Trial Attorney Blog

The tragedy of preventable construction accidents was repeated last week at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, a beautiful area near my home enjoyed by young and old alike. News reports have described the horror of one dead, and eighteen injured, many of them critically.

In our experience from having handled contruction accidents–including a much larger structure’s construction collapse during the building of Philips Arena that killed ironworkers erecting a section of precast concrete–the injured workers and their families are in a state of shock and confusion. They should have some medical care available through their workers’ compensation carrier, but that will not be enough to make up for what sound like very significant injuries. Nor will those benefits be enough to compensate the losses of the deceased worker.

A careful analysis must follow to determine the identity of all of the parties who had any role in the project, as well as the scope of the work undertaken by each of them, and the legal responsibilities imposed by contract or by law.

Abuse of elderly and disabled persons is one of the most disturbing matters our Atlanta based attorneys see. A report issued last Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Services has revealed that almost 22 percent of the nation’s nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the federal government’s lowest rating in a new five-star system, while 12 percent received the highest ranking possible.

The new star ranking system has not been well received by the nursing home industry. It has been criticized for being too simplistic for a complicated care system. However, federal officials see the new rating system as a way to challenge nursing homes to improve the care they provide to nearly 1.5 million patients nationwide.

Under the new system, five stars means a nursing home ranks ”much above average,” four star indicates ”above average,” three means ”about average,” two is ”below average” with a one indicating ”much below average.” The rankings will be updated quarterly.

Un desplome de construcción que implica un puente fue informado esta mañana en los Jardines Botánicos de Atlanta. Desafortunadamente, parece que había una muerte y muchas heridas graves. Nuestros abogados han investigado y han archivado pleitos en numerosos casos de desplome de construcción. El más notable fue el desplome durante la construcción de la Arena de Phillips (Phillips Arena) en Atlanta.

Mientras los informes no indican la causa del desplome, habrá indudablemente una investigación por “OSHA” (the Occupational and Safety Health Administration) la Administración Profesional de Seguridad y Salud.

Muchas veces abogados creen errarmente que cualquier recuperación en estos casos es impedida por el estatuto de compensación de trabajadores. En esencia este estatuto prohibe a un empleado para demandar un empleador o a co-empleado para la negligencia.

A construction collapse involving a bridge was reported this morning at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately, there appears to be one death and many serious injuries. Our lawyers have investigated and filed lawsuits in numerous construction collapse cases. The most notable was the collapse during the building of Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

While the reports do not indicate the cause of the collapse, there will undoubtedly be an investigation by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Many times attorneys mistakingly believe that any recovery in these cases is barred by the workers compensation statute. In essence this statute prohibits an employee for suing an employer or co-employee for negligence.

Consumer protection got an unexpected boost this week when the United States Supreme announced its decision in Altria Group v. Good. In a surprising decision that could have wide-ranging impact, the Supreme Court held that federal law neither expressly or impliedly preempts a lawsuit filed under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act by Maine smokers. The underlying lawsuit claims that smokers of Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights cigarettes were misled by deceptive labels touting the cigarettes as “light” and “low tar” when the manufacturer knew that they were just as dangerous as other cigarettes.

In recent decisions involving federal preemption of state laws concerning medicines and dangerous products, the Supreme Court has come down squarely on the side of big business holding state consumer protection laws preempted by federal regulations.

The decision in Altria Group v. Good means this suit as well as other similar claims seeking billion of dollars in damages from tobacco companies can proceed. It also could spur tobacco companies to undergo massive relabeling of cigarette packages to avoid liability under similar state statutes.

Dangerous drugs have been placed into the stream of commerce by manufacturers for years without warnings. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered the manufacturer of two drugs commonly used before colonoscopies to add warnings to the products. These are commonly referred to as “black box” warnings.

Visicol and OsmoPrep are oral sodium phosphate medicines used for bowel cleansing before colonoscopies. There have been reports of serious kidney injuries linked to their use. The FDA has received reports of 20 cases of kidney injury associated with the use of OsmoPrep, including three cases of acute kidney injury.

The onset of kidney injury varied, occurring in some cases within several hours of use and in other cases up to 21 days after use phosphate products for bowel cleansing.

A New Jersey jury recently awarded nearly $13 million to three acne drug users who developed severe inflammatory bowel disease after taking the medication. The drug, Accutane, is manufactured by Hoffman-La Roche.
The three plaintiffs are Florida residents who used the drug to treat adolescent acne. All three developed bowel disorders including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s Disease. The jury found that the drug manufacturer should have issued better warnings that the drug could cause bowel problems and that their failure to do so resulted in the plaintiffs’ injuries.
If you are someone you care about was seriously injured by a dangerous prescription drug, you should speak with a litigation attorney at Finch McCranie, LLP. We have won justice for Georgians since 1965 and recovered millions of dollars to help sick and injured people seek justice. For a free consultation, call us at 1-800-228-9159.

Escalator injuries are increasing at an alarming rate. Our Georgia injury lawyers frequently review cases in which persons have been injured by malfunctioning or improperly designed escalators. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Sunday concerning this increase in injuries, especially among children.

Among the mechanisms of injuries reported to the state were the following:

A 17-year-old boy’s right hand was bleeding after it got stuck in an escalator at MARTA’s Lenox station in February. He had reached down to pick up a fare card that fell out of his pocket.

Dangerous toys containing harmful chemicals have long been a problem in the United States. The United States Congress recently passed a law banning the use of a plastic softening chemical known as phthalates in certain consumer products, including toys. The chemical is used to soften plastic – making it popular for rubber ducks, teething toys, and anything else that young children love to chew on. Exposure to phthalates has been shown to harm the development of reproductive organs and have been linked to cancer

The use of this chemical is already banned in much of the industrialized world and starting in January, the state of California. The Senators who sponsored the ban intended that it would go into effect 180 days after enactment. Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein sponsored an amendment to the law which required the Consumer Product Safety Commission to remove the affected toys and children’s products off of store shelves by Feb. 10, 2009.

Instead, the Bush administration is working to keep these harmful products on the market as long as possible. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s general counsel issued an opinion allowing these products to remain on shelves as long as they were manufactured before Feb. 10, 2009. This important distinction gives toy manufacturers a way to continue selling these goods until they have dumped every last bit of their inventory.

Our attorneys sometimes represent people who have been injured by employees of the State of Georgia in automobile accidents or truck accidents. Cases against the State of Georgia or its employees are governed by the Georgia Tort Claims Act. For instance we recently learned that a state accident reconstruction unit is investigating a wreck, involving a Georgia State Patrol trooper, that killed a motorcyclist in Lumpkin County last month. According to the motor vehicle accident report the state trooper executed a U-turn in the path of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by 57 year-old Donald Teague of Blairsville. Teague’s motorcycle struck the patrol car when it turned around in the road, according to the report and he died after he collided with the passenger-side door of the patrol car. Depending on the facts, the State of Georgia may be liable for the wrongful death of Teague.