Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

General Motors has announced the recall of 50,000 2011-2012 Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, and GMC Acadia SUVs. The reason? A possible windshield wiper defect. The wiper arm may loosen or become inoperative due to snow or ice buildup on the windshield, causing reduced visibility, and possibly cause an accident.

There's an interesting twist. The recall only involves vehicles registered in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. These 28 states represent the "cold-weather" states in the United States that would apparently be affected by snow-like conditions. Really? I've been in Virginia during the winter. Believe me, Virginia is a "cold weather" state that gets plenty of snow.

GM will, however, tighten the wiper arm nuts on vehicles on vehicles not registered in these states, if requested by the owner. Wow, that's big of them.

A fatal school bus accident last week has prompted a lawsuit alleging unsafe conditions for the bus' lack of seatbelts.

The details here are sad. The 60 year old school bus driver and a five year old little girl were killed in the crash. The bus, which struck a bridge, was carrying approximately 50 children, ages 5-16.

A suit has now been filed by the family of three of the injured children, with injuries ranging from a broken leg to claims of post-traumatic stress. The suit claims that the bus company failed to inspect the school bus for defective and unsafe conditions, including the lack of seatbelts, though a state police investigation determined that the bus was in fine working condition. The suit further alleges that the company failed to “discover, determine, and /or monitor the health conditions" of the school bus driver, though an autopsy revealed no signs of a medical condition that may have caused the driver to strike the bridge.

This is obviously only one of many more suits to come. The accidental death of anyone, especially a child, prompts frustration and anger, but I'm not sure how the unsafe claim for the bus' lack of seatbelts will play out.

Continue reading "Fatal School Bus Accident Prompts Suit Involving Seatbelts " »

Mars Food has recalled two date codes of Uncles Ben's Whole Grain White Rice Garden Vegetable, due to an undeclared milk allergen. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

The recall, affecting ONLY the Whole Grain White Rice Garden Vegetable, affects the 4.7 oz. (133 g) boxes with the following:

• UPC code of 54800 40778
• Best before: 08/12
• Code dates: 133BA4RP06 and 133BB4RP06

An ingredient supplier improperly included an undeclared milk ingredient in the seasoning mix used for this product. As such, consumers with milk allergies are advised not to eat the product, and consumers should return the product to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.

This product was distributed through retail stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Mars Food US has not received any reports of illness or other consumer complaints related to this matter. No other flavors of Uncle Ben's Whole Grain White Rice or any other Uncle Ben's products are affected.

The J.M. Smucker Company has announced a limited recall on 16 oz. Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter Chunky, as it has been determined that it may be contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The affected Peanut Butter is packaged in 16oz jars, and is marked as follows:

• UPC: 5150001701 (located on the side of the jar's label below the bar code)
• Production Codes: 1307004 and 1308004
• Best-If-Used-By dates: August 3, 2012 and August 4, 2012
• Chunky product only (not creamy)
• Impacted product would have been purchased between November 8 - 17, 2011

This product was distributed in: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

No other products of The J.M. Smucker Company are affected by this recall.

Wells Enterprises is voluntarily recalling a limited number of packages of its Blue Bunny® Personals® ice cream, due to a mispackaging incident.

On a limited number of packages, the lid indicates the product as Blue Bunny Super Chunky Cookie Dough ice cream, while the carton itself indicates the product as Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic ice cream. The product contained in the is Super Chunky Cookie Dough. The ingredient statement on the carton does not declare wheat, which is an ingredient in the Super Chunky Cookie Dough product. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat and/or have gluten sensitivities may be at risk from consuming these products.

The mispackaged Blue Bunny ice cream was distributed in 5.5 fl oz. The cartons affected are indicated by Lot Number 10009 “Best Used By” date 10/1/2012, - UPC 0 70640 00463. The lot number and UPC can be found printed on the side of the carton.

The affected product was shipped to the following states: Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Wisconsin, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Wells Enterprises became aware of the packaging error after receiving a report from a store that the lid and cup were for different products. The allergy alert and recall relates only to the above mentioned mispackaged Blue Bunny ice cream. No other Blue Bunny ice cream products are affected.

Jury Verdict Research has come out with some new data that underscores how hard it is to rely on verdict statistics in a particular jurisdiction to prove how that venue values cases.

JVR found that the median compensatory award for personal injury trials in Indiana is $25,036 and injured plaintiffs recover damages in 57 percent of cases that go to verdict. This is different - in opposite ways - from the national data. The national median is approximately $40,000 and the nationwide plaintiff recovery probability is 9% less. To be sure, the differences are statistically significant. Are we to believe that juries in Indiana are trusting people who take plaintiffs at their word but just don't think their claims are worth as much? (Actually, this is possible when you think about it.)

But the statistics get even crazier. Indiana awards twice as much for head injuries ($30,000 v. $15,000) as the rest of the country but then awards only half of the national median for shoulder injuries ($25,000 v. $49,418). It makes no sense, really.

Indiana juries are more likely to issue a plaintiffs' verdict, at least according to a recent Jury Verdict Research report that found that plaintiffs win damages in 57% of Indiana jury trials. The median money award for personal injury trials in Indiana is $25,036.

The Indiana comparisons to the national data are interesting: plaintiffs receive damages in 48% of cases that go to trial. So Indiana is more likely to find for the plaintiff. But they award less: the national median is $40,000. (Remember, this is a median, not an average, which excludes, by definition, large verdicts.)

Statistics mislead - there are a thousand clichés to prove it. Interstate comparisons are even more challenging because they are based on results created by different variables. States with higher thresholds to get a jury trial in the first place should - on average - be higher. But these statistics are still interesting.

Indiana has passed a new law that prohibits texting while driving. Indiana is the 32nd state to prohibit texting while driving. Under the new law, effective July 1, violators face a maximum fine of $500. The law extends Indiana’s current texting ban to all drivers. Drivers under 18 are also prohibited from all cell phone use.

I was jogging yesterday close to the road. There was no sidewalk. A very young girl was texting while driving by me. I'm certain she never saw me. This is how people die.

I've written in the past about the question of what limits the collateral source rule has in determining what medical bills can go to a jury. In particular, I discussed the court's unfortunate ruling in Indiana that evidence that medical bills have been discounted can be introduced as evidence to the extent that discounted amounts can be introduced without referencing insurance.

Tort Talk says that a Pennsylvania judge addressed a related issue: whether future medical bills can be discounted because the victim has insurance. The court in this case said that the plaintiff may plead, prove and recover future medical expenses as those expenses were not shown to be "paid or payable." The rationale? There is no way to say the Defendant will have insurance in the future.

I think the fact that we are having this conversation in the first place is ridiculous. All of these efforts to introduce payments and reductions violate the collateral source rule, a rule that has withstood scrutiny for a very long time. But at least this opinion does not take the insanity any further.

Cucumbers have been recalled after reports of a potential bacterial contamination. L&M Companies the recall for its whole cucumber product after the FDA informed the company that at least some of their cucumbers Salmonella.

Do you have cucumbers in your fridge subject to this recall? The recalled cucumbers have been distributed in different areas, namely: New York, Nebraska, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Florida (where the problem was found).

An Indiana federal court judge awarded $15 million to the family of a man who was killed in a truck accident in 2005 caused by a drunk driver. The award included $6.3 million in punitive damages.

The verdict is probably "not real" in that I doubt there is anything resembling enough money to pay the judge's verdict. No lawyer appeared for the trucking company which means there is little chance of insurance coverage. But it sounds like this case set up like a classic bad guy truck driver and trucking company case. Not only was the truck driver drunk, but he had been driving longer than federal regulations allow. The trucking company did what happens more frequently than you think in truck accident cases (and, by the way, less frequently than you think in malpractice claims); they doctored their logs to conceal their violation of federal trucking law.

Making matters worse, the trucking company then started hiding assets and selling property right after the accident. This is one more dastardly example of truck accident lawyers defending insurance companies and advising - even publicly lecturing - trucking companies on creative ways to limit liability. I wrote about this last year.

There is a recall of over 6,000 Touch Point oscillating ceramic heaters. The recall stems from a problem with the oscillating mechanism in these small, low priced heaters. It is shorting out which causes a potential fire hazard. There have been a few accidents resulting in property damage but no injuries.

This recall involves Touch Point PTC oscillating ceramic heaters with model number PTC-902 and serial numbers between 35005-43008. They were sold in Meijer stores in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio from October 2009 through October 2010 for about $25.

An Indiana jury has ordered a group of highway contractors to pay $10.2 million to the family of a worker killed in a 2006 construction accident. In Plaintiffs' lawsuit, attorneys contended that the contractors were negligent for allowing workers to ride on an uncovered flatbed trailer and not requiring them to wear hard hats.

Not surprisingly, an attorney for the contractors said suggested Defendants intend to appeal the verdict.

A Marion County Indiana jury has ordered several doctors and health care providers in Indianapolis to pay $5 million to a woman with a ruptured diaphragm who was misdiagnosed in 2000. The misdiagnosis led to the removal of a third of her stomach and ongoing complications, an attorney for the woman said. State medical malpractice caps will limit the award to $1.25 million.

My two volume treatise Insurance Settlements is now available from James Publishing. The book discusses how to position a lawyer's car accident, truck accident, medical malpractice or product liability case to the best possible settlement at every step along the way (until the state's high court affirms the judgment).

Click on the James Publishing link. If you have any comments on the book, please email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com under the subject "Insurance Settlements Comments."

Our lawyers are reviewing Byetta claims after the FDA announced this week that the diabetes drug has been linked to severe pancreatic problems in dozens of patients. On Monday, the FDA warned patients taking Byetta to discontinue use if they develop symptoms of the disorder. Further the FDA said that doctor prescribing Byetta should consider other prescription options for patients with a history of pancreas problems.

Since Byetta was introduced into the United States in 2005, more than 700,000 patients have used the Byetta.

Our lawyers are now exploring potential Byetta lawsuits. If you would like to discuss your case with a Byetta lawyer, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consulation/case evaluation (or even to answer any question you may have). For more information on Byetta and the concerns with Byetta, click here.

Last week, Digitek manufacturer Actavis Totowa recalled over 65 different drugs made at their New Jersey manufacturing plant. The list of recalled drugs (in some form or another) includes such generic drugs as Bellamine, Buspirone, Carisoprodol, Oxycodone Meperidine, and Rifampin. This strengthens the conclusion that the New Jersey plant that made these drugs may be the cause of irregularities in Actavis medications.

In April 2008, Actavis recalled Digitek, a drug prescribed to treat heart failure and irregular heartbeat because it was discovered that Digitek tablets appeared to have double the thickness – and likely double the active ingredient – listed on the label. When Digitek is given in abnormally high doses it can lead to digitalis toxicity which, paradoxically, worsens the problems Digitek is intended to treat, causing nausea or lower blood pressure and other side effects from the Digitek overdose that can lead to the increased risk of stroke or a heart attack.

If you would like to speak to a Digitek recall lawyer about a potential Digitek lawsuit, call 1-800-553-8000. For more information on the Digitek overdose recall or a free consultation on your potential Digitek case, click here.

Zimmer's Durom Cup hip implants are likely to be the subject of a good number of lawsuits from patients with the Zimmer implants. But they will not be the only ones. Apparently, Zimmer’s own shareholders may agree that Zimmer left its hip implant on the market way too long. Last week, shareholders of Zimmer stock filed a class action in Indiana. Interestingly, the lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who purchased stock between January 28, 2008 and July 21, 2008. This tells our Zimmer hip implant recall lawyers that these shareholders believe that Zimmer knew or should have known and issued a recall on or before January 28, 2008.

If your Zimmer Durom hip resurfacing cup was defective, call our Zimmer hip implant lawyers at 1-800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation.

More information on the Zimmer Hip Implant Recall
History of the Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Implant Recall
More information on the Zimmer hip implant recall lawsuits

Jury Verdict Research(r) study reports that rotator cuff injuries reached a 7-year high in 2006 with a compensatory award median of $72,667. This is almost 50% higher than previous reported settlements and verdicts in rotator cuff injury cases.

Our lawyers have never understood while the national data in these cases was so low. Washington D.C. rotator cuff injuries have averaged well over $100,000 for rotator cuff settlements and verdicts so we have never understood why the national average was as low as it has been. In any event, for whatever reason, rotator cuff verdicts are on the rise.

Our lawyers handle rotator cuff injury cases throughout the United States. Our lawyers have handled scores of rotator cuff injuries in car and truck accidents, typically in side collision or "T-bone" accidents. Our lawyers believe that insurance companies do not give fair value in most rotator cuff injury cases and our lawyers will fight to get you the financial compensation you deserve. Call a rotator cuff lawyer to protect you at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation and case evaulation.

Related Posts

What Is the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim? (how the value of rotator cuff and other person injury settlements are calculated)

Sample Demand Letter (sample letter demanding settlement in a personal injury case)

Handling Your Claim Without a Lawyer (tips and pratfalls)

Lawyers representing Digitek overdose victims have filed nine lawsuits in New Jersey against Actavis Totowa LLL and its parent company Actavis Group, alleging a manufacturing defect in Digitek, namely that some Digitek tablets have contained twice the active ingredient of the drug. Digitek recall lawsuits have also been filed in West Virginia and California.

Our Digitek recall lawyers are reviewing these Digitek overdose cases in all 50 states expecting that a consolidated class action lawsuit will be appropriate (as opposed to this scatting of individual cases). If you want to discuss your case with one of our Digitek lawyers call us at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation or click here for a free Internet consultation.