Posted on January 22, 2018 in Firm News

There are statistics and rankings about everything these days it seems, so it should come as no surprise to our readers that the 50 states have been ranked in order of how deadly the roads in those states are for senior-aged drivers. Fortunately, Connecticut ranked as one of the safest states for senior drivers.

According to a recent report, a study compared the rate of car accidents involving senior-aged drivers with the overall number of seniors in each state. In a somewhat shocking revelation – and, probably somewhat worrying for local readers – neighboring Rhode Island ranked as the deadliest state for senior drivers. The safest overall state is out west: New Mexico.

But, Connecticut was in the top 10 safest states for senior drivers. The study revealed that there is a 1.08 percent chance of deadly car accidents occurring in Connecticut involving senior-aged drivers. In particular, the study found that those states that have special restrictions when it comes to senior drivers are, not surprisingly, on the lower end of the number of fatal accidents for senior drivers.

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 Posted on December 01, 2017 in Firm News

People who are admitted to hospitals in Connecticut expect that they will receive the medical treatment they need, get time to recover and then be discharged without incident. However, a recent report indicates that patients may have something to worry about besides their health condition.

According to the recent report, instances of sexual abuse and assault at state hospitals in Connecticut are on the rise. In fact, there was a significant increase in the number of reports of sexual abuse or assault from 2015 to 2016. The report states that there were 10 reports of sexual assault in state hospitals in 2015. In 2016, there were 24.

Most of our readers know from seeing previous posts here that medical malpractice is actually quite common. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals make mistakes, prescribe the wrong medications and commit surgical errors. But now, patients in Connecticut have to be worried about these professionals committing sexual abuse and assault too?

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 Posted on September 01, 2017 in Firm News

Thousands of Connecticut residents live in nursing homes. Most of these people are elderly family members who need extra care and attention due to medical issues or simply the advancement of age. When the decision is made for an elderly resident to move to a nursing home, there is an expectation regarding the level of care and medical treatment they will receive. So, what is a "reasonable standard of care" in a nursing home?

For starters, it is important to recognize the duty that medical treatment providers owe to nursing home residents. These medical professionals have a duty to exercise due care and caution in rendering care and they are expected to follow the standards of the medical profession. The tricky part when it comes to those standards is proving what the standard is and how a medical professional breached that standard.

In legal cases involving allegations of nursing home abuse, the reasonable standard of care can be identified by an expert witness. This witness will typically analyze the facts and circumstances of the case and point out how the medical treatment provider should have proceeded but failed to do so.

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 Posted on March 20, 2017 in Firm News

This blog has talked about the many facets of medical malpractice cases in Connecticut. We’ve discussed the basics of negligence and how professional negligence standards differ from the normal ones. We’ve touched on some of the procedural requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim in Connecticut, including getting a medical opinion letter by a similar practitioner before filing the case. We’ve also pointed out that, many times, the results of medical malpractice can be devastating to victims in terms of increased medical costs, as well as increased pain and suffering.

It seems that debates in the media often revolve around the fact that medical malpractice law suits make health care more expensive. There seems to be a popular idea that these suits result in huge damage awards that cost the health care system money. This is reinforced by the fact that news reports tend to focus on the biggest cases. However, the facts on medical malpractice awards in Connecticut are a bit different.

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 Posted on February 07, 2017 in Firm News

We’ve previously discussed many aspects of premises liability law in the state of Connecticut. Readers may remember that, in many cases, plaintiffs will attempt to recover under a negligence theory when they are injured on someone else’s property. Negligence requires a legal duty to the injured person, and we’ve touched on the various statuses people in Connecticut can have when on another’s land, namely, trespasser, licensee, and invitee. While the exact duties a landowner or possessor has to each of these types of individuals will vary, one component of a premises liability case usually remains the same: notice.

Notice is a legal term that indicates a party is aware of some fact, usually one upon which he or she can take action. In premises liability in Connecticut, notice generally applies to the land possessor and whatever hazard it is that the injured party claims caused the injury. The basic rule is that a property owners are not liable if they were not on notice that the hazardous condition existed.

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 Posted on January 18, 2017 in Car Accidents

Between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, late December is a time for celebration in many Connecticut households. People get together with family, or perhaps head out with friends to bars or clubs to let off some steam after a long year, and welcome the reset that people assume a change in the calendar numbers will provide. As with most of the United States, alcoholic beverages often play a significant role in these celebrations. At times like this, even otherwise responsible people may slip and decide to operate a motor vehicle after having had a few too many drinks.

It has been a focus of society for some time now to curb the instances of intoxicated driving and the many injuries, deaths, and the property damage that it often creates. While one way this is done is by enacting criminal laws, another way is to create mechanisms for those who have been harmed by a drunk driver to recoup some of the losses that they have suffered. The main way this is done is through a civil lawsuit against the responsible parties.

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 Posted on January 13, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

States like Connecticut often have conflicting policy outcomes that need to be reconciled when they are passing laws that affect their citizens. For example, states have an interest in protecting vulnerable people, like patients with medical problems, from being injured by the negligence of health care providers, and to allow them to seek compensation when they are. This is why there are laws regarding medical malpractice. However, some argue that the state also has an interest in keeping the provision of health care services viable, which would be difficult if doctors and other providers were eternally looking out for possible lawsuits over possible mistakes made in the past. Further, legal cases become harder to make as time passes, as evidence gets lost or becomes stale, and witnesses have a harder time remembering specifics.

For these reasons, all states, Connecticut included, pass laws called ‘statutes of limitation’ that put a cap on how long an injured party can wait before filing a lawsuit based upon an injury caused by another. This statute applies to medical malpractice cases as well. General Statute Section 52-584 is the law that applies in Connecticut. According to it, suits for damages based on negligence or medical malpractice must be filed within two years of the date of the injury.

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 Posted on December 13, 2016 in Firm News

If Connecticut residents are aware of the term mandatory reporter, they likely tend to think of it in terms of the reporting of child abuse. People such as teachers and other professionals who work with children are required by law to report suspicions of the abuse of their charges to the proper authorities. However, the state also requires certain individuals to report the fact that elderly or disabled people are being neglected or abused in an institutional setting like a nursing home.

According to the state’s Department of Public Health, various people who work with or around patients in a nursing home or long term care facility need to report incidents of suspected abuse or neglect. This includes not only the obvious healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and other providers, but also orderlies, administrators and other nursing home employees. Further, it includes people who are there for specific reasons, such as specialized doctors like optometrists and dentists, as well as police officers, social workers, physical therapists and clergy persons.

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 Posted on November 16, 2016 in Firm News

This blog has discussed various aspects of premises liability law in Connecticut and whether a property owner is liable for injuries someone suffers while on that property. We have touched on the fact that this partially depends upon the status of the injured party; that is, whether he or she is an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. This discussion has generally focused on properties where visitors are transient, such as places of business and the like. However, many people in the state actually reside in properties that they do not own. What happens when someone is injured on the premises of a rental property?

First, it should be recognized that it would seem that tenants would be the ultimate invitees. That is, they are present on the property for the mutual benefit of themselves and the owner. That won’t end the inquiry, however, because, as a rule, landlords don’t have exclusive control over the rental property, as the tenant lives there, and there may be laws preventing the landlord from simply coming in at any time. So some special rules may apply in these cases.

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 Posted on October 21, 2016 in Firm News

This space has previously taken up the issue of what the three basic statuses are of people who are present on property owned by someone else. To refresh, these statuses include: licensee, invitee and trespasser. The reason the status of a visitor is important is that it affects the duty owed by the property owner to that individual. This may have quite an effect on a civil suit if a visitor in injured on the property. We recently discussed the duties a property owner may owe to a trespasser, but what about the other two categories?

The first thing one must understand to determine what duties are owed to a visitor who is not trespassing is what distinguishes a licensee from an invitee. This can become complex, as simply the act of being "invited" is not necessarily dispositive of this question. Generally speaking, a licensee is someone who has permission from the owner to be on the property, whether technically invited or not. The important concept in these cases is that the owner consents to that person’s presence.

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