Finch McCranie, LLP

Landmark Cigarette Ruling Upheld

Last Friday the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington essentially upheld a landmark ruling that found cigarette makers deceived the public for decades about the health hazards of smoking.
The Court of Appeals upheld the major elements of a 2006 ruling that found the nation’s top tobacco companies guilty of fraud and violating racketeering laws. The ruling said manufacturers must change the way they market cigarettes. It bans labels such as “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light” or “mild,” because such cigarettes have been found to
(more…)

Drug Companies Agree To Reimbursement of Taxpayers

The attorney general of Alabama has announced that 14 major drug companies will pay Alabama $89 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of defrauding the state Medicaid agency. This lawsuit brought on behalf of the taxpayers of the state of Alabama is one of many throughout the United States brought by state’s Attorney Generals accusing drug manufactures of overcharging and defrauding states for the purchase of drugs used in state sponsored medicaid and health care programs. The lawsuits essentially allege a pattern of fraud
(more…)

Product Liability Claims And Other Claims Related To Dangerous Machinery

Georgia injury lawyers, handling a claim for a catastrophically injured employee or the family of a deceased employee, our investigation will often reveal that the employee received injuries while working on or around a piece of machinery that caused the death, some traumatic amputation or other trauma to the employee. In such a case, the attorney must consider potential product liability claims, such as defective design, manufacture, assembly, testing or failure to warn or misrepresentation. The Supreme Court of Georgia has outlined the
(more…)

South Carolina Teenager Seriously Injured After Being Thrown From ATV

Georgia and South Carolina injury lawyers are seeing ATV accidents involving serious injury and sometimes death are on the rise with the return of warm weather. Tragically many, if not most are preventable by using common sense and obeying ATV rules. Just this week, I read about a Summerville, South Carolina teenager who is fighting for her life as a result of being thrown from the back of a fast moving ATV. According to witnesses, neither the 32 year old ATV driver or the
(more…)

Brain Death

Our Atlanta based lawyers are constantly involved in cases involving brain injury and brain death. As tragic as these cases are, the families and loved ones are many times faced with the decision whether to cease life support after there has been a medical determination of brain death.
In general, brain death is considered to be the irreversible loss of brain function. The exact definition has changed throughout the years and is still subject to debate. The brainstem controls brain function and is responsible for
(more…)

Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Medical Device Safety Act

Defective medical devices can lead to the serious injury or death of innocent people. For this reason Georgia injury lawyers representing victims of defective and dangerous products were dismayed when the Supreme Court decision in Riegel v. Medtronic, held that consumers can’t sue medical device companies over medical devices that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Now, victims of these dangerous products who say they were injured by faulty medical devices want Congress to pass legislation called the Medical
(more…)

Workers Compensation Injuries – Is There A Premises Liability and Negligent Security Third Party Claims?

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP who handle workers compensation cases always investigate the possibility that there is a negligent third party who can be sued and held accountable for the client’s injuries and damages. As any injured worker knows, the income benefits available under the Georgia Workers Compensation Act are limited. A worker with serious injuries is never made whole with workers compensation benefits alone. Many serious on-the-job injuries or deaths are attributable to the negligence of someone other
(more…)

Congressman’s Death Highlights The Dangers of Operating An ATV

As the popularity of ATV’s (all-terrain vehicles) increases the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP see more ATV accidents resulting in death and serious injuries each year. Even experienced riders must be very careful when operating an ATV. On April 18th of this year, former Utah Congressman Bill Orton, age 60, died while operating his ATV. According to authorities, he was riding out on the sand and went off a very steep sand dune, and when he impacted the bottom, the front end
(more…)

Car Roof Crush Standards Increased

Many automobile crashes which our Georgia lawyers investigate involve serious injury and deaths which are caused by roof collapses in rollover situations. Tragically, many of these victims would have been less seriously injured or survived had the roof of the vehicle not collapsed. For many years, safety advocates have urged auto makers and the federal government to increase the minimal standards for vehicle roof strength.
Now, under pressure from Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued increased roof-strength requirements. The long-awaited federal
(more…)

Limiting The Chance For Serious Injury Or Death From Grinding Wheel Explosions

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have previously posted on the danger posed by defective grinding wheels that explode or disintegrate. When a grinding wheel comes apart, it can result in serious eye injury and even death. Although there are several reasons why these wheels fail, it is thought that many of these are inferior, imported products.
To prevent injuries, the following procedures are recommended when using grinding wheels:
* Check the wheel before each use for any cracks or chips. If
(more…)

In An Accident While Traveling Out Of Town: What Law Controls?

We are often called by clients who have traveled through the Atlanta area only to be the unfortunate victim of a third party’s negligence. Calls usually come from those in car accidents or tractor-trailer collisions. Sometimes a slip and fall is involved or a defective product. These innocent persons sometimes are hospitalized following the incident in Georgia and then sent back to their home states for follow up treatment. When they reach out to an attorney the usually are being overwhelmed with medical
(more…)

Wrongful Death Cases: Who Has The Claim?

It is not unusual for our firm to be contacted by family members who are bereaved over the death of a close family relative. Oftentimes the individual is killed through the negligence of a third party and the family member simply wants to understand the law that pertains to the claim. Sometimes, however, family members can get in an argument among themselves as to who has the right to pursue the claim for the wrongful death. While Georgia, like many states, has a statutory scheme
(more…)

Structured Settlements In Serious Injury Cases

In any serious injury case involving permanent or lifetime injuries, careful consideration should be given to whether a structured settlement should be part of any settlement of such a case. A structured settlement agreement is a device whereby if the overall lump sum amount can be agreed upon, a certain percentage of it can be set aside and invested in an annuity that will pay benefits over the victim’s lifetime, usually on a monthly basis. Such benefits are extremely important for people who are disabled because it provides them a safety net and allows them to pay rent and other necessary living expenses as they grow older. Particularly in those cases where a victim is incapacitated and unable to work, a structured settlement agreement can provide a lifetime of revenue for necessary living expenses.

(more…)

Hospital And Medical Liens: What Should A Victim Do?

In a serious injury case the victim is usually overwhelmed with medical expenses, lost wages, terrible pain and suffering, and a total disruption in their personal, family and home life. If they are fortunate enough to have good counsel and they are fortunate enough to get a good settlement from the third party responsible for inflicting the injuries upon them, it will not be uncommon for such a victim to have to deal with a host of medical lien issues. The most common medical liens
(more…)

Implantable Defibrillators Frequently Used In Inappropriate Cases

More than 20% of patients who received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator — a high-tech device that produces electrical impulses to regulate heartbeats and prevent life-threatening arrhythmias — in recent years were not good candidates to receive the device, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Duke University looked at more than 111,000 patients who received ICD implants between 2006 and 2009. More than 25,000 of those patients did not meet evidence-based criteria for receiving the device, according to the study.
The risk of dying in the hospital
(more…)

Inhalers Recalled Due To Mislabeling

The Food and Drug Administration is also concerned that hospital, med-center and emergency patients may be given the higher dose, as correctly labeled outer packaging is generally discarded.
Health care providers seeing only the mislabeled bottle would be very likely to give the wrong dose, especially since the two solution strengths are distilled in equal sized bottles. The .05 mg/3 ml bottles look just like the 2.5 mg./ 3 ml bottles. Only the strength differs.
Albuterol Sulfate Inhalation is sold in single use dosage bottles,
(more…)

Subrogation Claims In Personal Injury Cases

In car accidents, tractor-trailer accidents, medical malpractice or other serious injury cases, in the event a settlement is reached, there is always the possibility of a subrogation claim being asserted by a third party against the settlement proceeds. Subrogation claims are usually claims held by insurance carriers that have paid medical benefits. The victim who was injured by the negligent truck driver, for example, may have incurred hundreds of thousands in medical bills for expensive surgery. If a third party health insurance carrier pays these
(more…)

Food-Borne Safety Bill Signed But in Trouble

Each year, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, 48 million people, that is one in six Americans, are sickened by food-borne illnesses. Of those, 180,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.
The first major overhaul of the nation’s food-safety infrastructure since 1938 was signed into law yesterday by President Obama.
The Food Safety Modernization Act moves the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) away from its early-20th-century role of responding to adulterated food to a more modern one of requiring companies
(more…)

Electric Adjustable Beds Singled Out For Dangers

Electric adjustable beds have been singled out for causing serious injuries and death. Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to Invacare Corp. for failing to report and address malfunctions with its electric beds, including electronics that allegedly caught on fire causing injury and death.
The FDA posted a warning letter to the Ohio-based company Tuesday morning. Invacare makes a variety of medical equipment, including wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and electric beds.
In its Dec. 15 warning letter, the FDA said the company
(more…)

Settlement Releases In Personal Injury Cases

Anytime a serious injury case is settled for a particular amount of money, the insurance company for the at fault third party involved will insist on a Release of all claims, not only against their insured responsible for the damages but also for the insurance company issuing the check on their behalf. This is standard as part of any serious injury or personal injury case whereby monies are paid as consideration for a settlement. In all such cases, counsel should be conferred with because the
(more…)

Secret Link