Finch McCranie, LLP

Traumatic Brain Injury

In our practice we frequently handle cases involving traumatic brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury can occur in a variety of ways. It can occur when there is a rapid acceleration and/or deceleration of the brain such as in an automobile collision whiplash scenario. Traumatic brain injury can also result when the head comes into contact with another object such as in a motorcycle accident, automobile accident, or a blow to the head. This type of injury is sometimes referred to as a “closed head injury.”
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Wrongful Death

A wrongful death occurs when a person’s death is caused by the wrongful act or negligence of another. A wrongful death is the basis of a lawsuit against the party or parties who cause a wrongful death. The action may be filed on behalf of certain members of the family of the deceased due to the wrongful death. The State of Georgia provides two causes of action in the event of a wrongful death. The first cause of action belongs to the survivors as determined
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Defective Tires

There are many news reports of one car collisions in which a vehicle goes out of control and strikes an object, such as a median barrier or a tree, killing the occupant. While it is only natural to assume that the driver of the vehicle was somehow at fault, this is not always the case. In our practice, we see cases in which it first appears that the driver was at fault, but further investigation reveals that a defective tire was the cause of the
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Dog Attacks

It seems that almost every day there is a headline in the local paper or on the TV news concerning horrible injuries suffered by a person attacked by a dog. This firm has successfully handled a large number of liability cases in which our clients were viciously attacked and injured by dogs.
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
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Uninsured Motorist Coverage: More Necessary Than Ever

One of the unfortunate occurrences we see in our practice all too often is the regrettable case where our clients believe they have more insurance coverage than they have in actuality and less than what they need. It is not unusual for us to see a client who has excellent liability coverage, for example, $300,000.00 – $500,000.00 in single limit coverage (or better). That same client, however, even though they have $300,000.00 – $500,000.00 in liability coverage protecting the third party in the event they are negligent will often times only carry $25,000.00 per person, $50,000.00 per accident in uninsured motorist coverage. In short, the clients have more coverage for the person that they might hurt than they have for themselves if they are hurt by a third party.

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A Welcome Erosion of Sovereign Immunity in Georgia

For many yearsin Georgia, unless a local government entity carried optional liability insurance coverage for automobiles under the control of city/county employees, it could not be sued no matter how much damage was inflicted by their actions. Of course, this resulted in tremendous injustices throughout our state. Finally, in 2004 because many, many innocent members of the motoring public were being injured by the acts of negligent government employees, the Georgia Legislature acted to waive sovereign immunity in such cases.

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High Speed Police Chase Cases: An American Tragedy

Some lessons are never learned. The law enforcement community has known for almost 20 years now that the dangers attendant to high speed police chases are tremendous. Indeed, the data of such dangers began accumulating in the 1980’s that the public price of these high speed police chases was simply too great to continue to allow unrestricted chases by the police. By 1990, the data was inescapable. Indeed, in 1990 alone, there were 314 deaths and over 20,000 injuries associated with high speed police chases. Many of the deaths involved the police themselves (not to mention the fleeing suspects) and thousands of innocent third parties who got caught up in the chase. This was known over 17 years ago. Unfortunately, the law enforcement community still continues to defend its actions when death to the innocent is caused by unwarranted and unnecessary high speed chases.

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An Abbreviated Checklist For The Federal Tort Claims Act

We have handled many federal tort claims on behalf of clients over the years but, nonetheless, it is always helpful to have an Abbreviated Federal Tort Claims Act Checklist to make sure that we are in compliance with the law. Those who have never handled a case against the United States government may find some of the procedural requirements burdensome and difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, once a checklist is developed, the procedure is actually fairly easy to follow but and this is an important but, it must be followed correctly. Here are some of the items on our list:

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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.

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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.

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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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