InjuryBoard Austin Archives

• Texas Medical Malpractice Caps Challenged

  Brooks Schuelke | February 29, 2008 2:31 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Medical Malpractice

  Former Dallas Cowboy Ron Springs and 11 other plaintiffs filed suit Monday seeking an order from a judge that Texas's medical malpractice caps violate various provisions of the United States Constitution. The challenge is the first federal constitutional challenge to the statute.We will try and keep you posted as the case progresses.

• Justice Delayed - Texas Supreme Court

  Brooks Schuelke | February 28, 2008 2:19 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  Consumer watchdog organization Texas Watch has released a new report called Justice Delayed that addresses the growing backlog of cases at the Texas Supreme Court. The report made the following findings:The Court took an average of 852 days (2.3 years) to dispose of a case in the 2006-2007 term, an increase of 24% from the 2004-2005 term. Justices took an average 416 days to write an...

• CPSC Finally Helps With Dangerous Toys

  Brooks Schuelke | February 26, 2008 10:54 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Defective & Dangerous Products

  In the "better late than never" cateogory, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is finally acting on dangerous toys. I have often lamented on here that the CPSC has been letting the American public down with its lax oversight of imported products. But last week, the head of the CPSC finally stepped up to the plate. From the article:"I will not tolerate this industry or any other not...

• More Austin Trucking Accident Dangers

  Brooks Schuelke | February 19, 2008 9:47 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  It is no secret that trucking traffic and trucking accidents are a major problem in Austin and Central Texas. Interstate 35 is routinely one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the country. A large part of that has to do with NAFTA and international trade with Mexico. The Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M has provided quite a bit of information on Texas trucking...

• Health Insurance Company Seeks Spies

  Brooks Schuelke | February 15, 2008 9:17 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  Unbelievably, Blue Cross of California had a policy of using its customers' doctors as spies to cancel coverage. The Los Angeles Times broke the story this week:The state's largest for-profit health insurer is asking California physicians to look for conditions it can use to cancel their new patients' medical coverage.Blue Cross of California is sending physicians copies of health insurance...

• Are Texas's Medical Malpractice Caps Constitutional?

  Brooks Schuelke | February 14, 2008 12:39 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Medical Malpractice

  Some lobbyist groups would like to believe so, and they've filed a new suit to try and prove it. The case stems from a medical malpractice case in Corpus. There, a Corpus doctor was sued by one of his patients after the patient developed a severe infection after a surgery. In the suit, the patient asserted that the medical malpractice damage caps violated several provisions of the Texas...

• Arbitration in the Medical Malpractice Context

  Brooks Schuelke | February 13, 2008 9:43 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Medical Malpractice

  This weekend, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about a disturbing trend of mandatory arbitration agreements showing up in the medical malpractice context. The article states:Within the space of two weeks late last year, Michael and Hedy Cohen, who happen to be experts on medical errors, each encountered what they saw as a disturbing development in the modern doctor-patient relationship. They...

• Tips for Burn Injuries

  Brooks Schuelke | February 08, 2008 11:04 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  This is National Burn Awareness Week. In my 13 or so years of doing this, I have seen few injuries that are more painful and devastating than severe burn injuries. In honor of some of those victims, I thought I would post links to a few resources to help us prevent burn injuries.Shriner's Hospitals Tips To Avoid Burn Injuries --- starting a year-long emphasis on gasoline misuseRemember that...

• Nursing Home Agreements May Violate the Law

  Brooks Schuelke | February 05, 2008 8:03 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Medical Malpractice

  The February 2, 2008 Kansas City Star reports on a study from the National Senior Citizens Law Center that finds that many nursing home agreements may be violating state and federal law. Eric Carlson, the study's author, said that some of the agreements conflict with the federal Nursing Home Reform Law and state laws. The federal law requires nursing homes to provide care that helps residents...

• John Ritter -- A Medical Malpractice Case Still Worth Taking

  Brooks Schuelke | February 04, 2008 9:48 AM | 0 Comments
  Category: Medical Malpractice

  Tomorrow, a medical malpractice trial is scheduled to start involving the death of actor John Ritter (the family has previously settled with the hospital involved). In the trial, the Ritter family is seeking an award of $67 million, an amount that the family claims Mr. Ritter would have earned for his continued acting on the show "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter." The case is a...