South Carolina Lawyer Blog

December 4, 2014

When Elders Elope

by Louthian Law Firm

Early one morning in late August, an 82-year-old woman wandered away from her Batesburg, SC, nursing home. She was found nearly eight hours later; fortunately, she was unharmed. If this incident had occurred during winter weather, or if she had wandered into the path of a vehicle, the outcome could have been tragic.

In elder care terminology, this nursing home resident “eloped.” The National Institute for Elopement Prevention and Resolution defines elopement as “when a patient wanders away, walks away, runs away, escapes, or otherwise leaves a care-giving facility or environment unsupervised, unnoticed, and/or prior to their scheduled discharge.” Another term sometimes used is “critical wandering.”

November 20, 2014

Road Safety From A Global Perspective

by Louthian Law Firm

On Sunday, November 16, the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston hosted an observance of A Day of Remembrance for victims of traffic accidents. In 2012, 863 people lost their lives on South Carolina highways, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: 38% were occupants of passenger cars; 27% were in pickup trucks or SUVs; 1% were in large trucks; 13% were motorcyclists; 14% were pedestrians; and 2% were on bicycles.

But the MUSC day of remembrance was not just a local event. The third Sunday of November each year is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Starting with a 1995 advocacy movement under the umbrella of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims, the initiative has increased to include countries on every continent around the world. Promotion by the World Health Organization (WHO) led to an endorsement of the World Day by the United Nations in 2005.

November 17, 2014

Smoking Out Lung Cancer

by Louthian Law Firm

lung-cancer With November being Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the 20th being designated as the Great American Smokeout, a day on which smokers are encouraged to make a plan to quit, we were especially interested to learn that South Carolina ranks third worst in the nation for combating lung cancer, according to a survey by Wallet Hub.

Wallet Hub, whose goal is to help consumers and small business owners make better financial decisions and save money, analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDC, the EPA, the American Cancer Society, and other sources. They looked at such things as air quality, price of cigarettes, cigarette taxes, number of smokers, lung cancer rates, and smoking bans, among other factors. Here are some of the other rankings for the Palmetto State when it comes to lung cancer:

South Carolina ranked 42nd in cigarette taxes,

November 14, 2014

A Bill Of Rights For The Elderly

by Louthian Law Firm

In 1791, James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights to provide constitutional protection for individual liberties and prevent the abuse of governmental power. Nearly 200 years later, in 1987, the federal Nursing Home Reform Law was written to include the guarantee of certain rights to some of our country’s most vulnerable citizens — nursing home residents. All nursing homes which participate in Medicare or Medicaid must meet the requirements of this bill of rights. Additionally, some states – South Carolina included – have enacted state laws to protect the rights of residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult care homes.

November 13, 2014

Violence Erupts In Healthcare Setting

by Louthian Law Firm

On November 2, 2014, a Minnesota patient detached a metal bar from his hospital bed and used it to attack four nurses; one nurse suffered a collapsed lung, another broke her wrist, and the others had cuts and bruises . . . as well as bad memories of the night.

While some people might view the frightening event as an oddity, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that healthcare workers are some of the most likely workers to be attacked while on the job. According to OSHA, two out of three (on-the-job) physical assaults happen in the medical care and social service industries, and the numbers are going up. A survey underwritten by the Foundation of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) found that the number of crimes increased by nearly 37 percent in just two years, from just under 15,000 in 2010 to more than 20,500 in 2012. Reported crimes included simple assault, larceny and theft, vandalism, rape, sexual assault and homicide. Even more disturbing than this increased number of violent crimes in healthcare settings is the likelihood that many incidents are not reported – at least one half, according to U.S. Department of Justice estimates.

November 7, 2014

Will You Misread Me, When I’m 64?

by Louthian Law Firm

beatles When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now

Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I’d been out ’til quarter to three, would you lock the door?

November 7, 2014

Victory For Patients Harmed By Stryker Hip Implants

by Louthian Law Firm

stryker-hip-implants At the annual conference of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons earlier this year, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that 2.5 million Americans are living with artificial hips, surgically implanted when their natural joints degenerated or were fractured. Most of these patients found themselves with a new lease on life after their surgery, able to resume the normal activities they had enjoyed before their hips gave out. For thousands, however, the hip replacement devices led to disappointment, debilitating pain, and do-over surgery.

According to the FDA, between 1992 and 2011, nearly 40,000 patients suffered ‘adverse reactions’ from metal-on-metal hip joint replacements, including the Stryker Rejuvenate Modular-Neck and the ABG II Modular-Neck devices. The adverse reactions included metallosis (the release of metal ions into the tissue and blood stream); necrosis (premature tissue death); osteolysis (bone dissolution); and pain and loosening of the hip implant, requiring revision surgery. In 2012, Stryker announced a recall of these two products. Thousands of lawsuits followed.

October 10, 2014

What Is Constructive Notice?

by Louthian Law Firm

This is a question currently being debated in South Carolina courts in the case of Alberta Major v. City of Hartsville. Ms. Major was a student at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina in December of 2008. In walking on the city-owned sidewalk and adjacent grassy area on a street corner near campus, she stepped in a rut created by cars short-cutting the corner, injuring her ankle and incurring the cost of medical treatment and physical therapy. She sued the City for failure to maintain and repair the defect.

However, the Tort Claims Act provides that governmental entities are not liable for a loss arising out of a defective highway, road, street, causeway, bridge or other public way if they did not receive “actual or constructive notice” of the problem. The Circuit Court and the Court of Appeals granted summary judgment to the City of Hartsville, writing, in essence, that even if the City might have known that there was a general condition caused by vehicles cutting across the grassy corner, they did not have constructive notice of the particular depression, rut or hole that caused Major’s ankle injury.

October 7, 2014

Bed Rails Can Do More Harm Than Good

by Louthian Law Firm

Columbia Hospital Injury

Bed rails are metal bars used on the sides of beds to keep sleeping people from rolling out onto the floor. They’re most often used by parents of small children or families and caregivers of the elderly. While they may help prevent a rude awakening, they can also inflict injuries and death when a person becomes entrapped or strangled by the device.

According to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), there are about 2.5 million hospital and nursing home beds in use in the United States, many of which are equipped with bed rails, and hospital-type beds are also often used in residences where elderly patients receive home health care. Bed rails used in these situations are considered medical devices and are overseen by the FDA. The agency provides manufacturers of bed rails with guidance on the design of safe and effective hospital beds and bed rails and requires manufacturers to adhere to certain medical device regulations, such as the timely reporting to the FDA of problems associated with bedrails.

September 30, 2014

What Rhymes With Severe?

by Louthian Law Firm

deer-car-accident We usually expect an increased number of car accidents during certain seasons – winter and the summer vacation period being two – but we’re coming up on another season in which roads can be hazardous . . . deer season.

It’s a great feeling to be riding along country lanes and rural roads in the autumn, enjoying the cool air and colorful scenery. But about 45 percent of deer-vehicle collisions occur here during October and November. They also tend to happen most frequently near sunrise and sunset, because that’s when deer tend to be on the move.

Drivers in South Carolina have a 1 in 93 chance of striking a deer during a 12-month period, according to research by State Farm Insurance Company. In fact, we’re in the top ten states for deer collisions, coming in at #10; our neighboring states of North Carolina and Georgia are #12 and #21, respectively.