Traumatic Brain Injury

10/10/2025

The telehealth and in-home hospital care programs were both temporary — but increasingly popular — options for Medicare recipients.

09/30/2025

Not to be taken lightly. This is a silent disabler and killer. Know your rights ...

After more than 50 years, the assessment of traumatic brain injuries gets an overhaul. Clinicians say the proposed framework will lead to more accurate diagnoses and treatment, providing more rigorous care for some patients and preventing premature discussions about halting life support in others.

04/04/2025

One of the great myths pushed by the medical industry lobbyists is that if damage award caps were raised, doctors would leave Louisana. So we have to keep them at the level they were set in 1975 where, for example, the maximum they have to pay in a death case resulting from malpractice is $100,000.00. It's not true.

The imposition of damage caps on victims of medical malpractice crippled or killed has nothing to do with doctor populations.
Don't believe it? Seem counter-intuitive? Look it up: Becker's Hospital Review (2024).

The top ten primary care doctor patient ratios were as follows: The District of Columbia, Rhode island, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Oregon, Connecticut, Hawaii and Minnesota. Of those top ten states, only two (Oregon and Hawaii) have med mal caps.

By contrast, Texas and Mississippi have caps on damages like Louisiana in med mal cases. They rank 47th and 44th in primary care doctor/patient ratios. Louisiana ranks 25th.

It's a myth. Just like the one about caps keeping medical malpractice insurance rates down. In 1975, Louisiana was ranked 25th in cost according to then Insurance Commissioner Sherman Bernard in testimony before the Legislature when the law was enacted. Today, with a bottom-dollar low cap, Louisiana ranks #8 in med mal insurance costs according to the Cunningham Group, a national insurance agency for doctors seeking med mal insurance.

One thing Louisiana's med mal caps do for sure. They crush med mal victims and their families who have suffered life-altering, catastrophic injuries and death.

So when someone tells you we need med mal caps in Louisiana to keep doctors here or insurance costs down, clue them in. It's industry propaganda to impose on the people for profits and not true.

12/28/2024

Louisiana victims and families injured or killed by medical malpractice have far fewer rights or remedies than victims in any other state.

In the United States, 26 states have medical malpractice caps on damage awards to victims injured or killed by medical malpractice. Louisiana is one of those states.

Of those 26, only six impose caps that limit both economic and non-economic damages, known as a “hard cap”. Louisiana is one of those states.

Only 17 states require medical malpractice claims to be processed through a medical review panel before a lawsuit can be filed. Louisiana is one of those states.

Only 2 states have mandatory trust funds for future medical expenses awarded to medical malpractice victims, meaning victims are not given court awards for their future medical expenses. They are given to a state agency to administer. Louisiana is one of those states.

Only Louisiana and Indiana impose all three – damage cap awards, medical review panels and future trust funds. In Indiana, the healthcare providers liability is capped at $500,000.00 and their PCF is liable for up to $1.8 million in additional damages, excluding future medical expenses.

In Louisiana, since 1975, healthcare providers liability is capped at $100,000.00 and the PCF’s total liability is capped at $500,000.00, excluding future medical expenses.

No state caps a healthcare provider’s liability as low as $100,000.00, as Louisiana does.

Louisiana has the harshest, most restrictive medical malpractice laws in the United States.

Is that OK with you?

Visit our website and see what you can do about it.

02/23/2024

Tort reform means taking away your rights in return for higher insurance company profits. Always has. Always will.

In regards to the letter titled, "Abuse of legal system is raising Louisiana insurance rates," Sean Kevelighan seeks to begin another campaign of stripping victims of their rights on the

01/06/2024

It may be there ... and it may be worse than you think.

Researchers have created a new brain imaging method that allows mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) to be diagnosed, even when existing imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) don't show any structural abnormalities. The technique involves loading gadolinium, a standard MRI contra...

01/06/2024

Brain injuries from medical malpractice can happen. Overdose of opioid or narcotic medications. Respiratory depression. Failing to monitor post-op patients in recovery. Did this happen to you?

Our mission at the Patient Rights Advocacy Forum is to fight for healthcare reform and to protect the rights of patients in Louisiana's flawed healthcare system.

01/06/2024

www.wagarhickman.com

01/06/2024

Might work?

A study out of Stanford University finds ibogaine improves depression, anxiety, and cognitive functioning among veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

01/06/2024

New discoveries all the time ...

By fitting microparticle 'backpacks' to important inflammatory cells called macrophages, researchers significantly reduced lesion size and inflammation caused by traumatic brain injury. Working with biology rather than against it, this novel approach has the potential to be an effective treatment…