Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer - Personal Injury

Ford Motor Company Ordered To Pay $6.5 Million In Rollover Case Where Man Suffered Brain Damage

Amy Rothschild — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:28:29 GMT

In 2004, Ruben Zamora, an oil field worker who was disabled prior to the accident, lost control of a 1993 Ford Motor Company Explorer sports utility vehicle when a tire lost its tread. The Explorer rolled over and the 41 year old driver was ejected from the vehicle. Ruben Zamora lost control of the 1993 Explorer when a tire lost its tread and was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over. Mr. Zamora suffered severe brain damage as a result of the accident and will need lifetime care.

Mr. Zamora's mother who sued on his behalf said that the tire tread separations set off vibrations in the rear of the vehilce that made it slide sideways becuase of a defect in the vehicle's suspension. ``The tires get to bouncing severely and the back end swings around,'' causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, Zamora's attorney, Bill Neumann, said today in a phone interview. ``They've known about the problem for years and failed to fix it.''

On February 1, 2007, a La Salle County jury in Texas agreed with the victim's mother and held that the Explorer was defective defective and awarded $10 million in damages. The jury also found that because Mr. Zamora was 35 percent at-fault for the accident, the $10 million jury verdict was reduced by 35 percent leaving a verdict of $6.5 million against Ford.

Ford stated that it plans to appeal the verdict claiming that Mr. Zamora was not properly belted when the vehicle rolled over. It appears that a prior owner had somehow modified the seatbelt system. Ford believes that the verdict will be further reduced because of a prior settlement with another defendant in the lawsuit.

Ford, the second largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, sold 137,817 Explorers last year, a 23 percent decline from 2006. Ford sold more than 400,000 Explorers in 2002. Honda Motor Co.'s smaller CR-V surpassed Explorer in 2007 as the top- selling sport-utility vehicle.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Hospital Accused In Sending Deceased Infant to Dirty Laundry Rather Than Morgue

Amy Rothschild — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:13:30 GMT

On July 8, Kourtney McGee of Cleburne was in her second trimester when she went to Huguley Memorial Medical Center of Fort Worth because she was bleeding. She gave birth prematurely to Jacob Dwayne Robinson, who did not survive. Hospital staff told Ms. McGee, the mother, and Milburn "Pete" Robinson, the father, that their child's body would be taken to the morgue.

When the funeral director arrived at the hospital to retrieve the baby's body, he was told that the body could not be found. The baby's body was not refrigerated when it got to the morgue. Instead it was sent to a commercial cleaner with the dirty laundry.

The parents filed a lawsuit for negligence and gross negligence against Huguley Memorial Medical Center
as a result of hospital staff sending their deceased newborn not the hospital's morgue, but rather, to the cleaners with the dirty laundry. The lawsuit alleges that it took 19 hours for the hospital staff to find the newborn's missing body. By then, the body had been crushed and disfigured.

The lawsuit contends that Huguley Memorial Medical Center had a duty to care for, handle, maintain and/or prepare for burial the body of Jacob Robinson. It breached its duty by "mishandling, misplacing, and disfiguring the body..." The family is seeking damages for severe emotional pain and anguish, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.
How did the baby end up in the laundry?

The hospital has denied doing anything inappropriate.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Students Burned in School Chemistry Accident Reach $1.8 Million Settlement

Amy Rothschild — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:41:46 GMT

Calais Weber and Cecilia Chen suffered personal injuries when a chemistry experiment burst into a ball of fire at a private boarding school in Hudson, Ohio. The personal injury lawsuit settled for $18.9 million.

Calais suffered burns over 46 percent of her body, and Cecilia was burned over 18 percent of her body. In addition to the intense pain, Calais also suffered deep depression. Calais has undergone at least 16 surgeries with more to follow. Cecilia has undergone at least three procedures with more scheduled. A teacher and her eleven year old son who were visiting the classroom were also injured but were not part of the lawsuit.

Calais who is now seventeen years, old attends Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Cecilia, who is also seventeen years old, is currently a student at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The parents of the victims will voluntarily spend $100,000 of the settlement proceeds to hire a nationally recognized education-safety expert to create a program that will prevent similar accidents and improve safety measures at the school.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Flight Students Settle Case Against Flight Instructor After Crash

Amy Rothschild — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:57:50 GMT

Two students filed a lawsuit against their flight instructor as a result of a 2004 plane crash near the Dubuque airport. Just prior to the crash, the pilot had tried to make an emergency landing in order to remove ice that was accumulating on the airplane and to assess the weather conditions. Fortunately, no one was killed as a result of the crash. All three men walked away with minor injuries. They were treated at and then released from the hospital.

The lawsuit claimed that the flight instructuor knowlingly flew in icy condiions. The lawsuit also named Wisconsin Aviation as a defendant. The case settled for an undisclosed amount.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate planning. The agency said particularly at fault was the pilot's flight into the known weather conditions in an aircraft not equipped with anti-icing equipment.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Jury Awards $3.4 Million To Man Injured Using Tool Gun Which Must Be Paid By Stanley Works and Home Depot

Amy Rothschild — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:10:18 GMT

After 8 hours of deliberatations, a jury in Hartford Connecticut issued a jury verdict of $3.4 million to a construction worker who was seriously injured when a nail became embedded in his brain as he worked with a nail gun. The jury held that Stanley Works and Home Depot, which sold the nail gun, were partly for the worker's injury in 2003.

The court held that the worker was 55% at fault, because he fired the nail gun into metal rather than wood resulting in the nail bouncing off of the wood and back at him and into his brain. However, the jury still ordered Stanley Works and Home Depot to pay their portion of the verdict which was $3.4 million dollars.

The worker was injuried while performing carpentry work in the rafters of a church in Massachusetts. A 3-inch nail went through his cheek and into his brain, according to testimony during the court proceedings. The man, who was a carpenter for 20 years before the incident, was partially paralyzed by the injury and now has seizures and other medical problems which resulted in him not being able to drive or work again.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Worksite Injuries and Workers Compensation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Woman Awarded $10 Million After Sponge Left Inside Her Body During Surgery

Amy Rothschild — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:04:43 GMT

A Georgia jury has awarded a woman $10 million for injuries that resulted from a sponge left inside her body during surgery. The sponge was not discovered until a CT scan was performed 10 days after the initial surgery. The 67-year-old woman developed a number of complications and infections that required subsequent surgeries, according to court records.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Woman Awarded $3 Million in Malpractice Action for Misdiagnosis

Amy Rothschild — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:20:52 GMT

Lynn and James Flaherty of Bethel Park, Pittsburgh couple won a $3 million malpractice lawsuit against two doctors and a physician's assistant after the woman was misdiagnosed as having a sinus infection. Mrs. Flaherty visited the doctors' office in 2001 complaining of headaches and nasal discharge. The doctors were not available. The physician's assistant recommended additional testing and prescribed steroids. The steroids masked the real condition which was a brain abcess.

At trial, expert witnesses testified that without an antibiotic, the steroids masked the problem and excacerbated it . Mrs. Flaherty still is not able to regulate her emotions and has difficulty with complex cognitive function.

The doctors and physician's assistant plan to appeal the damage award.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Maine Jury Awards $8 Million Malpractice Verdict Against Hospital and Midwife

Amy Rothschild — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:22:00 GMT

A severely brain damaged boy and his mother received almost $8 million in damages on Thursday, October 26, 2007, in a lawsuit against a Maine hospital and one of its midwives. The verdict was rendered in Auburn, Maine. The verdict in favor of Sasha Emond of Lewiston and her son, Odysseus, was described as the largest malpractice award ever handed down in Androscoggin County Superior Court. It came after two days of jury deliberations at the close of a nearly two-week trial.

In the complaint, Sasha Emond, who was sixteen years old when her child was born, contended that her midwife and Central Maine Medical Center failed to recommend an emergency cesarean section during the birth when it became known that the fetus was in distress. The woman's child , who is now five years old, was born with cerebral palsy caused by lack of blood and oxygen to his brain. The child will need around the clock care for the rest of his life.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Florida Jury Awards $4 Million To Boy Who Injured Arm During Game At School

Amy Rothschild — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:56:37 GMT

On October 22, 2007, a Florida jury awarded $4 million to a boy from Tampa who suffered permanent damage to his arm during a pick-up football game at a private school. According to the lawsuit, school staff members were not supervising the game when another student jumped on the plaintiff's arm.

The boy, who was 12 years old at the time of the accident, broke his left arm in a schoolyard football game in which a ball is thrown up and the person catching it is tackled. The family also alleged there was no supervision, as the teachers had gone inside during recess on the day of the accident. The jury agreed that the school was negligent in failing to supervise the game.

The boy wants to be a surgeon like both of his parents, but with nerve damage in his arm, that may be difficult. The break was so bad it tore a nerve in his forearm, causing permanent injury. The boy has screws in his arm and there is some paralysis and deformity.

The parents of the boy said they hope the verdict prompts other schools to provide better supervision for their students.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Illinois Jury Awards South Carolina Woman $15 Million in Personal Injury Case Involving Motorcycle Tires

Amy Rothschild — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:31:04 GMT

A federal jury in Peoria, Illinois awarded a South Carolina woman $15 million after finding that a tire on the motorcycle she was riding had a defect which resulted in a fall and severe brain damage. The jury deliberated over two days before deciding that defendant Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America Ltd. was liable for the May, 2002, incident on Interstate 55 in Livingston County, Illinois.

In 2002, the plaintiff, Trish McCloud, was riding back to her home in Michigan from a bike rally in St. Louis when the tire deflated. The driver of the motorcycle lost control and crashed. The bike flipped and McCloud struck her head on the pavement. The driver was hurt, but the extent of his injuries was not as severe as McCloud's.

Although Ms. McCloud was wearing a helmet, the impact was so great that it caused severe brain damage, according to court records. She was treated in a hospital for two months, where she was in and out of a coma.
Ms. McCloud ia now paralyzed and requires continuous care.

Her attorneys argued that Goodyear Dunlop made the motorcycle tire with a defect that caused it to fail prematurely. At trial, Goodyear Dunlop claimed the incident was caused by tire underinflation as well as excessive weight on the motorcycle.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild