Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog

Friday Fun

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Or rather...

According to research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole.

This is old news, of course, but I just recently found the sentence mangler Web site, where you can enter text, have the computer scramble it and then see if it's still readable to you. I think it's a fascinating insight into the way our brains function.

Uninsured Drivers' Cars Will Soon Be Towed In Dallas

In keeping with the laws of several suburbs, the City of Dallas has now voted to tow the cars of drivers who cannot produce proof of auto liability insurance after a traffic stop. The vote was divisive, along racial lines, with opponents arguing it places an undue burden on lower-income residents. The ordinance will not take effect until January 1, 2009, to allow time for an insurance database to be completed. Dallas already tows uninsured cars that are involved in collisions.

Friday Fun

OK, I don't know what the name of this game, Doeo, means, and I don't really understand the details. I just know it's kind of fun to click on all the "doeos" that pop up. Check it out.

Featured Link - ChunkIt! Web Search Assistant

I got an e-mail ad for this product, and it actually looks as if it might be helpful for Internet searches. Here's a quote from the ad:

It's called ChunkIt and it's a FREE browser search tool you can add to your Web page to make searching easier on every Web site. For example, if you are searching for something specific or with multiple search terms that's not coming up in your searches, ChunkIt pulls up the "chunk" of the page that mentions all your search terms together and highlights them, without you having to click on one link at a time to find the result you are looking for. ChunkIt makes it quick and easy to find exactly what you are looking for instead of wasting time digging through countless words, pages and links. Below is a link to the ChunkIt Cool Examples page where you can see more details about how this helps you to search any documents and Web sites online, and where you can also download it and try it out. http://www.tigerlogic.com/ChunkIt/sec-edgar-chunkit.html

Yes, It Really IS This Bad In Texas

When I talk with personal injury lawyers who practice outside Texas, they sometimes think I'm exaggerating when I tell them how hard it is for injured claimants to win a case here. No, I'm not exaggerating. My evidence is a decision rendered today by the Court of Appeals, Fifth District of Texas at Dallas.

In a nutshell, a mentally retarded person was living in a nursing home, when he was scalded and beaten by an employee of the nursing home. The employee plead guilty to assault and admitted her actions. Suit was filed against the nursing home. The nursing home filed a motion to dismiss the case, based on two arguments.

First, this was not a simple negligence or premises liability claim, but was instead a medical malpractice claim. That would mean that an expert report would be necessary to prove the causation of the injuries. While the plaintiff denied this was a medical malpractice claim, he did file an expert report by a nurse practitioner, who testified as to standard of care, breach of that standard, and causation.

The trial judge denied the defendant's motion, but the appellate court held that this was indeed a medical malpractice suit because it was against a provider of care. The court further held that a nurse could not offer testimony as to causation of the injury because the law requires such an expert to be a medical doctor. The case is now being sent back to the trial court for the judge to decide whether the plaintiff should be allowed an additional 30 days to offer testimony from a medical doctor.

So we have a situation where a severely retarded person is scalded and beaten by an employee who is not a nurse or doctor, the employee pleads guilty to a crime and admits scalding and beating the retarded plaintiff, but the court holds that a doctor's testimony is still required to prove that nursing home employees should not in the normal course of business scald and beat residents, and that scalding and beating will indeed hurt. Incredible.

Iraq Veterans Suffer Increase In Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Injuries

The Chicago Tribune reports an increase in the number of post traumatic stress disorder injuries suffered by military personnel in Iraq, coinciding with the "surge" in troop strength. This is doubly tragic for our brave vets — they suffer terrible injuries, and then we mistreat them by failing to provide proper diagnosis and treatment in our medical facilities. Predictions are that there will be a huge increase in the number of applications for veterans disability benefits in the next few years. Here are excerpts from the article:

Nearly 14,000 U.S. service members who had previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan were newly diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder last year, according to statistics released today by Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker.

The detailed figures for the four military services shows about a 46 percent increase in the number of troops diagnosed with PTSD in 2007--a spike that coincided with the most violent year of the Iraq war. Overall, nearly 40,000 have been diagnosed with the illness since 2003, though it is likely many more haven't sought help out of fear of being stigmatized.

"I think we can say as a nation that our mental health facilities and access to mental health providers is not adequate to the need right now," Schoomaker said. "So part of the problem that we as a military are suffering is a shared national problem."

Last month, the RAND Corporation published a study that showed nearly 300,000 U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were suffering major depression or symptoms of post traumatic stress.

The RAND study found that only about half of those suffering PTSD or depression seek help. The Pentagon has estimated that about 15 to 20 percent of returning troops suffer from symptoms of post traumatic stress.

Featured Link - Body Mass Index Calculator

Many of our Social Security disability claimants are hindered by obesity. While this alone will not be enough to qualify them for Social Security disability benefits, it can be a contributing factor.

There has been much publicity recently about the latest method of determining whether a person is at a healthy weight level. It's called the Body Mass Index, and while not exact, it will at least give you an idea of whether you need to try to lose or gain weight in order to fit into the "normal" category.

One very simple method of finding your own Index is the Body Mass Index calculator at the HealthAtoZ Web site.

Please Remember The Meaning Of Memorial Day

Whatever else you may be doing on this Memorial Day holiday, please remember to thank the military men and women who are currently serving this nation, or who have served in the past. This is from MemorialDay.com:

Over the past century, more than 35 million men and women answered the call to arms in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and countless unnamed military engagements. More than half a million of them never came home. Some died in battle, others in captivity; all died too soon.

Recent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq has offered fresh reminders of the human reality of war: ordinary men and women leaving homes and families and all they know to risk their lives for an ideal of honor, or duty, or just to protect the soldier next to them. People of patriotism and goodwill may debate the merits of any given war, police action, or humanitarian mission. But there should be no debate about our debt to the hundreds of thousands of our citizens who have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives heeding the nation's call to service.

Memorial Day is more than the start of summer. It is a chance to pause and remember the sacrifices -- remember the gallantry and bravery -- remember the fallen.

Texas Panel Calls For State Oversight Of PPO Health Insurance Plans

As reported in the Dallas Morning News, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission said the lack of state authority over PPOs is "outdated" in the current health care environment and may result in harm to a large number of consumers if the situation remains unchanged. This is a loophole that really needs to be closed, and it's encouraging that the staff of the Commission recognizes this. Of course, that's not at all the same as having the politically-appointed members of the Commission taking action. Here are excerpts from the story:

A report from the commission on the Texas Department of Insurance called for the state agency to begin licensing of all PPOs in the state similar to the way HMOs are now regulated.

It also called for changes in state regulation of auto and home insurance rates that Sunset Commission staffers said would improve the current system for setting rates. Under the current system, called "file-and-use," insurers can put rate hikes into effect immediately after notifying the state Insurance Department.

Friday Fun

Is anyone else out there old enough to remember using carbon paper, dialing a rotary phone, using a manual choke control to start your car in the winter, or using a CP/M language office computer? You can relive those and other old memories at the ObsoleteSkills Web site. The list is a little heavy on the geek side of the scale, but there are some interesting "skills" such as using a church key to open a beer can, that younger folk won't remember at all.

On the other hand, even I am not old enough to remember telling time with a sundial.