States continued to consider proposals to expand the acceptance of mental injuries in workers compensation this year, according to a report by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The results have been mixed, the report shows. In an overview of workers compensation-related legislation considered through July 31, mental injuries topped the list of themes, with such injuries suffered by first…
The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case stemming from a 2019 semi-truck accident that killed three people, in which a leasing company claims an insurer disregarded its interests during mediation with the victims’ family. According to court documents, on July 24, 2019, Bruce Pollard, a semi-truck driver, caused a multiple-vehicle accident on I-465, leading…
The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear an appeal from the state later this month in a case where a motion to suppress was granted to a man who allegedly caused a deadly April 2022 crash in Franklin County. Oral arguments will be held Aug. 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse’s Indiana Fever practice court. According…
An Illinois state appeals panel will let the family of a child who died in a hospital in Chicago’s suburbs try again to sue the hospital, because they said a Cook County judge wrongly allowed the hospital’s lawyers to tell jurors that one of the plaintiffs’ medical experts had agreed to pay $230,000 to end a Medicare fraud investigation, and…
The family of an Alton couple, who died in a fiery crash after their vehicle was struck at high speeds by another car fleeing police, has filed suit against the city of Wood River, claiming the city should pay because a police officer initiated the pursuit over a registration issue and did not break off, even when it allegedly became…
The maker of once-popular heartburn medication Zantac has secured yet another win in court against claims the active ingredient in that medication increased cancer risk in those who took the drug. On Aug. 27, a jury in Cook County Circuit Court rendered a verdict in favor of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The new verdict closed out a trial in a…
Trucking brokers can’t rely on seeming protection under a federal law to shield themselves from lawsuits in Illinois state court over traffic deaths allegedly caused by truck drivers they may hire, an Illinois state appeals court has ruled. In the ruling, a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court said an exemption in the Federal Aviation Administration Act…
As legal battles highlight the ongoing conflict between state abortion restrictions and federal laws requiring doctors to provide treatment in emergencies, physicians and their medical malpractice insurers are caught in the middle, experts say. While there are no publicized cases of physicians being sued for failing to provide an abortion to save the life of the mother, or in other…
Gov. JB Pritzker has shrugged off calls to veto legislation that critics say will create more lawsuits for Illinois courts to handle while giving trial lawyers more shots at huge paydays. SB328 has been waiting for action for months, and on Friday Pritzker finally signed it into law. It will drag companies that have no or limited footprints in Illinois…
Aggression against people working with schoolchildren has been increasing steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a spike in workers compensation claims even though claims are rarely filed for injuries stemming from such violence, experts say. Violence and aggression against educators, which was on the rise pre-pandemic, rebounded “sharply” after 2022, with 56% of teachers reporting physical violence from students in…
