Michigan Personal Injury Attorneys

Republican representatives in Michigan’s state legislature have introduced several bills that change the rules on medical malpractice cases in Michigan, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly. One of the bills’ main goals is to limit the types and amounts of damages that injured patients and their families can collect in medical malpractice cases.

Senate bills 1115, 1116, 1117, and 1118 all affect Michigan’s medical malpractice laws in various ways. One provision lumps damages for loss of household services, loss of companionship, and loss of consortium into the category “non-economic damages.” Non-economic damages, which typically also include damages for pain and suffering, are capped in Michigan. Loss of household services and related damages are currently considered “economic damages,” which are not capped, but this bill would place a cap on the combined total of damages for pain and suffering and these losses.

Another provision, appearing in Senate bill 1116, would change the standard for medical negligence. Rather than showing that a physician failed to meet the standard of care in the profession, a case would turn on whether the physician exercised a “professional judgment,” defined as “a reasonable and good-faith belief that the person’s conduct is both well founded in medicine and in the best interests of the patient.” Whether or not the physician exercised a professional judgment would be a question for the judge, not the jury.

At Lipton Law, our experienced Michigan medical malpractice attorneys can help you protect your legal rights and seek the compensation you need after an injury so that you can focus on getting well. For a free consultation, call us today at (248) 557-1688.

Attorney Marc Lipton of Lipton Law was recently named president of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ).

The MAJ is an 1,800-member attorney’s association in which personal injury attorneys can gather to share knowledge and information, learn more about new and innovative topics in the law, and improve their skills in representing those who have been injured by the negligence of another person or company. According to the organization’s mission statement, its members “work to promote safety for all Michigan citizens by standing up for accountability and responsibility.”

The Michigan Association for Justice is governed by a 70-member board that includes committees on various specific legal topics, such as medical malpractice and employment discrimination. Other committees devote their time to member education and organizing ways that the member attorneys can serve their respective communities. The board is overseen by a five-member executive committee, and the members choose a new committee each spring.

The organization is committed to helping not only its own members, but also the community. Through programs like the People’s Law School and its annual helmet drives, the MAJ has helped Michigan residents from all walks of life learn more about their legal rights and avoid injury.

At Lipton Law, our dedicated Southfield personal injury lawyers strive to provide outstanding representation that is tailored to the needs and wishes of each person or family we represent. If you’ve been injured in an accident, give us a call. Our number is (248) 557-1688, and your initial phone consultation is confidential and free of charge.

May in Michigan usually means the first real spring weather of the year, making it a great time to dust off the family’s bicycles and go for a ride. May is also Bicycle Safety Month, and you can celebrate by implementing the following safety tips:

• Make it a family rule to wear helmets each time you ride. Children who don’t want to wear helmets at first may warm up to the idea if they are allowed to choose their own helmets.
• Make sure each person’s helmet fits properly. The helmet should sit evenly on the top of the head and not slip backwards, forwards, or to either side. The chin strap should be buckled so that the helmet hugs the head when the wearer’s mouth is open.
• Examine both bikes and their riders before hitting the road. Tires should be properly inflated, with no bald, flat, or hard spots. Brakes should work properly, as should gears. All the reflectors should be firmly attached to the bicycle in their proper places. Finally, the bike’s rider should be able to put his or her feet on the ground while sitting on the bicycle.
• Obey traffic rules while riding on the road. Give “turn signals” using your hand or arm so that people in vehicles know where you are planning to go. Double-check at intersections for vehicles before proceeding.

At Lipton Law, our experienced personal injury lawyers in Michigan are dedicated to helping each client who suffers an injury due to another’s negligence. If you’ve been hurt in a bicycle accident, give us a call today at (248) 557-1688 for a free case evaluation. Your call is completely confidential.

The month of May typically sees increases in car accidents among 16- and 17-year-olds, as more teens hit the road to enjoy prom, graduation parties, and other activities, according to a recent report from Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance. If your teen will be driving or riding along with friends this month, here are a few ways to help keep him or her safer on the way:

• Give your teen plenty of chances to practice driving with an adult in the car, especially at night. Learning to drive with supervision gives your teen needed experience that driver education courses don’t always provide.
• Know your state’s laws regarding young drivers. For instance, Michigan limits the time of day at which holders of MI graduated licenses may legally drive, prohibiting driving between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. in most circumstances. Make these laws the basis for the rules you set on driving in your own family.
• Limit the number of passengers your teen can carry. According to Kentucky Farm Bureau, 60 percent of teens who lose their lives in car accidents were riding with a teenage driver. Riding or driving with friends is fun, but it also poses serious risks.
• Prohibit cell phone calls or texting behind the wheel. Teens should pull over and stop the car before using their phones.

Teen drivers’ inexperience may increase their risk for accidents, but severe injury or death can occur in a car accident no matter what a person’s age is. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a crash, the experienced Southfield car accident attorneys at Lipton Law can help. Call us today at (248) 557-1688 for a free and confidential consultation.

Transvaginal mesh implants are flexible metal, plastic polymer, or biologic implants placed in the lower abdomen to treat a number of conditions, including pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). In 2008 and 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings and recommendations to both health care providers and patients regarding the use of transvaginal mesh implants, which can cause serious health problems in some patients.

For patients with mesh implants or individuals considering surgery that includes them, the FDA offers the following recommendations:

• If you’re preparing for surgery, talk to your doctor about non-mesh-implant alternatives, as well as non-surgical alternatives for treatment.
• Ask what the possible side effects or complications of transvaginal mesh implants are, so that you know what to look for if you have problems after surgery.
• Ask for a copy of the medical information and label that come with the transvaginal mesh implant. These contain more information about the particular implant you will receive or have received, including details on possible side effects.
• Keep all your follow-up appointments with your physician. If you start having pain, bleeding, urinary incontinence, or other troublesome symptoms, or if your original symptoms return, see your doctor immediately.

Transvaginal mesh surgery complications can result in disabling side effects that can seriously impair your quality of life. If you’re suffering side effects from a transvaginal mesh implant, the experienced Michigan transvaginal mesh injury attorneys at Lipton Law can help. Call us today at (248) 557-1688 for a free and confidential case evaluation.

Having Michigan no-fault auto insurance coverage that pays the bills when you need it is a key part of recovering from a serious car accident. Unfortunately, not all Michigan drivers have the coverage they need – and once an accident happens, it’s too late to change the coverage for it.

To help Michigan drivers get the coverage they need, attorney Jody Lipton offers a “Crash Course” on May 1, from 12:10 to 12:55, in the basement conference room at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) at 216 Mack Avenue in Detroit.

Participants are encouraged to bring a copy of the Declarations Page from their own policies. Ms. Lipton will walk participants through the information on the Declarations Page step by step, helping those who attend to understand each item listed on the sheet and what it will do for them after an accident. Ms. Lipton will also help attendees determine where there may be gaps in auto insurance coverage and how they can address them in a cost-effective way that provides the protection an individual and a family needs.

The presentation includes plenty of time for specific questions about your own auto insurance policy, as well as general questions about auto accidents and insurance coverage.

At Lipton Law, a dedicated and skilled Michigan car accident attorney has been helping families with their auto accident needs for over twenty years. If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, we can provide the experienced guidance you need at every step of the process, from filing a no-fault insurance claim to holding negligent parties liable in court. For a free, confidential consultation, call us today at (248) 557-1688.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun investigating reports of rollaways in BMW 7-series vehicles. The rollaway problem could result in a serious auto accident, especially if the rolling vehicle collides with a person, a building, or another vehicle.

The NHTSA has received a total of 50 complaints about rollaways in BMW 7-series vehicles, including 16 complaints since the agency began investigating the claims in August 2011 and 5 reports of injuries. The complaints cover vehicles in every model year from 2002 to 2008.

BMW reports that the design of the 7-series transmission controls could play a role in the rollaway accidents. The vehicle is started and stopped with a button, and the transmission is controlled with a lever that has a button on it that one presses to put the vehicle in park. If the “park” button is not pressed or the vehicle’s ignition button is pressed in certain ways during or after parking, the transmission may switch into neutral, even though the driver thinks it is parked. A vehicle in neutral will roll if placed on a slanted surface like a hill, or if it is hit or pushed.

The NHTSA and BMW recommend double-checking that the vehicle is in park before getting out, and parking on flat surfaces whenever possible. The NHTSA says a recall may be forthcoming, but one has not currently been issued.

Driver negligence isn’t the only cause of auto accidents. Defective vehicle parts, badly-done repairs, or ignored maintenance problems can all cause vehicle steering or braking issues that can cause an accident and serious injuries. At Lipton Law, our knowledgeable Southfield product liability lawyers can help you get to the bottom of your accident when it has been caused by a vehicle defect and seek compensation from any parties who may have caused your crash. For a free and confidential consultation, call our office today at (248) 557-1688.

The idea of a car that drives itself belongs, for many people, in a science-fiction future that they’ll never live to see. But self-driving cars might start popping up on the market in as little as three years, according to a recent article in Market Watch.

Safety systems, like cameras that watch what’s behind the vehicle, sensors that warn when the vehicles is too close to other vehicles or obstacles, course correction to keep vehicles in their lanes, and systems that allow the vehicle to make emergency stops more quickly are all available on many cars currently sold in the U.S. However, automakers have put more effort into researching ways to integrate these systems to allow the car to pilot itself – research that some say is now paying off.

For instance, General Motors is currently working on a system that allows vehicles to take over a substantial part of the driving, including automatically adjusting to leave safe space between the car and the one ahead of it, keep the vehicle in its lane, and brake or adjust to changing road conditions. The system, which can be turned on or off by the driver, may be available on GM’s Cadillac line as soon as 2015, according to the automaker. Automakers hope these systems will help improve safety, decreasing the number of serious accidents motorists suffer each year.

At Lipton Law, our dedicated Michigan car accident attorneys are here to help with every aspect of putting your life together after an accident. From filing a no-fault insurance claim to seeking compensation in court, we can help you handle the details of your case so that you can focus on healing. Call (248) 557-1688 for a free and confidential consultation.

Think you’re familiar with everything there is to know about auto insurance? Think again.

The main differences between liability uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are more complicated than most people realize. In addition, most of us can’t even say, let alone define, the coverages outlined on our car insurance declaration certificate. What is more, there are a few main areas in which no-fault and other insurance coverages come together; information that every motorist should familiarize themselves with.

All of these points as well as the three main benefits of no-fault auto insurance will be discussed by Southfield personal injury attorney Jody Lipton during her breakout session, “Crash Course: What’s in Your Insurance Policy?”, at the Michigan Health & Rehab Conference tomorrow, Thursday, April 19, 2012 at the Best Western Sterling Inn.

Organized as a collaborative effort by Wright & Filippis and The Filippis Foundation, the conference is a diverse interdisciplinary program highlighting the numerous issues encountered by rehabilitation patients, their family members, and the people providing them with care. As such, most individuals in attendance will be from a wide array of professional backgrounds, including nurses, disability specialists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, discharge planners, case managers, rehabilitation counselors, attorneys, self-insured companies, social workers, auto no-fault insurance adjusters, and worker compensation adjusters. The sessions provided in the conference are structured and accredited by Hi-R-Ed Online as an opportunity for continuing education for nurses and social workers.

Unfortunately, when a person is injured in a car accident, there is a long list of things to take care of. First of all, priority should be given to a person’s health and ensuring that medical attention is received promptly, even if the individual doesn’t think they suffered an injury in the crash. A major factor that some motorists forget about or aren’t aware of is the importance of reporting the accident to their insurance company. However, determining and proving fault for the accident is another story.

In revealing some of the often overlooked aspects of liability and auto insurance, especially with regard to Michigan’s complex no-fault law, Jody Lipton will be offering valuable information and insight to conference attendees so they can better understand a significant financial, and even psychological, challenge that the patients they may be helping are facing.

Recently, patients in many states have suffered complications from the use of transvaginal mesh implants used in surgeries to treat pelvic organ prolapse and similar conditions. The problems have led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings against continued use of the implants in new patients. However, even before the risks of using transvaginal mesh became apparent, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) had released guidelines for physicians that warned of the possible risks of transvaginal mesh use.

The guidelines specified that patients should know about several different issues with transvaginal mesh use, including:

• Transvaginal mesh procedures were still considered “novel,” or relatively new, methods for treating pelvic organ prolapse;
• Success rates varied and little information was available about long-term use;
• Complications, including pain, internal bleeding, and mesh breaking through internal tissues, could result; and
• Little data existed to support the idea that transvaginal mesh use was more effective than other methods of treating pelvic organ prolapse.

The guidelines also recommended that physicians, surgeons, and nurses be trained specifically in the use of transvaginal mesh to repair pelvic organ prolapse and the symptoms of the complications it could cause.

Most physicians and medical staff take their responsibilities toward patients seriously, and they strive to make sure patients understand the risks and benefits of any medical procedure. When these risks are not known or not communicated, however, serious harm can result. At Lipton Law, our dedicated Michigan transvaginal mesh injury attorneys can help you find out what happened and get the compensation you need to heal. Call us today at (248) 557-1688 for a free and confidential telephone consultation.