Auto Accident - Personal Injury

According the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 2008 national statistics, injuries in traffic crashes:

5,777,000 non-fatal crashes

2,072,000 persons injured

96,000 motorcyclists injured

69,000 pedestrians injured

52,000 bicyclists injured

If you have been involved in a traffic accident, after you are safe and secure, and capable:

1. Write down as much as you can about the accident and injury. Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, Witnesses, all losses your aware of (wages, etc.). Get as many names of people that was involved or know about your accident & injuries.

2. Make notes of conversations that you have with people involved in the accident or the injury (police, ambulance personnel, tow truck driver, nurse, doctor, social worker, hospital or nursing home personnel, etc.) Try to write the day, time, name of person and what you talked about.

3. Save and keep all evidence. Take pictures of the accident and/or your injuries (try to use a good camera (best and most reliable) but cell phone pictures will be ok if that is all you have. Collect any physical evidence (paperwork, etc.) Think CSI, what will help me prove this person injured me and cause my damages.

4. Locate people who witnessed the accident or the nurse, doctor, dentist, chiropractor, nursing home personnel that caused the injury and who might be able to help you prove your case.

5. Keep a daily diary of how you feel after the injury: amount of pain (1-10), medicine your taking and if any reactions or how medicine is making you feel, take pictures of how your injury is healing or not, take pictures of any injuries or bruises that pop up after the accident, sometimes they will not show up for a day or two. Write anything you feel is a concern or unusual.

6. Ohio has time limits in which you must file your claim. Ohio has certain time limits, called "statutes of limitations," in which you must file a personal injury lawsuit. If you miss the deadline for filing a case, your case is thrown out of court. There are different time limits for the various personal injury type cases.

Your Medical Record Rights In Ohio

In Ohio you have the right to:
1.  See and get a copy of your medical record within 30 days of your request to the health care provider.

2.  Your health care provider may charge you for copying your record. The provider can also charge for the cost of postage and delivery.

3.  You have the right to amend your medical record to make it more accurate or complete.

4.  If your right to see, get a copy of or to amend your medical record is violated then you may file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  You also can file a complaint with the state agency that regulates the health care provider.

5.  You may bring a lawsuit in Ohio against your health care provider if they fail to provide you with your medical records as requested.

6.  Under Ohio law your health care provider owns the actual medical record.

7.  A parent may see, get a copy of or amend their childs medical record if the child is under 18 yrs. of age.  If a health care provider reasonably believes that a parent is abusing, or neglecting a child the provider does not have to give the parent access to the child's record.

8.  Under Ohio law, you do not have the right to get the medical records of a deceased person unless you are the administrator or executor of the person's estate.

9.  There is no rule in Ohio as to how long medical doctors or hospitals must keep your medical records.  Although some medical practitioners must keep records for a certain period of time such as: chiropractor's must keep treatment records for 5 years after a patient ends his care.

10.  Most health care providers (doctors and hospitals) must follow HIPPA Privacy Rules and state law in providing your medical records.  Most nursing homes must follow HIPPA rules along with other specific rules that apply only to nursing homes.

11.  In Ohio, an independent tort exists (meaning an individual can sue) for the unauthorized, unprivileged disclosure to a third party of nonpublic medical information that a physician or hospital has learned within a physician-patient relationship." Biddle v. Warren Gen. Hosp. (1999), 86 Ohio.St.3d 395, paragraph one of the syllabus and Garland v Seven Seventeen Credit Union, Inc., 184 Ohio App.3d 339 (2009).