In this video, Personal Injury Attorney, Ben Schwartz, reacts to a column he read that was published by Delaware Online, which reported that Delaware is the worst state in the United States after a recent survey.

TRANSCRIPT: Hi, I’m Personal Injury Attorney, Ben Schwartz and I want to talk to you about an article I read on Delaware Online. I read it a couple of days ago, in the title of the article was that a study finds that Delaware leads the nation in the longest ER wait times. Delaware is the worst state. Essentially, the article is talking about how if you go to an emergency room in Delaware, you’re liable to wait 8 or 10 hours to be seen by a physician. This is the worst state. Delaware is the worst state in the United States for ER wait times.

The article got me thinking about how many clients I have who complained to me about their ER wait times. I handle car accident cases, slip and fall cases, and on-the-job injuries. I constantly hear about people complaining, because they went to the ER, and they sat for 8 hours or 10 hours. Even if they didn’t sit for 8 hours or 10 hours, the impression is, that people wait an unreasonably long period of time. During that long wait they’re often times not provided with pain medication or anything to make them comfortable.

A lot of times, I get clients who tell me they were in a car accident and when the EMTs arrived on scene, they put them in a neck brace. Maybe strap them to a backboard. Took them to the ER. Then they waited for hours, in the ER, in that neck brace, or strapped to that backboard, before they could be clear. I hear a lot of complaints about it. A lot of complaints!

It also got me thinking about another thing that Delaware is number 1 for. That is the United States Chamber of Commerce institute for legal reform consistently ranks Delaware number 1 for lawsuits. Essentially what they’re saying is, that Delaware is the worst state in the Union, if you get injured and you bring a personal injury lawsuit. The reason that I say that is, because the United States Chamber of Commerce is the lobbying entity that represents big corporations, big banks, and big insurance companies.

If you have the agency, or the organization that represents Nationwide, Geico, or State Farm, these are the people that don’t want to see you get a penny if you’re injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence. They have rated Delaware number 1 in 2015, 2012, and 2010. Delaware makes that number 1 ranking, in the eyes of the United States Chamber of Commerce, because Delaware is such a tough jurisdiction on people injured in accidents.

If you get injured in an accident, Delaware has historically low verdicts. Folks that make it on to the Delaware juries are historically conservative. We use the struck juror method in selecting our juries, which means you put 12 people in a box and if you don’t like the way they look, you can strike them. You can strike one but you don’t get to actually ask them any real questions to find out their prejudices, their motives for being on the jury, or whether they’re going to be fair.

Also, jury verdicts in Delaware, unlike in other states, jury verdicts have to be unanimous; meaning that all 12 people on the jury have to agree to what the verdict is. In other states, it’s not that way. In some states you might need 8 out of 12, or you might need a majority verdict, but in Delaware it’s going to be all 12. If you get one person that really does not believe that someone should be compensated for personal injuries, that one person might prevent the rest of the jury’s from awarding fair compensation.

The point of my video, the point of my daily rant today, is basically, we’re number one. Delaware is the worst state. We’re number one in a bunch of things that, if you’re a client in a personal injury case, if you’re injured in a car accident, you go to the ER, or you bring a lawsuit, we’re number one in a bunch of areas, but they’re not the right areas. What can we do to change this?

We can be aware of what’s going on. If you’re injured in an accident and you need to go to the ER, you can be aware that Delaware has the longest ER wait times. You could, instead of going to the ER, perhaps you could go to a walk in clinic. Delaware has a lot of walk-in clinics. Maybe you could go to a walk in clinic if you don’t have true severe injuries. If you’re not going to die from your injuries, maybe consider a walk in clinic, or an urgent care clinic, instead of an ER, in order to avoid those long wait times.

Another thing is, if you’re a juror, if you’re called for jury service, be aware that you are sitting in judgment of your friends and your neighbors. We need to have empathy for one another and sympathy for one another and be aware that your verdict counts. If you’re sitting in judgment in a personal injury case, a slip-and-fall case, or a car accident case, be aware your verdict sets the tone. Not only for that case but also for the entire tone of litigation in the state.

I’m Personal Injury Attorney Ben Schwartz, I’m not real happy about being number one. I’m not real happy about being number one in ER wait times. I’m not real happy about being number one on the US Chamber of Commerce list of states to litigate in. I think it’s dreadful, but be aware, these are the issues that we face in Delaware and think about how you can help to alleviate some of these concerns.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/07/08/study-delaware-leads-nation-longest-er-wait-times/86575120/

http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/states

Do you think Delaware is the worst state?

Ben Schwartz is the Managing Partner of Schwartz & Schwartz, Attorneys at Law. If you are searching online for a personal injury attorney, please contact Ben about your case. Ben and the other attorneys in the firm represent people who have been injured in car accidents, tractor-trailer and bus accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, and dog bites. We have offices in Havertown (suburban Philadelphia), PA, Wilmington, DE and Dover, Delaware.