Month: October 2011

I knew Sam Mack as a child, then lost touch with him as he grew into an adult.  Sam struck me as a child with immense potential, once he grew out of the awkward stages of life.  He was smart and energetic and entertaining.  So, I guess, Sam Mack was a lot like any child.  I read today, with despair, that Sam has made a fatal mistake.  He got behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated and caused a drunk driving accident that led to the wrongful death of his passenger, 18 year old Daryn Barnett.  Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family of Miss Barnett.  We hope that the memories of your daughter, sister, or grandchild will help you through these awful times.  Know that you do not have to go through this alone.  There are support groups and counseling that has helped other families deal with the grief you are now enduring.

Sam, it is apparent that you have a disease.  That disease is alcoholism.  This is your second arrest for drunk driving, and you are only 21 years old.  Alcohol has severely affected not only your life, and the lives of Daryn Barnett and her family, but it has also affected your families lives.  For your family, I hope they seek out the counsel of AL-ANON Family Support.  You can find them at www.al-anon.alateen.org. These folks know what you are going through and talking it out, and hearing the experiences of others can help.

As for you, Sam, you now have to live with knowing that your disease has taken the life of your friend.  If you do not do something about it, it will take your life too.  Certainly it has irrevocably changed your life, but you are still alive.  You still have a chance to make up for what has happened.  Admit your disease.  Take steps to obtain help.  Work to improve your life.  It would be fitting to dedicate your recovery, and a fruitful life of service, to your friend Daryn, so that her loss was not in vain.   Sam, your mistake does not have to crush your life and spirit. Do not allow that to happen, if for no other reason, then for Daryn’s sake.

There are many , many wonderful, competent and caring doctors in Indiana, and we are lucky to have them to care for us.   However, we all know that there are some doctors who may not be up to the task.  One way to check on your doctor is to go to the Indiana Department of Insurance databank on claims against doctor.  The site can be found at: http://www.indianapcf.com/public/index.aspx.  When you reach the site, select “Search for Providers”.  This will take you to a screen that will contain a list of options.  You want to select “individual”.  This will produce a screen that allows you to type in the doctors name.  I recommend typing in only the first name and then hitting search.  This may give you many doctors with the last name, but if you have the first name or the address or the specialty of the doctor, you should be able to find the doctor.  Once you have the right doctor, hit the “select” button to the left of the name and you will be allowed to search for claims made against the doctor.

The claims page will present all the claims that have been made against the doctor.  Do not stop here.  Some of these claims were dismissed, some were found not to be malpractice, but some are found to be malpractice. Some of the more important information on these pages is the “panel Opinion”  which is the decision of the three panel of doctors who reviewed the case.  Also look to see if there was a payment or a settlement, as that is an indication that malpractice took place.

As an example, a Dr. Svabek has 17 claims made against him.  A review of all these claims show that some were dismissed, some were found to be malpractice and some are pending. Good luck in your research.  If you need any help give us a call.

We think that we were all taught as children, by our mothers, is a universal truth.  If you make a mess (or cause a harm, or hurt someone, or break a window, and wreck another’s car etc.) you are responsible to admit what you have done and take responsibility to make it right.  This is PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. I do not know if this is the personal responsibility that all the tort reformer are talking about.  I don’t think it is.  I don’t think it is because the tort reformer’s focus is on making sure the person who is harmed has his rights taken away.  Why do I say this?  Well let’s discuss an example.  In the Indiana Legislature, more and more bills have been introduced over the years to give people who cause others injury immunity for the harm they cause.  What is immunity you ask?  Immunity is a thumb in the eye to your mother’s advice.  Immunity allows a person (or corporation) to cause harm to others and not be responsible for the harm they cause. Last year there were at least thirty bills that sought immunity for various business enterprises.  One such immunity that is now law is for the owners of horse operations.  If you take your child to ride a horse, and the owner puts the saddle on wrong so your child falls, or puts your inexperienced child on a horse that is known to buck off every rider ever placed upon him, and your child falls and breaks a bone, or suffers a brain injury, or is paralyzed, or suffers a wrongful death, your child cannot ask the owner to make up for the harm they caused.  If you ask such a silly question, the horse owner, their insurance company and the insurance company lawyers will first snort, then thumb their nose at you , and if you persist they will threaten you, and you can’t do a thing about it.  You just have to take it.

Of course when someone is allowed to thumb their nose at their own personal responsibility a couple things happen.  First, the incentive to make property, products and other activities safe is reduced.  After all we all know that if there are no consequences, there is little incentive.  Second, the injured child will have to seek Medicare and disability.  So the Taxpayer is now the person responsible for cleaning up the mess.  The mess does not go away, we all now have to make up for what the person who caused the harm refuses to take care of.

We say, NO IMMUNITY!!!   If you cause a harm, be a human being, admit what you have done and be responsible for making it right.  We stand for what our mother knew was right.  We do not need greedy business’s, with political agendas, interfering with the truth.

If you ever serve as a juror in Indiana and the case is a medical malpractice case, there is a cap on the wrong doers liability. Take, for instance, a  case involving a baby who suffers brain damage during birth, because of the negligence of the health care provider, and the cost of the medical care alone for the rest of the baby’s life totals 10 million dollars.  You and you fellow jurors return a verdict of 10 million dollars, knowing that this is just and fair compensation for the child.  You leave the Court house, not happy about what happened, but at least you know that the child will at least have proper medical care and that the health care provider’s medical malpractice insurance will be responsible for paying that fair amount to the child, right?  Wrong!!!  Indiana, medical malpractice recoveries are capped at $1,250,000.00 dollars.  So you ask, what happens after the $1,250,000.00 is paid?  More likely than not, the child will be forced to go on social security disability and the bills that exceed the $1,250,000.00 will be paid by the tax payer.  That’s right.  In this instance, the cap that protects the doctor’s medical malpractice insurance carrier, causes the rest of us to pay for his mistake.  I ask you, is that fair?

If you suffer serious personal injury in a car accident with a government employee, and you suffer paralysis that prevents you from working, you should not have to worry, as the government’s insurance company will be required to pay you fair compensation for your injuries right?  Wrong!!!  Government liability in Indiana is capped at $700,000.00 dollars.  So if your life time bills exceed that amount, you will be forced to go on social security and Medicare and the taxpayer is forced to pay for you medical bills.  As to recovering your lost wages, sorry, the Government is not responsible for that.

So you see, what your mother taught you does not apply to very select groups within our society.  The legislature has decided it knows better.  The legislature has decided that your mother was wrong when she taught you that if you cause harm to another you are fully responsible for making up for that harm.  The legislature has decided that personal responsibility applies to some but not all of us. I say this is not right.  I say that caps should be eliminated for everyone.  Everyone is responsible to fully make up for the harm they cause.  At the very least, Jurors should be told the truth about these caps at the time of trial.  At this time the jurors are told nothing about these caps.  As my father taught me, a half truth is a whole lie.