Personal Injury Cases Research Articles

Cervical Spondylosis: Its Early Diagnosis and Treatment

ABSTRACT In an era when much of the backlog of personal injury cases is concerned with so-called whiplash, disorders of the bones and joints of the neck (cervical spondylosis) assume an increasingly important role in medicine. The early diagnosis and treatment of this disorder is the subject of a new edition of a book originally published in 1967 (reviewed in JAMA Oct 16, 1967). The revision was made to emphasize early diagnosis and treatment and to remove some of the highly specialized anatomy, so as to make the book more useful for the general practitioner and non-specialist. This aim has been accomplished by the editor, Marcia Wilkinson, who has contributed five of the nine chapters. The other chapters are by an anatomist (Bowden), rheumatologist-physiatrist (Storey), radiologist (Young), and neurosurgeon (Symon).The numerous diagrams and photographs are excellent for the most part; the radiographic reproductions are, however, often fuzzy and do not

The Negligent Doctor.

By coincidence, I saw and heard the author of this book on a well-known television personality-interview program the day before I received it for review. For what advantage it may offer, I had the opportunity to appreciate the message, "medical malpractice—in and out of hospitals and what can be done about it" (the book's subtitle) through conventional TV audience participation, as well as in print. Charles Kramer, a prominent attorney usually on the side of plaintiffs in personal injury cases (including suits against physicians and hospitals), uses a series of courtroom trials to illustrate (in his own words) a story of carelessness, indifference, and even ignorance on the part of some physicians. On television screen and on paper, Kramer emphasizes that he respects the medical profession and considers that physicians as a whole are performing a great service to humanity. But some few are not—and their shortcomings and even wrongdoings,

The High Price of Sympathy: Damages for Personal Injuries

RECENT cases in England,' Australia,2 and Canada' have raised one of the most vexing problems of the Law of Torts: the measure of general damages in personal injury cases where the victim has been rendered permanently unconscious. Only the English and Australian courts seem vexed by it, however, the Supreme Court of Canada having found it pretty straightforward. Briefly, the problem breaks down into the following issues: (1) to what extent should intangible factors such as pain and suffering, shortened expectation of life and loss of the amenities of life play a part in the assessment, and (2) on what basis should the economic element of lost earning capacity be calculated? These are significant policy issues. The Australian judges recognized them as such and after considerable discourse rejected the prevailing English point of view by a majority of four to one. The English judges saw that the prevailing viewpoint on the first issue left much to be desired but, with one dissent, could not see their way clear to rejecting it. The Supreme Court of Canada, however, was able to treat it as the merest question of mathematics, accepting an earlier decision of a divided House of Lords4 without question and endorsing the unanimous view of the Ontario Court of Appeal' without discussion. It is submitted that the Canadian point of view is not quite so clearly correct as the manner of the decision might suggest.

IONIZING RADIATION AND PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY IN DERMATOLOGY.

Malpractice is the failure to use due care, average skill, and precaution. Personal injury cases (torts) make up 80% of Superior Court dockets. Professional liability cases against physicians comprise a very small proportion of these. Compare, for example, the effect of 70 million automobiles colliding with each other with the alleged negligent acts of only 280,000 physicians. However, in addition to the size of possible judgments ($100,000 is no longer uncommon), the physician may go through three or four years of soul-searching anguish as a malpractice defendant. Insurance comes high. For a California dermatologist, $500 to $700 per year is not unusual, depending on how provident he is or how insecure he feels. About half of this amount goes for radiation coverage. In actual fact, suits against the dermatologist for presumably careless use of radiation are rare, and judgments have not been astronomic. Despite hydrogen bombs, with subsequent worry

Disability Evaluation in Personal Injury Cases

Disability Evaluation in Personal Injury Cases

Chrisstian Scientists and claim cases.

<h3>To the Editor:</h3> —Your Nov 10, 1962, issue (<i>JAMA</i><b>182</b>:655) contained an excerpt from an article entitled, "Claim Cases by Christian Scientists," by I. H. Rubenstein, which left a very misleading impression. It is true that neglect of an injury or illness resulting in aggravation of the condition will make unlikely or preclude recovery, under workmen's compensation acts or occupational disease statutes, of benefits or damages in legal proceedings. But it is grossly incorrect and misleading to suggest, as did this excerpt, that the courts hold reliance on Christian Science treatment to constitute neglect or unreasonable refusal to submit to proper treatment. The Rubenstein view regarding personal injury cases where Christian Scientists are seeking damages apparently was drawn from a few outdated court cases. Some were decided before Christian Science as a system of healing was widely known. The deductions arrived at from others were so slanted as to

Medical and Legal Evaluation of Disability in Personal Injury Cases: A Practical Guide for Doctors and Lawyers

In personal injury cases, medicine and law both seek the truth—medicine by scientific analysis of facts, law through trial by combat of skilled advocates. The objective of medicine is the alleviation of deformity and disease; of law, the determination of rights. Unfortunately, homo sapiens being what he is, neither approach can be precise or definitive; both are clouded with nuance, subjectivity, and impression which can never be reduced to cold objective record. The tone of voice of an advocate before a jury or the manner of a patient during examination can be of great importance in reaching a verdict or making a diagnosis, but neither can appear in the court stenographer's transcript. It is probable that 2 such disparate and inexact philosophies can never be wholly reconciled. Many efforts have been made to explain law to medicine and medicine to law. This book attempts to do both, and, on the

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases: The Medico‐Legal Aspects of an Action for Damages arising out of a Personal Injury

Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases: The Medico‐Legal Aspects of an Action for Damages arising out of a Personal Injury

Do We Carry Adequate Malpractice Coverage?

TO BE SUED for malpractice and have a verdict returned against him is most unpleasant for a physician. But it can be doubly distressing if the physician carries no professional liability insurance or the limits of his liability are insufficient to cover the amount of the jury's award. Interviews with such physicians, their professional colleagues, their patients, their insurance counselors, and their attorneys reveals that all too frequently physicians fail to carry either any or sufficient professional liability insurance. Protection of one's estate, the ability to indemnify injured patients, and to equitably share with one's colleagues the burdens of an unfortunate medical accident, as well as finance an adequate defense of one's professional reputation, are all compelling reasons why a physician should carry reasonably adequate professional liability insurance. The risks are high. Medical practice has become more complicated and hazardous. Jury awards in all types of personal injury cases are

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Book Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Review: Medical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases

Forensic Medicine

In part 1 of this discussion, which appeared in this department last month, the need for impartial medical testimony was discussed from the viewpoint of the physician, the insurance carrier and the industrialist. Several states have instituted plans to improve the role of the medical witness and to expedite the outcome of personal injury cases. The following outlines of two of these plans were presented at the Conference on Costs of Personal Injuries, sponsored by the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry and the Medical Directors Club in Chicago.

The Doctor in Personal Injury Cases.

The Doctor in Personal Injury Cases.

The Doctor in Personal Injury Cases

The Doctor in Personal Injury Cases

Legal Ethics. Rules of Professional Conduct Violated by Attorney Who Contracted to Accept at Reduced Contingent Fees Personal Injury Cases Referred to Him by Labor Union

Legal Ethics. Rules of Professional Conduct Violated by Attorney Who Contracted to Accept at Reduced Contingent Fees Personal Injury Cases Referred to Him by Labor Union

Recent Maritime Personal Injury Cases in the Supreme Court

Recent Maritime Personal Injury Cases in the Supreme Court

The Power of the Trial Court in Personal Injury Cases under Virginia Code, Section 6251

The Power of the Trial Court in Personal Injury Cases under Virginia Code, Section 6251

Power of Court to Order Physical Examinations in Personal Injury Cases

Power of Court to Order Physical Examinations in Personal Injury Cases