Law Degree Journal

Unfortunately a common type of medical negligence claim is for compensation when a wrong limb is amputated. How does this still happen and what action can be taken if you are the victim of a wrong limb or other body part amputation?

Types of Wrong Amputations

Whilst there are some obvious and common horror stories of the wrong arm or leg being marked up for removal, there are also many more types of removals which do not usually make the news headlines. Removal of the wrong testicle, removal of a wrong back disc leaving a victim still in pain, and even removal of the wrong hip are all common claims under this area of medical negligence compensation.

Often the problem is not even discovered until the patient awakes from the anaesthetic and realises what a dreadful mistake has been made. In the case of the removal of a disc, the patient might not know for some months when they are still experiencing severe back pain. Once the error is discovered, what action should be taken?

Make A Formal Complaint

If you realise the error whilst you are still in hospital, ensure that you formally complain to the doctor that carried out the treatment and ensure that the complaint is entered onto the medical records.

The next stage is to immediately seek advice from a specialist medical negligence solicitor. 1stClaims can of course help you with wrong amputations and all initial enquiries are free of charge.

Your solicitor will discuss all of the circumstances of the wrong amputation, and take you through the action you need to take. They will guide you through a complaints procedure if you have not yet complained, and will then take over the handling of the claim for you to ensure that you receive the compensation that is rightfully yours.

What Will Your Claim Include?

The most significant part of the claim will no doubt be for your pain and suffering for removal of the wrong body part. The claim for this compensation element is called General Damages. It may also include a claim for care and attention if you need caring for by family or friends, or professional nursing care if required.

There may also be other significant aspects to your claim. If the wrong leg or arm has been amputated, and the other limb still has to be removed, your previous living accommodation may no longer be suitable. Removal costs or adaptation costs of your current home can be claimed. In addition, other losses and expenses can include lost earnings, career retraining, private medical treatment and travel expenses. A wrong amputation claim normally attracts higher levels of compensation than many other claims

Summary

If you are the victim of a wrong amputation, you should take prompt action to protect your entitlement to compensation. A claim must be made within three years (normally of the date of the operation although this can be longer in some circumstances so you should always ask) so delaying is not an option. A solicitor will obtain your medical records and collect the evidence needed to secure your claim for compensation. Take early action to protect your rights.

We deal in a range of claims, including medical negligence and compensation.

The SAVE Act, now being considered by Congress, would require all employers to electronically verify each employee’s eligibility for work. While this legislation is being considered, it is now more important than ever for this country to evaluate its stance on illegal immigration.

While the SAVE Act has many positive effects, if passed it will put out of work some 20 million undocumented immigrants. This will open up many jobs for struggling US citizens, but at wages many of these citizens haven’t been considering.

During the Bush Administration efforts were made to secure US borders from the illegal passage of immigrants, and to make it easier for foreigners to come here to work in the U.S. on a temporary basis. Emphasis was given to the nine guest worker programs currently in effect, though special attention was given by the Department of Labor (DOL) to improve employer’s abilities to obtain needed agricultural labor through the existing H-2A visa. This visa allows agricultural employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary positions providing that certain requirements are met.

The employer must show that:

• There are not sufficient workers who are able, willing, and qualified, and who will be available at the time and place needed, to perform the labor or services involved in the petition; and that

• The employment of the alien in such labor or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed.

If the employer satisfies these requirements then the Attorney General must give the final approval for hiring to begin.

The Bush Administration attempted to make the H-2A visas more appealing to employers through several changes. They decreased government involvement in the hiring process, thus speeding up applications. They required employers to pay only for transportation of guest workers from government offices to the places of labor instead of requiring them to pay passage from the workers home country. And they no longer required employers to conduct recruiting efforts in large geographic regions in order to show that there were not enough workers to fill the positions.

These new regulations gave employers incentives to move away from illegal immigrant labor and gave priority to those who have come to work through legal mediums.

These changes were met by strong opposition. The Farmworkers Justice Foundation claimed they did not adequately protect workers rights, and that they lowered the wages of citizen workers by having to compete with the guest workers.

Pressures from these arguments led to the Obama Administration’s nine month suspension on the changes. This decision was challenged and repealed on June 29th 2009 when a federal judge stopped the suspension decision of the current DOL. This ruling temporarily maintains the policies created under the Bush DOL.

For the United States to be able to secure the borders and ease the negative effects of illegal immigration there must be a method provided for employers to access foreign labor markets through a legal channel. If the SAVE Act does make it through Congress then it will become essential to provide employers with a manageable way to obtain the labor they need.

Gage Herbst wrote this article while working as an intern for injury attorney Rex Bush who has successfully handled over 1014 cases, his largest settlement to date is 3.25 million dollars. Visit his Utah Injury Attorney website.

The greatest aggravation that people have to deal with both during and after their divorce is the child custody battle. The first step is getting a practical child custody schedule worked out and approved by the judge. Child custody mediation may help get an agreement on paper, but getting your ex to abide it is a whole other story. Far too many divorced people face dealing with exes who are negligent about following the agreement which can be very irritating for the other parent and upsetting to the children. The child custody schedule is meant to serve the children’s best interests and this is what both parents need to keep in mind.

Whether you win child custody or are the non-custodial parent you need to get your ex to comply with the child custody schedule. One means of accomplishing this is to give them a detailed schedule that you print up using a program that is designed to calculate child custody schedules. A program like this is also beneficial while going through child custody mediation to help create a reasonable and evenhanded child custody schedule without the added cost of having your attorney spend numerous billable hours calculating it for you.

It is vital to keep in mind that the reason for the child custody schedule is to support a strong relationship between children and each of their parents. It should always be about what is best for the kids and not about who wins. A computer custody calculation program can be one of your greatest assets while going through a divorce or after in the event you should need a change in custody. Going through a child custody battle is never easy, but it is imperative so that the children can grow up having a good relationship with both parents.

Something else to think about when determining the child custody schedule is the fact that the amount of time the child spends with each parent may affect the amount of child support due each month. The good news is that a good child custody scheduling program is able to take the various factors into account and will calculate different options that you can submit to the court for approval. Calculating the fairest child custody schedule is the one of the most important things you can do for your children during your divorce besides letting them know it isn’t their fault.

Few things in life are more important than the relationship between a parent and child. A good child custody schedule is the best way to keep that relationship intact during a divorce. Even if the court orders you to go through child custody mediation it is in your best interest to submit fair and reasonable custody schedules that will work for all parties. This will show your willingness to make this situation work and that you are putting the best interests of your children first. Using a good child custody calculation program can help you come up with a fair plan that the courts and your ex can agree on.

Ray Subs highly recommends the child custody software program Custody X Change because he has seen the benefits first hand. Visit Custody X Change to learn more.

Until you have been involved in a medical negligence suit, you probably will not appreciate how time consuming, expensive, and difficult they usually are. This article is intended only as the most general overview of what these suits entail.

Pre-suit

First of all, one must have suffered significant harm (either a direct measurable harm or, in many states, an increased risk of harm or a loss of chance of recovery) as a result of substandard medical care. A claim of provable negligence or carelessness without harm or harm without a negligent cause both will lead nowhere. Further, even with negligence and related harm, in light of the expense and risk inherent in these suits, the damages must be substantial. No attorney will willingly risk $50,000 or more in advanced costs, a fairly typical investment in mostly expert fees and deposition expenses, and perhaps hundreds of work hours, if the predicted recovery will not be sufficient to carry these costs and fairly compensate the injured client. An attorney with experience in this field, before committing to litigate, will broadly and deeply investigate the claim and damages with the assistance of medical experts. To do less is to do a disservice to the client by getting him or her involved in a suit with little chance of success and exposing the client to what for many is an emotional roller coaster ride.

Commencement of suit

Once that threshold is met, suit is commenced with the papers mandated by the jurisdiction in which it is brought. In many, if not most, locations the plaintiff is required early in the life of the litigation to file of record some sort of documentation attesting that the matter has been reviewed by competent physician expert(s) who believes that based upon the information available, there was negligence which caused harm. The failure to file this document, where required, may lead to the suit being thrown out of court. While this device may eliminate many of the suits that defendants label “frivolous,” it also makes it incredibly difficult to pursue claims based upon faulty or absent hospital policies or oversight when the documentation needed to prove such claims, and support the certificate of merit, cannot be obtained in advance of suit so that a certificate may be filed. Such matters usually will not be revealed in the patient’s medical records, typically the only documents a patient can obtain pre-suit.

Pleading

Next in the “pleading” stage is the defendant’s response to the complaint. Depending upon the jurisdiction, the defendant might be able to attack the complaint on legal grounds such as not being sufficiently factually specific, improper form, or even that the allegations, even if true, fail to make out a recognized claim of malpractice. Alternatively, the defendant may directly answer the complaint with direct responses to what plaintiff has alleged and further, stating affirmative defenses (like, for instance, someone else, or even plaintiff, was responsible for the harm alleged, or too much time has passed since the occurrence in violation of the statute of limitations), The plaintiff, or course, may then reply to the affirmative defenses stated by the defendant. In some situations, the defendant, when blaming another party not yet involved in the lawsuit, will join new parties who then have the right to file pleadings such as an answer. The pleadings set limits on the theories of liability that may be asserted at trial, and the theories of defense which may be used.

In Part II, we will discuss discovery and trial.

Keep in mind this is a very general overview. Each jurisdiction has its own body of court rules dictating procedures, and its own body of statutes and court decisions controlling the substance of medical malpractice law. Because of this, what is permissible procedure in one state may not be in another. What is good law some places may not apply elsewhere. Some states put a cap on pain and suffering damages and others do not. Some states recognize certain liability theories that others do not. Because of this, it is most important that parties be represented only by attorneys with experience in this field of law in the locale in which it is to be tried.

Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys Judy Greenwood and Stephen Ulan have represented victims of medical negligence for 25 years. Their office handles medical malpractice, personal injury and catastrophic injury cases, and is located at 1800 JFK Boulevard, Suite 1500, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Email Attorney Judy Greenwood or Visit Attorney Judy Greenwood?s website.

Nothing can describe the pain that comes with a family being torn apart. Often, this pain is inflicted worst of all on the mother of the household. Unfortunately, marriages in this day and age are at their most volatile, and people are constantly finding themselves embroiled in messy divorces and child custody hearings. The bond between a mother and child is said to be the strongest thing in the world, so if you’re a mother going into a custody hearing, then you’re probably looking to gain an advantage in the case. What you need more than anything is information – a detailed guide to everything you could want to know about custody cases.

That guide is now available, in the form of a massive 1,200 page collection of information on child custody. Compiled by two psychologists with 30 years in the field of custody and family psychology, this package contains everything that a mother needs to be successful in winning custody of her children. Having been involved in many child custody cases, these doctors have witnessed every dirty trick in the book, and will show you how to fight against them. Plus, you’ll learn what strategies you should employ to help secure custody of your children.

Two of the most important things outlined in this package can absolutely make or break a custody case. The first one is an important piece of information that even some veteran custody lawyers don’t know about. The second is a common mistake that many people make without even realizing – a mistake that dooms their case from the get-go. This package also contains information on what traits will convince a judge to side with you. You’ll find information on how to conduct a successful custody evaluation, what you need to know about child support, how to testify, and much, much more.

This package will also help prepare you for the worst. Some parents, usually those who are only interested in child support and not in actually caring for the child, will employ highly unethical tactics to win the case. This may include turning the child against the mother through bribes or even “brainwashing.” The effects of these strategies can be devastating to a mother and to her case. Even though they are the very definition of “unethical,” these tactics can destroy a custody case if you aren’t prepared for them.

Another major issue that sometimes crops up in these cases is where the mother has a minor physical illness or disability that is held against them in the custody case. It may not in any way affect the mother’s ability to care for a child, yet it can still be the deciding factor in a custody case. This custody will help you formulate a strategy if you suffer from a minor disability.

Right now, the comprehensive 1,200 page package is available for just $129. This small fee can bring a lot to your case, even though it’s only a fraction of the amount that gets spent on legal fees.

Jason Bryant has a very lucrative career in online business ventures, one of which includes his success with marketing How to Get Custody.