Baton Rouge Louisiana Personal Injury Law Blog

Time limits apply to medical malpractice claims in Louisiana

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in medical malpractice on Thursday, January 23, 2020.

Medical malpractice cases are often hard for the victims to handle. Not only do they have to deal with the physical part of the situation, they also have to live with the mental impacts of the doctor breaking the trust they put in them. This can all be very difficult to do, especially when the malpractice first occurs.

Louisiana law doesn't leave much time for healing before victims have to take legal action. There is a short one-year statute of limitations for civil actions related to personal injury and professional malpractice. This means that you will need to try to balance the need to heal with the demands of seeking compensation.

Tips for being a safer highway driver

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in Car Accidents on Monday, January 20, 2020.

Highway driving has a number of dangers you don't experience when driving on surface streets. The increased speed limits, for example, can make it difficult to respond quickly to someone making an unexpected move. You're also more likely to encounter large trucks and other commercial vehicles than you are when driving near your home.

It's no wonder that teens and others just learning to drive often put off driving on highways and interstates for as long as possible. These nervous, inexperienced drivers can make highway driving more dangerous for everyone else.

Many damages are possible in car crash claims

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, January 16, 2020.

Being involved in a car crash can lead to very serious injuries. Unfortunately, these injuries can sometimes be catastrophic and life-changing. When this happens, you have to think carefully about what you're going to do now.

One thing that some people might not think about is how much this will financially challenge you. Not only do you have your normal regular bills, you also have the ones that are related to the crash.

Lawmakers seek to give FDA power to recall dangerous drugs

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in defective drugs on Sunday, January 12, 2020.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with overseeing the safety of a number of products. However, its authority isn't as great as many Americans assume it is -- and as some lawmakers would like it to be.

The FDA can recall many of these products, including vaccines and medical devices, if they're found to be dangerous or defective. It's been less than a decade since President Obama signed food safety legislation that -- among other things -- gave the FDA power to recall unsafe food, and only if the company behind it refuses to do so.

Substandard care might be hard to prove in a malpractice case

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in medical malpractice on Friday, January 10, 2020.

Patients who seek medical care expect that they will get care that's up to current standards. Unfortunately, they don't always get this. Instead, they might receive substandard care that doesn't adequately address their issues. This leaves room for the patient to suffer grave harm.

It is often difficult to prove that you received substandard care because these cases usually require an expert witness who can testify as to what the acceptable standard of care would be in your case. This can be a challenge because the medical community is tight knit, so finding someone to testify might be hard.

Required drug testing rate for truck drivers doubles this year

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in truck accidents on Monday, January 6, 2020.

Beginning this year, more truck drivers who are using controlled substances may be taken off the roads. Starting Jan. 1, companies that employ commercial truck drivers are required to increase their minimum annual random testing rate from 25% to 50%. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has long sought this new regulation, says the increase in testing means that over 2 million drug tests will be done this year alone.

The increased testing must be done any year following a year where the average positive test rate across the board was at least 1%. The overall rate of positive drug tests for those with a commercial drivers license (CDL) has been steadily rising over the past few years -- from .07% in 2016 to 1% in 2018.

Filing a wrongful death suit to seek justice after a fatal crash

On behalf of MGM Attorneys on Saturday, January 4, 2020.

It's easy to forget how dangerous motor vehicles really are until someone you love winds up in a tragic collision. Losing a family member in a traffic wreck can change your entire life in an instant. From the financial repercussions of that death to the emotional and social consequences of losing a relative or family member, you will have a lot to deal with in the wake of a fatal collision.

With everything going on after such a loss, such as planning a funeral, finding space to grieve and trying to adjust your family's budget and responsibilities, you may overlook your right to hold the person who caused the crash responsible for the damage they caused.

2 reasons to go to your doctor after a significant car crash

On behalf of MGM Attorneys on Friday, January 3, 2020.

Motor vehicle collisions can easily result in catastrophic injuries to the people in the vehicles involved, as well as to nearby pedestrians. Between the idea that catastrophic injuries are obvious and the predilection of the media to display internal injuries visibly in movies and television shows, people all too often assume that if they aren't bleeding or unable to move, they aren't seriously hurt.

Someone who has potentially fatal injuries might walk away from a car crash assuming they are perfectly fine. Delaying medical evaluation can have serious medical and financial consequences, which is why it is almost always in your best interest to err on the side of caution and go see a doctor after involvement in a collision.

Issues exist with drug recalls

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in defective drugs on Thursday, January 2, 2020.

When you are prescribed medications or opt to use over-the-counter drugs, you expect that they are safe for consumption. Unfortunately, drug recalls are commonplace these days. While many drug recalls are for reasons that wouldn't lead to actual consumer harm, there are others that can quickly turn deadly. It is imperative that anyone who takes medications of any sort keeps an eye out for recalls of the products they take.

There are many things that can make it difficult to keep track of what recalls impact you. Some more common medications, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, are manufactured by many companies. Recalls will usually only impact one manufacturer, so you'd have to know which company made the medication in order to know if you are affected by the recall.

Is your doctor depressed? Here's why it matters.

On behalf of MGM Attorneys posted in medical malpractice on Monday, December 30, 2019.

Is your doctor depressed or burned out? Are they in a troubled marriage or relationship? Are they getting enough sleep and exercise? You likely don't know any of these things -- even if you've been seeing them for years.

However, if your doctor isn't taking the necessary steps to care for their own mental health, they're more likely to make a mistake that could hurt you. That's a key finding of a recent report published on the JAMA Network website. The report looked at 11 different studies that found that physicians with depressive symptoms made more medical errors -- by their own admission -- than those not diagnosed with these symptoms. The studies looked at a total of over 21,000 doctors.