April 8th, 2021 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents
FAIR SHARE ACT-MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION Spencer v. Johnson, 2021 Pa. Super. LEXIS 144, 2021 PA Super 48 (March 18, 2021) (Panella, P.J.) This consolidated appeal arises out of an automobile accident that occurred in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On October 16, 2014, the car that Cleveland Johnson (“Cleveland”) was driving struck Appellant/Cross-Appellee, Keith Spencer (“Spencer”), a pedestrian, as he lawfully crossed the street. Spencer suffered permanent, debilitating injuries, which have severely diminished his quality of life. Central to this appeal is the extent to which the owner of the car that Cleveland was driving should be held liable for Spencer’s injuries. The owner, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, Philadelphia Joint Board Workers United, SEIU (“PJB”), provided the car to its employee, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, Tina Johnson (“Tina”), who is Cleveland’s wife. The parties do not dispute two facts: (1) Spencer was not at fault, and (2) Cleveland was negligent in his operation of the vehicle. However, the parties disagree as to whether Tina was negligent in allowing Cleveland to operate her work vehicle, and whether PJB was negligent under the laws of agency and vicarious liability in failing to maintain reasonable policies and regulations for the vehicles…
March 12th, 2021 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
Patient Safety Awareness Week 2021 brings focus to the work of health care organizations and personnel to maintain the safety of patients. Working toward zero harm should be the aim of all hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, and Patient Safety Week helps everyone focus on this important consideration. Unfortunately, preventable medical errors is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The Patient Safety Authority in Pennsylvania receives over a quarter million reports of incidents and serious events. As a result of the obstacles to bringing meritorious medical liability claims, many of the preventable medical errors go uncompensated. Through various campaigns and attempts to raise awareness during the week of March 14-20, healthcare organizations hope to spark discussions and actions to improve the safety of the entire healthcare system, leading to better outcomes for patients and everyone involved. Importance of Advocating for Patient Safety According to the World Health Organization, 2.6 million deaths annually are related to adverse events in hospitals and clinics. Avoiding many of these deaths would likely be possible with an increased focus on and awareness of patient safety. Many preventable…
September 8th, 2020 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
If you are injured because of a medical negligence, you may wonder, how does medical malpractice differ from an ordinary negligence claim? Negligence is a legal theory called a tort, covering a wide range of cases. Medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence case for injuries caused by healthcare professionals, hospitals, or other organizations. If you have been injured while getting medical care, you may feel betrayed by someone you trusted. You are probably frustrated by their lack of accountability for your suffering. It is a familiar story for Clifford A. Rieders. He has spent decades sharpening his skills and representing Pennsylvania families who suffered an injury or loss due to medical malpractice negligence and defective medical devices. Cliff is a past president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers, now Pennsylvania Association for Justice, and he literally wrote the book on medical malpractice in Pennsylvania used by Pennsylvania lawyers and judges. Ordinary negligence cases seek compensation for people injured by the lack of due care, sometimes called reasonable care, on the part of others. These claims are a way to resolve disputes when parties disagree about who is legally responsible…
August 18th, 2020 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents
If you are injured in a car accident, you may wonder what are non-economic damages in a car accident case. There could be different types of damages you could receive to compensate you, depending on the facts of your case. Under Pennsylvania law, damages generally fall into two categories: economic and non-economic. Car accident cases are typically based on negligence law. The plaintiff (the injured person filing the lawsuit) would need to prove that the defendant (the party sued) had an obligation to do or avoid doing something in the situation, and the defendant did not live up to that duty. For example, the defendant was speeding, ran a red light, or was intoxicated. As a result, the defendant caused the accident and your injuries. You need to establish the harm you suffered. The judge or jury would decide what damages you are entitled to and the amount. Sometimes cases go to alternative dispute resolution such as mediation or arbitration. Damages in a car accident case measure the harm you suffered in dollars. That is easier to determine for economic (sometimes called special) damages. They are a reduced income or…
August 12th, 2020 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents
Can you sue an uninsured driver? In the state of Pennsylvania, it is illegal for a driver to not be covered by auto insurance. And, in fact, we have one of the lower uninsured rates in the country, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That is great news. However, like in any state, there are drivers here who try to get away with driving uninsured. And if you are unlucky enough to be hit by one of them, you can find yourself in serious financial trouble. Can you sue an uninsured driver? The answer is that you may be able to. After your accident, it is important to hire an experienced lawyer to help you recover the money you need to pay your bills and other losses related to the wreck. The lawyers at Rieders, Travis, Humphrey, Waters & Dohrmann will help you with every step of your claim. We will: Calculate the amount of your losses Determine your own insurance coverage and whether you have enough to cover your losses If necessary, help you file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver and any other responsible parties. Can…
July 29th, 2020 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
Part of the Money Will Be Set Aside to Resolve Future Cancer Claims Bayer announced in June that it will pay more than $10 billion in a Roundup settlement to cancer victims or their estates. The money will settle thousands of lawsuits that allege the well-known Roundup weed killer caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers. The Roundup herbicide was first sold by Monsanto in 1974. Since then it has been used worldwide to kill weeds and other unwanted plants. Workers on farms and golf courses, gardeners, groundskeepers, property owners and others who used the product regularly may have suffered potentially deadly exposure. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup that is linked to cancer. Even though Monsanto denied that its product causes cancer in people, the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency concluded in 2015 that glyphosate is probably a human carcinogen. Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 and inherited the Roundup lawsuits. In its announcement, Bayer noted that its settlement with cancer sufferers does not mean that the company admits liability or wrongdoing. And, unfortunately, Roundup has not been removed from store shelves. Roundup $10 Billion Settlement Does Not Cover…
May 22nd, 2020 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PSA) is a world-renowned, independent state agency collecting information on patient safety from Pennsylvania healthcare facilities, which was intended to make state residents safer. Mr. Rieders was the President of the Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania the year the law creating the PSA was debated. He was also part of the negotiating team in connection with the legislation which led to the creation of the Patient Safety Authority. The agency analyzes serious events and incidents. Serious events must also be reported to the Department of Health and to the family or relevant relatives. Incidents are not reported to the family, unfortunately, but they are utilize to detect any dangerous trend going on in the healthcare field or to determine if a single instance might be repeated and threaten patients’ health. Liaisons in the field are supposed to be giving feedback to hospitals and to regions in connection with incidents. The legislation also provides that the Patient Safety Authority can report infrastructure failures to the Department of Health. The Patient Safety Authority communicates information in multiple ways to healthcare providers. It has also taken some steps in…
December 3rd, 2019 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
The statute of limitation for medical malpractice in Pennsylvania is generally two years from the date the cause of action accrues. In some cases, the cause of action accrues when the medical care is rendered, such as a surgical date. However, there are many other circumstances in which the statute of limitations could begin to run later. Pennsylvania’s 7-year statute of repose was recently held unconstitutional by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In certain circumstances, a “tolling” will apply. This may occur, for example, in cases of fraud or where a reasonably diligent patient could not have discovered the relationship between the medical care and the harm suffered within the two (2) years. In those circumstances, the statute of limitations would begin to run when such discovery can or should have taken place. Again, this is a very complex field and is factually intensive. Minors do not have to begin an action for medical malpractice until two (2) years after reaching the age of majority. According to Pennsylvania law, medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional commits medical negligence by violating the generally accepted standard of care. The resulting injury must have been directly caused by the professional’s actions…
November 15th, 2019 by Rieders Travis in Medical Malpractice
There is a time limit to sue for medical malpractice in Pennsylvania. It is two years after you knew or reasonably should have known about the medical error that caused injury or death. This time limit is called a statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is set by the Mcare Act in Pennsylvania. There are occasions when the statute of limitations can be “tolled” based upon circumstances such as fraud or the inability of a reasonably diligent patient to know the relationship between the medical care received and the harm. This is a very difficult test, which has been written about by Cliff Rieders in his text, Medical Malpractice. This book is used by most judges and lawyers in the state. Cliff Rieders was also involved in the writing of the Mcare Act, and was President of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, now the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, when the law was negotiated and passed. In addition to the statute of limitations, there are other laws that you need to consider if you are wondering whether you can sue. Since medical malpractice law is so complicated and the time to file…
November 1st, 2019 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents
Knowing how to calculate pain and suffering in a car accident settlement can help you understand what compensation to expect in your case. If you are injured in a car accident in Pennsylvania, the chances are that you will suffer not only financial damages, but also physical and emotional damages along with pain and suffering, disfigurement and loss of life’s pleasures that can impact your life even more severely than your financial loss. One court has said that the so-called noneconomic damages represent the iceberg, with the economic damages only the tip of the iceberg. Determining how to calculate pain and suffering and other non-economic damages in a car accident settlement is much more challenging than calculating economic costs, such as lost wages, lost wage horizon, medical, hospital, and rehabilitative bills, and property damage. If another party’s negligence or responsibility was involved in the accident, you should be entitled to receive financial compensation that covers pain and suffering, disfigurement, emotional distress and loss of life’s pleasures as Pennsylvania law allows you to recover both economic and non-economic losses from the at-fault party who caused the crash. However, insurance companies have…
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