Personal Injury & Wrongful Death

Some Chrysler Minivan’s May Have Defective Airbag Sensor

Chrysler Group LLC announced on yesterday it will replace a front airbag crash sensor in more than 355,000 minivans. Careful not to call it a “recall”, Chrysler says it’s “safety improvement campaign” covers its 2005 -2006 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans sold in the United State and Canada.
Chrysler’s “safety improvement campaign” came about because they discovered that under certain environmental conditions one of the front airbag sensors could crack allowing water to enter the sensor potentially rendering it inoperable. In
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Yaz/Yasmin – Gall Bladder Damage

Recently, the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP got a call from a former client who advised us that her 21 year old daughter had been having gall bladder problems that led to her having her gall bladder removed. It turned out that she had been taking one of two related dangerous drugs that have become associated with such health problems, Yaz. Yasmin became a very popular seller for Bayer Corp. almost immediately upon release to the public in 2001
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Crib Safety Regulations Announced

Defective and dangerous infant cribs have become a major problem across the United States. Since September 2007 the Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, has recalled more than 6 million cribs due to dangerous designs and defects. These problems include failures related to drop sides, hardware and wooden slats.
Consumer advocates and health professionals have long complained that federal safety requirements governing cribs do not address the durability of drop-sides on cribs and related hardware, as well as wood strength and quality and other issues.
Wednesday,
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Man Sues Over Dangerous Over-The-Counter Drug – Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Spray

Dangerous products seem to be everywhere these days. This is particularly true when it comes to pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs. This week the New York Daily News reported that a Manhattan man has filed suit against the manufacturer of Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Spray that he used from 2006 to 2009. The man claims that as a result of using the product, he has lost both his dense of taste and smell. The lawsuit claims that the manufacturer knew or should have known that
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Toyota Brake Recall

Toyota on Tuesday announced another global recall for defective automobiles. This time, more than 400,000 Prius and other hybrid cars are being recalled due to braking problems. The recall comes on the heels of the massive recall of Toyota vehicles for sudden acceleration problems.
Toyota has been criticized for attempting to grow sales while sacrificing quality and for being slow to recall vehicles with dangerous and deadly defects.
The recall will address what Toyota describes as a software glitch in the brakes of the
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Did Toyota Delay Recall ?

Toyota is being taken to task for delaying the recall of vehicles subject to sudden acceleration. Amid reports that Toyota is going to recall its highly successful hybrid, the Prius, for brake problems, there are serious questions being raised as whether the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration responded quickly enough to reports of sudden acceleration in some of its other models.
Insurer State Farm has revealed that it notified NHTSA in late 2007 that it was seeing an increase in sudden acceleration
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Medical Malpractice Caps Tossed in Illinois

Medical malpractice victims in Georgia are not only injured and killed by negligent health care, but are also victimized by the state via caps on so called non-economic damages. In Georgia, the cap limits these damages to $350,00.00.
Many people have pointed out that this is inherently unfair, especially since the most grievously injured victims are penalized to a greater extent. In effect, the legislature, with help of the governor, decreed that if you, or a loved one is retired or too young to have
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Unprecedented Dangerous Product Recall

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen our share of dangerous products recalled for one reason or another; however, last week’s recall of numerous Toyota models of automobiles and trucks probably sets a new record. In late 2009, Toyota issued a recall of 4.2 million vehicles because it was thought that they could interfere with the gas pedal and cause sudden acceleration. Now Toyota has issued a recall affecting 2.3 million vehicles and has suspended the sale of eight models,
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Dangers of “Distraction Driving”

In a blog of a few days ago we wrote about the dangers of “distraction driving.” Statistics have been released from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration indicating that many people across the United States are being injured on a daily basis as a result of the use of cell phones and texting devices. Obviously, when using these devices, the driver is “distracted” and the more distracted the driver the less safe the driver. Regrettably, the State of Georgia has yet to enact a
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Lawyer Prosecuted for Illegal Solicitation of Clients

In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act. A key component of this law was to prevent attorneys from contacting members of a victim’s family for at least forty-five (45) days after an airline crash. After a crash involving serious injuries or deaths, families need to be left alone to tend to family matters. They do not need to be besieged by attorneys seeking to profit upon their misfortunes. In recognition of the fact that oftentimes members of the Bar fail
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Defective Dehumidifiers Recalled

http://www.serious-injury-litigation.com/lawyer-attorney-1259787.htmlGeorgia injury lawyers know that dangerous products can cause serious injury or death to innocent consumers. For example, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary recall of Gold Star and Comfort-Aire portable dehumidifiers due to a fire hazard. The Commission said the recall involved 98,000 dehumidifiers exported from China by LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Co. Of China. According to the Commission, the dehumidifiers have power connectors that can short circuit, posing a fire risk. The company has received four reports of fires involving dehumidifiers including Gold Star model # GHD30Y7, which were sold at Home Depot outlets, model # DH305Y7, sold at Walmart stores, and Comfort-Aire model # BHD-301-C dehumidifiers, sold at Heat Controller.
Defective and dangerous products coming into the United States from China are increasing at an alarming rate. In 2008, 80% of all product recalls in the U.S. involved imported products from China. Other dangerous recalled products include dog food, toys with lead paint, drywall and even pharmaceuticals.

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Carbon Monoxide Leaks Often Result In Wrongful Death

Every year Georgia citizens die needlessly as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. According to Journal of the American Medical Association, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America, yet many people do not know when they are being affected by it since its symptoms appear flu-like. Exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide can result in death.
Most of the time this poisoning occurs as a result of defectively installed or maintained gas furnaces or gas hot water heaters, although there are many sources of carbon monoxide which include house fires, faulty furnaces, heaters, wood-burning stoves, internal combustion vehicle exhaust, electrical generators, propane-fueled equipment such as portable stoves, and gasoline-powered tools such as leaf blowers, lawn mowers, high-pressure washers, concrete cutting saws, power trowels, and welders. Exposure typically occurs when equipment is used in buildings or semi-enclosed spaces. Poisoning may also occur following the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCUBA) due to faulty diving air compressors. Riding in the bed of pickup trucks has even led to poisoning in children. Idling automobiles with the exhaust pipe blocked by snow has led to the poisoning of car occupants. Generators and propulsion engines on boats, especially houseboats, has resulted in fatal carbon monoxide exposures.
Many of the deaths that occur as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning could have been avoided had the owner of the property, whether it be a hotel, apartment of single family dwelling, conducted reasonable maintenance inspections and installed carbon monoxide detectors. Many times local governments require such things when it comes to hotels and apartments. Failure to abide by building codes in the installation, replacement and servicing of furnaces and hot water heaters often results in carbon monoxide leaks and either chronic or acute poisoning.

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Medical Malpractice Realities

Medical malpractice lawsuits in Georgia have long been the target of doctors’ groups and big insurance companies. Using advertising, political contributions, and misinformation, they have been successful in fostering the notion that these lawsuits are frivolous. Many people have bought into this misconception, that is, until it happens to them or a loved one.
A recent story in the Miami newspaper illustrates this well. A Belle Glade, Florida judge plans to sue two radiologists and a surgeon after a foot long by foot wide
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Medical Error Costs Quantified

Preventable medical errors add extremely high costs to the healthcare provided in Georgia and across the United States. The Society of Actuaries, the largest professional organization dedicated to supporting 21,000 members in the United States and Canada, recently commissioned a study to assign a cost to these medical errors.
The study defined measureable costs of medical errors to include increased medical costs, costs related to an increased mortality rate, and costs related to lost productivity after the occurrence of an error. Most other costs of
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Hit-and-Run Crash Results In Death Of Georgia Motorcyclist

Inattentive drivers are responsible for many Georgia motorcycle accidents every year. Sadly the negligence of these inattentive drivers often results in the serious injury or wrongful death of the motorcyclist. Such may have been the case yesterday in Macon, Georgia when a woman driving a 1999 Chevrolet Impala ran a stop sign at the intersection of Peeble Street and Second Avenue and struck a motorcycle. According to witnesses, the woman struck 59-year old James Collins of Danville and then left the scene of the accident. The victim was pronounced dead shortly after the crash.
Hopefully authorities will be able to apprehend the driver and prosecute her for her callous, criminal conduct and hopefully for the family of the victim, there will be insurance coverage to compensate them for their loss.

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Dog Bites and Dog Attacks Are Serious Business – Georgia’s Homeowners Should Beware!

Georgia injury lawyers know that dog bites can result in serious and disfiguring injuries and sometimes the wrongful death. Because of the population of Atlanta area, it is not uncommon to hear about these cases on a weekly basis. It is estimated that almost 5 million Americans each year are dog bite victims. About 800,000 of these are serious enough to seek medical treatment for their injuries. Sadly, about half the victims are children and most of them are between the ages of 5 and 9 years old.
According to the law, dog owners are responsible for their dog’s actions and homeowner’s insurance will pay for the damages. Owning a dog know to have dangerous propensities or failing to abide by leash laws will subject the owner to liability if the dog bites someone. It is estimated that dog bites account for roughly one-third of homeowners’ insurance claims. For that reason, many insurance companies that sell homeowner’s insurance coverage will now inquire about the types of pets the prospective insured may have living in the home and factor that into the underwriting process when determining a fair premium.
Georgia law provides two ways that an animal owner or handler may be found liable for injuries inflicted by the animal. The first requires that the victim prove: (1) that the animal is dangerous or vicious; (2) that the owner or handler had knowledge of the dog’s viciousness or tendency to attack humans; and, (3) that the owner or handler either carelessly managed the animal or allowed it to go at liberty. The second basis upon which an owner or handler may be found liable for injuries inflicted by an animal requires that the victim prove that the animal; (1) was not at heel or on a leash as required by a local ordinance; and, (2) that the owner or handler either carelessly managed the animal or allowed it to go at liberty. The second ground does not require knowledge of dangerousness or viciousness of the animal. To successfully prove liability under the Georgia statute, the claim can be based on either a violation of a leash law or the owner’s or handler’s knowledge that the dog had the temperament or propensity to bite people.

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Reporting Reduces Medical Errors

Acts of medical malpractice are often hidden by the secrecy afforded hospitals and health care providers by various state laws which make these matters confidential and immune from discovery by the public.
In an effort to reduce these sometimes deadly errors, the state of Indiana initiated a method of publicly tracking preventable medical errors. In just the fourth year of reporting, Indiana hospitals and surgery centers reported more than a 10 percent decrease in errors between 2008 and 2009.
Indiana’s Medical Error Reporting System requires
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Depuy Orthopedics Hip Implant Product Recalled

On August 4, 2010, DePuy Orthopedics recalled its ASR XL Acetabular System (hip implant) and ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Recent data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales indicated a higher than expected revision rate at five years. Specifically, the data showed that the five-year revision rate for ASR XL Acetabular System was approximately 12% and for ASR Hip Resurfacing System was approximately 13%.
The revision rate was highest with ASR head sizes below 50mm in diameter and among female patients.
DePuy is
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Road Debris Can Kill

Not a week goes by that we do not see a significant number of road debris items laying in the middle of Georgia highways. Whether it is an old mattress, furniture, tools, chain, truck tie-down straps or whatever, these items on the highway often result serious injury or death to innocent motorists who encounter and try to avoid them.
In October of 2008, a woman, trying to avoid road debris, died instantly in a single car crash. The accident happened at about 7:30 a.m.
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Traffic Fatalities Show Significant Decrease

Traffic fatalities in Georgia and across the United States have shown a significant decline between 2008 and 2009, according to a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Georgia’s number of traffic fatalities in the period fell by 14 percent for a total of 1,495 in 2009. Florida led the nation with 422 fewer traffic fatalities in 2009, followed by Texas (405 fewer), California (353), Pennsylvania (212) and Georgia (211 fewer).
Increased seatbelt use and campaigns against drunk driving are being credited
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