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Why does the nursing home want you to agree to give up your right to a jury trial and sign an arbitration agreement? 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Why does the nursing home want you to agree to give up your right to a jury trial and sign an arbitration agreement?

Whether you realized or not, when you signed the contract for your cell phone, you likely signed what is called an Arbitration Agreement. It likely said something like: The Purchaser agrees to waive her or her right to bring any action against the Cell Phone company in state or federal courts, but instead agrees to…

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Why is my lawyer being so nice to the other guy’s lawyer? Is that good or bad? Does it matter? 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Why is my lawyer being so nice to the other guy’s lawyer? Is that good or bad? Does it matter?

A loved one tells a story about a lawsuit he was involved in many years ago. His business was being sued for unfair competition, and after a day of very intense and heated depositions, the client saw his lawyer and the other side’s lawyer having a beer at the hotel bar. My loved one was…

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But the doctor said if I had gotten there earlier….. 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

But the doctor said if I had gotten there earlier…..

Doctors are people. Just like the rest of us. They have specialized training, and a skill set many of us do not have, but like all of us – they are human. And, it is (in my experience and opinion) human nature to want to help your patients with information, but at the same time,…

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Picking your Virginia Medical Malpractice Lawyer 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Picking your Virginia Medical Malpractice Lawyer

This week alone I have been invited to become: National Trial Lawyers – Top 100 Lawyers Something great with the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys Charter Member of a some Women’s Litigation Group Best Lawyers in America – Virginia, Medical Malpractice  Does that mean you should hire me? Absolutely not. Some if not most…

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Doctors Instructed to Go Light on Sedatives and Pain Meds to Move Patients Along? 150 150 Dan Frith
  • Dan Frith

Doctors Instructed to Go Light on Sedatives and Pain Meds to Move Patients Along?

Are you kidding me? A hospital taking short cuts to discharge patients too early in order to increase revenue? Erik Franck, MD, an anesthesiologist practicing at the Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the Portland, Oregon has filed a lawsuit against Northwest Permanente (a division of Kaiser Permanente) making these very allegations.  Dr. Franck believes Kaiser was more interested in…

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Retirement Planning and Continuing Care Communities: Myth v. Reality 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Retirement Planning and Continuing Care Communities: Myth v. Reality

Our local business magazine just ran a thorough and thoughtful article on retirement planning. It shows pictures of youthful seniors doing water aerobics, swinging on a lake-side hammock and more. The article highlights idyllic retirement where assets cover comfortable living and seniors have choices.  Yes, some people (those blessed with good health and good jobs…

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Watch out for medical mistakes while in the hospital 150 150 Dan Frith
  • Dan Frith

Watch out for medical mistakes while in the hospital

I didn’t write the title to today’s post but I certainly agree with it.  The title to today’s post comes from The People’s Pharmacy and was written by Joe and Teresa Graedon.  The article was re-published by my local paper, The Roanoke Times, and presents some pretty sobering statistics:   1.  Medical error is the…

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Politicians and Litigators: More similar than you may think 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Politicians and Litigators: More similar than you may think

This morning I listened to a fascinating podcast about types of politicians: Those who are substance over form, or Those who are form over substance. Yes, while I realize it is always dangerous to categorize, and even more so to claim there are only two types of any kind of person, it isn’t hard to…

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Why hurt and pain are not enough under the law 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Why hurt and pain are not enough under the law

My precious little girl will often cry when she is sad, or she feels challenged, or her feelings are hurt, etc.  As a parent, I try my best to recognize the pain. To hear it, name it, and give her freedom from it by recognizing it as being real. But often, I recognize that what…

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Why nursing home policies and procedures are so important 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Why nursing home policies and procedures are so important

Have you every heard the phrase – honesty is the best policy? It is an ironic truism. True, because honesty is always preferable to the opposite, dishonesty, and yet ironic because why do we as humans need a policy (a written rule) encouraging honesty? Shouldn’t honesty be innate? Shouldn’t we know to tell the truth, without…

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Surgical complications – not always a result of human error 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Surgical complications – not always a result of human error

No such thing as a simple surgery.  Seriously. And no surgery is totally without risk.  We have had patients die during hip repairs, and suffer life changing injury after routine colonoscopies and or gallbladder surgeries. We have seen patients die during child delivery, cancer surgeries, and other ‘routine procedures.’ Sometimes, the health care providers do…

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Use of Haldol for dementia / Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Use of Haldol for dementia / Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes

So the FDA says the following about using Haldol for a dementia / Alzheimer’s patient in a nursing home. Read it carefully, the language is not soft but very clear:  WARNING Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis: Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death.…

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