Personal Injury

Georgia Residents May Be Affected By FDA Drug Ban

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has prohibited Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India’s largest drug manufacturer, from introducing new generic drugs from one of its factories after it falsified data about products’ shelf life.
Yesterday, the FDA announced that a facility owned by Ranbaxy Laboratories falsified data and test results in approved and pending drug applications. The facility, Paonta Sahib, has been under an FDA Import Alert since September 2008.
The FDA announced that it was continuing to investigate this matter to ensure the safety and
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Georgia Motorcycle Accident Claims Life

As Georgia injury lawyers we see many wrongful death cases from motorcycle accidents. Most motorcycle accidents seem to involve young drivers; however, that is not always the case. In the last two weeks, a Georgia man was killed in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident when the driver, age 57, lost control of his 2009 Revtech EX Wide motorcycle in a curve and laid the bike down on its left side. According to the Georgia State Patrol’s investigation, the motorcycle left a 113 foot-long gouge
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Medical Device Maker Under Investigation

Stryker, a leading maker of medical devices is reportedly the subject of a Justice Department investigation into Stryker’s marketing of human bone growth products. The investigation has already resulted in guilty pleas by former company sales representatives. Two former sales representatives pleaded guilty to charges that they had promoted off-label use of the products even though they knew that such use had earlier caused problems in some patients.
The investigation is reported to involve several issues. These include whether Stryker abused a federal exemption that
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Legal Maneuvering In The Georgia Peanut Salmonella Case

It was announced last week that The Peanut Corporation of America has decided to file for bankruptcy. Under bankruptcy law, one may not sue a company that has filed for bankruptcy protection. Accordingly, with respect to the wrongful death actions and serious injury claims that are likely to be brought as a result of the widely reported salmonella contamination at the Company’s Blakely, Georgia plant, the corporation has cleverly maneuvered into bankruptcy court to prevent the filing of these lawsuits. This will buy the corporation
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Georgia Victims Denied Legal Remedies

Many Georgia consumers have been impacted by a recent Supreme Court ruling granting immunity from lawsuits to medical device makers for products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Our Atlanta Georgia lawyers have previously written about this decision.

Since that ruling judges in Georgia and across the United States have used it as a basis to dismiss cases against a wide range of manufacturers, including Medtronic. The most recent dismissal was this past Tuesday, by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

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Dangerous and Defective Products

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have handled many products liability cases involving many different defective and dangerous products, including a defective and dangerous deer stand. When these products fail, catastrophic injury or death often results. This week I read about a recent case in which a jury returned a $157M (million) dollar verdict in a wrongful death case against three companies, L & L Enterprises in Hattiesburg, Miss., Ol’ Man Tree Stands in Jay, Florida, and TSR Inc. in Pace,
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Children and ATVs – A Dangerous Combination

Every year the Georgia injury attorneys at Finch McCranie, LLP get calls about people being seriously injured on All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), especially children. Just last year we had a wrongful death case involving a minor and an ATV. In that case, we represented the family of a young girl who was thrown off of the back of an ATV while riding as a passenger, at night and with no helmet! As spring approaches, a quick warning about the dangers of ATVs is in
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How Do I Find An Experienced Lawyer And Attorney

We have blogged before about the need for consumers to protect their interests when trying to retain an attorney. Truck accident cases present many obstacles for attorneys who do not regularly practice in the area. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations oftentimes control this type of case and yet many attorneys are not familiar with the requirements imposed by federal law. Additionally, the technology available on trucks that can be downloaded by experts with proper computer software may present different evidentiary and investigative challenges
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Georgia Uninsured – Underinsured Coverage Changes

Georgia law relating to uninsured automobile insurance has changed effective January 1, 2009. We have previously written about the importance of uninsured/underinsured (UM) coverage. Essentially this is coverage which protects you and your family if you are injured in a wreck caused by a person with no or low limits of insurance. Unfortunately there are many of these drivers on the roads in Georgia.
Under the new law the major changes relate to the ability to purchase increased coverage. This is best understood by way
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Unethical Health Insurance Practices

Our Atlanta, Georgia lawyers see health insurance companies deny valid claims on a daily basis, depriving policyholders of necessary medical care to which they are entitled. Now, a California health insurer has been caught red handed. The insurer, Health Net, has agreed to pay as much as $14 million to settle a pair of lawsuits brought on behalf of 800 former policyholders whose coverage was dropped after they submitted substantial medical bills.

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Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part XI

Rule No. 7 of 12: The successful cross-examiner listens to the witness’s direct testimony.
When a witness is called by the other side to testify against one’s client, one must be very careful to listen to that witness. Even if counsel has had the benefit of taking the deposition of the witness and has a beautiful outline to be used for anticipated cross of the witness, counsel must nonetheless listen very closely to the actual testimony given before the jury. It may be that the
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Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part X

Rule No. 6 of 12: The successful cross-examiner stays calm and collected whatever happens.
During the testimony of a witness, particularly where the witness is providing very damaging testimony, counsel cannot flinch or otherwise demonstrate through body language that his client’s case has been hurt. Counsel must always stay calm and collected because body language many times can betray counsel’s representation of their client.
When a witness is being evasive or refuses to answer questions or asks counsel questions from the witness stand, counsel must
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ATV ACCIDENT RESULTS IN DEATH & SERIOUS INJURY

The Georgia injury lawyers have written before that with the growing popularity of ATV’s or All-Terrain Vehicles, serious injury and death cases are on the increase in Georgia, especially among children. Yesterday, we read about a 12-year-old Alto, Georgia girl who was killed last Friday night about 8:30 p.m. in an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle in Banks County. According to the Georgia State Patrol the girl was driving the vehicle when it overturned on private property. A 15-year-old passenger, who was not identified, was

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Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part IX

Rule No. 5 of 12: The successful cross-examiner never asks an open-ended question such as “why” unless it does not care what the answer is.
In discussing rule 4 above, we gave a good example of why you do not ask open-ended questions. If you ask a witness “why?” they will tell you. In other words, they will give a speech, which usually will hurt your client. If you are cross-examining a witness, by definition, that means that the witness has been called by the
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Dangerous Magnetic Toy Manufacturer Fined

We have previously written about dangerous toys containing magnets which can be swallowed by small children. Last week, toy manufacturer Mega Brands America Inc. consented to pay a $1.1 million civil penalty for failing to promptly report promptly dangerous magnetic building sets which it manufactured. The sets have been blamed in the death of a child.
As we reported, tiny magnets can fall out of toys and be swallowed or inhaled by children. If more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each
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Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part VIII

Rule No. 4 of 12: The successful cross-examiner never asks a question unless he knows what the answer will be or doesn’t care what it is.
Unless counsel is fully prepared, has fully investigated the case and has conducted necessary discovery, this rule is difficult to follow. On the other hand, if counsel knows everything about the case then there is no reason why this rule cannot be followed and, in fact, it should be followed in all cases. Otherwise, disaster can strike.
There is
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Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part VII

Rule No. 3 of 12: The successful cross-examiner avoids the appearance of pettiness, nit-picking or unfairness to the witness.
Even though we practice in an adversarial system, there is no necessity to be adversarial with the cross-examination of each and every witness. Righteous indignation needs to be saved for appropriate occasions where the witness is clearly lying or needs to be exposed for some form of aggravated misconduct. Counsel must reserve outrage and indignation for the proper case.
If trial counsel is unfair to any
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Raptiva Withdrawn From Market

Raptiva, a drug manufactured by Roche HoldingAG’s Genentech Inc. and marketed for the treatment of psoriasis has been linked to a rare but often fatal brain disorder. As a result of these findings, Genentech has issued a voluntary recall of the drug.
Genentech previously disclosed that three cases of the disorder, called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, had turned up in patients taking Raptiva since October of last year. Two of these cases were fatal. A fourth patient died of unknown cause after developing neurologic symptoms. All
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Physical & Sexual Abuse At Georgia Day Care Centers

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented, and continue to represent, victims of day care child abuse. The statistics on physical child abuse are alarming. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent or close relative; however, abusers include daycare workers, healthcare providers, mental healthcare workers and others who care for children on a daily basis.

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GM Recalls Dangerous Cars

Many Georgia residents may be driving General Motors cars which have a dangerous propensity to ignite in flames. General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced yesterday that the possibility of engine fires has prompted General Motors to recall nearly 1.5 million passenger sedans manufactured between 1997 and 2003.

The recall covers certain mid- and full-size passenger sedans under GM’s Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands.

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