Reform measures and fee schedule changes are resulting in an overall trend of lower medical costs per claim in several states, according to several Workers Compensation Research Institute reports released Thursday. In its 19th year of studying medical costs, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based institute released 16 reports, all including a state-by-state comparison of medical costs across 18 states. The reports show…
A report on Illinois’ legal landscape says the state’s lawsuit-friendly policies cost billions of dollars and more than 80,000 jobs every year. Critics say that’s an overstatement. A study conducted by the Illinois Civil Justice League into the cost of tort, or claims of loss or harm, lawsuits and their effect on Illinois’ economy estimates the costs from higher liability…
An independent contractor claims he was injured when the scaffolding he was using collapsed. Anthony Jines filed a complaint on Sept. 19 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Kohrmann Bros. Masonry Inc., alleging the subcontractor failed to provide a safe place to work. According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Aug. 8, he was working as…
A woman claims she was injured in a Shiloh collision caused by a wrong-way driver. Tangula Brown filed a complaint on Sept. 26, in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Charles Tart alleging that the driver negligently operated his vehicle so as to cause it to collide with plaintiff’s vehicle. According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on…
A Greensburg apartment complex and its property manager will no longer be considered in default after the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated a trial court ruling that found excusable neglect justified setting aside a default judgment. After Matthew Joseph accidentally discharged a firearm in his unit at the Tree City Village Apartment complex and significantly injured his neighbor, Genia Wamsley, Wamsley’s…
A man who won a judgment that he was covered by his auto insurance’s uninsured motorist policy after a crash that left him a quadriplegic lost the ruling in his favor Wednesday. The Indiana Court of Appeals decision could cost him millions of dollars that a jury awarded in a separate trial. The appellate panel ruled for Gregory Smith’s insurer…
A widow accuses several manufacturing companies of failing to warn her husband about the toxic effects of asbestos. Nancy D. Camden, individually and as personal representative of the estate of Fred A. Camden Sr. filed a complaint on Sept. 7 in Madison County Circuit Court against 3M Company, CBS Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation and other companies. According to the complaint,…
A couple alleges their child suffered injuries during delivery after his heartrate continued to decelerate. P.J. Thompson, a minor, by and through his mother Carlie Willis and father Tyler Thompson, filed a complaint on Aug. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against United States of America and Southern Illinois Hospital Services. According to the…
A lawsuit involving a crash at the intersection of Route 143 and South Moreland Road is at trial in Madison County Associate Judge Thomas Chapman’s courtroom. The Trial began Oct. 1. The case had been previously assigned to Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder and was assigned to Chapman on Sept. 27. Plaintiff Patsy Troxell is represented at trial by Eric Evans…
Jimmy Sullivan prepared for his job as a bricklayer the same way every morning for years: injecting a shot of heroin before leaving his car. The first time he overdosed on the job, in 2013 at a Virginia construction site, a co-worker who is his cousin stealthily injected a dose of Narcan, an opioid antidote, into Sullivan’s leg. He woke…
