West Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently, columnist Harold Mandel, a supporter of tort reform, examined the various reforms made around the country, including in West Virginia. He concludes that despite tort reforms that have already been made, medical liabilities that still exist threaten to bury the medical profession.

He claims that the tort reforms that have been enacted or upheld in various states have resulted in lower liability premiums and fewer doctors fleeing to states with lower caps. Mandel considers it a victory that this past July, the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a reduction of the non-economic damages cap from $1 million to $250,000. At the same time, he frowns upon rulings by state supreme courts in Illinois and Georgia, which struck down caps of $350,000 and $500,000 as being unconstitutional.

Mandel believes that where people are allowed to sue their physicians, danger follows. Doctors who have to defend against malpractice suits pay an average of $47,158, an increase of 63% since 2001. In New York and Florida, it is not uncommon for doctors to pay premiums of around $200,000. And surgeons who get sued are -- not surprisingly -- more likely to burn out and experience depression.

What Mandel and other tort reform supporters will never say is that medical malpractice suits may be perfectly justified. In fact, a cap of $250,000 may be far too low to make up for the pain and suffering caused by a completely preventable error.

Over 200,000 deaths occur each year nationally due to physician error, and an untold number of injuries and overdoses. Most patients don't have the option of reviewing a doctor's success rate or the death/error rate from hospital to hospital. Instead, we must trust what the doctor says and submit to his or her care. When something goes wrong through no fault of our own, we want answers. Many hospitals are surprisingly -- or maybe unsurprisingly -- unwilling to give them. Research has shown that hospitals that disclose preventable errors to patients are more likely to face lawsuits -- so hospitals don't reveal them. One recent study found that hospital underreporting is greater than ever. Among Medicare beneficiaries, hospital reporting systems captured only 14% of the patient harm events.

Continue reading "Tort Reform Supporters Overlook the Reasons Why Patients Sue" »

For some West Virginia legislators, sponsoring a mine safety bill wasn't just about preventing a repeat of the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine tragedy: it was also about something personal. Two legislators had lost fathers in coal mining accidents.

House Speaker Rick Thompson lost his father in 1952, when he fell off the mine roof -- before Thompson was even born. Delegate Charlene Marshall lost two fathers -- her biological father when she was six years old, and later her stepfather. Marshall emphasized that she never wanted any child to feel what she felt. As a result, she and 11 other legislators have sponsored a bill that would not only increase training and increase sanctions for violations, but would also improve the role of miners' families during investigations. Miners' families or their representatives would be permitted to sit in on investigator interviews. This would prevent situations like the one Marshall experienced. During a routine canvassing for the vote, she learned that the details of her father's death were different from what her family had been told.

In addition, the bill would require a review of the three reports that were issued by Upper Big Branch investigators. The goal is to identify problems and then alter safety standards to ensure that disaster never strikes again. The three reports, as well as a federal report issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, faulted Massey Energy Company for allowing safety lapses that led to the accident, as well as Massey's efforts to conceal these problems.

If the bill is passed, changes will include a whistleblower hotline for mine safety violations, double the penalties for lying to investigators, and triple the penalties for safety violations. Mining machines would shut off automatically if methane levels were too high. Mine workers would be permitted to leave areas that they believed to be unsafe.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm applaud West Virginia legislators and Governor Tomblin for taking sensible steps to end the safety abuses routinely found in coal mines. While the 2011 death toll was much lower than in 2010, more than a dozen people still died in coal mining accidents. The numbers may rise if something is not done to prevent them. Fortunately something is being done, and it will be up to inspectors and whistleblowers to ensure that mining companies don't successfully evade the new regulations.

Continue reading "West Virginia Legislators Sponsor a Bill That Would Improve Mine Safety" »

West Virginia's House and Senate committees are expected to pass a bill banning cell phone use and texting while driving. The bill is championed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, and once he signs it, West Virginia will become one of a growing number of states to ban the practice. Already nine states and Washington D.C. ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving, while 35 states have banned text messaging.

The bill would treat both cell phone use and texting as secondary offenses, meaning that a police officer could cite drivers for cell phone use or texting only after pulling them over for a different offense. Other states treat cell phone use as a primary offense, so police officers can pull drivers over just for using a cell phone.

One typical reason for the imminent ban was given by Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie: "We're losing too many people in accidents that we know could be avoided. I don't want to lose any more kids, any more parents, any more people." Already, West Virginia prohibits drivers 18 years old and younger from texting or using a cell phone while operating a car. The upcoming ban would extend that ban to every driver.

The Senate Transportation and Infrastructure committee and the House Transportation and Roads committee are expected to take up the bill, and chairmen of both are optimistic that the legislation will take effect sometime this year.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm believe that banning handheld cell phones and texting is a smart solution that is a long time coming -- one that is sure to save countless lives. While driving is a privilege that everyone should handle with great care, too many people act as though they can do anything (eat, drink alcohol, talk on a cell phone, apply makeup) and come away unscathed. That leads to accidents that could have easily been avoided. Our firm has represented car accident victims for over 20 years, and can attest to the variety of injuries people suffer, as well as the often nightmarish interactions with the other driver's insurance company.

Continue reading "West Virginia Legislature Poised to Pass Ban On Texting, Cell Phone Use, While Driving" »

This story will serve as a precaution for every West Virginia driver: keep an eye on the road at all times, or you could become a casualty of those who have no concern about driving while intoxicated or on drugs.

A tractor trailer driver from Mississippi was recently sentenced in neighboring Maryland to 21 years in prison for going on a high-speed rampage through three states in December 2010, including West Virginia. A police pursuit of Thomas McNeel, 43, began in West Virginia and reached speeds of 80 miles per hour by the time they reached Maryland. While driving along Interstate 70 and Interstate 81, he damaged four vehicles of civilians unlucky enough to get out of the way in time. Police finally slowed McNeel down by shooting out McNeel's tires -- yet even that just slowed him down to 35 miles per hour. When McNeel reached Washington County, Maryland, he purposely swerved the tractor trailer toward a police cruiser. Because of police dashboard cameras, McNeel avoided being charged with first-degree assault, as police determined that McNeel was just trying to scare the officers in the cruiser rather than actually harm them.

Instead, McNeel was charged with four counts of second-degree assault. McNeel later testified that he tried a synthetic methamphetamine called "bath salts" that morning, which left him unable to remember the high-speed chase. His bench trial took place one year after the original offense and the verdict was handed down soon after.

Most people know that driving is a privilege and a responsibility. We might sometimes bend certain rules, but most people would never consider taking drugs before getting behind the wheel. It is almost miraculous that no one was killed in the incident. However, some civilians did pay a price. The people whose cars were damaged by McNeel's tractor trailer have asked for $11,000 for repairs, and one woman reported suffering back injuries as a result.

If you or a loved one ever experiences such a situation, you should go out and hire a West Virginia car accident attorney as soon as possible. An experienced car accident attorney would quickly take evidence from the scene of the crime and gather the necessary witnesses. Your attorney would then help you build a case that the other driver was negligent or reckless. Even if the driver were not as obviously reckless as McNeel, it would be possible to get a sizeable award from the jury -- known as "money damages," or just "damages" -- that could pay your medical expenses, for pain and suffering, and for any possible property damage. You might even be able to obtain punitive damages -- in West Virginia, punitive damages may be awarded if the wrongdoer's actions were intentional or grossly negligent. The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, the lowest burden of proof in a trial.

Continue reading "Driver in High-Speed Chase Through West Virginia Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison" »