What Damages May a Victim Seek for an Injury?

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Kristine Meredith

When a jury finds that a wrongdoer is responsible for the victim's injury, then the Judge will ask the jury to decide how much money will compensate the victim for his injuries.  The law refers to the compensation award as “damages” and has divided them into two categories: economic and non-economic.

Economic injuries/damages include:

·        Past medical expenses -- the reasonable cost of reasonably necessary medical care related to the victim’s injury.

·        Future medical expenses -- the reasonable cost of reasonably necessary medical care for the victim’s medical care in the future

·        Loss of earning capacity – Past and future  loss of  – the reasonable value of the victim’s loss of the ability to earn money as a result of the injury

Non-Economic injuries/damages include:

·        Pain and suffering as previously discussed here.

·        Loss of consortium -- loss of a spouse's companionship and services discussed in more detail here.

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Who is Entitled to Compensation for Injury to a Family Member?

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Kristine Meredith

The spouse of a victim who has been physically injured may be entitled to compensation from whoever caused the injury. The spouse may be compensated for the following  losses of family relationship also known as "loss of consortium":

  • love, 
  • companionship,
  • comfort, 
  • care,
  • assistance,
  • protection,
  • affection,
  • society,
  • moral support,
  • enjoyment of sexual relations
  • or the ability to have children. 

The wrongdoer who caused the injury need not compensate the victim's spouse for any of the following:

  • The loss of financial support from the victim,
  • Personal services, such as nursing, that the spouse has provided or will provide to the victim, or
  • Any loss of earnings that the spouse has suffered by giving up employment to take care of the victim.

In California the following individuals may not recover for  the family relationship or "societal" losses due to  their loved one's injury.

  • A parent may not recover relationship losses for injury to his or her child,
  • Unmarried cohabitants may not recover damages for societal loss.

In the unfortunate situation where a married couple separates after the accident, the spouse of the victim may seek limited compensation (ie. the loss of assistance in parenting). 

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Civil Justice Group Reports on Yaz

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Kristine Meredith

Today a consumer rights group reports on the risks of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks that Yaz and Yasmin pose to women using these birth control pills.  The California-based group, called The Civil Justice Research Project, also reports on the the federal lawsuits that have been filed against Bayer by the hundreds of women who have suffered serious injury after taking Yaz.  The story mentions our co-counsel on the Yaz cases, A.J. De Bartolemeo of Girard Gibbs, and quotes Mike Danko:

Bayer just isn't telling women what they need to know.  No woman would take Yaz if she knew that it was no more effective than other birth control pills but was more risky.

The article talks about the "corrective" ad campaign the FDA required Bayer to run, noting that -- at least  according to some -- Bayer's corrective commercials were "too confusing and jargon-filled to be effective." The article links to one of the commercials.

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