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Do lawsuits make us safer?

Williamson & Lavecchia Included in Largest Verdicts of 2009

Defamation Lawsuit Against Dixie Chicks

Texas Woman Receives Settlement in Case Against Policeman who Tasered her

Travis County, Texas settled a case against it this week involving misconduct by one of its police officers. During a traffic stop in May, the officer became very aggressive with a 72 year old woman,shoving her and eventually turning his taser on her.

To be fair, the woman was rather uncooperative and dared him to taser her. However, she clearly posed no physical threat to the officer, who was far bigger than she. While the police department admits no wrongdoing, those of us who have seen the video on the internet know that this woman was entitled to compensation.

While the great majority of those in whom we place our collective trust-- be they policemen, doctors, or anyone else-- carry out their duties with diligence and honor, there are always exceptions.

If you've been injured as a result of someone's wrongdoing or negligence, protect your rights by contacting an attorney at Williamson and Lavecchia, LC.

Injury caused by "Medical Spas"

Do I have a right to my medical records?

Absolutely.  In most cases under both Virginia and federal law a patient has a right to access his or her medical records.  The hospital can not hold your medical records hostage because you are contemplating filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.  Under Virginia law, a hospital or doctor's office must provide you with copies of your medical records within 15 days of receiving a proper request.  If the doctor or hospital fails to produce your medical records within 15 days, your attorney may issue a subpoena for your records.  Nursing homes are required to make the records available for review within 24 hours and to provide you with copies within 48 hours.

What happens if the nursing home, doctor or hospital ignores the subpoena? 

Your attorney may file a motion with the court to obtain the records, attorneys fees, and other sanctions.  Click here to read a Court Order I obtained against a podiatrist for failing to produce his patient's medical records.

If your health care provider is refusing to let you access your medical records, please call us at (804) 288-1661 or click here to email us to see if we can help.

Recent Finding: ICU Stays Might do More Harm than Good.

                According to an article in the New York Times on January 11, doctors are now rethinking the benefits of keeping patients in intensive care.  Recent studies have shown that spending any length of time in an intensive care unit, even a few days, can lead to long-term detrimental effects. Some patients emerge from ICUs  with concentration problems or having lost a significant portion of their former strength. Many are weak for years afterward, or weigh significantly less than they had before. Even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not uncommon.

                For decades, health professionals  considered it a success just to get a patient out of intensive care. Now, it seems that is only half the battle. What people lose in those ICU rooms, be it strength, focus or stamina, tends to not come back fully in the long run.

                Doctors supposed that the safest thing to do in the ICU was to avoid disturbing the patients, letting them rest around the clock. A new school of thought is proving to have overwhelmingly positive consequences, however. Doctors have found that by taking patients off of their sedatives periodically (say, once a day) and waking them up, it helps to maintain the patient’s awareness of reality and can prevent many of the lasting effects mentioned above. Some patients are even encouraged to walk a bit, if they are able. Amazingly, introducing some type of activity into ICU patient’s lives rather than leaving them to rest results in faster recovery times. 

Virginia Ranks in Bottom 10 for Nursing Home Staffing

U.S. News & World Report is known for its top rankings of colleges, universities, hospital, etc.  Recently they have begun ranking states for providing nursing home care.  Virginia scores close to the very bottom for nursing home staffing.  Virginia was the 8th worst state for nursing home staffing!

The significance of Virginia's dismal ranking can not be overstated.  In my experience most nursing home injuries and deaths are due to either the sufficiency or quality of the staff.  A nurse or nurse assistant can only provide hands on care to one patient at a time.  Therefore, insufficient staff leads to patients not being fed, turned, bathed, etc.  Even a hard working and dedicated nurse is bound to make mistakes if he or she has too many patients to care for.  Ultimately patients in understaffed nursing homes are at risk for malnutrition, dehydration, falls, pressure ulcers, increased restraint use, and other forms of neglect.

It comes as a surprise to many people, but there are no laws or regulations in Virginia setting forth minimal staffing requirements.  The reason is simple: the nursing home industry does not want to hire more staff members because that will lower their profits.  Instead they lobby our elected leaders not to impose reasonable staffing requirements.  Why day care facilities must comply with staffing regulations and nursing homes do not is due to their political influence.

If you believe a loved one has been injured due to an unstaffed nursing home please contact us by email or call us at (804) 288-1661 to discuss your legal rights.  We handle cases throughout Virginia including Richmond, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Petersburg, and Hampton Roads.

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Woman on Cell Phone Crashes Into Police

A Virginia Beach woman faces reckless driving charges after crashing into a police cruiser.  According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, the trooper had stopped another vehicle for speeding when the woman driving while talking on her cell phone crashed into his cruiser.  Fortunately, no one suffered serious injuries. 

This article brings home an important issue for all drivers:  Most of us use our cells phones while driving, but the evidence shows that using a cell phone is a distraction.  Anytime we are distracted while driving, whether it is using a cell phone, text messaging, etc. we are at greater risk for causing a car accident.  I heard on CNN that the engineer operating the commuter train in L.A. that crashed into a freight train may have been text messaging when he missed a red light.

Some states have banned using a hand-held cell phone while driving.  Interestingly, there is no strong evidence that hand-held phones are any safer than hands free.  The problem is not that we need two hands to drive, it is the mental distraction of focusing on a conversation as opposed to the road.  If that logic holds up, wouldn't there be an equal danger talking to a passenger?  On the NPR program Car Talk, it was pointed out that when you are talking to a passenger, the passenger can at least tell the driver to "watch out" or may have the sense to stop talking when traffic gets heavy or if there is a dangerous situation on the roadway.

Besides drunk driving, driver distractions are at the top of the list for causing motor vehicle accidents.  Hopefully with more attention to these issues, we will all reduce our cell phone use and make the roads safer.

Joshua Silverman

Punitive damages in Virginia