Personal Injury

Skin Warning Issued about Alcoholism Therapy Drug

As Georgia injury lawyers we often see people who have been injured by dangerous prescription drugs. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning doctors about severe skin reactions in alcoholism patients who use Vivitrol, an injectable treatment made and marked by Cephalon, Inc. Doctors and patients should watch for swelling, injection, and other complications where the drug is injected. The FDA emphasizes that the proper needle must be used when administering Vivitrol. Also, the drug should be injected into muscle, not fatty tissue.
(more…)

Insurance Industry Tricks

According to a report by the American Assocaition for Justice, the U.S. insurance industry has trillions of dollars in assets, enjoys average profits of over $30 billion a year, and pays its CEOs more than any other industry. But insurance companies still engage in dirty tricks and unethical behavior to boost their bottom line even further. The current economic turmoil affecting the insurance industry onWall Street has only made the outlook bleaker for consumers living on Main Street. Insurance companies are likely to demand huge
(more…)

Traumatic Brain Injury- Georgia Motorcycle Accidents

In November of 2000, while ballots were being counted in Florida, I stood in the trauma unit of the Orlando Regional Medical Center with my daughter who had been assaulted. Over the month she was there, one helicopter after another landed on the roof of the trauma unit delivering victims of automobile accidents and motorcycle accidents with severe injuries. Many of them died and many of them sustained severe brain injuries. Many of those traumatic brain injuries occurred because the person riding the motorcycle
(more…)

Serious Accidents -Traumatic Brain Injury

In our Georgia injury practice our lawyers have seen many serious accidents, including automobile accidents and truck accidents, which result in brain injury of varying degrees. Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s) contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability annually. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans, about 2% of the U.S. population, currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.
The severity
(more…)

Feeling Unusually Fatigued after Brain Injury?

Over the years, we have noticed that client’s who have suffered a brain injury as a result of an automobile accident or truck accident often complain about feeling unusually fatigued or tired. An interesting study confirms that following a recovery from brain damage, patients may have to use more of there brains then they did before the brain trauma.
The study published in the September 9th issue of Neurology found that patients who sustained diffuse axonal injury and returned to pre-injury levels of functioning in
(more…)

Arbitration Clause Stricken By Court of Appeals

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling which begins to chip away at the anti-consumer arbitration clauses used by many credit card companies to deny justice to consumers. The court held that plaintiffs could not be forced into arbitration because American Express was not a signatory to the MasterCard, Visa and Diners Club credit card agreements that
In the multidistrict currency conversion case, cardholders are claiming that card companies and major issuing banks have engaged in a Sherman Act conspiracy to
(more…)

Georgia Injury Lawyers Will Closely Watch A Dangerous Drugs Case

Georgia injury lawyers will closely watch an upcoming U.S. Supreme case having to do with dangerous drugs and the doctrine of pre-emption. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in a case that has major implications for consumers who have been harmed by prescription medications. Drugmaker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the Bush administration are challenging a $6.7 million verdict to a Vermont musician whose arm was amputated after medical staff improperly administered the Wyeth-produced drug Phenergan. Wyeth and the administration argue people who
(more…)

Georgia Nursing Home Abuse & Negligence Cases

For Georgia lawyers handling nursing home abuse and negligence cases, we are seeing new litigation hurdles to overcome. Nursing home owners are creating new corporate structures to disguise the actual ownership of the nursing homes. It is a “corporate shell game” where the actual owners set up holding corporations to avoid responsibility. If you look at the way the facility is established, there will be a contractual relationship between a management company and a nursing home, where the same human being is on both
(more…)

81% of Georgia Nursing Homes are Deficient in Quality of Care and Other Services

You don’t have to be an Atlanta injury attorney to know that nursing home abuse and negligence is alive and well in Georgia and across the country. For most elder people, their greatest fear is being put in the dreaded nursing home and for good reason. In our practice, we have noted that more often than not these homes are understaffed by unqualified employees.
The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services recently completed a study and issued

(more…)

Off Road Recreational Vehicles Probed

Our serious injury lawyers have investigated cases involving off-road recreational vehicles. Now, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, is probing the design of these so-called recreational off- highway vehicles after reports of fatal accidents involving new products which are currently unregulated.
.
The investigation involves several brands and more than 30 daeths. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Yamaha Motor Rhino was a focus of the inquiry, with at least 30 deaths.
The investigation has brought attention to gaps in oversight of
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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

(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

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
(more…)

Secret Link