Articles Tagged with Personal Injury

On May 14, 2008, the manufacturer of Trasylol officially pulled all remaining supplies of the blood clotting drug from the market. This drug, manufactured by Bayer (AG) is typically used by surgeons to control bleeding during heart surgery. Unfortunately, in a major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was reported that the use of this drug significantly raised the risk of death for patients who used this product as opposed to other similar products on the market. A study conducted by a Canadian group found that patients that had been given Trasylol had a fifty percent (50%) higher death rate than patients who were given alternative drugs.

Bayer (AG) originally suspended the sales of this drug in November of 2007 under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration. Patients who were undergoing heart bypass, valve replacement or other cardiac procedures were more likely to die than others who had received competing blood clotting drugs available on the market. Most the deaths that have been reported have been due to either kidney failure, heart failure, heart attacks or strokes following the surgery. In short, it has been well established that this drug is associated with severe complications attendant to heart surgery including renal failure. What is most troubling about this product is that for years it appears that the manufacturer was aware that it was dangerous but nonetheless concealed these known dangers from the public.

In a February 2008 report by the Television news program Sixty Minutes, it was reported that Bayer had been aware for decades of the safety concerns associated with this drug. Sixty Minutes reported that Bayer had conducted its own internal study to evaluate the risk of patient deaths from Trasylol and had found that there was an elevated risk of death and acute kidney failure associated with its use. Nonetheless, when the FDA conducted a safety review of this drug in 2006, according to the Sixty Minute report, Bayer did not reveal the study to the FDA and successfully lobbied the FDA to keep Trasylol on the market. Allegedly, over a year passed before the FDA again reviewed the adverse effects of this drug and ordered it to be recalled it from the market.

Every serious injury claim our firm handles has its own set of complications, but one of the most complicating facts we are often confronted with is the case where someone is seriously injured in an automobile or tractor-trailer collision and they have no health insurance. Indeed, regardless of the type of claim, whether it be a slip and fall, a products liability claim, medical malpractice or any other tort case, the lack of available health insurance oftentimes severely compromises our ability to obtain justice for our clients. This also severely compromises the ability of the injured individual to obtain the necessary care to improve their health. While we often read in the paper about the crisis of our healthcare delivery system when it comes to poor and the indigent, we see this crises every day in our practice when innocent victim/clients who are suffering are unable to afford needed healthcare.
In a typical case where someone is injured by the negligent acts of a third party, even if the third party has very good insurance coverage, we do not have a “pay as you go” rule which entitles the injured individual to have their bills paid as they are incurred. Instead, we have a system whereby once the claim is fully matured and all of the bills and expenses are known, the injured individual is entitled to reimbursement for such expenses assuming liability for the damages is established. In Georgia as in most jurisdictions, if someone is injured through the negligent acts of a third party, they are entirely on their own when it comes to medical treatment following the injury. In the hypothetical case where a tractor-trailer truck rearends an innocent motorist and severely injuries the occupants of the car, there is no duty of tractor-trailer company or its insurance company to provide the resources necessary for medical treatment needed on an ongoing basis. Instead, the injured individual is literally left to their own resources in terms of getting the treatment necessary to treat their injuries. If there is no available health insurance coverage, this makes it exceedingly difficult for the injured individual to get the treatment necessary to improve their health much less establish the legitimacy and the extent of their personal injury claim.
Injured individuals who have no health insurance have an extremely difficult time obtaining medical care. While emergency rooms cannot turn away an injured individual in an true emergency context, once the person is stabilized, the hospital has no duty to provide ongoing care to them. Thus, the injured individual who is in need of medical care, particularly diagnostic tests such as MRIs, CT Scans and the like have an almost impossible time securing such tests and obtaining the treatment necessary in follow up. Instead, they are left to their own devices in finding healthcare clinics, community health centers and/or doctors who will agree to treat them free of charge. If the injured individual is not qualified for Medicaid, Medicare or any other government sponsored program and has no private health insurance, what they will find is that most doctors do not want to treat them. Doctors do not work for free. They have overhead obligations obviously and therefore work for a profit. If they treat too many patients with no charge, they will go out of business. The same is true of any kind of service company, including lawyers. Thus, the injured individual is in a “Catch 22.” They have been injured through no fault of their own and they need medical care. They have no Medicare, Medicaid or health insurance and even though they need treatment, they can’t find it. Thus, they suffer needlessly and when it comes time to try to help them resolve their legal claims arising out of the accident, which was no fault of their own, there is little or no evidence to support the extent of the injuries because there is a complete absence of MRIs, CT Scans and other diagnostic tests available to confirm the nature and extent of the injuries.
This vicious cycle is often encountered in cases we handle for the poor and indigent. The victimization continues because the injured individual who has done absolutely nothing wrong is without the resources to obtain necessary medical care. Thus, it becomes imperative that the individual find a compassionate doctor or healthcare provider who will treat them on an ongoing basis subject to a lien for their services in the event there is a settlement or recovery in their personal injury claim. This complicates the case because the treatment is oftentimes not as good as it would be if there was full available health insurance coverage.

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In addition to the bicycle laws already covered in past blogs, there are a few others with which all bike riders should be familiar.

One makes it unlawful for any person to sell a new bicycle or pedal unless the pedals on the bike or the pedal is equipped with a reflector of a type approved by the Department of Public Safety. The reflector must be situated so as to be visible from the front and rear of the bike during darkness from a distance of 200 feet.

Another statute makes it unlawful for any bike rider to carry any package, bundle or other article which prevents the rider from keeping at least one hand on the handlebar.

Many doctors and dentists are marketing medical credit cards to their patients. Doctors like the cards because they get paid immediately from the credit card companies rather than spending time collecting medical bills. Doctors and other health care providers are pushing the cards even in cases where the patient needs emergency care and may not be in a position to refuse the card or to intelligently make a proper financial decision.

Consumer lawyers report they are seeing a growing number of cases where patients say they did not realize they had signed up for a credit card, nor did they understand its terms and conditions. Some of these cards carry interest rates of up to 27 percent. Like other credit cards, medical credit cards often have low or zero interest for an introductory period.

In most cases, consumer protection laws like the Truth in Lending Act would only apply to the credit card companies. However, these cards could lead to claims against the doctors under some state laws.

In May of 2007, Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. recalled one of its contact lens cleaning solutions, known as AMO Complete Moisture Plus. Our firm is currently representing 2 individuals injured by this product. According to the Centers for Disease Control, contact lens wearers were seventeen (17) times more likely to contract a serious eye infection known as acanthamoeba keratitis if they used this product as opposed to other Multi Purpose Cleansing solutions. Even though the product was recalled from the market in May of 2007, cases continue to come in involving this product. One of the reasons for this is because the company that recalled the product did a very poor job in doing so.

Even though the product was initially recalled in May of 2007, by August of 2007, the CDC noticed that cases were continuing to come in to them through eye centers throughout the Country. This, of course, indicated that the recall was being haphazardly handled by the Company. Indeed, the CDC conducted a survey which indicated that many members of the public did not know that the solution had been recalled nor did many members of the medical and ophthalmology community in general. Thus, the CDC mandated stricter compliance with recall regulations by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.

Acanthamoeba keratitis is a very serious eye infection. It is believed that the acanthamoeba attached to contact lens and penetrated into the epithelium of the cornea because of the ingredient formulas distinct for this particular eye cleansing solution. Regrettably, the manufacturer did not advise the public at the time this product was marketed that the Multi Purpose Solution was ineffective at killing acanthamoeba, a known risk for contact lens wearers. The product was marketed on the basis of eye comfort verses efficacy. Regrettably, even though hydrogen peroxide cleaning solutions are much more effective at killing acanthamoeba than are Multi Purpose Solutions, the lay public does not appreciate this distinction and therefore has been using disinfecting solutions like AMO Complete Moisture Plus without a full appreciation of the danger in doing so.

Our Atlanta bicycle accident attorneys review many bike injury cases in which it is alleged by the at fault motorist that the bike rider was riding in an unlawful manner. Continuing with our explanation of Georgia bicycle laws, Section 40-6-294 of the Official Code of Georgia controls the use of roadways and bike paths by bicyclists. It provides that every person operating a bike shall ride as close to right side road as practicable with the following exceptions:

1. except turning left or avoiding hazards to safe cycling;

2. When traveling the same speed as motor vehicles;

In our wrongful death practice, obviously, our attorneys have seen many tragedies, sometimes with devastating consequences for our clients and their families. This past week was no different as we were retained to represent the family of a young man who died while attempting to save the life of another. This young man gave his life and service to another, one of the highest and noblest acts of self-sacrifice possible. And yet, the matter has gone largely unnoticed by the metropolitan Atlanta community simply because of the tremendous amount of information with which we are all bombarded every single day living in such a large metropolitan area.

On July 6, 2008, Derwin Wayne Roy, Jr. came upon an accident on Interstate Highway I-75 South at 3:40 a.m. Two cars had been involved in a serious collision and the occupants of same were in need of assistance. Mr. Roy pulled his truck over to the side of the road, exited his vehicle and tried to help extricate one of the seriously injured individuals involved in the accident that he just happened upon. As he was escorting one of the injured occupants towards the shoulder of the road, unfortunately for Mr. Roy and this occupant, another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed ran over both pedestrians on the highway killing them both.

After this tragic accident, the police found the cell phone of Mr. Roy. The last telephone call he made was to 911. He had called in the accident to the police and while awaiting for their arrival was attempting to render aid to those who had been injured. He lost his life while trying to get one of the vehicle’s occupants to safety off of the shoulder of the road. This truly was a hero’s death and should be recognized by our community as such.

At a recent Senate hearing , several lawmakers blasted the U.S. Supreme Court over a series of opinions they say protect businesses at the expense of ordinary Americans. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, said the Court’s recent opinions on employment discrimination, federal preemption and mandatory arbitration have empowered and protected corporations while making it harder for workers and consumers to get redress.

Leahy pointed to Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 127 S.Ct. 2162, handed down just over a year ago. In that case, the Court ruled against a disparate pay plaintiff who said she was unaware of her employer’s discriminatory practices and contended the statute of limitations should be restarted with the issuance of each unequal paycheck.

The Court disagreed, ruling in favor of the employer. This prompted a bid by Congress to overturn the decision with legislation. The bill died earlier this term.

As we previously wrote, there are specific laws regulating bicycles in the state of Georgia. Many of these requirement are unknown to bike riders, and in many instances are used by defendants to attempt to avoid liability for injuring bike riders. Our attorneys have seen one section in particular used many times by defense attorneys in an effort to try to shift blame from an at fault motorist onto the biker. That law, Section 40-6 -294 of the Official Code of Georgia, establishes requirements for lights, equipment and helmets.

It provides that every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a front light which shall emit a white light visible from 300 feet from the front; and, a red rear reflector of a type approved by the Department of Public Safety, visible for 300 feet to the rear when directly in front of a lawful upper beam of headlights on a motor vehicle. A light emitting red light visible from a distance of 300 feet from the rear may be used in addition to the reflector.

The law also requires that every bicycle sold or operated in the state shall have a brake which will enable the operator to make the braked wheel skid on dry level pavement. No bike can have handlebars which require the operator to raise his or her hands above shoulder level in order to grasp the normal steering grip.

Defective automobile tire valves manufactured in China are the subject of a recall. Some 6 million tire valve stems manufactured by Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corp. of China between July 2006 and November 2006 have been recalled. It is estimated that 36 million of these tire stems were manufactured.

The U.S. distributor of the tire valves, Dill Air Control Products, of Oxford, N.C., notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of potential problems with the tire valve stems after it was named in a lawsuit filed in Florida. The lawsuit contends that a defective tire stem caused a rollover crash.

The Florida suit alleges that the tire valve stem on the rear tire of a 1998 Ford Explorer cracked causing the tire to fail and leading to a rollover. The driver was killed.