By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
A long-haul truck driver for the better part of 25 years, Dave Deming grew accustomed to making a round trip between Michigan and North Carolina each week.
He was about to make the return trip home when tragedy struck on December 8, 2022, altering his life.
The day also set in motion a legal battle under Michigan’s No-Fault Act that underwent sweeping changes in 2020, that under the pretext of reducing the cost of insurance premiums also has caused various unintended consequences that are impacting people like Deming and his wife Kelly.
The Demings, who live near Big Rapids, never expected to be embroiled in a potentially precedent-setting case, where various constitutional issues revolving around equal protection and due process claims are bcontested.
And yet, there he is as the named plaintiff in an April 16 suit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court against Progressive Corp. and several of its insurance affiliates, alleging that the defendant “improperly delayed and denied the proper payment of insurance benefits” after Deming suffered a series of severe injuries from a fall off his semi-truck while it was being loaded.
Deming is being represented by attorneys Nick Andrews and Meagan O’Donnell of Liss & Andrews, which deals exclusively with No-Fault Act cases involving the catastrophically injured.
Sadly, Deming has been among the ranks of those dealing with long-term catastrophic injuries since that fateful day in late 2022.
“I was parked getting a full load of cottonseed, constantly checking the weight gauges to make sure the load was properly balanced. I was climbing up the front side of the trailer on a ladder when I lost my balance and fell approximately 12 feet, hitting my head on the pavement,” says Deming.
“I was knocked unconscious by the fall but came to briefly to see that I was lying close to the tires. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital with all sorts of injuries.”
The injuries included brain hemorrhages, multiple vertebra and rib fractures, a bruised lung, and assorted other problems resulting from the severe brain damage and severe spinal cord harm he suffered.
Deming spent five weeks in a North Carolina hospital being treated for his injuries, while also recovering from spinal fusion surgery with rod placement for the L1 vertebra fracture. He then was transported by small plane to a Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation facility in Saginaw for further acute rehab care for three weeks.
The plane trip back was arranged by the Michigan chapter of Pilots for Christ, a nonprofit Christian organization that provides mercy flights for those in special need.
Deming requires skilled attendant care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to his attorneys. His care responsibilities have been shouldered almost entirely by his wife, a Certified Nursing Assistant for much of her career.
Kelly is paid for just 8 hours a day or 56 hours per week under terms of the revised Michigan No-Fault Act, which went into effect in 2020. Under provisions of the revised law, attendant care provided by a “family member” is limited to 56 hours per week, leaving the remaining time – 112 hours – to someone from outside the household.
Liss & Andrews – on behalf of the Demings – is challenging the state’s 56-hour per week caregiver limitation for family member care of the injured.
“This is just one of several shortcomings in the revised law and was a predictable outcome of legislation enacted in haste,” said attorney Nick Andrews. “The result here is that people like the Demings – along with many others in similar situations – are getting the short end of the stick.”
Hence, the reason that Liss & Andrews – on behalf of the Demings – is challenging the state’s 56-hour per week caregiver limitation for family member care of the injured.
“In effect, the state has created a double standard in terms of care, limiting family members to a certain number of hours per week, while Certified Nursing Assistants working for commercial home health agencies are not restricted by this same limit that families providing the same care are bound by,” said Andrews.
In the complaint, Andrews and O’Donnell argued “there is no rational relationship between the proffered governmental interest in reducing rates and forcing injured persons to use commercial attendant care instead of family attendant care providers who typically provide better care at a more economical cost.”
They point to an American Medical Association study that found that “Patient- and family-centered care is changing the way hospitals provide patient care, increasing staff satisfaction, decreasing costs, and improving patient outcomes.”
Legal News
A long-haul truck driver for the better part of 25 years, Dave Deming grew accustomed to making a round trip between Michigan and North Carolina each week.
He was about to make the return trip home when tragedy struck on December 8, 2022, altering his life.
The day also set in motion a legal battle under Michigan’s No-Fault Act that underwent sweeping changes in 2020, that under the pretext of reducing the cost of insurance premiums also has caused various unintended consequences that are impacting people like Deming and his wife Kelly.
The Demings, who live near Big Rapids, never expected to be embroiled in a potentially precedent-setting case, where various constitutional issues revolving around equal protection and due process claims are bcontested.
And yet, there he is as the named plaintiff in an April 16 suit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court against Progressive Corp. and several of its insurance affiliates, alleging that the defendant “improperly delayed and denied the proper payment of insurance benefits” after Deming suffered a series of severe injuries from a fall off his semi-truck while it was being loaded.
Deming is being represented by attorneys Nick Andrews and Meagan O’Donnell of Liss & Andrews, which deals exclusively with No-Fault Act cases involving the catastrophically injured.
Sadly, Deming has been among the ranks of those dealing with long-term catastrophic injuries since that fateful day in late 2022.
“I was parked getting a full load of cottonseed, constantly checking the weight gauges to make sure the load was properly balanced. I was climbing up the front side of the trailer on a ladder when I lost my balance and fell approximately 12 feet, hitting my head on the pavement,” says Deming.
“I was knocked unconscious by the fall but came to briefly to see that I was lying close to the tires. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital with all sorts of injuries.”
The injuries included brain hemorrhages, multiple vertebra and rib fractures, a bruised lung, and assorted other problems resulting from the severe brain damage and severe spinal cord harm he suffered.
Deming spent five weeks in a North Carolina hospital being treated for his injuries, while also recovering from spinal fusion surgery with rod placement for the L1 vertebra fracture. He then was transported by small plane to a Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation facility in Saginaw for further acute rehab care for three weeks.
The plane trip back was arranged by the Michigan chapter of Pilots for Christ, a nonprofit Christian organization that provides mercy flights for those in special need.
Deming requires skilled attendant care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to his attorneys. His care responsibilities have been shouldered almost entirely by his wife, a Certified Nursing Assistant for much of her career.
Kelly is paid for just 8 hours a day or 56 hours per week under terms of the revised Michigan No-Fault Act, which went into effect in 2020. Under provisions of the revised law, attendant care provided by a “family member” is limited to 56 hours per week, leaving the remaining time – 112 hours – to someone from outside the household.
Liss & Andrews – on behalf of the Demings – is challenging the state’s 56-hour per week caregiver limitation for family member care of the injured.
“This is just one of several shortcomings in the revised law and was a predictable outcome of legislation enacted in haste,” said attorney Nick Andrews. “The result here is that people like the Demings – along with many others in similar situations – are getting the short end of the stick.”
Hence, the reason that Liss & Andrews – on behalf of the Demings – is challenging the state’s 56-hour per week caregiver limitation for family member care of the injured.
“In effect, the state has created a double standard in terms of care, limiting family members to a certain number of hours per week, while Certified Nursing Assistants working for commercial home health agencies are not restricted by this same limit that families providing the same care are bound by,” said Andrews.
In the complaint, Andrews and O’Donnell argued “there is no rational relationship between the proffered governmental interest in reducing rates and forcing injured persons to use commercial attendant care instead of family attendant care providers who typically provide better care at a more economical cost.”
They point to an American Medical Association study that found that “Patient- and family-centered care is changing the way hospitals provide patient care, increasing staff satisfaction, decreasing costs, and improving patient outcomes.”
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
