Barnes Law Group Wins Final Approval For $14 Million Insurance Suit
August 18, 2010 - A Fulton County Georgia state court judge has given final approval for the settlement of a suit challenging the unlawful health insurance renewal premiums charged to more than 3,000 Georgians. BLG attorney John Bevis, one of the lead attorneys for the class, says "This is a meaningful settlement with a real cash payout. It is not one of those settlements where you get coupons or a $25 discount off your next purchase."
Class members who were insured under the UMEG IMP policy issued by Fortis Benefits Insurance Company and submit a claim will receive a refund of 112% of the amount they wrongly paid. The case has been litigated all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court.
To read the front page cover story of the Fulton County Daily Report, click here.
Wrongful Death Action filed in Drowning Death of Cobb Police Officer, Thomas "Brent" Stephens
Monday, August 23, 2010 - Today, the widow of Thomas "Brent" Stephens filed a civil lawsuit against Kenneth Paul Reda arising from Brent's death in a boating collision on Lake Allatoona on the night of April 22, 2010. The suit was filed by Lori Stephens in the Superior Court of Paulding County. Also named were Reda's wife, Melissa, and his father-in-law, who the suit alleges may be responsible because they may have owned the boat and permitted Reda to use it.
Brent Stephens and Reda were friends and fellow police officers and SWAT Team members with the Cobb County Police Department. Reda was driving the boat and Brent, along with Shelley Powell, were passengers. The suit alleges Reda drove the boat into a fixed marker at a high rate of speed at night, causing part of the marker to break off and strike and injure Brent and throw him overboard, where he drowned.
The suit also claims Reda tampered with evidence and made false statements to conceal what happened. "Rather than immediately call 911 for his friend," John Salter said, "Reda instructed Mrs. Powell to remove all the empty beer bottles, conspired to mislead law enforcement, falsely denied there was any alcohol on board, and lied to the 911 operator and the other first responders about what happened." Mr. Salter is counsel for Lori Stephens, along with Allison Barnes Salter, both of the Barnes Law Group in Marietta.
According to the suit, Reda deceived law enforcement into thinking Brent jumped from the boat as prank because if law enforcement believed Brent would be found alive, Reda hoped he might avoid a blood alcohol test. Emergency crews searched throughout the night of April 22. Brent's body was not found until the next afternoon. According to Allison Salter, "it is awful that Brent's family spent hours hoping to find him alive when Reda knew the truth all along. And some of the things Reda said to mislead the investigation have been unnecessary, untrue and very hurtful to the family."
"I know Brent and Lori because we all went to South Cobb High School and were around the same age. It might be a long legal journey, but our goal is to collect a substantial monetary judgment that will mitigate for Lori and her young children the loss of a brave officer and, to them, a really good husband and father."
Motorcycle Accident Resulting In Brain Damage/Cerebral Trauma
Charlie Tanksley recently obtained a settlement in the amount of $825,000.00 in a case pending in the Superior Court of Paulding County, Georgia for a 56 year old motorcyclist injured when the cyclist had to lay his bike down to avoid a motorist that pulled out in front of the motorcycle from a stop sign.
The occurrence was initially written up by the investigating officer as a single vehicle accident. The report stated that the motorcyclist simply lost control of the motorcycle and overturned in the median of SR 120 at the intersection with Evans Mill Drive in Paulding County, Georgia.
As a result of a thorough investigation by the Barnes Law Group, an eye-witness was identified. The witness was traveling immediately behind the motorcyclist and he testified on video deposition that a white SUV pulled in front of the motorcycle. Additional efforts resulted in the discovery of 911 recordings that led to the identification of the driver of the SUV. In addition, an occupant of the SUV stated during the 911 call that "must not have seen the cyclist and he was trying to avoid us when he wrecked."
Barnes Law Group Wins Appeal In Medical Malpractice Case:
When a child is injured during the birthing process, Georgia law requires parents to bring a claim to recover the future medical expenses within two years of the negligent act, even though the child has seven years to file suit. But what happens when you didn't realize and weren't told there was medical negligence surrounding the birth?
Parents represented by Barnes Law Group recently won an appeal answering this question because evidence was uncovered during the case that the medical providers concealed important information from the parents, including that the baby´s breech presentation was not determined upon admission, that there were fetal heart decelerations during the birthing process and that there was a 33 minute gap just before the birth, where no fetal heart rate was recorded. The hospital also redacted the time stamps from the lab reports to make discovery of the negligence more difficult.
Despite that more than two years has passed, the parents still sued asserting the medical errors caused their baby to suffer brain damage and develop cerebral palsy. The suit also claimed that the medical providers tried to hide their mistakes by saying the baby was not deprived of oxygen during the birthing process. After Barnes Law Group uncovered many misrepresentations that were made to the family, the nurse midwife and hospital defendants sought to dismiss the parents´ claims for future medical expenses as untimely. In a 19 page opinion, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that the evidence was "sufficient to create a jury question on the issue of whether Defendants´ deliberately misrepresented and withheld information." The appeal successfully reversed a trial court ruling that would have prevented the parents from recovering the cost of future medical care to treat cerebral palsy until she was 18 years old.
This is a significant case for other victims of medical malpractice because it expressly reaffirms that "a physician has a fiduciary duty to inform his patient of any injury or negligent mistreatment [and that the patient] has the right to rely upon what her physician tells her." Therefore, when a doctor, nurse or hospital doesn´t give a full disclosure about what happens in a medical procedure, the time to sue for medical negligence can be tolled.
Barnes Law Group Wins Preliminary Approval Of $11 Million Class Action Settlement Against Fortis.
A Fulton County State Court Judge has given preliminary approval for the settlement of a class action lawsuit against Fortis Benefits Insurance Company and others. The case alleges that FBIC improperly raised health insurance premiums based on length of time the policy was in force and medical condition of policyholders. Notice of the settlement with an opportunity to participate in the $11 Million settlement will be mailed to more than 5,700 Georgians by June 14th.
This action involves 5,757 Georgia insurance consumers that purchased an Upper Midwest Employer Group Individual Medical Plan (UMEG IMP) issued by Fortis Benefits Insurance Company from 1996 through July 2008. Daniel S. Kahn, DC, brought suit in 2004 claiming that certain Georgia laws and regulations imposed limits on the amount of renewal premiums that could be charged for small group health insurance that was marketed and sold to Georgia small business owners and individuals. The trial court certified the case as a class action lawsuit in 2008 and a settlement agreement was reached after the Supreme Court of Georgia denied review of the Court of Appeals decision to affirm a Fulton County trial court's class certification order. The case is reported as Fortis Ins. Co. v. Kahn, 299 Ga.App. 319, 683 S.E.2d 4 (2009), cert. denied (2010).
Court Approves Termination of Bariatric Surgeon’s Privileges
Recently, a Georgia appellate court upheld an Atlanta-area hospital’s decision to terminate the medical privileges of Celio O. Burrowes, M.D., a bariatric surgeon specializing in gastric bypass. If you believe someone you know is a victim of medical malpractice by Burrowes or another doctor, click on the "read more" link and contact the Barnes Law Group.
The Barnes Law Group Wins Class Certification Status
In a case against Assurant, Inc., Fortis Insurance Companies and Rogers Benefit Group, The case involves more than 5,700 Georgians who purchased a UMEG/IMP health insurance plan.
Barnes Law Group Wins $12 Million For Georgia Small Business Owners in Premium Refunds Class Action.
The case challenged the methodology used by the insurance companies to set renewal premiums for health insurance and claimed that business owners were charged too much.
Barnes Law Group Helps Family of American Victims of Al-Zarqawi Win in Excess of $400 Million Against
In a case against Syria for Sponsoring Terrorism.
Roy Barnes was named to Georgia Trend Magazine's "Legal Elite" for his pro bono work.
Attorneys were selected by their peers as the most effective in 10 different practice areas.
