Soft skills that will ensure right staff in your organization!

Soft skills that will ensure right staff in your organization!
Soft skills that will ensure right staff in your organization!
Source: www.winweb.com

Virginia Auto Accident: Death, Injury or Damage Reporting – a Lawyer’s Passenger

In Virginia, a passenger in a vehicle accident is responsible for reporting if the driver fails to stop and report the resulting death, personal injury or property damage. Va. Code Ann. §46:2-895. The duty applies to a passenger 16 years of age or older who has knowledge of the vehicle accident.

Such a passenger has 24 hours from the vehicle accident to report to the state police or local law-enforcement agency. The passenger must report his identity and other vehicle accident information known. Id.

Source: www.virginiainjuryattorneyblog.com

Virginia Medical Malpractice: VSC Res Ipsa Loquitur – a Lawyer’s Sufficiency

On June 6, 2008, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a medical malpractice verdict for roughly $100, 000.00 unsupported by a medical expert. The case is Webb v. Smith, 276 Va. 305 (2008).

The Virginia Supreme Court in Webb reiterated that “in medical malpractice cases, ‘expert testimony is ordinarily necessary to establish the appropriate standard of care, to establish a deviation from the standard, and to establish that such a deviation from the proximate cause of the claimed damages’.” Id. at 308. “Exceptions to this rule exist only in ‘those rare cases in which a healthcare provider’s act or omission is clearly negligent within the common knowledge of laymen’.” Id.

Such a “rare case” involves the medical malpractice doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. That translates to “the thing speaks for itself”.

In Webb, a surgeon was supposed to perform a hysterectomy and a bilateral salpingo oophorectomy, but simply forgot to perform the latter. In upholding the medical malpractice award, the Virginia Supreme Court concluded in Webb: “A reasonably intelligent juror did not need an expert to explain why Dr. Smith’s negligence was the proximate cause of Webb’s damages because the issue of causation was within the common knowledge of laymen.” Id.

Source: www.virginiainjuryattorneyblog.com

Older Breast Cancer Patients May Be Under-treated
Elderly breast cancer patients who received care in a community hospital setting may have been under-diagnosed, under-staged and under-treated, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The number of older patients with breast cancer has increased along with overall elderly population, as per background information in the article. About half of patients with breast cancer are older than 65 years and 35 percent are older than 70; 77 percent of breast cancer deaths occur in women older than 55. Choosing the appropriate therapy for older patients is a challenge, because a number of have other serious illnesses in addition to their cancer that may threaten their health and shorten their lives. Questions remain about the best screening protocols for elderly women, as well. Some current guidelines suggest that women stop having mammograms at age 70, while others provide no upper limit........
Source: medicineworld.org

Your business performance depends on performance of your staff
Your business performance depends on performance of your staff
Source: www.winweb.com

Virginia Auto Accidents: VSC Wrongful Death Damages – a Lawyer’s Limitation

On April 18, 2008, the Virginia Supreme Court opined on the propriety of a roughly $1, 000, 000.00 damages award to a surviving spouse arising out of a car accident.The wrongful death case is Wright v. Minnicks, 275 Va. 579 (2008).

In Wright, the surviving spouse was awarded damages for the decedent’s care, treatment and hospitalization, funeral expenses, and loss of income, services, protection, care and assistance; but absolutely nothing for sorrow, mental anguish and solace. Id. at 582. The Virginia Supreme Court held that the zero award for sorrow, mental anguish and solace was not inconsistent or inadequate on the facts of the particular wrongful death.

“Here…there was evidence to support a finding by the jury that the Wrights’ marriage was dysfunctional. *** The Defendants’ evidence was that the Wrights were permanently living apart, both were unhappy with their marriage and intended to ‘go see a lawyer [and] sign papers to be separated’.” Id. at 585. However, the surviving spouse “was entirely dependant upon her husband for support. The jury could reasonably infer that she could have continued to rely upon him for support despite their separation.” Id.

Source: www.virginiainjuryattorneyblog.com

Virginia Vehicle Accidents: Death and Personal Injury Reporting – a Lawyer’s Notice

Va. Code Ann. §46.2-371 mandates: “The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or some person acting for him, shall immediately give notice of the accident to a law-enforcement officer. A willful failure to make the report required in this section shall constitute a Class 4 misdemeanor.”

Immediate auto accident reporting is important to all Virginia victims of wrongful death and personal injury as a practical matter too. Prompt law-enforcement response tends to identify witnesses, preserve evidence, note conditions, etc.

Source: www.virginiainjuryattorneyblog.com

Virginia Vehicle Accidents: Collision and Bloodstain Evidence – a Lawyer’s Report

Va. Code Ann. §46.2-376 provides, “The person in charge of any garage or repair shop to which is brought a motor vehicle (i) that shows evidence of having been involved in a serious motor auto accident or (ii) with evidence of bloodstains shall report to the nearest police station or to the State Police within twenty-four hours after the motor vehicle is received, giving the engine number, registration number and the name and address of the owner or operator of the vehicle if known.”

Hence perpetrators and victims of motor vehicle accidents in Virginia alike should expect garage men and other repairmen to report serious motor vehicle damage to law-enforcement authorities promptly. Such third party reporting obviously can expose vehicle drivers to criminal liability under §46.2-371 for not reporting a vehicle accident resulting in injury or death to a law-enforcement officer first.

Source: www.virginiainjuryattorneyblog.com