Personal Injury Law Blogs

Is It Worth Making A Claim After A Workplace Personal Injury?

For those people who have suffered an injury due to an accident that wasn’t their fault, getting in touch with personal injury solicitors can seem like the obvious next step, but for those unfortunate enough to have an accident at work, making a claim for compensation is often avoided. The truth is, many people assume that by making personal injury claims against their employer will destroy the working relationship they have or lead to losing their job.

It’s worth remembering that whether you are returning to work or not, you will have suffered unnecessarily due to someone else’s negligence. Your injury may have led to missing work for a long period of time while having surgery or undergoing treatment. And don’t forget that it isn’t just the physical pain that affects you, but the emotional pain and distress that is often also experienced by your family.

If you’re the main earner in your household, your injury could mean financial hardship for your family while you are off work, or you may have had to pay out for expensive treatment of specialist equipment to aid your recovery. At the end of the day, why should you be punished for someone else’s mistake?

Your personal injury solicitors can give you great advice and support if you’re thinking of making a claim. Employers have a duty to keep you safe, whether that’s offering the correct training, the right equipment or just keeping the workplace itself safe. A good employer will realise that personal injury claims are not personal attacks and that you have a genuine reason for claiming.

All businesses are required to have insurance to cover them should the unexpected happen and it is this insurance company who will actually handle the claim rather than your employer, which helps to make the situation less personal.

Personal injury solicitors acknowledge that many victims fear being fired from their position or creating such a bad atmosphere at work that they will be forced to resign. But generally, these fears don’t become reality. Legally, your employer can’t fire you for making a claim and if you do feel you have been forced out you could consider a claim for constructive dismissal. What’s more, personal injury claims could bring about positive changes at your workplace, making it a much safer place for you and other employees.

Shedding Light on Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse is a wildly under reported issue in the United States. As people are living longer, treatment in elder care facilities will need to improve drastically to accommodate the influx of residents they will receive and sustain for what can potentially be decades.
The following infographic outlines the startling frequency of nursing home abuse occurrences.
Philadelphia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers The information in this graphic was compiled by the Philadelphia nursing home abuse attorneys at Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C.

4 Ways Lawyers Can Help Family Members after a Brain Injury

After a brain injury, families are left with a unique responsibility to help their loved one cope and adapt to a new life. Lawyers quickly become a trusted resource for families specially a family lawyer. This post will discuss how a lawyer can go above and beyond to help family members cope after an accident that has left a loved one with a traumatic brain injury.

According to a lawyer from family law brain injuries are devastating with lasting repercussions. The brain-injured individual must rely on family members for care and compassion. While family members want to everything in their power to help their loved ones recover, cope, and adapt to a new life, they’re often left on their own to figure it all out. As they juggle caring for the injured with personal injury litigation, they often turn to their lawyers for additional help. As a lawyer, you can do more than settle brain injury cases, you can go above and beyond to help family members after an accident has left a loved one with a traumatic brain injury. Here’s how.

Recognize that Surviving Family Members are Accident Victims

It’s easy to focus on the brain-injured individual. However, surviving spouses, children, and other family members have suffered a loss, too. When representing a brain-injured client, you have a whole family of clients to attend to. The surviving spouse is often overlooked and is likely suffering from distress, anxiety, guilt, and depression. In addition, the surviving spouse is expected to step into one or more unfamiliar new roles including: caregiver, decision maker, bread winner, and primary parent. The spouse may be ill-equipped to manage household chores, children, personal finance, full-time work, and round-the-clock care.

Serve as a Liaison

Lawyers aren’t social workers, but you may feel like one at times. As a lawyer who specializes in brain injuries, you likely encounter the same issues and concerns multiple times. As time goes on, your network will grow to include resources that can assist families such as counselors, home health aides, respite caregivers, and so on. Keep track of the people that have been the most beneficial to your clients and introduce them to new clients as needed.

After referring other professionals to family members, make sure to follow up. Did the referral do a fantastic job? If so, you can feel confident referring that person to future clients. If not, find out what happened and how it can be avoided in the future.

Hold Caregiver Support Workshops

If your firm has a lot of brain-injured clients, hold a series of caregiver support workshops. Not only is this a value-added service, caregivers need a break from litigation and their caregiving duties. Consider bringing in experts to discuss medical, financial, therapeutic, and recreational topics. You could have a different theme each month. Every so often, bring in a masseuse, hair stylist, or nail professional and pamper your clients. Chances are, they feel as if they don’t have time for personal luxuries.

Become a Brain Injury Prevention Advocate

In addition to providing competent legal representation and helping family members find the resources and relief they need, consider taking an active role in preventing brain injuries. You could do so in many ways. For example, you could offer to speak at local schools or senior centers. You could submit articles to various publications. You could join a professional brain injury association such as the Brain Injury Association. Organizations like these exist to prevent brain injuries, improve treatment, and improve the quality of life for those affected by a brain injury.

These are four ways that you can go above and beyond for your brain-injured clients and their families. You can make an important difference in their lives by recognizing their needs, matching them with resources, holding support groups, and becoming a vocal advocate. These four steps can help you get more satisfaction out of your job as well.

Guest post contributed by Kevin Krist, a Brain Injury Attorney based in Houston Texas. Kevin has been practicing law since he was 22 years old. He is one of the most qualified and experienced personal injury trial attorneys in Texas. For more information about brain injury, visit the Texas brain injury resources section of KevinKristLaw.com

Personal Injury Claims will Increase in Value

Anyone who claims compensation for a personal injury and they receive a judgement in their favour from April next year will receive 10% more than in previous years. The Association of British Insurers (ABI), who hope to re-balance the figures by a reduction in legal costs, is appealing the decision. The Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and the Vice President of the Court of Appeal are the three high-ranking judges who ruled that there should be an increase. It will be interesting to see how the changes to payouts affect both the claimant and the insurance industry. The increase will also apply to claims lodged before the April 1st date, so there are many in the industry who would have expected a quiet spell before the storm not to be over-stretched by a sudden rush of claims from April onwards.

A Balanced System is a Fairer System for Most

In many cases that have gone before the courts, the side awarded damages have been represented on a no-win no-fee basis and it is common for the victorious solicitor claim extra fees. These fees are not representative of their usual rates for counsel, but they are something like a win bonus known as ‘success fees’. While this is completely acceptable, it has meant that many people who have little way of denying responsibility, have been afraid to defend a claim because of the fear of escalating costs. In effect, there may have been cases successfully defended had the person accused of responsibility decided to contest the claim. Success fees are being abolished, making them no longer recoverable from conditional fee agreements under the new LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders) Act.

Whom will it affect?

In the most part, there will be no change at all for people who wish to claim personal injury. Solicitors fees will operate in much the same way, except there will be no bonuses to pay for contesting a case and losing. However, this does suggest that more cases will be contested and the courts may become a little busier. The only shift in costs will be payments from successful legal representatives finding their way to successful claimants. There are two ways of looking at this: there will be more people making claims because there are less costs involved (some success fees are double the counsel’s usual rates), but there will be similar earnings for solicitors who have to do a little more work to get the result. The big question is can you fill an appointment book more than once? In other words, solicitors will lose out if they are already operating at full capacity.

Civil Litigation Overhaul

The purpose of these changes in the cost structure of civil litigation has largely been to bring the earnings and losses of all parties in to a fairer and more proportionate level. The measures are also intended to reduce the number of hours wasted on claims that could be better dealt with before they reach court. In previous years, the solicitor acting on behalf of the pursuant of a claim, may have been acting as much for their own benefit as for the benefit of their client. The client may have no significant extra benefit from the case being heard than had they accepted an earlier offer of compensation. In essence, there process could be seen as less of a boom time for many personal injury solicitors and more profitable for happy clients who avoid the drawn out processes, to which we are accustomed.

Ethical Code of Conduct

In the United Kingdom, we are lucky enough to have one of the fairest and most respected legal systems in the world. This means that any prior cases where Counsel has recommended actions better suited to their own ends than their clients are few and far between. In many cases, there are many more motivating factors to take a responsible person or business to court seeking damages. To put a positive spin on the situation, it is thanks to people like Lord Justice Jackson who reviewed personal injury litigation that there have been so many positive advances since December 2009.  The approval of the defamation protocol, which is a pre-action protocol works as an alternative to court. This encourages more settlements at an earlier stage and that allows the courts more freedom to review cases that are more complicated.

Any injury solicitor will tell you that their clients are happier to receive compensation as early as possible, save for a minority where justice and the correct course of action are more important.

Massachusetts Lab Scandal Highlights the Importance of Careful Regulation in Laboratories

What is Laboratory Law?

Laboratory law has developed significantly in the past 50 years. According to Malcolm H. Merrill and W. Max Chapman’s “Laboratory Technicians: The Clinical Laboratory Law and Its Meaning to Private Physicians”, clinical laboratory law was originally introduced in 1938, and laboratories were at first monitored on only a voluntary basis. While a number of amendments have been made to laboratory law since then, perhaps the most important development came about in 1988, when Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. The act was written and passed into law after medical misconduct resulted in “a number of deaths from false-negative Pap smear readings.”

What Regulations are Laboratories Subjected To?

Laboratory law varies from state to state. California State Laboratory Law requires that most laboratories be licensed or registered with the state. In addition to holding Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Certification (CLIA), labs require that complex testing cases be handled by chemists or scientists with a more advanced degree or certification. Calibrated lab equipment of the highest quality is used to produce the most exact measurements. These labs are inspected every 2 years to ensure that regulations are being met. Labs are also given tests—a process called “proficiency testing—in which their results help to determine the quality and accuracy of their testing practices.

Different types of laboratories are subject to regulation from different government entities. This is most oftentimes the state’s Department of Health, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, among others.

Implications of Improper Regulation

Scientific, or research, misconduct carries with it serious legal and ethical implications; as a result, the consequences for carrying out research misconduct are severe.

One case of research misconduct has been plaguing U.S. headlines as of late: A chemist in a state lab in Massachusetts has come under fire recently for allegedly “lying about drug samples she tested”. The chemist, Annie Dookhan, confessed to lying about the number of samples she tested, admitting that at times she would test only a fraction of a group of samples and record the same results for all untested samples. A local news station reported that Dookhan’s lab practices were often questioned by her colleagues. According to the Wall Street Journal , there are “nearly 1,100 inmates currently serving time in cases in which Ms. Dookhan was the primary or secondary chemist.”

There are many more negative consequences of improper, or absent, regulation of laboratories. This can include the improper handling and disposal of laboratory waste and hazardous substances, risking the safety of laboratory personnel and inaccurate results from contamination or lax clinical testing.

Is There Enough Regulation?

The lab scandal in Massachusetts highlights lingering inefficiencies in laboratory law. While Dookhan was charged with obstruction of justice, her misconduct affected the outcome of thousands of drug-related cases.

To prevent serious cases of scientific misconduct, some scientists are calling for increased regulation and supervision—a move that would include setting up cameras in laboratories. Some of those involved with Dookhan’s case claim that this added level of supervision may be unnecessary, and that an in-lab quality manager provides an adequate level of supervision.

It is possible that laboratories could avoid serious cases of misconduct like this by discouraging competition based on the number of samples tested. Dookhan reportedly came under suspicion of her colleagues after outperforming them significantly by turning in suspiciously high numbers of tested samples. After all, some of the most significant changes to laboratory law came about after medical misconduct was directly attributed to human injury or death. Whether it be an incorrect medical test that results in the death of a patient after treatment is not sought, or the contamination of evidence for criminal cases that results in jail time for thousands, laboratory results often have a serious impact in peoples’ lives. Focusing on the importance and potential implications of results—undoubtedly a goal of most regulated laboratories—may be the best solution for self-supervision in chemists, researchers and lab technicians.

6 Bizarre Personal Injury Claims

People attempt to make personal injury claims everyday even when they do not know what qualifies for a case. If you or someone you know has had an accident within the last three years and you are not sure whether you are entitled to compensation, then contact injury advice lawyers to find out whether you have a case or not. The lawyers are professionally trained to deal with a variety of cases and they may be able to help you. Here are six bizarre cases for personal injury claims that show you that you you do not need a common case to be entitled to any money.

1. In 1994, Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s because of a hot cup of coffee. She was in the passenger seat when she scolded herself; she managed to tip hot coffee over her lap and suffered third degree burns. She sued McDonald’s because there was no warning about how hot the coffee was.

2. A man in New York had planned to commit suicide by laying down on the subway tracks, but instead of this killing him, he was seriously hurt and had to be taken to hospital. He sued the New York Transit Authority and won his case; he was paid 650,000 Dollars.

3. Another man suffered injuries in a nightclub; this injury resulted in him having to use crutches. When he was walking through the park with his children, one of his crutches got stuck in a hole and this caused him to fall over and injure his other leg, so both of his legs were out of use.


4. A teacher managed to sue after he fell of a kid’s toilet in a primary school and fractured his hip. He claimed that this was not his fault because of how small the toilet was.

5. A teenager fell through the roof of a stranger’s house. The teenager had a case against the owner because the roof was not designed for a person to climb on to.

6. One man was loading products into the back of a lorry, but the driver did not realise this was happening. As he drove off, the man in the back fell out of the lorry with the driver still unaware of what was happening.

If you think you have a case, then it is essential for you to deal with it because it could leave you in a better position, for example, if you or a family member had an accident that left you in a condition to require medical treatment, then compensation could cover this; this is especially important if it has left you financially unstable. Whether you have already recovered from an injury or you are still in the recovery process, contact an injury advice lawyer, as they will be able to provide you with professional advice that can put you on the right track. No matter whether your case is as bizarre as the ones listed above or it is a serious case, make sure you contact a solicitor to guide you through the process of making a claim.

Dominic works at Injury Advice Lawyers where he advices people on what they can claim.

5 Steps to Take After a Car Accident

It is impossible to stress how much preparedness can impact the aftermath of a disaster.  Should the unthinkable occur at an unexpected moment, which it generally does, knowing in advance what you would do under such circumstances can make a huge difference in determining the outcome of events. Immediately after an accident, you could be quite shaken up or even in a state of shock. Having a printed checklist handy in your glove compartment can help you move through the process more smoothly, while protecting yourself from potential lawsuits or erroneous clams.  Here are 5 important steps to take in the aftermath of a car accident, according to Glen Lerner of Lerner and Rowe, a personal injury legal firm.

Cut the Ignition

Immediately after any car accident, the first thing to do is turn off your car. This may seem obvious right now; however, it is not the first thing you may think about after your vehicle collides with another vehicle or object.

Check Everyone for Injuries
Check yourself for injury before checking passengers in your car. Also, verify that nobody in the other vehicle or vehicles is injured. If anyone is injured, call 911. Use blankets and basic first aid to help any car crash victims, but do not move anyone who is unconscious or seriously injured, unless there are smoke and flames coming from the car.

Call the Police
Your best protection against inflated or erroneous claims by another party in the future is to have the police document the scene. When the damage to your car is going to cost more than your deductible, it’s very important to have a police report filed.

By calling the police, you will also have the other driver’s name, license plate and insurance information, which you will need when filing a claim. Having the police there will also remove the hassles involved with trying to get information from an uncooperative or inebriated driver. If the accident occurred on a turnpike or state highway, call the State Police.

Document EVERYTHING!
Use a digital camera, camera phone or disposable camera to photograph the scene. When possible, move cars involved in fender benders or minor accidents from busy roadways or intersections. Have emergency road flares on hand in your trunk to warn other drivers of the disabled cars. Although there will be a police report available later, you will still need information for your insurance company.

Exchange driver’s licenses and insurance cards with the other driver. Write down the name and address of the driver, insurance company name and the policy number. Also write down the names of the other car’s passengers. Also note the license plate information and state and make and model of the other driver’s car.

Make a note of the name of the police officer and badge number, as well as the location where you can retrieve a copy of the police report.

Call the Tow Truck
If your car needs to be towed, call a tow truck. Use the emergency roadside assistance service of your car insurance company, or another roadside assistance company. When you don’t have either, the police will help arrange a tow. Also make arrangements for you and your passengers to get home or continue to your destination.

Call Your Insurance Company

As soon as you are home or at work and settled in, call your insurance company to report the accident. Provide the insurance company with the information they need and make your own note of when you called, the agent’s name and a claim number if one is provided.

Florida Teen Found Guilty of Impersonating a Physician Assistant

On Thursday, August 30, a Florida jury found Matthew Scheidt, 18, guilty of practicing medicine without a license and impersonating a physician assistant.

Hospital-Issued Badge Identified Scheidt as Physician Assistant

In August 2011, Scheidt posed as a medical professional at the Osceola Regional Medical Center for more than a week. According to Scheidt, he was employed as a clerk at a doctor’s office located across the street from the hospital. As a clerk, he was required to carry a certain badge, which he could pick up at the hospital. He was mistakenly given a badge that identified him as a physician assistant rather than a clerk.

Scheidt was convicted of two counts of practicing medicine without a license and two counts of impersonating a physician assistant. Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. Scheidt was convicted despite pleading not guilty to all of the charges. Sentencing is scheduled for November 14. Because he is a minor with no prior violent convictions, he may qualify for youthful-offender status and receive a more lenient sentence.

[Editor’s note – see also our notes on some of the top mesothelioma lawyers in Florida here and some of the Best Injury Lawyers in Jacksonville here  for more information on relevant attorneys you may want to consider.

Scheidt Treated ER Patients

Prosecutors argued that Schiedt wore scrubs, a stethoscope and lab coat while assisting in the hospital’s emergency room. He also wore the badge that improperly identified him as a physician assistant. Prosecution said that he helped conduct medical exams and changed patients’ bandages.

Scheidt treated patients in the emergency room for more than a week before hospital staff discovered that he was a fraud. He was able to use appropriate medical terminology through an app he had downloaded onto his smartphone. He is not accused of causing harm to any of the hospital’s patients.

Trial witnesses included several hospital employees who claimed that they were deceived by Scheidt. In trial testimony, Scheidt was accused of helping to restrain a psychiatric patient and holding the hand of a young patient during a minor surgical procedure. He also accessed confidential patient information.

After his arrest, Scheidt told authorities that he had performed CPR on a hospital patient because he was the only one around and did not want her to die.

According to defense attorneys, Scheidt never claimed to be a physician assistant. If anyone asked, he would say he was a student. His attorneys claimed that the hospital administrators were at fault for providing Scheidt with a badge without first confirming his credentials. They argued that the hospital wanted to shift the blame to the teenager in order to avoid liability for giving an unauthorized person access to patients and their confidential medical records.

Scheidt was arrested in September of 2011. He was released on bond before being arrested in January for impersonating a police officer in Miami Beach.

Faces Charges of Impersonating a Police Officer

In this case, he was driving a vehicle that resembled an undercover police car, complete with a computer on the dashboard. He was arrested after he pulled up next to an actual undercover police car. The undercover officer observed Scheidt to be acting as an officer and using police jargon. The officer reported that Scheidt twice answered “Yes” when asked if he was a police officer.

Scheidt still faces trial on these charges.

About the author:-  Aaron Gormley is fascinated by issues related to medicine and healthcare, which is why he has considered pursuing an education on the site: http://www.medicalcodingandbillingcertification.net/.

Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit after Teenage Son Swept to Sea

Michael and Marianne Madoff have  filed a wrongful death lawsuit after their 15-year-old son was swept into the Pacific Ocean while on a guided hiking and kayaking tour in Hawaii on July 4. They allege that the tour guides were negligent for leading the group to a dangerous area. They also accuse the tour company of being “coldhearted” toward them as they were dealing with the loss of their son.

Teenagers Led to Dangerous Area

Tyler Madoff of White Plains, New York was part of a tour led by 22-year-old Andrew Mork. The group was hiking near the Captain Cook monument in Kealakekua Bay when they took a break near some tide pools. According to the lawsuit, Mork led the group to a section of volcanic rock near the ocean. The area was outside of the state-permitted area and marked with signs that warned of the dangerous surf conditions.

Matthew Alzate, 15, was in the tour group with Madoff and walking on the rocky area. According to the lawsuit, several of the teenagers on the tour began grasping rocks and holding on tightly as the waves began receding powerfully into the ocean. One wave was so powerful that it swept Madoff and Alzate off their feet and pulled them out toward the Pacific Ocean. The tour guides were able to pull Alzate to safety but were unable to rescue Madoff. Although dive teams conducted a search, Madoff’s body has not yet been recovered. He is presumed to be dead.

Parents Allege Tour Guide Put Teenagers’ Lives at Risk

Madoff’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Honolulu on Tuesday, August 21. In the suit, they allege that the tour guides deviated from the scheduled itinerary and put the teenagers’ lives at risk. Instead of following the schedule, the tour guides led the teenagers to a dangerous restricted area. They accuse Mork of failing to help save their son’s life.

The family has listed the Colorado-based Bold Earth Teen Adventures and Hawaii Pack and Paddle as defendants. Hawaii Pack and Paddle was a tour company that was subcontracted by Bold Earth to conduct the tour.

Abbott Wallis, the founder and president of Bold Earth, previously stated that Madoff’s death was a “freak accident” that could not have been predicted. He insisted that the tour guides did everything possible to search for Madoff.

Mork has Criminal History

Madoff’s parents also allege that Mork should not have been allowed to work as a team leader due to his criminal history. They allege that his past behavior includes marijuana possession and disorderly conduct, crimes that should have barred him from employment by Bold Earth. Bold Earth requires their tour guides to be subjected to background checks prior to hiring.

Madoff’s parents are seeking damages for the emotional distress they suffered as a result of their son’s death. They insist that they are not filing the lawsuit for monetary reasons. They are hoping that their lawsuit will shed some light on the practices of tour companies and prevent other children from being injured or killed on similar tours.

 

Jamie Lee is a blogger who likes to write on current issues. She believes it is important to seek help when faced with a case of injury or death.

Boy Injured in 2006 Baseball Game Receives $14.5 Million in Settlement

On Wednesday, August 22, Steven Domalewski was awarded $14.5 million in a settlement with Hillerich and Bradsby, Little League Baseball, Inc. and Sports Authority. The settlement followed a 2006 incident in which Domalewski, who was 12 years old at the time, suffered severe brain damage after being struck by a line drive hit in a baseball game.

Domalewski Hit by Ball during Game

Domalewski was pitching in a Police Athletic League game when a batter, using a metal bat, hit a line drive. The ball struck Domalewski in the chest, directly above his heart. The ball struck him at a precise instant between heartbeats and sent Domalewski into cardiac arrest. He fell backwards and stopped breathing. By the time emergency responders were able to resuscitate him, his brain had been without oxygen for at least 15 minutes. As a result, Domalewski suffered severe brain damage that has left him unable to perform activities of daily living without assistance. He is nearly blind and is confined to a wheelchair. Although he has regained some speech abilities, his vocabulary is very limited.

Parents Claim Metal Bat Too Dangerous for Youth Games

Domalewski’s parents sued the baseball bat manufacturer, Little League and Sports Authority. They alleged that metal bats are able to launch baseballs at a much higher velocity than wooden bats, and that the bat responsible for injuring their son was unsafe. Although the game was not sponsored by Little League, the organization was listed as a defendant because it certifies certain types of bats as appropriate for youth baseball games.

Ernest Fronzuto, the lawyer who represented Domalewski and his family, stated that this settlement will allow Domalewski to receive care for his lifetime. Under the terms of the settlement, Fronzuto is precluded from giving further details about the case. He is not authorized to disclose whether the defendants in the lawsuit admitted any liability.

Metal Bats Banned in Some Leagues

Critics assert that balls hit with aluminum bats travel at a much higher speed than balls hit with wooden bats. In the early 1990s, Little League agreed to restrict the use of metal bats in youth games. Little League approved certain brands of metal bats that were found to perform in a manner similar to wooden bats. Since the league implemented this restriction, the number of injuries to pitchers has dropped dramatically. Prior to the restriction, pitchers in Little League games suffered injuries an average of 145 times per year. After the restriction, the average number of injuries dropped to between 20 and 30 per year.

Metal bats have been banned from women’s softball games in Ridgewood, New Jersey. They are also prohibited from all high school games in New York City.

Steven D. Keemer, the president and CEO of Little League, has expressed deep sympathy for Domalewski and his parents. He stressed that these types of injuries are extremely rare in baseball, but he is glad that the settlement will effectively ensure that Domalewski will receive the necessary medical care throughout his lifetime.

The family is hopeful that the settlement money will allow Domalewski to be able to live independently one day.

About the author

This article was written by DJ Sweetin for the team at disability denial.