Personal Injury

Victims Rights, Statutes of Limitations and Serious Injury Claims

Our lawyers have previously written about procedural “Traps for the Unwary” which occur in the context of serious injury or wrongful death claims. We write again about this problem because we continue to see this issue in our practice.
To be victimized by a negligent act such as being seriously injured by a drunk truck driver is bad enough but to be further victimized by a statute of limitations would only compound the tragedy. Unfortunately, Georgia serious injury lawyers like ourselves often see cases
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Motorcycle Serious Injuries and Fatalities on the Rise

On this Georgia Injury Lawyer blog, our attorneys have previously written about motorcycle accidents involving serious injury or wrongful death. Based on the rise in the number of serious injury and death claims our firm is handling at present, our firm’s experience mirrors what the statistical evidence indicates: These tragic cases are on the rise.
The National Center for Statistics and Analysis, a division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), keeps statistics for motorcycle accidents each year. NHTSA also uses a
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Dangerous Products In The Market – Yet Another Chinese Toy Recall

Our lawyers are constantly amazed at the number of Chinese made toys which enter the United States only to be recalled later as health hazards to children.
Last Thursday, Mattel Inc., the nation’s largest toy maker, recalled an additional 38,000 “Go Diego Go!” toys Thursday as part of a larger recall of 665,000 lead-contaminated children’s products.
The latest recall involves orange and yellow Go Diego Go! Animal Rescue Boats, manufactured in China and imported by Fisher-Price. Surface paint on the boats contains excessive levels of
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Premises Liability Issues — Heart Defibrillators Save Lives

Our attorneys have investigated wrongful death cases involving automatic external defibrillators (AEDS). An AED is a computerized medical device that checks a person’s heart rhythm, can recognize a rhythm that requires a shock, advises when the shock is needed, then prompts a rescuer to take the proper steps. An AED is a portable device, usually eight to ten inches square and weighs only one to two pounds.
Many businesses, churches, shopping malls, and other areas where large numbers of people congregate have begun to place
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Zelnorm® – A Dangerous Drug?

As a Georgia injury lawyer, I am always reading about dangerous drugs. One such drug is Zelnorm® , a drug used in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrom (“IBS”) and chronic constipation in individuals under 65 years of age.
On March 30, 2007, the FDA requested that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (“Novartis”), the manufacturer of Zelnorm, voluntarily remove the drug from the market. The recall is based on findings of an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes associated with the drug from clinical
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Denying Justice to Innocent Victims of Police Chases: New Defense Strategies By The Government

Finch McCranie, LLP currently represents three individuals who have been tragically added to the ever growing and long list of innocent victims either killed or seriously injured in a police chase case. In two of the cases we filed on behalf of these victims, the police department involved is seeking to have the claims dismissed based on an argument that the Georgia Legislature has allegedly abolished the legal doctrine joint and several liability.

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Wrongful Death, Serious Injuries and Uninsured Drivers:

One of the most tragic circumstances we as lawyers face in our daily practice is representing clients who have suffered serious personal injury or the wrongful death of a loved one due to the negligence of an uninsured (or underinsured) driver. Regrettably, we have seen this far too many times. The results of being involved in a collision with an uninsured driver are particularly tragic because in such cases there simply are no available funds to compensate the innocent victims. This, of course, reminds us
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Medtronic Heart Device Recall

Yesterday, Medtronic, the world’s largest maker of implanted heart defibrillators, announced that it was urging doctors to stop using an electrical wire known as Sprint Fidelis, which connects the heart to a defibrillator. A defibrillator is a device which shocks the heart back into normal rhythm should it falter. The wire is prone to a defect that has resulted in malfunctions in hundreds of patients and may have contributed to five deaths.
There are an estimated 235,000 patients with the Fidelis. Such a malfunction can
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Dog Bite Injury – Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Dog bite injury cases are very prevalent in Atlanta and across the State of Georgia. Our Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog attorneys in Atlanta have handled many serious injury and wrongful death cases over the firms 40 plus years.
In our experience most serious dog bite injuries are inflicted by the following breeds: German Shepard, Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Chow-Husky and Doberman Pincher; however, other breeds have also been know to attack leaving the victim seriously injured. The injuries can leave serious physical and emotional scars
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New Prescription Drug Labeling Law Gives Warnings of Dangerous Side Effects of Prescription Drugs

As the Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog’s Atlanta attorneys have writtten about before, prescription drug manufacturers can cause serious personal injuries and death by failure to warn of a prescription drug’s hazardous side effects. A new law requires prescription drug companies to take steps to ensure drug safety and eliminate the risks of needless serious personal injury or death.
In late September, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Prescription Drug User Fee Reauthorization Act, “PDUFA.” This Act creates new federal safety requirements for drug
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Boat Accidents: Propellor/Engine Safety Defects

If a person is injured or killed as a result of the negligent operation of a boat or as a result of a boat engine manufacturing or design defect, under Georgia law, the injured person or the family of those killed, may have the right to seek compensation and other forms of redress in a suit against the operator, seller or manufacturer of the boat.

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Wrongful Death Damages in Georgia

In Georgia, under the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1 and 2, the measure of damages in a wrongful death action is “full value of the life of the decedent as shown by the evidence, without deducting for any of the necessary or personal expenses of the decedent had he lived.” The full value of the life of the decedent includes not only all economic damages sustained by the decedent such as lost wages, but also non-economic damages such as the enjoyment of life. Peculiar
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Brake Failure Blamed For Georgia Golf Cart Crash

A woman was reportedly seriously injured in Gainesville, Georgia on Friday evening when the brakes on a golf cart failed while going down a hill at a private political fund-raising event. WSBTV.com reported that the golf cart was shuttling people to a home in the Harbour Point subdivision when it’s brakes failed and the cart overturned.
Although no details about the failure have been reported, a thorough inspection of the golf cart is in order to determine why the accident occurred. Had the cart been properly maintained? Was there a defective part involved or was there a design defect?
Having litigated numerous serious injury and wrongful death cases over the years, the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP know that in any case where there has been a mechanical failure, it is absolutely crucial that the evidence be preserved and that the evidence be inspected as soon as possible by an engineer or any other expert qualified to document and evaluate such a failure.

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Wrongful Death Actions In Georgia: Who Has The Right To Sue?

The status of the decedent by in large determines who has the right to sue in a wrongful death case. Where someone is killed through the negligent acts of a third party, such as a truck driver or product manufacturer, Georgia law proscribes who has the right to sue such a cause of action. If the person is married at the time of his or her death, the surviving spouse has the right to bring a cause of action for the wrongful death of
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Using Demonstrative Exhibits At Trial

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If there is a picture of an injured individual in a hospital having recently undergone major trauma, such photographic evidence truly can be worth a thousand words in demonstrating to the jury the nature and extent of the client’s injury. As an example, if someone had a serious burn injury, one can imagine the impact of such photographic evidence. Words simply cannot describe such injuries. The same is often true of
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Offers Of Judgment In Georgia: A Bad Example Of Tort Reform

Most members of the public do not know how so-called “tort reform” serves to undermine basic liberties when it comes to our civil judicial system. One of the best examples of this is a little known law which serves to impede access to our courts. This is the “Offer of Judgment” statute which was passed by the Republican controlled Georgia Legislature, codified at O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68. Simply stated, if you are a middle class person and you wish to litigate a civil case, if you
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Using Life Care Plans In Serious Injury Cases

Our firm is currently handling several serious automobile collision cases in which our innocent clients were severely and permanently injured by negligent corporations. In the accident cases I am referring to, both of our clients sustained very serious neck and back injuries resulting in numerous surgeries. Medical expenses and lost wages to date have already been substantial. However, because both of our clients are relatively young adults, the big fear is that as the clients grow older, their medical expenses and lost wages will
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Jury Awards $114 Million In Nursing Home Abuse Case

Almost every week the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP hear about horrific treatment of elderly patients in nursing homes or other long-term facilities. Occasionally they are held accountable for their negligent treatment.
Last month, the family of a 76 year old Florida woman was awarded $114 million in a nursing home abuse case. The woman died in 2003 after having been a patient at the nursing home. The lawsuit alleged that the elderly woman was injured after falling, had developed pressure
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Bench Trials Under The Federal Tort Claims Act

Under the unique provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), there is no right to a jury trial. What this means is obvious: once an FTCA lawsuit is filed and the United States of America is named as the defendant, if the case cannot be resolved thereafter and a trial is required, the trial will be before a United States District Court judge which will sit, not only as the finder of fact, but also as the Judge of the law. In short,
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Who And Where To Sue Under The Federal Tort Claims Act

We have blogged in the past about some of the unique provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and how they pertain to tort claims against the United States government. As an example, one unique provision is that no claim can be sued against the federal agency per se but instead only against the United States. In any lawsuit against the federal government in which a tort has occurred, the named defendant must be the United States of America. Thus, in a case
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