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Recent Blog Posts
When Medical Negligence Causes Birth Injuries
The birth of a child should be one of the best experiences of a new parent’s life. However, when medical malpractice or negligence is a factor during an infant’s birth, the results can be tragic. Birth injuries can result in years or even a lifetime of expensive and often painful medical procedures and ongoing medical care. If your child was injured during his or her birth due to medical negligence, you may be eligible for financial compensation.
Types of Injuries That Can Occur During Birth
Birth injuries can occur during several different states of the delivery process. Some of the most common birth injuries include:
- Cerebral palsy
- Erb's palsy
- Nerve damage including brachial plexus Injuries (BPI)
- Perinatal asphyxia (lack of oxygen which can cause permanent neurological damage)
- Bone fractures
Understanding the Dangers of Distracted Driving
By now, you have almost certainly heard the warnings about the dangers of texting while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, AT&T, AAA, nonprofits, and other organizations have spent millions of dollars on campaigns to stop texting and driving. However, there are many other ways that drivers become dangerously distracted on the road, often leading to devastating accidents.
Children Can Be More Distracting Than Texting
If you have children, you probably spend a great deal of time transporting them to and from school, friends’ houses, and after-school activities. According to several studies, when your children are in the car, you may be driving while distracted. One study showed that children were twelve times more distracting to a driver than texting was. Research has also shown that parents with children in the car spend, on average, three minutes and twenty-two seconds with their eyes away from the road for every sixteen minutes they are diving.
Who May Be Held Liable for My Injuries Following a Slip and Fall Accident?
Slipping and falling can cause devastating injuries in mere seconds. A person who falls and hits their head on concrete, for example, may suffer a traumatic brain injury which leaves them with agonizing pain and other adverse symptoms for months. Slip and fall injuries can also incur tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of medical bills. A serious fall can take away a person’s independence, their ability to work, and significantly decrease their quality of life. If you or someone you know was injured in a slip and fall accident, you may wish to pursue compensation through a premises liability lawsuit. In order to be awarded financial damages for injuries related to a slip and fall, you and your legal team must prove liability, or responsibility, for the accident.
Legal Responsibility for Your Injuries May Lie with the Property Owner or Manager
Will Homeowner’s Insurance Cover My Medical Bills If I Was Injured at a Friend’s House?
Imagine this scenario: You are at a friend’s house enjoying a party. While walking upstairs, you experience a horrible slip and fall. You are taken to the hospital where you learn you have significant injuries that will require thousands of dollars’ worth of medical care, corrective surgery, and physical therapy. Even worse, you will be out of work for months, so you will lose money this way as well. You may be asking yourself, “Would my friend’s homeowner’s insurance cover any of these expenses?”
Does the Property Owner Have Insurance?
The first question to consider if you have been injured at a friend or neighbor’s house is if the property owner even has homeowner’s insurance. Fortunately, most homeowners do. Mortgage companies require homeowner’s insurance, so if a person has a mortgage and is still paying off their house, they should have homeowner’s insurance. However, there is still the chance that a person who owns their home free and clear and has no mortgage might not have homeowner’s insurance.
What Are the Stages of a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Illinois?
If you have been injured in a car crash or any other accident caused by another party’s actions or negligence, you might be able to pursue compensation for the injuries you have sustained. Compensation is generally available to cover medical expenses, time away from work, and damage to property, as well as more subjective losses such as pain, suffering, and permanent scarring. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to collect compensation after an accident, especially if a lawsuit is necessary.
Filing Your Claim
In most situations, the first step toward recovering compensation after an accident is filing a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company. Depending on the situation, you might do so by going through your own insurance company first or you could file directly with the other party’s carrier. Your claim will almost certainly include the police report and any other evidence that might help prove that the other party was to blame for your injuries.
Understanding Comparative Negligence Laws in Illinois
Imagine this scenario: You are cruising down the highway at about 10 miles over the speed limit when you are hit by a drunk driver. You suffer significant injuries to your back and neck that leave you unable to work and drowning in medical bills. The drunk driver’s insurance company offers you a settlement which does not even come close to compensating you for your damages. Is there a way that you can sue to recover compensation? The answer in Illinois is “yes.”
Illinois’ comparative fault law allows those injured by another’s negligence to sue even if they were partially responsible for the injury or accident. In this example, the original driver may have contributed to the accident by speeding, but if the other driver was more to blame, a personal injury suit is still possible.
Survey Shows One in Ten Daycares Still Using Recalled Baby Sleepers
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is the government agency responsible for ensuring that the products Americans use everyday are not unreasonably dangerous. When it comes to infant and child products, the need for strict safety guidelines and regulations is especially great. Millions of child and baby products are recalled every year after evidence is discovered that the products carry a defect which increases the risk of injury or death. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics requested that the CPSC issue a recall for the popular Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper after the sleeper was linked to several infant deaths.
American Academy of Pediatrics Says Inclined Sleeper is Deadly
There has long been debate regarding the safest way for infants to sleep. Fears about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other fatal conditions can cause new parents to be nervous about how they lay their child down for sleep. Although we generally assume that the baby products sold in retail stores are safe for our children, the sad case is that some products do carry risks. More than 30 infants have died while sleeping in Rock ‘n Play sleepers since the product was introduced in 2009. Frighteningly, new evidence shows that a great deal of these recalled sleepers are still being used in homes and daycares across the country.
Neil Armstrong’s Family Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Hospital
While most doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other healthcare providers are competent to provide quality medical care, medical mistakes do happen. In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that medical negligence is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. In 2012 alone, over $3 billion dollars was spent in payouts for medical malpractice lawsuits.
Medical errors can affect all types of patients. In fact, the family of acclaimed astronaut Neil Armstrong believes that the 82-year-old’s death was a result of medical negligence. Until recently, this information had been kept secret, but now details about the case are emerging.
Family Says Hospital Caused Armstrong’s Death
Astronaut Neil Armstrong has had an incredible life to say the least. In addition to being the first man to walk on the moon, he also fought in the Korean War, won the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and had three children. Armstrong’s family, however, says that his incredible life came to an end too soon. Armstrong developed coronary disease and required bypass surgery in 2012. He made it through the surgery but then developed complications which eventually caused his death.
Bus Driver Indicted After Extreme Negligence Leads to Child’s Death
If you are a parent, you know how difficult it can be to leave your child in the care of someone else. Whether you are dropping the child off at school, daycare, or extracurricular activities, you likely worry about the quality of care and supervision that your child will receive. While the majority of childcare workers take pride in keeping children’s safety their top priority, some facilities employ staff who do not take the steps necessary to ensure the safety of the children left in their care. When childcare staff, bus drivers, teachers, nannies, and other individuals tasked with caring for children fail to properly do their job, the results can be deadly.
Three-Year-Old Boy Passes Away After Being Left in Hot Bus
A Houston bus driver has recently been indicted for “injury to a child by recklessly causing serious bodily injury or death” almost exactly a year after he allegedly left a young boy in a scorching hot bus. The horrific incident was first discovered when the boy’s father came to pick up his child from a Houston area daycare. When workers could not locate the child, the father started searching for his son. That is when he found his three-year-old unresponsive in the 113-degree daycare bus. The children had taken a field trip to a park, but not every child had disembarked the bus upon their return. Despite efforts to save the young boy’s life, he passed away.
Hit by a Distracted Driver? You Could be Eligible for Compensation
By now, most people have heard about the dangers of texting while driving or other types of distracted driving. However, studies show that a significant number of motorists are still dangerously distracted while operating a vehicle. In 2017, over 3,000 people nationwide lost their lives in accidents involving distracted drivers, and countless more were injured. If you or a loved one were hurt in an accident caused by a negligent driver, you may be able to receive compensation for your damages.
Types of Distracted Driving
Although we often hear about the dangers of texting and driving, this is not the only form of distracted driving which causes serious auto accidents. Some motorists have actually admitted to checking social media or using other phone applications while driving too. GPS devices are also a major cause of distracted driving. However, electronic devices are not the only thing that takes our attention off of the road. Studies have shown that activities like eating, changing the radio station, searching through a purse or wallet, and smoking while driving also increase the chances of being involved in an injury-causing motor vehicle accident.
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