Oklahoma Injury Lawyer Blog

The Cars Blog on ConsumerReports.org has an excellent video and article on How to stop a runaway car: Don't pump the brakes.

The video, with Jake Fisher driving a Toyota Venza and a Volkswagen Jetta, simulates what happens when a car has sudden runaway acceleration. Mr. Fisher mentions some "do's and don'ts":

Don't:
1) Don't pump your brakes. This will cause your power brakes to go out.
2) Don't try to turn off your car. You risk locking up your steering wheel.

Do:
1) Put your foot on the brake hard, and continue pressing it.
2) Put your car in neutral
3) Once stopped, turn off your car.

Mr. Fisher also recommends first trying the braking procedure in an empty parking lot or other safe location. The Volkswagen Jetta is interesting because it can actually override the gas pedal.

Here's the video:

Today's Oklahoman has some startling statistics:

Nearly one in four (24 percent) Oklahoma motorists drove without insurance during the period of 2005 to 2007, the council's study estimated. Only three states had worse rates: New Mexico (29 percent), Mississippi (28 percent), and Alabama (26 percent).

The article mentions that our state's current percentage of uninsured drivers may be even higher.

So what can you do to protect yourself against a deadbeat driver? Make sure you have uninsured motorists on your car insurance policy.

"My back was killing me for over 3 months. Why isn't my case worth more?"

I had a client recently ask this. For simplicity's sake, I'll call him Bob. Bob was rear ended last year and was rushed to the hospital immediately after a car accident.

The seat he was in snapped back and Bob thought that he had been knocked out. His neck and back were both hurting quite a bit. The emergency room ran up a pretty good bill because they did a CT scan (Bob thought he had a concussion and was dazed; "So, they scanned my cat.").

Bob checked out of the ER with soft tissue injuries, some prescriptions for a muscle relaxer, and some pain medicine. He was also instructed to go to a follow up doctor if he was still having neck and back pain.

After missing work for a few days, Bob decided he could "tough it out," and went back to work. This is great, but his neck and back still gave him trouble. He was in a lot of pain at work and around the house. Two months later, Bob's back is still bothering him. He's tough though, so he doesn't bother to go to a doctor.

Bob called me about six months after the accident. His neck and back had finally healed and he was curious as to why the insurance company hadn't called him and offered to settle his personal injury claim.

The case has since settled for a reasonable amount. At the time though, Bob was a little frustrated because he wasn't able to get compensated for any pain and suffering for the 3 months that his back was bothering.

So, moral of the story: Go to a doctor if you are hurt. An insurance company, understandably looks at personal injury victim's medical records for proof of an injury.

One of the recent changes to our tort system is that, to file a medical malpractice case, an expert affidavit has to be attached to the Petition. The attorney must attest that:

1) Plaintiff has consulted with a qualified expert
2) Plaintiff has obtained a written opinion from the expert and that the expert believes that a reasonable interpretation of the factors supports a finding of professional negligence
3) Based on the consultation with the expert, plaintiff believes the claim is meritorious and based on good cause.

The law goes into effect November 1, 2009.
Here's the full statute: 12 O.S. § 19 . Professional Negligence Action - Expert Opinion Affidavit Requirements - Exemption

This is good news for Oklahoma attorneys:

Court filings from each of the state's 77 counties will be available to the public online for free in the next three years under a plan being pursued by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
The court has signed a $1 million contract with a Duncan company to prepare electronic court records from 64 counties to merge into one publicly available online system, Chief Justice James Edmondson said Wednesday.
"It's time to get in gear with a 77-county, integrated system," Edmondson said. "So we'll have one system that's state of the art and a uniform case management system for the entire state."
The new system should be operational by summer 2012, if funding is available, he said.

So, if funding is available, this will be really convenient. What I'd really like: allow us to file electronically like we can in federal court.

Currently, filings are available on The Oklahoma Supreme Courts Network Dockets Page. It's really hit or miss if the documents are accessible online though.

Our filing fees may get a little less costly. The Journal Record reports:

Oklahoma City attorney Jerry Fent filed a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of only three fees: one that goes toward child abuse services administered by the Department of Human Services, an adoption fee with revenue that funds a voluntary registry and a fee that funds the state attorney general's Victim Services Unit.

Nearly all of the car accident cases we handle are on a "contingency fee" basis. This means that you, the client, do not owe any legal fees up front. We only get paid if we recover a settlement or damages at trial. Our attorney's fee is contingent on winning something.

The contingency fee is typically a percentage of the total amount awarded. Thus, the higher the settlement or trial verdict, the higher the attorney's fee.

Note that most of the time, all expenses associated with pursing your legal claim are fronted by our firm. If we can't get a settlement or trial verdict in your favor, you still owe us nothing. In that situation, we would have lost both time and the money spent on working the case.

A recent Bloomberg article states "Birth-control pills containing desogestrel, cyproterone acetate or drospirenone carried about 1.5 to 2 times the risk of clots." Bayer's birth-control pills, Yaz, Yasmin, and Yasminelle contain drospirenone. With the exception of a recently approved generic version, Ocella, no other birth control pills contain drospirenone.

Reported side effects include:
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
- Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
- Heart Arrhythmia
- Heart Attack/Myocardial Infarctions and
- Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attacks

The AP reported yesterday that swine flu vaccine makers will be immune from any potential lawsuits.

I'll personally take my chances though. Being that I have asthma, I'll still get one if given the chance to get the new flu shot.

It's very common for medical providers to file liens related to personal injury lawsuits. After all, doctors like to get paid for their services. How can you find out if a lien is filed against you in Oklahoma County?
1. Go to Oklahoma County and click on Search Land Records (under Online Services; 6 down on the left side).
2. Read the disclaimer and click "Yes" that you understand that it is for informational purposes only.
3. Click "Registrar of Deeds Public Access" (on the right side)
4. Click "Grantor/Grantee or UnPlatted"
5. Put your name (Last First - without a comma) in the "Grantee" section.
6. Click "Search Now!"
7. If your name is in the search results, click on the box next to it and click "next step."
8. The various liens (hospital/doctor or other) filed should be on the next page.
9. For the detailed information, click on the Document Number.

The acne medication, Accutane, is being pulled off the U.S. market. The AP article states that:

The decision was made for economic reasons, not safety reasons, the company said. The drug has a rocky safety history, having been linked to birth defects if taken during pregnancy, along with depression and suicidal thoughts. The company said costs for personal-injury lawsuits are high, but it continues to "rigorously" defend the drug.

I spent the last 10 minutes or so online searching for "how much the insurance industry spends on advertising."

It's a common complaint among personal injury lawyers that jurors often have preconceived notions that injury victims are out to just make a quick buck and that the insurance companies would have paid the claim if it was legit. Insurance companies have a huge incentive in paying as little as possible (and are very profitable).

I haven't found a good source yet. But, I stumbled on a New York Times article from 1986. The article mentions that the Insurance Information Institute was starting an "advertising campaign aimed at combating the growing litigious bent." There isn't video on the article, but the 30 second commercials depicted a "world without obstetricians, high school sports or firefighters - a world that high insurance rates caused." The campaign started as a $6.5 million advertising effort.

"[D]espite rising malpractice insurance premiums over the past several years there has actually been a drop in medical malpractice payouts made by New York doctors."

"Mrs. Harris observed a male resident who had been left in his own waste for so many hours that he had feces caked on to his leg from his hip to below his knee, and had wet himself at least one time," the petition said.

[S]he saw the man sitting in his waste and reported it to her supervisor, the head nurse and two nurse's aides. Her supervisor sprayed deodorant in the man's room to cover the smell. The aides said they would leave him for the next shift.

"Two and a half hours later, he was still sitting in his own waste," Harris said. "He couldn't say nothing. I would always talk to him. He would just light up when I went to clean his room. It's heartbreaking when you see a resident not being taken care of."

[A]n elderly woman paralyzed from the waist down was left in her own waste, Harris said. She rolled out of the bed and into the hallway to get someone to change her soiled garments and the nurses "just laughed at her," Harris said.

Harris reported each instance of neglect or abuse to the facility's staff. But once the staff learned she intended to seek the advice of her husband, Jerry, a retired private investigator known for exposing elder abuse, she was fired, the petition said.