Indiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Indianapolis, September 10, 2009 - Three lawyers from Hovde Dassow & Deets were recently selected for inclusion in the 2010 Edition of Best Lawyers in America. Boyd Hovde, Rick Hovde and Nick Deets were each recognized as Plaintiffs Personal Injury lawyers for Indiana.

Best Lawyers is used as a guide by those looking for legal service providers in the United States. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on a vote of their peers. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In:

Bookmark:

On May 27, 2009, the Indiana Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Stanley v. Walker, 906 N.E.2d 852 (Ind. 2009), holding that Indiana's collateral source statute does not bar evidence of discounted amounts to determine the reasonable value of medical services provided to plaintiffs in personal injury actions. This decision reversed the decision of the Indiana Court of Appeals which had held that I.C. 34-44-1-2 barred this evidence because the write-downs were the result of health insurance which had been purchased by the Plaintiff. Justices Dickson and Rucker issued a persuasive dissent agreeing with the decision of the Court of Appeals and setting forth the long history of Indiana law on determining reasonableness of medical expenses. Several questions still remain after the Stanley decision including whether it will be applied to write-downs required by Medicare and whether plaintiffs will be allowed to introduce evidence of the amounts they paid for health insurance to obtain this benefit and the increases in their health insurance rates going forward which may result from their injuries.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents

Bookmark:

Nick Deets, an attorney with Hovde Dassow and Deets LLC in Carmel, Indiana, obtained a verdict of $875,000 for Stacey Riley in her medical malpractice claim against Dr. Paul Kwo in the Boone Circuit Court on June 27, 2009. The claim arose out of Stacey's post-operative visit with Dr. Kwo on July 1, 2003 where she complained of blurred vision, a twitching lip, a tingling arm, was a smoker on birth control and had a blood pressure reading of 180/100. Stacey claimed that Dr. Kwo should have made a referral to the emergency room or her primary care physician based upon these symptoms. Dr. Kwo did not make a referral and Stacey suffered a massive stroke the next day which permanently affected her speech and right-sided motor skills.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

Bookmark: