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Monthly Archives: February 2012
Are Waivers of Liability in Amusement Parks Actually Enforceable?
On Monday, our blog mentioned the growing prevalence of trampoline amusement parks. All of these parks usually require a waiver of liability, which is a contract that purports to relieve the business owner from liability against injury of the guest. Are these liability waivers enforceable? The short answer is: it depends. Businesses that sponsor inherently dangerous activities, including skiing, sky diving and bungee cord jumping, usually require the participating adult or a child’s guardian to read and sign an explicit waiver of liability. These explicit waivers are generally upheld in court, as the person agreeing to participate is assuming a risk of injury that comes with a dangerous activity. However, in the State of Indiana, there must be specific language within the release that waives any claim by an adult for damages caused by the “negligence” of another. Many times, parents and guardians are required to sign releases for injuries…
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Trampoline Safety is the Jumping Point for Our Hot Topic of the Week
It does not yet quite feel like spring, but the warmer months are just around the corner. This week, our blog will be addressing the liability of businesses associated with spring and summer recreational activities. One of the most fun (and potentially dangerous) spring and summer activity is jumping on backyard trampolines. Unfortunately, according to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, trampoline accidents account for approximately 246,875 injuries per year, including broken and fractured bones, concussions and brain injury as well as spinal cord injury. Most trampoline owners believe that the cause of injury while using a trampoline is obvious … in particular, falling off the trampoline and landing on the ground. This is in fact not the case. Some of the worst injuries occur when a trampoline user “lands wrong” on the trampoline mat or is subject to the “rebound effect”. Both of these situations result in forces to the human and…
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Indiana Supreme Court Rejects Strict Use of “Proportionate Damages” for Wrongful Death
Indiana has a statutory damage cap limiting the liability of a qualified health care provider whose medical negligence proximately caused an injury to an individual to $250,000, and caps total amounts of recovery to $1,250,000. Fortunately, plaintiffs who win or settle with a health care provider for amounts over $250,000 can recover excess damages from the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund (PCF). This is what happened in the recent Indiana Supreme Court case Indiana Dept. of Insurance v. Everhart, where a man suffered an injury in a motorcycle accident. He was brought alive to a hospital, where the doctor failed to give him proper treatment and he subsequently died of cardiac arrest. At trial, it was established as fact that the man had an 80 percent chance of survival had the doctor treated him properly. The widow sued PCF to recover excess damages for the wrongful death. PCF sought to reduce the damage award…
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