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Dr. Nicholas King reviews the importance of Electronic Medical Records in a Medical Malpractice case and answers common questions in an INsight interview with ABC21.

The focus groups will act as jurors and hear all the facts and evidence in case.   Then the focus group are videotaped during its deliberations and very valuable information can be gained from watching the focus group. This is one of the many tools that the firm uses to help its clients get the best possible outcome. The firm usually has two groups of eight to 10 people that they find to serve as focus group jurors and they present cases to them, usually through a moderator,  that presents both sides in an even-handed way and then they videotape these focus group jurors deliberating about the case and can gain very valuable information.  Lawyers don't always know what trips the trigger of people that are sitting on a jury. With the focus groups, they have one focus group that they call a concept focus group. Here they get the focus group jurors talking about the subject matter case and what they think is important  and their values as it pertains to the subject matter of the case. Then with the second focus group, they are asked to actually deliberate to a verdict. Where they come back with percentages of comparative fault or they come back with the damage award and say here's what we would award or here's what we think the damages are worth. That gives the firm some feedback on what to ask a real jury to award. These are valuable tools that the Sweeney firm uses to help get the best possible result for any of its personal injury clients. Victim of Personal Injury Matter? If you have a personal injury case, contact the lawyers at the Sweeney Law Firm today for a free consultation. Fill out the Case Review Form. Remember there is never a fee, unless we make a recovery for you. 1-866-793-6339 (Toll Free) 1-260-420-3137 (Local) 1-260-969-0321 (Fax)

Medical Malpractice Commercial for Sweeney Law Firm

INsight Interview with David Farnbauch explaining Assisted Living Facilities. Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, and we want to talk about assisted living facilities.  These are growing in popularity.  More and more people are going into assisted living. A: Dirk, every time you turn around in Fort Wayne, they’re putting up a new assisted living facility. Q: And what does that mean, just, I mean, it’s kind of like organic or natural or whatever.  I mean, does assisted living mean something specific? A: Well, assisted living, you know, how I would define “assisted living” is elderly people that need assistance with basic activities of daily living, but it’s felt that they aren’t quite ready for a skilled long term nursing home facility. Q: But are they regulated, I guess?  Is one assisted living going to offer the same services as the second assisted living, as the third as the fourth? A: Yes, and, of course, obviously, we approach this from the safety standpoint and when you ask are assisted living facilities regulated, what’s interesting, I brought in a couple of things for the viewers to look at.  This is the, what we call the watermelon book.  This is the book of regulations, federal regulations that govern skilled nursing home care.  They say it’s the second most heavily regulated industry in the United States.  So, obviously, lots of rules and regulations that must be followed.  These are the regulations that govern what we call a rehabilitation facility, a residential rehabilitation, or residential facility in the state of Indiana.  You know, the regulations are, you know, a few pages.  So, people have to understand that when you put a resident into a facility, who has some medical needs, for example, a lot of these assisted living facilities have memory units, they have units that are designed to take care of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.  Well, those patients have a lot of medical needs and they need a lot of supervision and these regulations, while they do have some regulations in place that require certain level of staffing and sort of oversee what the staff can do, from a medical standpoint, it’s not anywhere near the level of care that you’re going to get in a nursing home. Q: So, the term “skilled nursing” means skilled nursing? A: You’re going to get round the clock skilled nursing care and a lot tighter oversight over those residents to, for their safety and to prevent accidents and to make sure that they’re safe. Q: If my loved one truly just needs assistance, is there a best way to evaluate from one facility to the other? A: Well, once again, the Indiana State Department of Health, they have score cards for these residential facilities.  There’s information you can get from the Indiana State Department of Health website as to whether they’ve been cited for violations of the Indiana State Department of Health regulations. Q: We were talking before we went on the air about the, don’t be fooled just because it’s clean and well maintained and beautiful grounds. A: Right.  Dirk, I think there’s just, there is still a stigma, families don’t want to put their loved one in a nursing home.  So, they think to themselves, okay, we’ll just put Mom or Dad in an assisted living facility.  It’s not really a nursing home.  But I think what you really have to carefully evaluate is is this the right fit for that resident’s level of acuity or their needs.  I think a lot of people get placed in an assisted living facility that really actually need to be in a nursing home and sometimes with tragic consequences that if your loved one needs a lot of care and oversight, it could be dangerous being in an assisted living facility. Q: You can learn more at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

Insight Interview with David Farnbauch, a Sweeney Law Firm Partner; explaining what Probate Court is, and how it is involved with Personal Injury Cases involving minors and Wrongful Death Cases.

Insight Interview with David Farnbauch from 06/19/2017 the explaining VA Medical Malpractice. Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight and we’re here with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, and this is an interesting topic.  So, the V.A., I know they’re trying to fix it, but what happens if something goes wrong to a veteran when they’re receiving V.A. care? A: Dirk, veterans actually have the right to sue for medical malpractice.  It’s a different process than civilian medical malpractice, you know, in the regular civilian world of medical malpractice, but there is a system in place for veterans to obtain monetary compensation, if they receive substandard care. Q: Does that include receiving no care because it seems like that is also in the news, but. A: We receive a lot of inquiries at our office regarding V.A. medical care. Q: And so do I need to act quickly?  Is there a time limit?  It seems like the government would write some laws, maybe, to protect itself. A: They do.  There is, it’s much like conventional medical malpractice.  There’s a two year statute of limitations.  There is an administrative process that victims of medical malpractice sort of initiate before they get into the court system.  It’s just a very simple form.  This is called a Form 95.  It’s just a two page form that is filed with the government and then they get some time to do an investigation to decide whether they’re going to accept or deny the claim.  Most claims are denied and then once it goes through this administrative process, where the government is afforded the right to investigate the claim, and usually what will happen is the victim of medical malpractice will retain an attorney and then it goes into the federal court system, where the defendant in the case is the United States of America. Q: Does that make it more difficult on you or on the person that’s bringing this suit? A: You know, medical malpractice, once you get into the federal system are just very similar to medical malpractice claims in the state court.  You know, it’s much the same.  It’s just that you’re going to have a federal judge, you’re going to have the federal rules, but it’s very similar to medical malpractice in the state system. Q: How does somebody, if they think they’ve been wronged by the V.A., do they need to, what would be your steps?  What would be the first thing or the things you need to do? A: What we always recommend is if you have questions about whether you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice at a V.A. facility, and you have questions about what your rights are or whether you might be entitled to compensation, call a law firm that specializes in these kinds of cases.  This is a bit of a specialized area.  To the best of my knowledge, we’re the only law firm in the Fort Wayne area that really does a steady diet of V.A. medical malpractice cases. Q: Do they cap damages? A: They do.  Under the V.A. system of medical malpractice in Indiana, they go by our state cap on damages and in the state of Indiana we have a hard cap on damages of a million two fifty. Q: It’s sad to think that this could happen with the V.A.  As much as it’s in the news, as much as people seem to try to fix it, obviously, it’s really big. A: Dirk, you know, obviously, the politicians are always talking about trying to reform the V.A. system, trying to upgrade their medical care.  Personally, from what I’ve seen in our office, I’m not seeing that the, what they want to do to improve the system is really resulting in, so far, better medical care for our veterans, unfortunately. Q: All right.  If you think that this is something that you might want to pursue, if you have a loved one or could point somebody in the direction of Sweeney Law Firm, go to Sweeneylawfirm.com and learn more about taking those next steps.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

INsight Interview with David Farnbauch from 05/11/2017 explaining the governmental oversight of Nursing Homes and their performance score. Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, here at Sweeney Law, and we want to talk about governmental oversight of nursing homes.  Is there much? A: Well, Dirk, nursing homes are licensed facilities that are licensed by the State of Indiana and the Indiana State Department of Health does employ surveyors to go out and inspect nursing homes to check for compliance with state and federal regulations, so, yes, indeed, there is state regulation or oversight of nursing homes in our state. Q: So, I guess I’m thinking, as a restaurant consumer, they’ve started in some states putting the letter grade right there in the window.  Is there an easy way for me to find out the same thing with a nursing home, like what these scores are? A: There is.  Actually, the Indiana State Department of Health has a website that you can go and look and see if there are what they call deficiencies.  They give, sort of, nursing homes a score card.  So, there is, there are resources available online with the Indiana State Department of Health to check on the performance of nursing homes, as far as compliance with state regs. Q: Are there, is it in a language that I can understand, as a layman, or are there certain deficiencies that maybe they word them certain ways, so I don’t necessarily know what’s going on? A: Yes, I mean, I think they’re fairly understandable.  So, once again, you’re looking for, you’re looking to avoid nursing homes that receive what they call F tags that are violations of the regulations. Q: Okay.  Do those nursing homes get penalized?  Do they instantly have to fix those things?  How does that system work? A: You know, what’s interesting, Dirk, is that, this is what we often tell our clients, that the penalties that are assessed by the State of Indiana, when there are non-compliance with state and federal regulations, I like to call them a slap on the wrist.  You know, if you look every year, the highest fine might be $2,500.  So, if you’re a corporation running a chain of nursing homes and you’re faced with a $2,500 fine, I don’t think there’s much incentive, from that standpoint, to comply with the regulations.  Sometimes they threaten, you know, they’ll say, well, we’re going to suspend your license if you don’t take these corrective actions, but it’s extremely rare in the state of Indiana that a nursing home’s license is actually suspended. Q: Would I contact the State if, you know, I have a loved one in a nursing home and something has happened to them?  Do families typically go that direction and expect enforcement? A: You know, it’s pretty common.  A lot of times people will come into us and they’ll want to pursue a nursing home neglect case and they’ll say, “I have contacted the State and requested that they do an investigation.”  And, once again, we tell clients that’s fine to do that.  I think that’s a good thing to do, but people have to understand, the staff that’s available, you know, through the Attorney General’s office or the Indiana State Department of Health to do complaint investigations, you know, it’s not really adequate to really police all the nursing homes in the state of Indiana that are providing substandard care to residents. Q: So, typically, then, I guess I’m asking, then, what do I do if I’m uncomfortable with something going on at, you know, at my loved one’s nursing home? A: Well, we think, and we’ve said this many times, one of the most important reasons why families can, for families to pursue a nursing home neglect case is to prevent this from happening to another family and we think that pursuing a legal case against a nursing home for substandard care is a very important deterrent to prevent things from happening to elderly in nursing homes. Q: All right.  Good information and I know your website, full of information, as well, at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  If you’d like to find out more, jump online and learn more or just give them a call.  We will be right back on INsight.

Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, here at Sweeney Law, and we want to talk about governmental oversight of nursing homes.  Is there much? A: Well, Dirk, nursing homes are licensed facilities that are licensed by the State of Indiana and the Indiana State Department of Health does employ surveyors to go out and inspect nursing homes to check for compliance with state and federal regulations, so, yes, indeed, there is state regulation or oversight of nursing homes in our state. Q: So, I guess I’m thinking, as a restaurant consumer, they’ve started in some states putting the letter grade right there in the window.  Is there an easy way for me to find out the same thing with a nursing home, like what these scores are? A: There is.  Actually, the Indiana State Department of Health has a website that you can go and look and see if there are what they call deficiencies.  They give, sort of, nursing homes a score card.  So, there is, there are resources available online with the Indiana State Department of Health to check on the performance of nursing homes, as far as compliance with state regs. Q: Are there, is it in a language that I can understand, as a layman, or are there certain deficiencies that maybe they word them certain ways, so I don’t necessarily know what’s going on? A: Yes, I mean, I think they’re fairly understandable.  So, once again, you’re looking for, you’re looking to avoid nursing homes that receive what they call F tags that are violations of the regulations. Q: Okay.  Do those nursing homes get penalized?  Do they instantly have to fix those things?  How does that system work? A: You know, what’s interesting, Dirk, is that, this is what we often tell our clients, that the penalties that are assessed by the State of Indiana, when there are non-compliance with state and federal regulations, I like to call them a slap on the wrist.  You know, if you look every year, the highest fine might be $2,500.  So, if you’re a corporation running a chain of nursing homes and you’re faced with a $2,500 fine, I don’t think there’s much incentive, from that standpoint, to comply with the regulations.  Sometimes they threaten, you know, they’ll say, well, we’re going to suspend your license if you don’t take these corrective actions, but it’s extremely rare in the state of Indiana that a nursing home’s license is actually suspended. Q: Would I contact the State if, you know, I have a loved one in a nursing home and something has happened to them?  Do families typically go that direction and expect enforcement? A: You know, it’s pretty common.  A lot of times people will come into us and they’ll want to pursue a nursing home neglect case and they’ll say, “I have contacted the State and requested that they do an investigation.”  And, once again, we tell clients that’s fine to do that.  I think that’s a good thing to do, but people have to understand, the staff that’s available, you know, through the Attorney General’s office or the Indiana State Department of Health to do complaint investigations, you know, it’s not really adequate to really police all the nursing homes in the state of Indiana that are providing substandard care to residents. Q: So, typically, then, I guess I’m asking, then, what do I do if I’m uncomfortable with something going on at, you know, at my loved one’s nursing home? A: Well, we think, and we’ve said this many times, one of the most important reasons why families can, for families to pursue a nursing home neglect case is to prevent this from happening to another family and we think that pursuing a legal case against a nursing home for substandard care is a very important deterrent to prevent things from happening to elderly in nursing homes. Q: All right.  Good information and I know your website, full of information, as well, at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  If you’d like to find out more, jump online and learn more or just give them a call.  We will be right back on INsight.

INsight Interview with David Farnbauch from 11/02/2016 explaining the misconceptions of nursing home arbitration. Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, talking about, this is an interesting topic because we’ve talked about this topic before, nursing home arbitration agreements, where I go into the nursing home and they say if anything ever happens we’re going to go into arbitration and you’re like, that sounds great. A: Yes, people don’t realize what they’re signing, Dirk.  When you go into a nursing home and you get admitted, you sign a ton of paperwork and one of the things they stick in front of your nose, that people have no idea what they’re signing, is it’s what we call in our business a forced arbitration agreement.  It’s just basically a simple agreement that says if anything happens to your loved one in the nursing home and you want to make a claim against us for injuries or death or whatever, you’re going to be presenting that case through arbitration and they’re going to select, in that contract that you sign, the forum for the arbitration and it’s probably a forum that you don’t really want to be in, if you want a fair shake. Q: So, what sounds good because, again, it seems like, oh, arbitration would be cheaper, it would be faster, it would be, you’re telling me it’s more likely I’m going into a, I don’t want to say a no win situation, but a stacked situation? A: Right.  It’s not like going into the court system, where you’re going to go into a leveling playing field.  These arbitrators that they select to serve as arbitrators in nursing home cases, there’s a reason why they’re selected to serve as arbitrators because they’re probably going to be partial to the nursing home’s position. Q: The last time we talked about this, weren’t these being discouraged or outlawed? A: Yes, I mean, this is a good example, Dirk, of elections have consequences.  Back in September of 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, that’s the entities, the governmental entities that fund nursing homes, they announced a final rule banning these pre-arbitration, forced arbitration agreements for nursing homes that receive federal funds, which is basically all nursing homes.  So, they banned these agreements.  Now, with the election, the new administration, CMS just announced that they’re going to issue a new rule sort of repealing the rule that you couldn’t use these arbitration agreements.  So, elections have consequences. Q: So, is it possible, let’s say I haven’t admitted a loved one yet into a nursing home, is it possible that I just pass on that form and just skip it? A: Well, that’s what we recommend that you do.  I mean, when people are shopping around trying to make a good decision for their loved one about which nursing home to select, certainly have your radar up to see if they’re going to present you with a forced arbitration agreement and my advice is if you want to look at a facility that wants you to sign a forced arbitration agreement, go to the next nursing home that doesn’t offer that because there’s a reason they want you to sign an arbitration agreement. Q: What if I’m already there, I already did sign this and something happens, have I really lost every right I have? A: You know, that’s an interesting question. I would say that it might be a condition to stay at the nursing home.  Say I signed this, but I’ve learned that this is maybe not necessarily a good thing for my loved one.  I don’t want to stay here unless we sign a new agreement, where that’s not part of the admission. Q: Hmm, that’s a lot to think about.  All right.  So, after, though, an injury, can I still come to see you or is — A: You can.  I mean, even if you’re in a nursing home that has a forced arbitration agreement or one that doesn’t, if your loved one is injured in a nursing home, I believe that, you know, we are the law firm in Fort Wayne that you would want to call because we’ve been doing this for a long time. Q: It’s one of those, again, who knew, but people only do this usually once or twice, where they’re putting a loved one into a nursing home and so, you know, you go in, you assume everything is going to be good.  If you’d like to find out more about what steps you can take and what to avoid, go check them out online here at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

INsight Interview with David Farnbauch from 11/02/2016 explaining the misconceptions of nursing home arbitration. Video Transcript: Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, talking about, this is an interesting topic because we’ve talked about this topic before, nursing home arbitration agreements, where I go into the nursing home and they say if anything ever happens we’re going to go into arbitration and you’re like, that sounds great. A: Yes, people don’t realize what they’re signing, Dirk.  When you go into a nursing home and you get admitted, you sign a ton of paperwork and one of the things they stick in front of your nose, that people have no idea what they’re signing, is it’s what we call in our business a forced arbitration agreement.  It’s just basically a simple agreement that says if anything happens to your loved one in the nursing home and you want to make a claim against us for injuries or death or whatever, you’re going to be presenting that case through arbitration and they’re going to select, in that contract that you sign, the forum for the arbitration and it’s probably a forum that you don’t really want to be in, if you want a fair shake. Q: So, what sounds good because, again, it seems like, oh, arbitration would be cheaper, it would be faster, it would be, you’re telling me it’s more likely I’m going into a, I don’t want to say a no win situation, but a stacked situation? A: Right.  It’s not like going into the court system, where you’re going to go into a leveling playing field.  These arbitrators that they select to serve as arbitrators in nursing home cases, there’s a reason why they’re selected to serve as arbitrators because they’re probably going to be partial to the nursing home’s position. Q: The last time we talked about this, weren’t these being discouraged or outlawed? A: Yes, I mean, this is a good example, Dirk, of elections have consequences.  Back in September of 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, that’s the entities, the governmental entities that fund nursing homes, they announced a final rule banning these pre-arbitration, forced arbitration agreements for nursing homes that receive federal funds, which is basically all nursing homes.  So, they banned these agreements.  Now, with the election, the new administration, CMS just announced that they’re going to issue a new rule sort of repealing the rule that you couldn’t use these arbitration agreements.  So, elections have consequences. Q: So, is it possible, let’s say I haven’t admitted a loved one yet into a nursing home, is it possible that I just pass on that form and just skip it? A: Well, that’s what we recommend that you do.  I mean, when people are shopping around trying to make a good decision for their loved one about which nursing home to select, certainly have your radar up to see if they’re going to present you with a forced arbitration agreement and my advice is if you want to look at a facility that wants you to sign a forced arbitration agreement, go to the next nursing home that doesn’t offer that because there’s a reason they want you to sign an arbitration agreement. Q: What if I’m already there, I already did sign this and something happens, have I really lost every right I have? A: You know, that’s an interesting question. I would say that it might be a condition to stay at the nursing home.  Say I signed this, but I’ve learned that this is maybe not necessarily a good thing for my loved one.  I don’t want to stay here unless we sign a new agreement, where that’s not part of the admission. Q: Hmm, that’s a lot to think about.  All right.  So, after, though, an injury, can I still come to see you or is — A: You can.  I mean, even if you’re in a nursing home that has a forced arbitration agreement or one that doesn’t, if your loved one is injured in a nursing home, I believe that, you know, we are the law firm in Fort Wayne that you would want to call because we’ve been doing this for a long time. Q: It’s one of those, again, who knew, but people only do this usually once or twice, where they’re putting a loved one into a nursing home and so, you know, you go in, you assume everything is going to be good.  If you’d like to find out more about what steps you can take and what to avoid, go check them out online here at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

Insight Interview with David Farnbauch from 10/27/2016 explaining the misconceptions of damages for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases in Indiana.

The video discusses the possible changing of the Indiana medical malpractice cap on damages.  A bill was introduced last year that was going to raise the current cap of 1.25 million, which it has been since 1998.   So the same cap has been in place now for 17 years. The cap was going to be raised to $1,650,000 but that did not pass last year. Another bill was briefly introduced this year that has not passed but its possible that a bill does get passed this year. The Indiana Supreme Court could rule that the cap is unconstitutional and could vacate the entire cap on damages. This is what the insurance companies are most worried about, that the Supreme Court would rule against the cap and eliminate the cap. HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP The medical malpractice cap in Indiana started in 1975 and started out at $500,000. It then increased to $750,000 and then went to the current $1,250,000 in 1998.  Nothing has changed since then, so its time the Indiana medical malpractice cap in damages increases. Victim of Medical Malpractice Matter? If you have been a victim of a medical malpractice or medical negligence case in Indiana, call the Sweeeney law firm today for a FREE Consultation - Fill out the Case Review Form. Remember there is never a fee, unless we make a recovery for you. 1-866-793-6339 (Toll Free) 1-260-420-3137 (Local) 1-260-969-0321 (Fax)