15.2 Million Dollar Medical Malpractice Verdict

HISTORIC MEDICAL MALPRACTICE VERDICT

Weakley County attorney Roy Herron and Nashville attorneys Randy Kinnard and Mary Ellen Morris have achieved something no one else can recall ever having been done in Dresden, Tennessee: Winning a medical malpractice verdict. 

And what a verdict it was: a record $15.2 million!

If you believe everything that you hear, you might assume this happens all the time.  In fact, the exact opposite is true, which is why it is so newsworthy.

It took a month of trial, but my friend, Roy Herron, and his excellent co-counsel, were able to convince a rural jury that Dr. Susan Lowry of Martin, Tennessee was 60% at fault and the company that owns HealthSouth Cane Creek Rehabilitation Hospital 40% was at fault in a tragic matter.

According to the lawsuit, a 17-year old high school senior had a serious car accident that caused him to have to breathe with a ventilator through his tracheostomy tube surgically inserted in his throat.  After his initial care, he was discharged to Cane Creek and at some point became a patient of Dr. Lowry.   

But, he was to be returned his surgery clinic for a follow-up later, something the lawsuit alleges never occurred.  According to the lawsuit, his tracheostomy was removed there at Cane Creek without consultations with the surgery center.

Reportedly, the patient developed progressively worse breathing over the next couple days, but he was never put back on the ventilator, nor was he transferred to a hospital. At some point, it appeared that a respiratory arrest caused such a lack of oxygen to the patient’s brain that he suffered permanent brain damage.  As such, he is projected to be confined to a bed or wheelchair, and on a ventilator for life.

This verdict, if it stands on appeal, will allow a far greater standard of life for this victim.  But it also benefits others, as over Two Million Dollars will pay back the health insurance and the State of Tennessee for the care they have paid for.

Most doctors and rehab facilities do their very best and are quite careful. When they are not as careful, the results are often life-changing tragedies. Some of the medical malpractice cases in which I am involved resulted in death or long-term injuries.  It is only the jury system that can cause providers to more careful and to prevent more tragedies.

PLANE CRASH INJURY AND DEATH

PLANE CRASHES

When any event happens with a plane, the company is generally liable for the injuries and deaths that occur. The recent San Francisco crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 killed few of the 307 onboard.

Still, many fear flying. That is understandable. Archie Bunker, the fictional grouchy father, on the old TV show “All in the Family” was once confronted by his son in law he called “Meathead,” with statistics showing air travel is much safer than driving. Archie famously retorted, “That may be so, but nobody ever fell 35,000 feet out of a De Soto!”

While flying has always been safer than driving, based on miles traveled and deaths, the few crashes on planes proved fatal for the majority involved.  Between 1962 and 1981, for instance, 54 percent of people in plane crashes were killed.

But a lot has improved. Fire retardant chemicals and materials help to prevent fires and smoke inhalation after an incident. Radar and traffic control is worlds better than in the past and allow pilots to see through fog and storms. That is why few planes crash into mountains or each other anymore.  Of course, the death rate on those types of collisions is 100%.  The current planes have been designed with better exits, stronger fuselages, and the crews are better trained than once was the case. Most accidents now happen below 200 mph on a runway and can be survived. Captains are quite experienced logging a lifetime in a particular couple of jumbo jets.  We all recall the 2009 US Airways jet that had a bird strike and heroic Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger landed that plane elegantly, without a single death, on the river creating the so-called "Miracle on the Hudson."

Terrorism has taken lives tragically, but they are usually not classified as air accidents.  Current numbers indicate about two accidental deaths worldwide for every 100 million commercial flight passengers.

The drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of your trip. You are many times more likely to die driving to the airport than on a flight. That being said, it is odd that climbing into a pressurized aluminum tube, seven miles in the sky, moving at 600 mph in weather that is 65 degrees below zero could ever be considered as routine as it now seems.

INSURANCE TIPS:

INSURANCE TIPS:

MINIMUM AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
The minimum insurance limit is never enough. In Tennessee, it is only 25,000 for personal injuries. An air ambulance bill from the scene and the emergency room visit for just one person can eclipse that in less than 24 hours.  You can be sued for the rest.

UNISURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE
This auto coverage is a must! Tennessee is overrun with underinsured drivers or those with no coverage at all. Protect your family and buy the highest limits you can afford.
It pays even if you are riding with someone else, or you have a hit and run or you are hit as a pedestrian.

EARTHQUAKE COVERAGE IS NEEDED
If an earthquake destroys your home there is no coverage unless you have an earthquake insurance policy.  Same with floods, unless you have a flood policy. West Tennessee has earthquakes every week and one day there be some severe ones.

BUY RENTERS’ INSURANCE
Landlord's insurance won't cover the contents in your apartment or rental home. Renter’s insurance provides a temporary housing and covers your contents so you can get on with life after a fire.
Also, you need liability coverage. If someone is injured while visiting you and sues you, your landlord's insurance won't cover that either.

LIFE INSURANCE APPLICATIONS
Follow your mother’s advice and tell the truth.  Honesty is the best policy and if you lie on the application, your beneficiary will get nothing.

TERM INSURANCE VS. WHOLE LIFE
Term life insurance is a great, affordable way to pay off that mortgage and provide for your surviving spouse and children at your death.  Whole life and its cousins actually include term, but the additional savings element is not a strong enough rate of return for me.

DON’T FILL YOUR LOCK BOX
While some things can be locked away at the bank,  your life insurance policy should not be in a safe deposit box. Only the person whose name appears can open it. Then only the executor of your will can open it.  This delays use of money that might be needed by family members.

RISKY BUSINESS: Wire walking and other dangerous jobs

Risky Business??

Watching Nik Wallenda successfully walk across a tributary to the Grand Canyon was nerve racking. The danger of falling 1500 feet was so obvious that the posting of an EMT in the bottom of the canyon was mere window dressing.

While risks of death seem less obvious in more routine professions than wire walking at the height of the Empire State Building, you may be surprised what the list actually looks like.

The following 10 positions saw the most deaths in 2008:

1. Motor vehicle operators

    Number of victims: 908

   Most common manner of death: 66 were highway-related

2. Construction trades workers

     Number of victims: 720   

     Most common manner of death: 37 were attributed to falls

3. Material moving workers

    Number of victims: 24

    Most common manner of death: 14 fall-related fatalities and 12 were struck by

     objects

                                

4. Law enforcement workers

    Number of victims: 144

    Most common manner of death: 38 were highway-related and 33 were

    Homicides

5. Agricultural workers

    Number of victims: 33

    Most common manner of death: 19 highway-related fatalities

6. Grounds maintenance workers

    Number of victims: 128

    Most common manner of death: 20 deaths each from falls and being struck by

    an object

7. Sales supervisors

    Number of victims: 124

    Most common manner of death: 52 homicides

8. Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, repairers

    Number of victims: 110

    Most common manner of death: 30 were struck by objects

9. Supervisors, construction and extraction workers

    Number of victims: 108

    Most common manner of death: 24 fall-related deaths

10. Metal or plastic workers

      Number of victims: 102

      Most common manner of death: 15 from being struck by an object and 13

       from falls

Work related deaths and injuries are unusually covered by workers compensation insurance, and injuries should be reported as soon as possible.  If a work related injury is caused by another party, such as a car crash in a company truck, there can also be a personal injury case.

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Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

DEATHS BY ACCIDENT IN NATIONAL PARKS

Accidents in National Parks

As an injury lawyer, the way people are injured or killed is strangely interesting to me. As I write this I am traveling through multiple national parks in the western United States with my family, which has been a dream of ours for many years.

If you asked most visitors to national parks what they are afraid of, it will usually be a bear attack. And, bears have killed people. But it is rare. 

What should they really be afraid of?  Flying. 379 people have died in aircraft accidents in and around the airspace over the Grand Canyon alone. 

In one recent year, the National Park service Reported 160 deaths and 1658 injuries within Park borders.

Not every death is from a fall or a bear attack or a crash, however, about 80 years ago, a 43-year-old prospector was hiking down a place in the Grand Canyon called "Snake Gulch." Apparently it was well named. A rattlesnake loudly rattled at him and reportedly made a partial strike.  While the snake never touched him, the man died of a heart attack!

Nineteen scalding deaths have been recorded in connection with Yellowstone's hot springs and famous geysers since 1870.  One was not an accident. A 24 year old and his friend were there with a dog named Moosie, when the dog jumped in to a thermal pool. The man dove in and swam out to the dog and attempted to take it to shore; he then disappeared underwater, let go of the dog, and tried to climb out of the pool. Now blind, his skin was already peeling everywhere from third degree burns that resulted in the deaths of he and the dog. 

In 1992, a 38-year-old jumped onto a wall at the Grand Canyon and acted like he was falling. He wind-milled his arms trying to scare his teenaged daughter, he jumped onto a short slope to complete the act.  Unknown to his bored daughter, he slipped and fell silently about 400 feet into the abyss. 

Suicides are surprisingly common in national parks. But one stands out.   One man on a scenic helicopter flight, purposely jumped about 4,000 feet. It reportedly took 15 Park Service Personnel to gather the body parts. 

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Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

LAW and Technology

LAWS LAG BEHIND TECHNOLOGY

As an injury lawyer, I rely on laws that change relatively slowly over time. After all, injury law itself can be traced all the way back to the Biblical book of Deuteronomy! But the current news stories about emerging technology are far out-pacing the ability of the law to keep up.

Anyone can look up your information, type in your address and get a custom map to your home. Drones are being flown that have the ability to hover outside your window. Satellite images are so sharp and so publicly available that anyone

can look into your backyard from anywhere on earth. Facial recognition technology scans your face in bus stations, airports and even some retail areas, potentially accessing a database that reveals your shopping habits, recent travels and product preferences. Every time you turn on a smart phone, you are located.  Every time you use your credit card, your location and purchase are stored and in most stores your face is usually recorded on video. Google is flying balloons over remote locations trying to allow greater access to the Internet. Your emails and cellphones can be traced and stored by your government. Eye scanners that identify children by iris scans are being put in school buses, sometimes without parental consent. Services are now being deployed that sense when you walk into a shop or restaurant, scan your Facebook profile and other social media for your likes and dislikes, and text you an instant coupon in about three seconds. 

What is legal and what is not? It is getting harder to say. Law cannot keep up with the changes. Think your email is private? Under the federal law, emails 180 days or older are not subject to any warrant requirement.

Frankly, the 535 members of Congress cannot seem to agree on even basic ideas, like a second grade level of budgeting that says you cannot spend more than you make for very long.  Maybe we should not be surprised that it takes leaks and scandals to get anything done. 

It is not surprising that sales of George Orwell's book "1984" are climbing. We are, at least in larger U.S. cities, officially living in a surveillance society.

I think the biggest predictor of whether there is a backlash is whether we have all just decided that there is no more real privacy anyway. Apathy seems to be the flavor of the day when it comes to consumer privacy.

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Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

LOVE YOUR JOB? (Some Lawyers Apparently Do Not)

As an injury lawyer I help injured folks who have all kinds of jobs. Hearing about their different businesses is interesting.

Every year, a survey tries to gauge just who has the Happiest Job in America. The survey evaluates the key factors like work-life balance, one's relationship with their boss and co-workers, their work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, their daily tasks, and job control over the work that they do on a daily basis.

In 2012, according to CareerBliss, some top picks were: Software Quality Assurance Engineer, Executive Chef, Property Manager, Teller, Warehouse Manager and Administrative Assistant.        

2013 saw some changes, with the addition of Real Estate Agent, Senior Sales Representative, Construction Superintendent, Senior Application Developer, Network Engineer and Assistant Controller.

What about the other end of the list? 

Who has the Unhappiest Jobs in America? In 2012, it was Security Officer, Registered Nurse, Teacher, Sales Engineer, Product Manager, Program Manager, Marketing Manager, Director of Sales, Marketing Director, and Maintenance Supervisor.

The Unhappiest Jobs in America in 2013 were Associate Attorney (even though average earnings were $111,000 per year), Customer Service Associate (getting paid little to be yelled at a lot), Clerk, and Pharmacy Tech.  Sadly, Registered Nurse and Teacher were again in the bottom ten.

We can look to another famous lawyer, no less than President Lincoln himself, for some sage advice:

“People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

― Abraham Lincoln

 “Whatever you are, be a good one.”

― Abraham Lincoln