For patients and healthcare workers alike, the assertive and dominant culture of the medical profession can be a menacing stumbling block. To be certain, doctors are meant to make tough calls based on a range of highly specialized knowledge not accessible to the general public. But, when doctor attitudes cross the line from confidence to arrogance, patients all too often have to pay a dear price. Why is arrogance commonly observed in the medical field? Of course, not all doctors are arrogant, and there are many practicing physicians who go about their work with a ...

Dealing with the aftermath of a marriage dissolving can be emotionally draining --especially when two exes are battling each other over money and assets. In some cases, making payments to an ex-spouse can be taxing, but there is one tool available that can make it easier. What is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order? A Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QRDO, can be established as a way to pay your ex-spouse support payments, or divide marital assets, by transferring all or part of the funds in your pension plan to your ex. These arrangements can be made from ...

Getting diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness is one of the scariest things most people will ever experience. Of course, the most pressing concern is often one of life or death. But after the initial shock wears off and a treatment plan is created, many people in Oregon find themselves facing a different, yet equally troubling prospect: how on earth will they handle all the bills? Serious illness or injury is one of the most common reasons people file for bankruptcy, both in Oregon and throughout the United States. According to data published by the New York ...

In November 2012, New Athens, Missouri Police Chief, Dallas Hill, was charged with two felony counts of official misconduct and one felony count of theft. The charges arose after Chief Hill helped himself to an iPod and iPad from the police department's evidence room that were being held as part of a commercial burglary and forgery case. If there was any doubt as to Hill's intentions, a forensic analysis verified that Hill had been using the devices. Aside from the moral and criminal implications of Hill's behavior, his case touches on the importance of the proper handling ...

Like the companies they serve, international arbitration venues are also subject to the pressures of competition. Various arbitration locations and policies have their advantages, and arbitration laws can make a big difference in parties' decisions about where they want commercial disputes to be resolved. Among the many reforms to international arbitration in 2012, Saudi Arabia overhauled its arbitration law to modernize outmoded practices and lessen the chances that Saudi courts will intervene in arbitrated disputes. The new law is based largely on the Model Law created ...

There's no doubt that family structure is changing in the twenty-first century. Gone are the days of the nuclear family being the norm; more kids are being born outside of, and in between, marriages. Even so, under current California law, children can have at most two legal parents. In stepfamily or open-adoption scenarios, this can create certain family challenges; after all, courts generally assign custody, visitation and child support among the legally recognized parents. For some California lawmakers and concerned citizens, the solution is a law that would explicitly ...

When workers suffer injuries on the job, their options for recovering compensation for medical expenses and lost income are different from typical personal injury claims. Whether they are eligible for workers compensation or also have a third-party claim due to a work-related car or truck accident, a work injury attorney can explain the legal complexities. A recent case before the Supreme Court of North Carolina reveals some of the challenges that may arise before a worker secures the right to benefits. In McAdams v. Safety Kleen Systems, a North Carolina truck driver's ...

Beneath our streets and roads, 2.5 million miles of pipelines quietly carry the fuel and hazardous materials that our economy and daily lives depend on. While our energy supply needs these pipelines, some are asking whether aging pipelines are putting our safety in jeopardy. The question has significant implications for Texas, which the state Railroad Commission estimates has 366,274 miles of pipeline. As a new ProPublica report shows, the risk of catastrophic spills and explosions from pipelines is real. Pipeline accidents across the United States have killed more than ...

On October 29, the FBI announced the results of their latest crime survey: in 2011, violent crime fell for the fifth year in a row, while property crime rates declined for the ninth consecutive year. The new numbers are the latest in a precipitous drop in criminal activity that has spanned nearly two decades. But, while crime rates continue to fall, law enforcement spending remains a government priority; this could mean that if you are accused of a crime, plenty of resources will be aligned against you. Crime drops again as part of 20-year trend According to FBI ...

Winter is here, and that means Baltimore-area motorists will be facing several months of wet and snowy driving conditions. Even though winters in Maryland are not as severe as in other parts of the country, cold snaps and winter storms can still pose significant hazards for drivers. Since car accidents are more likely to occur in inclement weather, drivers must pay special attention to winter weather safety. The need for vigilance is even greater for delivery drivers, sales professionals and others whose jobs require them to spend a significant amount of time on the ...

The pain of losing a child is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a parent. When a child's death occurs because of a completely preventable accident, the tragic loss is often accompanied by an overwhelming sense of injustice. One South Carolina family has been dealing with this exact situation for nearly a year, after their 4-year-old daughter was killed in a March 2012 truck accident. The girl was riding as a passenger in her father's SUV when their vehicle was rear-ended by a semi-truck. The child died at the scene of the accident; officials said her ...

According to records kept by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts and police, there were roughly 900 citations issued to motorists under Pennsylvania's new "no texting while driving" law during the first eight months of the texting ban. And while there is little question as to why the texting law was passed - namely, to make the roads safer and curb distracted driving car accidents - many police officers are finding the new law difficult to enforce. This difficulty in enforcing the law stems from the fact that it does not forbid motorists from ...

In the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident, injury victims face medical challenges, financial struggles and a host of legal complexities. One thing that they justifiably depend on is prompt payment from insurance companies to help them deal with property losses, vehicle damage and the steep costs of a personal injury. Many consumer advocates, physicians and car accident attorneys have expressed worries about recent reforms of New Jersey's personal injury protection (PIP) auto insurance. The overhaul comes due to concerns about escalating costs, given that New Jersey ...

You may know the basic differences between "secured" and "unsecured" debt. Secured debt is attached to some asset like a car or a home. The asset serves as collateral for the money owed, and can be seized by the lender if the loan becomes delinquent. Unsecured debt, on the other hand, is not linked to specific possessions or property, although creditors may try to get the money they're owed by hiring a bill collectors or a filing a lawsuit. Credit card debt, medical bills and student loans are all examples of unsecured debt. If you are facing burdensome ...

For many professions, a nationwide job search is the norm. A promotion or advancement in an industry often requires relocation to another office or a new company location. In some cases, an opportunity may even take you to another country. A move to another state or across the country with a family is even more challenging. Finding appropriate housing and starting a new position are exciting yet stressful events. Divorced parents face the added hurdle of working with a former spouse to ensure that children from the marriage continue to have opportunities to see each ...

Anytime a person is harmed in a car or truck accident, the potential for serious long-term injuries is present. When the injury victim is struck in a motorcycle crash, pedestrian accident or bicycle accident, the lack of external protection and restraints more frequently means catastrophic injuries or a wrongful death. A review of recent statistics from the Oregon Department of Transportation shows a significant increase in pedestrian deaths over last year. With a pedestrian death on the Hawthorne bridge in Portland in late October, Oregon marked its 48th fatality of ...

South Florida's struggling citizens filed fewer bankruptcies in the summer months, but now that the kids are back in school, bankruptcy filings are on the upswing again, at least according to data compiled by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the South Florida Business Journal. October saw considerably more bankruptcy filings in the Broward county, Palm Beach county and Miami-Dade county areas than had been filed in September. Legal experts blame the uptick in filings on several factors, among them: - Lenders resuming foreclosures after the self-imposed moratorium ...

A multitude of strategies and smart public policies can help keep our highways safer for drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. From smart highway design and drunk driving enforcement, to vehicle safety standards and distracted driving laws, decades of progress have led to reductions in serious and fatal car and truck accidents. State laws have long recognized that teenagers are generally mature enough to be granted driving privileges. Nonetheless, one important recent development in many states regarding teen drivers is graduated licensing, which restricts driving ...

When Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, the state joined Washington as the only two states to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults. While questions remain about whether the U.S. Department of Justice will assert federal supremacy, marijuana legalization brings major changes to prosecutions under Colorado criminal law. Government officials estimate that Amendment 64 could contribute tens of millions in revenue to the state with the passage of sales tax and licensing fees. Amendment 64 authorizes marijuana growth, processing, testing and sales at four types ...

Almost a year and a half after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an internal civil rights review of its high-profile federal immigration enforcement program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed that the results are not forthcoming. A DHS official recently stated that data collection challenges have delayed conclusions about whether the Secure Communities program empowers local law enforcement agencies to engage in racial profiling. Secure Communities was announced in 2008 as a means to help ICE prioritize removal proceedings for undocumented ...

After the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent financial bailout of 2009, several monitoring and review measures were put into place. The most prominent, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), supervises the actions of the financial industry. It is the watchdog created from the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and has the authority to determine if bank and non-bank financial institutions are playing by the rules. These steps were needed because many of the industry actions taken prior to the CFPB's formation caused ...

Clark & Washington, a Tampa bankruptcy firm, offers Merle Haggard's personal bankruptcy as an inspirational story. One of country music's living legends, Merle Haggard rose to fame in 1963, penning some of country music's greatest songs. With years of success behind him, including multiple American Country Music awards, Haggard walked into the 1990s with little else to go on, though 1993 was a turning point for Haggard. Coming off of many years of drug use, Haggard had successfully beaten the drug addiction which almost ended his career and his life, but the financial ...

The Atlanta orthopedic doctors at OrthoAtlanta offer custom designed orthotics, so you can be comfortable as you are up on your feet, without sacrificing the style of your own shoes. At OrthoAtlanta, cutting edge technology is used to scan each of your feet individually (it is called a computerized pressure mapping system), to evaluate your body's unique pattern of weight distribution. This is done for both standing still and walking, to get a truly complete picture of what is going on with your feet. With this knowledge, a custom set of orthotics can be designed ...

J. Martinez & Company fine coffees would like to discuss what the whole coffee world has has wondered since coffee was cultivated and exported from the Caribbean: what exactly it is that makes Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee so incredibly good. Perhaps the best way to sum up the source of the undeniable goodness of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is its terroir. Terroir, though most often used to describe wine, refers to all of the factors that surround the production of the plants that yield the gourmet treats that we love. For Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee, this comes ...

Atlanta based orthopaedic group, OrthoAtlanta, encourage weekend warriors and avid exercise junkies to research proper footwear before beginning a new sport. Ill-fitting footwear is a major contributor to sports related injuries, believes Atlanta orthopedic doctors. Proper footwear can mean an athlete is making the finish line first, or sitting out the race because of injury, orthopaedic doctors state. Runners should always choose footwear that cradle their heels and protect their arches, to ensure that the foot is properly maintained during exercise. "Choosing ...