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Etzler Lawhead Legal Group, PC

Appeals court sends insurance dispute over fatal car accident back to Tipton Circuit Court

By Personal Injury No Comments

The Indiana Court of Appeals is sending an insurance dispute back to Tipton Circuit Court to figure out how the mother of a teen killed in a car accident should receive more money. Brittney Best had filed a claim against Travelers Insurance and AAA Insurance after her 17-year-old son, Jaxson, died in a 2023 accident. Best and the boy’s father…

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Appeals court decides DoorDash bears some responsibility for driver behavior

By Personal Injury No Comments

The meal delivery company DoorDash owes a general duty of protection to other drivers against the risks of a business model that can encourage distracted or dangerous driving, the Indiana Court of Appeals has decided. The court said in an opinion filed Friday that it had reversed a lower court decision in a case in which a DoorDash driver ran…

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Falls, machinery incidents highlight hazards tied to OSHA’s top violations

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

Falls accounted for 844 workplace deaths in 2024, including 666 falls to a lower level, according to a National Safety Council analysis released Thursday that examined injury and fatality events tied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s most frequently cited safety standards. The council’s report draws on Bureau of Labor Statistics data to examine hazards associated with the OSHA’s…

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OSF can’t undo $41M medmal verdict for stroke victim

By Personal Injury No Comments

A state appeals panel has upheld a $41 million medical malpractice verdict stemming from a stroke. Craig Pierce, then 64, suffered a cerebral artery stroke in early 2016. According to court records, OSF St. Francis Hospital admitted Pierce in February with pneumonia and sepsis. During his stay, Pierce suffered an acute kidney injury following a CT scan, which led to…

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FL woman’s baby formula lawsuit doesn’t belong in Cook County, appeals court says

By Personal Injury No Comments

A Florida woman whose premature newborn son died in Florida after contracting an illness allegedly caused by consuming cow’s milk-based infant formula, administered by medical staff in a Florida hospital can’t use Cook County’s famously plaintiff-friendly courts to sue Abbott Labs, the formula’s Lake County-based manufacturer, a state appeals panel has ruled. In the decision, the appellate justices said they…

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Japan Brake can’t stop Madison County asbestos lawsuit: Appeals court

By Personal Injury No Comments

A Japanese automotive brakes maker can’t escape becoming a target for asbestos lawsuits in Illinois courts, a state appeals panel has ruled. On Sept. 8, a three-justice panel of the Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court sided against manufacturer Japan Brake Industrial Company in its bid to exit a lawsuit brought by the family of plaintiff Donald R. Taylor over claims…

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Illinois court overturns $165K comp medical award

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

An Illinois appeals court overturned a $165,353 workers compensation medical award and more than $46,000 in legal fees and costs, ruling that an injured worker was entitled only to reimbursement for amounts actually paid to his medical providers. In Jenkins v. McLaughlin Body Co., the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District, ruled Wednesday that a lower court improperly based its…

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Indiana court upholds benefits for worker who fainted while driving

By Workers' Compensation No Comments

An Indiana appeals court ruled that a parks employee who was injured after losing consciousness while driving a work vehicle is entitled to workers compensation benefits. In Harrison County Parks & Recreation v. David Hussung, the Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Board finding that Mr. Hussung’s injuries arose out of his employment, even though his…

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Auto parts manufacturer must face suit over worker’s son’s asbestos death

By Personal Injury No Comments

A Japanese brake manufacturer must face an Illinois lawsuit alleging that asbestos in its products caused a dealership worker’s son to develop fatal mesothelioma, an Illinois appeals court ruled. In Taylor v. Japan Brake Industrial Co. Ltd., the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that Illinois courts have specific jurisdiction over Japan Brake,…

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Suit: Medical errors led to woman’s death after hip surgery

By Personal Injury No Comments

The estate of a Kanawha County kindergarten teacher has sued CAMC, several physicians, nurse anesthetists and health care staffing companies, alleging an unrecognized internal hemorrhage after hip surgery caused her death. Franklin Harman, administrator of the estate of his mother, Cynthia Ellen Harman, filed the medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit August 25 in Kanawha Circuit Court. In addition to…

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