Noneconomic Damages in Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Unlike economic damages, which victims can quantify based on actual costs relating to medical and other care, noneconomic damages are much harder to quantify. After all, no objective methods exist to assign a monetary value to emotional and other losses. Those who support capping the noneconomic damages that injured individuals and families can pursue argue that excessive awards raise insurance costs for medical professionals and health care costs for everyone. But others argue that no amount of money can fully compensate families for the toll medical negligence can take on families for a lifetime.
In 2005, Illinois lawmakers passed legislation that limited non-economic damages due to medical negligence, such as pain and suffering, to $500,000 for doctors and $1,000,000 for hospitals. But a team of dedicated Chicago medical malpractice lawyers challenged the constitutionality of this law, winning an important victory for victims of medical malpractice.
Roosevelt Ties up Funds, Japanese Strike Back: Original Story: July 26, 1941
Shortly before the US entered what would become World War II, President Roosevelt tied up Japanese funds as the imperial empire began its occupation of Indochina, which now comprises Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
The incident was recalled in a July 26, 1941 article from The Evening Independent in "Roosevelt Ties up Japanese Funds, Occupation of Indo-China Is Begun." The Japanese government retaliated by freezing American assets throughout its empire and planned to do so against the British as well.
The article also reported that Japan would be moving in to occupy Shanghai, a port city on the Yangtze River, in which the nations of England, France and the US, along with Japan, held extra-territorial rights. At that time, there was an international settlement arrangement whereby these countries held exclusive jurisdiction over their own citizens despite their being in a foreign country.
President Roosevelt was compelled to freeze Japanese assets after they moved on Indochina—an area that included French colonies, under an agreement with French authorities under the Axis-controlled Vichy government. No resistance to the Japanese takeover was expected.
Also at this time, President Roosevelt announced the incorporation of the Philippine army into the American military. The Philippines was an American colony until it was given commonwealth status in 1935. It was later given its independence in 1946.
Five months after the economic maneuverings of the two countries, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, triggering the Pacific front of the war.
Information in this post gathered in association with Mesothelioma lawyers.
US Hope for Truce with South Korea: Original Story: June 8, 1953
The Korean War has been labeled, “The Forgotten War” by some historians. The war was fought in the early 1950s while Americans were still weary from World War II, which had ended in 1945. The bloody conflict resolved little, and finally ended in a truce in 1953 with the parties agreeing to a partition of the country at a demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel.
Called a “police action” by the Truman administration, it was never formally declared, setting a dangerous precedent in the decades to come with the conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan being fought without war declarations from Congress.
Americans and South Koreans can look back to an article on the war in a Miami Daily News publication of June 8, 1952, in “South Koreans Should Remember Truce No Permanent Settlement.” The article was prescient in its assessment of the coming truce and in reminding Koreans and Americans that the truce would not end the cold war or do much in reuniting the country.
The Korean conflict was not one of America’s shining moments. With its armies largely dismantled following World War II, American military and civil officials were wholly unprepared for the fighting and the Chinese entry into the war.
After early and devastating setbacks, American forces eventually fought the Chinese and North Korean armies to a stalemate. According to the Miami Daily News article, South Koreans felt they could still find a political settlement. It has now been over 50 years since the truce, and while North Korea staggers under the failures of one of the most totalitarian regimes in the world, the hopes of reunification are not much closer to occurring.
Information in this post gathered in association with a car accident lawyer New York.
Filing For Your Patent
One must realize the fact that obtaining a patent is important but not easy. Seeking the help of a patent attorney is highly advisable—even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recommends seeking the legal counsel of an expert patent lawyer when filing for your patents.
Following are some of the steps involved in filing for your patent with the United States Patent & Trademark office:
- Select the type of application for filing your patent: design patent, utility patent, or plant patent.
- Settle on the filing strategy: International patent, U.S patent, or both.
- When filing a utility patent in the U.S., choose the application type: provisional or non-provisional.
- Consider using the accelerated examination process—though special rules apply, it can save time.
- Prepare and apply for a patent through the electronic filing system—filing as a registered e-filer is recommended.
- Once the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) examines and approves your claim, you are expected to pay the issue and publication fee and for the USPTO to grant your patent.
- If the USPTO disapproves your claim, you can request their reconsideration to grant the patent.
Please note that once the patent is granted, you owe a maintenance fee at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years from the time you obtained the patent.