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Wife is Responsible for Hospital and Medical Expenses of her Husband

Brent Adams — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:54:41 GMT

When a motor vehicle collision occurs, it is not unusual for the medical expenses for the resulting injuries to be catastrophic.

It is not at all uncommon for medical and hospital expenses to climb in excess of $50,000.00 even for a short hospital stay.

Unless the injured party can recover from a liability insurance policy or health insurance, medical expenses can ruin a family's financial well-being.

The entire family can be affected because of the longstanding common law "doctrine of necessaries." Under that doctrine, a spouse is liable for the necessary medical expenses incurred by the other spouse. Not only could the personal injuries be devastating to the victim of the motor vehicle collision, but the financial consequences could directly affect the victim's spouse as well.

The common law has long held that it was the duty of a husband to provide for the necessary expenses of his wife. This duty arose from the fact of marriage and not for any specific express guarantee or contract on his part. Our appellant courts have long held that a husband is responsible for the medical expenses of his wife. However, until 1987, the Supreme Court has never addressed the issue of whether the wife was liable for the necessary medical expenses of her husband.

This issue was answered by the Supreme Court in the 1987 case of North Carolina Baptist Hospital v. Donnie Harris and Vern Dale Harris. In that case, the lower court upheld a claim made by the hospital against the husband for his hospitalization but dismissed the claim against the wife. On appeal, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that the "doctrine of necessaries," previously only recognized for medical services required by the wife, actually applied to such services provided to either spouse.

The Supreme Court noted that, in recent years, laws relative to the rights of husbands and wives have become gender-neutral. In keeping with this trend, the court held that the wife is liable for the necessary medical expenses provided for her husband.

The defendant wife argued that the "doctrine of necessaries" should be abandoned all together. In response,, the Supreme Court wrote: "We see no reason to take this course. The doctrine has historically served several beneficial functions. Among these are the encouragement of healthcare providers and facilities to provide needed medical attention to married persons and the recognition that the marriage involves shared wealth, expenses, right, and duties. We concluded that the benefits to the institution of marriage will be enhanced by expanding rather than abolishing the "doctrine of necessaries." Our decision is a recognition of personal duty of each spouse to support the other, a duty arising from the marital relationship itself and carrying with it the right to support from the other spouse."

This case underscores the importance of obtaining sufficient medical payment insurance. This insurance is elective and can be included as part of a car owner's liability insurance policy. Most people have medical payment insurance in a relatively low amount ($1,000.00 to $2,000.00). However, medical payment insurance of at least $100,000.00 is available and is relatively inexpensive.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

North Carolina Takes Action To Reduce Teenage Deaths

Brent Adams — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:48:45 GMT

Over 550 teenagers were killed motor vehicle collisions in North Carolina during the past four years.

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of deaths among 15 to 20 year olds.

If a teen driver has injured you, you may not be alone. In a recent operation done by the North Carolina Highway Patrol, some 8750 citations were issued to teen drives, all of which were in violation of the law. While many of these students will learn their lesson and become better drivers for them, others will not.

Many of these citations were small ones, like seat belts and speeding tickets. It is important to note, though, that most deaths caused by teen drivers are attributed to one of these two factors.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol launched Operation Drive to Live 2009, to reduce teen deaths. The effort was specifically to help reduce the number of teens killed during driving accidents. In the last four years, 554 teens were killed in car crashes. Still, this does not account for others killed due to the student's poor driving habits.

While it is important to crack down on teens to help prevent teen deaths, it is also important to provide restitution for every day drivers and passengers also killed by these accidents. Teenagers often take daring moves on the road, leaving other, unsuspecting drivers at risk.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision, be careful not to make any of the common mistakes made by injured victims. To help you avoid these mistakes order a new free book for North Carolina car accident victims

North Carolina accidents can be reduced through improved education and discipline for teen drivers. While they do not cause all accidents on the roads, many lives can be saved and many injuries avoided, through improved measures.

The North Carolina Highway patrol has published safety tips for teenage drivers.

Perhaps someone you know was injured or killed due to the recklessness of a teen driver. If so, you may be able to take legal action against those responsible. Perhaps you feel that not enough is being done to promote safe teen driving. Through legal measures, people are making a difference in stopping teens and other uneducated drivers from being on the road.

Personal injury attorneys can help you with your own case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

Fibromyalgia

Brent Adams — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:29:00 GMT

Fibromyalgia is a medical condition which is the subject of increased litigation in the areas of personal injury and worker’s compensation. Another actively litigated medical condition is myofascial pain syndrome.

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome which involves muscle and joint pain that is triggered by an accident or repetitive motion or stress.

Those who have the condition say that it can be extremely disabling. However, doctors can’t agree on what causes fibromyalgia, how to diagnosis or treat the condition and some doctors question whether the condition really exist.

As a consequence, in litigation involving fibromyalgia, settlement is hard to achieve and a high number of these cases have to be fully litigated. These trials many times involve an “all or nothing” situation in which the claimant either recovers a significantly large award, or is given very little and in some cases nothing.

Fibromyalgia has become one of the primary diagnoses that rheumatologist make. The American College of Rheumatology has defined the criteria for diagnosing fibromyalgia as follows:

- Pain in at least 11 out of 18 “trigger points” when they are subjected to light pressure, and

- Complaints of wide spread pain for at least 3 months in most areas of the body, including both left and right sides and above and below the waist.

Fibromyalgia is frequently accompanied by stiffness, sleeplessness, depression and bowel irritation.

Fibromyalgia is diagnosed 10 times more often in women than in men. Female suffers often tend to be somewhat overweight.

Fibromyalgia patients have no signs of abnormal muscle tissue, such as inflammation. They also test normally for problems such as arthritis, thyroid disease and lupus.

Treatment for fibromyalgia can include acupuncture or injection of saline or sucrose into the tender points in addition to physical therapy, aerobic exercises, and low dose anti-depressants.

Some doctors disagree on whether fibromyalgia is caused by trauma although many doctors feel that fibromyalgia is associated with neck and spinal trauma.

Studies have shown that fibromyalgia occurs 13 times more frequently following neck trauma.

Other doctors believe that a common cause of fibromyalgia involves environmental factors such as exposure to cold associated with repetitive motion and stress. One doctor even claims that there is a link between fibromyalgia and Nutra-Sweet.

Some claim that the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is a scam or a “catch-all” diagnosis that doctors use when they can’t find anything else or otherwise can not determine the cause of the patient’s problems.

Because the symptoms of fibromyalgia are largely subjective (that is, the symptoms depend upon statements by the patient rather than observable signs such as broken bones, swelling, etc.) they may be difficult to prove in court. The creditability of the patient is the key to a successful verdict for the injured party.

Great care should be taken to obtain an accurate history of the disease from the patient and those who know the patient and can attest to their observations of the patient over a long period of time.

The fact that fibromyalgia cases are difficult to prove should not discourage you from making a claim. Our marvelous jury system provides a mechanism for accurately weighing the merits of these cases and, in meritorious cases, the fibromyalgia victim can be adequately compensated if the case is tried properly.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

In April of 1998 North Carolina State Bar Issued a Letter of Caution to Allstate

Brent Adams — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:47:26 GMT

In April of 1998 The North Carolina State Bar determined that Allstate Insurance Company engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when it sent a letter to motorists who have had accidents with Allstate policy holders.

As a result, the Authorized Practice Committee of the North Carolina State Bar issued a letter of caution to Allstate in April of 1998.

Since Allstate did not like the results of the State Bar action, it asked the Authorized Practice Committee to reconsider its letter of caution in October of 1998 after Allstate alleged that it revised its materials.

The Authorize Practice Committee of the North Carolina State Bar declined to to reconsider its decision and the letter of caution still stands.

As a result of the action of the North Carolina State Bar Allstate did change this tactic as it relates to communicating with personal injury claimants

The letter sent to individuals who may have claims against Allstate insurance policies, informs them that Allstate will help them determine whether they are “eligible to receive compensation for any injuries” they may have suffered. Allstate also offers “to discuss fair payment of your claim.”

The complaint against Allstate pointed out that the recipients get the misleading impression that Allstate is on their side and that there is no benefit in getting an attorney to help. In discussing the “fair payment of your claim” Allstate was offering assistance in the evaluation of a claim for an injured party.

The complaint stated further that the letter not only violated the practice of law but was a clear violation of the conflict of interest rules. Allstate’s interest was in not paying anything to the injured party. The interest of the injured party on the other hand is to recover as much as possible for his claim. Obviously, those two interests conflict with each other. It would be impossible for Allstate to protect the interest of the injured party and at the same time also protect the interest of its shareholders.

The State Bar agreed and took the appropriate action to stop the letters from being sent. Three other States, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey, have previously taken similar action against Allstate.

A 1994 study by the Insurance Research Council showed that people with lawyers on the average got three times more in a settlement.

If you or a love one are tempted to deal directly with an insurance claims adjuster concerning the settlement of a personal injury claim, please keep in mind that the adjuster is not acting in your best interest. The law requires that the adjuster protect the interest of the stockholder not yours.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

Raleigh N. C. Six Year Old Killed At School Bus Stop

Brent Adams — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:44:11 GMT

It is back to school time in North Carolina and unfortunately, these first few days of school have left one child fatally injured as she exited her bus.

A six year old was hit and killed at her bus stop in Raleigh this week.

The girl, Ashley E. Ramos Hernandez was getting home from school at Green Elementary School. As she was exiting the bus, Geraldine Baron Deitz hit the child with her SUV.

Geraldine Baron Deitz, 83, was driving behind the bus. Although the bus's warning signals and lights were in fact on, she failed to stop. Eyewitness reports state that she seemed to have slowed down but did not come to a full stop before she passed the bus. At that point, she hit the child.

Tragically, Ashley died from a result of her injuries.

A driver behind Deitz's SUV did stop and got out to help Ashley until the paramedics arrived on the scene. The driver, Thomas Ernest Waters, provided eyewitness testimony to the police about what occurred.

As children head back to school, this is a tragic reminder of how easily a child may be hurt, or even killed when bus signals are ignored.

Should Ashley's family seek out legal advice and file personal injury charges against Deitz, the fact that Deitz failed to stop even with the warning signals is significant. Individuals who are driving alongside a bus must obey these signals.

It is also North Carolina law that drivers remain at least 100 feet behind the bus to allow enough time to stop quickly.

There are stiff criminal penalties for failing to stop for a stopped school bus. More importantly, Ashley's family has effective legal remedies against the negligent driver. Hopefully the Deitz vehicle is insured for more than the minimum $ 30,000 liability insurance coverage that North Carolina law requires.

Personal injury lawyers can help drivers, pedestrians and others who become the victim in situations like this. If you or someone you know has been in a situation where you were injured because someone else failed to abide by laws, contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

What Can I Recover for Pain and Suffering

Brent Adams — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:23:04 GMT

Perhaps the most difficult element of damage to assess in a personal injury case is the damage for which an injured person is entitled to recover as a result of pain and suffering which occurs as a result of injuries sustained by the negligence of another.

North Carolina law provides that: “Damages for personal injury include such amount the jury finds is fair compensation for the actual physical pain and mental suffering which are the immediate and necessary consequences of the injury.”

The only place it will ever be argued that pain and suffering is of little consequence is in the courtroom. This argument will always be made by a lawyer for the defendant and the defendant’s insurance company. Defense lawyers make the argument that pain and suffering is of little consequence in an effort to keep the damage verdict low.

Common sense and a reflection upon our daily living, however, compels the conclusion that pain and suffering is indeed the most significant aspect of personal injury.

The pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year advertising pain medication of all sorts. We, as the American public, spend billions for pain relievers in order to attempt to eliminate or reduce pain.

The difficulty in assessing and placing a value on personal injury stems primarily from two factors: one is that only the injured person knows for sure if they are experiencing pain and therefore such pain can not be corroborated by other witnesses. Defense lawyers always argue, even if subtly, that the injured Plaintiff is either lying about the personal injury they experience or are greatly exaggerating. The second difficulty in excising pain and suffering is that there is no “market” for pain and suffering and one cannot look up the value of pain and suffering in a catalog.

Pain is a cruel monster, choosing as its victims the helpless and the sick who are the least able to bare it. It loves to prey on children. It attends every human birth, and it torments the last minutes of the dying, who have little enough time to make their peace with God and to say goodbye to their loved ones.

An hour of pain is a sample of hell.

The finger of pain leaves its own traces on the human face, with a look in a man’s eyes and the very way he carries himself. Long contended pain enervates and saps the life and strength from a man and his organs.

Men have begged for death so that they may be relieved of pain, but no normal person begs for pains.

The court instructs juries that there is no yardstick to measure pain, but man has measured pain in the laboratories of human experience in many ways. Every instance in which mankind has had occasion to put pain on one side of the scales and money on the other; he has not hesitated to decide that pain tips the scale. Some of the greatest heroes in medicine are those doctors who invented anesthesia. They are healers of science because they taught us to push back pain at least temporarily.

If the injured person and the careless parties liability insurance carrier cannot agree on a fair amount for pain and suffering, that important issue will be decided by a jury of twelve people chosen at random from the general population of the county.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

You Are Not In Good Hands With Allstate

Brent Adams — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:14:16 GMT

We have all heard the Allstate Insurance Company slogan which is: “You are in good hands with Allstate”.

Those of us who fight Allstate Insurance Company on a regular basis and our clients who seek adequate awards from Allstate Insurance Company know that an experience with Allstate Insurance Company is anything but “good”.

Throughout an 18-month investigation into minor impact-soft-Tissue injury collisions CNN found that if a person were injured in a minor accident, chances were high that Allstate would “challenge your medical claim, offering you barely a fraction of your expenses.”

One of Allstate’s former lawyers admitted that Allstate’s strategy is to make fighting the company “so expensive and so time-consuming that lawyers would start refusing to help clients.”

During the early ‘90s Allstate Insurance Company hired management consultant giant McKinsey & Co. to help Allstate increase its profits.

McKinsey & Co. came up with a scheme that significantly increased Allstate’s profits by means of shortchanging claimants who sought inadequate recovery from injuries sustained in minor motor vehicle collisions.

At the direction of McKinsey & Co. Allstate installed a new claims handling system called Claims Core Process Design (CCPD). This system was put into place in 1995.

The major emphasis of CCPD was to pay less on claims by using rigid standardized methods such as Fast Track, Colossus, minor impact-soft tissue referrals and special investigative unit referrals and by discouraging legal representation.

By the use of Colossus, Allstate took away from the in-the-field claims adjusters the discretion to set the value of a claim. I instead, the facts arising out of the claim were fed into a computer program named Colossus. Colossus spit out the value of the claim in a cookbook fashion. This is the amount that Allstate stuck to in its negotiations with injured claimants.

Because litigation is expensive, Allstate knew that by making low ball offers to the claimants chances were good that these beaten down claimants would settle their claim for a small fraction of its true value. These hard-pressed claimants simply did not have the wherewithal and stamina to fight their claims in court.

Unfortunately, Allstate tactics of discouraging attorneys to help injured victims in these low impact cases proved to be very profitable. Sadly, many lawyers who were willing to take minor impact cases before the new McKinsey procedures were instituted now refuse to help these injured parties because Allstate made it too expensive for these lawyers to handle the cases. These lawyers found that the chances of their making any profit on these cases were so slim that they refused to handle the cases.

Fortunately, there are dedicated plaintiffs lawyers who are willing to take these cases.

However, these scorch-the-earth defense tactics employed by not only Allstate Insurance Company but State Farm, Nationwide and many other insurance companies, have taken their toll on the unfortunate personal injury victims who now find it even more difficult to obtain an adequate recovery for their injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

Post-claim underwriting:An Unfair Insurance Practice

Brent Adams — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:18:35 GMT

Some health insurance companies regularly engage in an unfair practice of post-claim underwriting.

Underwriting, is a practice of conducting an investigation in order to determine if an insurance company is willing to incur the risk of issuing an insurance policy. With respect to health insurance, underwriting includes such activities as obtaining and reading the insurance applicant's medical records so that the insurance company can understand the medical condition, past and present, of the applicant. If the medical records reveal that the applicant is a bad insurance risk, the insurance company can legally decline to issue the insurance. The underwriting process is a necessary aspect of the insurance business.

Some health insurance companies side step the underwriting process and do not do a thorough job of underwriting. That is, they do not thoroughly check the medical records of their applicants. Some companies wait until after a significant health claim is made before they even begin the underwriting process. When a claim comes in, these insurance companies then, for the first time examine the medical records they could have examined before they issued the policy. After the claim is filed the insurance company then searches the records with a fine-tooth comb to see if there is anything in the medical records that was not disclosed in the initial application. If the insurance company finds a condition that was not previously reported, even a totally insignificant condition, these companies will deny the claim by "rescinding" the insurance policy, giving the premiums back to the insured, and refuse to pay anything on the claim.

This practice creates a "heads I win, tails you loose" situation for the insurance company.

This practice is unfair to the insured who naturally assumes that they and their family are protected by a valid insurance policy. After all, they did give the insurance company medical releases for them to obtain all the medical records they wished to obtain. Furthermore, the insured filled out the application as accurately as they could even though they may have unintentionally left off certain details from the application.

Consumers should learn how to recognize post claims underwriting.

The insurance company should not be allowed to process applications, accept premiums, bind coverage, issue policies, and then use information it had access to but ignored prior to issuing a policy, as a basis to later deny claims. With this unfair procedure, if there is no claim, the insurance company simply pockets the money without bearing any of the risk. If there is a claim, the company returns the premiums paid to the insured and rescinds the policy thereby accepting no liability for the loss.

The harm to the insured is that they never really have any insurance, although they paid the premiums and are entitled to assume that they have insurance when the insurance company issues them a policy. The underwriting process is a part of what the policy holder pays for. With post-claim underwriting, the policy holder does not get the underwriting---until it is too late to obtain coverage from another company.

An insurance consumer group, United Policyholders recently went to bat for an insured who was victim of the post-claims underwriting practice. In the case of Hailey v. CA. Physicions Service dba Blue Shield of CA. United Policyholders filed an amicus brief in support of the policy holder. In the brief it attacks the unfair post-claim underwriting practice.

United Policyholders is the only national consumer organization that is 100 percent dedicated to helping policyholders and educating the public, courts and elected officials on insurance issues and consumer rights.

In North Carolina, there is an insurance regulation which prohibits post claims underwriting, at least in some limited circumstances. However the regulation is loosely worded and there is no case law in North Carolina law or statutes which deal specifically with post-claims underwriting practices. There are several harsh cases, however in which insurance companies have been allowed to rescind health insurance policies when there were misstatements or incomplete answers in the application for health insurance.

It will take litigation brought by insurance company victims before this unfair practice is stopped in North Carolina.

If you have been a victim of post claims underwriting, you should fight the insurance company. Your claim could make a big difference, not only for you but for the public as a whole.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

Two qualifications your personal injury lawyer should have

Brent Adams — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:57:49 GMT

It is not easy to find a good personal injury lawyer. Certainly there are a lot of lawyers out there. It seems as though there is a lawyer under every rock.

However, if you are looking for a personal injury lawyer, you need to be sure that you have a good one.

It is important to understand that not all lawyers who claim to be personal injury lawyers are the same. Some are very good, others are not.

How do you tell the difference?

Among the most important qualifications of a good trial lawyer is experience. It is important that you have a lawyer who has actually tried a good number of personal injury lawsuits.

It is always better to settle your case without going to court. However, in order to get a good settlement, it is necessary for the insurance company to know that you are represented by a lawyer who is ready, willing and able to file your lawsuit and try your case before a jury if necessary.

There is a truism recognized by experienced personal injury lawyers that if you want to obtain a good settlement, it is necessary to prepare the case for trial. In the vast majority of the time, if a case is prepared for trial, if the claimant’s lawyer is ready to go to trial, then the insurance company will recognize that fact and will offer a good settlement.

There are law firms who operate what is commonly known as “settlement mills”. These law firms take in a large volume of cases and, in order to avoid going to court, settle their client’s cases for less than fair value. Insurance companies know who these “settlement mill” lawyers are and lower the evaluations of their cases accordingly.

If you are represented by one of these lawyers, you can expect that your settlement will, on average, be less than you would expect from a lawyer who tries personal injury cases on a regular basis.

A second important attribute of a good personal injury lawyer is that he or she actually cares about you and your case. President Theodore Roosevelt once said that you should not care how much a person knows until you first know how much they care. This caution is especially true for your selection of a personal injury lawyer.

You need a lawyer who takes a personal interest in your case, gives you individualized custom service and cares more about your welfare than the fee they may obtain or how much work they have to do in order to achieve your goals.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brent Adams

Accidents with Unlicensed Drivers

Christina Medlin — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:17:51 GMT

Arturo Arguijo's, 16, faces charges of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and driving without a license. He is in the Wake County Jail under a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in August.

Arguijo pulled out in front of Salud Avellaneda-Marin, 41, of Asheboro, and her two sons causing her SUV to rollover several times. Avellaneda-Marin died at WakeMed; her 20-year-old and infant sons were injured, but they were expected to recover.

According to AAA Foundation for Saftey, between 1993 and 1997, some 42,049 people died because someone who did not hold a valid driver's license climbed behind the wheel of a vehicle and drove anyway. An AAA Foundation survey shows that 20 percent - one in every five - of all fatal crashes in the United States involve drivers who were unlicensed.

In North Carolina, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, 24% of all fatalities involve an unlicensed driver (1999 data) and approximately 75% of suspended/revoked drivers continue to operate a motor vehicle.

If you are involved in an accident with an unlicensed driver, your uninsured motorist coverage from your auto insurance protects you if the at-fault driver has no insurance and/or is unlicensed. Most people purchases the lowest amounts of coverage, but find it to be inadequate when injured in an accident. Check your auto insurance policy to ensure you have sufficient coverage!

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Automobile and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Medlin