Maine Injury, Accident, & Disability Law Blog : Maine Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Joe Bornstein Law Firm : Portland Bangor Maine

An interesting article in today's New York Times points out the wide discrepancies in damages awards in medical malpractice and personal injury cases.

At the heart of the article is the disparity in medical malpractice cases involving stillborn births. In 2004, New York's highest court allowed mothers to be compensated for their emotional distress and heartache in such cases. The verdict in a Brooklyn case where the mother was awarded $1 million for the stillborn birth of her baby recently was recently upheld after lengthy appeals. In the Bronx, however, a mother in similar circumstances was offered $500,000 by the hospital which she rejected. Her lawyer is arguing that the Brooklyn $1M verdict should be the accepted standard.

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As reported in the New York Times of August 23, 2011, there has been a dramatic surge in recent months in complaints to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration about hip implants. There have been more than 5,000 reports since the beginning of 2011 about the failure of several prevalent devices called metal-on-metal hips, more than the agency received in the past four years in total.

Experts fear that the devices will be the biggest and most expensive implant problem since Medtronic recalled a popular heart implant device.

Hip replacement is one of the most common procedures in the U.S., with about 250,000 replacements being performed each year. Metal-on-metal replacements account for about one-third of that total. While the problems with the metal-on-metal replacements are usually non-threatening at first, some patients have suffered serious injuries when particles of cobalt and chromium break off as the metal devices endure wear and tear.

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Following a motor vehicle accident or another instance where you suffer a personal injury, doctors appointments and medical bills often begin to pile up and can seem overwhelming. While your treatment and recovery are the number one priorities, it is hard to not feel a pressing need to relieve the financial burden of your medical bills. We would like to take the next few minutes to tell you about your options.

ARE YOU OVERWHELMED BY MEDICAL BILLS
FOR INJURIES RECEIVED IN AN ACCIDENT THAT WAS SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT?

The field of personal injury law - both accident and disability claims - is very complex. And almost always, there are also complex insurance issues that need to be unraveled.  In a motor vehicle accident, there are issues of uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance coverage, medical payments coverage, home owners insurance, workers' compensation, private health insurance, Medicare and MaineCare (Medicaid), Social Security Disability (SSDIB and SSI), private disability benefits, and a host of public assistance benefits. There are also special state and federal laws that apply in many cases.

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The Law Court in Davis v. R C & Sons Paving, 2011 ME 88 (August 11, 2011), Gorman, J. issued an opinion affirming summary judgment entered against plaintiff Marilyn Davis who was injured when she fell in her employer's icy parking lot. Ms. Davis's employer, St. Mary's Medical Center, had contracted with the Defendant to plow and sand all parking areas and sidewalks.

The Defendant argued that under Restatement (Second) of Contracts, sec. 302, it did not owe a duty because Ms. Davis was not a "third party beneficiary" or "intended beneficiary" of the snow removal agreement. Ms. Davis countered that she was an intended beneficiary and that the plow company owed her a duty because it negligently created a dangerous condition in the parking area.

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Each and every day, Mainers suffer personal injuries in serious motor vehicle accidents. When an unexpected accident occurs, it can strike anyone. You may be a careful driver and think that you have adequate motor vehicle insurance coverage only to find out after an accident that you have a minimum limits policy. Here in Maine, the minimum limits of motor vehicle liability coverage- including uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) - are $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident (if there are two or more injured parties).

But what happens if your past and future medical bills and/or lost wages amount to more than $50,000? On top of that there is the conscious physical and emotional pain and suffering that you would likely experience in a serious accident. Financial tragedy can occur if the driver responsible for the accident does not have insurance coverage sufficient to fully and fairly compensate you for your injuries, and you have minimum limits UM/UIM coverage.

Little is known by most Mainers about UM and UIM coverage. An uninsured motorist is someone who does not have any motor vehicle liability insurance coverage at the time of an accident. An underinsured motorist is someone who has auto insurance, but their limits of coverage are not adequate to fully and fairly compensate you for your injuries, and you carry higher UIM limits of coverage.

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Many Mainers who suffer from injuries and disabilities shy away from hiring a lawyer because they don't think they can afford one. The truth is that we don't charge our clients a dime unless and until they are successsful in their claims. Under what is called the "contingent fee system," our law firm is paid a percentage of the settlements and benefits that our clients receive. If our client is not successful in getting paid, our law firm does not get paid.

We even pay all client costs up front while working on claims and there is never a retainer required for our legal services. Of course the vast majority of our clients do get paid, and so then does our law firm. The contingent fee system levels the playing field for Mainers without the financial means to pay a retainer to hire a law firm.

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Just when loyal Walmart shoppers thought that the giant superstore really had it all, the chain has added a giant perk for its consumers in the Lewiston-Auburn area. The Walmart store in Auburn now features a walk-in community health clinic run by St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.

The health facility, known as The Clinic At Walmart, is located in the store at 100 Mount Auburn Avenue in Auburn. Hours of operation are 8am - 8pm Monday through Friday, 8am - 6pm on Saturday and 11am - 5pm on Sunday. The small satellite St. Mary’s office features two exam rooms, a bathroom and a reception area.

The clinic, overseen by a doctor, features a rotating group of a physician's assistant and two family nurse practitioners and will see patients for a variety of ailments. The Clinic At Walmart offers treatment for acute health problems including, but not limited to:

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Many of us have known the name since we were children. The red and white packaging is easy to spot on RiteAid and CVS shelves. It has become the catch-all, cure-all for headaches, sprained ankles, sore throats, fevers and more. Tylenol. The popular over-the-counter painkiller used in homes, schools, offices and pretty much anywhere there is a first aid kit, is now making an effort to become more trustworthy and safe for you and your family.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturers of Tylenol, have announced new, lower dosing instructions for the Tylenol Extra Strength drug. This change comes with the objective of reducing the risk of accidental overdosing on the product’s active ingredient, acetaminophen.

The new maximum daily dose for Extra Strength Tylenol is 3,000 mg which is six pills a day. The previous recommended dosage was 4,000 mg or eight pills a day.

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The Law Offices of Joe Bornstein is now associated with the @ symbol and a little blue bird... in other words, we are officially on Twitter!

We are always looking for new ways to reach and connect with members of our Maine communities, and we are thrilled to add Twitter to a social media repertoire that consists of: our newly redesigned website, www.joebornstein.com, our blog, www.mainepersonalinjurylaw.com, and our Arrive Alive Creative Contest Facebook fan page.

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What do the numbers 6, 37, 65, 1974, 18,000 and 200,000,000 have in common? The answer to this question does not involve higher math. In fact, the answer is really quite simple.

On August 1, 1974, The Law Offices of Joe Bornstein opened our flagship office on Portland’s waterfront in what would become known as the Old Port. In the beginning, there was one rotary dial phone, no support staff, no computers and precious few clients. Now 37 years later, our law firm has a support staff of over 65 legal professionals working out of six conveniently located offices in Maine’s leading cities and towns- all wheelchair accessible. Since that humble start, our team of attorneys have successfully represented over 18,000 Mainers in their personal injury and disability claims. The firm’s clients have collected over $200 million in settlements and benefits.

As we celebrate another anniversary at the firm, we sincerely thank our beloved Maine for 37 wonderful years for both our law firm and our clients. Here’s to at least 37 more!

As we say around the office, "The best is yet to come."

The Law Offices of Joe Bornstein - Maine Lawyers Working For Maine People.

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