Finch McCranie, LLP

Having Full Insurance Coverage Does Not Mean You Have Good Coverage

Serious injury lawyers like ourselves often hear clients involved in serious accidents tell us that they had “full coverage” at the time of the accident and that they therefore have “excellent” insurance protection. The vast majority of the time, this is not the case at all. This is because the term “full coverage” means that one has the coverage one is minimally required by law to possess. Full coverage does not mean adequate coverage nor does it mean excellent coverage. It means minimally required coverage
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Medical Malpractice Bill Seeks To Correct Injustice

Our medical malpractice attorneys are many times forced to turn away cases against emergency rooms where the patient is injured by clear negligence. This is caused by the gross negligence standard for emergency departments adopted by the Legislature in 2005.
With the Georgia Legislature meeting this week, Senators from both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, have joined to co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 286. This bill is designed to amend the provision of the so-called Tort Reform Bill initially passed in 2005, which essentially
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Police Chase Cases Do Not Always Protect the Public

Our firm is working on a police chase metro Atlanta case involving an officer who has been in two separate high speed pursuit cases resulting in two deaths. We have learned in this case that another officer in the same department has also been involved in two other accidents that have resulted in four deaths. Thus, between these two officers within the same police department there have been 4 high speed pursuit cases we know of involving six deaths. Is the public being protected when
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State Farm Held Liable

Our serious injury attorneys frequently see cases in which insurance companies refuse to pay valid claims and then turn on their insureds accusing them of fraud.
Last Tuesday, the Western Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict of nearly $8.5 million against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company for breach of contract claims and malicious prosecution against a claim holder. The case originated in 1997 when Jennie Hampton reported that her vehicle had been stolen and filed a claim with her insurer, State Farm.
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Antibiotics Cause Tendon Ruptures

The consumer group, Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to force the Food and Drug Administration to act upon a petition the consumer group filed with the agency 16 months ago. According to the lawsuit, despite long-standing evidence that fluoroquinolone antibiotics can cause tendon ruptures, the FDA has failed to increase its warnings to patients and physicians about the dangers of the medicines.
The FDA failed to respond to the Public Citizen asked
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Defibrillator Delays In Hospitals Lead to Death

In a study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors concluded that in nearly one-third of cases of sudden cardiac arrest occurring in hospitals, the staff takes too long to respond, greatly increasing the risk of brain damage and death. The authors research indicates that these delays contribute to thousands of deaths a year in the United States alone.
The study was based on the records of 6,789 patients at 369 different hospitals whose hearts suffered from conditions that could be
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Raw Oyster Dangers

A few months ago there was a large amount of news coverage regarding the death of a woman from eating contaminated oysters at an Atlanta restaurant. Now, the Georgia Department of Agriculture is alerting consumers that norovirus has been found in some raw oysters harvested in Louisiana. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Irvin announced that raw oysters harvested from the West Karako Bay Section of Growing Area 3 in Louisiana from Dec. 3 through Dec. 21 may possibly be contaminated with norovirus. Inspectors are looking for these
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Drug Patch Injuries and Deaths Reported

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about fentanyl pain patches. The fentanyl skin patch contains fentanyl, a potent narcotic. The skin patch was approved by FDA in 1990 for use in patients with persistent, moderate-to-severe pain who have become opioid tolerant – meaning that they have been using another strong opioid narcotic pain medicine around-the-clock, and have been using the medicine regularly for a week or longer. The skin patch is most commonly prescribed for patients with cancer.
The FDA has continued
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Drug Manufacturer Called To Task

Drug manufacturer Genentech has been involved in a dispute with physicians over the use of its drug Avastin. Ophthalmologists became concerned last October when Genentech announced it was changing the distribution channels for Avastin, which would make it much more difficult for patients to receive the drug. Doctors accused the company of making the change to force the use of its more expensive drug, Lucentis.
Lucentis is approved to treat macular degeneration, a condition that causes blindness and is encountered frequently in elderly patients. It
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Insurance Bad Faith And The Death Of A Teenager

As serious injury attorneys we frequently see cases in which insurance companies refuse to pay for treatment for their insureds, knowing that any appeal by the insured will take months, if not years, and that there is no legal remedy which can force the companies to offer timely treatment. In fact, in many cases the only legal remedy is that the company will be required to pay what they already owe, with no allowance for attorney fees and expenses. Unfortunately, in many cases the remedy
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Medical Malpractice Awards At Record Lows

A study released by Public Citizen found that medical malpractice payments were at or near record lows in 2008, but suggests the decline almost certainly indicates that a lower percentage of injured patients received compensation, not that health safety has improved.
Medical malpractice is so common, and litigation over it so rare, that between three and seven Americans die from medical errors for every one who receives a payment for any malpractice claim, according to Public Citizen’s analysis of medical malpractice payment data and
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One Million Dangerous Playpens Recalled

Many Atlanta residents trust the safety of their young children to playpens. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is expected today to announce a recall of one million Kolcraft play yards.
The recall of the portable playpens, some of which include changing tables or bassinets, follows hundreds of complaints of collapsing sides and reports of 21 injured children. The playpens were made in China and distributed by Kolcraft Enterprises Inc. of Chicago.
According to press reports, a Kolcraft spokeswoman, confirmed the recall.
Since September 2007,
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Bone Fusion Agent May Be Dangerous

A bone growth agent used in thousands of spinal fusion surgeries for neck pain has been linked to complications and higher cost, according to the first nationwide study of the product. Spinal fusion is one option for people with back and neck pain, although some researchers have questioned how well it works.
In a spinal fusion, a surgeon removes the disc between two vertebrae and replaces it with the patient’s own bone, BMP or another product. If successful, new bone grows and fuses the vertebrae
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Tylenol and acetaminophen dangers

Adverse prescription drug reactions are more common than most consumer are aware, and can have serious consequences, including death. Seeking to address these problems, a Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended new limits on acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol. Acetaminophen is the most commonly prescribed drug in the U.S., and commonly used in other drugs and remedies such as cough and cold medicines.
Acetaminophen overdoses are the main cause of liver failure in the U.S. Accidental acetaminophen overdoses kill about 100 people
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No Injuries or Deaths Reported Following Georgia Parking Deck Collapse

Miraculously, there have been no reported injuries or deaths following an accident in Atlanta, Georgia. Yesterday a portion of a concrete parking deck in downtown Atlanta collapsed near the intersection of Spring and 5th Streets, damaging or destroying 38 vehicles. The deck is a pre-fabricated, pre-cast concrete structure that was built eight years ago. The cause of the “pancake collapse,” where a section of the fourth floor fell onto the third, second and first floors, is still under investigation. Although the pre-cast concrete components
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Parking Deck Collapse

Atlanta is the scene of another structural collapse. It has just been reported that a parking deck collapsed in the area of Spring and 5th Streets in the midtown area of Atlanta. At this time there are no reports of injuries or deaths, but the efforts of firefighters and rescue personnel to access the collapsed areas have just begun.
Our Atlanta, Georgia, lawyers have investigated and filed lawsuits in numerous construction and structural collapse cases. The most notable was the collapse during the building of
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MIxed News For Victims Of GM Product Liability Cases

Product liability suits, especially those involving autos and trucks, generally involve life altering injuries and death. As a result of the recent bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., many of the pending and future claims involving GM products stood to be wiped out, leaving the victims with no recourse against the manufacturer. As part of its government-backed restructuring plan, GM wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company and leave behind unprofitable assets and other liabilities such as product-related lawsuits.
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Zicam Products Alleged To Be Dangerous Products

Federal officials are warning consumers to stop using Zicam, a popular cold remedy because they say that it could damage or destroy the users’ sense of smell. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 130 reports of people who lost their sense of smell after using Zicam nasal products, which include Zicam Cold Remedy and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs.
The products were introduced by Matrixx Initiatives of Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999. In 2006, Matrixx paid $12 million to settle 340 lawsuits from Zicam users
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Judge Rules Grout Cleaner Liability Suits Can Go Forward On Negligence Claims

Georgia injury lawyers see people seriously injured by dangerous products of all types. Many dangerous products result in the wrongful death of their users. A grout cleaner which was once sold by Home Depot is one product alleged to have been dangerous. Dozens of product liability lawsuits over injuries allegedly caused by the tile grout cleaning product will go forward as general negligence claims, a federal judge has decided. However, in ruling on the multi-district litigation, U.S. District Judge Thomas W.
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Dangerous Products Can Cause Serious Injuries or Death

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented many victims of dangerous products. The type and nature of these dangerous products runs the gambit. Products liability in Georgia has arisen primarily as a negligence concept and even today remains the most viable theory of products liability in terms of jury comprehension. It was announced this week that a federal judge in Atlanta is permitting dozens of product liability suits against Home Depot and the makers of a tile

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