Insurer's Beware! Insurers who insist on using biased medical examiners in an effort to routinely deny insurance benefits to injured people should consider Hangarter v. Provident Life and Accident Ins. Co., 373 F.3d 998, 1010-1011 (9th Cir. 2004). In that recent case the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals noted that Provident had used the same medical examiner at least 19 times over the past 5 years. Moreover, in 13 of 13 claims for disability insurance coverage the medical examiner rejected the total disability claim each time. The Court asserted that the repeated use of a biased medical examiner overcomes any presumption that a carrier's denial of a claim is a "genuine dispute". Instead such a practice constitutes evidence of bad faith on the part of the carrier and may give rise to an independent cause of action against the insurance carrier.
On March 17, 2026, at a little after 7 am, a fatal motor vehicle accident occurred on Vineyard Blvd in the Liliha area. For unknown reasons, a 59-year-old city bus driver lost control of his bus, traveled onto the center median, and collided directly into a tree. The driver was critically injured in spite of wearing his seatbelt. The bus was not carrying any passengers at the time of the accident. Later on the same day, the bus driver succumbed to his injuries. The cause of the crash continues to be under investigation. HPD states that this was the 12th Traffic Fatality on Oahu so far in 2026. Man, 59, dead following bus vs. tree crash .
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