Source: https://www.enjuris.com/tennessee/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:40:13+00:00

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Tennessee is home to more than 50 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Their services range from research and development to organ regeneration to protein therapeutics for tissue to burn therapy to creating over-the-counter pharmaceuticals to producing medicines for major diseases. Companies of this caliber are liable to attract lawsuits – big lawsuits. People get hurt during a sport or injured during an outdoor activity or they get into car accidents. It's only natural, because we're human, and humans are fragile. We take the wrong medicine or the incorrect dosage, or we don't listen to our doctors, or a skin graft doesn't take, or a hip implant starts to migrate. Then we want compensation, and then we turn to the source to begin a lawsuit. And that is where we come in. Whatever happens during that next series of steps, if you need assistance for your personal injury case, Enjuris can offer guidance.
This is where you’ll find the Tennessee Code. The website has details about how long you have to bring a case, monetary limits on personal injury cases (which are also known as damage caps), and other important information.
Tennessee damage caps, or the limits that can be placed on the non-economic damages that plaintiffs receive for a personal injury case, are in a state of flux. Let's take a look at why.
Plaintiffs are eligible for compensation related to their injuries, and that can take two different forms: economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are things like medical bills, property damage, and other tangible assets; these have no limit as to recovery. However, Tennessee has set a limit on non-economic damages, which include non-tangible assets like pain and suffering, companionship and the like. The current cap in Tennessee is $750,000.
In 2011, the Tennessee legislature passed the Tennessee Civil Justice Act, which was their form of Tort Reform (everyone's favorite dinner table discussion!) That capped non-economic damages at the $750,000 mark. However, the legal case that could change this is Clark v. Cain, No. 12C1147CV (2015). Mr. Clark sued Ms. Cain, an employee of AT&T, and a number of AT&T divisions, for $25 million after being in a severe car crash. He also challenged the constitutionality of the damage cap statute and directly appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court before the jury had even awarded him in excess of the damage caps.
The Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the appeal and remanded the case to the trial court, saying that until the jury finds a jury award in excess of the cap, the case is not ripe for appeal, meaning there is no point to appealing the case. As of yet, no further rulings have been made. However, the Tennessee Medical Association is proposing an amendment to the state constitution that would keep the non-economic cap legal, though it would need to pass two separate General Assemblies before the public would get to vote. As of right now, the damage cap remains at $750,000 for non-economic damages.
In Tennessee, you have one year to bring a personal injury and three years for a property damage claim. That means you have only one year to file your paperwork with the court, not that your case has to be completed in that time frame. That (along with Kentucky and Louisiana) is the shortest statute of limitation for personal injury in the nation, so be aware and remember that when filing.
This is where it gets more complicated. There is a separate statute of limitations for medical malpractice in the state of Tennessee. It must be followed to the letter, or your lawsuit will be tossed out of court. This sort of injury will be medical malpractice, and Tennessee law requires that medical providers be given 60 days' written notice before a lawsuit is filed. That written notice has to meet very stringent requirements, and only a licensed attorney for that state will know how to do it. Sometimes the written notice requirement can be extended to 120 days, but it must be done within the statute of limitations, which is one year from the date of injury.
There can be exceptions to that statute of limitations, like the Discovery Rule or when the plaintiff is a minor or mentally incapacitated. For instance, if you did not know you had a sponge left in your chest cavity until two years after an operation, that would probably qualify under the Discovery Rule, because the injury was not "discovered" at the time the medical malpractice occurred. The statute begins to run from the date you reasonably discover or should have discovered the malpractice.
In terms of minors or those who are mentally incapacitated, the statute would be extended for one year until after the minor turns 18 or one year from the date the mentally incapacitated person becomes competent. Both of these are subject to the Statute of Repose.
And what is the Statute of Repose? Well, it bars lawsuits filed after three years from the date of injury, regardless of the discovery of the injury, age, or mental status of the patient. Think of it as an absolute bar (unless the medical provider acted fraudulently or tried to conceal his wrongdoing). So, there's always some kind of exception – unless there isn't. This is why you need to speak to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Tennessee.
Sterling v. Velsicol Chemical Corporation, 855 F.2d 1188 (6th Cir., 1988): The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that granted $10.5 million to the residents of Hardeman County after they were exposed to toxic groundwater, which affected their central nervous systems and caused organ failure as well as various cancers. Velsicol had acquired 242 acres and used it to dump 300,000 55-gallon drums of chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides. This went on for almost a decade before the state intervened.
Steele v. Ft. Sanders Anesthesia Group, P.C., 897 S.W.2d 270 (Tenn. App., 1994): Ms. Steele needed a surgical laminectomy for decompression in her spine. This procedure, while risky, is routine for experienced surgeons. However, when she awoke, she was paralyzed from the neck down. After the first case went to a mistrial, the second case determined that a low drop in blood pressure during her surgery was the reason for the paralysis, and Ft. Sanders had deviated from the normal standard of care. Ms. Steele was awarded $7.6 million.
Smith v. Gore, 728 S.W.2d 738 (Tenn., 1987): The plaintiff in this case had two children, a ninth-grade education and worked as a waitress at a drive-in restaurant, netting about $60 a week and less than $5,000 a year. She gave birth to twins by C-section and asked for preplanned tubal ligation afterward, a permanent sterilization. Shortly thereafter, she resumed working part-time. At the time she was supposed to be back working full-time, she was informed that she was pregnant with her fifth child. She brought suit against the hospital and the makers of the tubal ligation device for the failed sterilization. As this was a case of first impression (meaning the state hadn't seen a case of this type before), they had to determine the damages for birthing a and raising a healthy, though unwanted, child. It became a public policy argument and was shunted over to the legislature, because they did not want to have a child become something for which damages could be awarded.
The first meeting with a personal injury attorney is normally free. (Note that some legal specialties are different.) After that, lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means that they will receive a third of the eventual reward, plus whatever office expenses they incur along the way.
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985): Police may not use deadly force when a suspect is fleeing unless that officer has reason to believe the suspect may cause harm to himself or to others. Deadly force is considered to be an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In this case, the suspect was shot in the back of the head while running from the police after he stole a purse and $10 from someone's house. For many years, the police officer's act was found to be constitutional in light of the circumstances, but the suspect's father brought the case all the way to the Supreme Court, where they reversed.
Bray v. Khuri, CT 004039 (2017): In this case, the plaintiff was the surviving spouse of a psychiatric patient who had committed suicide in a Memphis hospital in 2003. The patient had been under the care of the defendant doctor. The plaintiff filed a health care liability case, which she voluntarily dismissed in 2010. She gave notice of her intent to refile a year later under the Tennessee Savings Statute and sent a pre-suit notice of her wrongful death claim to the defendant, along with a medical authorization. The defendant moved to dismiss for failing to include a HIPAA authorization under the Tennessee Code. The circuit court agreed, dismissing the case. The appellate court agreed, but the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed and remanded, stating that since only a single provider was named in the notice, a medical authorization was not required.
Collier v. Roussis, No. 2-562-12 (2017): A baby suffered birth defects that resulted in cerebral palsy after an allergic reaction during his mother's labor. His mother sought monetary compensation from the hospital, because they failed to administer a medication that would have alleviated the reaction and they were liable for the failure to monitor the mother's blood pressure readings. As such, the hospital was responsible for the brain injuries that left the baby with developmental delays and cerebral palsy. The case initially went to a defense verdict, but the appellate court said that the trial judge erred in allowing previously undisclosed testimony of certain nurses, and they had to remand for a new trial.
Here are some facts about Tennessee -- like how "Andrew Johnson held every elective office at the local, state, and federal level, including President of the United States. He was elected alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville. He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln."

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