Legal Tips
April 1, 2009
Many car insurance companies exclude liability, uninsured, and underinsured motorist coverage for injuries caused or suffered by you when a family member who lives with you is driving the car. It may seem like a poor April Fool’s joke, but it’s not. Insurance companies have taken advantage of insurance industry-friendly legislation that reduces consumer protection, including laws that no longer require insurance companies to offer you uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Always ask your agent about all available ways to protect your family and loved ones and then review your policy once it arrives.
Value of Spouse’s Care
When a person is injured, he or she often depends on their spouse to care for them in their time of need. This may entail providing transportation to and from medical appointments or care at home if they are immobilized. Such care often necessitates the non-injured spouse taking time off from work. Until recently, the wages lost by that non-injured spouse were part of the overall claim for damages.
However, in Hutchings v. Childless, the Ohio Supreme Court recently held that, “[t]he appropriate measure of damages for an uninjured spouse’s provision of care to an injured spouse is the economic value of the care provided, not the value of the lost wages incurred in providing that care.” 2008-Ohio-4568, at ¶44.
Assertion of this important claim will now likely require a report from an economist detailing all aspects of care provided and the value of each in order to fully compensate clients for their losses.
August 08
The FDA has issued numerous public health advisories regarding the Fentanyl transdermal pain patch. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid drug 100 times stronger than morphine. As such, these pain patches are only approved for moderate to severe chronic pain and for those patients who are accustomed to powerful narcotic drugs.
However, some doctors have been inappropriately prescribing Fentanyl pain patches for acute pain following surgery, headaches, and only occasional or mild pain. This practice has resulted in overdoses, injury, and death to patients.
Moreover, patients and caregivers who come into contact with a leaking patch may have difficulty breathing, or potentially be victims of a fatal overdose as well.
Our firm is now working with the key national firms against the manufacturers of Fentanyl transdermal pain patches.
June 08
We all know that unscrupulous car insurance companies will do everything in their power to deny or devalue an injured person’s injury claim. Some life insurance companies are no different.
Life insurance companies may rely on a mistake in the life insurance application process. Or, they may deny benefits altogether based on an obscure policy provision. We recently handled one of these claims stemming from the tsunami in Sri Lanka. There, the life insurance company breached the contract, violated Ohio statutory law, and acted in bad faith by wrongfully denying the claim based on disputed information in the original insurance application.
Ohio law specifically protects those whose legitimate life insurance claims have been unfairly denied. We at Kitrick, Lewis & Harris Co., L.P.A. work to fulfill the promise of these laws. We want you to know that our clients are not powerless when fighting unfair insurance tactics.