Monday, August 15, 2016

Have Your Medical Records Been Hacked? Probably.

Our medical data is some of the most personal information that we entrust to third parties. Our medical records are sacred and their privacy is paramount. Which is why we have federal laws protecting the privacy of our medical records and requiring hospitals, clinics, and other health care providers to report hacked, lost, or otherwise exposed medical records. And those reports aren't good.

Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified 1,634 breaches of patient medical information, and those are just the cases affecting 500 or more individuals. There could be thousands more medical data breaches (intentional and unintentional), possibly affecting your personal medical information.

Health Care Hackers

Malicious hackers exposed nearly 100 million medical records in 2015 alone. Health insurers BlueCross BlueShield and Anthem were both hacked, exposing the personal information of 21 and 78 million people, respectively. While the hack was probably targeting social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers for identity theft purposes, the fact that the information was stored alongside personal medical records had many fearing that even more sensitive data could've been accessed.

Unintentional Uncovering

As bad as hackers can be, there were twice as many medical information breaches attributable to theft, loss, or incompetence. As reported by Vocativ, these incidents included everything from cleaning crews accidentally throwing binders of testing information to clinics donating filing cabinets to charity without first removing "laptops that contained the names, social security numbers, and Medicare numbers of about 12,000 customers." In one case, a hospital employee misplaced a laptop containing the medical records of some 5,840 patients. The best investigators could do was guess that the employee left it on the fender of his car and drove away.

Helpful HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) protects the confidentiality of your medical records and establishes federal rules that medical care providers must follow to protect the security of your medical information. If you suspect your medical privacy has been compromised, you can file a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services, and you may also want to consult an experienced health care attorney about your legal options.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/have-your-medical-records-been-hacked-probably.html
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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Physical Evidence to Keep for a Slip and Fall Case

Slip and falls send one million of us to the hospital emergency room every year, are the leading cause of workers' compensation claims, and account for half of all accidental deaths in the home. And while many of us may be quick to blame ourselves and our clumsiness for a fall, the cause may have been a dangerous condition with the floor or surface we were walking on.

In order to recover for injuries based on someone else's negligence in constructing or maintaining a safe walking environment, you may need to prove the dangerous condition in court. How? By preserving as much physical evidence from the scene as possible.

Personal Evidence

Property owners have a duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions for guests and invitees. And if the property owner or an employee caused a dangerous condition or knew (or should have known) about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn you, you may be able to sue for your injuries. In order to prove fault in a slip and fall case, however, you'll need some evidence.

Some of the most important physical evidence to collect may also be the easiest -- your own clothing and shoes. If you are contending that the floor was dangerous to walk on, you may need to prove that you were wearing reasonable and responsible footwear. So it would be smart to keep your shoes and what you were wearing at the time, preferably in the same condition.

Scene of the Slip

You'll also want to document the scene of the fall as much as possible. If you can, keep the cause of your fall, like liquid on the floor, loose items, or foreign debris. If you're unable to take these items with you, take extensive photos or video of the scene and surrounding areas.

Physical evidence is only one small piece of a successful slip and fall claim. Let an experienced personal injury attorney build the rest of your case.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/physical-evidence-to-keep-for-a-slip-and-fall-case.html
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Monday, August 8, 2016

Playground Concussions Are on the Rise

By now most parents have heard about the danger of concussions in sports like football and hockey. But parents trying to keep their children safe from head injuries need to be concerned with more than contact sports. A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found around 21,000 kids aged 14 and younger suffer traumatic brain injuries including concussions on playgrounds every year.

The study also found that the rate of concussions was rising among children, from 23 out of 100,000 in 2005 to 48 out of 100,000 in 2013. While the CDC isn’t sure what’s causing the rise in traumatic brain injuries, it is recommending “improved adult supervision, methods to reduce child risk behavior, regular equipment maintenance, and improvements in playground surfaces and environments.”

Safety First

The two pieces of playground equipment most commonly associated with concussions were swing sets and the monkey bars. Considering that even properly constructed playground equipment can be dangerous, poorly designed, assembled, or maintained equipment can increase the injury risk for children.

Playground equipment manufacturers have a duty to ensure their products are safe to play on, and companies can be strictly liable if a person is injured by their product. A piece of playground equipment could be improperly designed, poorly manufactured, or lack proper warnings, leading to dangerous or deadly accidents. The CDC study recommended that playgrounds use soft ground surfaces like wood chips or sand, rather than concrete.

Location, Location, Location

Where a playground is located may also affect legal liability for injuries. If the playground is on school property or in a city park, you could have a premises liability claim against the school or municipality. But suing a government entity is can be more complicated and may require filing a notice of claim first, so that the school or city is on notice that an injury has occurred. (This gives the government entity an opportunity to accept and pay the claim before going to court.) If your claim is ignored or denied, you can then sue the entity in court.

If your child has suffered a concussion or traumatic brain injury on a playground, you should talk to an experienced personal injury attorney. Most are happy to consult with you for free.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/playground-concussions-are-on-the-rise.html
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Thursday, August 4, 2016

When to Sue for a Pedestrian Injury Accident

We're told all the time that sitting at a desk all day is bad for our health, and that getting out of the office for a stroll is essential for our well-being. But even walking can be dangerous, especially along heavily-trafficked city streets.

So can a pedestrian injured in an accident sue? And how do you figure out who's at fault?

Pedestrian v. Car

If a pedestrian is struck by a car, any legal liability will rest on whether the driver was negligent in causing the collision. You can demonstrate driver negligence by proving that he or she was speeding or disobeying traffic signals, failed to yield to pedestrians, was distracted or inattentive, or was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Generally speaking, if the driver was negligent you can be compensated for any injuries sustained in the accident.

Pedestrian v. Bike

Cars aren't the only danger to pedestrians -- as more people are biking around these days, the number of cyclist-pedestrian collisions has increased. As with motorist accidents, an injured pedestrian would need to show a cyclist was negligent in order to have a successful injury claim. For the most part, those on bicycles have to follow the same laws as those in cars, so if a cyclist was speeding through a red light, riding against traffic, or failing to pay attention, he or she could have been negligent. And while there are some instances where cyclists can ride on the sidewalk, they must still ride responsibly.

Motorist or Cyclist v. Pedestrian

Not every pedestrian accident is someone else's fault. The more we're looking down at our phones while walking, the more we can be at fault for a collision with a bike or car. There are cases when a motorist can sue a pedestrian after an accident, and courts can deal with pedestrian liability a bit differently depending on where you live. Some states have pure contributory negligence laws which make it impossible for an injured party to recover any damages if she was at all responsible for the accident. Other states try to apportion the amount a plaintiff can recover to her percentage of fault under comparative negligence laws. Knowing the difference between contributory and comparative negligence can be essential to your injury claim.

Any personal injury lawsuit can be complicated, especially those involving a pedestrian. If you've been injured as a pedestrian, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney near you -- most are willing to consult with you about your case for free.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/when-to-sue-for-a-pedestrian-injury-accident.html
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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Xarelto Litigation: 6,000 Lawsuits Consolidated

The blood thinner Xarelto, most popular among adults undergoing hip and knee replacement surgeries, can treat patients suffering from an irregular heart rhythm, hypertension, or other valvular heart conditions. And while Xarelto can prevent potentially deadly blood clots, it can also have some potentially dangerous side effects.

And now thousands of lawsuits based on those side effects are being consolidated into one case for pretrial motions. Here’s what you need to know about the latest Xarelto lawsuits.

The Loss

As with all blood thinners, or anticoagulants, Xarelto can increase the risk of internal bleeding and has also been associated with hemorrhaging in the eye. Patients taking Xarelto are more than twice as likely to experience stomach bleeding than those taking another anticoagulant, and at least one patient has died from a blood transfusion to treat Xarelto-related gastrointestinal bleeding. That patient’s husband sued the makers of Xarelto, claiming they failed to certify Xarelto was safe and failed to warn patients about the known risks of taking Xarelto.

The Liability

In certain circumstances, drug companies can be held liable for side effects. Pharmaceutical companies are required to test their products and get FDA approval before releasing them to the public. Once the drug is approved, manufacturers are then required to warn consumers of all known risks and side effects of the drug. Failure to properly design a pharmaceutical drug or warn patients about its side effects can open up a drug company for legal liability.

The Litigation

A report released by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation shows 6,457 pending lawsuits regarding Xarelto, most of them filed against its manufacturer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Forty of these separate lawsuits have now been consolidated into one case in federal court in Louisiana, and will be tried as “bellwether” cases. Scheduled to begin in early 2017, these cases could set the tone for future Xarelto lawsuits.

Pharmaceutical lawsuits can be complicated, so if you’ve been injured by a drug or suffered serious side effects, talk to an experienced personal injury attorney about your case today — most are happy to provide a free consultation.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/xarelto-litigation-6000-lawsuits-consolidated.html
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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Chemo Drug Lawsuits: Taxotere Causes Permanent Hair Loss for Women

One of the sad side effects of chemotherapy to treat cancer is hair loss. And it's become so ubiquitous that there are now charities where you can donate hair for wigs for cancer patients. For the most part, though, patients know that if they survive the chemotherapy and the cancer, their hair will someday grow back. But what if that doesn't happen?

Dozens of new lawsuits are claiming that the chemotherapy drug Taxotere is causing permanent hair loss in female patients, especially those being treated for breast cancer. Here's what you need to know:

Bald-Faced Lies?

Taxotere is the name brand of drug Docetaxel, which is used to battle breast cancer, gastric cancer, and some types of prostate and lung cancer. The drug works by interfering with cell division, but that includes healthy as well as cancerous cells. While all chemotherapy drugs come with the risk of side effects, the new lawsuits claim that Sanofi-Aventis, the makers of Taxotere, knew that permanent baldness was one of those risks and failed to warn women and doctors.

One of those lawsuits alleges that Sanofi-Aventis knew about Taxotere's increased risk of permanent baldness as early as 2005, based on its own research. The same suits claims the Federal Drug Administration issued a warning letter to the drug's manufacturer in 2009 citing "false or misleading statements concerning unsubstantiated claims of Taxotere's superior efficacy." And yet there was no change to the drug's label until January of this year.

Legal Liability

Drug manufacturers have a duty to warn consumers about known side effects, and consumers can sue pharmaceutical companies if they are injured by those side effects. A company could be held liable for providing inadequate warnings, inaccurate warnings, or no warnings at all.

These are the most common cause of pharmaceutical company lawsuits, are there are at least 33 lawsuits pending against Sanofi-Aventis based on their failure to warn female patients about the risk of permanent baldness.

If you've suffered permanent baldness, or any other serious injury as the result of taking Taxotere, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney to review your case. Most are happy to review your case for free.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/chemo-drug-lawsuits-taxotere-causes-permanent-hair-loss-for-women.html
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Monday, August 1, 2016

Mom Sues Cops After Daughter Arrested at Elementary School

Elexecia Martin claims police officers should have known her young daughter wasn’t involved in a fight back in April. After all, there was video of the incident, and not only is Martin’s daughter not on it, but she can allegedly be heard off-camera, begging kids to stop. But that didn’t stop police officers from arresting the girl at her elementary school in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, putting her in the back of a patrol car, and driving her to juvenile detention.

Now Martin is suing the officer involved, claiming her daughter’s constitutional rights were violated and that she “suffered great mental anguish and emotional trauma as a result of the arrest and prosecution.”

False Arrest and Emotional Distress

Martin’s daughter was initially charged with not intervening in the off-campus fight. And although those charges were later dismissed, Martin’s lawsuit claims Officer Chrystal Templeton falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted her daughter, in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.

“Officer Templeton knew or should have known that there existed no probable cause to arrest” Martin’s daughter, her lawsuit claims. “Based on her investigation, Officer Templeton knew or should have known that E.J. had no criminal responsibility for anything that happened in the video.”

The suit also claims that Martin’s daughter suffered emotionally during and after the arrest. The girl allegedly “begged for her mother. She cried. She vomited on the floor.” And she continues to suffer from “severe shock, emotional distress, humiliation, sleeplessness, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life.”

Legal Liability

Suing the police for a false arrest can be tricky. Courts will often grant officers qualified immunity from lawsuits over actions taken in the course of their professional duties. However, section 42 U.S.C. 1983 of the federal statutes allows a citizen to sue police officers if they willingly violate the citizen’s constitutional rights. In this case, Martin would need to prove that Officer Templeton knew, at the time of arrest, that she lacked probable cause to arrest the girl.

In addition, it can be difficult to prove emotional distress. The lawsuit will probably need to demonstrate the outrageousness of the arrest, the intensity of the impact it had on the girl, and the duration of any lasting effects. But arresting elementary-age children at school without any notice to parents and over the objections of other officers might just be bad enough for the suit to succeed.

False arrest lawsuits are becoming more and more common. If you feel that your rights were violated due to an unlawful arrest, you should contact an experienced injury attorney near you.

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from Injured http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/08/mom-sues-cops-after-daughter-arrested-at-elementary-school.html
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