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10
May

Did Your Doctor Fully Inform You of the Risks?

 Medical malpractice refers to mistakes made by health care providers when the performance of their duties deviates from the standard of care and causes harm to a patient.  One such mistake is not informing patients of the risk or complications of a particular procedure.  Before having an operation, it is imperative that a patient understand the nature of the procedure, as well as the risks and complications associated with it.  In this manner, the patient can make an informed decision as to whether to go forward with the operation, or whether they feel the risks are too great to proceed.  Prior to a procedure, a surgeon should have a discussion with the patient about such things as alternative treatment options, how the procedure will improve the patient’s health, whether hospitalization will be necessary, and when normal activities can be resumed.  Once a patient has discussed these things with their doctor, they have the ability to give their informed consent to the procedure.  However, if such a discussion is not conducted, or if a doctor does not provide all of the information necessary to fully inform the patient, then any consent given is not considered informed consent.  The hospital also has a separate duty to make sure the patient has been fully informed of the risks and complications associated with a procedure, as well as the availability of alternative treatments.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to a doctor’s negligence or carelessness in acquiring informed consent for a procedure, you may have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.  A medical malpractice attorney can evaluate your claim.

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10
May

How Do I Know If I Have a Legal Malpractice Claim?

Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney is negligent when providing legal advice or representation.  Examples of legal malpractice include an attorney stealing money to be held in trust for a client, missing a statute of limitations deadline, or not providing the proper and available evidence at trial.  To prove a legal malpractice claim, a client must show that there was an attorney-client relationship, that the legal representation provided by the attorney was negligent, that the negligent representation did in fact cause the client to be injured/damaged, and the extent of the client’s injury. 

Legal malpractice claims are complex and often difficult to prove. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to negligent representation by an attorney, you may have the right to file a legal malpractice lawsuit.  A legal malpractice attorney can evaluate your claim.

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10
May

DID YOU READ THE FINE PRINT OF YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE?

I recently had a case where my client was a passenger with a friend in his car when they were hit by an at-fault, uninsured driver. The insurance on the car she was in had uninsured motorist’s coverage but it was very narrowly drawn such that it only covered owners of the vehicle they were in, relatives, members of the household and even then, only if they were “using” the vehicle at the time the claim arose. “Using” was defined as operating or performing maintenance on the vehicle.  Under these parameters my client had no coverage and could not receive restitution for her injuries under her friend’s uninsured motorists coverage.

Our fallback position was to apply uninsured motorists coverage of her own for vehicles in her household with such coverage. Unfortunately, she declined this coverage when she insured her car, in the effort to save a few dollars on her car insurance.

The lesson for us all here is to read the fine print of your auto insurance converge.  If you decline coverage as she did to save a few dollars you may find that in the long run it costs you far more than the few dollars you saved.

A footnote: Be sure to read it ALL. Ironically, if they had been in the very same wreck, but she had been driving her own car with her friend as passenger, he would not have had coverage either. My client had no uninsured coverage on her car so neither of them would be covered under it. But, despite that he had his own uninsured coverage on his vehicle, it would not have afforded him uninsured benefits in this scenario because he was not “operating” his car, nor was he “using” it under the definition in his uninsured motorists policy coverage. He had the coverage but it was so narrowly drawn in this scenario it would not have covered him either.

 

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10
May

Asbestos in the Home Creates Risk of Life Threatening Illness

Many older homes, particularly those constructed prior to the 1960s, contain asbestos in many of the products used for construction.  For years the product was widely used as form of home insulation.  Despite its usefulness, asbestos has been proven to cause serious and deadly harm, including lung cancer and an aggressive form of cancer known as mesothelioma. 

While the product is rarely used in new home construction; it is commonly found in older residential property.   Asbestos was most often used in floor tiles, paint, roof shingles and as insulation for walls.  Experts advise that if a home is suspected of containing asbestos it is important to contact a licensed asbestos professional to insure that the material is not causing unwanted exposure and to determine whether removal is necessary.

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9
May

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed In Connection To Murder Of MTSU Player

May 9, 2012

The family of a Middle Tennessee State University women’s basketball player, who was murdered in her apartment by her roommate, filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit against the woman responsible for the murder and the apartment complex where the crime took place. According to News Channel 2, the family is seeking $10 million in punitive damages, as well as an additional $10 million in compensatory damages.

The family states that the apartment complex where the player was murdered was negligent in its decision to continue housing the two women together after repeated reports of problems between the two women stemming from the alleged murderer’s drug use. Attorneys representing the family have stated that the lawsuit was filed to ensure that the woman being held responsible for the death does not profit off of the high-profile case.

The woman’s defense team has maintained that she acted in self-defense after being attacked by the deceased. The defense is attempting to build the case around “Stand Your Ground” laws that have gained recent media attention due to another high-profile case in Florida.

Wrongful Death Lawyers understand just how difficult going through the process of filing a wrongful death lawsuit can be on a family. That is why the Tennessee Injury Lawyers with Hughes and Coleman Injury Lawyers hope that the lawsuit will help the family find a sense of closure to their loss.

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