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CHICAGO, IL – In any personal injury or medical malpractice case, the goal is to compensate the victim for the injuries they suffered as a result of another’s negligence or recklessness conduct. Compensation, also known as damages, can come in many forms, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, rehabilitation treatments, loss of income, lost potential of future earnings, amongst others.

If an injury is catastrophic enough and will impact the victim for their rest of his/her life, medical care and treatment must be compensated, as well. In most cases, the cost of future medical care and treatment can be the most substantial. To provide the jury with a proper information regarding what a lifetime of medical costs will be for the victim, and what factors make up a life care plan.

What is a Life Care Plan?

A life care plan is typically created by the people hired by a plaintiff’s attorney to analyze the victims past medical and employment history, along with the victim’s present medical outcome. This information is then used to create what is known as a life care plan that estimates the cost of the victim’s future medical needs for the rest of his/her life.

Who Creates the Life Care Plan?

The person who creates a life care plan is known as an expert. Experts must meet certain criteria and experience that qualifies to make them a credible expert. An expert may include a nurse whose career is devoted to the disabled, a medical doctor whose focus is rehabilitation, or obtaining a PhD in relevant areas.

What Components Make Up a Life Care Plan?

The expert life care planner will first begin with:

1. Extensively reviewing the victim’s entire medical history
2. Meet with the victim
3. Possibly conduct an independent medical examination
4. Discuss with the victim their prior medical care

Using this information, an expert life care planner will create an estimate of the future cost of the victim’s medical needs, as well as any current costs. The life care planner will discuss the patient’s prior medical history, as well as discuss in detail the incident of medical malpractice.

The life care planner will then come up with an informed estimate, including:

1. Future medical complications
2. Requirements of medical treatment for life
3. Whether future surgeries or procedures are needed
4. Requirements on medication and medical devices
5. Potential for the services of a home aide or residency in a rehabilitation or assisted living facility

The life care planner will include a reasonable cost of each of the above listed items.

What Happens to the Life Care Plan Once it’s Created?

Once a life care plan is created, it serves two purposes: as a comprehensive report and evidence to the jury.

The comprehensive report serves as a guide for the victim’s past, current, and future medical condition. It also helps medical professionals, as well as the victim, decide what future medical treatment the victim will have to endure. It also serves as a claim to collect damages, or compensation, for pain and suffering.

More importantly, the life care plan serves as evidence to a jury and the court for them to easily comprehend what the victim will endure, in terms of medical care, for the rest of their life, as well as how much it’s going to cost.

Contact a Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois

If you or your loved one has been injured due to a medical professional’s negligence, please contact one of the experienced lawyers of Dinizulu Law Group today. Our attorneys have achieved several million dollar awards on behalf of our clients utilizing their skills and resources to hold those accountable. Call our office today for a free consultation at (312) 384-1920.

CHICAGO, IL – Nearly one in eight drivers don’t carry car insurance. If you’re injured in a car crash caused by a driver who doesn’t carry liability car insurance, you could be paying some hefty out-of-pocket expenses, including medical bills and health insurance deductibles. In some cases, people’s injuries cause them to miss work, which leads to lost wages.

Fortunately, car insurance coverage types alleviate some of these issues you may potentially face. Uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage pays for medical bills and other expenses for you and your passengers if you’re involved in a car crash caused by:

• A driver who doesn’t carry any liability car insurance
• A driver who doesn’t have enough liability insurance to cover your medical bills
• A driver whose insurance company denies coverage or goes out of business

Uninsured motorist coverage may cover expenses, such as:

• Medical bills
• Pain and suffering compensation
• Lost wages if you’re injuries cause you to not be able to work after the car accident
• Funeral expenses
• In some states, car damage which is known as uninsured motorist property damage coverage

Four Types of Coverage Under Uninsured Motorist Coverage

1. Uninsured motorist bodily injury – pays when an at-fault driver causes a car accident.
2. Uninsured motorist property damage – covers damage to your car if it’s hit by someone without insurance. Some states allow you to use this coverage for hit-and-run accidents.
3. Underinsured motorist bodily injury – pays when another driver causes a car accident but they do not carry enough liability insurance to cover all your medical bills, lost wages, etc.
4. Underinsured motorist property damage – covers damage to your car if it’s hit by someone who does not carry enough liability insurance.

How Much Uninsured Motorist Coverage Do I Need?

Some states require uninsured motorist coverage which means you’ll need to buy at least the state’s minimum when you obtain car insurance quotes. The minimum will typically be uninsured motorist coverage in amounts that match your liability coverage amounts.

Illinois, for example, requires drivers to have uninsured motorist coverage for all drivers. The minimum uninsured motorist coverage amount a driver can have is 25/50. This translates to:

• $25,000 bodily injury coverage per person
• $50,000 bodily injury coverage per accident

Uninsured motorist property damage must be offered if Illinois drivers do not have collision insurance; although, you can reject it in writing. The minimum coverage in Illinois is $15,000. The uninsured motorist property damage deductible is $250.

Hit-And-Run Accidents

A hit-and-run accident is typically an accident that involves the driver at-fault leaving the scene of an accident without exchanging insurance or contact information. This may occur between:

• Cars
• Pedestrians
• Property, such as a mailbox or fence

In some states, uninsured motorist insurance may cover damages if you’re a victim of a hit-and-run crash. A hit-and-run can be covered under two uninsured motorist coverage types:

• Uninsured motorist property damage pays for repairs if your car or property has been damaged in a hit-and-run accident.
• Uninsured motorist bodily injury pays for medical bills if you’re injured in a hit-and-run accident.

Illinois doesn’t allow uninsured motorist property damage coverage for hit-and-run accidents; however, you can use collision coverage to pay for your car repairs. Other states that abide by this include: California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, and Ohio.

Should I Get Uninsured Motorist Coverage for Property Damage?

Unless your state requires it, it’s likely not necessary for you to purchase uninsured motorist property damage if you already have collision insurance. Collision coverage pays for damage to your car regardless of who caused the damage.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average claim payment for uninsured motorist property damage is $1,805.

What to Do If You’re Injured In A Car Crash from an Uninsured Motorist?

If you’re involved in a car crash and the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough liability insurance, it’s important to contact your car insurance company and file a claim under your uninsured motorist coverage.

It’s important to contact an experienced personal injury attorney right away. A personal injury attorney will not only help lift the burden after a car accident, but they have the resources and knowledge for these types of cases since they can be tricky. The skilled personal injury lawyers of Dinizulu Law Group have received significant settlements and verdicts for our clients, all while holding those accountable for causing your injuries by paying damages for your injuries, lost wages, medical bills, and more.

Call our office today for a free, no obligation consultation at (312) 384-1920 or visit our website for additional information.

CHICAGO, IL – Marilyn Jerominski walks into her pharmacy each morning knowing her time is in demand. As a pharmacy manager of a 24-hour Walgreens, her responsibilities lie in the safety and accuracy of thousands of prescriptions that are dispensed from the store weekly.

Jerominski mentions how much stress she’s under. “You’re not only running to the drive-thru but to the front, to the vaccination station to give a vaccination, then to the phone… It’s almost impossible for any human to keep that momentum day in and day out,” she tells NBC.

It hasn’t always been this way, though. Thirteen years ago, when Jerominski started her pharmaceutical career, the environment was running much differently. There were more staff members which led to more time to counsel patients about their medication. She is now exhausted and overworked and fears she will make a mistake when someone’s health is on the line – but she is far from alone.

Pharmacists over the last decade have found themselves to do more with less. They’re expected to fill more orders and do a wider range of tasks with fewer staff members at a pace that is unsustainable and jeopardizes patient safety. With the COVID-19 vaccine becoming more available, this raises more questions if pharmacists are ready for this type of responsibility without given the proper support they need to succeed.

“The expectations they have and the resources we’re given just aren’t matching up,” a CVS technician from New York said. “We’re going to have a fatal error somewhere because we’re doing too many things at once.”

The pressure and understaffing are not new to this industry; however, they have worsened during the pandemic. New duties like COVID-19 testing, deep cleaning, amongst their other daily duties stretches technicians thin in an understaffed and overworked environment.

The more overworked pharmacists are, the most room for error there is. There could be a minor mistake that occurs, such as overcounting a prescription by 1 or 2 pills. But in more fatal cases, such as missing a drug interaction, could cost someone their life.

While pharmacies have already started to vaccinate Americans across the country, many pharmacies are concerned about the staffing levels. Will there be additional staffing to vaccinate people? Or will technicians simply have to figure out how to factor this into their already packed day?

For Jerominski, vaccinations are going well at her pharmacy; however, work has been piling up in other areas as she struggles to find the time to do it all.

“It’s just so crazy… It’s 1 o’clock, I’ve done 14 COVID vaccinations this morning between filing prescriptions… it’s wonderful we’re doing this. This is what we’re supposed to be doing. But we need more help,” she explains.

‘Timed to the minute’

A pharmacist’s job is more than simply putting pills in a bottle, putting them on a shelf, and ringing up a patient once they come to pick up their prescription. Pharmacists are some of the most well-educated health professionals who earn four-year clinical doctorates, that includes rotations and often, post-grad residencies.

Medication management services can save billions in annual care expenses for customers. Many pharmacists say that’s why they got into the field, but now they have less opportunity to use those skills.

Like many large pharmacy chains, Walgreens gives pharmacists a range of metrics to meet and monitor when spending time on various tasks, including calls, taking care of patients, prescription fillings, and vaccinations per week. The chains began pushing pharmacists more when profit margins began shrinking a little nearly a decade ago.

“Basically, your day is timed out by the minute – it’s like the worst case of micromanaging you can imagine,” said one Alabama pharmacist who has worked at Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid within the last decade.

‘The picture was grim’

Pharmacists who work at chains say the country’s chain pharmacies are much different from independently owned pharmacies. Jerominski’s husband, Shane, manages an independent pharmacy. He was part of a class action lawsuit against his past employer, Walgreens, over wages and other issues. While the lawsuit settled in 2014, he said his stressed dropped tremendously when he switched to working at an independent pharmacy.

“My level of autonomy is vastly different than my [wife’s] and the amount of help that I get is different than [hers],” he explains.

While there is still plenty of stress at his pharmacy, the staffing is far better and isn’t upheld to metrics he use to once be accountable for making.

“I would never go back, honestly,” he says.

A 2019 National Pharmacist Workforce Study surveyed thousands of pharmacists every 5 years. More than two-thirds of pharmacists said their workload had risen in the past year. At retail chain pharmacies, 91 percent of pharmacists said their workload was “high” or “excessively high.

In another survey, pharmacists gave retail chain pharmacies an “unfavorable rating” in every category, from patient safety to shift lengths and staffing. Most worked more than 10 hour shifts per day with many reporting they arrived early or stayed late and never took a meal break.

In recent years, states such as Illinois, California, and Virginia have created new rules, from caping shift lengths to mandating safe staffing levels and prohibiting excessive metrics.