Well, it’s official.  Here in Maine it is perfectly alright for a doctor to hide the fact that you have a possibly cancerous tumor from you.  He can violate his duty to disclose the existence of a “dark spot” on an x-ray  until the cancer has progressed to a point when the treatment is horrific, or even to the point where no amount of treatment will work and you face certain death. 

In a recent Maine Supreme Court case  the Court referred to Maine’s Health Security Act that sets the statute of limitations for suing a doctor or hospital at three years.  In  Dickey v. Vermette, Mrs. Maetta Dickey was a regular dental patient of  Dr. Vermette.  In March 2000 she had an x-ray that showed a “dark spot” .  Her dentists didn’t tell Mrs. Dickey about the dark spot, or ask her if she wanted any follow-up.  Instead, they kept the information to themselves, and decided that they would just “keep an eye on it.”  The dentists kept an eye on it for FIVE YEARS.  Then the dentist referred Mrs. Dickey to an oral surgeon who diagnosed the oral cancer.  But, because the cancer had progressed so far, a big piece of Mrs. Dickey’s face had to be cut out to make sure the tumor was removed. 

Not every Justice on Maine’s high court thinks that “Don’t Warn, Don’t Treat” is legal in Maine.  Justice Alexander thinks that the Court’s opinion is “contrary to good law, good medicine, and good common sense.”  Justice Alexander points to the fact that Mrs. Dickey had a special, confidential, doctor/patient relationship with her dentist.  Justice Alexander stated the plain fact that, in medicine, “when a suspicious dark spot appears on an x-ray, and cannot be otherwise explained, there should be disclosure and warning to the patient, further investigation, and forensic testing for the possibility of cancer.” And while one Maine law says that medical malpractice cases must be filed within three years of the negligent act, another Maine law says that the three years is “tolled” where a plaintiff has failed to learn of a negligent act as a result of defendant’s fraud.  And “fraud” doesn’t just mean hiding an important fact on purpose, or lying.  Fraud in Maine also means not telling someone you have a “special relationship” with information that there is a duty to disclose.  Like a doctor’s duty to disclose that you might have cancer. 

Justice Silver also thought Mrs. Dickey should have been able to base her claim on facts that related back to the 2000 failure to tell about the dark spot. 

But Justice Alexander and Justice Silver are in the minority.  All of Maine’s other Justices say their hands are tied by the law that says doctors are only responsible for their mistakes going three years back.  

So, if your doctor finds a possibly cancerous tumor on your x-ray, and waits until three years and one day to let you know about it, you cannot do anything about it.  Even if you have huge medical bills that were caused by the three year delay, even if you are going to die and leave your family without a bread-winner, even if the three year delay ruins everything you built your life on, too bad for you. 

Maine-TheWay Life Should Be…

…For Doctors Who Sit On Critical Patient Information For Three Years!!!

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

Is it fair that Maine citizens who count every penny trying to save money on the monthly food budget have to sacrifice physical health to financial concerns?

As part of recent healthy eating initiatives, many states, including Maine, have requested that nutritional information be posted on boards behind the counters of fast food restaurants.

It should be just as easy for Mainers to find information about the food they purchase at fast food restaurants as it is to buy food at the supermarket. Why does it matter? It matters because Maine families are as affected by the nutritional content of the food they consume as they are by the cost of that food. Maine residents are justified in fighting food content misinformation and fraud that is linked to diabetes, heart disease and the nation’s obesity epidemic.

How can legislators in Augusta, and civil lawyers for justice throughout the state, help Maine citizens obtain the information they deserve to make correct choices on the healthiest food to buy in tough economic times? One way is through legislation that requires the information be made available. The other way is for Maine’s lawyers who specialize in consumer justice to take on powerful food industries make inadequate or deceptive disclosures of potential health risks involved in consuming certain foods. Food industries that mislead Maine consumers through advertisements that omit important nutritional information do so at their own risk.

In other states, McDonald’s Corporation has been called to answer for deceptive practices, negligence, and a failure to warn consumers of the harms of ingesting food at McDonald’s restaurants, particularly where minors are involved.

Maine consumers have a right to make an informed choice about what they spend money on for food. They also have a right to know the nutritional value of the food they put into their bodies and their children’s bodies.

If you are concerned about this issue, call or email your state legislator in Augusta, or send your comments to our Maine personal injury lawyers.

By Eliza Stoll and Alison Mynick

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

In 20 cold weather states, including Maine, Nissan Motor Company is recalling more than 240,000 trucks. Nissan plans to fix the problem that could prevent the front air bags from deploying.

The recalls affect the Xterra, Frontier and Pathfinder models of Nissan trucks, ranging from 2005-2009 model years.

The problem was discovered through a series of warranty claims. In states where road salt is used on icy roads, it was found that a mixture of salt and snow could enter a crash zone sensor area and rust, thereby interrupting the signal and potentially preventing the front air bags from deploying in a crash.

So far, there have been no reports of crashes or injuries related to this issue. If you own a Nissan truck that is one of the above mentioned models and in the year range noted, see your Nissan dealer immediately.

If you have been injured in a vehicle accident as a result of the air bags failing in your Nissan truck, you may wish to speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer at Briggs and Counsel.

By: Eliza Stoll

Copyright 2009 Briggs& Counsel

It is extremely stressful watching our grandparents and parents grow older. With advancing age comes many new concerns about health, long term care, and losing our loved ones. When they are no longer able to live on their own or be cared for by loved ones, many of us turn to an assisted living facility or nursing home to provide thoughtful and conscientious care.

Many of these facilities can provide great care for our loved ones. Unfortunately, there are many as well that do not. Many are often understaffed with underpaid and poorly trained employees. Many nursing homes push the bottom line so far that they endanger the lives of their patients.

Neglected, abused, and threatened, nursing home residents may suffer physically and emotionally. Painful bedsores, broken bones, or even premature death can result from neglectful and outright abusive treatment.

Visible injuries are the type that you will pick up on right away. Examples are broken bones, cuts, scars, and bed sores.

Neglect type injuries are more subtle and more difficult to see. These include insufficient food, water, and bathing opportunities, failure to change the resident’s underclothes in a timely manner if using the toilet is an issue, failure to supply adequate bathing supplies such as shampoo and soap, failure to properly assist the resident who needs help bathing, eating, walking, and verbal abuse.

If your loved one has fallen victim to abuse or neglect in a nursing home setting, you may wish to seek the legal counsel of Briggs and Counsel. We have a successfully prosecuted nursing homes that have caused injury to residents through neglectful care.

Computed tomographic (CT) colonography is a new, noninvasive screening option for the detection of colorectal cancer. A federal study of this alternative to the dreaded colonoscopy confirms that it is an effective tool in detecting cancer, however, it’s accuracy had not been well-defined.

With Medicare already considering paying for the procedure, experts are predicting a boost in screening due to it’s noninvasive nature. The new study identified nine out of ten people who had cancers and large growths seen by regular colonoscopies.

The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the CT colonography’s real value may be in showing who really needs a regular colonoscopy. The test was found to be more accurate at ruling cancer out than it was at detecting it.

There are risks of false alarms with the new alternative screening tool. The colonographies showed large growths in about one in six people, although some were not confirmed by colonoscopy. Of the patients with growths verified by colonoscopy, 90 percent were flagged through the CT colonographies.Only one in four of those patients diagnosed with a growth actually had one.

CT colonographies, currently recommended every five years, expose people to repeated doses of radiation. It’s half the dose of a standard CT exam, but the cumulative effects are not known at this time. Colonoscopy is only recommended every 10 years. These concerns do not rule out CT colonography as a screening tool, but they should be considered.

Colorectal cancer is the second largest killer in the United States, claiming about 50,000 lives per year. Screening for colorectal cancer is recommended once a person reaches the age of 50.

The Journal of Injury Prevention announced that overweight children are more likely to sustain arm and leg fractures than thinner children when involved in a car crash according to researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

There is evidence that overweight children’s bones may be more likely to fracture. Also, by being larger, heavier children’s bodies are closer to the inside of the car, putting them in danger of a more forceful impact. These findings mirror what occurs for adults involved in car crashes who are overweight.

Heavier children are more than twice as likely as their thinner friends to sustain arm and leg fractures. Thinner children are more likely to sustain injury to the pelvis, thigh bone and collar bone.

Evidence shows that overweight children may have lesser levels of vitamin D, which could lead to weaker long bones in the arms and legs.

Above all else, researchers suggest that children always be properly restrained when riding in vehicles. Children under the age of 13 should always ride in the back seat.

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

Maine physicians have a duty to direct patients to seek a second opinion when appropriate. There are enough gray areas in medicine that it is often worth asking for a second opinion, but alarmingly, only three percent of patients ask for a second opinion! What is the reason for this?

Could it be that Maine patients are simply lackadaisical about following a doctors clear statement that a second opinion is warranted? Or, given the insurance disincentive to provide more costly care, is it the case that doctors feel pressure to minimize second opinion referrals?

Medical test results can give conflicting information to a primary care physician, and in many cases, another physician’s opinion—perhaps even a specialist’s opinion- is warranted. Though patients may worry about what their primary care physician will think and how they will be treated in future visits if they do seek a second medical opinion, a physician’s attitude can reverse that fear. It is medical malpractice for a Maine physician to fail to refer a patient for a second opinion in appropriate circumstances.

Maine doctors should encourage patients who are unclear or uncomfortable about the management of a particular course of medical or surgical treatment to obtain another opinion. Maine physicians should be interested in how another doctor can approach the same clinical situation, but are they?

Elective surgery and diagnoses of cancer are two instances where second opinions could be very helpful. This is particularly important in Maine for this reason: If, for example, a doctor negligently overlooks a tumor on an imaging study, and three years go by before the medical mistake is caught, the patient cannot recover against the negligent doctor for the increased risk of death, payment of bills for costly treatments caused by the delay in treatment, or lost wages related to the delay in treatment.

Knowing how vulnerable Maine patients are to physical, emotional and financial injury caused by medical malpractice is reason enough to give second opinions a second look.

Copyright 2009, Briggs & Counsel

Snowmobiling has always given Maine’s economy a boost, drawing people from all over the state and country for a taste of winter fun in the wilds of Maine.

There are 13,000 miles of snowmobile trails in Maine and there are no speed limits. The whole idea of snowmobiling is to give the rider a sense of freedom and fun. Sledders are judged by the standard of “reasonable and prudent speed for the existing conditions”. Reasonable means remembering that many families are out riding together, enjoying the outdoors.

Snowmobile safety laws, such as the ban against operating under the influence, are in place to balance fun and responsible driving.

Fun can turn to tragedy in a flash. Last winter death struck twelve snowmobilers in Maine. There have already been two snowmobile related deaths this season, and the snow has just started to pile up. The sad fact is that even the safest snowmobiler can’t always protect against snowmobiling injuries caused by others. What can you do if you are injured by a reckless snowmobiler? Do you have any rights out on the snow? Who will pay your medical bills and bring home a paycheck if you are too hurt to work?

The short answer is that if you are severely injured through no fault of your own in a snowmobile accident, Maine law gives you the same rights you have if you are negligently hurt in car accident, or on the operating room table from malpractice. The hard truth is that the road to recovery is often a long, hard haul.

Snowmobile injuries and deaths have caught the attention of state officials, who want Mainers and other to enjoy the sport without injury. In a recent press release about snowmobiling Governor Baldacci urged snowmobilers to be safe and sober when out on the trails this winter. The strength of the law behind the Governor’s statement comes in the form of a Maine Warden.

The Maine Warden Service uses all available manpower to make sure that the death toll from reckless snowmobiling is minimized. As the season gets busier, officials plan safety checks along Maine’s snowmobile trails. However, it’s an uphill battle to police a round-the-clock, round-the-state sport against the handful of sledders that view snowmobiling as no-holds-barred speed adventure.

For more information, including tips on how to protect yourself from injury, turn to websites such as Snowmobile Maine. The group’s “Ride Right” motto reminds members that fun comes with a duty to protect others as well.

Dog bites have become a major concern for Maine residents. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about two percent of the U.S. population are bitten each year by a dog.

Dogs are an important part of many Maine families. They can be loving, fun and considered part of the family. Unfortunately, they do sometimes act unexpectedly and may bite and cause injuries. Even if a dog is not malicious, if you are bitten a serious injury can occur.

Even if a dog doesn’t have a history of biting, you should be aware of aggressive behavior that falls below biting, such as growling, snarling or bristling at people.  If a dog is injured, just like an injured human, it may push a dog over the edge.  The owner of an injured dog has a duty to keep the injured dog away from someone who may inadvertently touch the injured area of the dog during a friendly pat, causing the dog to bite.

In most cases, the dog had never bitten anyone before and the owner did not think it was a hazard to anyone. Statistics for dog bites to people in Maine show that bites have most frequently been caused by dogs considered to be of the “friendliest” breeds. Dog bites, regardless of the extent of injury, are traumatic experiences.

Maine has a leash law, requiring that all dogs be on a leash as all times unless being used for hunting. If you allow your dog to run free, even in places that you may deem safe to do so, you run the risk of your dog biting someone. Do the right thing for your dog, yourself and for others: keep your dog on a leash.

Here are some important things to keep in mind if you are bitten by a dog:

• Contact your local animal control officer and identify the dog.
• Obtain the name, address, and dog license information of the owner of the dog.
• Obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of any possible witnesses.
• Obtain insurance information from the owner of the dog.
• Take pictures of the dog bite.
• Understand that Maine has special laws regarding injuries from dog bites.  You might want to contact a personal injury lawyer, such as Briggs and Counsel for a consultation.

By Eliza Stoll for Briggs & Counsel

Copyright 2008 Briggs & Counsel

Should Maine residents who are also heart patients be screened regularly for depression? According to the American Heart Association, depression is about three times more common in heart attack survivors and those hospitalized with heart problems than the general population.

While there has been no direct evidence that heart patients who are also screened for depression fare better, depression can result in a worse quality of life and worse outcomes for Mainers. Those patients with depression may be more likely to skip their medications, not take part in rehabilitation programs, or not diet and exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It is vital that heart patients make lifestyle changes that promote long, healthy lives. If depression is underlying and untreated, this will inhibit the person’s ability to properly care for themselves as they should.

Maine heart patients should be screened regularly by their doctors for depression. If depression is found to be present, here are positive steps Mainers can take:

• Ask your doctor for a referral to professional qualified in treating depression.
• Call a support groups that to join.
• Ask your doctor about an anti-depressant regime to help with extreme or persisting symptoms.

Mainers who suffer from depression shouldn’t lose their physical health while waiting to recover their mental health.

By Eliza Stoll for Briggs & Counsel

Copyright 2008 Briggs & Counsel