Queens Health Emporium Lawsuit
Queens Health Emporium Lawsuit: Insurance Giant Defends Against Personal Injury Lawsuit
Recently there has been a lawsuit filed against Queens Health Emporium. The owners are accused of falsely advertising their services. According to the lawsuit, Queens Health Emporium did advertise their services in the Yellow Pages and on the internet but did not make any representation that the business was for actual medical needs but only for cosmetic purposes. They did not provide information that would have led a reasonable person to believe that services offered were professional or emergency related.
An injury attorney from the firm represents many plaintiffs.
He says that the company over-sold their services by using the word emergency as well as luring potential customers with offers like “free consultation.” The ads further described the services offered as consisting of “fillings, root canals, crowns, teeth whitening and other cosmetic procedures.” The ad copy further described services offered as ranging from $500 to several thousand dollars. When asked if they had contacted or consulted a physician regarding their offers, they said no.
This is important because this is typical of many such firms.
The advertisement offers attract patients, especially those in dire need of immediate cash. However, when they do consult a physician, most patients are disappointed to find that the offer is unresponsive or that the proposed services are not what they had envisioned. The result is often disappointment and possible depression of the patient and injury attorney as well.
The plaintiff’s injury attorney further states that many patients who have consulted with Queens Health Emporium have found that they cannot even get an appointment with a cosmetic surgeon.
Many patients are either told that they cannot get an appointment with a surgeon or that their appointment will be canceled. The result is a loss of money for the plaintiff as well as a loss of future business opportunity for the emporium. The lawsuit was brought by a former customer who felt that he had gotten into an agreement with Queens Health Emporium that he was not informed about.
It is easy to see how easy it would be for any corporation to simply ignore the lawsuit. After all, there are over one hundred lawyers that specialize in personal injury claims. Moreover, if a corporation is confident that their offer is the only reasonable offer, they can simply deny the allegations. In short, the plaintiff’s injury attorney was right about one thing.
Most corporations involved in personal injury cases like the Queens Health Emporium will, at some point, try to deny liability.
This is easy to do. After all, what is more believable than an insurance adjuster stating, without providing his name or even saying it is not true, that the victim’s injury attorney is making “personal threats”? Furthermore, what is more believable is the offer of settlement that the insurance company will make. A reasonable person would assume that such a huge offer must be an attempt to prey on the vulnerable psyche of the injured party.
The plaintiff’s attorney, nevertheless, was smart enough to recognize this subtle yet significant deception.
He pursued the case. On appeal, the court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss. The court ruled that the defendant had a duty to respond under the statute of limitations. (This ruling, incidentally, is also in the favor of the plaintiff’s attorney.)
The defendants appealed. On appeal, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court ruling. The full court found that both the insurance company and the defendant were legally obligated to settle the case. In a surprising move, the appeals court ruled that defendants owed no duty to settle because, under the circumstances, there was no longer a financial need to avoid a trial.
