Personal Injury

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Grinding Wheel Failures Can Lead To Serious Injury Or Death

Recently an Atlanta eye surgeon told one of the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP that his group sees at least two new patients a month with serious eye injuries caused by grinding wheel accidents. Often times , the hazards of using a grinding wheel are overlooked. When using a grinder there are several potential hazards to of which you should be aware. They include: cuts and amputations; eye injuries from flying particles; punctures from work piece or debris; hearing loss from noise; and
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Hydroxycut Recalled – May Be Linked To Liver Damage

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have handled many products liability cases involving dangerous drugs and consumer products. Last week the FDA announced the recall of Hydroxycut. Government officials warned dieter and body builders to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a supplement which has been linked to serious liver damage and at least one death. According to an FDA official, the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a nineteen year old. It has been
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Secretary of Transportation Pushes For Child Seat Testing

Many Georgia parents employ child safety seats to protect the lives of their children without any reliable data as to the safety of the particular seat model. Now, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that he will urge carmakers to crash-test child safety seats in their vehicles and recommend which child restraints are the safest in each auto.
If adopted, this new system would be a victory for parents who struggle to find the best car seats for their children. While federal regulators rate
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Georgia Wrongful Death Actions:Who Has The Right To Sue? (Part I)

One of area of confusion to the public is determining who has the right to bring a wrongful death action in Georgia. Because our firm handles many such cases in Atlanta and throughout the State, we have decided to blog on this area of the law so that the public will better understand the provisions of Georgia law which control wrongful death actions.
In this article we shall focus on the rights of a spouse who is married to an individual killed by the
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FDA To Reconsider BPA Decision

We receive many inquiries from Atlanta consumers regarding the safety of products apporved by the federal regulatory agencies. During the Bush administration many consumers here in Georgia and elsewhere have expressed concern and bewilderment that certain drugs and products banned in other countries were “approved” by federal agencies for distribution in the United States.
Now, the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has announced it is reviewing a controversial decision it made last year — the conclusion that BPA, a chemical used in baby bottles
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Forklift Accidents: Usually Serious And Oftentimes Deadly

When I was in high school, I was hired as a forklift driver at a textile plant. I was given no training whatsoever, had never operated a forklift and within hours was lifting huge pallets of heavy materials high into the air for placement on warehouse shelving. Fortunately, I did not injury anyone or kill myself, but I easily could have. Indeed, that same summer a high school friend of mine lost his life when he accidently drove a forklift backwards off of a loading
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Bus Accident Recommendations By NTSB

Bus accidents have been a problem in Atlanta and Georgia for many years. Recently, the lawyers of Finch McCranie LLP were able to secure a very favorable settlement for the most seriously injured survivor in the Bluffton Bus crash which occurred here some years ago.
Now, in an encouraging move, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending charter bus companies come up with better plans to deal with crashes in remote areas. Last Friday, the NTSB sent recommendations to the American Bus Association and
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Trampolines Recalled

Potentially dangerous trampolines which have been sold in the Georgia and Atlanta areas are the subject of a recall. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperaation with Skywalker Holdings announced a voluntary recall of about 60,000 trampolines manufactured in China and distributed by Skywalker Holdings LLC, of Brigham City, Utah.

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Georgia ATV Safety Tips

As a Georgia injury lawyer, I read almost everyday about a death or serious personal injuries sustained as a result of an All Terrain Vehicle ATV accident. With the increasing popularity of ATVs it is inevitable that there will be more accidents and injuries; however, most are preventable. Without exception, most ATV accidents can be traced back to a rider who broke at least one of the ATV Safety Institute’s Golden Rules. Whether you’re riding in a public park or on private land, keep these

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Treadmill Accidents Can Cause Serious Injury or Death

The Atlanta lawyers of Finch McCranie LLP often see cases in which children are injured on exercise equipment such as treadmills and weight machines. The tragic death of boxer Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter may seem like a freak occurrence, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that treadmills injure more children than any other type of exercise equipment.
According to CPSC figures, almost 5,500 children under age 5 were treated in emergency rooms in 2006 and 2007 for treadmill-related injuries.
While most had cuts, bruises
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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
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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
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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
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