Trial Attorney Blog

Outrageous surgical “errors” continue to maim and kill patients throughout Georgia and the United states despite requirements that hospitals and doctors abide by a standard set of procedures to prevent surgical mistakes.

These errors include operating on the wrong patient or the wrong body part.

This inexcusable problem is highlighted in a new study in the Archives of Surgery. The data was drawn from an insurance database in Colorado that included 27,370 self-reported incidents from 6,000 physicians from 2002 to mid-2008. Doctors in the insurance plan receive incentives for early reporting of adverse events.

According to a recent CNBC report, Remington Model 700 rifles have a serious and deadly defect, that can cause the rifles to fire without pulling the trigger.

The danger is caused by a defective component in the trigger mechanism called the trigger connector. The system is known as the Walker Fire Control System and Remington is the only gun manufacturer which incorporates it in firearms.

The report revealed that the defect with the trigger connector is that is not bound to the actual trigger. As a result, when the trigger is pulled and the gun is fired, a gap is created between the trigger body and the connector. Dirt, debris, dried lubricant and other material then can become lodged in this gap, preventing the trigger connector from returning to a secure and reliable position after the gun is fired. This can cause a malfunction which can lead to a discharge when the trigger is not pulled.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen some horrible burn injuries over the years which have resulted from automobile accidents, truck accidents, use of dangerous products and on-the-job accidents. There are few injuries more serious than burns. Burns can all too often be fatal. Even for those who survive, the degree of pain that accompanies a burn is hard to imagine. The debridement of the dead skin, necessary to prevent infection, is one of the most painful treatments in all of medicine. On top of that, burns leave serious scars that last a lifetime and often cause physical restrictions which affect the quality of life.
There are many types of burns, including electrical burns, chemical burns, full thickness burns, inhalation burns and burn caused by fire or scalding liquids. As a former claims supervisor with a major insurance carrier, I recall several terrible workers compensation injuries. One involved an explosion inside the cargo trailer of a tractor-trailer which was caused by a propane powered forklift which was leaking gas. Another case involved a textile mill employee who was scalded to death when he accidently opened a large kettle in which yarn was being dyed. This accident was caused by the failure of a safety device to operate properly. In both cases, the families of the victims collected workers compensation death benefits but also filed wrongful death lawsuits against negligent third parties.
For burn victims, proper and timely medical treatment is important, but so is timely and competent legal representation. The sooner an injury victim has legal representation, the better the odds that his/her rights will be protected.

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The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen many serious injuries and wrongful death caused by dangerous products. Last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in Washington, announced that Graco, a company that specializes in making baby related merchandise, is recalling about 2 million strollers after receiving reports that four infants died in the strollers. They said the four infants became trapped inside the strollers and were strangled. The deaths occurred between 2003 and 2005. According to the announcement, the strollers being recalled are older versions of the Graco Quattro Tour and MetroLite strollers and travel systems, all made before 2007 and distributed by Graco Children’s Products Inc. of Atlanta.
According to the CPSC, if babies are not strapped into the strollers properly, they can slide through the opening between the stroller tray and bottom of the seat – where they can get stuck and be strangled. The recalled strollers were made before the development in 2008 of a voluntary standard that requires a larger troller opening between the stroller’s tray and seat bottom in order to prevent entrapment and strangulation.

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When someone is injured on-the-job under Georgia law they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits will provide minimal payments for lost wages as well as reimbursement of any medical expenses arising out of the on-the-job injury. In exchange for these statutory benefits the employee may never sue the employer responsible for the on-the-job injury. In short, even if an employer is negligent and/or creates an unsafe situation for an employee, the employer cannot be sued, instead as a tradeoff for not being sued, the employer must provide workers’ compensation benefits which provides lost wage benefits and the reimbursement of medical expenses.

Even though employers in Georgia have immunity from lawsuits for negligence which results in injuries to employees, nonetheless, if a third party is involved in such negligence, under certain circumstances, that third party may be liable for the employee’s injuries.

A hypothetical might illustrate the point we make here. If an employee of a warehouse company is injured by a trucker who is backing his truck into the dock and inadvertently runs over the warehouse employee, even though the warehouse employee has been injured on-the-job, they have not only a workers’ compensation claim against their warehouse employer but they also have a third party liability claim against the trucking company employee that caused their injury. Thus, in some limited circumstances, depending upon the unique facts involved, an injured employee may have not only a workers’ compensation claim against their employer but also a claim against a third party. This can be important because workers’ compensation benefits are quite limited, particularly with respect to lost pay and there is no compensation under the workers’ compensation statutory scheme for pain and suffering at all. In cases where the injuries are very serious, there should be compensation for pain and suffering and thus a third party claim may be one avenue by which the injured employee can obtain some measure of justice for these damages.

As we have blogged about on many occasions in the past, there are many unfortunate situations where third party innocent victims become involved in reckless and dangerous police chases. If the police are chasing a juvenile, a traffic offender or some other non-violent offender and while traveling at high speeds continues to chase the suspect under such dangerous conditions that they crash into an innocent third party, there should be legal liability for a reckless disregard of proper police procedure in this context. Indeed, under Georgia law, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 specifies that where there is evidence of a reckless disregard of proper police procedure in the decision to either initiate or continue a high speed pursuit, such reckless disregard can be the basis of liability against the police if an innocent third party is injured due to such recklessness. Notwithstanding the statute, it is commonplace in any case brought by an innocent victim against the police for the government entity involved to assert sovereign immunity as a defense.
This issue was decided long ago by the Georgia Supreme Court in a case called Cameron v. Lang. In that case the Georgia Supreme Court held that where a plaintiff proved that there was insurance coverage for the incident and also had proof that there was a reckless disregard of proper police procedure, then in that event, sovereign immunity would be waived. This is because Georgia law has long held that where there is insurance coverage applicable to the negligent use of a motor vehicle, sovereign immunity is waived for counties and municipalities.
The argument now being advanced by police departments is that “reckless disregard of proper police procedure” is not the same as “negligent” use of a vehicle. This is a specious argument that has been rejected by most courts that face it but nonetheless the argument continues to be made. Moreover, many governmental entities do not carry any insurance and even though there is a statute which specifies that all governmental entities must have certain minimum amounts of self insurance coverage up to certain statutory limits, entities

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In the late 70’s and early 80’s while I was employed in the Georgia claims department of a major insurance company, we had a very significant number of workers compensation death cases. Part of the reason was that the company wrote alot of assigned risk business but another reason was that the economy was doing well. Construction was booming and there were lots of jobs, especially construction jobs. Recently released statistics demonstrate that this is not the case now..
In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reported that in 2009 there were 96 workplace deaths in Georgia compared to 182 workplace deaths in 2008— a 47% decline in just one year.
Specifically, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries broke down the causes of the Georgia on-the-job deaths as follows: 3 from fires or explosions; 14 from assaults or violent acts; 11 from contact with objects or equipment; 11 from falls; 10 from exposure to harmful substances or environments; and 47 related to transportation incidents.

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Under Georgia law, employers are vicariously liable for the acts of the employees provided such acts are performed within the scope of their employment. If an employee is working on behalf of an employer and is acting within the scope of his or her duties, an employer will be liable if the employee negligently injuries a third party. The reasons for such liability are due to the fact that the injury arose out of and was caused by the performance of duties being performed on behalf of the employer. Under such circumstances, both the employer and employee are legally liable to the injured third party.
Disputes often arise in cases where there is some question whether the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment. Such questions may arise in the context of an employee traveling to and from work where they may be performing an errand for their employer, attending a special meeting or otherwise performing some function on behalf of their employer even though technically not “on the job.” Such cases are always factually unique and each case must be decided based on an analysis of the facts as it pertains to the seminal legal question, that being whether the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time of the complained of injury.
For any person injured in an accident or as a result of any misconduct or negligence of a third party, one must always analyze whether there is the possibility of a claim against the person’s employer. We have handled many cases in the past where initially it appeared that the claim could only be brought against the individual tortfeasor only to discover through investigations that the person who negligently caused the injury was, in fact, working on behalf of a third party at the time of the incident. As in any important legal case, investigation of the facts as close to the time of the injury is imperative if the rights of the victim are to be protected.

In a case where an innocent victim is victimized by the negligence of a third party, whether it be as a result of the negligent acts of a truck driver or due to medical malpractice committed by a doctor, a question often arises: Should a claimant in such a case consider mediation as a way of resolving their claims against the negligent defendant? Experience indicates that mediation is successful approximately eighty percent (80%) of the time so logic would dictate that all serious personal injury claimants should consider mediation as an alternative to litigation.
Over the years, we have been involved in hundreds of mediations here at our firm. Our experience bears out that approximately eighty percent (80%) of all cases submitted to mediation do settle. Thus, we do recommend that our clients seriously consider attending a mediation prior to proceeding to a jury trial. Jury trials are fraught with uncertainty and reasonable minds many times can differ over what would be a fair and just result in any given case. At mediation, the parties deciding the dispute are the parties themselves as opposed to twelve (12) lay persons who are strangers to the dispute. There are advantages for the parties to settle amongst themselves because not only does this save the time and expense of a jury trial, the parties themselves are usually much more familiar with the facts than would be twelve (12) lay persons sitting in a jury box. Thus, as a general proposition, we recommend that all of our clients consider mediation as a possible way to resolve a personal injury case against a negligent third party. As stated, it does not matter whether the case involves medical malpractice, products liability, wrongful death, a trucking accident, a car accident or any other serious injury tort case. As long as the parties are voluntarily willing to submit their claims to a mediation, there is always the possibility of a settlement, which if the terms of the settlement are fair and just, can be preferable to proceeding to trial. Of course, we continue to advocate that the best way to get the best result for any client is to be prepared to present the case to a jury so that all parties at the mediation will know that counsel is prepared to obtain a just result for his/her client unless the case is settled for a reasonable sum at mediation.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented victims of dangerous products for over 40 years. These products which range from defective automobiles to defective humidifiers can cause serious injury or even death if they malfunction after being purchased by the innocent consumer.
Just last week, General Motors recalled over 4000 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicles because of power steering problems. According to the company, power steering fluid could leak, causing a fire in the engine compartment. All of these cars were manufactured in 2009.
Although this may not seem like a significant problem, it could potentially be very dangerous if the vehicle were to catch on fire after being parked in a home garage or carport. Ford Motor Company found out they had significant exposure when Ford F series trucks with defective cruise control switches caused such fires. Those fires lead to a recall by Ford.

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