Personal Injury

Winning a medical malpractice case is not always as simple as proving that a doctor was negligent in treating a patient. In a recent case, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that the patient is responsible to give accurate information to a doctor in preparation for medical treatment. It further held that a doctor is not liable for malpractice if the inaccurate information the patient gave contributed to the patient’s injuries.

Our attorneys are available to meet with victims of malpractice to discuss issues like this and others in order to determine their best options for recovery.

Medical Malpractice

Often, an employer may be held responsible for the negligent or intentional actions of its employees if the employer breached a duty owed to the injured party. In a recent case, the Indiana Court of Appeals held, however, that the employment must have contributed to the employee’s opportunity to commit the wrongful actions. Also the Indiana Supreme Court held in another case that it is not enough for the employment to have simply provided an opportunity to the employee. The Court held that the wrongful conduct must also be related to the employment and intended to further the employer’s business to some extent.

Our attorneys are available to explain these matters with clients in order to help them determine the best strategies in their case.

Employer Liability for Employee's Actions

Often times in medical malpractice cases, it is difficult to identify a single act of negligence that caused an injury but it is clear that “something went wrong.” In such cases, the theory of res ipsa loquitur (literally, the thing speaks for itself) may be available to show that similar injuries normally don’t happen when proper care is taken in similar circumstances. In a recent Indiana case involving a flash fire in an operating room caused by a spark igniting an oxygen mask, the Court of Appeals held that a plaintiff did not need to provide an expert witness to testify that such injuries normally do not occur when proper care is taken by medical staff. The court stated that common sense may be enough to come to a conclusion in such cases.

If you or a loved one has been injured through malpractice, our attorneys are available to discuss this and other theories with you in order to determine the best approach to your case.

Medical Malpractice - Res Ipsa Loquitur

One issue many landowners and parents face today is injuries to children on someone else’s property. Whether it’s a pool, a trampoline or a pile of trash, children are tempted to play in areas that pose dangers that they may not fully appreciate. In a recent case, the Indiana Supreme Court held that a landowner may be liable for injuries that an uninvited child receives on its property if there was a dangerous condition that would likely temp children to enter the property and most children would not appreciate that danger.

Our attorneys are available to discuss with clients the conditions surrounding a child’s injuries on another’s property to determine whether the landowner may be liable.

Landowner Liability to Injured Children

Indiana law requires that an action for medical malpractice under the Medical Malpractice Act or the Professional Services Statute must be filed within two years of the wrongful conduct. Similarly, an action for wrongful death must be filed within two years of the victim’s death. When a person dies as a result of malpractice or negligence that happened months or even years before the victim’s death, there is a conflict between the two limitations periods. In a recent case, the Indiana Supreme Court held that in such an instance where the two Statutes of Limitation may conflict, the two-year requirement under the Medical Malpractice Act or Professional Services Statute controls.

These are complicated legal questions that can genuinely affect the outcome of a claim. Our attorneys are available to discuss issues of Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death and how factors like time may affect a client’s case.

Statutes of Limitation: Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death

Each of our attorneys has experience handling personal injury cases. Our combined experience is over 50 years in a variety of personal injury cases. This includes, but is not limited to, automobile accidents, medical malpractice and workplace injuries.

If you have a question about a personal injury matter, please call our offices and ask for one of our attorneys or their assistant, Jan.

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One of the most tragic events in life is when a minor child loses one or both parents to accidental death. Sorting out the details of the child’s new life can be overwhelming for the child as well as his or her loved ones. The legal steps involved in holding those responsible for the parent’s death accountable for their actions only compound these difficulties. These legal steps often include arranging a guardian for the minor child, establishing the child’s legal paternity, obtaining grief counseling for the child, preparing the child for testifying at trial and protecting any proceeds the child receives through settlement or trial verdict.

Our attorneys are available to discuss and work through each of these steps with clients who are seeking to assist a minor child who has lost a parent.

Representing a Minor Child in the Wrongful Death of a Parent

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The materials and information on this web site are made available by Van Gilder & Trzynka, P.C. for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. The transmission and receipt of information on the web site do not form or constitute an attorney-client relationship. This includes, but is not limited to, using the link on this web site to solicit information from Van Gilder & Trzynka, P.C. Persons accessing the information on this web site should not act upon the information provided without seeking profession legal counsel.

In a similar case, the Indiana Supreme Court held that where the Wrongful Death two-year Statute of Limitations conflicts with a longer Statute of Limitations for a different tort, the two-year Wrongful Death limitation will control for the Wrongful Death action if the other claim was the underlying cause for the victim’s death.

Our attorneys are available to discuss issues of various causes of Wrongful Death and how factors like time may affect a client’s case.

Statutes of Limitation: Wrongful Death / Other Torts

In a recent case, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that an expert witness may consider information relevant to computing a plaintiff’s lost earning capacity after an injury even if that information was not admitted into evidence at the trial. When the Court made this ruling, it also held that it is proper for a jury to consider the expert’s testimony, and the information the expert used, when calculating the plaintiff’s damages.

The information that a jury would receive in a trial is one of many aspects that a party will need to consider when forming a claim for a personal injury. Our attorneys are available to discuss these aspects with clients in order to come up with the best plan for the client’s case.

Expert Testimony of Lost Earning Capacity

In some cases, a landowner will remain liable for actions relating to property even after selling it if the seller maintains control over the maintenance of the property. In a recent case involving the sale of land where the seller kept title while the buyer made monthly payments, the Indiana Supreme Court held that there was a question of fact as to whether the seller maintained control over the land when the buyer was living on the land while making payments.

Matters of landowner liability are very fact-sensitive and our attorneys are available to speak with clients about their specific cases.

Landowner Liability After Selling

A new Medicare law, effective July 1, 2009, may provide more issues for plaintiffs and defendants to deal with in personal injury cases. The MMSEA provides for increased enforcement and collection of funds paid by Medicare and Medicaid from defendants and their insurance companies. Because of the increased enforcement and fines involved with violating the MMSEA, the new Act may make it more complicated to settle some personal injury cases.

Our attorneys have experience in applying new laws like the MMSEA to clients’ cases and are available to discuss how they apply to a client’s specific case.

Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA)

Under Indiana law, a defendant in a personal injury case may raise a defense that the plaintiff’s action or inaction increased his or her injuries. This defense does not mean that the defendant is not liable, but only that the plaintiff is responsible for the increased portion of the injury caused by his or her actions. The Indiana Court of Appeals recently held that it is not enough for the defendant to show that the plaintiff did not follow a doctor’s instructions but that it must show that the failure to follow the instructions actually increased the injuries and that the injuries would not have been as severe had the plaintiff followed the instructions.

Our attorneys are available to discuss what consequences, if any, there might be for a client’s cause of action in their case for personal injuries.

Mitigating Damages

Generally, in actions for personal injuries, plaintiffs will be permitted to recover all reasonable medical bills for their injuries even if the medical providers ultimately accepted a lower amount due to insurance, Medicaid or Medicare agreements. But the Indiana Supreme Court recently held that in an action for wrongful death, the decedent’s estate is only allowed to recover the medical expenses actually paid to the medical providers even if the providers originally billed a higher amount.

Our attorneys can help clients understand the different actions and theories that are available to them in order to recover for the expenses surrounding their loved one’s death.