The Second Circuit Court of Appeal recently affirmed the rejection of Uninsured Motorist coverage from his mother’s automobile insurance, effectively denying him that kind of coverage for an accident where he was hit by another driver. 21-year-old Michael Tillman was driving his 1995 Dodge Ram pickup truck when he was…
The Louisiana Supreme Court decided a case recently which undercuts a major exclusion of many automobile insurance policies because it conflicts with what the State Legislature announced was in the best interest of the public. Many such policies contain various exclusions from coverage, including the one litigated over here: automobile…
Insurance policy terms may appear to be easily understandable and concise. However, the interpretation a lay person may give to an insurance policy agreement’s meaning versus a court’s interpretation of the same policy, may substantially differ. It is true that under Louisiana law, words in a contract are presumed to…
In a variety of states, including Louisiana, penalties are imposed on insurers who arbitrarily or capriciously fail to pay a claim. If an insurer behaves in a manner that could be construed as being in “bad faith,” they will face a host of possible penalties. Specifically, the insurer has duties…
A recent ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeal for the State of Louisiana ordered the Bossier Parish Police Jury to repair the pipes running under the land that the plaintiffs, Steven and Melanie Petchak, own in Bossier Parish. It was also ordered to pay damages to the plaintiffs…
Reuters News Service reports that Johnson & Johnson has blamed “lax cleaning procedures” for its massive recalls of over the counter medicines and artificial joint replacements. “Insufficient equipment cleaning procedures and instances where people failed to adequately document cleaning procedures” are among some of the identified cleaning issues. The company…
In August 2010, DePuy recalled thousands of its ASR hip implant units after medical watchdogs discovered the product was structually unsafe and caused many recipients metallosis, substantial loss of mobility in joints, and other symptoms. Thousands of lawsuits immediately followed, with most still pending. Hip implants aren’t the only product…
Insurance policy coverage can be very confusing regardless of how simple televisions commercials may claim it can be. Sometimes insurance companies limit their liability by setting a time period within which the policy applies. In other circumstances, insurance policies limit their liability by creating categories of actions that can be…
The purpose behind having insurance is to help injured parties get relief. In a world without insurance, every accident has the potential to be the financial ruin of the party judged to be at fault. Insurance policies have the effect of creating a large pool of money that can be…
In January 2011 the Washington Post reported on the recent trend of younger patients opting for joint replacement surgery. In 2008, of the 277,000 hip replacements performed in the United States, 27 percent were conducted on patients ages 45 to 64. That represents an increase of 78 percent for that…