Labels: brain and spinal cord injuries brain and spinal injury Brain or Spinal Cord Injury Chicago brain injury lawyers Illinois accident Illinois personal injury attorneys incapacitated by brain damage personal injury claim severe neurological impediment severed spinal cord
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If you have ever spent time in a doctor’s office or emergency room, you know that wait times can be quite lengthy. Once you finally get to an examination room, there is often another long wait. Then, the doctor rushes in, asks a few questions, and then leaves. This scenario is quite common.
In fact, recent studies show that doctors-in-training are spending shorter amounts of time with their patients. Researchers examined the day-to-day lives of medical interns in multiple facilities over nearly 900 hours of work. They spent time observing doctors performing normal activities including:
- Talking with and examining patients
- Meeting with families
- Attending educational seminars and conferences
- Discussing treatment plans with other doctors
- Eating, sleeping, and walking around the hospital
Researchers found that interns spent about 12 percent of their time—approximately 8 minutes per patient—interacting directly with patients. Several factors may explain why patient contact time is so limited. First, changes in electronic recordkeeping, force interns to spend nearly half of their time documenting case information. In addition, recent laws limit the number of hours a medical student can work on a weekly basis. Decreased patient care by medical students may also be due to increased patient loads, duties such as patient transport, note taking, and reading patient charts.
Reduced face-to-face time with patients increases the risk of improper diagnoses, wrongfully prescribed prescriptions, and improper supervision from attending physicians. If you, or someone you love, suffered a medical error injury, a skilled and experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorney at Lane Brown can help you to understand if you have grounds to take legal action. Contact our law office today at 312-332-1400 to schedule a free case evaluation. We are standing by to help.
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Illinois law requires the majority of employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. Workers’ compensation pays medical costs and lost wage expenses for workers who are injured on the job. These benefits are available only to employees who are injured while at work—independent contractors are not covered. The following factors determine employment status in Illinois:
- Workers hired on a permanent basis are usually considered employees. Any expectation of indefinite employment generally implies an employer/employee relationship.
- Employees are usually paid on a set payment schedule—weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Independent contractors are commonly paid once a job has been completed.
- Employees generally receive employment benefits such as medical insurance, vacation time, and sick time. Independent contractors must provide their own benefits.
- Employers usually provide any equipment that employees need to do their jobs such as office supplies, computer hardware and software, and tools. Independent contractors are often required to use their own funds to pay for these items.
If you have been injured at work and have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, a Chicago workplace injury attorney at Lane Brown may be able to help. Our personal injury attorneys will take the time to understand your situation, answer all of your questions, and help you understand your legal rights. Our attorneys have over 130 years of combined legal experience and will put that expertise to work to help you obtain the benefits you are due. Contact our office today at 312-332-1400 to arrange a free case consultation concerning your Chicago workplace accident.
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Construction sites are among the most dangerous workplace environments in America today. Workers are at risk of experiencing catastrophic injuries, illnesses, disability, or even death from hazardous circumstances and environmental factors on a daily basis. All too often, these construction site injuries occur with little warning.
Several risk factors contribute to construction site accidents and injuries including the following:
- A wide array of work activities occurring simultaneously
- High turnover rates of site workers
- Many unskilled laborers performing dangerous tasks
- Constantly changing job site environments and conditions
- Bystander exposure where pedestrians and other site workers are exposed to health hazards related to the work of others nearby
- Constantly changing relationships with other work groups
The environmental and social changes within a construction site can cause inconsistencies in work habits, relationships, and continuity of how teams work together. Any combination of these factors can greatly increase the risk of a Chicago construction site accident.
When these injuries occur, there may be many questions surrounding a victim’s legal rights, at-fault parties, and liability concerns. Finding the best lawyer to advise you is a great place to start.
A qualified Chicago personal injury lawyer at Lane Brown can answer your questions, examine the facts surrounding your accident, and help you to understand your legal options. Our attorneys will aggressively fight to get you the justice you deserve. Give us a call today at 312-332-1400 to arrange your free case evaluation with an experienced construction accident attorney.
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With thousands of Americans using tanning beds every day, the increased risk of skin cancer and other injuries has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to re-examine the dangers of tanning beds. Recently, the agency has begun pushing to reclassify sunlamp products, including tanning beds, as Class II medical devices.
Currently, tanning beds are categorized as “low risk” medical devices—the same category in which basic medical devices, such as bandages, are classified. Because of this product description, FDA review or regulation of tanning beds is almost non-existent.
Tanning Bed Reclassification
The FDA has proposed reassigning tanning beds to the “mid-risk” category. This would require tanning bed manufactures to do the following:
- Conduct performance testing on the product
- Establish that the tanning bed is mechanically safe
- Establish that the lamp is electrically safe
- Establish that the tanning bed software has been tested and verified
- Show that the tanning bed is not harmful
- Provide warning labels to ensure that the tanning bed is used and maintained in a safe manner
- Warn consumers that repeated use of a tanning bed may cause skin cancer
A recently released study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (AJPM) presented research that showed members of the tanning industry frequently ignore the safety regulations and codes that exist currently, putting unwitting consumers at risk of injury.
If you were injured in a tanning bed accident or some other serious accident caused by the carelessness or negligence of a property owner, an experienced Chicago premises liability attorney at Lane Brown may be able to help. Our knowledgeable attorneys will take the time to learn about your situation, answer your questions, and help you to understand your legal options. Call our office today at 312-332-1400 to arrange your free consultation. We are standing by to help.
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A recent Cook County case has held that a hospital has no responsibility to a patient for the negligence of a doctor on its staff where the fine-print consent form provided by the hospital stated that its physicians were not employees of the hospital. The patient had not read the form before signing it because, as he testified, he was in too much pain. In this case, the Appellate Court protected the hospital, even though its physicians negligently treated the patient, and allowing him to suffer a ruptured aneurysm because its consent form stated: “I have been informed and understand that physicians providing services to me at Ingalls, such as my personal physician, Emergency Department and Urgent Aid physicians, radiologists, pathologists, anesthesiologists, on-call physicians, consulting physicians, surgeons, and allied health care providers working with those physicians are not employees, agents or apparent agents of Ingalls but are independent medical practitioners who have been permitted to use Ingalls’ facilities for the care and treatment of their patients. I further understand that each physician will bill me separately for their services. Frezados v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, 2013 IL App (1st) 121835 (June 5, 2013).
If you or a loved one has been injured by a doctor’s or hospital’s negligence, we may be able to help.
