured in 1992, I had a court case in 1996 in Mildura, my lawyers are no win no pay, but my court case in 1996 had no outcome, but my lawyers got paid, I got nothing, there was another court hearing in Melbourne a few weeks later that i was not told about, I didn’t even know it went on, we found out lately by going through our case files kept at my lawyers office, and correspondence of fees for first case. I don’t even know what the second hearing in Melbourne was about, my lawyer told me we had no medical evidence to precede at that time. i have been told no win no pay means that, so why did they get paid by work cover Victoria, they don’t hand over money for nothing. I think that something is up, recently my father inquired about my case to the boss of the firm when he was seeing him about his case and the boss didn’t know i had not got a payout, he assumed i did, dad asked if we could open the case again, the lawyer replied it was never closed. now another lawyer took on the case as original lawyer has left, he has stuffed up my case by preparing a brief that’s not incorporated all my injuries, we found out a few months ago as we meet my barrister for the first time just before the court was about to start, he stated i didn’t have a good case bla bla bla, i stopped him and said this is not the right injury what about my original injury, infection of the hand which then led to psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis after, he had no idea what I was talking about, so I explained, he was not happy at all, as I was not either as in a short time he had to go too court, so he said he will get a postponement and get a meeting with a judge, he did in Melbourne, judge ruled for me to see a medical panel, as I did two days ago, I found out no skin specialists, I went through my medical documents to see what some new medical reports that were done had said and I found out my skin specialist had said I have some psoriasis on my back, thin plagues under control, not true approximately 50% of my body is covered in it and it is severe, I have been in hospital with it sent by that doctor. Now I think that not all my symptoms have been presented to the judge as my barrister would be going on my medical reports as I have only talked to him for about 10 minutes that day and that’s it. I have sacked the lawyer from my case he did not even come to court on the day. The boss of the firm is going to take his place. Im getting shafted and I do not think that I am getting a fair case due to lawyers lack of duty of care to my case, yes its been going on since 1992 when I was injured and I have not worked since and have had no compensation, I truly believe that something illegal has been going on between lawyers on both sides as there is no files relating to the case in 1996 at Mildura at my lawyers, only the bill we grabbed, and work cover victoria don’t have any records either, we have asked, no one knows the outcome as no papers to say what happened are to be found.
As per usual here, you have been given some bad advice from Americans who don’t know the law in Australia. The term in Australia is professional negligence (not malpractice) so you were right.
The first thing you need to do is go to (or call) the courthouse where your case was first heard and ask at the Registry how you obtain a transcript of the hearing. You can get a copy of the transcript of every time your case was in open court – even if it was just for interim procedural steps – you should get a copy of every one of these. Your main problem at the moment is that you have been kept in the dark about exactly what is going on with your case, so you need to read the transcripts to see exactly what your lawyers have been telling the judges.
The transcripts should also reveal how there was a hearing in Melbourne without you being present (I can only guess that it might have been about costs, and not about the case itself – mind you, if it was only a costs argument before an assessor, there will probably not be a transcript).
Only after you have all the transcripts can you decide what to do – whether to seek advice for professional negligence, or whether the case is, in fact, still progressing.
If you do have to seek advice about professional negligence, contact the Victorian Law Society (not the Bar Association) in the first instance, and ask them to recommend a specialist in that area of law.
First and foremost I want to thank you all for your time and advice. The reason I’m posting on here, it’s because I’m running out of option’s. I’ve talked to slime ball lawyers that simply put don’t want to get off their lazy butts and do work and assure me my father can’t win.
Our situation starts of with a Doctor on August 27th. My dad is 51 years and had been complain of prostate problem and rectal pain with some tenderness and swelling. He goes to the doctor, and the doctor doesn’t spend more than 5 minutes but orders some blood work and tells him to come back the following day. My dad goes back the next day. He tells the doctor that the pain is even more sever and that the swelling is worse if he could please check his prostate. The doctor told him not to worry because he did have an infection and prescribed keflex 500 QID and Tylenol 1 or 2 PRN. and follow up in two weeks. Well buy labor day, my father was in so much pain, he was walking bowed, this is a man that migrated from Mexico and has worked in agricultre since he was 12 and he was begging with tears in his eyes to take him to an urgent care.
In the Urgent Care the doctor took a quick rectal examination saw what the first doctor had prescribed, told us that the medication was worthless and sent him to the ER. Once in the ER a surgeon was called, and surgery was done to remove and drain two abscess the size of fist in rectum that where spreading to his glutes. The doctor said everything was fine and he would be back home in 3 days.
Everything was fine for two night’s, his care was impecable. The family was tired so he told us he would be fine alone. When we came back 16 hours later a stentch came from his room like rotting fletch and you can tell that he was sick again. He was complaing of severe pain that morphine was helping, when the nurse came to check on the dressing we where all suprised to find out that one of the nurses had just been putting new dressing over the old one. I don’t know if there is a link but they rushed him into surgery to remove some more of the infection. Today we got the suprise of our life that the doctor has decided to major surgery and remove some of colon that is infected and preform a colonostomy and he will carry a clonostomy bag for six weeks. If the infection doesnt get him first. I don’t know anything about law, I’m just starting getting my feet wet trying to get into the medical field now I’m questiong that. Something or somebody did something wrong what do I do to find out and get him justice. I’m in central California any refferals would be greaty appreciated……God Bless
I’m a lawyer who defends doctors in medmal cases. You may very well have a case here — I think the main question will be whether the delay in treatment resulted in the need for the colonostomy. Sometimes even if the problem is caught immediately, the outcome would probably have been the same. If you lived in NYC, I could refer you names of some of the best medmal lawyers, but I can’t do that for Cal. Go to a law library and look up recent verdicts. Find similar cases with successful plaintiffs and contact those lawyers. Chances are that if they did it once, they could do it again.
Legal Claim UK is a national network of specialist personal injury solicitors operating nationwide throughout the United Kingdom who offer free car accident compensation advice. If you have been injured in an accident within the last three years that wasn’t your fault you should contact us. You will receive a complete professional service from lawyers who specialise in claiming damages for personal injury.
Obtaining damages for personal injury can be a daunting task especially if you’re not familiar with the procedures. If you have suffered a personal injury in an accident within the last three years that was not your fault you can usually make a claim from against the other driver involved. Most drivers are insured and a claim is effectively made against the insurers however a significant percentage of drivers are uninsured and in these cases a claim must be made to the ‘Motor Insurers Bureau’ (MIB) which is a fund set up to compensate the victims of uninsured or untraced drivers. The MIB has complex technical rules and these cases should always be supervised by a solicitor to ensure that the opportunity to claim is not lost due to an inadvertent breach of the MIB rules.
To claim damages you need to be able to prove that the collision was not your fault and that someone else was responsible. That means that it is necessary to prove negligence. In simple terms negligence is a failure to take reasonable care for the safety of others. Even if a driver is partly to blame it is still possible to claim against the other party using the doctrine of ‘contributory negligence’. This means that if the accident was 30% your fault, then any damages that would otherwise have been paid by the other driver’s insurers on a full liability basis are reduced by 30%. This type of arrangement does of course open the door for the other driver to claim 30% of his full liability damages against your insurers.
Certain classes of claimant can never be held to contribute including passengers who will always recover damages in full not withstanding that it may have been their own driver who was at fault. One spouse will often be able to claim car accident compensation against their husband or wife if they are injured in an accident caused by their driver’s negligence. Degrees of family relationship are irrelevant when considering compensation for negligence.
Notwithstanding that car accident compensation claims are commonplace there are large numbers of solicitors who deal with them as only part of their workload and could not by any stretch of the imagination be said to be experts. Our solicitors deal exclusively in accident claims involving personal injury and many of them deal only in road traffic claims. Whilst almost any firm of solicitors will take on one of these claims it might no be your best bet to use someone who is not engaged in this work full time. We can guarantee you that your case will be handled by a specialist who is a member of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts and is also a member of The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. Our solicitors all have a track record of many years’ successful claims settlements and your case will be in safe experienced hands.
Compensation that can be claimed is divided into two categories;
Special Damages represents compensation for items that can be calculated accurately and includes lost wages, medical expenses, damaged property and general expenses.
General Damages represents compensation for items that in the main must be assessed by a Judge and include pain and suffering for the injury, damages for loss of a desirable life style and loss of opportunity on the open labour market in the future.
The assessment of damages for pain and suffering is a matter of great difficulty. Money can never adequately compensate for physical injury however Judges use the wisdom of previously decided cases and are guided by a publication from ‘The Judicial Studies Board’ which sets of the basic figures applicable for various types of injury. Awards made by Judges may also be subject to appeal to a higher court if one party finds the award unsatisfactory.
Ankit Maheshwari
http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/car-accident-compensation-63853.html
http://nursetom.com
The Risk Management Priority – Protecting Financial Integrity
The last time I sat through a hospital orientation program, a man came into the classroom and gave a one-hour lecture on his role as a risk manager. His focus was on incidents that resulted in or were likely to result in a lawsuit. He told us about the case of a ten-year-old boy who is growing up with cerebral palsy that has caused severe spastic paralysis over his entire body. He said, “While I acknowledge that the hospital staff screwed up and contributed to this boy’s terrible affliction, it is my job to protect the financial integrity of this institution. So, we are doing what we can to look for ways to defend against the allegations. The upper management decides and I follow orders.”
The Moral Divide
The striking aspect of this comment was that accepting responsibility for wrongdoing had no place in this man’s conversation. This is a microcosm of the corporate culture – one man or woman does his or her job to the best of his or her ability while the ethical considerations are someone else’s responsibility. Middle managers often pass the morality buck to upper management, who pass it to the chief executive officer, who in turn pass it to the board of directors or trustees. The directors or trustees will consider only the financial welfare of the stockholders or the public trust.
The Ideal Risk Manager
The appropriate focus for a risk manager is to prevent malpractice and accidents and not just lawsuits for such things. The ideal risk manager will carefully study the common complications and injuries that take place because of being in the hospital and recommend changes that will prevent such undesirable occurrences. This activity should begin with investigating events that have already happened and assigning culpability where it belongs. This means also identifying any mitigating circumstances that contributed to the blunder or omission. This utopian risk manager will then submit a report holding nothing back.
The Real Risk Manager
Regrettably, in the real world, risk managers and investigators must walk within political boundaries. Their investigative goal is to counsel employees to document problematic events in a way that will not provide any evidence to the plaintiff in support of a malpractice claim. The usual advice for filling out an incident report is, “Document only what you find. For example if a patient falls, just say ‘patient found on floor’. Describe the injuries if any, but do not say anything about how he fell. If there is anything in your observation that might suggest a cause of the accident like side rails down or slippery stuff on the floor, do not say anything about it. We do not want you to lie, but we also do not want you to offer any information or opinions that might help the plaintiff and hurt our defense.”
The Two Definitions of “Risk”
There seems to be two definitions of “risk” in “risk management”. One is the probability of losing money and the other is the likelihood of the same type of accident happening to the same or another patient. Hospital managers do not have to choose between one and the other because if they prevent further accidents they will save tons of money. During the past year, I have reviewed several cases in which the patient fell out of bed or from a chair two or three times with the permanent or fatal injury arising from the last fall. In each of those scenarios, if the hospital or nursing home management had a risk management program focusing objectively on the cause, the serious injury would have been avoided. Therefore, the hospital’s risk management strategies were a factor in producing the injuries.
Case in Point
For example, John B. was a 76-year-old man who went to a local community hospital by ambulance after complaining of chest pain. The admission assessment revealed that while at home, he got up at night to go to the bathroom and fell and sustained some bruising on his left elbow and hip. The medical history revealed that he had mild emphysema with a chronically reduce blood oxygen level. Despite these obvious red flags, the nurses did not do a fall risk assessment and fall prevention was not a part of the care plan.
On the third night of admission, John wandered out into the hallway at two o’clock in the morning and fell in front of his doorway. The nurses who witnessed this picked him up and put him back in bed. The charge nurse filled out an incident report and gave it to the nursing supervisor. The supervisor counter signed the report and recorded the incident in the daily nursing office log. She also sent a copy to the risk management department. No one conducted any investigation nor revised the patient’s care plan.
Three days later, one of the nurses found John on the floor in his room unconscious at six o’clock in the morning. She called for help and put him back to bed with the help of two others. Within six hours, John died of massive brain hemorrhage. An inquiry would have uncovered a serious problem in a lack of real risk management at the bedside level. The root cause of this untimely death happened because the slipshod attitude toward safety started at the top and oozed downward toward the staff.
Should we Punish the Lawyers or Hold the Real Culprits Accountable?
Several doctors and politicians are saying that there are too many medical malpractice lawsuits. The current rhetoric seems to blame personal injury attorneys for this problem, so the plan of attack is to take away the rights of victims to get justice by creating roadblocks in malpractice legal procedure and reducing the maximum contingency fees for the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
This argument presupposes that hospital corporate executives, doctors and nurses are doing the best they can and the casualties are unavoidable. In my view, we need to seek federal and state legislation that will mandate fiscal responsibility and standards for safe hospital care. This law should also hold people in management positions personally accountable for being negligent.
The Call for New Legislation
Under current law, if a state or local health department investigates a patient’s death after receiving a complaint and finds wanton disregard for patient safety at the managerial level, the harshest penalty they can impose is a fine. In other words, when high level health care executives commit criminal negligence resulting in a person’s death, the current government response is to leave the offenders in charge and take money away from an institution that is already strapped for cash rather than charging the responsible parties with a crime or even insisting on their dismissal.
http://nursetom.com
Thomas A. Sharon, R.N., M.P.H.
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/protect-yourself-in-the-hospital-the-risks-of-risk-management-in-hospitals-and-nursing-homes-84211.html
Have you recently been involved in a motorcycle accident? If you were, whose fault was it and was the accident caused by the negligence and carelessness of another driver? No one should be ever being injured because of the fault of another and not be compensated justly. After all, someone has to pay all those expensive medical bills. Motorcycle accidents are some of the worst tragedies on the road and the injuries sustained are life changing.
Not only does the victim suffer psychological trauma, but the severe physical injuries alone can alter a person’s life forever. Most involve long-term wounds. The financial compensation awarded to the victim of a motorcycle accident is intended to cover not only medical expenses but also any loss of salary from being unable to work. You’re better off pursuing these compensation claims with the assistance of a colorado personal injury lawyer.
While, you may mistakenly believe you have a situation covered, legal proceedings can be quite confusing. Many ambitious people find themselves buried in litigation before they knew what hit them. When it comes to a motorcycle accident, you really need a good Denver motorcycle attorney by your side. When do you decide you need a denver motorcycle accident lawyer? The answer to that is quite simple. You need a Denver motorcycle attorney if you’ve been involved in a motorcycle accident as the driver of the motorcycle or car or truck in an accident with a motorcycle. A Denver motorcycle accident attorney is very helpful to retain if you are at fault or not. When it comes to legal advice, there is no better person to ask questions to than a Colorado personal injury lawyer. This is even more so if you find yourself in those highway situations where you want a rapid solution to your problem. Often these situations can be very serious and finding a solution seems pretty difficult without expert Denver motorcycle accident lawyer help. Each year, thousands of people die from motorcycle crashes in the United States. For this reasons, laws have been established and put into effect to save people from themselves.
denver motorcycle accident attorney are there to help people get through these hard times. A Denver motorcycle attorney is especially helpful when you have issues with another driver on the highway. Moreover, Denver motorcycle accident lawyers specializing in handling suits involving motorcycles and other automobiles will increase your chances of recovery compensation. These Denver motorcycle accident attorneys have enough understanding of the law to almost guarantee better personal injury claim results. As a matter of fact, the majority of motorcycle accident cases handled by a Denver motorcycle accident lawyer win more often than not in courts while also gaining favorable out of court settlements.
Jonathan Blocker
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/find-compensation-and-justice-after-a-motorcycle-accident-with-the-right-attorney-732624.html
The fibrous material known as asbestos has been used throughout history for its fire resistant qualities. Recent history has found asbestos as a preferred building material due to its fire retardant, heat resistant capability coupled with its cost effective nature.
California business owners of the early to mid 20th century used asbestos in nearly everything they could. In effect, asbestos has been used consistently to attempt to create safer, more cost effective buildings. Time has proven that these building are not any safer, nor are they more cost effective. Aside from the cost of medical care created by Mesothelioma, the human cost is unacceptable.
Asbestos was once used in everything from automotive parts, clothing, and blankets. It was a natural choice for fire fighter gear. Who could argue that this incredible material, derived from the Greeks and fashioned from nothing more complicated than metamorphic rocks, wasn’t the absolute safest and most lucrative discovery of the 20th century? After all, buildings, homes, and businesses were less likely to burn to the ground with the use of asbestos. The 3000 people who die annually from Mesothelioma see it a little differently.
Mesothelioma is a direct and profound consequence of long term exposure to asbestos. Asbestos fibers are in fact the only known cause of Mesothelioma. The great tragedy of Mesothelioma is far more insidious than the fact that thousands of people are diagnosed with Mesothelioma every year, but that the knowledge of what asbestos may very well do to the interior of those who were around it regularly has been well known since the 1920s.
Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest diseases with a virtual 100% mortality rate. There are a few lucky souls who survive Mesothelioma, but most people pass away within 24 months. The material relied upon so heavily to protect buildings from fire damage burned the internal organs of those who worked with it, sentencing these hard working Californians to an untimely and unfortunate death.
Asbestos works slowly on the lining of the organs, usually attacking the lining of the lungs. It may take somewhere between 10 and 40 years before the damage from asbestos becomes evident in the form of Mesothelioma. Those who worked with it never felt ill or had any physical warning signs that there was anything wrong.
The mortality rate has decreased nominally, as those who are now aware that they worked with asbestos in the past are receiving medical evaluations prior to having symptoms. Unfortunately, many of these individuals are finding their vigilance was warranted. However, with early detection, the survival rate has increased slightly.
For so many, early detection was never a possibility. So few companies were willing to inform their employees that they had been exposed to asbestos for fear of being compelled to reach reasonable and fair financial settlements with the victims of Mesothelioma and their families. Companies which had saved so much by effectively placing their employees at considerable risk need qualified California mesothelioma lawyers to stand up to them in order to provide financial relief from the devastation caused by asbestos.
Mesothelioma lawsuits are unfortunately the only available method of holding companies responsible for their asbestos negligence. A valid mesothelioma lawsuit not only assists the victim in covering his astronomical medical expenses, but they help to create awareness and ethical actions by other companies faced with choices during construction.
California mesothelioma lawyers who have excelled in the representation of Mesothelioma victims have surpassed most attorneys in providing aggressive care and representation for their clients. Mesothelioma has become such a glaring example of lack of company concern for their valuable employees. Big companies are required to examine their practices and their human obligation because of Mesothelioma lawsuits and the vast expense of Mesothelioma settlements.
While the hazards of asbestos have been understood since the late twenties and early thirties, many companies chose to cut corners and provide ample fire protection for their buildings. After all, the devastating loss of a building that has gone up in flames seemed excessive in the face of a few workers with compromised health.
However, Mesothelioma is a red highlighted signature of the common worker’s distaste for California business practices that regularly place bottom line production and performance above employee health and safety. California workers have had enough. Mesothelioma lawsuits are the public’s only current avenue of sending big business a message.
Nick Johnson
http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/the-deadly-link-between-mesothelioma-and-asbestos-in-california-119272.html
Different ways to seeking workers injuries claim can be applied to arrive at a reasonable settlement. Workers injuries can happen to anyone. This can be back injuries sometimes caused to improper machinery and facilities etc.
At the first instance it may seem difficult to proceed with workers injury claims. However, with proper guidance, you can get the claim in a short period of time. Online injury claims is most suitable for those who are looking for compensation urgently. It is possible to obtain advice from a team of experts who are experienced in handling such claims. Alternately, you can also utilize the services of an online company dealing with workers injury claims. By following a procedure most suited to you, it is easy to get compensation.
Different ways to seeking workers injuries claim have to be followed depending on the situation. Workers injury is often not given due importance. This is because people do not realize what happened immediately after the accident. You can have various symptoms during later stages and this can lead to more serious problems if they are not treated promptly.
There is the possibility of psychological scars on the injured worker in addition to the physical effects of the accident. Therefore restoration of the victim’s confidence is an important step during the treatment process. In order to return to a normal way of living, the victim has to be counseled depending on their mental state and this process has to be integrated into the rehabilitation process.
If employees are required to lift and move heavy objects during the course of their work, employers have to provide training and equipment in order to avoid injury at work. From the employees’ side, if their work involves lifting heavy objects, employees prone to injury should be responsible in notifying their employers about this problem. If you suffer a back injury at work it should be reported quickly to your employer and you should ask for medical advice immediately.
You can file a workers injury claim if the accident and subsequent injury was not due to your fault. Since it is not possible to predict the future consequences of the injury, it is difficult to accurately claim an accurate claim for compensation. Still, specialist lawyers who deal with these kinds of problems will be willing to guide you through the entire process.
Different ways to seeking workers injuries claim are important, so it is not wise to ignore the importance of an injury at work. The effects of such an injury may be much more than you think as it may even render you incapable of working. Therefore it is essential to get your compensation you deserve, a compensation which will set things right. A serious injury requires long treatments, which may be expensive, hence seek to get maximum workers compensation if the accident was due to others’ negligence or fault.
Lindsay Nolan
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-injury-articles/different-ways-to-seeking-workers-injuries-claim-724654.html