Mississippi Personal Injury Blog

Outrageous hospital billings.

Gerry McGill — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:37:29 GMT

Ever wonder why hospital bills are so high? Consider these: Patient Jim Bujalski complained to St. Anthony's Hospital in Littleton, CO, about the cost of his prescription Plavix and Crestor tablets, which he was forced to "buy" while hospitalized. He could not use his own medications beause the Hospital only "administers drugs under its own control". The Plavix was $248 each, (he pays $8 at home) and his Crestor was $65($3 at home). That's a mark-up 31 times for Plavix and 21 and 2/3 for Crestor. The medications were part of his $58,000, one-day hospital stay.

Further, Medical Billing Advocates of America, a private firm that patients can hire to help consumers sort through their medical bill for errors, over-billing or outright fraud, has reported patients bills that contain a $2 box of tissues billed as a "mucus recovery system" for $12, a piece of gauze used to wipe down surgical equipment billed as a "fog eliination device" for $57, and a Teddy Bear billed as a "cough support device" for $57.

Medical Billing Advocates of Florida estimates that as many as 80% of all medical bills contain billing errors of some type but a spokesman for Humana, a health insurance company that receives about 6 million claims a month says that 90% of the bills do not contain errors. Assuming that neither advocacy group is totally correct and the difference is somewhere in between, there are certainly many, many errors made. Call me a cynic, but I can't help but believe that the number of overbillings greatly exceed errors in the patients' favor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

IDA's main danger is flooding.

Gerry McGill — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:24:02 GMT

"Nothing is so exhilarating as to be shot at and missed!" Winston Churchill cabled back to England when he was a war correspondent covering the Boer war. The same could be said for hurricanes. Thanks to the late date, resultling in cooler Gulf waters, and upper wind shear, the winds were much less than they could have been. However, as with most tropical storms and depressions, most of the damage is done by flooding,often miles inland from the coast. Unfortunately some homeowners are going to suffer flooding and find that their Homeowners Insurance does not cover flooding even when that flooding is caused by a named windstorm. I have posted earlier blogs on this site as to how to obtain low cost flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which is a government funded policy. If you suffered flooding, or even if you escaped this time, I urge you to look into obtaining flood insurance. History has shown that flooding occurs anytime throughout the year, not just during Hurricane season or near the Gulf Coast.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Homeowners Nightmare. Insurance doesn't cover Chinese drywall damage.

Gerry McGill — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:37:36 GMT

Just when you thought you had seen it all with insurance companies, ABC News has released this new report on homeowner's insurance:

As a New Orleans federal court holds a hearing today on lawsuits alleging that defective Chinese-made drywall is destroying people's homes and their health, outside the courtroom owners of more than 100,000 houses built with that drywall are learning that some insurance companies are canceling their policies.

Apparently:

Now that insurance companies know about the tainted drywall, some, such as Universal Insurance and Citizens Property Insurance, have chosen to cancel policies to avoid further risk from things like corroding pipes that could burst.

Builders started using Chinese-made drywall after the combined building boom, the devastation to Florida by Hurricanes Charley, Francis, Ivan, and Jeanne in 2004, and then the Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005 caused a shortage in domestic building materials. At first, the building materials from China didn't seem to be any different than the normally-used materials, but after a while, the homeowners who moved into the homes built with Chinese-made drywall began to notice a change in their health and living conditions. Take, for instance, the story of real-estate agent Felix Martinez:

Felix Martinez thought he'd found his dream house when he bought the 3,500-square-foot beauty in Homestead, Fla., two years ago.

Then, he says, his large-screen TV mysteriously failed. Next, the air conditioner went. His bath towels smelled like rotten eggs. Visitors noted an odor in the house. Martinez says he's suffered new sinus problems and sleep apnea. His wife and son sneeze a lot.

Other families have reported similar timelines in homes that were built with Chinese materials: damage to their property, a sulfurous odor, and negative health effects, usually dealing with the respiratory system. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is currently investigating Chinese-made drywall, to see if it is emitting sulfur gasses, which can corrode copper coils and electronics in a home. A current lawsuit against the drywall manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin says that such sulfurous gasses can have negative health effects on people, but Knauf disagrees, saying that tests have been done on the gasses and they do not affect health in any way.

Either way, it is apparent that living conditions in homes with Chinese-made drywall are becoming unbearable, so the homeowners have two options: either move, or replace the drywall. If the family moves, "they have to disclose the drywall problem and that may make their dream home virtually worthless". These homes were built in 2005 or more recently, so the majority of the people who have bought these homes have not paid off their mortgages on them, which may make selling them for less then they paid for them a financial catastrophe.

Unfortunately, if the family chooses to replace the drywall, it could cost them upwards of $100,000, and many home-owners insurance companies, such as Citizens Insurance Company, are dropping their policies with these homeowners as soon as the families make a claim to help pay for the replacement drywall.

While the law doesn't prevent insurance companies from dropping policies in this manner, this is another example of ordinary people being left out to dry by the insurance companies that they pay high premiums to every month. If we can't rely on our insurance companies to help us financially when we fall on hard times, then why do we pay them so much money? This is a sad situation, and hopefully we will learn from this, and start to hold our insurance companies and homebuilders accountable for their actions.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Homeowner's Chinese Drywall Claim Can Lead to Mortgage Foreclosure

Gerry McGill — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:25:17 GMT

The nightmare begins when you discover that the dream home which you purchased in 2005, at the peak of the housing boom, is contaminated with Chinese Drywall. It continues when you learn that your builder went bankrupt in 2008. Then you file a claim with your Homeowners Insurance Company. Despite having faithfully paid all your premiums for the last four years, your claim is denied because, to your surprise, the policy includes exclusions for construction defects or pollution defects.

You think things couldn't get worse but you are wrong. Your Homeowners Insurance Company next sends you written notice that they will not re-new your policy because your home is contaminated with Chinese Drywall. They would be willing to re-new your policy "once the problem has been remediated to their satisfation". With no solvent builder and no insurance coverage you lack the $100,000.00 or so that it will take to remove, replace and re-paint all the existing drywall, replace wooden studs and framing, replace all insulation and other porous matter, re-wire the entire electrical system ,since the copper wires are corroded and could be a fire hazard, and replace any fixtures containing copper wires, such as the A/C air handler and refrigerator.

So what happens next? You move out of your house but you have to keep paying the mortgage, taxes and insurance each month. Then when your Homeowner's Policy expires your Insurance Company send a Notice of Cancellation of Insurance to your Mortgage Holder. Since all Mortgage Holders require Homeowners' Insurance to cover them in the case of a loss, you are now in default on your mortgage. You will get some grace period to bring your mortgage current by obtaining the required insurance, but where will you get it from? Nowhere, unless the government step in.

I wish this scenario was just a nightmare and would be gone when you wake up, but for thousands of families I'm afraid this is going to become a reality. I wish even more that I knew the solution to the problem but I don't. The Chinese companies that manufactured this toxic drywall will probably just ignore the problem and continue to find more products to ship to America. I do not favor government to solve all our problems, but I do hope our leaders can show compassion and a willingness to help so many unsuspecting and innocent victims.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Malpractice Tort Reform is a Red Herring in the Health Care Debate

Gerry McGill — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:30:50 GMT

Do you know what a red herring is?

Dictionary.com defines a red herring as "something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand". The term was coined because escaped criminals used to use the strong smell of red herrings to confuse the police's bloodhounds.

Nowadays, there are a lot of people using the "red herring" of capping rewards in malpractice cases to distract us from the real issue of health care reform. These people would claim that the main problem in our health care system comes from ridiculously expensive malpractice cases, and that doctors are being run out of business by corrupt lawyers and their greedy clients.

Of course, these claims are only loosely based on fact, and serve more to distract the public than to educate them. According to several studies, and prominent American economists, malpractice costs make up only about 2% of our nation's spending on health care, and health care prices continue to rise even in states where caps have been set on the amount of money a person can win in a malpractice case.

So why do so many people continue to push for malpractice caps as the solution to our health care problem?

For one thing, it's more easily grasped than the more complicated arguments for health care reform. Media accounts of huge jury verdicts (Remember the woman who spilled McDonald's coffee on her lap and was awarded millions?) tend to magnify the lotterylike aspects of the tort system, with undeserving plaintiffs reaping huge rewards while deserving victims get shut out.

"Everyone likes to have villains," said Kansas City lawyer Gene Graham, whose firm handles medical malpractice cases. "They want to find someone to blame. Trial lawyers have become convenient targets for people who want to say they're responsible."

Tom Baker, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "The Medical Malpractice Myth," theorized that having "a common enemy" keeps insurance and pharmaceutical companies -- the real culprits behind rising costs, he said -- from fighting among themselves.

Conversely, [Harvard economist Amitabh] Chandra said: "Everyone likes their doctor and doctors work hard, so we as a society have a tendency to listen to their view of the world."

The Gulf Coast, and Mississippi in specific, has too many uninsured citizens for us to pay attention to these red herrings. According to the Birmingham Business Journal, all of the Gulf Coast states reported Census statistics that put them above the national average number of uninsured adults and children. As it was broken down statistically:

The U.S. average for uninsured adults was 19.85 percent. Florida had the highest level of uninsured adults in the South at 27.4 percent. Arkansas reported 25.7 percent uninsured. Louisiana had 25 percent while Georgia’s rate was 24.5 percent. Mississippi had 23.5 percent of its adults uninsured. Texas was the worst nationally with 30.4 percent of adults uninsured.

We can't afford to be distracted from the real issues at hand. Health care costs are going up, and medical malpractice caps will not help us make health insurance more affordable; if anything, capping how much an injured party can receive in damages will only hurt people who are already suffering.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Woman Dies In Crash With Brush Collection Truck Near Tupelo

Chrissie Cole — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:13:00 GMT

A Corinth woman was killed when the vehicle she was riding in collided with a City of Corinth brush collection truck on Thursday.

The woman, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Corinth Deputy Police Chief Scotty Harville.

William Lipe, Jr., 33, struck the back of the truck as two city street department workers were loading brush onto the truck on the side of the road. He was airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo for treatment. The extent of his injuries are not known at this time.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

NHTSA fears angering Congress; Hides study on cell phones and driving.

Gerry McGill — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:46:53 GMT

Everyone knows that drinking and driving is bad. We are bombarded on a daily basis with public service announcements to that effect. Our children take drivers education classes in which they watch films with titles like “Blood on the Highways!!!” If we actually drive after drinking we can expect to be caught and lose our drivers licenses and possibly go to jail. If we get in an accident and someone is killed, we will be charged with vehicular manslaughter. So, with all this, surely it is obvious that drinking and driving is the worst combination ever, right? Wrong. It now appears the driving while texting is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.

Reports have begun to surface that in 2003 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suppressed research showing the tremendous danger of using a cell phone while driving. According to the former head of the NHTSA, the report was suppressed in order to “avoid antagonizing members of Congress.” According to their website, the mission of the NHTSA is to “Save lives, prevent injuries, [and] reduce vehicle-related crashes.” Unless of course, that mission results in “antagonizing members of Congress.”

The NHTSA report finds that drivers talking on a phone are four times more likely to crash than other drivers. This is the same likelihood of causing an accident as a driver with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08. The study also shows that the problem is not the physical manipulation of the device. In other words, drivers talking on a hands-free device are no safer than those holding the phone. This sounds bad enough, and yet a 2006 study from the University of Utah found that in simulators, cell phone users actually caused more accidents than drunken drivers.

Neither of these studies examined texting while driving, merely talking. However, common sense suggests that if the mere act of using a phone while driving is dangerous, then using it while not looking at the road will be even more so. And, in recent months the nation has begun to reap the fruits of the NHTSA’s timidity. There have been a number of high profile public accidents involving texting. Since September 2008, more than 25 people have been killed, and nearly 200 injured in a train accident where the operators were texting. Early in June, a federal employee in California somehow failed to see an enormous Department of Transportation maintenance truck, at least until he slammed into it at full speed. The cause? The driver was talking on his cell phone, in violation of California law.

If this recitation of facts has not been disquieting enough, consider another conclusion from the Utah study. At any given time, the number of drunk drivers on the road is quite small, particularly during the day. Just look out of your car window during today’s commute home and see how many folks are chatting away on their phones, or even texting. My own, informal, research suggests that at least half of drivers are blithely chatting away in what are, I’m sure, extremely important phone calls. Perhaps they are all trauma surgeons responding to emergency pages, or ambassadors to foreign nations, or perhaps they are all the guy who holds the nuclear codes for the president. They can’t possibly be risking their lives and the lives of others in order to share the details of the sandwich they ate for lunch, or because they can’t wait fifteen minutes to schedule a haircut.

Here is the bottom line, folks. Talking on a cell phone is at least as dangerous as driving drunk. Texting is worse. If you do it you are endangering those around you. In a word, it is negligent. So, let’s stop doing it.Just once, let’s all try and do the right thing because it is right. If however, doing the right thing for the right reason just doesn’t make it for you, consider how you will feel explaining to the grieving relatives of the people you just killed that you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to win free concert tickets. If even that is not enough, imagine sitting in a courtroom someday, explaining it to a jury.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Church bus crash in Mississippi kills 1; injures 23

Gerry McGill — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:04:32 GMT

Church Bus Flips in Mississippi; Killing 1, Injuring 23

A church bus carrying a church youth group from Louisiana to Georgia flipped Sunday July 12 at around 10:20 a.m., killing one and injuring 23. The accident took place on Interstate 20 near Meridian, Mississippi. The Lauderdale county coroner, Clayton Cobler III, reports that a rear tire blowout caused the bus to flip three times before landing on its side and trapping passengers underneath. A group of National Guard soldiers were traveling on I-20 when the accident occurred and helped extricate the injured. They also managed to lift the bus up off the two people trapped underneath and get them out.

While some sources report the deceased to be an 18-year-old male, the Shreveport Times reports that he is 14-years-old. The young man was pronounced dead at Jeff Anderson Hospital. Passenger injuries range from severe pelvic, back and chest injuries to minimal scrapes and scratches. Sources report that three passengers were airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, while 13 were taken to Rush Foundation Hospital and six were taken to Regency Hospital of Meridian. Many of those injured were released from the hospital late Sunday.

The bus left the Shreveport, Louisiana church at 4:45 a.m. The youth group was traveling to Macon, Georgia to attend a week-long Christian youth camp called Passport, which is held at Mercer University. At the time of the accident, the bus was two miles west of the Alabama state line. The rollover happened near the visitor center. The First Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana learned of the accident shortly before they began their Sunday morning worship. Dr. Greg Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist, expressed appreciation for the heroic actions and support of those involved. The congregation is pulling together to overcome this unfortunate tragedy.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a church bus has been involved in an accident. In Texas, a fatal church bus accident was also caused by a tire blowout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_arWTekeo

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Escaped pet python strangles 2-year-old

Gerry McGill — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:39:07 GMT

It's the thing of nightmares or horror movies. A 12-foot pet Burmese python excaped from a terrarium and strangled a two year old girl in her bedroom Wednesday in a central Florida home. The snake belonged to the mothers boyfriend. He discovered the snake missing from the terrarium and went to the little girl's bedroom where he found the snake wrapped around the girl and bite marks on the girl's head. He stabbed the snake several times until he was able to pry the snake away.

A caller from the house screamed to the 911 operator: "The baby's dead! Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby." When the paramedics arrived about 10:00 a.m. the baby was already dead. Authorities removed the snake, still alive, from the home Wednesday afternoon.

The Humane Society of the United States said including this death, at least 12 people have been killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980, including five children. This situation is only going to get worse. Scientists estimate that at least 150,000 Burmese pythons exist in the Florida Everglades. These snakes are not native to Florida but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds. At least one is known to have killed a large alligator and then burst when it tried to swallow the alligator.

What is really frightening is that these Burmese pythons are capable of surviving and reproducing in at least 12 southern states including Mississippi.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill

Advantages of contingent fees in injury cases

Gerry McGill — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:19:39 GMT

One of the true advantages to the plaintiff is that a contingent fee contract is a no-risk proposition for the plaintiff in that if no recovery is made they owe no fees and in most cases no costs to their attorneys. In addition, a contingent fee contract has often been described as the keys to the courthouse. In reality, only the most wealthy of plaintiffs could afford to pay a plaintiff's attorney an hourly rate plus advance all costs to be expended in a case against a major corporation.

Another advantage of the contingent fee contract is that in cases where the injuries or damages are significant enough, very competent and reputable attorneys are willing to invest the time and money necessary to do a free evaluation of the case for their potential clients. Since most contingent fee attorneys will only proceed with a case they feel has merit, they should make the evaluation as timely as possible and in the event that they do not feel that they could represent the client they should inform the client of that fact in sufficient time that the client would have time to consult with another attorney or law firm. It is not uncommon that a case is turned down by one attorney or law firm and accepted and successfully handled by another firm.

Finally, one of the major advantages to plaintiffs is that the contingent fee system encourages the plaintiff's attorneys to be efficient and to resolve the case as soon as possible. Since the attorney does not receive any fee nor any reimbursement of what may be significant costs advanced until the case is successfully concluded, the contingent fee encourages the attorney to work to settle the case as soon as possible. In contrast, most defense attorneys for large corporations and insurance companies are paid on an hourly basis. Obviously, there is no great incentive for these attorneys to conclude the case in an expeditious manner and hourly fee arrangements can encourage delay, inefficiency and unnecessary legal tactics.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Gerry McGill