Skip to content

In Short: New TN Jobs Database – Memphis Bankruptcy Lawyers

16 May 2012, 12:08 pm

Tennessee has a new jobs database: the JOBS4TN Online search engine went live Monday May 14, according to the The Commercial Appeal.

JOBS4TN Online works like a regular job search engine, with a focus on the state of TN. You can search for employment opportunities based on keyword and location or browse featured listings.

The listings improve on TN’s previous search engine by including listings from local papers, government websites, and private job boards. Employers can also create individual listings directly on the site. As a result, listings on the site increased almost 3x from 30,000 to 85,000 with the new overhaul.

In addition, JOBS4TN Online includes resources and services for job seekers like career center locations, occupation and industry data, educational opportunities, and more.

If you’re struggling to find a job, this new database might help. In the meantime, if you are in over your head financially and need to talk with an attorney in the Memphis area about your options, let us know how we can help.

Tagged , , ,
Comment

Which Doctors Get Sued the Most? – Memphis Malpractice Lawyers

16 May 2012, 10:55 am

The risk of malpractice lawsuits vary by physician specialty, according to the Rand Corporation, which released the figures below by the Massachusetts Medical Society outlining which types of doctors most commonly face lawsuits.

Not surprisingly, the studies show a significant increase in risk of medical malpractice suits based on the risk of the work typically done by the doctor. In other words, specialties focused on the brain, heart, or childbirth all run a high risk because the stakes are also high. Also, surgeries of any type tend to run a higher risk than non-surgical medicine, both for the patient and for the doctor trying to avoid malpractice.

The money paid to plaintiffs also correlates in many cases to the level of risk. Injuries from malpractice in neurosurgery, for example, are usually much more severe and require more financial compensation than injuries from dermatology.

If you or a loved one have been injured in surgery or through another medical procedure, contact our Memphis malpractice lawyers or give us a call at 901-327-1212.

Tagged , , ,
Comment

Should You Always Take Photos After a Car Accident?

16 May 2012, 10:07 am

If you’re in a car accident, should you always take pictures? What should you make sure to record? In this video, Memphis car accident injury lawyer Darrell Castle explains why and how you want to get photo documentation after a car crash.

Text:

Should I always take pictures after a car accident?

Well, it’s always good to have pictures. It’s always good to have a record, especially photographic record of what happened if you’re able to take pictures – you’re not injured so badly that you can’t. And if you are, maybe someone close to you could do it for you.

But you should certainly have pictures of your injuries – any cuts, bruises, blood, broken bones, that type of thing.

And also pictures of the vehicles: the damage to your car and to the other car.

And it’s even good to have pictures of the intersection if the accident happened near an intersection – the cross-streets and so forth – so that your attorney or whomever could determine the scene of the accident, and just have a better picture of what happened. And it preserves evidence for possible future use. So yes, it’s a good idea to have pictures.

More questions? Contact Memphis car accident attorney Darrell Castle:
Contact online or call (901) 327-1212.

Tagged , , ,
Comment

Retained Surgical Instruments – Memphis Medical Malpractice Lawyers

16 May 2012, 9:33 am

Any item inadvertently left behind in a patient after surgery is called a “retained surgical instrument.” Retained surgical instruments can range from having no effect to causing physical trauma and even death. In addition, they often result in additional surgeries and medical costs.

Leaving tools in a patient’s body after surgery may sound like a very obvious mistake, but the truth is more complicated. Surgeries can require 300 to even 600 surgical tools, many of which are incredibly small.

The most common items left behind are sponges, but cases of retained instruments also include scissors, needles, scalpels, and more.

Many factors may contribute to the widespread problem of retained surgical instruments, including:

  • exhaustion
  • incorrect tool count
  • shift changes
  • frantic environment, especially in high-risk situations
  • lack of tools to ensure a proper count
  • body mass index (BMI) of patients

In particular, the energy and chaos of an emergency room situation can increase the risk.

It’s nearly impossible to calculate how often this error occurs. The problem goes under-reported, often because of fear about liability and medical malpractice lawsuits (see also: Disclosure of Medical Errors in TN). It also varies according to surgery: more complex surgeries require more tools, which increase the risk of mistakes.

Evidence of an injury due to retained surgical instruments can take a long time to notice. Sometimes patients don’t realize until months or even years after a surgery that something went wrong. (See also: What is the Discovery Rule?)

Sometimes when consequences do show up they can be mistaken for other problems. Masses can form around retained sponges, for example, but be mistaken for tumors. So if you’ve had a recent – or even somewhat recent – surgery, make sure the doctor performs adequate tests to diagnose the problem correctly.

And remember malpractice cases have a statute of limitations: if you do find evidence of an injury related to retained surgical instruments, contact an attorney quickly to get help.

–
If you or a loved one have been injured by a retained instrument from a surgery, you may be entitled to compensation. Our Memphis medical malpractice attorneys can help. We will discuss your case with you for free and let you know how you might want to proceed.

Contact us today online or call 901-327-1212.

(Photo: Sanja Gjenero)

Tagged , , , , , ,
Comment

Should You Always Call the Police After a Car Accident? – Memphis Car Accident Lawyers

15 May 2012, 10:57 am

If you’re in a car accident, do you always need to contact the police? What if the accident happens on private property? In this video, Memphis car accident lawyer Darrell Castle discusses the importance of calling the police after any crash on the road.

Text:

Yes it’s always a good idea to call the police – somebody should call the police after your accident. If there are injuries, of course the answer is obvious, but it’s a good idea to have a record for insurance purposes and so forth.

The insurance company is going to want to know: did you call the police? Because they want to see the police investigation report.

Even if the accident’s on private property, when the police might not do a report if there’s no injury, it’s still a good idea to call them to have it on record that you did.

__
More questions? Contact Memphis car accident attorney Darrell Castle:
Contact online, or call 901-327-1212.

Tagged , , , ,
Comment

That Tort of Thing – May 15, 2012 – Memphis Personal Injury Lawyers

15 May 2012, 10:10 am

Interesting stories about lawsuits, mass tort cases, and other personal injury issues.

  • It’s an honor to perform at the Tony awards.  …Until you’re hit by an enormous falling set piece.
  • What options out there can help protect children who are born into the US prison system?
  • Don’t get attacked by geese. And business owners, don’t let your employees get attacked by geese, either.
  • The Costa Concordia cruise ship fiasco is nowhere near over. Another lawsuit filed, asking $200 million for four people.
  • It’s a one in a million chance, but it can happen: blood transfusion allegedly led to HIV.

If you’ve suffered an injury that you believe was caused by the negligence or wrongdoing of someone else, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact our Memphis personal injury lawyers online or call us at 901-327-1212 to talk for free about your situation.

Tagged , , , , ,
Comment

Disclosure of Medical Error in Tennessee – Memphis Medical Malpractice Lawyers

14 May 2012, 9:33 am

Doctors are human and thus make mistakes all the time, but a lot of questions surround how to discuss these mistakes once they occur:

  • Is it better to know about those mistakes when they happen, even if they can be reversed and won’t cause serious harm?
  • Will the patient be less likely to sue if he or she finds out about the error directly from the doctor?
  • Can a doctor get punished for admitting an error, when the alternative would be to try to cover it up?

These questions and more relate to an issue called “disclosure.”

In general, patients want all the information they can have, including reports of any errors, details about why and how the error occurred, and a plan for reversing the impact of the mistake. Doctors, on the other hand, fearing possible malpractice lawsuits, often under-report errors or tiptoe around making a formal apology and admitting fault.

This tension helps no one: the patient has a right to know what happened to them; and it’s unethical for doctors to fear their patients so much that they hide important information.

As a result, many states have passed laws to protect doctors if and when they decide to disclose an error. In some states, even a doctor’s full admission of fault may not be used against them in court. In other states, acknowledging the error and expressing sympathy (“I’m sorry”) are protected in court, while admission of fault is not.

This doesn’t mean you can’t sue if you were injured by the error – it just means your lawyers can’t use that testimony against the doctor as evidence in the lawsuit.

Legislators hope these laws will help doctors and patients have more open and honest communication. In some cases, kind apologies from the doctor have been known to prevent lawsuits from being filed at all.

Tennessee does not at this time have a law protecting doctors who disclose errors. However, the laws statewide are pretty strict about when you can and can’t file a malpractice lawsuit. The burden of proof is in fact so heavy that most TN doctors can feel free to disclose any information to their patients without fear of a lawsuit, unless the mistake was fatal or caused severe, life-altering damage.

If you fear you’ve been injured due to a doctor’s mistake – whether or not they disclosed it to you at the time – you may be entitled to compensation. The laws in Tennessee are strict and there’s a statute of limitations, so the best thing to do is contact an experienced malpractice attorney. Our lawyers will look over your case with you and discuss your options at no cost to you.

Contact us online today or give us a call at (901) 327-1212.

__
Photo by Sanja Gjenero.

Tagged , , , , ,
1 Comment

When Should I Call a Car Accident Lawyer?

14 May 2012, 9:17 am

If you’ve been in a car accident, do you need a lawyer? How do you know when or if you should you contact an attorney about the crash? In this video, Memphis car accident lawyer Darrell Castle discusses the importance of calling a lawyer soon after an accident if you were injured.

More questions? Contact us online or call 901-327-1212.

Tagged , , ,
Comment

Sexual Abuse of the Elderly – Memphis Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

10 May 2012, 10:20 am

You may recall a recent case out of Memphis in which a man was arrested and convicted for raping and abusing a 78-year-old woman. While the case horrified and disgusted most people who heard about it, it’s not as uncommon as you might think.

According to the Boston College Connell School of Nursing, which published a lengthy report on the subject of sexual assault of elderly men and women, surveys from 2000 revealed that 3,370 of 261,000 rapes and sexual assaults were victims’ age 65 or older. However, they also cite a serious problem with under-reporting: only an estimated 30% of incidents are reported to police.

This abuse may go unreported for a number of reasons, including:

  • mental disability: victims with Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairment are less likely to understand what has been done to them or be able to report it accurately after the fact.
  • physical disability: sensory impairments like blindness that increase in severity with age can make it hard to describe perpetrators.
  • lack of physical evidence: bruises and other signs of the attack can easily be confused for injuries that come with aging.

The Boston College study found 43% of victims live alone at home and 38% of victims live in nursing homes, and the experience of these two groups can vary great.

Elderly persons living at home usually have stronger physical, mental, and emotional capacities and are often younger than people living in nursing homes. They have more of their faculties and stronger community resources. For those reasons, the odds that perpetrators will be reported, tracked down, and eventually brought to justice increase exponentially for people living on their own.

Nursing home residents are typically older than people who live at home and are more likely than non-nursing home residents to be physically and mentally disabled. They are more likely to know the person who commits the assault than non-nursing home residents. For these reasons, more cases of sexual assault in nursing homes go unreported.

If you or someone you care about has suffered assault, rape, molestation, or any other form of abuse while in another person’s care, you may be entitled to compensation, and our Memphis nursing home and elder abuse lawyers can help.

Contact us today or call 901-327-1212 to discuss your case with an attorney. The conversation is free.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Unreported Cases of Nursing Home and Elder Abuse in Tennessee

9 May 2012, 1:24 pm

Around the United States, elder abuse and nursing home abuse are common problems. The best estimates suggest between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection (1).

But in many cases, the abuse occurs in situations where the elder is not free to escape, make calls, or otherwise report their mistreatment.

For example, if an elder is being abused domestically, the adult child or spouse committing the abuse is unlikely to report the problem; but that person also has access to the phone, car, house keys, etc. In these domestic settings where the caregiving takes place in someone’s home, as few as 1 in 14 incidents, excluding incidents of self-neglect, come to the attention of authorities (2).

In nursing homes, family members sometimes live a long distance away or don’t visit their relative very often for whatever reason. When the home has no accountability, abuse can continue unquestioned.

According to the Tennessee Commission on Aging only 1 in 23 cases of elder abuse or neglect is reported in the State of Tennessee – a shocking figure.

At our office, our nursing home abuse attorneys in Memphis TN help victims of nursing home and elder abuse to get justice for these terrible injuries.

If you or someone you love has been harmed through elder abuse, contact us online or give us a call at 901-327-1212.

And to report abuse, neglect or exploitation of an older person call: 1-888-APS-TENN or 1-888-277-8366.

 

__
(1) Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation in an Aging America. 2003. Washington, DC: National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and Neglect.

(2) Pillemer, Karl, and David Finkelhor. “The Prevalence of Elder Abuse: A Random Sample Survey,” The Gerontologist, 28: 51-57.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Comment
« Older Entries