Day on Torts

October 31, 2010

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Filings 2010 – Part 1

The preliminary numbers are in for 2010 and demonstrate that the statute providing for the giving of notice and filing a certificate of good faith has dramatically decreased the number of medical malpractice filings in Tennessee. The new law came in to effect on October 1, 2008 and was modified effective July 1, 2009.

You may remember that for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2008, 644 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in Tennessee. A whooping 140 of those were filed in September 2008, some of which were filed as lawyers took action to avoid the burden and risks of filing cases under the new law.

For the year ending September 30, 2009, the first year that the new law was in effect, available data indicates that only 263 medical malpractice lawsuits had been filed. Because there were a larger-than-usual number of filings before the new law came into effect, it is fair to say that filings were lower than one would expect in an ordinary year.

October 31, 2010

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Filings 2010 -Part 3

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

This is Part 3 of my report on medical malpractice case filings in Tennessee. (Click to read Part 1 and Part 2.) Here are the case filings for some of the larger counties in the state for the year ended September 30, 2010:

County

Shelby 88

October 31, 2010

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings 2010 – Part 4

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

This is Part 4 of my report on medical malpractice filings in Tennessee for 2010. (Here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) Today, I examine the county where I live, Williamson County.

Williamson County, Tennessee is on the southern border of Davidson County, which is the home of our state capital, Nashville. In 2010 Williamson County had 180,891 residents. Almost 90 percent of those residents were white and about 5% of them were African-American. The average household income was almost $122,000 per year and the per capita annual income was about $42,000. Over 56% of the people in the county have attained at least one college degree.

Williamson Medical Center is a 185-bed hospital in Franklin. It provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care. It has an active emergency room and has physicians on-staff in some 36 specialties.

October 28, 2010

Do Auto Safety Standards Save Lives?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

On Tuesday the 26th I posted about a NHTSA report on traffic safety. I saved for today a reference to what the organization believes is a major cause of the decrease in deaths and injuries in motor vehicle cases: safety regulations and programs imposed by state and federal governments.

Here is a summary of the findings on this point:

The long-term declining trend observed in fatalities since reaching a high in the early 1970s has occurred while significant vehicle and occupant safety regulations and programs were being enacted by NHTSA and the States. NHTSA-administered behavioral and vehicle safety programs, both in the crashworthiness and crash avoidance areas, and through the issuing of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards has contributed tremendously to the long-term downward trend seen in motor vehicle traffic crash fatalities. In 2008, an estimated 244 lives were saved by the use of child restraints, 13,250 lives of people 5 and older were saved by seat belts, 2,546 lives of people 13 and older were saved by air bags, 1,829 lives were saved by the use of motorcycle helmets, and 714 lives were saved by minimum-drinking-age laws (NHTSA, 2009). Significant life-saving vehicle technologies like electronic stability control (ESC) have begun to penetrate the vehicle fleet. NHTSA estimates ESC would save 5,300 to 9,600 lives and prevent 156,000 to 238,000 injuries in all types of crashes annually once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC (NHTSA, 2007).

October 26, 2010

Vehicle Crashes, Death and Injuries Continue to Decline

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has issued a report analyzing motor vehicle crash data for 2008. The good news: the number of vehicle crashes, deaths and injuries continue to decline.

From the report:

The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the primary exposure measure used when analyzing the occurrence of fatal motor vehicle crashes. VMT is collected by the Federal Highway Administration and in 2008 FHWA reported a decrease in VMT of almost 2 percent from that reported in 2007. This is the first reported decline in VMT since 1980. The number of motor vehicle crash fatalities per 100 million VMT was 1.25 in 2008, which is a decline of approximately 8 percent from the 2007 rate and is the lowest fatality rate per 100 million VMT ever recorded. The estimated number of people injured in crashes continued a long-term decline, dropping by 5.8 percent in 2008.

October 19, 2010

Cost of Auto Accidents

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that motor vehicle accidents cost the United States economy almost $100 billion each year, or about $500 per licensed driver.

Motorcycle accidents cost about $12 billion. Car and truck accidents total $70 billion.

The CDC looked at data from 2005. In that year, there were 3.7 million injuries and deaths resulting in medical care from motor vehicle accidents.

October 18, 2010

A Great Tip on Opening Statements

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Winning Trial Advocacy Tips is the best trial advocacy blog on the web. Click here to read a recent post from the blog on tips for opening statements.

An excerpt:

In the courtroom, you probably talk in the past tense during opening statements and direct examination because you’re describing events that have already happened and reached finality. You already know the conclusion – but your jury doesn’t. This is the first time they’ve heard about the events. If you want to bring certain areas of your questioning to life, you need to switch your language to the present tense. By switching to the present tense, you’ll help your jury feel that things are happening right now.

October 7, 2010

How To Help Jurors Remember Important Facts

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Winning Trial Advocacy Tips shares another great post – this one called "Sticking Thoughts in Your Jurors’ Brains."

An excerpt:

Repetition helps us remember, but it can also bore us to sleep. As the trial lawyer, your goal is repeat the information often enough that your jury remembers it, but without putting them to sleep. Here’s the good news: You can repeat repeat important information without boring your jurors, just so long as you follow a few simple guidelines.

October 4, 2010

Brain Trauma – A Lifelong Problem

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

This new article reveals that traumatic brain injury, currently considered a singular event by the insurance industry and many health care providers, is instead the beginning of an ongoing process that impacts multiple organ systems and may cause or accelerate other diseases and disorders that can reduce life expectancy, according to research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Traumatic brain injury occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain and can be classified as mild, moderate or severe, depending on the extent of the damage. While many patients recover completely, more than 90,000 become disabled each year in the U.S. alone. It is estimated that more than 3.5 million Americans are presently disabled by brain injuries – suffering lifelong conditions as a result.

The literature review, which appears in the current issue of The Journal of Neurotrauma, examines 25 years of research on the effects of brain injury, including its impact on the central nervous system and on cognitive and motor functions.

October 4, 2010

Important Medicare Subrogation Decision

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that Medicare is not entitled to rely on its field manual and argue that a subrogation interest be reduced under a "made whole" type of analysis only if a judgment is entered in the case.

In Bradley v. Selbelius, plaintiff settled a wrongful death case for policy limits, $52,500, and put Medicare on notice of the settlement. Medicare asserted a $38,000+ lien, less procurement costs. Plaintiff filed suit in the probate court and asked the court to determine the value of the case and the amount that needed to be re-paid to Medicare. Medicare refused to participate.

The trial judge ruled that the value of the case exceeded $2,500,000 and that Medicare’s reimbursement should be cut to $787.50. Medicare refused to recognize the probate court’s decision, saying that its field manual provided that it need not rely on a court order allocating proceedings unless the court order was based on the merits of the controversy. The estate paid Medicare under protest, exhausted its administrative remedies, and then filed suit in federal court.