Finch McCranie, LLP

Crib Recall Announced

Today, Delta Enterprise Corp a children’s products maker will announce a recall of 1.59 million cribs linked to two infant deaths. This recall follows other recent recalls of cribs and bassinets involving other manufacturers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, is expected to hold a news conference later this morning to announce the recall, which is being conducted on a voluntary basis by the company. Mandatory recalls are rare, though the CPSC sometimes has to pressure manufacturers to agree to repair or pull their products
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Work Related Injuries: Compensation From Third Parties

There is a common misconception that all work related injuries are solely covered by Workers’ Compensation statutory benefits. While it is true that any employee who is injured on the job while working for their employer is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, this does not necessarily mean that the injured worker is limited to the recovery of such benefits. If a third party, such as an independent contractor unrelated to the employer, participates in a negligent or wrongful act that results in a injury to
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Negligence by Emergency Vehicles

Under Georgia law, the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, including a law enforcement vehicle, when responding to an emergency call, has certain privileges that are not available to other drivers. As an example, the authorized emergency vehicle operator may proceed past a red or stop signal and exceed the maximum speed limits posted so long as he or she does not endanger life or property. The authorized emergency vehicle may also disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions. The exceptions
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Aircraft Engine Failures

Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, requested that the Federal Aviation Administration increase inspections of certain Pratt & Whitney engines on dozens of passenger jets to detect possible flaws linked to the most catastrophic type of failure. The NTSB asked that the FAA require that PW2037 engines undergo recurring inspections for the time being once they reach a certain point in their operation.
The request affects more than 700 engines on some 300 Boeing Co 757 aircraft worldwide, including at least several dozen operated
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Report: More Than 90 Percent of Nursing Homes Cited For Safety Violations

A new federal report found that nine of every 10 nursing homes were cited for violating federal health and safety standards last year. For-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes, according to the report. Problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups and poor nutrition. About one-fifth of the complaints verified by federal and state authorities involved the abuse or neglect of patients.
Elderly people are entitled to basic safety, respect and dignity. If you or someone you love is
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Digoxin and Byetta: Dangerous Drug Products

Digoxin was developed by the company Actavis Totowa to treat arrhythmias (abnormal heat rhythm) and allegedly to prevent heart failure. In April of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a recall of this drug. As it turned out, the use of this product leads to a dangerous side effect known as digitalis toxicity, a process that occurs when digitalis is not excreted normally through urine and the body is overexposed to the drug. This process may be fatal to the victim, which
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Medical Errors Not Rewarded By Medicare

New federal regulations that restrict Medicare payments to hospitals for the extra care required to treat patients harmed by certain preventable infections and medical errors went into effect on Wednesday, October 1.
The rules adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to provide hospitals with a financial incentive to improve patient care.
Under the new regulations, CMS will withhold payments to hospitals for care needed after patients suffer from certain preventable errors or omissions in care. These include hospital acquired urinary
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Motorcycle Crashes Continue To Increase

Motorcycle injuries and deaths continue to rise as more people utilize motorcycles and scooters for daily transportation. The Washington Post reports that in an eight-hour span over the Labor Day weekend motorcycle accidents in the metropolitan District of Columbia area left four people dead. One top transportation official calls the rise in motorcycle crashes “our nation’s greatest traffic highway safety challenge.”
While only 2 percent of all vehicles on the nation’s roads last year were motorcycles, they were involved in 11 percent of all traffic
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Nursing Home Report Reveals Disturbing Data

Nursing homes care for the elderly and disabled, some of the most vulnerable persons in society. But, a recent report has disturbing news. More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year according to a report issued by the federal government. For-profit nursing homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes.
The report revealed that about 17 percent of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused actual harm or immediate jeopardy
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Another Deadly Bus Accident: California Charter Bus Crash Is Another Example of Lack of Passenger Safety Measures

Last night’s deadly charter bus crash in California reportedly killed at least ten passengers, after the bus veered from the road, and rolled over into a ditch. Predictably, passengers were ejected from the bus or tossed around inside the bus, which in our experience greatly increases the severity of injury.
In last year’s deadly bus accident involving the Bluffton University Baseball Team, our firm represents the most seriously injured surviving passenger. As we have written about previously, the NTSB found that the lack of seat
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Dangerous Toys On Shelves At Christmas

Dangerous hazards are still finding their way into toys despite recently improved safety standards, according to a report recently issued by the American Association for Justice.

According to the report, for years, corporations have knowingly shipped toys with hidden dangers like small parts, loose magnets, asbestos, and other toxic chemicals until outrage from parents and civil lawsuits forced regulators or manufacturers to act.

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Claims Against Georgia Counties: Waivers of Sovereign Immunity

There are limited waivers of sovereign immunity when it comes victims of the negligence of a county employee. Unless a county’s sovereign immunity has been waived by statute, there is no legal claim that can be filed. An example of a waiver of a county’s sovereign immunity is the waiver of sovereign immunity by law where a county employee is operating a county vehicle. There is a specific Georgia statute which provides for the waiver of sovereign immunity with respect to such claims. See O.C.G.A.
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Suing Uncle Sam: The Federal Torts Claim Act

The Federal Torts Claim Act is found at 28 U.S.C. § 1346. It provides for a limited waiver of sovereign immunity with respect to tortious acts committed by federal agents and employees. Under its provisions, only the United States of America may be named as a defendant, not the agency or employee who committed the tort. An administrative ante-litem notice must be filed within two (2) years after the claim accrues. There is a waiting period before suit can be filed against the United States which is either when the written denial occurs or six (6) months, whichever is earlier.

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Senate Passes Bill To Help Prevent Food Borne Illnesses

Today, the United States approved the biggest overhaul to the nation’s food safety laws since the 1930s. By a bipartisan vote of 73-to-25 the new law would gives new authorities to the Food and Drug Administration, places new responsibilities on farmers and food companies to prevent contamination, and for the first time, sets safety standards for imported foods.
The Senate vote was one of the few pieces of legislation to receive bipartisan approval in years. The House of Representatives approved a more stringent version of
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Suing State Government In Georgia: Exceptions to Sovereign Immunity

There is a State Tort Claims Act found at O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20, et. seq. The Act resulted from an amendment to the Georgia Constitution and became law in April of 1992. It was intended to provide a remedy for torts committed by State officers and employees and establishes a procedure to waive sovereign immunity under certain circumstances to allow suits against the State for tortious acts of state agents, employees and/or officers. Individual State officers and/or employees may not be named as a party to a lawsuit. Under the State Tort Claims Act, the exclusive remedy for a tort committed by a State employee is an action against the state agency involved and not against the employee personally.

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Nursing Homes Hide Behind Confusing Ownership

Our Atlanta based attorneys frequently pursue cases against nursing homes involving horrible neglect and abuse of elderly and disabled persons.
In most of these cases our attorneys must sort through a maze of companies and entities designed to hide the true ownership of these offending entities and thereby avoid responsibility.
It is encouraging to see that several national lawmakers in the health policy world now want want nursing homes to be more open about who’s running them.
Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
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Toy Safety Report Released

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a private consumer advocacy group, recently released its 25th annual study of toy safety. It reported that only a small fraction of children’s toys tested for toxic substances and choking risks have been found to violate federal safety regulations.

The group’s public health advocate commented that while the study did not find perfection in toy safety, it did indicate progress.

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Medical Errors Kill 15,000 Medicare Patients Each Month, According to Inspector General

A disturbing Inspector General report from the shows that medical errors are harming and killing our senior citizens at alarming rates.

An estimated 15,000 Medicare patients die each month, and many more are injured, because of usually preventable medical mistakes in hospitals and other facilities.

The report focused on “adverse events,” defined as “harm to a patient as a result of medical care, such as infection associated with use of a catheter,” and “never events,” which are specific “serious events, such as surgery on the wrong patient, that the National Quality Forum (NQF) deemed ‘should never occur in a health care setting.’”

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Suing The Government: Exceptions to Sovereign Immunity

Today we received a telephone call from a client who had been injured on some school property. The client was vaguely aware of the doctrine of sovereign immunity and unfortunately for this particular person their claim was completely barred by operation of law. Why: because of the doctrine of Sovereign Immunity?
The law has long been that lawsuits against government official performing their discretionary and official job functions are discouraged. If it were not otherwise there would be litigation every time someone disagreed with what
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Products Liability-Manufacturers Are Responsible For Dangerous Products

Products should meet the ordinary expectations of consumers. If a product is defective and dangerous, then the designer, manufacturer and/or seller can be held accountable for any injuries or deaths that result. There are a number of different types of product liability cases.
Defective in Design: In a design-defect case, the dangerous product is in the condition intended by the manufacturer, but the design itself is unsafe.
Defects in Manufacturing: In a manufacturing defect case, the product’s design was safe, but the way
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