South Dakota - The state's cap on non-economic damages is being challenged in a law suit this month.  South Dakota limits how much a plaintiff can recover for non-economic damages like pain and suffering in a personal injury suit to $500,000. The Martin family of Pine Ridge claims their baby daughter suffered severe brain damage last year because of a local hospital's negligence and that the damages they have suffered amount to more than $500,000.  The family is looking to challenge the constitutionality of the case by taking it to the State Supreme Court. The cap came about in the 1970's when the insurance company who back South Dakota's doctors threatened to leave the state.  It has led to victims of negligence and malpractice to be turned away by attorneys because the cases are too expensive to argue and too difficult to win. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, contact the Appleton personal injury lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier S.C. at 800.472.9334 to discuss your case and further legal options.

Washington - A women is suing the City of Tacoma and Pierce County for negligence, claiming they allowed a police officer access to two videotapes showing her being sexually abused as a child.  A judge ordered the police department to destroy the tapes by 1994. The tapes were found by investigators in the home of the police officer who has also been named in the suit.  Tacoma officer Lee William Giles Jr. was later convicted of child-sex crimes.  These sexual assaults were unrelated to those of the plaintiff. The suit claims that the woman has suffered extreme phsychological and emotional injury as a result of learning that her tapes were not destroyed or secured.  Law enforcement officials say the tapes were stored and locked in room of items that will be destroyed.  However, Giles had a key to that room because he kept confidential files there. If you have suffered physical or emotional injury because of a city or police deparment's negligence, contact the Appleton personal injury lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier, S.C. at 800.472.9334 to discuss your case and further legal options.

Ill. - A man has filed a $100,000 personal injury suit against a grocery store the suit claims uses dangerous floor mats.  The suit comes after the man tripped over a floor mat in the Farm Fresh store in Granite City. The claim is that the store's corporate owner, D&M Dairy Store and Cintas Corp., are negligent for permitting the floor mats which are "not appropriate for the circumstances" in the walkway of the grocery store, according to the suit. The plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries to the bones, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and tissue in his left arm and shoulder.  Slip and fall cases are very common in personal injury suits. If you have suffered injuries due a store's negligence, contact the Appleton Personal Injury lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier, S.C. at 800-472-9334 to discuss your case and further legal options.