What is a Claim?
A claim is a legal action concerning physical or mental harm suffered by the plaintiff due to the defendant’s negligence. In the case of insurance claims, it is a request made by the insured to the insurance company for coverage and compensation for damage or injury. A claim is sometimes also referred to as a Cause of Action.
What is a Claim?
Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute defines a claim as, “a set of operative facts creating a right enforceable in court.” Making a claim is how the process of a plaintiff filing a lawsuit and eventually receiving damages from a defendant begins. A claim must be present in order for a lawsuit to go forward. If one is not present in a specific instance, then that lawsuit will be dismissed. Examples of types of claims include claims to insurance companies, personal injury claims in cases of negligence, claims on breaches of contract, property claims, and employment claims such as unpaid wages, wrongful termination, or discrimination. A defendant may make a counterclaim against the claim of a plaintiff.
Claims can sometimes be dismissed even if there is an intent to file a lawsuit. Rulings in cases such as Ashcroft v. IQBAL and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly have determined that claims need to contain important information. They must be plausible on their own and establish a likelihood of liability. This is how claims can lead to fair compensation, resolution of disputes, and protection of rights.
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Lawsuit Settles for $650K After Sponge Left in Patient
The Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida paid $650,000 to settle a lawsuit against a man with a “retained foreign object and medication error.” The man also reached a confidential settlement against two radiologists.
The now 68-year-old man was admitted to the hospital in October 2009 to undergo surgery for diverticulitis. His recovery was slow, and after five months he was in more pain than prior to his surgery. He went back to the doctor and had several X-rays and CT scans before the surgeon and gastrointestinal doctor found a surgical sponge in his stomach that had been left behind during surgery.
The man declined further treatment at Good Samaritan and went to another hospital to have the sponge removed and a portion of his intestines, due to perforation. The man also received an incorrect dosage of blood pressure medicine, however, he did not have any lasting issues over that error. […]
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Colorado Medical Malpractice Suit Against Nurses Settled
Undocumented immigrant receives $700,000 in medical malpractice suit settlement
The Colorado Springs, city-owned Memorial Health System settled a lawsuit filed by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who claimed her baby suffered severe brain injuries during delivery four years ago. The now four-year-old is a spastic quadriplegic who cannot stand, sit or walk, and has the intellectual level of a six-month-old.
The city paid $700,000 to the child because the care provided by the Memorial nurses and the doctor “fell below the standard of care” by failing to properly interpret fetal heart monitoring strips that showed the baby in distress during labor, having the mother hold her breath which further depleted the oxygen going to the baby and delivering the baby vaginally rather than performing a cesarean section.
The lawsuit only covered the negligence by the nurses. The doctor is employed by Peak Vista Community Health Centers which is a Federally Qualified Health Center. […]
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Family Awarded $7 Million in Wrongful Death Claim
Man volunteered to drive church bus, gets hit and killed by tractor trailer
A widow and her two sons were awarded $6.7 million by a jury in Fresno County, California in the death of her husband who was struck by a tractor-trailer while filling the bus he had been driving with fuel. The wrongful death award also included over $500,000 for a nephew who witnessed the accident and has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The deceased had volunteered to drive the Sierra Pines Church of Oakhurst bus. When he pulled over on the side of highway State Route 99 in Merced County to put fuel in the bus in April 2009, two approaching semis “became entangled as one attempted to pass the other.” One of the trailers hit the man and the bus.
Lawyers presented testimony, which led to a verdict well beyond the $3 million offered as settlement, […]
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Widow Awarded $6.7 Million in Medical Malpractice Case
The widow of a man who died in 2005 after an ATV accident was awarded $6.7 million by a Maine jury in a medical malpractice case against Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The man was flown to the center after the accident, and according to the lawsuit, the doctors failed to follow up on tests indicating internal bleeding, that ultimately led to the man’s death.
The man arrived at the hospital suffering from several broken ribs, among other injuries, and CT scans ordered by the emergency department physician indicated there was also internal bleeding. The doctors caring for the man failed to follow up on the internal bleeding by not issuing an order for X-rays to monitor the bleeding, according to the suit. Three days later, the internal bleeding caused one of the man’s lungs to collapse, and the lack of oxygen precipitated a massive fatal heart attack. […]
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San Diego Pays $1.8 Million in Wrongful Death Case
Family of motorcyclist sues city for not installing a traffic signal in wrongful death case
The family of a motorcyclist who was killed in an April 2009 auto accident sued the city of San Diego for wrongful death for failing to install a traffic signal at the intersection in which the man died. The City Council unanimously approved the settlement earlier this month, although they do not acknowledge any wrongdoing under the deal.
The accident occurred when the motorcycle was traveling northbound on Pacific Highway when a Toyota Corolla heading in the opposite direction turned left on Cedar Street in front of the cyclist. The cyclist was tried to veer out of the way, but struck the rear passenger side of the vehicle dying of traumatic head injuries.
The lawsuit claimed the accident was foreseeable and preventable. The suit claimed, “This turn lane’s position combined with the position of the then existing traffic signals gave drivers the confusing illusion they had the right-of-way on a green signal to turn left onto Cedar Street. […]
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