Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
In cases involving negligence on behalf of medical personnel, expert testimony is often needed to establish the standard of care that was breached by the party being sued. An expert’s testimony will be admitted based on its relevance to the facts at hand as well as the experts level of knowledge regarding the specific topic. Recently, the First Circuit Court of Appeal had to determine whether or not expert testimony was properly admitted and whether or not from that testimony alone the court could find by a preponderance of the evidence for the Plaintiff. These issues arise in the context of a lawsuit brought by Robert and Ruth McGregor individually and on behalf of the deceased Donald McGregor against Hospice Care of Louisiana in Baton Rouge for negligence in their failure to fill a partial prescription for the deceased.
The deceased Donald McGregor had terminal metastatic prostate cancer and was being treated by a doctor from 1997 till his death July 21, 2002. In April of 2002, Mr. McGregor was enrolled as a patient of Hospice of Baton Rouge (Hospice) when he was no longer able to visit his previous doctor’s office. From that point on his previous doctor relied on reports from the Hospice Nurses to make determinations regarding the prescription of pain medication to Mr. McGregor. in July of 2002, his doctor prescribed various pain medications for long and short term pain. In July of 2002, Mr. McGregor’s doctor wrote a partial fill prescription for 40 morphine suppositories 20 of which were to be filled on Friday and the other 20 to be filled the following Monday. McGregor’s doctor, however, instructed that if the pain worsened the nurses were to contact him or his partner and the on-call physician for the weekend in order to have the other 20 suppositories filled early.
On Sunday of the same weekend Robert McGregor, Mr. McGregor’s son called the on-call Hospice nurse in hysterics requesting that the remaining suppositories be delivered immediately while threatening the nurse’s life if she showed up without them. The nurse then informed Robert that in order for that to happen she would need to visit the home and assess Mr. McGregor’s condition before contacting the on-call physician about releasing the remaining suppositories to which Robert responded with more threats and a refusal of the assessment. The Nurse then informed her supervisors of the situation and they advised her to let Robert know that Mr. McGregor from then on was released from Hospice care. Robert still in hysterics then called the on call doctor directly regarding the situation of his father’s discharge from Hospice care to which the on call doctor agreed with Hospice’s decision because it would be best for Mr. McGregor to be treated directly by her in the hospital. Later that day Mr. McGregor was brought to the hospital where he passed away that evening.
Imagine that your mother, a friend, or someone else you love dearly suffers from numerous health problems. In a terrible twist of fate, your loved one falls, worsening their current condition and making life more painful and difficult than it already is. To top it all off, what would already be considered a trying process is exacerbated because you feel like the doctors who are caring for your loved one aren’t listening to your input or concerns. After many visits to the emergency room and overnight hospital stays, your loved one passes away. Despite the health conditions before the fall, you feel like something wrong occurred during your loved one’s treatment and someone should be held responsible. This was exactly the scenario for the loved ones of Ms. Mary LeBoeuf. Five individuals, including her son and long-time partner, filed a lawsuit against her doctor, the hospital, and the orthopedic clinic on her behalf.
We’ve all been in the situation where we’re sitting at a red light or approaching an intersection and all of a sudden we hear sirens and see flashing lights. Everyone knows to stop and yield to the oncoming ambulance. Sometimes, however, a driver might not yield for whatever reason. This is exactly what happened in this case, which involves an EMT who was injured on the job while riding in an ambulance.
Parents love their children very much. It is always a difficult experience to involve a child in a lawsuit. Such an emotionally difficult experience can be soothed by having the best attorney possible. Losing a lawsuit on behalf of one’s child is a traumatic experience, especially after an accident. This is exactly what happened in a recent case of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. 
Are you being or have you been sued and simply can’t afford court costs and litigation due to financial instability? If this is your case, you can file an affidavit of poverty also known as obtaining pauper status pursuant to 
When a person is injured, timeliness and diligence are required to hold the responsible party liable under the law. If either element is missing, the injured person will lose the ability to seek relief. An early procedural hurdle plaintiffs face in litigation is the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Here, the plaintiff must exercise diligence in gathering the necessary evidence to articulate genuine issues of material fact or face dismissal. Another procedural hurdle is the exception of prescription. Similar to what other states would refer to as a “statute of limitation”, prescription is a legal mechanism which prevents a person from pursuing a lawsuit after a certain period of time. In a recent case of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, several procedural hurdles prevented the plaintiff from obtaining recovery. 
The devil is in the details is a well-known idiom that holds true in this case. It was only upon a close examination of the factual details set out in the trial record that the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in the plaintiff’s favor. In the case, the Fourth Circuit discusses the two-step process used to determine if the lower court correctly calculated its award of special damages. 
Louisiana law holds responsible those who cause injury to others by failing to repair unreasonably dangerous conditions in their custody or control. This type of liability is called “custodial liability.” For example, a university that fails to maintain its walkways so as to cause injury to pedestrians can be held liable for damages by injured persons. However, the university in this example would not be liable for conditions which are considered “open and obvious.” In a recent case, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal helped illustrate what is meant by “open and obvious.”
Language is key when it comes to the law. A court cannot give a plaintiff what he or she asks for if the request is vague. In a similar vein, a judgment’s lack of certain magic words can render it defective. Words have precise meanings in order to be given legal effect. This is illustrated by a recent of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. In this case, the Court of Appeal found that a trial court’s judgment lacked the required decretal language required to give the document legal effect.
Nursing homes have become an integral part of our society due to America’s aging population. Families need nursing homes to help them care for elderly parents and relatives, disabled individuals, and other people requiring increased care. Most nursing homes treat their residents with industry-standard care; but what if you discovered that someone you love had been mistreated, or even abused, by the nursing home you trusted to care for them? This is what happened with the family of Ms. Lessie Porter.