Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Turns Thousands of Pages of Records Into "A Picture Worth a 1,000 Words"

By:Vickie Milazzo

When an attorney takes on a medical-related lawsuit, the attorney is confronted with enormous volumes of medical records crammed with esoteric terminology, inexplicable shorthand and indecipherable handwriting. Yet his client's (plaintiff or defense) future depends on the attorney understanding those records and using them to support the case effectively. That's why Certified Legal Nurse Consultant services are the healthiest thing that will ever happen to an attorney's practice.

Total confidence in the services and support provided by a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is especially important when taking on a formidable opponent, such as a major international corporation. Bob Young, an attorney with English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, a major personal injury firm in south central Kentucky, faced this challenge when he accepted the case of Heather Norman.*

In 2001, the 12-year-old was severely burned in a motor vehicle accident that killed her mother and brother. "The truck's side-saddle gasoline tanks exploded upon impact," Young says, "leaving Heather with second and third degree burns over 25% of her body, including her back, chest, arms, hands and face. She had three surgeries to receive skin grafts and underwent numerous other medical procedures. She spent three weeks in the hospital, plus more than a month as an out patient receiving daily wound care and occupational therapy." Young filed a products liability suit against the truck manufacturer on Heather's behalf.

Medical cases like this can generate thousands of pages of records. "If I try to sift through the records and put together a summary," says Young, "it might or might not be accurate. I'm not trained in the medical field. It makes sense to have someone with medical training go through the records and decipher the important information."

Young uses the services of Gina Rogers, RN, CLNC for cases like Heather's. "My assignment," says Rogers, "was to document this child's pain and suffering. In addition to summarizing the records, I decided 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' I created a detailed graph of her body indicating all the burns and skin grafts. My completed graph showed that there was hardly an undamaged place on her body."

"Two major factors in this case," says Young, "were the enormous pain and suffering Heather had to deal with and the problems she would face in the future. Gina set forth all the pain medications my client received during the three weeks she was in the hospital. Gina also prepared a detailed list of Heather's potential future health problems."

Instead of sending the defendant thousands of pages of medical records, Young sent them Gina's report, including the dramatic graph of the plaintiff's injuries. "Gina's work was a significant part of the settlement brochure," he says. The case settled for an undisclosed amount.

Consulting an Independent Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Is Like Having a Nurse on Staff Without the Full-time Expense – For the last three years Young has used Rogers' services on almost every medical-related case. "It's like having a nurse on staff without the full-time expense," he says. "The most important thing Gina does is help me screen each case to see if it's worth taking. In every medical malpractice case you have to retain a medical doctor to testify to the standards of care. After Gina reviews the case, we discuss whether to retain a very expensive MD. Often we decide not to take that next step. If we do take the case, Gina has a network of doctors so she helps me find the expert, too."

*Name has been changed.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article keywords: legal nurse consultant, vickie milazzo

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD is the founder and president of Vickie Milazzo Institute, a legal nurse consultant training and certification company.

Top Legal Articles
1). how to defer jury duty By : Phil Wiley Let’s face it. Jury duty can be a drag, but most of all it’s not always convenient when we’re called up to service. So how can you defer jury duty?
2). A Power of Attorney is Your Legal Representative By : James Hunt What is a power of attorney? Most people have heard this phrase used before...
3). The New Bankruptcy “Means Test” Explained in Plain English By : Charles J. Phelan With the new bankruptcy law in effect as of October 17, 2005, there is a lot of confusion regarding the new "means test" requirement. The means test will be used by the courts to determine eligibility for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The purpose of this article is to explain in plain language how the means test works, so that consumers can get a better idea of how they will be affected under the new rules.
4). Estate Planning - No Contest Clause in your Will By : Ronald Hudkins Copyright 2006 Ronald Hudkins There is value in the story of an older client who had seen a very interesting clause employed in a will. There was a great deal of money at stake and the many family members had little reason to love each other, because they had never met and never knew of each other’s existence. It was expected that the will would be heavily contested on several different fronts in every conceivable way.
5). Top 5 To Dos Before Saying “I do” By : by Jennifer Coleman, M.S./ Ed.S., N.C.C., Ros Today, nearly half of all marriages don't last. Everyday I work with couples going through a divorce, many times over preventable conflicts. I’ve lear
6). How to File a claim for Celebrex injury By : Jefferson Highway, General Counsel There is mounting evidence to suggest that Celebrex (aka celecoxib) is linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Celebrex
7). Rentacomputer.com (LSS) Legal Support Services By : John Beagle Renting technology for the Legal ProfessionRentacomputer.com will set-up workspaces in courtrooms, offices and "war rooms" for attorneys and
8). Media Stunts For An Injury Claim By : Mohammad Latif The claims culture arrived in the UK and it was chaos. Door canvassers and telesales, knocking and ringing constantly for an injury claim.
9). golf mental tip - get out of your own way! By : rob moore Get out of your own way Developing a strong mental golf game involves identifying the chief problems that usually stump us, and then lea
10). DUI Law Punishments By : Information Association, LLC It’s no surprise that current DUI Law mandates that DUI punishments cause problems in your personal life in the short term. With punishments such as t

New Legal Articles
1). Personal Injury Compensation Claims By : Julian Hall Not all accidents lead to legal proceedings, however if there are no serious injuries, you may be entitled to recover damages for property and other expenses from the third party. The likelihood of legal proceedings will usually rest on the quantum, or the amount of financial damage which has ensued from the accident.
2). Are You the Lucky Owner of a Lemon? By : Karen Kirby Do you want to put the lemon laws of your state to work for you, but you are a little hesitant that you will succeed? Well, then read on ...
3). California Contractor License Bond By : Seth Miller Before a contractor can receive a contractor’s license in California, the contractor must register with the California Contractors State License Board and pay a Contractor's License Bond or a cash credit. In the event of a contractor's license getting suspended or annulled due to a breach of the Contractors License Law, the contractor must file a disciplinary bond with the CSLB.
4). Montana Child Support the Treasure State By : Holcy Montana Child Support How do you know if you qualify for child support? Child support is available to all single parents in need of financial assistance from the non-custodial parent. In order to receive child support services, you must first fill out an application with the state of Montana. When apply for child support, there will be a non-refundable application fee.
5). Criminal background check By : Stanley Alpin Background checks are a useful screening and selection tool for companies. Of the many types of background checks, criminal background checks are routinely carried out by employers to ensure that they are not courting a risk of physical and mental trauma. In fact, in several states in the U.S, criminal background checks are compulsory for prospects who apply for positions in places such as nursing homes, educational institutions, and adult care centers.
6). Employment background check By : Stanley Alpin Employment background checks are becoming increasingly common these days. The reasons for this include the fact that negligent hiring lawsuits that result from the actions of an errant employee can damage a company’s credibility and lead to hefty fines; companies have become more selective in their choice of employees following the threat of terrorist activities; accepting a resume at face value has resulted in many companies wasting time and money due to frequent hire-and-fire situations.
7). How an employee background check works By : Stanley Alpin Over the past few years pre-employment background checks have gained significance for employers big and small. Companies can either execute the required activities in-house or can outsource them to human resource companies that specialize in carrying out background checks. There is a lot of paper-work, co-coordination, and follow-up that goes into conducting a background check and for this reasons companies prefer to get the job done by an outside agency.
8). Is an instant background check even possible? By : Stanley Alpin Given that there are more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States and that information on U.S citizens is scattered across various databases all over 3,142 counties, it is safe to conclude that an instant background check is not possible at present. Yet, there are innumerable companies that purportedly offer instant background checks.
9). What shows up on a criminal record background check? By : Stanley Alpin A criminal record background check can throw up a lot of information on an individual including previous arrests as well as conviction and non-conviction information. The information is obtained from Federal Fugitive files, files from the Department of Corrections prison, state criminal records, databases on sex offenders, and prison parole records.
10). Offshore Trust - Effective Estate Planning, You Decide By : Ronald Hudkins Copyright 2006 Ronald Hudkins The creation of offshore trusts and other financial plans is a way of shielding your assets from the laws of the nation in which you reside. It can sometimes be used to remove one of the two certainties of life; taxes. Americans are far less likely than the citizens of other countries to put assets abroad because, although when you receive the benefits of being free of your country’s laws regarding assets (namely taxation) you also lose the aspect of those laws that are designed to protect your assets.