Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

The LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System is a gastric banding system that helps individuals lose and control weight by reducing the amount of food that their stomach can hold at one time. According to the parent-company's website, the name "LAP-BAND" comes from the minimally invasive surgical technique used (laparoscopy) and the silicone gastric band placed around the top of the upper part of your stomach. The LAP-BAND® System works by helping individuals control their food intake and supporting long term, sustainable weight loss.

Although this procedure is not the type of surgery one might expect to be covered under a Worker’s Compensation claim, one Indiana pizza store has learned that its insurer will do just that. Boston's, a pizza shop in Schererville, Indiana, was told by an Indiana Appellate Court that its insurer will pay for an employee’s weight loss surgery and a subsequent back surgery. The issue arose after 25-year old and then 340 lb. (he is now listed at 380lbs.) Adam Childers was injured on the job.

Childers was injured in March 2007, when he was hit by the freezer door in the kitchen of Boston’s Gourmet Pizza. The injury, which caused him to fall down, caused Childers heavy back pain that spread to his legs and was said to require an operation. The twist to this story came in when Childers was medically advised that this operation wouldn’t be successful unless he lost some weight. In fact, according to at least one physician's testimony, there was a possibility that if he lost enough weight the back surgery might even turn out to be unnecessary.

Medical testimony offered during the Worker's Compensation Board Hearing, however, demonstrated that Childers was unable to lose weight on his own during the period he had his accident, and so his weight situation at that time, when added to the incident, was found to create a “single injury” under a worker's compensation claim that made him eligible for both the Lap-Band procedure and the subsequent back surgery.

Continue reading "LAP-BAND WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY TO BE COVERED UNDER INDIANA EMPLOYEE'S WORKERS COMPENSATION CLAIM" »

The Indiana Attorney General's office is issuing a consumer fraud alert regarding text messages which come from an entity described as "Finance Center Federal Credit Union". The text message allege to notify consumers that their account has unusual activity or has been deactivated. The messages instruct recipients to call a telephone number to provide personal information. The Attorney General reports that the scam is designed to take personal information from text recipients.

Consumers receiving such messages should report them to the Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 1-800-382-5516.

A resurgence of a several year-old email urging Hoosiers to sign up for a mobile phone number no call list has prompted the Indiana Attorney General's office to reaffirm that telemarketing to cell phones is illegal, and always has been. There have been no recent legislation changes on this issue..

According to the Attorney General's office, the Indiana statewide Do Not Call Registry has prevented nearly 4 billion unwanted calls since 2002. This tool, however, only addresses telemarketers ability to tap land lines. It is good to sign up your land line on this list because it covers more telemarketers than the national list.

The State of Indiana's Do Not Call List is updated quarterly, although you are permitted to sign up at anytime. The first 2009 deadline for the Indiana Do Not Call Registry is coming up on February 20th.

To sign up for the Indiana Do Not Call Registry, click the link below:

INDIANA NO CALL LIST

Continue reading "INDIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL CONFIRMS THAT YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER IS SAFE FROM TELEMARKETING CALLING LISTS" »

Indiana Legislatures have proposed to hear public comments on a suggested new bill that would ban smoking in all work environments throughout the State. Supporters of the new law point to dozens of other states that have already enacted similar laws to this one. They also point to numerous studies that show that the total cost of health care and loss of life attributable to second hand smoke is around $390 million. Opponents, however, note liberty infringement and say a complete smoking ban is overreaching on the part of the legislature.

Neighboring states like Ohio and Illinois already have a version of the smoking ban on their books. In fact, Illinois bans smoking in all buildings open to the public. Their version of the law includes workplaces, bars, restaurants, and even casinos.

Indiana lawmakers are set to hear more about this bill Wednesday morning and have another meeting scheduled the following week. The bill will ultimately have to get through the House of Representatives to find passage.

Continue reading "INDIANA LEGISLATURE SET TO HEAR PROPOSAL ON SMOKING BAN" »

When the CMS issued its new ratings in December, 2008, about 22 percent of the nation's nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the
federal government's lowest rating under the new five-star rating system , while only 12 percent received the highest ranking possible.

The acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kerry Weems, said the agency was merely taking existing data already on the agency's Web site and facilitating its use for patients and families. He said it can be difficult for people to understand all the aspects of an inspection, but "[t]his should help consumers in narrowing their choices, but nothing should substitute for visiting a nursing home when making a decision".

Under the new system, five stars means a nursing home ranks much above average, four stars indicates an above average ranking, three stars means average, two is below average and one is much below average. The rankings will be updated quarterly, and the CMS is already getting a lot of flack from the nursing home industry. Many facilities believe the system is just not easily applied under the current investigative process conducted by the states. The key argument in this is that each state has their own subjective process by which they review facility performance.

The system "is poorly planned, prematurely implemented and hamhandedly rolled out," said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

Countering this, however, was Alice H. Hedt, executive director of the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform. She noted, "[f]rom a consumer viewpoint, it's not stringent enough... It's basically taking information already available on Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Web site and pulling it into an easier system for consumers to use, and that is a good thing."

Still, both consumer watch groups and the CMS believe that the system cannot be a substitute for personal inspection and investigation.

In rating the nursing homes, CMS used three year's worth of inspections which were recorded on an annual survey designed to measure how well homes protect the health and safety of their residents.

Continue reading "INDIANA NURSING HOMES CONCERNED ABOUT NEW FEDERAL CARE RATINGS" »

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a new five-star rating system to rank every nursing facility in the country. Two White County Indiana nursing homes came in at opposite ends under the new system. Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare was given a one-star rating (the worst under the new system) while Whispering Pines received the second to highest rating, four-stars. The ratings were released in December and updated January 15th.

Nearly 28 percent of Indiana's nursing facilities were given one star, the lowest rating. By far, the most troubling area for these facilities was the staffing review. The new rating system uses the national database called the Minimum Data Set (MDS) Repository, which is information collected at intervals on every nursing home resident, and government surveys gathered on each facility. In Indiana, the government surveys are conducted by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). The state summarizes their surveys into report cards on each facility.

Whispering Pines received a score of 184 while Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare scored 164 under the comprehensive totals. These numbers both compare relatively well compared to the Indiana state average of 193 (the lower the score the better).

The CMS quality-rating system looks at three primary areas: health inspections, staffing and quality measures. Whispering Pines scored four stars in staffing while Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare scored one star.

Continue reading "MONTICELLO ASSISTED LIVING AND HEALTHCARE AND WHISPERING PINES AMONGST WHITE COUNTY NURSING HOMES RATED UNDER NEW INDIANA AND FEDERAL FIVE STAR SYSTEM" »

The last time a smoking-ban bill was introduced in Indiana, the measure did not even make it out of a legislative committee.

This may be in part due to Indiana's number 6 rating as the highest adult smoking state in the country. Thirty states across the country have now enacted a version of smoke-free provisions. Despite Indiana's holdout, supporters of a smoking ban believe the current economic and social environment may make the issue ripe for passage of a bill.

Currently, several cities throughout the State have enacted their own varying smoking bans. But critics say that prohibiting smoking in private enterprises infringes on individual rights. Numerous hospitality sectors of the economy are anticipated to put up a big fight, including the casino, bar and restaurant industries.

Continue reading "INDIANA MAY RECONSIDER STATEWIDE SMOKING BAN" »