Personal Injury Law Blogs

PiP update – the Government PiP Review

The Government has published a disappointing and predictable report on PIP breast implants.

The report, by an expert medical group, has confirmed that PiP implants have a higher rupture rate than normal:

“around six to 12 percent after five years, rising to 15 to 30 percent after 10 years (this compares to 10-14 percent after 10 years for other brands of implants).”

If the breast implant does rupture it has been found to cause local reactions around the implant area in a small proportion of women, which can result in symptoms such as tenderness or swollen lymph glands, says the report.

However, there is no evidence that this causes any more significant general health concern, or that the PiP gel material contains anything that is toxic or carcinogenic.

The expert group has said that the advice to women who have PiP implants remains unchanged.

In our opinion this report does little to calm the fears of PiP victims. It confirms that the implants are defective and likely to rupture – spilling industrial silicone into our bodies – but offers no practical help.

Instead, we would like to see progress in:

Aftercare – There’s still no direct pressure on clinics to help their patients and the best the Government can do is say that clinics “should support” women with PIP implant concerns.
Consistency – Some clinics are offering to scan, remove and replace for free and others are charging for everything. There’s no consistency in how Scottish women are being treated by their clinics. We don’t know where we stand.
Commitment – We need to have a clear commitment from the Government that they’ll remove and replace these implants.

How To Protect Yourself When Hurt On The Job

Post author By alang
Post date July 2, 2012
Categories In Guest Legal Blogging on Personal Injury, Personal Injury Claims Law

(US Law & general legal tips) People who are injured on the job in New York are entitled to worker’s compensation. Worker’s compensation covers employees’ medical bills as well as providing them with some of their wages if they cannot work due to the injury. If you have been injured on the job, there are several steps you need to take to ensure you get the compensation to which you are entitled.

Report Injuries Immediately

You need to report injuries to your supervisor as soon as possible after the injury occurs. Your supervisor will fill out an incident report and give you a copy. He or she will also refer you to a doctor for treatment of your injuries. Perecman.com suggests that if you’ve been injured in a work accident there is a good chance that you are entitled to compensation, and your incident report is the best evidence of your injury. Even if you are unsure about whether or not your injury is serious enough to cause you to miss work, report the incident anyway in case you do have cause to seek compensation. As an example, without this evidence and even with a personal injury lawyer New York litigation is difficult at best. Your employer is not liable for injuries if you don’t report them, so make sure you do so as soon as possible.

Use Your Employer’s Doctor

The reason your employer refers you to a doctor for treatment is that only certain doctors are covered under his worker’s compensation insurance plan. If you are not confident with your treatment options, you are free to seek a second opinion from your personal doctor but you will need to be assessed by the employer’s physician to help with your case for compensation. If you are unhappy with the care you receive from your employer’s doctor, you may be able to see a different doctor. Talk to your construction accident attorney before visiting another doctor to find out how to proceed without hurting your case.

Get a Written Doctor’s Note

Your employer’s doctor may state that you are unable to work due to the injury. If so, you need to get his or her opinion in writing. This serves as evidence of your inability to safely perform your job. If you don’t get this information in writing, you won’t be able to prove that you are entitled to compensation for lost wages. The law is very clear regarding worker’s compensation and anything you can do to strengthen your position will only work for you in the end.

Be Careful On Social Media
Your social media activities can affect the outcome of your worker’s compensation case. Until your case is settled, presume that your social media accounts are not private. Even if you have high privacy enabled, your employer’s attorney can ask a judge to require you to give him or her access. Defense attorneys often use social media posts to discredit plaintiffs in worker’s compensation cases.

In general, you should avoid the following types of social media posts:

* Bragging about having time off work or how much compensation you think you’ll get.
* Rage against your employer for causing your injury.
* Talking about what you’ll do with compensation money.
* Photos taken after the accident showing you on vacation or otherwise living an unimpaired existence.
* Photos and posts suggesting you drink often.

Follow the rules regarding worker’s compensation. People often try to create situations whereby worker’s compensation can be used to get over on the system, so expect some sensitivity to that possibility. However, rest assured that the system is just as concerned with making sure that injured individuals are compensated fairly as they are with stopping offenders. By following a few simple steps you can be confident in the strength of your worker’s compensation claim.

Alan Gray is a worker safety advocate who often writes about work accident issues and he is a contributing author for The Perecman Firm. Over the last thirty years this company has won some of the largest settlements in New York history.

Claiming For A Ruptured Bowel

A ruptured (or perforated) bowel is a medical emergency that can cause serious health complications if not diagnosed and treated in a timely fashion. If you have suffered because of a delay in diagnosis, or your ruptured bowel was directly caused by medical error, you need to speak to a solicitor about claiming compensation for your injuries.

Why is a ruptured bowel a medical emergency?

If your bowel has ruptured, it means there is a small hole in either the large or small intestine. This may occur as a result of a traumatic injury (such as a car crash), an illness (such as ulcerative colitis), or a surgical complication. Within hours food and faeces will begin to leak through the hole, spreading into the abdominal cavity. This will be extremely painful for the individual concerned, who will also suffer fever and vomiting. If treatment is withheld, the abdomen will become inflamed and infected – something which can potentially be life-threatening.

Therefore it is vital a ruptured bowel is quickly detected and repaired. If the injury happens during surgery, the surgical team must identify the problem and suture the wound before ending the procedure. On the other hand if a patient presents with the symptoms characteristic of a ruptured bowel, steps should be taken to confirm a diagnosis. This will involve using an x-ray or CT scan to assess whether air has escaped into the peritoneal cavity. If so, emergency surgery must be performed.

Does a delay amount to medical negligence?

As long as urgent action is taken, a patient will soon make a full recovery. On the other hand if there is a delay, the consequences could be devastating. Occasionally this will happen because a patient fails to seek medical attention. However, there are sadly times when a delay in treating a ruptured bowel is the direct result of medical negligence. Usually this will occur for one of two reasons:-

1. Misdiagnosis: medical professionals may fail to recognise the signs and symptoms of a ruptured bowel, instead believing a more minor condition to be at play. A misdiagnosis such as this will cause the patient prolonged pain and suffering, and will also put their health in jeopardy.

2. Surgical negligence: a perforated bowel is a known risk of many surgical procedures. However, if a bowel is accidentally nicked or cut during the course of an operation, the surgeon must take care to repair the injury there and then. A failure to do so will result in additional health problems for the patient, and will also necessitate a second operation.

Compensation for a ruptured bowel

If you have suffered because of a delay in diagnosing a ruptured bowel, you could be entitled to compensation. To find out more information, you need to contact our solicitors for a free of charge consultation to help you move forward with your medical negligence claims.

The anonymous world of personal injury

We are known for repeatedly stating our view that in many respects personal injury practices are light years ahead of most other categories of lawyers and law firms.

We say this because most personal injury practices realised years ago the fundamental shift between a professional practice and a business service. These practices are run more as businesses, with the recognition, rightly or wrongly, that outside of some niche areas in business law, possibly divorce and a few other areas, clients and potential clients see lawyers as largely bland and the same, providers of a service which they expect to be competent but also don’t see the real value in.

The “punter” may well be wrong about the above, but this is largely irrelevant. What has happened is that most personal injury practices have followed the money and realised that the real fight between them has been about marketing. Most general legal practices have failed completely to even comprehend the need for real investment in marketing, and it’s probably now too late. They have ceded this to Quality Solicitors, Contact law and many others by actually creating the buying power which will price them out of the market.

But in one respect are personal injury lawyers now missing a fundamental point. Have they gone too far in seeing law simply as a commodity ?

Legal services are fundamentally about trust and people buy people. There can be few more important things than needing a lawyer for advice, whether it’s about divorce, wills, probate, a business dispute or a personal injury. There is now a lot of mistrust of lawyers generally and personal injury lawyers in particular. So, if a firm goes out of it’s way to create trust, might this create an advantage for that firm ?

So few personal injury lawyers have any of their people on their websites – the people who actually deal with claims are anonymous on many sites. Why is this ? Maybe because many staff are junior and possibly even not qualified ? It certainly doesn’t help trust. At the end of the day, people now want to know who they are dealing with.

So, personal injury firms that recognise this and play on it may gain an advantage, and one such firm, Lloyd Green, have certainly recognised it. Each of their fee earners has their own profile page, so a prospective client can see exactly who they are dealing with, in the same way as with many small general practice firms, who in this sense are maybe one step ahead ?

What do you think ?

How To Make A Work Accident Claim

Post author By emmadigirank
Post date June 26, 2012
Categories In Uncategorized

Every year in the UK a significant amount of people experience accidents at work and many of these sustain injuries as a result. By law, it is the employer’s duty to provide a safe working environment and take necessary measures and precautions to prevent any potential accidents. However, no matter how many preventive methods are put in place, accidents are still likely to occur.

If you have suffered an injury at work and feel you are entitled to compensation, have a glance at this guide and find out how to make a work accident claim.

Who’s to blame?

First things first, you need to identify who is to blame for the accident. If your employer’s negligence was the reason for the accident then you will be able to file for an accident claim. Most cases often stem from employer’s failing to provide adequate safety methods in the workplace. It is important that you clearly record the accident in an accident book and file a claim within three years of the incident.

Act fast

Even though you have three years to make a claim, it is important that you do it as soon as possible. Failure to do so could cause your claim to fail or reduce your chance of winning. The longer the period you leave before taking action, the less the chance of the success of your claim. This is due to the evidence required to connect the chain of events to prove that your injury was caused by the accident in question.

Find a solicitor

To move forward with your claim you need to contact a personal injury solicitor as soon as possible. Solicitors are efficient and confident in their specialist areas of law and will provide a friendly and helpful service. Their job is to reassure you and help you win your claim. Your solicitor will be able to start your claim for compensation on a no win no fee basis too.

Gather your evidence

You will need to present your solicitor with relevant evidence to back up your claim. Acceptable evidence you need to present:

Date of the accident (if possible the time too)
Photographs of the scene and your injuries
Statements from witnesses
Your medical reports concerning the injury

Be Patient

Once you have found the right solicitor to help you process your claim, all you have to do is be patient. Some cases are settled within weeks; however the occasional case can take a longer period of time to reach a settlement. Solicitors need to be thorough and precise and this will take time. Solicitors will do all they can to help you win your claim; therefore it is important to be patient.

If you need more advice on how to make a work accident claim, visit loyaltylaw.com

Claiming Compensation for an Accident in a Public Place

Every year in the UK, thousands of people are injured due to an accident in a public place. The owners and maintainers of public spaces have a responsibility to keep these places safe. This is known as a ‘duty of care’ to keep the public space safe and maintained.

Icy sidewalks, broken railings, tripping hazards and other dangers can cause serious injury at public areas such as shopping centres, car parks, play areas, schools and more. These injuries might be small, but they can also be very severe and can cause on-going pain and long term disability.

If you have injured yourself in a public place and you are able to prove that it was due to a hazard created by someone else’s neglect, you could be eligible for compensation. The person responsible for the property will likely have public liability insurance to cover such incidents.

Gather All of the Information You Can

One of the first steps to making an injury claim is to gather as much information as possible about the incident and how it occurred. Visit the spot where you hurt yourself and take photos to illustrate the danger. For example, if you fell down a set of stairs because one stair was broken, take a photo of the broken stair as well as the entire staircase and its surroundings.

If the accident occurred within a building, such as a restaurant, shopping mall or supermarket, make sure that you notify the staff and that the incident is recorded in their accident book.

Also, if anyone was nearby to you and saw your accident, have them write down their account of how it happened in as much detail as possible and sign it. After getting medical treatment for your injuries you should keep any documents and details about your treatment and any receipts for expenses related to your injury. When you make a claim, you may be able to be compensated for these costs.

Making a Claim

Once you have all of the evidence that you need to make a personal injury claim for your accident in a public place, you will need to contact a lawyer who has experience in this area of law. Make sure that you choose a legal professional who has a good reputation, positive references and a proven track record of success.

Your lawyer will help you make the case that the person responsible for maintaining the public place breached their duty of care and was negligent. They will also have to prove that your injuries were a direct result of that negligence. For example, if you slipped and broke your wrist due to a spill on the floor of a supermarket which should have been cleaned up, you might be able to hold them responsible for your injuries as well as the time you spent off work recovering.

The Two Parts of Your Compensation

When you claim compensation for your injury in a public place, your lawyer will be fighting for two different types of compensation. The first is general damages and it refers to the pain and suffering you went through as well as your inability to do things after the accident as you did them before.

The second part of compensation is for all of the expenses occurred by your medical treatment and any other costs that were a result of the accident. You should be compensated so that your financial position is where it would have been if the accident had never occurred.

If you have injured yourself in a public place and you think that you are eligible for a compensation claim, don’t suffer in silence! Talk to a lawyer to find out what you are entitled to.

Have you sustained an injury for an accident in a public place? Here are some things you need to know before speaking to Solicitors Woking and making a claim.

Schoolboy Wins Unlikely Car Accident Compensation Claim

Post author By My Compensation
Post date June 25, 2012
Categories In Personal Injury Claims Law

A young boy, who is just 16 years of age, has initiated a car accident compensation claim against the insurance company of a driver after sustaining a serious head injury on the way to school. The identities of those involved in the case must remain concealed at this stage due to legal reasons. The car accident occurred when the boy took up an offer of a lift to school by 24 year old driver and he went on to share the front seat of the vehicle with a young girl. Neither of the youngsters were wearing seat belts for the journey. In spite of these circumstances, the 24-year-old man drove the car at 60 mph in a 30 mph zone, a decision which resulted in him losing control of the vehicle, veering onto the wrong side of the road and crashing headlong into an oncoming car. The force of the car crash was sufficient to send a small Vauxhall vehicle into a spin before rolling onto its roof, sadly claiming the life of the driver.

The schoolboy launched the car accident compensation claim against the motor insurance company of the deceased driver, a move which saw the insurers accept liability for the car accident having taken place, meaning they would pay compensation. However, the insurance company argued that contributory negligence on the boy’s part meant that less compensation should be awarded. The reasoning was that had the front seat been used correctly, with just one person and a seat belt in place, a less severe head injury would have been the result.

Engineering experts were called in to assess the circumstances of the car accident. After a considerable investigation carried out on the evidence left both at the scene and by the broken vehicle, the engineers concluded that it was highly likely that the boy would have sustained a serious head injury even if a seatbelt had been worn. The medical consultant who had prepared the medical reports for the compensation claim did not comment on this issue in the documents.

The judge overruling the proceedings concluded that the car accident compensation claim provided no evidence that, had the seat belt have been used, the degree of the personal injury would have been lessened. The judge went on to state that it would, therefore, be unjust to reduce the amount of compensation on the grounds of contributory negligence. The insurance company of the deceased driver took the case to the Court of Appeal only to be met with the decision being upheld. The amount of car accident compensation won remains undisclosed at this stage.

Whiplash and Additional Health Complications

Post author By emmadigirank
Post date June 25, 2012
Categories In Road Traffic Accident Compensation

Whiplash is a common neck injury regularly sustained during a road traffic accident. Some will recover within weeks without any treatment, while others will suffer further health complications that continue in the long-term. In this article we explore these possible complaints in more detail, explaining what you can do if this has happened to you.

Injuries caused by whiplash

Whiplash occurs when a sudden impact causes the head to snap back and forth quickly. This whipping action forces the neck to reach beyond its normal limits, stretching the muscles, tendons and ligaments. The damage to the soft-tissue will subsequently result in symptoms such as neck and shoulder pain, as well as reduced mobility. Other complaints can also include dizziness, nausea, headaches, poor concentration and fatigue.

Ordinarily, these symptoms will last several weeks or months. Applying ice to the affected area and performing gentle exercises can help speed up the recovery time. However, medical intervention is not usually considered necessary, as whiplash is classified as a ‘self-limiting condition’, meaning it should heal of its own accord. Nevertheless, if you have suffered a whiplash injury you should seek advice from a medical professional. This is because you may have sustained an additional injury of which you are unaware. These can include:-

Ligament tears;
Disc rupture;
Fracture and disruption of facet joints;
Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disease;
Spinal cord damage;
Spinal fracture.

Underlying injuries such as this are often of a serious nature and will most certainly require medical treatment and further monitoring. Many will take a number of months to heal completely, which can in turn cause psychological problems such as depression, irritability and a fear that a similar injury will happen again.

Claiming for injuries caused by whiplash

If you have suffered health suffered additional health complications as a result of a whiplash incident, you might want to consider making a claim for the damages you have experienced. To be able to do so, you must be able to establish that another party was at fault. This may be, for example, another driver who drove into the back of your vehicle. As long as you can prove that someone else is at fault, and that this caused you to suffer an injury, you will be entitled to make a claim. If successful, you will be awarded compensation, not only to recover your financial expense but also to recompense for the pain and suffering you have been caused. This could also help you pay for private medical treatment, should you need it.

If you would like to claim for the injuries you have wrongfully endured in a road traffic accident, you must contact a solicitor without delay. They will be happy to help you with your whiplash claim.

The Rehabilitation Code- Key facts

Post author By John Hughes
Post date June 22, 2012
Categories In Guest Law Blog on Personal Injury Law in the UK, Personal Injury Lawyers, PI Claims Blawg

This post was written by John T. Hughes for Making A Personal Injury Claim.co.uk. John has written extensively on topics relating to personal injury and the process of making a claim.

Sustaining a personal injury can have far-reaching effects on your life, there’s no doubt about it. Whatever type of injury you have suffered it’s important that you receive a level of care and treatment that will help you make as full and as speedy recovery as is possible.

Your health is priceless, but if you have suffered an injury that was not your fault you may want to consider making a personal injury claim to receive compensation for your financial losses. Injury can be expensive, from taking time off work to paying for treatment, rehabilitation, equipment or travel costs so you may find that it will be worthwhile to seek financial recompense.

Nevertheless simply receiving a lump sum at the end of a successful claim case may not be the most convenient or useful way to receive financial assistance. What happens, for example, if you need help with the financial costs of injury in the meantime?

The rehabilitation code

Personal injury claims can take anywhere up to years to complete. For the claimant years waiting for financial assistance with the costs of recovery or rehabilitation may be too long and could potentially have a further impact on their health and well-being.

The primary aim of the Rehabilitation Code is to encourage an emphasis on early intervention, the well-being and recovery of the claimant.

The Rehabilitation Code was first introduced to UK law in 1999, with the latest version published in 2007, the result of a collaboration between insurers and claimant solicitors. The Code provides a framework that is supported by all major insurers and claimant lawyers across the UK putting the recovery and rehabilitation needs of the claimant first.

The Code encourages the claimant’s solicitor and compensators alike to consider whether early intervention, treatment and rehabilitation would help with the recovery process whatever the severity or type of injury sustained.

Operating according to the code, the claimants solicitor should initiate a consultation with the claimant to discuss whether financial assistance during the claims process would be of benefit at the earliest possible stage in the claims process and to communicate any pressing need with the compensator as soon as is practicable.

Compensators too should also consider whether early action could benefit the long term well being of the claimant. It is, after all, in the interests of both parties concerned to secure the recovery of the claimant.

Even if the need for intervention hasn’t been established, the Rehabilitation Code encourages a full medical assessment by a suitably qualified medical professional, agreed on by all parties involved, to ensure that the needs of the claimant are being met.

The compensator is expected to meet the costs, consider recommendations resulting from the assessment of the claimant as well as meeting reasonable recommendation for early intervention to promote the well-being of the claimant.

Neither the compensator nor the claimant is under obligation to meet unreasonable treatment, intervention, cost or demands.

If the compensator does agree to make any financial contributions under the terms of the Code they will not be able to dispute the reasonableness of such costs in any subsequent court proceedings.

It’s important to remember that the code is not compulsory, but can work to the benefit of both the claimant and the potential compensator.

A better recovery and rehabilitation can mean that the overall compensation amount is reduced, but could also mean a reduction of the trauma and suffering after a personal injury has been sustained.

If you have sustained a personal injury through no fault of your own, receiving compensation could ease the path to a full recovery. A personal injury solicitor can guide you through the process of exactly how to make personal injury claim.