According to NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis there were 1035 people killed on Tennessee roads in 2008. Of those fatalities, 327 of them involved at least one driver who had a blood alcohol level of 0.8 or greater. This is an alcohol-related death rate of .47 people per 100…
The Doctors Company is a medical malpractice insurer. Its website contains articles of interest to all Tennessee medical malpractice lawyers and, in fact, medical malpractice lawyers in every state. For example, one interesting article is titled "When to Evaluate for a Hypercoagulable State." Here is an excerpt: Hypercoagulability…
What do you do when a party to a lawsuit intentionally refuses to follow the rules? One judge in Washington State knew what to do: the judge struck the defendant’s answer, entered judgment for $8,000,000, and awarded attorneys’ fees. Last week the Washington Supreme Court had upheld the award. The…
Here is the most up-to-date data on medical malpractice case filings in Tennessee. Regular readers know that effective October 1, 2008 the General Assembly imposed significant restrictions on patients who want to file a medical malpractice suits. The new law, which was modified again effective July 1, 2009, requires pre-suit…
HeathGrades studies Medicare patient care in our nation’s hospitals based on 15 indicators of patient safety. Here are some highlights from the 2009 report representing data from 2005 -2007: · There were 913,215 total patient safety events among 864,765 Medicare beneficiarieswhich represents 2.3 percent of the nearly 38 million Medicare hospitalizations. · These…
The United States Department of Transportation has adopted the Motorcoach Safety Action Plan following an analysis of safety data. DOT has identified seven priority action items that will have the greatest impact on reducing motorcoach crashes, fatalities and injuries. The items include the following: Rulemaking concerning electronic on-board recording devices…
Ford Motor Company has announced that is bringing to market the world’s first automotive inflatable seat belts, combining attributes of traditional seat belts and air bags to provide an added level of crash safety protection for rear seat occupants. “Ford’s rear inflatable seat belt technology will enhance safety for rear-seat passengers…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released a report titled "Motorcycle Helmet Use and Head and Facial Injuries." The Report has a lot of data on motorcycle crashes and the injuries the result, comparing the injuries received by those wearing helmets and those that do not. Here are…
The use of seat belts continues to increase in the United States. Seat belt use in 2009 stood at 84 percent, a gain from 83 percent use in 2008. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) which is the only survey that provides nationwide probability-based observed…
A defense lawyer and I were having a drink the other day and he told me that from time to time he has difficulty getting cases settled at mediation because plaintiff’s lawyers don’t have information about subrogation interests. Here are some tips to avoid such problems: At the initial client…