Chicago Personal
Injury Attorney Blog

When injured on the job in Illinois, many workers fear they will become responsible for paying mounting medical bills.  In this case, it is often advisable to seek representation by a Chicago personal injury attorney who specializes in workers comp cases. He or she can ensure your rights are protected. Under the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Act, your employer is responsible for payment of all medical bills that are reasonable, necessary, and related to the work injury.  An Illinois personal injury lawyer can help you ensure payment is made by your employer or its workers’ comp insurance carrier.

Due to some recent amendments to the worker’s compensation laws, medical providers are no longer allowed to place unpaid medical bills in collections, or send you a bill for the unpaid balance, or file suit on those bills. All they can do is send you reminders.  There are certain actions that you or your Chicago personal injury attorney need to take in order to place the medical provider on notice that a bill is related to a worker’s compensation claim.  Once they are made aware of that fact, they have to hold those bills in abeyance until the conclusion of your Worker’s Compensation claim.

Obviously, if a bill is found to be not compensable under your workers comp case, you are ultimately responsible for payment. However, as long as those bills are related to the work injury, you have a right to have your employer or its workers comp insurance carrier pay those bills.  A competent Illinois personal injury lawyer who concentrates on workers comp cases can ease your worries about payment, and ensure you are protected according to the law.

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Up to one hundred times more potent than morphine, fentanyl patches have already caused hundreds of deaths. If you or a loved one have been injured or experienced severe side effects due to a pain relieving patch, please contact a Chicago personal injury attorney immediately.

Duragesic is the trade name of a “fentanyl transdermal therapeutic system” which is a pain relieving patch that delivers powerful drugs (fentanyl) through the skin over several days. It is manufactured by ALZA Corporation and marketed by Janssen Pharmaceutica (both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson).

Considered an opioid pain medication, fentanyl is typically used to treat severe intractable pain (such as cancer pain). However, doctors have become far more likely to prescribe it for less serious afflictions such as migraines, surgical pain and back pain.

Since Duragesic patches release fentanyl slowly through the skin, one patch can provide 72 hours of pain relief. Unfortunately, a design flaw has caused some patches to leak fentanyl into the body faster than the body can absorb it, prompting the FDA to launch an investigation of over 120 deaths assoicated with the patch.

While you may not have heard much about it on the news recently, patients continue to suffer frightening and potentially deadly side effects from overdose of this powerful and highly addictive narcotic in and around Illinois. Personal injury lawyers are forced to step in when patients are harmed by this product.

In Chicago, personal injury attorneys warn health care professionals who prescribe the fentanyl skin patch and patients who use the fentanyl skin patch and their caregivers should be aware of the following signs of fentanyl overdose:

• Trouble breathing or shallow breathing

• Tiredness, extreme sleepiness or sedation

• Inability to think, talk or walk normally

• Feeling faint, dizzy or confused

If these signs occur, patients or their caregivers should get medical attention right away

If you or a loved one have experienced any of these potentially lethal side effects from the Duragesic Patch please contact an Illinois personal injury lawyer immediately.

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It has become devastatingly apparent to Illinois personal injury lawyers that drug coated heart stents could be ticking time bombs. Millions have patients have already been implanted with these permanent devices. Now, recently published reports of studies by the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that drug-eluting stents were associated with an increased rate of death, as compared with bare-metal stents. (March 8, 2007). Families of patients who have died unnecessarily due to these stent are desperately seeking compensation with the aid of Chicago personal injury attorneys.

What are “stents”?

Stents are tiny pieces of wire used to prevent heart attacks by keeping arteries open. Drug-eluting stents contain drugs that potentially reduce the chance the arteries will become blocked again. The downfall is that they create a place where potentially deadly blood clots can form and cause heart attacks.

The American College of Cardiology announced last year that implanting drug-coated stents in addition to traditional drug therapy alone provided no lasting benefit. The news comes as a surprise to many in the cardiac community, and perhaps another blow to the makers of drug coated stents.

So why are they continuing to be used?

If you or someone you love has had a drug-eluding stent implanted, please contact a Chicago personal injury attorney immediately.

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In recent years, we’ve seen a rash of litigation and class action lawsuits involving defective products in the pharmaceuticals industry. Whether it be medical devices causing injury or death, or pharmaceutical products introducing new risks to patients, in Chicago, personal injury attorneys regularly fight cases on behalf of injured parties.

Very recently, federal regulators announced new warnings for anemia drugs following evidence that they can cause blood clots, worsen cancer, and increase the risk of death in some patients. Illinois personal injury lawyers are representing these cases in staggering numbers.

The culprits - Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit - are in a class of drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), primarily used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure (such as those with end-stage renal disease who require dialysis) and in patients with cancer whose anemia is caused by chemotherapy.

According to an FDA Public Health Advisory, reports of studies with ESAs show a higher chance of serious and life-threatening side effects and greater number of deaths in patients treated with these agents. Officials say Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit must now carry “black-box” warnings (the most serious kind) on the labels of the anemia drugs to warn about the newly identified risks, including: “Increased Mortality, Serious Cardiovascular and Thromboembolic Events”. The agency is currently re-evaluating the safe use of this drug class.

As the fifth-leading class of prescription pharmaceuticals sold in the US, these drugs are blatantly advertised directly to consumers, even though they are extremely expensive and only available by injection. In and around Chicago, personal injury attorneys who specialize in defective products cases believe these advertisements have contributed to over-prescribing by doctors, for uses which are often not FDA-approved.

If you or a loved one have been prescribed Aranesp, Epogen or Procrit, please contact an Illinois personal injury lawyer immediately.

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In Chicago, personal injury attorneys who specialize in consumer law often represent individuals who have been harmed by predatory lenders and unfair debt collection practices.

The Truth In Lending Act (TILA) requires the disclosure of credit terms prior to entry into a consumer credit contract. These disclosures which include the annual percentage rate, amount financed, finance charge, amount and timing of payments, etc. must be in writing in a form the consumer may keep. In cases where a lender or consumer credit issuer fails to comply with the TILA, borrowers now have legal recourse and may consider seeking the aid of an Illinois personal injury lawyer.

In Chicago, personal injury attorneys point out common violations of the TILA which include:

• The Two Note Case

The two-note case is where the consumer is required to sign a contract which does not give the TILA disclosures, either containing no terms of financing or only partial, incomplete disclosures. At a later date, the consumer is required to sign a contract containing all of the required information. But the TILA information comes too late; the consumer is already bound. Common areas of this violation are car sales and home improvements. The seller will have the consumer sign a contract without the TILA disclosures and later have the consumer sign another contract containing the TILA disclosures.

• Spiking

A contract which imposes a security interest in the consumer’s residence (other than the first mortgage) must provide a three-day right of rescission. Sometimes in home improvement contracts the contractor will begin work before the expiration of the rescission period. This practice is called “spiking” and violates the TILA. Also, the failure to give the proper notice including the correct number of forms violates the TILA.

• Hidden Finance Charges

The inflation of the purchase price in a credit transaction in excess of the price in a cash transaction is a hidden finance charge. An example is where the seller charges a lower purchase price when the item is purchased for cash ($100.00) but charges a greater amount when the item is financed ($120.00) We have seen this practice in the sale of health club memberships, the sales of motor vehicles, etc.

If you believe you or someone you know are a victim of a violation of TILA, and you live in or around Chicago, personal injury attorneys can help you seek just compensation as permitted by law.

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In Chicago, personal injury attorneys regularly represent clients who have been taken advantage of by an unfair lease agreement. These Illinois personal injury lawyers rely on the Consumer Leasing Act as a guideline. The Consumer Leasing Act is a federal law requiring lease agreements to include certain terms, which include:

1. A statement of the number of lease payments and their dollar amounts
2. Penalties for not paying on time
3. Whether or not a lump sum payment is due at the end of the agreement

Violations of the Consumer Leasing Act are often apparent from the lease itself. In Illinois, personal injury lawyers who specialize in consumer law find common violations include:

• Unreasonable Early Termination Formula

The calculation of the amount due on termination of the lease before its termination date is determined by the early termination formula set forth in the lease. Any unreasonable charges or penalties for early termination may violate this provision. Examples include the prohibition of terminating the lease, e.g., during the first year, the addition of amounts not charged at the end of the lease, an unreasonable result as a result of applying the formula, e.g, the application of the formula during the last few months of the lease results in a disproportionately larger amount due than when applied earlier in the lease.

• Disclosure of Warranties

The lease must state all warranties available on the vehicle, not just the warranties extended by the lessor. Thus, the failure to state the manufacturer’s warranty violates the CLA.

• Disclosure of Interest on Security Deposits

In recent decisions, it has been held that the lease must disclose whether interest on a security deposit will be paid and to whom. Many lessors do not disclose that interest is being earned on the security deposit and retained by the lessor. These cases do not require that the lessor must pay interest earned on the security deposit to the consumer, only that the practice be disclosed.

• Failure to Follow the Early Termination Formula

The Seventh Circuit has recently held that the failure to apply the early termination formula as stated in the lease, even though the method applied was more advantageous to the consumer, violated the Consumer Leasing Act. Failure to Disclose the Trade-In or Down Payment Failure of the lease to set forth the trade-in and/or any moneys paid to reduce the price of the lease violates the CLA. Sometimes dealers will fail to state the consumer’s trade-in or down payment of the lease. The CLA is thus violated.

If you believe you or someone you know were the victim of a violation of the Consumer Leasing Act, you should contact an Illinois personal injury lawyer if you live in or around Chicago. Personal injury attorneys who specialize in consumer law can help you understand your rights according to the law.

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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is used by Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers who fight for consumers in and around Chicago. Personal Injury Attorneys who specialize in consumer rights understand the following provisions (along with those from the previous post):

• Suit Filed in an Improper Venue

When an attorney attempting to collect a debt files suit in a venue other than where the consumer resides or where the contract was signed, the Act may be violated. The Act limits suits regarding real estate to the jurisdiction where the land is located. For personal debts, a collection action may be filed only where the consumer resides or where the contract was signed

• Communications with Third Parties

The collector may not communicate regarding the debt with anyone other than the consumer, his or her attorney, a consumer reporting agency, the creditor, and the creditor’s and consumer’s attorneys. Contact with the consumer’s employer or co-workers may violate the Act.

• Contradiction or Overshadowing of the Thirty-Day Validation Notice

The collector is required to inform the consumer in the first communication or within five (5) days thereof that the consumer has thirty (30) days within which to dispute the debt, request in writing verification of the alleged debt, and/or request in writing the name and address of the original creditor. To contradict or overshadow this thirty (30) day period within which the consumer may exercise his rights violates the Act. The contradiction need not be threatening to violate the Act.

• Failure to Provide the Consumer Notice

The failure to give the validation notice, discussed in the foregoing paragraph, and the debt collection warning, i.e. — this is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose, violates the Act. In all subsequent communications the collector must state that the communication is from a debt collector.

If you believe a third-party debt collector violated your rights under the FDCPA and you live in or around Chicago, personal injury attorneys can help protect you from further harm. In Illinois, personal injury lawyers who are dedicated to consumer rights fight against debt collection abuse every day.

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As our Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys described in the previous two posts, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is one of the most important federal statutes protecting consumers today. Prior to this enactment, Congress found abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors.

As we often see in the news, abusive debt collection practices contribute substantially to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of personal privacy. In Illinois, personal injury lawyers find existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers, and are actively promoting consistent state action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.

Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys help their clients understand these following major provisions of the Act:

• Addition of Unauthorized Amounts to the Debt

Debt collectors and collection attorneys will sometimes add amounts to the debt that are not authorized. One example is the addition of fees or service charges to dishonored checks. The addition of fees or service charges, without compliance with state law concerning notification of dishonored check and limits on the charge, is illegal. Also, the addition of collection costs and/or attorney’s fees where not provided for by the contract or law is illegal.

• Mass-Mailing of Attorney Letters

Collection letters sent on the letterhead of an attorney or over the facsimile signature of an attorney often violate the Act. The attorney must review the creditor’s file, reach a professional determination of the merits of the case, and participate in the decision to mail the collection letter. In a mass-mailing situation the attorney’s participation does not reach this level.

• Threats of Action That Cannot Be Legally Taken or Not Intended to Be Taken

Collection letters that threaten a lawsuit, wage garnishment, seizure of property, etc. often are threats of unintended action. The law provides that neither the collector nor the attorney may overstate the remedies available to the creditor. Where the amount of the debt is small or the consumer has little or no assets, the threat of a collection action is usually false. In almost all circumstances threats of arrest for nonpayment of the debt are also false.

In the next post, Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys will discuss further provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

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Despite the passage of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, consumer complaints about debt collection abuse continue to increase. In Illinois, Personal Injury Lawyers often represent consumers who have faced debt collection abuse.

Chicago personal injury attorneys point out that a third-party debt collector is someone other than the business or its employees where an obligation arose, and represent consumers in these cases.

Last year, consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about third-party debt collectors increased both in absolute terms and as a percentage of all complaints that consumers filed with the FTC during the course of the year. Consumers often must rely on the assistance of an Illinois personal injury lawyer to ensure their rights are protected, as specified by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The number of consumer complaints filed in 2005 against third-party collectors — 66,627 — was higher than the number of consumer complaints filed against any other specific industry last year.

The 66,627 third party collector complaints represent 19.1% of all complaints the FTC received in 2005. By comparison, in 2004, consumers filed 58,698 complaints with the Commission about third-party collectors, representing 17% of all complaints received that year.

For more information, contact an Chicago Personal Injury Attorney who specializes in Consumer Debt Collection Abuse today.

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When representing people in debt collection cases in Illinois, Personal Injury Lawyers who specialize in consumer cases often rely on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (aka FDCPA) to help legally define a consumer’s rights. The FDCPA regulates how debt collectors may conduct business, and defines penalties and remedies for violations.

The FDCPA is a United States statute that was added to the Consumer Credit Protection Act in 1978. Its purpose is to:

• Eliminate abusive practices in the collection of consumer debts
• Promote fair debt collection
• Provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information’s accuracy

In Chicago, Personal Injury Attorneys help consumers understand the FDCPA’s definitions of “consumers” and “debt”, and how it specifically restricts coverage to personal, family or household transactions. Debts owed by businesses (or by individuals for business purposes) are not subject to the FDCPA.

If you believe you were treated in a way that violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and you live in Illinois, Personal Injury Lawyers can answer your questions, ease your anxieties and help protect you.

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