Articles Tagged with Personal Injury

Now that the Obama administration is proposing health care reform, big insurance companies and some doctors associations are attempting to graft so called “tort reform” into the legislation. Georgia residents are already faced with a very restrictive system which affords doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals with extraordinary protections against lawsuits. Even in the worst cases of malpractice victims are restircted to a recovery for non economic damages of no more than $350,000.00.

The New York Times today ran an excellent guest editorial regarding medical malpractice reform by Tom Baker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is posted below:

OUR medical liability system needs reform. But anyone who thinks that limiting liability would reduce health care costs is fooling himself. Preventable medical injuries, not patient compensation, are what ring up extra costs for additional treatment. This means taxpayers, employers and everyone else who buys health insurance — all of us — have a big stake in patient safety.

Our Georgia injury lawyers have represented clients who have suffered injuries or lost loved ones in boating accidents and collisions. Boating accidents usually occur in our area either on a privately owned vessel or on a personal watercraft (jet ski). Some of the causes include:

Boater error

Boater inexperience

A study released by Public Citizen found that medical malpractice payments were at or near record lows in 2008, but suggests the decline almost certainly indicates that a lower percentage of injured patients received compensation, not that health safety has improved.

Medical malpractice is so common, and litigation over it so rare, that between three and seven Americans die from medical errors for every one who receives a payment for any malpractice claim, according to Public Citizen’s analysis of medical malpractice payment data and the best available patient safety estimates.

For the third straight year, 2008 saw the lowest number of medical malpractice payments since the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank began tracking such data in 1990. The 11,037 payments in 2008 were 30.7 percent lower than the average number of payments recorded by the NPDB in all previous years.

Many Atlanta residents trust the safety of their young children to playpens. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is expected today to announce a recall of one million Kolcraft play yards.

The recall of the portable playpens, some of which include changing tables or bassinets, follows hundreds of complaints of collapsing sides and reports of 21 injured children. The playpens were made in China and distributed by Kolcraft Enterprises Inc. of Chicago.

According to press reports, a Kolcraft spokeswoman, confirmed the recall.

A bone growth agent used in thousands of spinal fusion surgeries for neck pain has been linked to complications and higher cost, according to the first nationwide study of the product. Spinal fusion is one option for people with back and neck pain, although some researchers have questioned how well it works.

In a spinal fusion, a surgeon removes the disc between two vertebrae and replaces it with the patient’s own bone, BMP or another product. If successful, new bone grows and fuses the vertebrae into one piece, stabilizing the spine.

Safety questions arose last year about the protein product, BMP, when used in fusion surgeries in the neck region, a use not approved by federal regulators. Doctors are allowed to use products such as this for purposes for which they have not been approved. The lead author of the study which appears in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that some of these complications are life-threatening because the neck is such a sensitive area.

Adverse prescription drug reactions are more common than most consumer are aware, and can have serious consequences, including death. Seeking to address these problems, a Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended new limits on acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol. Acetaminophen is the most commonly prescribed drug in the U.S., and commonly used in other drugs and remedies such as cough and cold medicines.

Acetaminophen overdoses are the main cause of liver failure in the U.S. Accidental acetaminophen overdoses kill about 100 people and send some 56,000 people to emergency rooms annually. The FDA said that while the drug is safe if taken at recommended levels, its prevalence in a variety of pain relievers, fever reducers and cough medicines means patients don’t realize they are ingesting far more than they should. One study found that 19% of adults in the U.S. take the drug in a given week.

The FDA advisory panel consisting of 37 doctors, pharmacists and researchers voted on the recommendations yesterday after spending two days discussing steps the FDA should take to reduce the number of acetaminophen overdoses.

Miraculously, there have been no reported injuries or deaths following an accident in Atlanta, Georgia. Yesterday a portion of a concrete parking deck in downtown Atlanta collapsed near the intersection of Spring and 5th Streets, damaging or destroying 38 vehicles. The deck is a pre-fabricated, pre-cast concrete structure that was built eight years ago. The cause of the “pancake collapse,” where a section of the fourth floor fell onto the third, second and first floors, is still under investigation. Although the pre-cast concrete components of the structure were reportedly designed and manufactured by Greenville, S.C.-based Metromont Corp., Hardin Construction Company was the general contractor. Hardin Construction was also the general contractor in charge of building a bridge in Piedmont Park that collapsed earlier this year resulting in the on-the-job death of one worker.
Georgia residents may recall a somewhat similar accident a few years ago when the Phillips Arena was being constructed. Unfortunately two workers were crushed to death when some of the huge pre-fabricated, pre-cast concrete bleacher sections collapsed on top of one another after being welded into position. In a professional negligence case, the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP represented the widow of an ironworker who was killed. By working with experts who had been involved in large construction projects such as the Georgia Dome and Turner Field, we uncovered the reasons for the collapse. In litigation against eleven participants in the Arena construction, we obtained a very favorable settlement for our client.
The Georgia Injury Lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have over 40 years of experience pursuing wrongful death lawsuits, some of which have involved highway and road defects. If you have lost a loved one and feel you have a wrongful death claim, call our experienced attorneys at 1-800-228-9159 for a free consultation.

Atlanta is the scene of another structural collapse. It has just been reported that a parking deck collapsed in the area of Spring and 5th Streets in the midtown area of Atlanta. At this time there are no reports of injuries or deaths, but the efforts of firefighters and rescue personnel to access the collapsed areas have just begun.

Our Atlanta, Georgia, lawyers have investigated and filed lawsuits in numerous construction and structural collapse cases. The most notable was the collapse during the building of Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

While we certainly hope that there are no injuries invoolved in this most recent collapse, there are many potential avenues by which a recovery for fatalities and serious injuries which can occur in such events.

Product liability suits, especially those involving autos and trucks, generally involve life altering injuries and death. As a result of the recent bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., many of the pending and future claims involving GM products stood to be wiped out, leaving the victims with no recourse against the manufacturer. As part of its government-backed restructuring plan, GM wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company and leave behind unprofitable assets and other liabilities such as product-related lawsuits.

Many of these victims would have to turn to public assistance for needed medical services. The taxpayer would be left to fund these items.

Consumer groups, several state’s attorney generals, and several individuals with pending claims against objected. Now, as part of a deal brokered by the current Administration, GM has agreed to take on responsibility for future product liability claims. In a concession to the consumer groups and state officials who had threatened to block the sale because of product liability concerns, the new company will now assume responsibility for future claims involving vehicles made by the old company, according to documents filed in federal bankruptcy court in last Friday. A hearing on the proposed sale of assets is scheduled for tomorrow.

Federal officials are warning consumers to stop using Zicam, a popular cold remedy because they say that it could damage or destroy the users’ sense of smell. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 130 reports of people who lost their sense of smell after using Zicam nasal products, which include Zicam Cold Remedy and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs.
The products were introduced by Matrixx Initiatives of Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999. In 2006, Matrixx paid $12 million to settle 340 lawsuits from Zicam users who claimed that the product destroyed their sense of smell. Hundreds of other lawsuits have been filed. The Georgia Injury Lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have served injured Georgians since 1965. We have won millions for our clients and are committed to protecting consumers from dangerous products. If you have been injured by Zicam or any other dangerous products, call us for a free consultation.