Category: Uncategorized

Two individuals suffering from limb loss are suing Blue Shield for damages for its failure to pay for prostheses. The men were customers of Blue Shield who made claims for prostheses under the terms of their insurance plans. The company denied the claim of one of the plaintiffs and paid only a portion of the cost of the prosthesis for the other plaintiff.

The plaintiffs are seeking to turn the lawsuit into a class action in order to help the other customers of Blue Shield who have had their claims for prostheses denied by the company. The lawsuit is seeking to certify two classes of individuals:

1. People covered under Blue Shield of California non-ERISA health plans whose requests for microprocessor-controlled foot prostheses have been or will be denied as “investigational”; and
2. People covered under Blue Shield of California non-ERISA health plans whose requests for prosthetic lower limbs were paid by Blue Shield to out-of-network providers during the applicable statute of limitation.

The lawsuit claims that the proposed classes meet the requirements of a certified class because there are such a large number of members, the members can be ascertained, there are issues common to all class members, the plaintiffs have claims typical of members of the class, the plaintiffs will fairly protect the interests of the class members, Blue Shield has acted or refused to act in a manner similar to all class members, and that a class action would be the best way to handle the case.

If you have had claims for a prosthetic limb denied by Blue Shield, call me, Conal Doyle, California personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

According to a lawsuit filed towards the end of 2017, Blue Shield of California, a health insurance company, has been wrongfully denying coverage for some lower limb prosthetic devices for individuals suffering from limb loss. The lawsuit also alleges that Blue Shield has been restricting payment for lower limb devices, which forces members to use out-of-network prosthetists.

The lawsuit is asking that the court order Blue Shield to take five actions: (1) stop its practice of categorically denying all requests for microprocessor-controlled foot prostheses; (2) notify class members that its decision to deny requests for all microprocessor-controlled foot prostheses was wrong and requests will be re-reviewed; (3) re-review all denied requests for microprocessor-controlled foot prostheses; (4) notify class members that if they have paid out-of-pocket for denied microprocessor-controlled foot prostheses, they can submit those claims for review; and (5) review any claims received in a correct manner.

The lawsuit is also asking for financial compensation and that attorney’s fees be paid. If you have had a claim for a microprocessor-controlled foot prosthesis denied by Blue Shield, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. You may be eligible to join the lawsuit. Call today to learn more.

According to a lawsuit filed late last year, Blue Shield of California is wrongfully maintaining an inadequate network of prosthetists. The lawsuit is seeking compensation from the company for its wrongful actions.

Two individuals who suffered from lower limb loss who were customers of Blue Shield of California sued the company. According to Blue Shield’s written policies, the Blue Shield health plan is designed for its members to obtain services from participating providers. If a member chooses to get medical services from non-participating providers, the member will typically have a higher out-of-pocket expense.

The lawsuit claims that implicit in the written policies is a promise that Blue Shield will develop a fully formed network of providers, which will allow a member to receive the primary benefit of the contract to receive services from an in-network provider. However, according to the lawsuit, Blue Shield offers extremely low reimbursement rates to out-of-network prosthetists. Therefore, members with limb loss are forced to seek the services of out-of-network providers, which leaves them with large balances owed.

The lawsuit is seeking other individuals who have suffered limb loss who are covered by Blue Shield and have had to seek the services of out-of-network prosthetists, which resulted in financial hardship. If that applies to you, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Pregnant women must be very careful with any medications or supplements they consume while they are pregnant. The fetus will absorb all of those substances, and some drugs that may be safe for a mother may not be safe for the child. Children who are exposed to toxic chemicals or medications can be born with developmental problems or serious birth defects that can last for a lifetime. It’s critical that drug companies and doctors exercise great caution to ensure that prescription drugs and supplements are safe for unborn children.

Fetuses receive their nutrients through the mother’s placenta. The placenta delivers oxygen, nutrition, and blood, but also can deliver chemicals and other toxins. If a supplement or a medication is not safe for unborn children, the fetus can suffer serious harm. Because of this, all medications prescribed to pregnant mothers must have significant scientific evidence that proves the medication’s safety when used during pregnancy.

There have been a number of prescription drugs over the years that were prescribed to pregnant women without proper testing, and in some cases those drugs caused harm to unborn fetuses. One such drug was Zofran, which was prescribed for nausea. Although the drug had not been marketed as a treatment for morning sickness, doctors were told the medication was safe to treat morning sickness. It was later discovered that there was a link between Zofran and birth defects and other health conditions, including cleft palates, holes in the heart, missing or malformed organs, and brain damage.

If you have taken a prescription drug during your pregnancy that you believe harmed your unborn child, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles prescription drug liability attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

If you have suffered a serious case of food poisoning, you understand how devastating the effects can be. Close to 50 million people suffer from food poisoning in the U.S. every year. Food poisoning doesn’t always just make its victims sick for a few days. In some cases, a victim of food poisoning can end up in the hospital or even die from the illness.

Food poisoning is caused by swallowing contaminated food or water that has bacteria, toxins, or parasites. Most people who have food poisoning experience vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and/or abdominal cramping, as well as other symptoms. Food can become contaminated in a number of ways – it may become contaminated during processing, or it may be improperly handled or prepared.

If you believe you may have food poisoning, you should seek medical treatment right away. Your medical provider can run tests to confirm that you have the illness. Keep track of your symptoms and the date you experienced them. If you can, save the contaminated food so it can be tested. If you aren’t certain what may have caused the food poisoning, make notes of everything you ate in the preceding days and follow up later. Follow all of your medical provider’s instructions in order to get better as soon as possible.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a food borne illness, you should speak with an attorney. You may be able to recover compensation, depending on the circumstances of your illness. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I may be able to help. Call today to schedule a free consultation with our team about your case.

I’m very sorry to hear that you may have been implanted with a defective hip. In 2010, the FDA ordered a very popular hip replacement system called DePuy to be recalled. The FDA discovered that a number of the hips were defective, and the patients required another surgery to remove the device and replace it with a new device.
If you are having issues with your hip replacement, you should consult with your physician. It is possible there is nothing wrong with the hip – you may simply need physical therapy or other issues may be involved. However, in some cases the issue lies with the hip itself. If the problem is with the device, unfortunately you may need to undergo corrective surgery.
In the case of the DePuy hip, the hips were poorly designed. It also was criticized because of the metals that were used to manufacture the device. In some patients the metal-on-metal design resulted in metal splinters peeling off and becoming embedded in the surrounding tissue. This resulted in pain and inflammation for many patients. In addition, in some patients the hip device resulted in metal poisoning. Thousands of patients who were implanted with the DePuy hip had to undergo corrective surgeries.
If you have had a hip replaced, and you believe the device that was implanted is defective, you need to speak with an attorney. You have a legal right to compensation for your damages. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

If you believe you and others in your situation have a viable claim against a large company, you may wish to start a class action lawsuit if there isn’t one already in place. Normally, the way to start a class action lawsuit is by choosing a class action attorney.

When choosing a class action attorney, probably the biggest factor you should take into consideration is his or her experience in handling personal injury lawsuits. To be successful, class action lawsuits normally require experience and expertise with handling class actions. The attorney will help file the necessary paperwork, proving that there is a class, deciding where to file the suit, and choosing the best member of the class to represent the class.

In addition to looking for an attorney with experience in personal injury lawsuits, you should consider a couple of other factors. A big one is the attorney’s fees. You should understand your legal costs up front, and your attorney should be transparent in disclosing those fees. Normally, your lawsuit will be handled on a contingency basis, meaning that the attorney will take a percentage of the recovery off the top if your lawsuit is successful. Finally, you should choose an attorney with whom you are compatible. Find an attorney who is accessible to you, who you feel comfortable talking with, and who can answer your questions.

If you are looking for an attorney who can help with a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles class action attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

The railroad industry is one of the most dangerous fields of work in the U.S. According to the Bureau for Labor Statistics, the fatality rate for railroad workers has been double and sometimes even triple the rate of fatalities of other professions over the past several decades. Many of the casualties did not occur on trains but instead happened in the rail yard.

FELA, or the Federal Employers Liability Act, is a federal law which was created to cover railroad injuries, since railroad workers were at a much higher risk of injury than other workers. FELA is a program which is similar to workers’ compensation, but it is only paid by employers in the railroad industry and it pays out differently then most workers’ compensation programs. Under FELA, the injured worker must be proven to be negligent, at least in part. FELA typically pays out larger awards than workers’ compensation and can include money for punitive damages and pain and suffering.

When an accident occurs at a rail yard, the injured employee should hire an experienced FELA attorney to help, since the employee must be able to prove that the employer was at least partially responsible for the accident. There are very specific rules and regulations that pertain to FELA cases which can make them complex and best handled by an experienced attorney.

If you have been injured in an accident at a rail yard, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

An operations manager for Uber’s self-driving trucks division emailed the company’s top executives, claiming that the vehicles were routinely in accidents. This email occurred just days before a self-driving vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian. The manager claims that the problems lie both with problems in the technology and partially because of the behavior of the operators.

The operations manager sent out the email to the head of Uber’s autonomous vehicle unit, six other executives, and lawyers for the company. The email claimed that several of the drivers were not “properly vetted or trained”.  He also warned that the vehicles were being damaged almost every other day and hitting things every 15,000 miles. He also described incidents in which a car drove on a sidewalk and a near-accident. The email was sent on March 13, which was only days before a fatal collision in Arizona in which a self-driving car hit and killed a pedestrian.

After the accident, Uber suspended all of its tests. The accident is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. It was revealed in June that the individual inside the car was watching videos just before the accident occurred.

Many companies rush to introduce new products on the market, such as autonomous vehicles, before they are ready and safe for the public. If you have been harmed by a consumer product or a company, you have the right to compensation. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Legally, yes, you are allowed to post information about your personal injury case on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., if you have been injured in an accident, but it’s almost never a good idea. Information you post online can almost never help your case, but could easily damage it. Social media is playing a bigger role in our lives than ever before, and many people share most details of their personal lives, but it is not a good idea if you are involved in a personal injury claim.

First, it is the job of insurance adjusters and defense attorneys to minimize the amount of money you get. They will almost certainly take at least a quick scan of your social media pages, to attempt to prove that you are not as hurt as you claim to be. If you are seeking damages for emotional distress and your physical injuries, but post pictures of you partying at a club with your friends or engaging in physical labor, that makes your injuries seem insignificant. This may seem unfair, but it happens.

Also, you are most likely very angry at the person or organization that harmed you. It can be tempting to vent your frustrations on social media. This can make it seem like you are only seeking money to harm the defendant, even if your anger is justified.

You may also think it’s ok to post factual information on your injuries to keep everyone informed about what’s going on. However, these cases are complex, and even a slight inaccuracy can cast doubt on your claim. For all of those reasons, it is better to restrict your use of social media until your case is over. The last thing you want to do is to let a careless post destroy your very legitimate case.

If you have any questions about your personal injury case and you are in the Los Angeles area, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.