Biloxi Personal Injury Law Blog

People often think of wrongful death lawsuits as legal actions against people or entities whose negligence or reckless actions caused the death of a loved one. Maybe a doctor's malpractice or a faulty amusement park ride caused someone's fatal injury, for example. Drunk drivers are often taken to civil court for wrongful death claims as well.

However, wrongful death lawsuits can also be brought by family members against someone whom they believe murdered a loved one. Although the alleged killer would likely be charged and tried in criminal court, criminal trials don't always provide the outcome and justice sought by families. They sometimes turn to civil lawsuits to seek some sense of justice -- even if it means only being able to make the defendant pay monetarily.

Kids don't necessarily understand or respect property boundaries -- particularly if there's something within that boundary that is tempting or interesting. In premises liability law, that's called an "attractive nuisance."

Whether something is considered an attractive nuisance by the courts is important if a child (or even a teen) is injured on property where they were technically trespassing. When a property owner has what's considered an attractive nuisance, they have a responsibility to take steps to protect people from becoming injured by it.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass the Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act. The proposed law would prohibit the VA from "enter[ing] into a settlement agreement relating to an adverse action" that would "conceal a serious medical error or a lapse in generally-accepted standards of clinical practice." It would also require the department to report these disciplinary actions to state licensing boards as well as the National Practitioner Data Bank.

The bill's passage comes two years after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that VA officials often delayed investigations into complaints about employees at its medical facilities -- or failed to investigate them at all. According to the GAO's report, these officials wouldn't report instances in which they disciplined a doctor or even revoked their privileges to the appropriate state and federal entities. Doctors could resign from a VA facility to avoid what's called an "adverse privileging action" and go on to practice at a non-VA hospital where they were placing other patients in danger.

One reason people are living longer than ever is that medications are available to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and a host of other conditions that killed many of our ancestors before they reached what we now consider the "senior years."

That's the good news. The bad news is that by taking multiple prescription meds, the chances of an adverse and possibly dangerous interaction increase. About a third of all adults take at least five medications.