U.S. medical professionals on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic are lobbying policymakers for protection from potential malpractice lawsuits as hospitals triage care and physicians take on roles outside their specialties. State chapters of the powerful American Medical Association and other groups representing health care providers have been pressing governors for legal cover for decisions made in crisis-stricken emergency rooms….
Federal and state agencies have seen a large influx of workplace safety complaints related to the COVID-19 outbreak, and experts urge employers to create exposure control plans in case an agency comes knocking. Unlike the flu and common cold, COVID-19 is considered a recordable illness by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “This is the busiest we’ve ever been,”…
A patient claims her common bile duct was “transected” during a robotic-assisted surgery. Heather Fleming filed suit March 5 in Madison County Circuit Court against Alton Multispecialists and Christian Hospital Northwest-Northeast. The plaintiff, from Jersey County in Illinois, claims she went to the hospital on June 10, 2018, suffering from severe abdominal plan. Doctors at the hospital allegedly recommended that…
The parents of a child allegedly injured in a gymnastics class have filed suit against the school district. Adam and Jean Sampson filed suit March 6 in Madison County Circuit Court against Collinsville Community School District 10 on behalf of their minor child, a student at Collinsville Middle School. The suit centers on an incident during a gymnastics class at…
The city of Columbus has succeeded in its efforts to win summary judgment on a woman’s personal injury claim, with the Indiana Court of Appeals reversing in the city’s favor and holding that the woman did not meet the notice requirements under the Indiana Tort Claims Act. The case of City of Columbus v. Debra A. Londeree and Dan Londeree,…
St. Clair County jurors awarded a motorist $29,137 in a suit involving a Fairview Heights collision. The jury reached a verdict in favor of plaintiff Sharonna Howell on March 10 in St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner’s courtroom. Howell was awarded $8,043 for past medical bills, $1,094 for lost wages, $10,000 for pain and suffering and $10,000 for loss…
An Arcola, Illinois-based manufacturer faces over $258,000 in penalties and numerous citations for violations of federal machine safety standards, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported. Monahan Filaments LLC was cited after an employee suffered severe injuries. The manufacturer of synthetic filaments for brushes and brooms faces $258, 271 in penalties, and was placed in…
A nationwide shortage of N95 masks and newly relaxed standards for personal protective equipment have workers on the front lines treating coronavirus patients and medical associations both praising efforts to ramp up production and protesting federal guidance over fears that it places them at greater risk of contracting the virus. “We just do not have the quantity (of N95 masks)…
Indiana Supreme Court justices heard oral argument Thursday on the question of whether a utility may face liability for people injured in a traffic crash in which a malfunctioning stoplight played a role. Justices heard Kenyon Tyus, Jr., et al. v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co., et al., 18A-CT-00828, considering first whether to grant transfer in the case. A unanimous…
The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia delegate over a 2006 parking lot brawl that left him blinded years before he was elected to office. The lawsuit said Cavanaugh’s Sports Bar & Eatery, near Gary, Indiana, had an obligation to protects its patrons inside the bar and outside, especially because fights were foreseeable….
