Personal injury losses

Author(s):  
Andrew Burrows

Personal injury includes disease and physical illness as well as, for example, cuts, bruises, broken bones, loss of limbs or loss of the use of limbs, blindness, deafness, and brain damage. Recognised psychiatric illnesses are included. Damages have also been awarded for the physical and mental effects of a rape or sexual assault.

Author(s):  
Paul Ramchandani ◽  
Alan Stein ◽  
Lynne Murray

A broad range of physical and psychiatric illnesses commonly affect adults of parenting age. For example, approximately 13 per cent of women are affected by depression in the postnatal period, and the prevalence of depression in parents of all ages remains high. Many parents will also experience severe physical illness; breast cancer affects approximately 1 in 12 women in the United Kingdom, about a third of whom have children of school age. Worldwide HIV has an enormous impact on adults of parenting age. In some parts of sub-Saharan Africa up to 40 per cent of women attending antenatal clinics are HIV positive. Many of these parental disorders are associated with an increased risk of adverse emotional and social development in their children, and in some cases cognitive development and physical health are also compromized. It must be emphasized that a significant proportion of children at high risk do not develop problems and demonstrate resilience, and, many parents manage to rear their children well despite their own illness. Nonetheless these risks represent a significant additional impact and burden of adult disease (both physical and psychiatric) that is often overlooked. This chapter reviews the current state of evidence regarding selected examples of psychiatric and physical conditions, from which general themes can be extracted to guide clinical practice. Some of the key mechanisms whereby childhood disturbance does or does not develop in conjunction with parental illness are considered, and strategies for management and intervention reviewed.


2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051987794
Author(s):  
Caitlin M. Pinciotti ◽  
Antonia V. Seligowski

Despite its prevalence, sexual assault remains a vastly underreported crime. Previous research suggests that engagement in certain types of resistance during an assault affects the way in which both victims and others perceive the attack; such perceptions influence victims’ likelihood of reporting the assault to law enforcement as well as the criminal justice system response to reported allegations. Using a fight/flight/freeze theoretical framework, the current study sought to examine how forceful, nonforceful, and freeze responding influenced victim reporting and the extent to which reported assaults were pursued and investigated by law enforcement. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey between 2010 and 2016, logistic regression analysis indicated that victims are significantly less likely to report to law enforcement if they froze during the attack. Interestingly, although engagement in forceful resistance increases victims’ likelihood of reporting to law enforcement, it has no bearing on law enforcement response beyond the effect of physical injury. Rather, physical injury (e.g., bruises, cuts, broken bones) is the only predictor of law enforcement response to sexual assault allegations. Findings suggest that whereas fight and freeze responses to sexual victimization influence victims’ willingness to report to law enforcement, resistance is not uniquely predictive of law enforcement response once physical injury is considered.


1975 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.F. Standage

Four patients have been described who were believed to be suffering from hysterical attacks. The recent literature on hysterical seizures has been examined and the four new patients were added to two other reported series to provide a profile of 25 cases. Preceding or accompanying physical illness was a common finding, and 32 percent of subjects had a previous history of neurological disease. The existence of a substrate of CNS damage is supported by the finding of EEG abnormalities in 40 percent of patients. In other ways the cases resembled classical descriptions of subjects liable to hysterical illness. The operation of either dissociative or conversion mechanisms during the attacks was difficult to demonstrate, and suggestion was sometimes the only factor found to account for the form of the symptoms. Further studies to examine the nature of the relationship between brain damage and hysterical disorders appear justified.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-5
Author(s):  
Sheila Wendler

Abstract Attorneys use the term pain and suffering to indicate the subjective, intangible effects of an individual's injury, and plaintiffs may seek compensation for “pain and suffering” as part of a personal injury case although it is not usually an element of a workers’ compensation case. The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), Fifth Edition, provides guidance for rating pain qualitatively or quantitatively in certain cases, but, because of the subjectivity and privateness of the patient's experience, the AMA Guides offers no quantitative approach to assessing “pain and suffering.” The AMA Guides also cautions that confounders of pain behaviors and perception of pain include beliefs, expectations, rewards, attention, and training. “Pain and suffering” is challenging for all parties to value, particularly in terms of financial damages, and using an individual's medical expenses as an indicator of “pain and suffering” simply encourages excessive diagnostic and treatment interventions. The affective component, ie, the uniqueness of this subjective experience, makes it difficult for others, including evaluators, to grasp its meaning. Experienced evaluators recognize that a myriad of factors play a role in the experience of suffering associated with pain, including its intensity and location, the individual's ability to conceptualize pain, the meaning ascribed to pain, the accompanying injury or illness, and the social understanding of suffering.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-10
Author(s):  
Deborah Rutt ◽  
Kathyrn Mueller

Abstract Physicians who use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) often serve as medical expert witnesses. In workers’ compensation cases, the expert may appear in front of a judge or hearing officer; in personal injury and other cases, the physician may testify by deposition or in court before a judge with or without a jury. This article discusses why medical expert witnesses are needed, what they do, and how they can help or hurt a case. Whether it is rendered by a judge or jury, the final opinions rely on laypersons’ understanding of medical issues. Medical expert testimony extracts from the intricacies of the medical literature those facts the trier of fact needs to understand; highlights the medical facts pertinent to decision making; and explains both these in terms that are understandable to a layperson, thereby enabling the judge or jury to render well-informed opinions. For expert witnesses, communication is everything, including nonverbal communication that critically determines if judges and, particularly, jurors believe a witness. To these ends, an expert medical witnesses should know the case; be objective; be a good teacher; state opinions clearly; testify with appropriate professional demeanor; communicate well, both verbally and nonverbally; in verbal communications, explain medical terms and procedures so listeners can understand the case; and avoid medical jargon, finding fault or blaming, becoming argumentative, or appearing arrogant.


2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 428-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Grattan-Smith ◽  
I Hopkins ◽  
L Shield ◽  
D Boldt

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Martina Kindsmüller ◽  
Andrea Kaindl ◽  
Uwe Schuri ◽  
Alf Zimmer

Topographical Orientation in Patients with Acquired Brain Damage Abstract: A study was conducted to investigate the abilities of topographical orientation in patients with acquired brain damage. The first study investigates the correlation between wayfinding in a hospital setting and various sensory and cognitive deficits as well as the predictability of navigating performance by specific tests, self-rating of orientation ability and rating by staff. The investigation included 35 neuropsychological patients as well as 9 control subjects. Several variables predicted the wayfinding performance reasonably well: memory tests like the one introduced by Muramoto and a subtest of the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, the Map Reading Test and the rating by hospital staff. Patients with hemianopia experienced significant difficulty in the task.


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