Motor Vehicle Accidents

• St. Louis County Judge Finally Calls Portion of Tort Reform law what it is--UNCONSTITUTIONAL
  Sep 03, 2009

  On August 13, 2009, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Stephen Goldman ruled that 490.715 RSMo. is unconstitutional and ordered that the plaintiff, who lost the underlying lawsuit, should get a new trial.  He determined that the law allows for too many different interpretations, and thus, different plaintiffs are receiving different results from different judges.  Although Judge Goldman declared the statute unconstitutional, the statute can only be stricken as unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court.  Therefore, the statute still stands, but the debate will continue until the Missouri Supreme Court finally decides the issue. 
  
  Section 490.715 RSMo. allows a judge to determine the reasonable value of the medical services received by a plaintiff, after a hearing on the matter. The amount that the judge rules is the reasonable value of the medical expenses is the amount that the plaintiff can submit to the jury. The law creates a presumption that the value of the medical services is the amount that was paid by health insurance or by the injured person.  That presumption can be overcome if the plaintiff shows that the value is actually the amount that the doctor or hospital billed, rather than what insurance paid that doctor or hospital.  Some judges rule that the reasonable value of the medical bills is always the amount paid; others rule that the reasonable value of the medical bills is the total amount billed by the doctor or hospital.  As a result, injured people are receiving different results based upon which judge is hearing their case. This is the type of law that cries out for the Missouri Supreme Court to get involved.  Hopefully, a case will come before them in the very near future, so that injured people may eventually be treated equally under this law.  - 1 - 10

• Accident today on I-70 Causes Major Breakdown
  May 11, 2009

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Medical Malpractice

• Phil Tatlow sues local hospital for malpractice due to decubitus ulcer
  Jun 22, 2010

  Phil Tatlow has filed a negligence action against a local hospital after his client developed huge decubitus ulcers on his coccyx while his client was at the hospital for surgery for a pseudocyst. Tatlow and his client allege that the hospital knew that the client was at great risk for a skin breakdown and for development of an infection at the site of his surgical wound or another area and that the hospital failed to take reasonable preventive measures to protect him from infection and skin breakdown. His client alleges that the hospital took no skin assessment on Plaintiff and did not monitor his skin integrity or implement any preventive nursing measures from January 28, 2008 to January 31, 2009. By that time, the client maintains that he had already developed a huge decubitus ulcer on his backside that was bleeding and grew black due to death of the skin. Tatlow maintains that the nursing staff did not even look at his backside and do an assessment until he went to the bathroom and asked the nursing staff why there was a trail of blood from the bed to the bathroom. At that time, his client was evaluated and he had a condition that required several surgeries due to the skin breakdown and extensive medical treatment including debridement of the wound and an effort to surgically correct the hole left in his coccyx. He is in need of further medical treatment. Tatlow and his client sued the hospital in St. Louis County and are seeking damages for his medical treatment, his future care, his pain and suffering and damages for the troubles his wife went through while he has suffered from the injury. Discovery in the case is ongoing and a trial date has not yet been reached. - 3 - 10

Insurance Appeals

• Insurance Company Pays Record Settlement
  Jun 16, 2010

  Mega Life and Health allegedly misled consumers into buying low-cost insurance policies, then denying coverage when the insured fell ill.  The State of Massachusetts sued the insurer and resolved the case last fall for $17 million,  most of which went to consumers.  If you have a health insurance policy that denies coverage to you when you get injured or sick, then you should talk to a lawyer to see if you have a legal action available to you.  Read the attached article from The Boston Globe.

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