Debra D. Freidell, P.C.

Barbara had been taking Zosyn to treat a wound infected with pseudomonas on an outpatient basis for eight months, but she was admitted to one of our local hospitals, and the treating doctor prescribed a more powerful drug. It’s pretty well known in the medical community that this drug must be monitored, because too much of it in a patient’s bloodstream causes kidney failure or ear failure. She was sent home after three days in the hospital. Home Health Care visited twice, nobody stopped prescribing the drug, nobody monitored the drug. After three weeks, she nearly died. Then came dialysis, 4½ hours per day 3 days a week. Her hand and arm were cold and full of pain, but she couldn’t move because her arm was connected to the dialysis machine. She returned to the ICU 7-8 times when her graph clotted or broke off. She was weak, tired, and sick, vomiting frequently. She wondered if she was going to die. Had she told everyone that she loved them?

Doctors took her off the dialyzer after eleven months. Her kidneys function at 50%. She’s still frequently tired, and has to go to the bathroom every ten minutes for the 4 hours after she takes her prescriptions, and sometimes she gets sick and vomits. This 42-year-old woman may get better, she may get worse.

We deposed the doctor in April. (The doctor answered our questions under oath, and a court reporter recorded the questions and answers.) Barbara was there. When I went in, I thought it would feel like the victim of a crime confronting the perpetrator. She was looking for an apology. Instead the doctor blamed the pharmacy for not reminding him that he needed to monitor her blood, and the van driver who brought the drug to her home.

The doctor has only $500,000 in insurance coverage. How dare he? He injured Barbara so badly, and he didn’t even take enough insurance out to cover his mistakes. That’s not near enough to pay for her medical bills, let alone compensate for her quality of life.

In malpractice cases like Barbara’s, no. Heartbreaking, but you are at the mercy of the arrogant physician.

While driving your auto, yes. Missouri and Kansas state law requires you to have Uninsured Motorist coverage (UM). If you are hit by a person who was illegally driving without automobile insurance, your own policy will compensate you. (A little aside on this…Some of my clients with uninsured motorist’s claims get amazed that the company to which they paid premiums for so many years, is now hotly disputing their claim. Well, yeah…They’re insurance companies. That’s what they do. They fight claims. They’re in this to make a profit.)

Separate from this is Underinsured Motorist coverage (UIM). If you are hit by a person who was carrying $25,000 minimum limits of liability, and badly hurt, you have the right to be compensated for a much greater amount than $25,000. Or if the negligent driver had no insurance and your Uninsured Motorist coverage kicks in, but you’ve only been paying for the minimum $25,000 UM coverage, again you’re stuck with maximum $25,000 recovery.

To cover yourself, I strongly recommend you carry Underinsured Motorist coverage. Most insurance companies don’t push it on you, because it’s so inexpensive. For instance: To drive 2 fairly new vehicles (2006 & 2007), it costs me an additional $11.21 per month for me to protect myself, so that if the worst should happen, there’s $300,000 to cover my injuries. Well worth $11.21 per month.

How about you? What does it cost to increase your coverage to protect yourself? Contact me.

I’ll publish the results of increased UM/UIM coverage in my next newsletter.

Joe quit drinking 20 years ago. He stayed out late one Friday night last November, not drinking but eating dinner and making sure he had done a good job that day correcting an electrical wiring problem at a restaurant. On the way home he was stopped by a police officer. I call this “DWL” (driving while late), which is distantly connected to “DWB” (driving while black), only white people get stopped for DWL too. He was charged with DUI.

He swears to me there was nothing wrong with his driving. If the policemen’s car is recording everything on video, that’s pretty easy to confirm. I ordered a copy of the tape from the police department. He was right! The only thing the video showed was him touching the white line on the right side of the road, coming out of a curve.

We found Missouri cases showing that touching the fog line for a very short time is not enough “reasonable suspicion” to warrant stopping Joe’s vehicle.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated….”
4th Amendment, United States Constitution

We submitted a memorandum. The prosecuting attorney agreed that Joe’s 4th Amendment rights were violated when the police officer stopped him, and all charges resulting from the unreasonable search were thrown out.

And that would be…the DUI and possession of marijuana. Yes, there were three tiny roaches in his van. None of which he had smoked that day.

Does that make you feel less sympathetic towards him? I like Junann’s interpretation of the situation: “I don’t like the idea of using marijuana…but I like the idea of police officers stopping me without having any reason even less.” If you let your government ignore your 4th Amendment rights, so they can find crimes, then the government will ignore your 4th Amendment rights, because they disagree with you politically and want to stay in power.

While charges were pending, Joe was thinking of circulating petitions to legalize or decriminalize marijuana in the small town where he was charged.

If he goes through with it, I guess it would be a grass roots effort.

Mrs. Johnson, married 46 years, raised 5 children while working full-time. Her family now includes 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. In February she got on an elevator to get to her doctor’s office, and fell into the elevator. The elevator had landed 3″ higher than the floor before it opened its doors to let her in. This lovely, lively 71-year-old lady followed doctor’s orders to wear a neck brace to heal her broken neck, carefully turning her head and, as she describes it, “toddling” from room to room in her house. After three months with no healing, she prepared for surgery. A cardiac stress test showed she needed an angioplasty–a stent placed in a main artery to her heart, to keep the artery open–before her neck surgery. In mid-August she went back to her neurosurgeon to schedule neck surgery. He said: “It’s healing. I don’t know how.” For some reason, healing did not start until the 5th month after she fell.

Will Mrs. Johnson be able to recover without surgery?
Who is responsible:
•The building owner?
•The elevator manufacturer?
•The company who maintains the elevator?
Stay tuned.

Thank you Darryl Z for your referral.

The decision whether or not to take your case to the jury is a roll of the dice. But sometimes you’ve got to take a gamble well before the case is set for trial.

A disoriented 77-year-old driver exited a K-Mart without yielding, and plowed right into Anne. The airbag in her van inflated and saved her from life-threatening injury, but broke her wrist, broke her elbow, and chipped a bone in her neck (C6 avulsion fracture). Four years after the collision, Anne has trouble sleeping, suffers pain while working, and cannot do many of the things she used to do for her family, because of neck pain. Allstate, the insurance company for the gentleman, who has since passed away, did not offer enough to compensate her. We have filed suit.

When I prepare an injury claim, I have a doctor review the records of treatment, and testify that “the accident caused the need for medical treatment,” the treatment was reasonable, and the bills for treatment were fair. It would be best if a treating physician was the expert, because he knows the client as his patient; but that’s not always possible for many reasons, one being that the doctor doesn’t like to participate in the legal fray and will not be a good witness (hard telling which of those two comes first, the chicken or the egg). But Anne has such ongoing trouble with her neck that I thought she should be evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon. Who–after we advanced him $750 for his opinion–said she’s not a candidate for neck surgery, and diagnosed myofascial pain syndrome. But three years has passed since treatment by MD’s, two years since treatment by her chiropractor. Who would believe us if, after all that time, we came up with a new diagnosis?

Anne, her husband and I all got together this month and decided to go without an expert witness. She’s going to get on the stand herself, tell the jury all the different places she was referred for treatment, and that her personal physician, orthopedist, two neurosurgeons, rehabilitation physician, and chiropractor could not come up with a way to treat her pain. We can get the medical records into evidence because they are business records and self-authenticating. We won’t be able to tell the jury how much the medical bills were, because we don’t have a physician stating the bills are “fair,” but that’s the gamble we’re taking. Just reading this, how much do you think they were?

Another reason for the gamble: Anne hopes it doesn’t go to trial. She is a suburban housewife, taking care of her husband and two sons, politically conservative. Until it happened to her (unfair treatment by the insurance company) she and her husband didn’t think people should bring lawsuits. So either way, settlement or trial, she will save the amount it takes to have the physician review the records, write a report, give a deposition on his findings, and testify at trial–at least $2000.

A man backed his car out from his garage, kept going right across the street, into his neighbor’s garage…tire marks showed he stopped, with his wheels spinning, at the back wall of the neighbor’s garage. The neighbor calls her homeowner’s insurance company, who tells her not to touch anything until they get there to photograph the scene. The next day, her sister, my client Abby, walked into the garage and fell in oil spilled under the debris, and injured her shoulders so badly she needed surgery to repair torn rotator cuffs on each shoulder.

Is it a claim against the driver of the auto, or a slip and fall claim?
Surprise surprise, each insurance company is pointing to the other.

What’s crucial to the auto claim is causation…is Abby’s looking at the mess the next day so independent of the man’s backing into her sister’s garage that he did not cause her injuries?

What’s crucial to the slip and fall claim is why was Abby there? If Abby was there for her sister’s benefit, she was in “invitee,” meaning the sister should have inspected the garage to find out about oil before she let anyone in there. If Abby was there for her own interests, just to gawk at the mess, she was a “licensee,” meaning the sister was not responsible for anything she didn’t actually know about.

Abby was there to plan how she and her sister were going to clean up the mess. As they grew up, older sister Abby assumed the role of helping her sister out of jams, and it continues to this day, even though they are both in their 60’s. Abby thought that’s what every older sister does. She is insulted that the insurance company plans to argue to a jury she was there to “gawk.”

Client’s vehicle was broadsided, pushing the front passenger door 18″ into the body of the car where Client was sitting. Client’s pelvis was fractured in two places. The soft tissue injuries were so intense that she described her groin as being on fire with pain. She also had injuries to her low back and neck, which required two surgeries. Cuts on Client’s nose and face required 14 stitches. Today, Client suffers permanent disability.Client had mixed emotions about hiring an attorney to represent her in a lawsuit. Her minister advised her to follow scripture:

then do what is good and you will receive its approval; …But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. …Pay to all what is due them… revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Romans 13:3-7 NSRV

The family talked to an attorney who had represented them on other family business matters. They hired Debra because she concentrates her practice on personal injury.

The claims adjuster for the negligent driver’s insurance company offered to settle Client’s claim for $30,000. The reason: Her pelvis fractures were healing well and her pain was mainly the result of “degenerative disc disease.” This is a classic defense. Everyone is aging, therefore their bodies are degenerating. But Client was only 44 years old!

Shortly before trial the claim settled for $350,000.

Client needs a certain amount per month, with more during her children’s college years, and more from age 59 forward. Rather than handing Client one big check, Ms. Freidell worked with a structured settlement broker, who shops the market to find the best annuities for each situation. Client’s annuity grows the settlement by 89%.

About Debra D. Freidell
Debra Freidell is a Kansas City personal injury attorney that helps people who have suffered a serious personal injury or wrongful death due to someone else’s negligence. Ms. Freidell has been practicing in the Kansas City area since 1989 and is licensed in both Missouri and Kansas. Click the links to learn more about Debra’s experience with personal injury cases, read testimonials, or to contact her Kansas City office.

Client was hit by a car while crossing the street. Before he hired Debra Freidell, the claims adjuster offered to pay his medical bills to pay the claim. It sounded fair, because Client had been treated at three local hospitals and there were a lot of bills to pay.Ms. Freidell arranged to have a guardian and conservator appointed for Client, on the grounds that he suffered dementia due to head trauma as the result of the collision. Ms. Freidell then settled Client’s claim for $222,500, which totally extinguished medical liens and netted in $90,574 to Client. Client’s claim was settled seven months after hiring Ms. Freidell, without ever going to court.

About Debra D. Freidell
Debra Freidell is a Kansas City personal injury attorney that helps people who have suffered a serious personal injury or wrongful death due to someone else’s negligence. Ms. Freidell has been practicing in the Kansas City area since 1989 and is licensed in both Missouri and Kansas. Click the links to learn more about Debra’s experience with personal injury cases, read testimonials, or to contact her Kansas City office.

An apartment complex manager referred to Debra Freidell tenants whose 3-year-old son was badly injured when a car ran over his face and shoulder in the parking lot of the apartment complex. The parents had already hired an attorney, but the attorney mainly did criminal defense work and planned to pursue the case in 15 years, after the toddler reached the age of majority. Ms. Freidell quickly settled for maximum insurance policy limits, and arranged for a district judge to approve the minor settlement.

About Debra D. Freidell
Debra Freidell is a personal injury attorney in Kansas City, MO that helps people who have suffered a serious personal injury or wrongful death due to someone’s negligence. Ms. Freidell has been practicing in the Kansas City area since 1989 and is licensed in both Missouri and Kansas. Click the links to learn more about Debra’s experience with personal injury cases, read testimonials, or to contact her Kansas City office.

An oncoming driver turned left in front of husband and wife Clients, hitting them, fracturing wife’s wrist and injuring her back and ankle, and straining husband’s neck and back.There were several problems with Clients’ insurance claim:

1. Wife had rotator cuff surgery for her right shoulder seven months prior to the collision. She didn’t know how she injured her shoulder.
2. Husband and wife were treated by a chiropractor for an auto collision six months prior to the collision.
3. Husband was in & out of the hospital for diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Wife spent her time caring for her husband instead of following through with physical therapy for her wrist.

Still, once Debra Freidell acquired and forwarded to the claims adjuster the information needed to evaluate the claim, the claim settled within two weeks for $52,000.

About Debra D. Freidell
Debra Freidell is a Kansas City personal injury attorney that helps people who have suffered a serious personal injury or wrongful death due to someone’s negligence. Ms. Freidell has been practicing in the Kansas City area since 1989 and is licensed in both Missouri and Kansas. Click the links to learn more about Debra’s experience with personal injury cases, read testimonials, or to contact her Kansas City office.