- Robin Martinek | August 31, 2007 12:08 PM |
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MiscellaneousA while back, I was sent this editorial article written by Steven Hotze, M.D., and I thought I would share it with the readers. While this editorial addresses Texas legislation, North Carolinians face this same type of legislation in our state and the dangers that it holds. REMEMBER THE LITTLE GUYby Steven Hotze, M.D.,Shouldn't companies and individuals who cause you harm be responsible for...
- Christina Medlin | August 31, 2007 9:17 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released the 2007 rollover ratings for SUVs. It appears that new electronic stability control features in SUVs are making it less likely that an equipped SUV will rollover. Electronic stability control, introduced in 1985, automatically applies the brakes of individual wheels to prevent the vehicle from changing directions and...
- Brent Adams | August 30, 2007 2:35 PM |
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MiscellaneousA New Hanover County jury returned a verdict of $85,000.00 in compensatory damages and $350,000.00 in punitive damages against a Wellington Fertility Clinic.The plaintiff was inseminated with two-day-old unwashed sperm from an unknown donor. A nurse practitioner used an unlabeled syringe from the clinic's incubator without checking her logbook or verifying the donor and used it for the...
- Brent Adams | August 28, 2007 11:18 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsWhen a jury in a personal injury lawsuit this first introduced to the case, they're told that the name of the case is John Smith vs. Mabel Jones. The jury expected to hear that the name of the case is John Smith vs. Allstate Insurance Co. or John Smith vs. Nationwide Insurance Co.Most people assume that an insurance company is the defendant in all automobile collision cases. When the jury learns...
- Brent Adams | August 25, 2007 8:31 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe North Carolina Court of Appeals has recently upheld a decision of the North Carolina Industrial Commission awarding workers' compensation benefits to a worker who was in need of a walker to get around.In this case, the injured worker was able to return to work but for the fact that the employer would not allow anyone to come to work with a walker.The Court of Appeals ruled that the injured...
- Robin Martinek | August 24, 2007 4:36 PM |
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Workplace InjuriesOftentimes, as a workers' compensation attorney, I have clients come in facing termination of their compensation payments for failure to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation counselors. Many times, this "refusal" to cooperate is merely misunderstandings between the vocational counselor and the injured employee.Some tips on dealing with Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors:1. Consult with...
- Courtney Mills | August 22, 2007 9:33 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsA North Carolina driver has been charged in a fatal hit and run accident in Old Fort, North Carolina. Jose Ambrocio of Old Fort had a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 at the time of the accident, said police, which made him legally intoxicated in the state of North Carolina. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08.While driving down the road with a beer between his legs, Ambrocio ran off the...
- Brent Adams | August 21, 2007 11:57 AM |
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MiscellaneousNot every claim against a hospital involves medical malpractice. Many functions performed by a hospital and its staff do not involve the "rendering of medical care." Although many services performed by the hospital and its staff do involve rendering medical care such as giving hypodermic injections, drawing blood, etc., many functions of the hospital do not involve such care. Some of the...
- Brent Adams | August 20, 2007 11:54 AM |
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MiscellaneousAn entomologist is an expert in the branch of zoology dealing with insects.It is unusual for an entomologist to be involved in issues relating to a workers' compensation case.However, the testimony of an entomologist was the determining factor in a recent workers' compensation case.In the case, Smith v. Mortex Corp., the worker claimed that she was bitten by a brown recluse spider while at...
- Christina Medlin | August 17, 2007 9:39 AM |
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MiscellaneousHandling medical malpractice cases are difficult and expensive. Most times a lawyer will only take on med mal cases with catastrophic injuries, meaning injuries that are so deplorable and disastrous that it is obvious that the doctor was negligent in performing services. In NC, Plaintiff's attorneys can now seek to help people who are injured by the negligence of their doctor, but whose injures...
- Brent Adams | August 16, 2007 4:48 PM |
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Workplace InjuriesIt is common practice for employers to hire private detectives to conduct videotaped surveillance of injured workers.These private detectives follow injured workers around, usually in paneled trucks or vans, with their videotape running, trying to catch on film any activity that indicates that the injured worker is capable of physical activity.This procedure backfired on an Asheville hospital...
- Brent Adams | August 15, 2007 8:24 AM |
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MiscellaneousCases involving violation of a stoplight are sometimes very difficult. If there is a collision at an intersection governed by a stoplight, there is often a dispute about which driver had the green light.If both drivers claim they had the green light, it is virtually impossible for the investigating officer to determine which driver is telling the truth. For that reason, it would be unusual for...
- Brent Adams | August 14, 2007 2:07 PM |
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MiscellaneousWhen a dispute arises concerning how a motor vehicle collision occurred, three of the important facts that are considered are time, distance, and speed.Recorded statements should not be given to the liability insurance company which insures the negligent party without the advise of counsel. If such statements are given, the insurance company will want to know the facts relating to the motor...
- Christina Medlin | August 10, 2007 9:35 AM |
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MiscellaneousYou are injured by the actions of a state agency, (i.e., Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services etc.), what happens next? In NC, you will have to pursue your claim under the NC Tort Claims Act (NC Gen Stat. 143-291). Under the NC Tort Claims Act, you do not get a trial by jury; rather the NC Industrial Commission hears your claim. The Commission determines...
- Brent Adams | August 09, 2007 9:26 AM |
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MiscellaneousMedical malpractice claims over obesity surgery are increasing as more and more severely obese patients turn to stomach-reducing surgeries for rapid weight loss.A specific type of surgery, known as bariatric surgery, reduces the size of the stomach to a small pouch and limits nutritional intake to a few tablespoons at a time. These surgeries are commonly called "gastric bypass" and...
- Brent Adams | August 08, 2007 12:02 PM |
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MiscellaneousAn insurance company settled a claim for $ 1,020,000.00 for personal injuries suffered by a man and wife as the result of negligence of an alcohol-impaired driver.The defendant was turning into her subdivision and swung her sport utility vehicle wide and into the victims' lane of travel, striking the motorcycle they were riding on.The man suffered multiple broken bones of his left leg. He had a...
- Brent Adams | August 07, 2007 8:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousIn June 2002, a 7-year-old child named MacKenzie Shaver was killed when the sport utility vehicle she was riding in, along with her step-mother, rolled over while being driven near the California-Arizona border. The vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, veered off an interstate highway and flipped over. The Suburban did not have an electronic stability control system which had been installed in...
- Brent Adams | August 06, 2007 8:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousA group of Miami, Florida doctors sued twenty-three Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, as well as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, because they alleged they had been systematically cheated by these insurance companies when the doctors filed claims for medical services.The doctors allege that the insurance company programmed their computers to pay for less expensive services than were...
- Brent Adams | August 05, 2007 10:42 PM |
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MiscellaneousBad faith insurance companies victimize their policy holders by using lowball settlement offers and forcing them to either buckle under or fight. Unfortunately, most policy holders do not have the means or the will to fight.For Allstate Insurance Company and other companies who are guilty of bad faith insurance practices, gone are the days when insurance companies felt an obligation to protect...
- Brent Adams | August 03, 2007 8:28 AM |
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MiscellaneousNorth Carolina still recognizes the antiquated and outdated sovereign immunity rule. This rule arises from old English law which, in effect, was that a citizen could not sue the king.This old English law carried forward to North Carolina which bases its common law upon the laws prevailing in England when the colonies were formed. North Carolina, as one of the original thirteen colonies, adopted...
- Brent Adams | August 02, 2007 3:24 PM |
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MiscellaneousA motor vehicle collision is a traumatic experience. The victim of someone else's negligence is under tremendous stress and pressure immediately after a collision. There are many things to consider and worry about just after a collision. Physical injuries sustained in the collision are, of course, uppermost on the victim's mind. During the stressful processes which occur after the collision, it...
- Brent Adams | August 01, 2007 11:52 AM |
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MiscellaneousWhen a person is killed as a result of the negligence of another, the family of the deceased can recover money for that loss. These are commonly called "wrongful death claims" or wrongful death actions. The proceeds from a wrongful death claim do not pass in accordance with the dead person's will, but rather are disbursed to the relatives under North Carolina's Intestate Succession Law. This...