personal injury

National Health Care Decisions Day Coming Up on April 16-22

March 8, 2017 | Gregory J. Brod

National Health Care Decisions Day (NHDD) has become a week-long event held from April 16 through 22. The purpose of this event is to encourage adults across the U.S. to learn more about planning for their future healthcare needs, including drawing up advanced directives. Without knowledge regarding advanced directives, elderly individuals and their families can find themselves in difficult positions. Loved ones may not have the power to make necessary medical and financial decisions or may not know what their elderly family member would want. Without considering future situations and taking the legal steps to solidify what individuals want for their future care right now, it may end up being too late.

NHDD is More Than Information

NHDD is more than an informative week, which could fall short of being actually helpful for most individuals. Between April 16 and 22, both public and private health care providers across 50 states will offer free and simple-to-use tools for individuals and their families to learn about and create advanced directives. The information and tools also facilitate discussions amongst family members about what they want or need if they were to become physically or mentally incapacitated. Organizations like AARP, the American Bar Association, Livestrong, Supportive Care Coalition, and the Human Rights Campaign participate.

Radiologists Trained to Detect Elder Abuse

January 25, 2017 | Gregory J. Brod

Elder abuse is unfortunately common around the country. The National Council on Aging estimates that one in 10 Americans older than 60 experiences a type of elder abuse, such as physical, sexual, emotional, or financial abuse. Despite these high figures, which amount to millions of elderly individuals every year, only one in 14 cases are reported to authorities. This disparity may come not only from willful oversight but also from lack of detection. If individuals do not understand the signs of elder abuse, it can be hard to realize it is happening to a friend or loved one. However, a recent study found that radiologists may be well-equipped to spot elder abuse, increasing the cases reported to authorities.

Radiologists Could Potentially Identify Elder Abuse

According to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, radiologists could play an important role in detecting elder abuse if they were to receive the proper training. Normally, physical elder abuse is not recognized quickly or at all. The signs and physical indications of elder abuse can be subtle, particularly because older individuals can have a myriad of health issues. However, radiologists are “uniquely positioned” to identify elder abuse when it is happening.

New Law Aims to Protect Rideshare Passengers

October 14, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

Passengers using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft know (or at least should know, as these terms and conditions are posted on each ridesharing company’s website) that the ridesharing companies consider their drivers to be independent contractors. When a passenger is involved in a crash while riding in an Uber or Lyft vehicle, the process of obtaining compensation can be complicated enough. However, passengers who are deliberately injured by an act of violence committed by their Uber or Lyft driver are left in a vulnerable legal position. Neither Uber nor Lyft allow themselves to be sued for such acts, meaning that the passengers will likely have difficulty holding the responsible party accountable for his or her actions.

While a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown does not solve this dilemma completely, it does aim to make passengers who use rideshare platforms a little bit safer.

Criminal Background Checks Now Required