Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

The Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog has a post discussing the settlement and trial value of ankle injury cases.

Toyota will recall over 650,000 Prius' to repair a problem with the Prius cooling pumps. This is the second Toyota Prius recall in 2010. In February, Toyota recalled 397,000 Prius' after reports of problems with the anti-lock braking system.

The Prius was taking a public relations bath even before this recall, as 'against the grain" reports gained more steam about the big picture problems the Prius causes to the environment in spite of its fuel efficiency.

So we have a troubled car from a troubled automaker. Boy, Toyota must really be in trouble. Nope. Toyota's profits are soaring. The George Castanza principle is in full bloom here. Toyota's reputation as probably the best car manufacturer falls in the sewer and their profits soar. Go figure.

The average jury verdict in car, truck and motorcycle accident cases in Colorado is $207,687 according to a recent Jury Verdict Research study. This report also found that only 50% of vehicle accident cases in Colorado lead to plaintiff verdicts and the median verdict when the plaintiff does prevail is $44,050.

Not surprisingly, half of the vehicle accident cases in the study were either rear-end car crashes or intersection collisions.

In a completely unrelated story, there was a $15 million verdict in favor of a truck driver in a slip and fall lawsuit against Wal-Mart in Colorado earlier this month.

President Obama got 12 stitches after being elbowed in the lip during basketball game. Who elbows the President of the United States? What an idiot! (Unless, of course, the President tried to drive the lane. In which case, he had it coming.)

I'm bringing a class action against the person who fouled President Obama. I have estimated his time is worth $10 million an hour to the American people. These stitches costs us 45 minutes!

You can find the article here.

Enjoy the holiday!

Cool fact that may only be cool to me. Earlier this week, we ranked #131 on Alexa's top legal blog rankings. I looked again today and we were #101 on Alexa. The Accident Injury Lawyer Blog is really growing quickly.

If you are reading regularly, thanks for reading and make sure you include us on Google Reader or your RSS feed.

Another recall impacting our most vulnerable: our children. Bassett Furniture has issued a recall for about 90,000 drop-side cribs. The recall was precipitated by reports of 154 - no typo 1154 - incidents. Keep in mind incident reports dramatically understate the degree of problems with a product, particularly in a situation like this where most of the incidents are not serious.

The Bassett baby cribs in the recall were sold from January 2000 through August 2010 online and by retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target Corp. and Babies ‘R’ Us.

There is no report of serious injury yet and hopefully there will not be. But in one of 18 reports in which the drop-side gates malfunctioned or detached, a child got caught between the mattress and the crib’s frame and three of those children fell out of the crib.

• Bloomberg article


• Another drop side crib recall (from this summer)

Somfy Systems has issued a recall of 4,600 motorized awnings. The problem? The possiblity for the power cable to sever and become exposed. Obviously, the risk is electric shock.

This recall involves the Sunea CMO RTS motor that is used to open and close these retractable awnings. The awning motor heads are silver and black. The ownings in the recall - printed on a labele on the motor tube - are Sunea CMO RTS model numbers 525A2, 535A2 and 550R2.

This recall obviously involves a small number of products and no injuries have been reported.

DePuy lawyers sought yesterday to consolidate DePuy Orthopedics hip replacement lawsuits into a pseudo class action lawsuit (for discovery and bellwether trial purposes) at a hearing at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

The two big issues are:

(1) Should the DePuy Orthopedics Lawsuits Be Consolidated?

Plaintiff lawyers claim that all of the DePuy hip replacement lawsuits involve one or more common questions of fact and, in fact, are premised on virtually identical factual allegations with the key central issue: were these hip implants defective?

(2) Is the Northern District of Illinois the Appropriate Venue for the DePuy Lawsuits?

The argument here is that there are already three cases in this venue, it has experienced judges, and it is - just look at a map - centrally located. New Jersey and California are also being considered and some DePuy lawyers have argued that these would be more advantageous venues.

In response, DePuy Orthopedics argues that they don't want to have Judge Susan D. Wigenton as the MDL judge. Why? DePuy claims the reason is because Judge Wigenton is presiding over the Zimmer hip implant MDL, and that it will be a burden on Judge Wigenton. I wonder, did they ask her if she would mind? Can a judge handle the burden of presiding over two different claims? It has happened before, you know.

Continue reading " DePuy Hip Replacement MDL " »

There is a great deal of talk about all of the Yaz claims that have been filed but little about Yasmin lawsuits. Fundamentally, the claims are the same. Both Yaz and Yasmin are birth control oral contraceptives. Yasmin has a combination of 3 mg of the progestin, drospirenone, and 0.03 mg of the estrogen, ethinyl estradiol. Yaz is made up of the combination of 3 mg of the progestin, drospirenone, and only .02 mg of the estrogen, ethinyl estradiol.

Yaz and Yasmin are both the same with respect to the critical basis for lawsuits involving Yasmin and Yaz: unlike other birth control pills, both Yaz and Yasmin contain drospirenone.
Other birth control pills work just fine without drospirenone. Yasmin lawsuits allege that drospirenone, a diuretic, adds risks to women that are greater than those posed by other available oral contraceptives. These Yasmin risks include, inter alia heart arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and other adverse cardiovascular events, including sudden death, transient ischemic attack, embolisms, stroke, and blood clots. Yasmin is also alleged to increase the risk of kidney and gallbladder disease.

• Drug Recall Lawyer discusses Bayer's latest spin on Yasmin.
• Story on a woman who filed a Yaz/Yasmin lawsuit.
• More on the study Bayer is relying upon to defend Yasmin
• Yaz lawyer: information on Yasmin lawsuits

Alexa has the Accident Injury Lawyer blog blog ranking #131 on its list of top legal blogs. I can't say we will be putting this fact on a t-shirt or anything but hopefully this blog continues to grow very quickly in a relatively short period of time.

It is a tough day for girls named Zoe. A French Judge dismissed a lawsuit on behalf of two little girls named Zoe Renault who wanted to force a name change of the new "zero emissions" Zoe Renault, claiming the car's name would cause them a lifetime of embarrassment and humiliation.

The Plaintiffs' lawyer said the lawsuit was not just for his clients but for Zoe's everywhere, telling the AP:

Can you imagine what little Zoe's would have to endure on the playground, and even worse, when they get a little bit older and someone comes up to them in a bar and says, 'Can I see your air bags?' or 'Can I shine your bumper?'

I'm disturbed he could come up with these taunts so quickly. Anyway, it is a good day for those in France who are looking to taunt girls name Zoe. I'm sure they would have no other weapons in their arsenal if they did not have these Zoe specific jabs. Because it is so hard to think up mindless taunts for little girls.

Ameritox, a drug testing company based in Texas, has settled a false claims lawsuit for $16.3 million. The lawsuit alleged that the company paid kickbacks to doctors in exchange for business.

I would be interested in the fate of the doctors who received the kickbacks. It is like buying stolen goods. For stealing to be profitable, there typically needs to be a market for the stolen goods. This is why buying goods you know to be stolen is a crime. Do the doctors skate off with slightly fatter wallets?

You can find the UPI story here.

Nancy Pelosi was elected House minority leader in a 150 to 43 vote today. Trial lawyers will be pleased. Pelosi is a true champion of the rights of injury victims and consumers. But I think it is probably a bad thing for President Obama and, by extension, the Democratic Party.

There has been a 61% decrease in medical malpractice insurance payouts in Pennsylvania over the last 7 years, according to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

According to the governor, this has lead to an 18% decrease in malpractice premiums. I'm trying to figure out why a 61% drop in payouts leads to an 18% decrease in premiums. Where is all of the money going? In any event, we still have a doctor shortage in much of Pennsylvania.

Why aren't doctors fleeing to Pennsylvania? If they are not going to Pennsylvania, where do they go? The top 5 highest paying jobs in the United States are doctors? Are they quitting medicine and becoming real estate agents? Have you ever met a doctor that just stopped practicing medicine and took up something else?

Look, doctors can retire early and work less hours. I'm oversimplifying a bit. But the "doctors are fleeing because of malpractice premiums" proponents seem to me to be the man with a hammer. Everything is a nail.

Ted Frank at Point of Law, an interesting blog I read regularly, suggested in a recent post that doctors are fleeing Illinois because the Illinois high court struck down caps on noneconomic damages in Illinois malpractice cases.

The link Mr. Frank provides underscores this point:

One way to retain new doctors is to help them find jobs in Illinois. The state has a healthy physician job market, but many new graduates don’t know where to look.

Oops. That is saying that they don't know how to find jobs. This is a little different than fleeing to avoid uncapped noneconomic damages. "A healthy physician job market." It sounds like the better answer to this crisis is Monster.com.

There is zero evidence in the article summarizing the study (the link to the study itself is broken) that malpractice premiums caused by the removal of caps on noneconomic damages has caused a single doctor to leave Illinois. I can't even find anything to indicate the premiums have risen.

Moreover, who exactly are these doctors who are packing their bags to leave because of a theoretical possibility that malpractice premiums may increase? How much do they earn now? I have to tell you, I'm not so sure I want a doctor that came to Maryland because he is fleeing another jurisdiction because he does not like the litigation environment. This is probably not a doctor who is swimming with prior client referrals.

There is no question that medical malpractice premiums in Illinois are higher than in other states. I bet you will also find that doctors in Illinois make more money than doctors in surrounding states. Some states are going to have higher insurance premiums than other states. Illinois is a relatively densely populated state. What city in the country do you think has the most family physicians, for example? Chicago, Illinois. If doctors start fleeing Chicago to go somewhere else, this might not be all together a bad thing for the country.

I wrote on Sunday about the awful motorcycle accident in California that killed six people this weekend.

I predicted the hit and run driver who fled the scene would be found. But 72 hours later, no one has been taken into custody. How could that be? Apparently, there is one problem that we would not have in Maryland: the proximity to safe haven in Mexico. It is now being reported that authorities plan to meet today with Mexican officials to look over border surveillance video to see if a 4-door Gold Honda Civic with California plates crossed over.

Hopefully, that haven will not be so safe but it certainly complicates the efforts of law enforcement officers. If we find him, the driver will likely face felony hit and run and gross vehicular manslaughter charges in California.

More states are adding hurdles for medical malpractice lawyers to put malpractice complaints into suit. This irritates a lot of plaintiffs' lawyers but if the goal is to reduce the number of frivolous malpractice lawsuits, this rule does do the trick. These rules make malpractice lawyers verify that they have plausible theory on the case before filing suit. It is a hassle but some level of certificate of merit type requirement probably makes sense.

The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has a post about one of the nuances of these rules: what is a related specialty that would allow a doctor in a different specialty to offer opinions about the standard of care. The post discusses the approach one U.S. District Court judge took on this issue, which relies heavily on similar statutory language as the one interpreted in Virginia.

New Braunfels Smokehouse has issued a recall for 2,600 pounds of turkey breast products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can potentially cause listeriosis, a serious condition that can be fatal.

You can find sample police reports on the preceding link under the subcategory "Sample Forms for Car Accident Lawyers."

A St. Louis jury returned a defense verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital and a nurse involving oxygen deprivation during surgery that allegedly caused a 9-year-old child's brain damage.

This may be a case where problems in the damages claim may have bled over into liability. The child had developmental problems before the time of the alleged malpractice and it sounded like the battlefield in the case was over damages as opposed to liability. Defense lawyers maintained that oxygen deprivation does not necessarily cause brain injuries and did not in this case. But the jury came back with a straight defense verdict.

Strange thing about this case: many of the treating doctors were in Israel which must have been a logistical nightmare.

The demand in the case was $3,000,000.

This is the Missouri Lawyer's article on the case.

The Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog reports on a soft tissue injury verdict in Cecil County, Maryland, a very conservative jurisdiction.

Just an incredibly awful motorcycle accident in California today. CNN reports that five motorcyclists were killed when a car hit 12 motorcycles in California. Six other motorcyclists were seriously injured.

Police are looking for the at-fault driver who fled the scene. People do crazy things under pressure and we see more hit-and-run accident cases in our practice than I would hope to see. But can you imagine leaving the scene of an accident after causing that kind of destruction? Thankfully, one of the motorcyclists was able to call 911. I think the manhunt to find the driver - they have the make and model of the car - will be successful. Someone is going to notice that their friend, co-worker, whatever has this car and they have not seen it since the accident. There is certainly going to be plenty of physical evidence on that car.

The bikers are part of a motorcycle group that was celebrating its10th anniversary. Just an awful thing.

• Update on the search for the hit-and-run driver
• Fatal motorcycle accidents are on the decline
• Motorcycle helmet statistics (this accident killed 6 people but might have been worse if the motorcyclists had not been wearing helmets and driving the speed limit)

Nissan announced a recall of 604,500 vehicle after problems were discovered with vehicle's power steering systems and batteries. The recall involves 303,000 Frontier pickup truck, 283,000 Xterra sport utility trucks, and 18,500 Sentra compacts.

In spite of the fact that this is the Accident Injury Lawyer Blog, this recall apparently does not involve any accidents or injuries.

A Virginia woman's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the surgeon who caused the woman to abruptly suffer "massive blood loss" as a result of having her intestine and a blood vessel cut during gallbladder surgery. Reportedly, the doctor admitted to the family that he cut the woman's intestine and blood vessel during the lap chole surgery.

Two of our malpractice attorneys, Laura Zois and Rod Gaston, tried a lap chole (gallbladder surgery) case earlier this summer and won a $1.1 million verdict for our client. Our case involved injury to the common bile duct as opposed to the blood vessel and intestine in this case, but it is the same idea. Look where you are cutting before you cut. One potential complication in this case: the woman was on heavy anti-coagulant therapy, making her more vulnerable to bleeds.

• Article on the case
• Lap chole cases generally
• >News article on our recent lap chole verdict
• Malpractice cases generally
• Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

General Motors has issued a recall of 14,000 2010 and 2011 Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne sedans with V8 engines. The recall stems from concerns that the alternator cables may wear through a power steering line, potentially causing a fluid leak that may cause a loss of power steering and lead to a crash. There have been no car crashes reported to GM from this defect.

GM dealers will fix this problem at no cost to the Cadillac and Buick owners. Repairs for this recall are expected to begin next week.

Mauri brand Gorgonzola cheese sold by Costco in Colorado is being recalled because potentially deadly E. coli bacteria has been found in the product. DPI Specialty Foods in Oregon reports that the recalled cheese has sell-by dates of January 13-14, 2011.

It seems to be a big month already for E.coli and salmonella.

A few years back, Jury Verdict Research published data that gives some lens into what you can typically expect as compensation in a Maryland car accident claim. The median compensation award for car, truck and motorcycle accidents in cases that go to trial in Maryland is $11,328. The compensation awarded in a Maryland car accident claim exceeded $500,000 in just 1% of accident lawsuits. Maryland accident victims won - defined as recovering damages - in 74% of the motor vehicle accident cases that went to trial in Maryland.

If these numbers seem low, remember that most accident cases are not particularly serious. If you have a serious injury, you can throw this data out the window. Our firm handles serious injury accident cases. If we go to trial and a jury awards just $11,328, something has gone drastically wrong. I'm just guessing here but I suspect our law firm's average jury verdict over the last few years is probably between $200,000-$300,000.

• What is the value of my case?
• Is there a settlement formula I can apply to figure out how much money I am entitled to recover?
• Sample demand letter to insurance company

"No Win No Fee" is Internet speak for personal injury lawyers who do not charge a fee for their services unless they recover money for the client's claim by settlement, arbitration, or trial.

Online, "No Win No Fee" and "Free Consultation" are big tag lines for accident lawyers marketing to potential clients. Lawyers use the idea of not taking a fee unless the client gets a recovery as their law firm's unique selling point. Our law firm does not charge a fee if we do not get a monetary recovery. But neither do the vast majority of personal injury accident law firms in this country.

Our firm also fronts the expenses in personal injury cases in Maryland and does not require clients to pay back the firm's expenses if we do not prevail in the case. Some states do not allow this practice and require the clients to front all costs in their personal injury case.

In the last five years, over 1,000 patients have suffered injuries after receiving a transvaginal mesh device. The purpose of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) surgery is to provide support for a sagging urethra so that there is no accidental release of urine. The technical term for these urethra problems is Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). Regrettably, these are not uncommon aliments after childbirth and pregnancy.

The problem is that TVT surgery to implant these vaginal mesh devices to treat POP and SUI may put women at risk for internal injuries and urinary problems. Vaginal mesh lawsuits allege that the defective design of some of these mesh implants increases the risk of infection, erosion and other painful complications.

These concerns were underscored by an article published this summer in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Researchers actually had to stop a study in the middle because it became ethically impossible to continue the research because so many women implanted with the mesh experienced too many complications. The abbreviated study said what you would expect it to say: women were put at risk after TVT surgery. But, really, the most telling thing is that they had to conclude the study before completion because over 15 percent of the women implanted with the mesh had erosion almost immediately after TVT surgery. within a period of only three months from erosion, a potentially serious complication involving the protrusion of the mesh when the skin splits.

If you have suffered an injury after TVT surgery, call our lawyers for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or get a free, confidential on line case evaluation.

• Information on status of vaginal mesh lawsuits
• Bard Avaulta lawsuits
• WebMD on TVT surgery

A landfill in Texas has received a $25.45 million jury award in its lawsuit against a waste company. The jury awarded $5.45 million in actual damages and $20 million in exemplary damages, finding that the waste management company had circulated false and defamatory statements about an Austin, Texas landfill thirteen years ago.

This case gets lumped in with "runaway" tort jury verdicts. Someone will soon use this in some statistical analysis to show that juries are out of control with these over-the-top damage and punitive awards.

I believe strongly in strict enforcement of the 55 m.p.h. speed limit for everyone except me. Large business and the Chamber of Commerce feel the same way. The mentality is that litigation is an overused tool by greedy lawyers to solve all differences except those disputes where they're really mad themselves.

We are all hypocrites to one degree or another. But I am always amazed at how big business is not even a little self conscious about its own self-leniency for its own litigiousness.

There is a recall of about 8,800 Horse-on-a-Stick Toys imported by Big Ideas Marketing, a company based in Owings Mills, Maryland. The recall is because the reins on the toy's bridle are long enough to form a loop, creating a risk of strangulation hazard.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received a report of a near strangulation involving a 2-year-old boy using a Horse-on-a-Stick. he toys were sold at Love's Travel Stop and Country stores nationwide from May to July. For additional information, contact Big Ideas Marketing toll-free at 888-908-8697.

You can find more on this story here.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Baugher's has announced a recall of apple cider due to potential contamination with E. coli. Seven people in the Maryland area have recently contracted the E. coli, sending three of them to the hospital.

Our law firm is not handling potential apple cider recall claims.

Another cilantro recall? Really? Orval Kent Food Company announced the voluntary recall of 23 products this week, including bags of chopped chicken salad, cilantro been dip and fish ceviche.

Trade Joe's had a cilantro recall yesterday. The Trade Joe's culprit was salmonella. Orval's problem is E. coli.

Salmonella recalls have been spring up everywhere it seems over the last few weeks. Fortunately, one salmonella recall that has a happy ending. After a recall of HEB brand HEB brand Mexican Shrimp Cocktail, Five-Layer Dip, Roasted Salsa Dip, and 4 varieties of HEB’s Texas Twist salad dressings, the FDA reversed course and reported that products are safe for consumption.

The recall came after HEB received information that some of their products could contain salmonella. No illness were reported, the products have been tested and it is back to business as usual.

Approximately 288,000 eggs were recalled after testing positive for salmonella at same facility that lead to the huge egg recall earlier this year. Eggs subject to the recall have been apparently sent out to stores in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

About 1,600 Americans became sick in the last egg recall this summer which hlead to a class action lawsuit.

Our lawyers are not involved in these lawsuits and are not handling these cases.

The FDA has asked manufacturers of oral bisphosphonate osteoporosis drugs to include warnings that the drugs have a risk of atypical fractures of the femur.

This new warning will bring about label changes for Fosamax, Fosamax Plus D, Actonel, Actonel with Calcium, Boniva, Atelvia and Reclast and any generic versions of these drugs.

Lawsuits continue involving Aredia, Fosamax and Zometa.

In granting summary judgment in a defective beer bottle case (where the injuries seemed insignificant), a Maryland court provides a review of the res ipsa loquitur doctrine in California, including a review of what is usually the biggest battle ground in making a res ipsa case: whether the defendant had exclusive control.

You can find the opinion here.

The Court of Appeals of Kentucky came out with an interesting opinion affirming a defense verdict in an auto accident case. The issue was whether the trial court erred in not allowing the plaintiff's car accident lawyers to depose a witness who was in prison in Arizona. The request came after the discovery deadline and the court did allow a phone deposition. There was absolutely no chance an appeals court was going to disturb that type of discretionary ruling.

The court also addressed issues with (1) Kentucky's sudden emergency jury instruction, (2) the identification of the uninsured motorist carrier at trial, (3) whether the property damage claims should be a separate line on the verdict sheet, and (4) whether future medical bills could be sought (for two future knee replacements). As complex as all of that sounds, the opinion is quite short.

You can find the opinion here.

In a tough economy, lawyers are fighting hard to get more car accident cases. Accident lawyers are getting out in front on the Internet, obviously, but they are also looking to more behind-the-scenes strategies to get more car accident cases.

In Tampa, two lawyers took note of one tactic that has been around for decades - calling out a medical provider who markets vigorously for accident cases and then refers those cases to a law firm. The lawyers - apparently a husband and wife duo - brought attention to this practice on their blog, raising the obvious questions about the relationship between the lawyers and the doctors.

A lot of lawyers are writing blog posts. Largely, it is like a tree falling in a forest. Hardly anyone is paying attention to 99% of what is written. But the medical providers targeted here made sure that everyone would get to talking about this, filing a lawsuit against the attorney bloggers in Tampa.

Here is the blog. Alexa ranks this blog as the 3,163,142nd most read blog in the world. Seriously. (I just linked to it. If everyone else does the same, this blog will get a lot more traffic.)

I have no idea why this health care provider is picking a fight with this law firm. Maybe there is a larger wisdom to this but I doubt it. It appears to be a classic overreaction, drawing attention to a method of getting more car accident cases that is going to give many a cause for concern.

You can read more about this dispute at Tampa Bay Online.

Another food poisoning related recall, this time it comes from a particular favorite of mine. Trader Joe’s has announced that they are recalling several cilantro products that may contain salmonella. The recall involves Cilantro Dressing with a sell-by date of Feb. 9, 2011, Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette dressing with a sell-by date of Jan. 9, 2011, and Cilantro Pecan Dip sold in stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state with sell-by dates of Nov. 20 and Nov. 24.

A jury in Montgomery, Alabama last month returned another defense verdict in McMahon vs Yamaha. This is the fifth time that Yamaha has obtained a defense verdict in a defective design Yamaha Rhino lawsuit.

Yamaha touts this as a vindication of its design. Give them credit, they are winning the early battles in these Yamaha lawsuits. But let's not kid outselves into thinking that these juries have all indicated that Yamaha did not screw up the design. Clearly, juries are troubled by the conduct of the drivers that lead to the accident in the first place. So jury verdicts may not be a litmus test solely on whether the Yamaha Rhino had a defective design. Moreover, there was a successful jury verdict against Yamaha in Georgia, a fact Yamaha conveniently leaves out of its statement after this most recent verdict.

If you Google "unnecessary heart stents" most of the searches come up discussing the stent debacle at St. Joseph's Hospital in Maryland. But Maryland might just be the tipping point. The same health care system with the same financial incentives for doctors for using heart stents exists throughout the country. I suspect unnecessary stent medical malpractice lawsuits are going to be the next wave of malpractice lawsuits. In many jurisdictions, although I suspect not in Maryland when all is said and done, there is going to be a great case for punitive damages.

Stent lawsuits in jurisdictions with punitive damages involving a hospital systematically providing unnecessary heart stents may be big cases. Punitive damage claims against individual doctors are typically of limited utility because the doctors have limited assets - relatively speaking - and the insurance policies do not cover intentional torts. Obviously, hospitals have more insurance and deeper pockets.

Our website has example opening statements in personal injury cases. These sample opening statements include two personal injury cases in Maryland - a car accident case and truck accident case - where the jury awarded over $1 million.

It is useful to read opening statements from other accident lawyers to get an idea of the common threads that the best accident lawyers use and also to figure out what works best for you. Some parts of opening statement are stylistic, they vary from lawyer to lawyer. But there are some things that should be included in every opening statement. For a more clear idea of what needs to be in every opening statements, I strongly recommend David Ball's book on damages, appropriately titled Damages.

Britax announced a voluntary recall of 23,000 infant car seats. The recall was precipitated by reports that the chest clip can break and pose a risk of cutting the child. There have been four reports of the chest clip breaking.

DePuy hip replacement lawsuits continue to grow exponentially since DePuy ASR hip implants were recalled. DePuy is saying that it intends to do right by victims. Whether this is a reality or an empty promise for people suffering with DePuy hip replacements remains to be seen. Medical device companies have a shabby record of making things right, at least this is the perspective plaintiffs' lawyer have.

If you believe you may have a potential DePuy hip implant lawsuit, our lawyers are now investigating these claims. Call 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.

• News of DePuy Hip Replacement Recall
• March 12th Post on DePuy Hip Replacement Lawsuits
• More on DePuy Hip Implant Claims
• Zimmer Hip Implants

There have been concerns that Humira is associated with (1) infection, (2) autoimmune disorders, and (3) an increased risk of cancer. This blog post talks about the potential connection between Humira and Cancer.

We are not handling Humira lawsuits at this time. Honestly, Humira has not really been on our radar screen. I just happened to be reading about the issue today because I was looking at the patent infringement verdict against Abbott involving Humira last year. So I thought I would write about what I learned. Much of this is taken from Humira lawsuits that have been filed against Abbott and other TNF blockers and other research that I did today.

Humira was approved by the FDA in 2002 for treating adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Humira, like its Johnson & Johnson competitor Remicade, is a TNF blocker. Humira is described as a recombinant human IgG1 monoclonal antibody specific for human tumor necrosis factor. Humira binds to TNF and blocks the p55 and p75 cell surface TNF receptors.

Five years later, Humira received an indication for the treatment of Crohn's disease. At the time, Humira's label indicated that there may be a potential increase in lymphoma for patients who used Humira.

In June, 2008, the FDA issued an "Early Communication about an Ongoing Safety Review of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blockers (marketed as Remicade, Embrel, Humira, and Cimzia)." The FDA reported that it was investigating approximately 30 reports of cancer occurring in young adults who began taking TNF blockers (along with other immuno-suppressive medicines) when they were ages 18 or less, to treat Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Crohn's disease or other diseases.

A month later in Great Britain, Abbott reported to doctors that "since December, 2002, three postmarketing reports of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL), which is a rare aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with a poor prognosis, have been reported in patients receiving Humira." In September 2008, the FDA announced a black box warning was required for Humira. A black box warning is the strongest warning label a drug can have applied to it.

Humira remains on the market today. I'm not saying there should be a recall of this product or that it should not be used by some patients. Certainly, patients should be talking to their doctors about all of the potential issues that impact their decision as to whether or not they should be taking Humira.

Drafting interrogatories in a personal injury case? You might want to take a look at the sample interrogatories available on our website. We have examples from car and truck accident cases, wrongful death, medical malpractice and product liability cases.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has a good post about a juror passing the bailiff a note trying to get a date. The juror's excuse? "I'm a romantic at heart."

C'mon, admit it. That's the best possible answer.

Carlsberg has issued a recall for a half a million bottles of its Tuborg out of concern that the bottles may contain small pieces of glass in the beer. A beer recall? It is the first one I recall seeing.

Apparently, Carlsberg found a problem in their bottling line. No other Carlsberg brands are believed to be involved beyond Tuborg and the company seems like it is taking the problem head on: calling a national press today to advise consumers of the situation and offering a full refund.

I didn't expect to be blogging about a beer recall today. But when you track recalls, you find just the most unbelievable things

The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog reports on a Maryland high court opinion that serves as a good primer for Maryland law on what is required when naming a medical expert witness in a malpractice suit in Maryland.

A delay of diagnosis medical malpractice lawsuit in Kentucky was filed against a hospital involving the tragic death of a 43 year-old popular Louisville radio talk show host. Her family's suit alleges that emergency room doctors failed to identify her symptoms of a brain bleed in the patient which led to her death.

This article has her picture. It is always so depressing to read about the death of someone who looks so young and happy. I can't speak to the merits of the case. But everyone, including the hospital, realizes how tragic her death is.

Suzuki has issued a recall of approximately 70,000 Suzukis. These vehicles have defective side mirrors that, believe it or not, may fall off the car from vibration. The recall covers 2007-2010 Suzuki SX4 hatchbacks and 2008-2010 Suzuki SX4 sedans.

Not a big deal and it is unlikely to cause any injuries. Still, you would like to think that Suzuki knows how to screw in a rear view mirror.

The Archives of Internal Medicine reports higher than expected cancer rates in Effient, Eli Lily's blood thinner that competes with Plavix. Doctors, patients, and, frankly, plaintiffs' lawyers, do not quite know what this means.

First, a quick background. The FDA approved Effient last July for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events (including stent thrombosis) in heart patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) who get an artery-opening procedure called a percutaneous coronary intervention. In other words, Effient is a serious drug with a lifesaving purpose.

Effient has also apparently showed efficacy and has given doctors another treatment option in treating high risk patients. Effient was still getting killed by Plavix in terms of market share, but it was considered to be a good option for doctors. Everything seemed to be working as it should.

But then came this cancer risk data. Interestingly, in another arrow to the chest for the logic of preemption, because of FDA approval, researchers did not rely on new data for the study. Instead, they just analyzed unpublished data from a study that was key to FDA approval in the first place. The study found that the risk of new or worsened solid tumors was 60 percent higher with Effient than with Plavix.

Should plaintiffs' lawyers start getting ready for class action Effient lawsuits? No. There is still a lot more to find out and we could still find out that this study is wrong and Effient is as safe and effective as hoped. But is this new cause for potential concern that patients and doctors should keep their eye on closely? Of course.

It is a crazy world, Edition #852,239,202. Apparently, the porn star - as someone recently pointed out, can you use the word "porn" with "star"? - who with Charlie Sheen during his meltdown at The Plaza in New York has told reporters that she intends to file a lawsuit against him for the trauma endured.

Apparently, Capri Anderson says she felt "in danger" while cowering naked as Charlie Sheen busted a chair and knocked over a table.

What exactly are her damages? My Vegas odds:

6-1: She never files a lawsuit
10,000-1: She gets a verdict
1,000,000: She gets a meaning verdict
10,000,000: She gets a meaningful verdict that survives appeal
1-1,000,000: She is able to exploit her relationship with Charlie Sheen to make a few bucks and then fades off into Bolivian (as Mike Tyson called it)

Obviously, as her website makes clear, she is nakedly trying to make money off her brief relationship with Charlie Sheen. I think it is unfortunate that she would chose to spend time with someone (I sound 80 years old, I know) and then want to make a quick buck off of them. But, look, it is 2010, I can deal with it. She's young, she's in the business of trying to be famous, and it certainly does not define her as an awful person. And Charlie Sheen certainly assumed the risk. But I do think it is awful when people use even the threat of a lawsuit as a means not of redressing injuries but to gin up publicity.