Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

We have handled many cases over the years where insurance companies have wrongfully denied insurance claims. Common cases include denials of life insurance benefits, home fires, sink hole damage and disability benefits. Jon Street of our office leads the litigation team on these case and he has gained a reputation as a leader in this field in Tennessee.

Unfortunately, the current legislature is attempting to make it more difficult to take your insurance company to Court if they deny your claim. Jim Higgins was recently interviewed regarding these changes. You can watch the interview below:

Continue reading "New Law Impacts Tennessee Bad Faith Insurance Actions" »

Rick Piliponis, a Tennessee lawyer with The Higgins Firm, was recently interviewed with regard to developments in the ongoing defective hip litigation. You can watch his interview by clicking below:

Continue reading "Tennessee Lawyer Rick Piliponis Discusses the recent DePuy Hip Recalls" »

Tennessee residents as well as many people throughout the country have heard about the problems and suffering that the Depuy hip replacements have caused for millions of people. Many people have required a second surgery to fix the problem and this has led to additional pain and suffering as well as additional medical expenses. If you or someone you love has had problems with your hip implant and you think it may be a Depuy hip implant, then you should speak with a Tennessee Depuy hip recall and defective product lawyer right away. They will hear your case and help make sure you get the compensation you need.

In this case, a Tennessee resident filed a Depuy Pinnacle lawsuit claiming that he had to have revision surgery to remove his implant after he started experiencing problems with metal on metal implant. The lawsuit is considered a product liability complaint and was filed by Ira M. Campbell and his wife Sherry Lynn on March 8th. They claim that the hip was defectively designed and that the manufactures failed to warn them about the possible risks of Depuy Pinnacle implants.

Campbell was given the implant on May 21, 2009, and had it for less than a year before it failed which then required him to have another surgery to remove the implant on April 6, 2010. The hip according to his claims should have lasted for at least ten years. Shortly after Campbell received his implant; it started to loosen due to friction and biologic corrosion which caused him to experience very severe hip pain. Campbell also claims that the problems from the defective Depuy Pinnacle hip implant have left him with permanent injuries including having to use a cane in order to walk.

Continue reading "Depuy Pinnacle Hip Problems Lead to Product Liability Lawsuit" »

Tennessee residents and people all across the United States want to make sure their friends and loved ones are going to be well cared for when they have to go into a nursing home. Family members usually want to check out the nursing home facility and check up on their loved one to make sure they are receiving the proper standard of care. Unfortunately, too many nursing homes are understaffed, improperly trained, and overworked and these conditions often lead to a lack of good medical care for the patients. If you feel that your loved one has received improper care or has been subject to nursing home abuse, then you should speak to a Tennessee nursing home abuse lawyer right away. They will work with you and make sure you receive the compensation you deserve.

In this case, a Tennessee nursing home’s funding is in trouble due to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services giving the facility a notice of termination for the programs after an inspection in April found that the nursing home staff was failing to perform tests ordered by a doctor for a patient that had to be prescribed a blood thinner. Also, the inspection revealed that the facility failed to inform the doctor of the patient’s blood clotting times. The spokeswoman for the Health Department is currently working with the nursing home to correct these problems. If another inspection finds that the nursing home is following the plan then the funding will not be cut.

The reports filed by the health inspectors that found that staff had failed to report test findings to a patient’s doctor left the patient at risk for uncontrolled bleeding during high blood clotting times. The Tennessee nursing home had also received citations for failing to properly report another patient’s bruised arm and another patient’s skin tear was not properly investigated.
The Tennessee nursing home received a termination notice for an April 24th cutoff for federal funding for new patients and a May 24th deadline for a full cutoff. In the nursing home’s new plan, there will be training and monitoring programs put in place to make sure these violations do not happen again.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Funds at Risk after Health Officials found it to be Putting Patients at Risk of Injury " »

We are so proud to be a sponsor of this years Taste of Spring. This is an event held to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse of Tennessee. It is a lot of fun and just a great cause. It is going to be held April 28th, 2011 from 6-9 at the Tennessee Farmers Market. Please come out and have a great time while supporting a good cause.

Continue reading "Support Prevent Child Abuse of Tennessee" »

In Tennessee and all across the country, when we go to the emergency room for care, we expect to be treated properly and feeling better or on our way to feeling better by the time we leave. However, sometimes doctors, nurses, and other medical staff miss something or make a mistake and this leads to improper and negligent care. When this happens, we expect to be able to hold the emergency room accountable for what happened. However, a bill that is going to be introduced into Tennessee legislation would allow hospitals and physicians to provide negligent medical care without holding them accountable for these actions. If you have questions about this bill or your own medical negligent case, you should speak with a Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer right away. They will hear your case and see if you are entitled to compensation.
This legislation would allow a patient to go into the Emergency Room with something as serious as chest pains and if the doctor were to mistake these symptoms for bronchitis and send you home, and then you were to have a heart attack and die, the doctor who saw you would not be held accountable or considered negligent for this treatment. This legislation also will protect physicians in surgery or in the OB unit if the person is admitted through the emergency room. A patient will have little protection from negligence while in the emergency room and also during their whole hospital visit.
This bill is unreasonable for women, children, and lower income families that are more likely to use emergency room services and care. These Tennessee residents will have little to no protection when they seek medical attention in the emergency room. This bill will also affect taxpayers by having them pay the bill for people without insurance after they receive negligent care. Negligence already adds up to 37.6 billion a year for the nation and this bill would add to that cost.

Continue reading "Tennessee Legislation Would Not Hold Emergency Rooms Accountable for Negligence " »

Attorney Jim Higgins was recently interviewed regarding proposed changes to the Tennessee Workers Compensation Law. If the law is passed if will prevent many injured workers from receiving the benefits they need to get well and back to work. You can watch the interview by clicking below.

Continue reading "Proposed Changes to Tennessee Workers Compensation Law" »

Jim Higgins was recently interviewed with regard to the impact of tort reform on certainTennessee cases. In particular a jury recently returned a 1.5 million dollar wrongful death verdict for the parents of a child that died as a result of negligence. Under the new law the jury would be unable to give the parents this amount and the verdict would be reduced to what the politicians believe is fair. You can watch the interview here:

Continue reading "Tennessee Attorney Jim Higgins Discusses Impact on Tort Reform" »

In Tennessee and all across the country, people go into hospitals and medical care centers and put their trust and lives in the hands of doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals each day. Unfortunately, sometimes those doctors, surgeons and medical professionals miss things they should not and this leads to people needing additional medical treatment or care for their health conditions. If you or someone you care about suspects that your doctor or medical care professional may have missed something or you feel malpractice was involved, then you should talk to a Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer right away. They will hear your case and make sure you get the compensation you need.

In this case, Mark Weinberger, a surgeon who has been caught after being in Italy for more than five years after fleeing from federal health care fraud charges has been ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to the family of fifty year old Phyllis Barnes after she died from laryngeal cancer, which he failed to diagnose.
Weinberger was an ear, nose and throat specialist and performed sinus surgery on Barnes three years before she died of cancer. Barnes’ attorney told the jury that Weinberger and an assistant failed to find a tumor that had lead to Barnes’ death even though there were several warning signs including ear pain and the spitting up of blood. The attorney also stated that the surgery was not needed and encouraged by greed and was a factor in Barnes’ death. The jury did not find the assistant guilty. It is unclear whether or not Barnes’ family will receive any money because of the state of Weinberger’s finances.

Continue reading "Jury Awards Cancer Patient’s Family 13 Million in Malpractice Lawsuit " »