Total Injury

Legislation Would Prevent Insurance Companies from Compromising Genetic Testing for Profits

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:35:13 -0600

While advances in genetic testing have allowed people to get a better picture of their health by catching and treating health conditions sooner rather than later, it also comes as no surprise that insurance companies have used genetic testing as a means to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions. Thanks to legislation which recently passed the U.S. Senate, health care discrimination based on genetic testing would be banned, leaving insurance companies to find another way to save a buck at the expense of the public's health:

Congressional Bill Prevents Health Care Discrimination based on Genetic Testing.

Ray's Reyes Stung with Taser

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:07:09 -0600

Tampa Bay Devil Rays relief pitcher Al Reyes was the latest victim of a police Tasering, after officers intervened to stop a fight between him and another patron of the Hyde Park Cafe in Tampa. The other patron punched Reyes in the face after the two exchanged words, after which Reyes began spitting blood and swinging his arms wildly, according to the ESPN news report. When Reyes would not settle down and continued spitting blood, police used a Taser to knock the 230-pound pitcher to the ground, then shocked him again when he disobeyed commands to remain on the ground.

Student Safety Taken A Bit Too Far?

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:38:11 -0600

Student safety should obviously be a top concern of schools, especially in this day and age when schools may not seem as safe as they once were. With that said, a Tampa elementary school seems to have taken the issue a bit far after a young girl with knee problems was denied using her crutches due to a "communications" miscommunication involving a school policy about having a doctor's note for such devices:

• School Nurse Takes Crutches from Injured Student.

Excessive Bullying Prompts Personal Injury Lawsuit

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:12:10 -0600

In what is one of the more disturbing stories that I've come across the Web in a long time, the parents of a North Carolina high school student have had to file a personal injury lawsuit against their son's bullies. Check out the story below and tell me if you think something is wrong with the school in question and the parents of the bullies:
•Personal Injury Lawsuit Is Last Resort Against Bullies!

Tipping Cows is So Old-Fashioned

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:40:50 -0600

From a local Arkansas paper, the news of an officer suspending for Tasing a cow. To test out a Taser that he thought was malfunctioning, a Rogers, Arkansas police officer tried to stun the cow with the Taser while friends videotaped the incident. The officer accidentally shocked himself first when he missed the cow, to the apparent hilarity of the group. Now he faces a two-week suspension and the department has planned to better account for its Taser cartridges.

$9 Million Verdict after Woman Dropped by Insurance Company During Chemo

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:06:36 -0600

A Los Angeles woman received a winning verdict of $9 million after an arbitration judge decided against Health Net, her insurance provider. Most of that award ($8.4 million, to be exact) came in the form of punitive damages, and you'll see why he came to that stinging amount if you consider the case. The woman was diagnosed with breast cancer and had started chemotherapy treatment to remove the tumor that doctors had found. However, doctors stopped her treatments and notified her that her bills were going unpaid by the insurance company. And hers wasn't the only patient's bills that were being unpaid. Health Net stopped paying on around 1,600 patients, according to the Associated Press, whose accounts were frozen while a third-party review board was initiated to review the cases.

New Zyprexa Claims Settled Now Total 25,000

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:06:34 -0600

New claims against Eli Lilly Co. over harmful side effects of the defective drug Zyprexa have now brought the total number of drug settlements to over 25,000. 900 new cases, including 5 that were set to go to trial in February, were settled recently, leaving the total number of unsettled cases at 1,100.

Blue Man Group Sued for Blue Man-Handling

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:31:49 -0600

As David Cross's character Tobias in the Fox cult TV favorite "Arrested Development" found out, the Blue Man Group is not a support group for sad men. Just ask James Srodon of California, who filed a lawsuit with the Cook County Circuit Court, indicating that he was not a "willing" participant with the Blue Man Group during one of their infamous audience participation bits. The Blue Men used Srodon for a bit in which they used an "esophagus cam" in Srodon's throat and projected footage of the inside of someone's stomach on the stage screen. Srodon alleges that he did not want to participate, and the Blue Men forced the tube with the camera down his throat, and that the tube was covered in food and other disgusting debris from the theater floor, as well as blue paint from Blue Man hands. The lawsuit seeks $50,000 for battery, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Srodon claimed in the suit that the camera injured his mouth, throat and dental work.

Taser Proof Clothing to Stop Taser Attacks?!

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:29:10 -0600

A man from Arizona has filed a patent with the US Patent Office for an "energy weapon protection device," which from the diagram he provided with his application, consists of a jacket made of non-conductive material that won't allow the taser (or, tazer, as it's often misspelled) attacks to jolt the wearer. I.e., we've got Taser-proof clothing. No word yet on whether or not people who wear this crazy outfit can be cited for "excited delirium" before they get tased. In fact, the fashion police might be more appalled by this set of threads than any law enforcement agency.

Now You Can Get Tased for Common Courtesy?

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:48:17 -0600

Elizabeth Beeland was a holiday shopper who stepped out of a Best Buy to talk on her cell phone, forgetting her credit card at the cashier's desk. The ever-vigilant Best Buy clerk, surprised by Beeland's beeline for the door, suspected she was fleeing the scene after using a stolen credit card, and called over a police officer to confront her. According to the police report that officer Claudia Wright filed, when Wright confronted Beeland outside the store, Beeland was "verbally profane, abusive, loud and irate." After warning her to calm down or face arrest, Wright shocked Beeland with a Taser. Security video of the incident shows Beeland backing away and trying to avoid the officer, then falling to the ground as the Taser strikes. Officer Wright was not disciplined for using the Taser on Beeland. The Chief of Police defended Wright, saying that Beeland was disobeying an officer's orders and that the Taser was a better alternative to another weapon.

Police Brutality on the Rise After 9/11

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:45:06 -0600

National news sources such as USA Today have been reporting on a new study issued by the United States Justice Department of Justice that claims that police brutality incidents have been on the rise since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Compared to the previous seven-year period, the period from 2001 to 2007 exhibited a rise of 25% of police brutality incidents, with a rise in convictions of police officers for use of excessive force of 53% (the report was obviously intended to tout its own successes in prosecution).

Prison Sentence a No-Brainer for "Rent-a-Patient" Doc

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:35:28 -0600

n one of the most clear-cut cases of insurance fraud possibly ever, a Los Angeles doctor has pleaded guilty to running a scam that's being called "rent-a-patient." Mamdouh S. Bahna of Bel Air allegedly paid patients to undergo unnecessary procedures so that he could bill insurance companies. Examples of the surgeries that he would perform include colonoscopies and something called a "sweaty-palm" surgery. (Surgery always makes my palms sweat, so I'm still waiting for another distinction.) The lawyers prosecuting the case allege that Bahna defrauded his insurance companies out of $1 million. As a result of his guilty plea, he'll be put in jail for 58 months and have to pay a $150K fine.

Hospital Performs Surgery on Wrong Side of Brain...for the THIRD Time!

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:23:05 -0600

Rhode Island Hospital was recently fined $50,000 by the State Department of Health and reprimanded for reports that a doctor at the hospital operated on the wrong side of a patient's brain during a brain surgery procedure. The reason for the fine? It's the THIRD time this year that this mistake has happened at this hospital.

Truck Accident Victim Receives Settlement, Loses It to Walmart

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:11:22 -0600

Let the following be a lesson to those who, like many of us, have employee health insurance through their employers. If you seek compensation in a personal injury case, as is your right, you may have to reimburse the insurance...

Merck to Pay $4.85 Billion to VIOXX Claimants

pr@totalattorneys.com (Editor) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:09:43 -0600

Merck & Co, a pharmaceutical sales company, plans to offer $4.85 billion to plaintiffs in pending injury cases involving complications from VIOXX.