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Regarded as the silent killer, asbestos was highly touted as one of the most versatile forms of building applications throughout the 20th century. Due to its heat and fire resistant qualities, asbestos was used as a form of insulation, piping, flooring and brake lining. Texas is no stranger to asbestos problems, due to a heavy domestic oil industry that has thrived in the state. Oil giants such as Mobil, Shell and Gulf have all called Texas their homes. Millions of employees and workers were exposed to the mineral over the last 100 years. Exposure to airborne asbestos fibers has caused the unfortunate suffering and deaths of millions through asbestos-related ailments.
This guest post is courtesy of the Mesothelioma Cancer Center.
Source: http://www.pissd.com/2009/01/asbestos-the-silent-killer/
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This guest post is from Bradley Taylor, an automotive blogger, journalist and enthusiast. He also contributes to other and on behalf of other motoring publications such as Jardine Motors, BMW, Nissan, Audi and Ford. Connect with Bradley on Google Plus.
The invention of the automobile vastly changed civilization due to the fact that it allowed for anybody to travel to the destinations that they chose, at their own convenience. Furthermore, their affordability allowed for the majority of households to be able to own and maintain a car. Although there are many advantages for cars to be widespread, accidents can happen from time to time. Caused by either the environment, driver error, or vehicle malfunction, they can cause car damage, injuries, and more. When accidents involve other people, there are multiple rules and regulations that must be considered before filing a claim. For example, in Texas, there are specifications that those who were not responsible for the accident should know about. It is very important to have knowledge of these, as they can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars more in compensation.
Texas carries certain insurance rules which differentiate it from other states. One example is the Modified Comparative Fault Rule which uses something called the at-fault percentage. The percentage is determined by how responsible the person was for the accident. If a person is fifty percent or less responsible, they are given the damage costs subtracted by their fault percentage. This way, somebody who is ten percent responsible will be given more money to pay for damages than somebody forty percent responsible. In addition, those who were at no fault in the accident get all of the money for damage. However, if a person is over fifty percent responsible for the accident, they won’t receive any compensation.
Another rule for Texas is that, after any car accident damage occurs, including a sore neck or a broken car accessory, you have two years to file suit. By learning how to properly file damage reports, you can let insurance agents take control of the situation and minimize the chances of an unwanted court negotiation. It should be known that most cases in Texas don’t make it all the way to court when handled this way. Usually, it ends with the insurance companies calculating and evaluating the costs and judging those at fault. However, major accidents such as personal property or major injuries can sometimes make their way to court. Lastly, it should be known that despite the fact that car insurance companies allow for certain decisions to be made, the decisions are governed by what the automotive companies decide on. In addition, the boundaries for the decisions vary per person.
The state of Texas has very helpful and sensible insurance laws. Although car accidents are emotionally and mentally challenging, it only makes sense that those least responsible for the accident are more covered. Unlike some laws that may have loopholes that can penalize those not responsible for the accident, Texas is strict in that those who were not responsible are not penalized in any way. On the contrary, Texas makes certain that those who were mostly responsible for causing the accident get penalized the most. This practice motivates drivers to drive more defensively due to the consequences that can happen if they are largely responsible for an accident.
Source: http://www.pissd.com/2013/07/how-to-file-a-car-accident-claim-in-texas/
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Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7859908
This guest post is courtesy of Zions Security.
Having a home security system installed can give you peace of mind in knowing that you have protection against burglaries, fires and various other harmful events. Not having the right system installed can also bring about a lot of undue worry. It is essential that you take the time to research your options before you choose a system, just to ensure that you are getting the precise system that you need for your unique home security requirements.
There are a number of options available and from many different companies. Taking time to research those options is essential in ensuring that the system you choose will deliver the best results for your home security needs. Buying a system in general can bring about confusion, particularly when it comes to which system is best, which price is too high or too low and which salesman offers the most reliable sales pitch. You need to know that you are getting the right system and at the right price and many homeowners make the mistake of simply buying the first system that they find, which almost always leads to problems.
Basic systems are available that offer protection against burglaries. There are also systems that are a bit more advanced. These offer burglary protection as well as fire and smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and even controls for home automation. Before you buy, you should take the time to look over the options provided by the system that you choose and ensure that you are getting everything that you need. A basic system that is designed simply for burglary protection for instance is not going to allow you to remotely control certain aspects in your home such as temperature and lighting. More advanced systems may give you options to turn your lighting on and off and even control the temperature in your home when you are away. This allows you to turn up your thermostat a few minutes before you arrive home so that your indoor temperature will be comfortable. Think about what you need regarding convenience as well as protection when choosing a system.
Prices can vary greatly depending on the type of system, the company and the additional options that you choose. It is important that you take the time to do a bit of research into these options and select the ones that you know you will use. It makes no sense to pay for options that you do not need. You should also spend a bit of time researching each specific company. Protecting your home and your family is important and you want to know that you are choosing the right company to provide that protection. Keep in mind that the most expensive system is not always the best system. Many higher priced systems may not give you the same quality as one of a lower cost. Research is essential in knowing that you are getting the right protection and the quality that you need.
Think about whether or not you need monitoring when you choose a system as well. Many companies offer monitoring that will alert you of any changes that may take place in your home while you are away. Monitoring is normally included for an additional monthly fee and many homeowners find that this minimal fee is worth it for the peace of mind that they receive. Not all homeowners are alike however which is why it is essential that you research and weigh your options before you choose a system.
Author’s Bio : Russell S. enjoys blogging and spending time with his family. To learn more about home security systems please visit ZionsSecurity.
Source: http://www.pissd.com/2013/04/why-you-should-research-your-home-security-options/
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Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7914490
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This guest post is from Ms.Kathrine Kreger, a freelance writer from Eugene, Oregon.
Becoming involved in an accident can be one of the most frightening and confusing situations that anyone can encounter. There are, however, five things you must know that will make dealing with an accident and its aftermath much easier. This article will serve as a primer for those situations.
As far as you are able, you should get a good idea of everyone’s situation. Try to determine who was hurt and to what extent. Granted, some injuries might not be visible, but you should try to get a general idea of everyone’s physical condition.
Whether you believe that you have been physically injured or not, you should seek medical attention to make a final determination. You should also monitor your own situation for a while after the accident to make sure that there aren’t any longer term effects from the accident. There is a good chance that you might not feel pain for certain injuries for hours and days after the accident. These injuries might be cause for further attention from medical authorities.
As soon as possible after an accident you should contact an attorney and your insurance company to make sure that your rights are protected. Not only will you get informed legal and insurance advice, but with these two sources of objective opinions, you are more likely to get everything you are entitled to in the aftermath of your accident. Covington Injury Attorneys can be an excellent source of this help.
Memories can be easily frazzled, especially in a situation that is as stressful and chaotic as an accident. In order to preserve as much of the information available from the time of the accident forward, try to document as much as possible. Gather as much as you can about the accident and the aftermath, including time the incident occurred, the weather, road conditions, names and contact information for everyone else involved, and anything else you feel is pertinent.
When it comes to an accident, you can’t be a shrinking violet. Whether you were responsible for the accident or not, you have rights, and nobody involved will be standing up for those rights unless you make sure the appropriate people do. Further, when you are vocal about what you expect from others, chances are good that they will respond.
Source: http://www.pissd.com/2013/08/ouch-if-youve-been-in-an-accident-heres-five-things-you-must-know/
Since 1950, U.S. veterans have been unable to make claims for medical malpractice committed in military hospitals. This seemingly unfair rule was decided in a U.S. Supreme Court case referred to by the Plaintiff’s name, Feres.It is now called the Feres Doctrine.
Many lawyers who represent vets thought there was a chance this 60-year-old rule might have been overturned by the current Supreme Court in a lawsuit brought by a plaintiff named Witt. Unfortunately, Last week the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and issued no comment on their reasoning.
The case concerned a 25-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, Dean Patrick Witt, who died after a nurse put a tube down the wrong part of his throat during a routine appendectomy.
Now New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey, has said he will file a bill to try to overturn the Feres Doctrine. The effort to change the law has gotten wide support from military officers and veterans groups.
If the law is changed, it could expose the federal government to billions of dollars in liability claims. That makes it highly unlikely a divided Congress desperate to cut expenses will act on its own to change it.
Hinchey argued that the cost would be less than estimated because the law would result in a better level of care in military hospitals and fewer negligence claims. He said federal prisoners have more rights than service members and their families when it comes to seeking damages for medical malpractice.
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When I started this series, dear reader, I had no idea it would be so easy to find multiple doctors doing 1,000- 2,000 medical legal exams each year, and that I would be able to demonstrate that their average exam times were likely under five minutes each. But if you read today, you will see that this is the result from my investigation. Welcome to Part 4.
I didn’t write this multi-part series just to pick on orthopedist Dr. Michael J. Katz because he was busted for lying on the witness stand about his secretly recorded one minuted 56 second evaluation. That type of story is a one-day affair.
Nor am I doing it because Justice Duane Hart shipped the transcripts off to the DA, the Chief Adminsitrative Judge and the Office of Professional Medical Conduct. Again, that would be another one-off kind of story.
Nor am I doing it because my analysis found that his usual exam is likely under five minutes, which is also contrary to what he testified.
No, it really isn’t about that. Dr. Katz, you see, is a symptom of a larger problem. So is Dr. Israel, who was placed on probation for his conduct doing defense medical exams.
If it was just about them, you might think these two were mere aberrations. But I’m here to present evidence that these premature evaluations are part of what I think is a systemic disease. It isn’t something new, though I have new material. It was evident four years ago when the New York Times did a story.
The Times covered the problem of bogus medical-legal exams back in 2009 as it pertained to Workers Compensation claims. The article was scary in how awful and slip-shod they were. And a secret videotape came into play there also.
The substance of the article was that their review of case files and medical records and interviews with participants indicated that the exam reports were routinely tilted to benefit insurers by minimizing or dismissing injuries.
The doctor nabbed on video by the Times was Hershel Samuels, caught dictating injuries as the exam was in progress, but the report came back without injuries. This quote was priceless:
“If you did a truly pure report,” he said later in an interview, “you’d be out on your ears and the insurers wouldn’t pay for it. You have to give them what they want, or you’re in Florida. That’s the game, baby.”
Dr. Samuels, who was 79 at the time, surrendered his license four months later.
To injured people the Workers’ Comp payments could mean putting food on the table and paying the rent; to others it is a “game” on getting $100-200 for each medical exam in the hope of a big volume practice, while turning a blind eye to the physicians’ oath to “Do no harm.”
If you want to understand the scale of all this, and why I’ve been banging away on my keyboard about these exams starting with Dr. Katz, consider this: In the Workers’ Compensation arena alone there are more than 100,000 exams each year.
One of the doctors in that New York Times piece was Dr. Edward Toriello, an orthopedist. The Times has this to say about him:
Like many who perform the exams, he views the compensation system as bloated with charlatans. Dr. Toriello, who does about 30 such exams a week, estimates that 80 to 85 percent of the time he finds no disability or need for medical treatment in workers whose doctors have found otherwise. He says the disparity is explained by the “comp mentality.”
Comp mentality by the injured? Or a desire to minimize injuries so that the insurance companies will give him more business? Should someone investigate who the charlatans are?
I decided to do some follow up and see how long his exams actually were, the same way I did for Dr. Katz last week.
You’ll remember, I hope, that the data I used previously to discover how long Dr. Katz spent on his medical “exams” – yeah, I think scare quotes is appropriate now for that word — was gathered from two companies that send representatives to the evaluations with the clients, IME Watchdog and IME Advocates. They both track how long the exams take (among other things), and I found from their data that Dr. Katz’s exams were just four to five minutes long on average.
Dr. Toriello has testified he does 30-40 exams each week (1,500-2,000 per year). The two companies furnished me with data from 57 reports they had on Dr. Toriello. And the average time for one of Dr. Toriello’s exams, the basis of which might have profound impact on an injured person’s life for many years to come, or even for the rest of their lives is …. No, it isn’t 45 minutes. Or 20 minutes. Or 10 minutes.
It’s four minutes and 49 seconds. The distribution looks like this:
1-minute exams – 2
2-minute exams — 11
3-minute exams — 9
4-minute exams — 4
5-minute exams — 12
6-minute exams — 7
7-minute exams – 5
8-minute exams –- 1
9-minute exams — 3
11- minute exam – 2
14-minute exam – 1
Dr. Lisa Nason is another frequent orthopedic examiner. And Dr. Nason once testified that, at the medical evaluation office she goes to in Brooklyn for just this purpose, they try to see claimants every 15 minutes. Her average time doing an exam in the 37 reports that I have? 4:22 minutes. Her distribution looked like this:
1-minute exams — 1
2-minute exams — 5
3-minute exams — 10
4-minute exams — 5
5-minute exams — 8
6-minute exams — 2
7-minute exams — 2
8-minute exams — 3
11-minute exam –- 1
But wait! I’ve been discussing time doing the exam, but the testimony that I found from her about seeing someone every 15 minutes includes taking a history. Wouldn’t it be fair to Dr. Nason to do an apples-to-apples comparison and include her intake time asking how the claimant felt? Maybe then it will come to 15 minutes?
Lucky for you, dear reader, the reports I have almost always indicate the time taking a history. But the total time, alas, even when you factor in history, still doesn’t make it to 15 minutes. Which is not so lucky for Dr. Nason. Her average intake took 4:08, and the distribution looks like this:
1 minute intake — 4
2 minute intake — 7
3 minute intake — 6
4 minute intake — 6
5 minute intake– 6
6 minute intake – 1
8 minute intake – 3
10-minute intake -1
11-minute intake – 2
[One of the 7-minute exams includes the intake, so the exam average should be a bit lower and the intake average a bit higher.]
So, in total, she is averaging 8:30 minutes total time per claimant, inclusive of talking, not the 15 minutes she discussed with a jury.
And then there is Dr. Jean-Robert Desrouleaux, a neurologist. I heard he was testifying in the Bronx yesterday before Judge Julia Rodriguez, so, with a draft of this piece already written, I decided to go watch. Some of his exams, he testified, are done in the same place and on the same day as Dr. Nason, sort of like a factory tag-team match for the insurance company.
He testified that these exams are only 1-2% of his practice. But then he testified he does 20-30 per week (1,000 – 1,500/yr.), taking a total of four to six hours each week. I’ll help you with the math: if he is doing medical-legal exams five hours per week and this is 2% of his practice he is working 250-hour weeks, which is mighty impressive considering the week has just 168 hours in it.
He also claimed to be paid about $125-$150 for each one. Imagine, in the short time available, trying to read medical records, x-rays, deposition transcripts, legal filings and whatever else the insurance company might send, do an intake, conduct an exam and write a report for that price. Something has to give for this business model and if you guessed accuracy and quality then you would be guessing the same as me.
Dr. Desrouleaux was asked if any of his exams were under three minutes. He said he would be surprised if that was true. He was asked if any were under five minutes. He again said he would be surprised if that was true.
But I have 32 reports from Dr. Desrouleaux and he averages four minutes 15 seconds per exam, and seems to have a pretty heavy emphasis on the two to three minute variety. He even has some one-minute exams.
Can you imagine, if you were a claimaint, that your economic future could be decided by a one to three minute exam? His distribution looks like this:
1 minute exam — 3
2 minute exam — 8
3 minute exam — 8
4 minute exam — 5
5 minute exam — 1
6 minute exam — 1
7 minute exam — 2
8 minute exam — 1
10 minute exam –1
15 minute exam –2
Don’t click away, I got more stuff in this evidentiary round-up!
When the New York Times did its investigation, it found that Dr. Samuels was being hired by “IME” brokers — there’s those scare quotes again — who would actually transcribe his reports. The brokers could, in essence, do whatever they wanted with those reports changing findings if they wanted to, and the doctor that had done a gazillion exams would likely never know the report had been changed.
When the doctors take the witness stand they often call these companies “expert panels,” as if it is some badge of honor to take part.
I wrote about one of those companies back in 2008 (How to Fool a Jury (Is It Insurance Fraud?)), called Integrated Risk Services. It seems that one of their doctors forgot to remove the letter they sent to him about how to write a report — the letter that had these delightful instructions about how to write a skewed report:
- Point out whatever findings or claims are not related [to the lawsuit]. Otherwise be silent on causal relationship.
- If prognosis appears good, then state that – otherwise be silent
- If you can state that plaintiff can participate in all normal activities, do so. If not, be silent
Nothing like a completely objective exam. huh?
There are some in the judiciary that understand the problem with these exams, though I fear they are in the minority. Two of them, however, happen to be Chief Judge Jonathon Lippman and Appellate Division Justice Justice Douglas McKeon, who I wrote about back in 2009: Is the “Independent” Medical Exam Dead? after Rowe v. Wahnow was decided in the First Department.
In Rowe, plaintiff’s auto case was tossed out based on the “IME” reports of the defendant’s doctors. But in dissent comes Justice McKeon, ripping into the concept that such “IME” reports are actually independent. And he does so by citing Chief Judge Lippman:
…the “independent” prong of the term, has long been winked at by the bench and bar. Few consider the physical examination conducted for purposes of litigation as independent; indeed, one court has described it as part of the “adversarial process” (Bazakos v Lewis, rev’d on other grounds) with Chief Judge Lippman forthrightly observing that “[t]hese exams, far from being independent in any ordinary sense of the word, are paid for and frequently controlled in their scope and conduct by legal adversaries of the examinee (id. at 6 [Lippman, Ch. J., dissenting).
Have things changed since 2009? Will the story of what happened to Dr. Katz make its way to the appellate judges? Will the evidence of quickie medical exams finally coming screaming home to the trial courts? Will more of these exams be taped, surreptitiously or not?
Stay tuned for Part 5….
Update –Part 5: Quickie Medical Exams: What Next? (7/23/13)
Part 6: To Tell the Truth: Which Doctor’s Signature is the Real One? (7/30/13)
Part 7: Doctor Testifies That Six Different Signatures Are All His (8/5/13)