Articles Posted in Personal Injury

A state audit recently revealed that the Georgia DOT (DOT) has a $456 million dollar budget shortfall. The Georgia Constitution does not allow a state agency to run a deficit.Thus, the State Board of Transportation has had scramble to cut funding for road projects in 2010.

The DOT is governed by a 13-member State Board of Transportation.The Board decides which public roads will be part of the state highway system, approves long-range construction projects, oversees construction projects and administers lease agreements among other duties.

Audit problems have waylaid the big budget road projects as the DOT faces an $8 billion dollar shortfall over the next six years.If the Georgia Legislature approves the 2010 budget, thirty percent of the state’s main road budget will go for payments on previous road project commitments.Much of the road budget goes to repaving, repairs and maintenance.There will be less money for new construction of highways, safer interchanges, and bridge replacement.

This week in a stunning shake up of the financial markets, AIG, the largest property and casualty insurer in the world, was saved from bankruptcy when the federal government stepped in at the last hour with an $85 million bridge loan of United States taxpayer money.

On Wednesday, the feds orchestrated the loan along with taking an 80 percent ownership interest in the company.That’s right, the United States government now owns the world’s largest property and casualty insurance business. While the federal government interceding to takeover and in effect nationalize an ailing private company is not unprecedented, it was a rare occurrence in the United States until this week.

AIG’s biggest block of business, general insurance, accounts for nearly half of the holding company’s $110 billion revenue.However, AIG’s financial unit was heavily involved in providing credit default insurance, which was linked to subprime mortgages.

Twelve people were injured this week in Houston County when lightning struck at an outdoor middle school football game.One adult is in critical condition.Lightning struck while crowds were evacuating the stands.

As school has resumed, outdoor athletic events are taking place during what has been an excessive storm season.When storms threaten, school officials and coaches must not let their desire to compete in the sport override crowd and player safety.

Each year many people are killed or injured due to misinformation and inappropriate conduct during thunderstorms.Lightning casualties have increased at sporting events and for children of school age.Most of this trend is related to outdoor sporting activities.Hence, schools and other sports organizations need to develop specific policies for lightning safety at sports events.

The American Association of Justice, a trial lawyer’s advocacy group, ranked Allstate Insurance Company as the worst insurer for consumers.The group based its rankings on an evaluation of legal filings showing a pattern of greed, refusal to pay legitimate claims, and rewarding employees for claim denials.

The AAJ says its rankings are backed by thousands of court documents produced during litigation against the insurer and complaints filed with state insurance regulators, the SEC and the FBI.Apparently in the mid-1990s Allstate contracted the consulting giant, The McKinsey Group, to help change its claim policy to one of “lowball” offers and systematic denials.

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Monday a jury in Gwinnett County awarded a plaintiff a five million dollar verdict against the Gwinnett Hospital System for a nursing malpractice.

Plaintiff, Wendy Wyckstandt, 34, returned to the hospital four days after giving birth due to medical complications of postpartum high blood pressure.She collapsed while taking a shower in her hospital room.When her mother entered her room, she found her near lifeless body in the running water. She died a day later; her death caused by drowning.

The nursing staff claimed to have checked on her during the day, but video surveillance proved otherwise.The plaintiff’s attorneys claimed the hospital staff altered records and kept evidence from the plaintiff’s attorneys.Eight years of legal wrangling has finally resulted in a huge verdict award for the plaintiff.The hospital has indicated it will appeal the verdict.

A Friday night tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, causing serious damage to buildings in the business district.Inside the CNN Center, water flooded parts of the building, shattered glass littered the floor and dust and debris entered from the torn roof. Next door at the Georgia Dome the SEC conference basketball game was halted.The storm ripped part of the ceiling of the dome off.

On Saturday afternoon, a second tornado claimed the lives of two victims in Bartow and Floyd County in north Georgia. That twister was five times wider and stayed on the ground longer than the Friday tornado.One victim was killed when her home was flattened; flying debris killed the other.

Spring is peak season for tornados.Most tornados occur in what is known as “Tornado Alley” which is the plains of the central and southern states – east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Appalachian Mountains.The most frequently hit states are Florida, Oklahoma and Texas.Wind speeds vary from 100 to 300 miles per hour and most tornados are two miles long.Tornados come from the energy released in a thunderstorm.

Today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution front-page article provides a shocking revelation from the Department of Transportation.A twenty-nine year employee charged with inspecting state bridges faked his reports since last fall.Falsified inspection reports could suggest that faulty bridges are safe. A bridge collapse could lead to serious personal injuries or even death for the occupants of vehicles.

The two-man inspection team fell behind in their work, partly because one team member took off a good deal of time from work last year.Rather than own up to missing a deadline, they falsified reports.Not apparently the swiftest, the team claimed to have inspected 18 bridges in one day, which caught the attention of a supervisor.The DOT reports it will send out a new team to inspect the 54 bridges affected by the employee lying scandal.

Bridges are inspected at two-year intervals.However, bridges deemed critical may get an annual inspection.Valid DOT inspection reports show that one in five Georgia bridges are in need of repair or new design.Georgia spends about $100 million a year on bridge maintenance, but claims it needs $2.5 billion to rebuild deficient bridges.

As the Georgia General Assembly is currently in session, another topic that we’ll try to stay on top of for you is the funding of the state’s seven mental health hospitals.The Georgia Department of Human Resources runs these facilities statewide.The seven hospitals are Northwest Georgia Regional in Rome, Georgia Regional in Atlanta, Central State in Milledgeville, East Central Regional in Augusta, Georgia Regional in Savannah, Southwestern State in Thomasville, and West Central Regional in Columbus.

Thanks in large part to an investigative report by the Atlanta Journal Constitution this year; attention has been focused on the appalling medical care deficiencies at these hospitals.Justly, these hospitals have become a hotbed of medical malpractice claims.

In 2007, the hospitals reported twenty-one deaths.One hundred and fifteen patients died in the four-year period from 2002 to 2006.All of these deaths arose from abuse or neglect.Most of these facilities are understaffed and overcrowded.Many of these deaths occurred due to over-medicating, misdiagnosing symptoms, and nurses or aides failing to follow doctor’s orders.

January 14, 2008

The Georgia General Assembly begins its 2008 session today.Constitutionally, the legislature is charged with approving a budget for the state.One critical item on this year’s agenda must be saving cash-strapped Grady Memorial Hospital, which is in critical condition.

Grady Memorial Hospital (“Grady”), in the heart of downtown Atlanta, serves 850,000 outpatients a year and admits 30,000 inpatients.It is the only Level One Trauma Center in north Georgia, and it provides the city of Atlanta’s only emergency ambulance fleet.In addition to treating accident victims, Grady has the state’s only poison center and has an esteemed burn center.Serious accident victims are often transferred to Grady for care.

Last week the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported the case of Teri Ramsey, a former St. Joseph’s Hospital nurse turned whistleblower whose False Claims Act lawsuit against St. Joseph’s cost the hospital $26 million with a net reward to her of $4.9 million.This is the highest paid health care fraud in Georgia history.

Ramsey, a nurse by profession, was hired to review hospital admissions.Within weeks of beginning her job, Ramsey noticed that many outpatient services were billed as inpatient services.The billing distinction allowed for St. Joseph’s to collect significantly more from Medicare.Ramsey complained to supervisors and doctors, but claims she was quickly rebuffed and even told not to “rock the boat.”Ramsey’s persistence caused her to be ostracized by co-workers and intimidated by supervisors.The hospital culture created a disincentive to whistle blowing.

Ramsey persisted, nevertheless.She contacted an attorney and filed a complaint under the federal False Claims Act. This Act, also known as a qui tam proceeding, allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the United States for fraudulent claims on United States funds.The False Claims Act has considerable teeth. Defendants found liable under the Act must pay treble (three times) damages of the actual over billing.Also, the Act provides for civil penalties of $5000 per each fraudulent claim.Finally, in order to encourage private citizens to turn in defrauders, the private citizen is entitled to collect 15 to 25 percent of the recovery.Often, federal prosecutors step into the suit and pursue it on behalf of the government.