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• Man Paralyzed by Wichita Police Gets $4.75 Million

  James B. Biggs | May 12, 2006 11:55 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A man who was shot and paralyzed by a police officer in 2004 has agreed to settle his case against the City of Wichita for $4.75 million. Matt Clay, then 20 and who now lives in Arkansas, was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by a Wichita police officer after he sought assistance from two city cops because someone had hit several cars parked at his home. The officers believed Clay...

• Father Files Suit After Daughter Killed By Tiger

  James B. Biggs | May 10, 2006 10:45 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the father of a teenage girl that was killed by a tiger last year.On Aug. 18, 2005, Haley Hiderbrand, a Labett County High School senior, was mauled to death while having her senior pictures taken with a Siberian tiger at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary near Mound Valley, Kansas. The suit seeks more than $75,000 for medical and funeral expenses, as...

• Celebrex Can Double Heart Attack Risk

  James B. Biggs | May 07, 2006 9:41 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A recent study from the New Zeland Medical Research Institute and published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has shown that people taking Celebrex double their risk for a heart attack when compared with users of similar drugs. The study looked at six seperate studies involving 12,780 patients in an effort to determine if the increased risk of cardiovascular problems with Vioxx...

• Kansas Governor Brought Into Ethics Controversy

  James B. Biggs | May 06, 2006 10:13 AM | 1 CommentTopeka, KS

  A conversation between two Kansas State Senators and a Kansas Supreme Court Justice over the continued school finance debate has taken a twist. Now Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has been brought into the ethics controversy and conservative Republicans have formally requested a report on any "outside" communications made by justices or the Governor on the issue. This inquiry started when Justice...

• Kansas Court Rules Worker Compensation Settlements Are Appealable

  James B. Biggs | May 05, 2006 10:10 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals has determined that the Workers Compensation Appeals Board has the authority to review an injured workers lump sum settlement award approved by an administrative law judge pursuant to K.S.A. 44-531(a).In Grajeda v. Aramark Corp., et al (Docket #94,501) the main issue brought before the court was exactly that. Can the Kansas Workers Compensation Board review a full and...

• Car and School Bus Collide; Ten Children Injured

  Brenda L. Head | March 30, 2006 1:38 PM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A car slammed into a school bus Wednesday morning in Topeka, Kansas, leaving ten Chase Middle School students with minor injuries. The accident occured when the the bus was traveling south on N.E. Monroe and the car, a white Chevrolet, ran a stop sign. The car then continued out of control and hit the corner of nearby home. In all, the bus was carrying 31 middle school students, ten of which...

• Kansas Court Finds Allergic Condition To Be Repetitive Work Injury

  James B. Biggs | March 27, 2006 10:22 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals recently held that some injuries compensable under the Kansas Workers Compensation Act are hybrid conditions that have elements of both a work-related injury and an occupational disease. In Casey v. Dillon Companies, Inc., Docket No. 93,302 (July 1, 2005), the claimant developed allergic reactions while employed at Dillons. Testing revealed that she was allergic to...

• Kansas Governor Vetoes Workers Compensation Bill

  James B. Biggs | March 24, 2006 10:35 AM | 1 CommentTopeka, KS

  Legislation that would change the amount of benefits due to injured workers has been vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Over the past month benefits for injured workers has become a hot topic in Kansas with businesses and trial lawyer associations fighting on both sides of the battle. This specific measure would have limited an employers' responsibility for workers' compensation when an...

• Worker Injured While Running Errand Wins At Kansas Court Of Appeals

  James B. Biggs | March 23, 2006 4:48 PM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals has found that a worker who was injured in a auto accident, after he had left his job to retrive a set of work keys at home, has suffered an injury compensable under the Kansas Workers Compensation Act. In Ridenour v. Kenneth R. Johnson, Inc., Docket No. 94,149 (December 16, 2005), the Court of Appeals addressed the work-related errand/special-purpose trip exception...

• Kansas Injured Workers Required To Make Good Faith Effort In Finding Jobs

  James B. Biggs | March 15, 2006 9:18 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Workers Compensation Appeals Board has changed the way injured workers, seeking a work disabilty, will look for jobs. Essentially, the Appeals Board has placed a burden on the injured worker to show that a good faith effort has been made to find employment within their given work restrictions. In the case of Thomas v. Dollar General Corp., W.C.A.B. 1,008,265 (February 2005), the...