Personal Injury

Brain Injuries and Death Often Result From Falls

As Georgia personal injury lawyers we have represented many people who have died or sustained serious injuries as a result of falling. Many of them are senior citizens and many of the accidents are a result of dangerous conditions caused by the negligence of stores, restaurants and other businesses. Although the elderly most fear breaking a hip when they fall, a government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences. Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls.
The
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Atlanta Consumers Affected By Recall of Play Yards

The Atlanta based lawyers with Finch McCranie LLP frequently receive calls about children injured by products specifically designed for their use. Last Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, recalled 200,000 potentially deadly Fisher-Price’s Rainforest play yards.

Approximately 1,350 people had complained to the CPSC that one or both sides of the Rainforest play yard had collapsed. There were numerous reported injuries that included a broken nose, a mild concussion and a broken wrist. The play yards are often used as portable cribs and have a bassinet attachment. When the rails collapse, babies can fall out, get trapped or gain access to unsafe areas.

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Georgia Connection To Salmonella Outbreak

The current salmonella outbreak has a Georgia connection. The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that peanut butter and peanut paste made from ground roasted peanuts, manufactured in Peanut Corp.’s Blakely, Georgia, plant were found to contain the bacteria.
The FDA is advising consumers to not eat foods that contain peanut butter until they can be they are sure they do not contain salmonella contaminated products manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America.
To date six deaths may have been connected to this salmonella outbreak,
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Georgia Governor Proposal LInked To Medical Device Approval Which Was Slammed By GAO Report

The Governor of Georgia has proposed legislation endorsing a system that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) castigated in a report issued yesterday. The GAO concluded that almost twenty years after Congress directed that all high-tech medical devices be subjected to a thorough review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), before being placed on the market, the FDA still approves most such devices after minimal testing.
This report is especially timely since the Bush administration has long argued that FDA testing and approval shields the
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Dangerous Cribs Sold in Georgia Recalled

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that about 535,000 Stork Craft Baby Cribs have been recalled. These cribs pose an entrapment and suffocation risk. The CPSC has instructed customers to stop using the products immediately.

The cribs were made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. and were manufactured and sold between May 2000 and November 2008. They came in a variety of styles and finishes.

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Drug Maker May Enter Record Settlement With Government

Eli Lilly, the drug company, according to a report in the New York times, is expected to agree as soon as Thursday to pay $1.4 billion to settle criminal and civil charges that it illegally marketed its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for unauthorized use in patients particularly vulnerable to its risky side effects.
The company has been charged with scheming to concvince doctors to prescribe Zyprexa for patients, children and older persons, for whom the drug was not federally approved. Studies have shown that the drug
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Georgia Illnesses Linked To Salmonella in Peanut Butter

Our Atlanta lawyers have had experience in bringing actions based upon foodborne illnesses such a salmonella. The salmonella outbreak across the nation has been potentially traced to peanut butter. A recall has been issued for peanut butter distributed by King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio. The peanut butter was supplied only through food service providers and was not sold directly to consumers. King Nut has challenged the recall contending it could not be the source of the nationwide outbreak since it distributes to only seven
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Salmonella Outbreak in Georgia

Our lawyers receive numerous calls concernig foodborne illnesses, particularly those contracted in restuarants. Now, Georgia is among the 42 states that have been struck with a salmonella outbreak, with five people taken ill and one requiring hospitalization, according to officials from the state Division of Public Health.
The ages of the Georgians that have become ill range from 7 to 73, and the cases occurred in five different counties. The cases appeared from late October to early December of last year.
A salmonella outbreak has
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Defective Medical Devices Protected By Regulators

Dangerous and defective medical devices pose a real and present danger to patients everyday in the Atlanta area and across the Unites States. In many cases the results are debilitating injuries or death. Recently, the United States Supreme Court, at the urging of the Bush administration, provided cover to the companies that manufacture such devices.
The St. Petersburg Times newspaper has printed an editorial in which it exposes the hypocrisy of the current administration in granting federal approval to such devices thereby preempting consumer action.
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Aviation Accident Lawsuit Over Another Preventable Airplane Crash

Last week we told the story of a recurring tragedy–a preventable aviation accident that took the lives of all on board–in a wrongful death lawsuit we filed last week.
The story of this airplane crash is yet another disturbing example of how lives are lost when basic safety–and common sense–are disregarded.
The pilot ignored clear warnings of dangerous weather, and proceeded into conditions that he and his aircraft were not capable of handling. Experienced pilots have a term–“get-there-itis”–for foolishly disregarding dangers and plowing ahead.
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Home Propane Gas Explosions Can Cause Injuries and Death

One of the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP recently got a case involving a propane explosion which completely burned and destroyed the client’s home. The explosion could easily have resulted in the death or serious injury of the clients entire family, including their new baby. Fortunately the injuries were not life threatening; however, they lost everything they owned and have no insurance to replace the home.
Propane is a highly combustible hydro-carbon gas, similar to ethane and butane. Propane gas is compressed
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Charter Bus Accident in Atlanta Repeats Bluffton University Bus Accident on Interstate 75

As the lawyers who represented the most seriously injured survivor of the March 2007 Bluffton University bus accident on I-75 in Atlanta, we were greatly disturbed today to hear that two charter buses from Detroit reportedly have crashed at exactly the same location on I-75 in Atlanta.
WSB-TV reports that the two buses mistakenly took an “HOV-only” left exit ramp from I-75 southbound in Atlanta at Northside Drive, instead of staying on I-75’s regular HOV lane. The buses were carrying a high school band. The
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Drug or Prescription Errors Can Cause Death and Serious Injury

As Georgia injury lawyers, we often get calls about pharmacy mistakes and prescription errors being committed by medical providers, including drug stores. Many times, the mistakes are caught before any damage is done; however, sometimes serious injury or death occurs. Recently, we read about a case where a pharmacist at a Wal-Mart store allegedly mislabeled a pill bottle, resulting in a woman in her 70’s taking twice the recommended and prescribed dose of a blood pressure medication. As a result, she has suffered serious
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Medical Device Dangers Are Avoidable

Our attorneys have seen many cases in which patients are injured, sometimes severely, by healthcare professional in Georgia hospitals committing careless and preventable errors or by medical device defects.
The ECRI Institute recently released its annual list of top hospital medical device hazards for last year. The ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicated to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best, in an effort to improve patient care. It is one of only a
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LIABILITY FOR ATV DEATHS AND SERIOUS INJURIES-ARE YOU AT RISK?

As a Georgia injury lawyer I read more and more about ATV accidents involving serious injuries and deaths, especially among children. Although there have been dozens of tragic deaths, I recall that in 2003 five Georgia children died after a car struck their ATV. The children, ranging in age from 11 to 14, had piled into the ATV and were going for a ride on a winding road during a birthday party when the collision occurred.
Two years ago, we represented the estate of
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ATV DEATHS AND INJURIES ARE ON THE RISE

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. Believe it or not, the only legal requirements governing ATV operation in Georgia are that they have brakes and a muffler, and that the operators do not ride on private property without permission. Because of the ever increasing number of fatalities and serious injuries to ATV operators, especially children, the Georgia legislature decided it was necessary to study this problem to determine

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Worker’s Compensation Claims Overview

In Georgia, worker’s compensation is essentially an insurance program regulated by the state and required of most employers. Worker’s compensation pays medical bills and lost wages for employees who have had work related accidents resulting in illness or injury.
Employees with work-related conditions or injuries are entitled, but not limited, to:
• Reimbursement of travel expenses, including mileage to and from medical appointments
• Prescription reimbursements
• Two-thirds of your weekly wage while you are unable to work and are off work up
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How To Get The Best Settlement In A Personal Injury Case

This past month our firm handled two different cases which both illustrate how to get the best possible settlement for a client in a personal injury case. It is oftentimes said that many cases settle on the courthouse steps. This is true. The reason for this is because if the case is not settled, it will have to be presented to a jury at considerable expense and with great time and effort by all parties. The uncertainty of what a jury might do, either returning
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Should High Speed Police Chases Be Banned ?

The simple answer to the question posed is – No. Some police chases are necessary in order to protect the interests of the public. If someone through a violent act commits the crime of car jacking, is a cop killer or otherwise is attempting to escape law enforcement for the commission of a violent felony where the suspect clearly poses an imminent and present danger to the public, then under such circumstances, the dangers presented by police chases are warranted from a societal standpoint. It
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Dangerous Infant Cribs To Be Banned

Over the years our product liability lawyers have been involved in cases in Georgia in which infants are tragically killed by crib and toy dangers. Now in an effort that we applaud, major manufacturers of infant cribs have agreed on a proposal that would ban drop-side cribs in the United States.
Drop-side cribs allow parents to raise and lower one side for easy access. But bad designs, missing pieces and worn-out hardware have caused the adjustable railings to separate from the cribs. Infants have slid
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