Personal Injury Primer

When to Require a Police Report https://personalinjuryprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ep-367-When-to-Require-a-Police-Report.mp3 I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana. Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics. Today’s question comes from a caller concerned that he’d been in a small impact crash, and no police report was made. He filed a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance, but they say the crash never happened. He asked, did I make a big mistake? Understandably, sometimes the urge to not take the time to call the police and have them document what happened in a crash will prevail over exercising better judgment to insist that a police report be made. Sometimes, you have to be somewhere, and the crash itself presents a stressful situation. You think that you don’t feel hurt and that the damage to the cars is minimal. Should you give in to the urge to skip calling the police? Here are the pros and cons of taking the time to call the police, compared with taking alternative steps to document what happened during the crash. We’ll leave it to listeners to decide what is more important, keeping in mind that the absence of a police report might adversely impact the chances of a claim for damages being approved. The more substantial the accident and the more significant the damage, the more important it becomes to get a police report to include when filing an insurance claim. Whether a police report is required depends on the insurance policy’s wording. Typically, the policy will instruct on how and when to file a claim. Depending on the wording of a policy, the ramifications of not having a police report may vary. In many instances, a claim without a police report may still be approved, but the approval process may take longer and require more investigation and verification of the details surrounding the crash. Depending on how much uncertainty is created by the fact that there is no police report for a given crash, the amount offered by insurance to settle a claim may be less than what you could otherwise get if you had more details known and outlined in a police report. One of the biggest reasons people don’t call the police and get a report after a crash is that they think the crash was minor. However, the extent of property damage or physical bodily injury is not always apparent at the scene, and what may appear minor could turn out to have significant effects. When a police report is impossible to obtain, the next best thing is to take detailed notes about the crash. Write down the date, time, and location of the crash. Note the names and contact information of all parties involved, insurance policy numbers, driver’s license numbers, and license plate numbers. Record the make and model of the vehicles involved, as well as their registered owners’ names and contact information. Gather the names and contact information of any witnesses. Take photographs and video clips of the scene of the crash. The more information you can provide to an insurance carrier when making a claim, the better. I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com. While there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”The post Ep 367 When to Require a Police Report first appeared on Personal Injury Primer.

Surgeon Mistakenly Removes Liver https://personalinjuryprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ep-366-Surgeon-Mistakenly-Removes-Liver.mp3 I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana. Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics. Today’s podcast discusses an issue reported in the news not long ago. The news report was that a surgeon mistakenly removed a patient’s liver during surgery instead of the patient’s spleen. The mistake cost the patient his life. From a legal perspective, this medical mistake should result in civil liability for the surgeon and the hospital that authorized the surgeon to perform surgery. It also quite possibly will result in criminal charges against the surgeon. I encountered a similar scenario about 30 years ago. A surgeon removed several vertebrae from the patient’s spine, resulting in immediate paralysis. Upon investigation after the surgery, it was determined that the surgeon was addicted to a controlled substance. At the time of the surgery, he was having a hallucinatory episode, which caused him to believe that his surgery would improve the patient’s condition. Eventually, this surgeon was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to prison. Back to the news report of a surgeon mistakenly removing a patient’s healthy liver. I would think that there should be an immediate alcohol and drug test administered to the surgeon that removed the liver instead of the spleen. This error is normally described as a never event, meaning it should never happen. If the surgeon learned anything in medical school, he or she would know the difference between a liver and a spleen on simple observation. The organs are located in different locations in the body anatomically. Further, the hospital that authorized the surgeon to perform surgery would have to answer civilly for many things, including what procedures were in place to confirm to everyone before surgery began the focus of the surgery. Before the surgery began, did everyone in the surgical room agree on the type of surgery that would be undertaken? In other words, was it announced that this was a surgery to remove the patient’s spleen because of a disease? There would seem to be no justification in any event ever to remove a patient’s liver unless there’s going to be a transplant. If, before raising a scalpel, the surgeon announced, “Now we are going to remove this patient’s liver,” you would expect everyone to tackle the surgeon and confiscate the knife. If the announcement was, “Now we are going to remove the patient’s spleen,” others in the room should have become suspicious when the surgeon began cutting on the wrong side of the chest that something was terribly wrong and interrupted the surgery. Moreover, you would expect that any nurse, anesthesiologist, or any other tech assisting in the room would have screamed out to the surgeon to stop if it was observed that the surgeon was removing the patient’s liver. Further, had any of the participants observed that the liver was removed, you would expect that the liver would be replaced immediately to correct that mistake. Perhaps a special team of transplant vascular specialty surgeons could have been called to correct the error. Did the hospital check the surgeon’s credentials before giving the surgeon staff privileges? In the case, I described above that led to a patient’s paralysis, one of the assisting surgeons immediately called security to escort the intoxicated surgeon from the room. Then the surgical team did their best to try to repair the damage to the patient. Unfortunately, there was a history of that particular surgeon being observed to be under the influence of drugs. Was the surgeon who removed the liver under the influence of drugs at the time of the procedure? Had that surgeon been observed by others to be under the influence at other times? Should the hospital have pulled the plug on the surgeon well before this particular event occurred? Was a program to require random drug and alcohol screenings in place? I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”The post Ep 366 Surgeon Mistakenly Removes Liver first appeared on Personal Injury Primer.

Botched Gallbladder Surgery https://personalinjuryprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ep-365-Botched-Gallbladder-Surgery.mp3 I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana. Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics. Today’s question comes from a caller concerned about problems he developed after what he was told was a routine gallbladder surgery. He had pain and was told he needed gallbladder surgery. After the surgery was completed, he continued to have pain. He was released home, but after 24 hours, he came back to the ER. A second surgery was required. The surgeon claimed a drain had to be put in. The pain persisted after the second surgery. Eventually, the man went to another surgeon and discovered that he still had a partial gallbladder. The first surgeon botched the procedure. This type of call is way too common. Recently, an Alabama jury found a doctor was liable for a patient’s death after she experienced extreme pain following gallbladder surgery. After the patient had surgery, she was discharged home. At home, she started feeling severe abdominal pain, despite having taken pain medication prescribed by her surgeon. Her husband called the surgeon about his wife’s symptoms, and he was told that the pain was expected. But the pain persisted, and the husband took his wife to the surgical clinic, where the surgeon examined her. The patient was told that abdominal pain was “normal,” and she was given pain medication to take. But once the patient was home, her pain became worse, and an ambulance was called to take the patient to an emergency room. At the ER, it was confirmed that the patient’s stomach was “full of bile.” The patient died a few hours later. Unfortunately, these kinds of surgical and post-operative oversights happen, often with devastating consequences. Medical negligence claims like these are often complex and require skilled lawyers to comb through a patient’s medical records and imaging results, consult with medical expert witnesses, and draft persuasive briefs to submit to an Indiana medical review panel, before proceeding in court. I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”The post Ep 365 Botched Gallbladder Surgery first appeared on Personal Injury Primer.

Injured by a Delivery Driver https://personalinjuryprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ep-364-Injured-by-a-Delivery-Driver.mp3 I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana. Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics. Many stores now utilize third-party delivery truck services to deliver goods to consumers. Unfortunately, safety and insurance limit laws may not apply to these delivery programs. First, commercial truck drivers must have a commercial driver’s license. This ensures that a driver has specialized training and skills. Operating a small van or truck, smaller and lighter than a semi, enables a company to skirt commercial motor vehicle regulations that require more than a regular driver’s license. Thus, third-party delivery companies are not required to mandate that drivers have a CDL. Even though these delivery vehicles are being used in a commercial setting, the companies putting these vehicles on the road, are avoiding complying with other “commercial motor vehicle” laws, such as those that require minimum liability insurance coverage. Many states, including Indiana, require insurance that mandates fleet coverage for commercial vans/trucks independent of VIN number. This means that where a commercial fleet is involved, an insurance carrier cannot escape liability by arguing that the vehicle involved in a crash was not specifically identified on a policy. The law also requires minimum policy limits of $1,000,000.00. The purpose is to protect the public. Often third-party delivery trucks are sized small enough so as to not qualify as commercial motor vehicles. This means that the companies who put these slightly smaller trucks and vans on the highway, can save money by not needing high premium $1,000,000  minimum insurance coverage mandated for commercial motor carriers. Further, federal law states that commercial truck drivers must be found to be acting within the course and scope of their employment if they are operating a vehicle with a DOT license number displayed on the vehicle. It is mandatory. Before this law, enacted in the 1950s, commercial vehicle operators used the same specious “independent contractor” argument that these smaller delivery outfits are using to argue that they cannot be held liable for a driver’s negligence. In short, today’s third-party delivery truck fleets need not display DOT numbers; thus, no law is on the books mandating that a driver be found acting in the course and scope of their employment with the fleet owner. Thus, big online merchants use third-party delivery truck companies and argue that these delivery drivers should be treated as independent contractors. If those drivers were found to be the merchant’s employees, the wealthy merchant could be held liable for the actions/inactions of its employee drivers. If the merchant is not held responsible for the driver’s negligence, the motorist injured in a crash with the delivery truck may find that the driver has low-limit insurance. Today’s third-party delivery drivers have all of the hallmarks of employees, but pieces of paper are signed that paint them as independent contractors. As we just discussed, allowing merchants to bypass protective laws is fundamentally unfair to the motoring public. Thankfully, a recent decision in Georgia state court found that a delivery truck service partner for Amazon was not an independent contractor. A jury found Amazon liable for negligently training a delivery truck driver who severely injured a child in a crash. The jury concluded that Amazon had sufficient control of the delivery truck company and its drivers and that the delivery driver was more like Amazon’s employee and not an independent contractor. This is one of the first jury trials in the US that addressed the issue of whether Amazon is liable as an employer for the actions of its delivery partners’ drivers. Hopefully, this Georgia case will encourage other judges and juries everywhere to see that merchants are held legally responsible for the negligence of delivery drivers. I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com. While there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”The post Ep 364 Injured by a Delivery Driver first appeared on Personal Injury Primer.

Injured in a Small Plane Crash, Can I Sue? https://personalinjuryprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ep-363-Injured-in-a-Small-Plane-Crash.mp3 I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana. Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics. Today’s question comes from a caller concerned about his right to sue after being injured in a small plane crash. He was one of two passengers injured when the small plane he was in flipped on take-off. He was thankful he survived, but his injuries were quite serious and included a spinal injury. He has lost time from work and cannot engage in golf or tennis as he enjoyed doing before the crash. He asked about his legal options. In the event of a small plane crash, a survivor (or an estate on behalf of someone killed in a crash) may be able to sue for damages and compensation. Exactly who is named in the lawsuit will vary depending on the circumstances of the crash. Potentially responsible parties may include: Aircraft owner/operator: The owner or operator may be liable for any negligence or wrongdoing. Pilot: If the pilot was responsible for the crash due to error or misconduct, they may be held liable. Maintenance provider: The maintenance provider may be liable if improper maintenance contributed to the crash. Manufacturer: The manufacturer may be liable if a design flaw or defect in the aircraft contributed to the crash.  Air traffic controller: The controller or their employer may be liable if guidance mistakes led to the crash. Keep in mind that if air traffic controller errors occur in the United States, the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) will govern whether an individual may sue the federal government for the negligence of federal employees. In many situations, negligence will be strongly suspected when an airplane crashes unless the facts demonstrate that the accident was caused by weather or other factors beyond human control. I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com. While there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”The post Ep 363 Injured in a Small Plane Crash first appeared on Personal Injury Primer.