Personal Injury

Muscle Relaxant Cream Causes Teen Death

Lately there has been a lot of publicity about the death of a 17-year old track star due to her use of the common muscle relaxant sports cream Bengay.

As I was reading these articles, it reminded me of case I handled several years ago involving a similar product called Icy Hot.

In that case, a diabetic client that I represented had used the product and apparently due to her diabetic condition, developed topical salicylate poisoning due to the main ingredient found in the Icy
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Hospital Infections in Georgia – Symptoms of a National Problem

Lawyers in Georgia who handle serious injury and wrongful death cases are often confronted with situations where their clients are hospitalized and later acquire a Staph infection which greatly complicates their recovery. We also see cases where clients call complaining about the development of an infection while hospitalized for one condition where the infection becomes much more serious than the condition for which they were originally treated. Regrettably, many people die from these infections.

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Pharmacy Errors and Serious Injuries

In the summer of 2006 MSNBC.com reported that each year as many as 1.5 million Americans suffer a serious injury or death because of errors made in the dispensing, prescribing or taking of prescription drugs. In an earlier report published by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, it was estimated that each year more than 7,000 people in the United States die from pharmacy related medication errors. Last year, in the nationally syndicated program 20/20, ABC News reported extensively on this problem. Regrettably,
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Georgia Motorcycle Injuries and Accidents

Just this past week, clients retained our firm’s services with respect to a serious motorcycle injury. As is often the case, because motorcycle riders are unprotected except for the helmet they wear, whenever an accident occurs involving a motorcycle, typically, serious injuries are involved.
The worst case we handled was about 3 years ago when one of our partners represented a motorcycle rider who was hit by a drunk driver and almost killed. This drunk driver not only ran over the motorcycle driver, the motorcycle
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Another Need for Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Hit and Run Accidents

A few days ago, we wrote an article about the importance of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in those situations where the at fault party has minimum limits of liability insurance coverage. Today we write about another reason why all Georgia motorists should consider carrying uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in amounts at least as much as their liability insurance coverage and perhaps much more.
The distinction between liability coverage and uninsured motorist coverage is the fact that liability coverage protects the person you hit whereas uninsured motorist coverage
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Georgia Mesothelioma Cancer Cases

Mesothelioma results from inhalation and exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is a specific form of lung cancer affecting the thin membrane linings of the abdomen and internal organs (cancer of the mesothelium). Because of exposure to asbestos, the cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and cancerous.
In Georgia and elsewhere, asbestos has been used in building materials, paper products and plastics. It is also found in textiles, packings and asbestos reinforced plastics. Nationwide, more than a quarter of a million people have been known to have
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Georgia Workers Compensation Act Needs Amending To Help Injured Workers

Uninsured Employers is a growing problem for injured workers in Georgia. In our practice we have seen a growing number of employees who have been seriously injured only to discover that their employers have no workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Many of those employers have no real assets and they are therefore “judgment proof.”
I recently read that on November 9, 2006, the Governor of Pennsylvania signed into law a significant change in the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act. Like Georgia, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act covers
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Finding a Qualified Attorney

As I ride around the City, I am amazed at the number of billboard advertisements by attorneys. Occasionally, even though I am working all day long, I also get a chance while I am in a waiting room (usually awaiting a doctor’s deposition) to watch daytime TV. When I watch the TV, I am similarly amazed at the number of lawyer advertisements on daytime television. Obviously, this leads me to consider how the average person goes about finding a qualified personal injury attorney in a
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Loss of Consortium Claims

Many of the clients we represent are married individuals. When they are seriously injured, obviously, their spouses are adversely affected. The emotional toll of caring for an injured spouse, worrying about their health and financial issues and being overwhelmed by dealing with the totality of a serious injury case can be debilitating. The spouse of the actual client may be emotionally taxed and physically burdened by increased demands and therefore entitled to compensation for their damages. The question is whether a loss of consortium claim
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Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Don’t Leave Home Without It

A typical case we see far too often is that where the motorist who caused the damage to our client had the minimum limits of Georgia law which provides only $25,000.00 in liability insurance coverage. Typically such a driver has little or no personal assets to satisfy an excess judgment against them. In those cases where our client’s damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering) clearly exceed the $25,000.00 in available limits, the best chance for an excess recovery is to procure uninsured/underinsured motorist
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Atlanta School Bus Accident Raises Questions Concerning Bus Safety

Our personal injury lawyers read today about a serious accident case involving an overturned school bus which apparently lost control and overturned about 40 miles north of Atlanta near Canton, Georgia. It was traveling from one high school to a middle school when the accident happened. When the bus overturned, even though no students were ejected from the bus, according to initial reports, approximately 25 students were injured. Two were reported to be in critical condition.
Initial news accounts state that the bus driver apparently
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Doctor Charged Criminally

In 2006, a disabled and brain damaged man, near death, was taken into an operating room at a California hospital in order to harvest his organs for donation. Law enforcement officials contend that what occurred in the operating room was a criminal act. The surgeon, Dr. Hootan Roozrokh has been criminally charged with prescribing excessive and improper doses of drugs, apparently in an attempt to hasten Mr. Navarro’s death to retrieve his organs sooner. The doctor is facing three felony counts relating to his actions
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New Supreme Court Decision Makes It More Diffcult For Georgia Lawyers To Sue Medical Device And Drug Companies In Product-Injury Claims

Last Wednesday the Supreme Court of the United States made it harder for injury and wrongful death victims to sue manufacturers of federally approved medical devices. This decision will also impact cases involving dangerous drugs. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Estate of Charles Riegel could sue a company under state law over a medical device which had previously been cleared for sale by federal regulators. Under federal law, a company must prove the safety and effectiveness of a medical device
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Atlanta Police Chase

Atlanta TV stations are reporting that this afternoon, a car veered into a bus stop during a police chase and struck four pedestrians. The incident was near Metropolitan Parkway and University Drive.
According to reports, the Atlanta Police were chasing three juveniles in a stolen vehicle when the car ran into the bus stop. One juvenile was apprehended at the scene while two others escaped.
Four of the people involved were injured, one critically. This is another instance of innocent civilians harmed and/or killed
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Dangerous Drugs–Who Is The FDA Trying To Protect?

In January of this year, the FDA issued a proposed rule which directly contradicts Congress’ expressed intent when it passed the Food and Drug Administration Amendment’s Act of 2007 (FDAAA). Unlike the FDA’s proposed rule, Congress intended the duty to warn customers of a drug’s hazards rests with the drug company, who is in the best position to warn about problems associated with the drug. However, under the FDA rule, drug companies will enjoy more relaxed labeling requirements and will use the rule to claim
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Trasylol Heart Drug Dangers Hidden By Manufacturer

Two studies have concluded that heart surgery patients are more likely to die if given the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol. The drug has been widely used for the last 14 years to treat hundreds of thousands of heart bypass patients each year. Drug manufacturer Bayer AG ceased sales of the last fall, after a Canadian study was halted because of deaths among patients taking Trasylol.
The new studies are being published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. Bayer funded one of the two
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Medical Device Manufacturers Receive Protections

This Wednesday the Supreme Court issued a major anti-consumer opinion, making it harder for consumers to sue manufacturers of federally approved medical devices.
In an 8-1 decision, the court ruled against the estate of a patient who suffered serious injuries when a catheter burst during a medical procedure. The case has significant implications for the $75 billion-a-year health care technology industry, whose products range from heart valves to toothbrushes.
At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the estate of Charles Riegel could sue
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Police Chase Indictment

Our police chase injury lawyers have handled many cases involving the deaths of innocent civilians due to police chasing suspects for minor crimes. We have previously written about police departments that have adopted restrictive policies limiting chases and decreasing the chances that innocent civilians and police officers can be seriously injured or killed.
On May 30, 2007, in Forestville, Maryland, a police officer was chasing a motorcyclist for speeding. During the chase, the police officer tried to position his car to stop the speeding
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FDA Circumvents Congressional Intent In Favor Of Drug Companies

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule which directly contradicts Congress’ expressed intent when it passed the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA), an Act which encompasses the Prescription Drug and User Fee Act. As a result, drug companies will enjoy more relaxed labeling requirements and will surely use the rule to claim immunity for failing to warn patients of potential drug hazards. When Congress passed the FDAAA it included language confirming the responsibility of the drug
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Drug Ads Investigated

We have previously written about controversial drug advertising that takes place in the United States. Once again, this practice has come to the forefront through Dr. Robert Jarvik, who is best known as the developer of an artificial heart. About two years ago, Dr. Jarvik began appearing in television ads for the drug Lipitor, manufactured by Pfizer.
In the ads, Dr. Jarvik is depicted in various athletic pursuits, such as rowing and running, and tells viewers that Lipitor significantly lowers cholesterol when diet and exercise
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