A living will is a legal document which contains specific orders on how medical treatments should be rendered once the person becomes incapacitated or unable to make decisions regarding their health. The patient or “declarant” explicitly expresses what he wishes in terms of life prolonging treatments.

A living will is a written consent which is also referred to as a health care directive, advance directive or a physician’s directive. Living wills are different from Living trusts and deal only with decisions made regarding a terminally ill patient’s treatment. These are very important in making a patient’s own wishes known when they are unable to speak or communicate with their friends or the medical team.

This is in relation to the medically accepted rights of a patient. Every patient according to the law has the right to self determination in terms of his medical treatments. When people are left in a permanent vegetative state and is able to continue living only thru life sustaining equipments like respirators for example, a patient thru a living will is able to express if medical treatments are to be continued.  

The living will does not stop medical teams from performing emergency treatments during an accident. Patients who are rushed to emergency treatments still have the right to the full range of medical procedures.

In order to be effected; doctors must first determine if a person is terminally ill and there is no prognosis for recovering from such medical condition. The doctor must prove that the patient is only able to sustain life thru the assistance of medical equipments.

Doctors have the final say in terms of when the patient’s living will is to take effect. The living will does not take effect immediately when a patient is unable to express themselves during treatment. When patients become incapacitated due to an ongoing illness or unable to speak for themselves due to treatment, executing a health care proxy or health care power of attorney is advised.  This gives a family member the consent to manage all medical treatments until the patient is able to determine their own health course.

Visit this website to learn more about Probate Law: Public Attorney Adrian Philip Thomas, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

In diagnostic findings of randomly selected boxers, MRI revealed changes in periventricular white matter, undersized cysts in brainstem and cerebrum, subdural hematoma, and atrophy or degeneration of the frontal lobe. Moreover, several contusion and hemorrhage have been found in the MRI of 66 years old retired boxer.

There have been a lot of known boxers who have been victimized by the lethal consequence of the sport itself. Leavander Johnson suffered a traumatic brain injury after defending his lightweight title. He collapsed in the 11^th round after receiving heavy beating from Jesus Chavez. He was rushed in the hospital and was operated to relieve the subdural hematoma in his brain. He was induced into a coma, but never woke up. After 16 years in professional boxing. Benjamin Flores died in May of 2009 when he fought for the super bantamweight division against boxer named Seeger. Seeger won the fight in the 8^th round while Flores was hospitalized and died five days after the fight. In the same month, a Hungarian boxer named Nagy experienced a brain injury during his training. He was hospitalized with a diagnosis of a swollen brain. He had undergone 2 operations, but eventually succumbed to injuries and died. Probably the most well known death in the world of boxing was the fight of Duk Koo Kim and Ray Mancini in 1982. Mancini knocked Kim out in the 14^th round and Kim never regained consciousness.

There are others, lucky enough to retire the sport without overtly seeing untoward manifestations of brain injury. However, there is a great chance that manifestations will begin to be manifest later in life.   

For those thinking to enter the sport of boxing, we advise to think twice. You may earn a lot of money, but you may also loose your most important wealth – your health.

If you or a loved one has suffered from an accident resulting in TBI, find out more from Attorney Elan Wurtzel of Personal Injury Law Firm Wurtzel Law here.

This article is not intended as legal advice.

Even so, a study conducted by the insurance Institute for Traffic Safety showed that, for interstate tractor-trailer drivers, 15% tested positive for marijuana, 12% tested positive for non-prescribed stimulants, 5% tested positive for prescription stimulants, 2% tested positive for cocaine but fewer than 1% had alcohol in their systems.

Even so, a driver can still be impaired by alcohol even if they are not legally intoxicated. Even at low blood content levels, alcohol reduces reaction times and will slow the decision making process. In recognition of this, the Federal government prohibits mass transit workers, truck drivers, railroad workers, marine employees and airline pilots from operating a vehicle with a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) at or above 0.02%.

At one time, alcohol abuse and truck driving was a prevalent and severe problem. However, this has decreased with driver intoxication being more effectively controlled by strict monitoring and regulation enforcement by the Department of Transportation.

Recently, statistics have indicated that truck accidents, related to alcohol use, stand at only 1-3%. The greater problem is attributed to driver fatigue which accounts for over 30% of all truck accidents. Driving continuously without proper rest periods would seem to be an area where stricter monitoring and regulation would be required.

Another big problem lies in the fact that most truck drivers feel that “drugged driving” is somehow safer than drunk driving. Of course, marijuana can also affect perception, reaction time and concentration. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking, which is a far greater timeframe than the effects of alcohol impairment.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a report in 1990 which studied 182 truck accident fatalities. Their finding indicated that 12.5% of those accidents were the result of marijuana use.

The New England Journal of Medicine also issued a report which indicated that out of drivers stopped for recklessness on the road (without alcohol in their systems), 45% had marijuana in their systems and 25% had cocaine in their systems.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

Substance abuse convictions may not deter a driver from continuing to place motorists in danger. If you’re a victim of this type of reckless behavior, don’t hesitate to contact the South Texas truck accident lawyers Todd Elias and Steven J. Gordon in Houston, Texas.

To give an example of this – a semi truck, carrying a full load and moving at a rate of 55 mph on a dry, flat road will take about the length of a football field before coming to a full stop after braking.

Turning a Tractor Trailer
Tractor trailer trucks will also require wide turns due to vehicle length. Therefore, care must be taken when observing a turn signal on an 18-wheeler. Another major hazard can occur when a tire blows out on a tractor trailer vehicle. The tires on a large truck receive a lot of wear, due to the heavy payloads that the vehicle carries. The pieces of a blown truck tire can act like cannon-fired shells, causing considerable damage.

Fatalities Statistics
In 2003, alone, there were a total number of 58,512 U.S. automotive accidents involving fatalities. Of these, 4,669 were fatal large truck accidents (NCSA).

Statistics show that passenger vehicles are less likely to cause a fatal multi-vehicle accident than a large truck. 68% of these fatal truck accidents occurred in rural areas during daylight hours (66%) and during weekdays (78%).

Alcohol and drugs only accounted for 1% of the fatalities, on the part of the semi truck drivers, while other drivers showed a much higher rate (22% for passenger vehicle drivers and 29% for motorcyclists).

This is in contrast to speeding issues. Here, 27% of large truck drivers, that were involved in fatal accidents, had a least one prior speeding conviction. With passenger vehicle drivers, the rate was 19%.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

For more on tractor trailer accidents, visit Attorney Kristopher Barber at The Barber Law Firm, located in Dallas, Texas.

Tires have a limit for how much weight can be placed on them. Overloading the tires can have the same effects as over-inflation. In addition to being inflexible, the shape of the tire is affected, which results in excessive wear and poor handling capabilities.

Need a Eureka springs truck accident lawyer? Please do your research before hiring an attorney.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has enacted regulations concerning limits to the Hours-Of-Service that truck drivers may drive. Anyone who drives a commercial motor vehicle must comply with these regulations.

Fatigue is a major cause of truck accidents. The effects of drowsiness have been shown to be as dangerous as being under the influence of alcohol. The Department of Transportation estimates that 755 deaths and 19,705 injuries result from fatigued drivers of all kinds of vehicles each year.

As of January 4th, 2004 the Hours-Of-Service rules say that a truck driver may not drive:

• More than 11 hours, after 10 hours of off-duty time
• Beyond the 14th hour after coming on-duty, following 10 hours of off-duty time
• After 60(or 70) hours on-duty in 7(or consecutive days

The 7 or 8 consecutive day period is reset after 34 consecutive hours of off-duty time.

Truck drivers are often expected to adhere to unreasonable delivery schedules by the companies they work for or they are paid by the miles that they drive. They are also subjected to many hours of uncompensated work each week as they wait on loading docks. This uncompensated time does count toward their on-duty time. This forces many of them to drive for unreasonable hours to make up for lost time.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2001 there were 429,000 large trucks involved in traffic crashes in the United States. A large truck is defined as having a gross vehicle weight over 10,000 pounds. 4,793 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes, and a total of 5,082 people died and 131,000 people were injured in those crashes. When there is a truck accident involving a large truck, both the driver and the owner of the truck can face negligence claims.

Employer Negligence

Truck accidents are different than other motor vehicle accidents because the semi truck or tractor-trailer is generally operated by someone who is not the owner of the truck. Some truck accidents can be caused by employer negligence.

Some common forms of employer negligence include:

• Failure to maintain the vehicle
• Failure to train employees
• Lack of licensing or testing of operators
• Not performing background checks on employees
• Continuing to use operators that have a record of unsafe driving

There are federal laws in place that require truck companies to properly maintain their vehicles and to perform routine checks on the condition of the vehicle. There are also laws regarding the length of time a driver can remain behind the wheel, but some trucking companies push their drivers to ignore those laws by subjecting them to unreasonable delivery schedules.

Driver Negligence

Sometimes truck accidents are caused by the driver making a mistake or consciously breaking the law. When the accident is caused by driver negligence the driver can be held accountable for the injuries and property damage they have caused.

Some examples of driver negligence include:

• Driving without proper licenses or certification
• Speeding
• Concealing long hours by keeping duplicate log books
• Using drugs to overcome fatigue
• Not ensuring that the load they are hauling is properly secured

Determining who and what is at fault in a large truck accident is not an easy task. Additionally, trucking companies have been known to send representatives to the scene of an accident to speak to the people involved in the accident when they are most vulnerable and more likely to sign away their rights. There is a statute of limitations on how long you can wait to file a negligence claim against the driver and the trucking company.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact a truck accident attorney in your local area for more information about truck accidents.

Filing Requirements for Government Personal Injury Claims

Like with most types of personal injury claims, a personal injury claim against a government entity can only be filed within a specific period of time.  This timeframe is called the statute of limitations, and the length of time that it encompasses can vary greatly from state to state – being as long as several years in some states, but typically averaging around two years.  After the statute of limitations has passed for you to file your personal injury government claim, you lose your rights to file.  With cases involving personal injury against the government, however, special rules apply.  If you have been wronged, harmed, or injured and a government entity is liable or at fault, you typically have around sixty days to file what is known as a “notice of claim”.  Being awarded compensation if a notice of claim is not filed within sixty days is improbable.  In addition, many government entities are considered to be immune from being held liable in personal injury lawsuits.  The government has essentially waived legal liability in most instances.  So while it is possible to bring about a personal injury lawsuit or claim against the government, the claim must be filed timely and appropriate to have a shot at being successful.

What You Should Do Now

If you have been injured and you feel that you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit, and the government or a government employee or representative is liable or responsible, it is important to act immediately.  Your first step should be to contact a reputable personal injury lawyer who has expertise in dealing with personal injury claims against the government.  Because of the sixty day time limit on filing a notice of claim, acting within the first day or two of injury is important to get “the ball rolling” in your favor.  This notice of claim is your personal injury attorney’s way of alerting the government that you have received an injury, and that you believe them to be responsible. A notice of claim is typically sent to all of the government agencies that could be responsible for your injury, even if you don’t sue them all.  This opens up the opportunity for the government entity to respond to the notice before an actual personal injury lawsuit is filed.  The government will then accept the claim or deny it; in most cases an official notice of denial will be issued and your personal injury lawyer will proceed to file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf.

Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim

Malpractice suits are not just about people anticipating to make a fast buck. Almost all personal injury medical claims are quite severe.  Every time personal injury lawyers get involved in a potential case, there must have been a life-threatening violation in how a medical doctor, nurse, or hospital has treated the patient. In a few lawsuits it has been as drastic as someone losing their life.  When you are treated by a surgeon or a doctor and have been harmed by them as a consequence of them diverting away from the set medical practices, you quite possibly could have a legitimate injury claim.  If you have a loved one or family member that has passed away because of the fault of second-rate care by a doctor or at a hospital, you most definitely have a lawsuit.

Finding a Personal Injury Lawyer to Handle Medical Malpractice

It is not, however, as simple as asking the doctor or staff to hand over their money.  You must first retain services of an experienced licensed lawyer.  Personal injury lawyers are extremely well versed in the particular personal injury laws of the state that they are licensed in, and know precisely to what degree a medical professional can ultimately be held liable for in such a case.  Even if you think that you know how the laws for personal injury work, you still need a lawyer.  You need a lawyer for the basic reason that the physician or the hospital’s insurance will have several qualified lawyers who will be resolved to prove to the courts that their client was following standardized medical procedures.  In cases of gross negligence, many physicians and hospitals will more than likely want to settle out of court in order to avoid the influx of bad publicity.  Your qualified personal injury attorney will advise you on the approximate amount of money that you should receive for a settlement and finalize the paperwork.  Insurance for medical malpractice is designed to protect nursing staff, hospitals, and doctors from medical injury claims.  If by chance, the doctor let their insurance expire, the lawyer for the injured party can and will go after the physician’s assets.  Having monetary reimbursement may not help you feel better if you have been seriously injured, but is most certainly will make the medical community stand up and take notice to the guilty party.  A medical malpractice lawsuit could end up costing the doctor his or her medical license if it was shown that he or she ignorantly or intentionally injured you.