Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

A Mississippi police department tried to cover up for a police office in a fatal car accident that killed a 19-year-old man last November in Brandon County, according to a lawsuit filed last week. Plaintiff's attorney claims that police officer was traveling nearly 30 mph over the posted speed limit and was not using his siren at the time of the crash. The lawsuit also questions police findings that the decedent was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of his death.

One issue was the amount of drugs and alcohol in the deceased system. Toxicology experts say that any internal injury can destroy the accuracy of the drug and BAC tests because the stomach and intestinal alcohol mix with blood when organs rupture, which increases the BAC test results. Moreover, the BAC from a deceased person must be tested from the heart which is often not what the coroner does in practice.

A Jefferson County, Mississippi jury has ordered Sherwin-Williams Co. to pay $7 million to a boy who suffered brain damage after ingesting lead-contaminated paint chips. In ruling for the plaintiff, jurors found that the Sherwin-Williams was liable for the boy’s brain injuries.

An lawyer for Sherwin-Williams said they plan to appeal the verdict. With the Mississippi Supreme Court being what it is today, plaintiff's lawyers have a ways to go.

One historic hassle for lawyers serving defendant in car accident cases is when the Defendant lives out-of-state. Mississippi provides a bad door that makes this process a lot easier for Mississippi car accident lawyers. Under Mississippi accident law, the Mississippi Secretary of State can accept service of process for accident defendants who live outside of Mississippi.

You can read about the nuances of exactly how to effectuate service in a Mississippi car accident case here.

If you are looking for a car accident lawyer to handle your auto accident injury case in Mississippi, call our lawyers at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free no obligation consultation of your accident claim.

Leakesville native Judge Randy "Bubba" Pierce's defeated Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. Tuesday by securing 58 percent of the votes. You can find the article here.

The Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog has gotten a good bit of traffic regarding an email to me that I posted from Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr., a current Mississippi Supreme Court justice who is running for reelection. The New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog has a good post this week about why electing judges is a bad idea.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Justice Diaz would agree with me.

The Mississippi Supreme Court last week affirmed a $4 million in compensatory damage award in the case of Carthage woman who died from a lethal dose of painkillers after being misdiagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Plaintiff's decedent had been given large volumes of the painkiller Dilaudid while she was at a hospice. Incredibly, the woman's autopsy showed that the woman never had cancer in the first place. The court also dismissed $500,000 punitive damages against the medical director of the hospice at the time of the incident.

The hospice in this case tendered their $1 million policy before trial. The medical malpractice case proceeded against the doctor who ordered the medication. The doctor's defense at the malpractice trial was that patients at hospices often need high dosages of medication because they build up tolerance to the drug that takes away their pain. I appreciate this argument but there has to be a balance between giving people the medication they need and not killing them. Did the doctor in this case really try to find that balance? Certainly, this Mississippi jury in this medical malpractice lawsuit did not believe that the doctor sought that balance.

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of nursing home abuse neglect claim because the plaintiff failed to provide 60 days' notice of the intention to file a medical malpractice action against a health care provider as required under Mississippi Code Section 15-1-36(15). This statute requires Mississippi nursing home and medical malpractice plaintiffs to health care provider's sixty (60) days' prior written notice notifying the defendant of the legal basis of the claim and the type of loss sustained, including with specificity the nature of the injuries suffered.

This statute comes from Mississippi’s disastrous tort reform act passed in 2002 that, among other things, establishes a cap on noneconomic damages of $ 500,000 for lawsuits filed before July 1, 2011, $ 750,000 for those filed after July 1, 2011 but before July 1, 2017, and $ 1,000,000 for those filed thereafter.

I do not have a problem with the ruling because it is a correct interpretation of the Mississippi law. But the law accomplishes nothing in this case but to deny a Plaintiff the right to justice.

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."

I received the following email regarding my post concerning from Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.'s recent dissenting opinion in a wrongful death case:

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for the recent post on your blog concerning the banning of my dissent at the Mississippi Supreme Court. Your comments were right on point and it is indeed incredible that the majority of my court voted to ban my dissent in the wrongful death case. I am currently running for re-election to the court and am opposed by forces that want to implement further tort reform measures. I would appreciate it if you would provide a link to my campaign website in case anyone would like more information about my campaign. The address is www.justiceoliverdiaz.com. Again, thank you for your comments.

Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.
Mississippi Supreme Court

As Justice Diaz requests, I have passed this information along. As I have written before, the Mississippi Supreme Court has been been - and I don't think it hyperbole to say this - harsh to accident and malpractice victims. Without involving myself too deeply into elections (I try unsuccessfully to stay out), I think Justice Diaz can be relied upon to be a voice for accident and malpractice victims.

(Postscript: I wrote Justice Diaz back and told him that I like to stay out of politics but I would post his message. He responded, "Good luck staying out of elections, I wish I could as well!" I also wish that Justice Diaz and other Mississippi Supreme Court justices could stay out of the election process.)

The Mississippi Supreme Court - an elected body that has a recent history of siding with defendants in personal injury cases - attempted to bar a dissenting opinion from Justice Oliver Diaz, Jr. in a wrongful death case. Diaz dissented with the majority's decision to remand Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board v. Kraft.

Justice Diaz argued in the dissent of a wrongful death case that the statute of limitations for wrongful death lawsuits begins at the time of the injury, not on the date of death. "The obvious result is that a wrongful death action may expire before the decedent does," Justice Diaz wrote.

Justice Diaz is no stranger to the crazy world of Mississippi politics. In 2005, a jury cleared Justice Diaz of all bribery charges. His ex-wife, however, pled guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to two years' probation. But the logic of his argument - that wrongful death claims start at the time of death - is so manifestly obvious that defense lawyers in other jurisdictions would not even make the argument.

The Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association needs to do a better job of getting out the message of how personal injury victims are being treated in Mississippi. Because Mississippi in the matter of a decade has gone from a jurisdiction with an open mind on personal injury claims to a state that says no to any issue that is a close call and some that should not even be close calls.

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.

The Mississippi Supreme Court appears to have transformed into a surrogate for big business, according to an editorial in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger argues. Over the last ½ years, the Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed approximately 88 percent of all jury verdicts decided in favor of plaintiffs. Incredibly, none have been reversed when the defendant prevailed.

Let me calculate for you the mathematical odds of this being by pure chance: zero. The author points to the obvious: the Mississippi Supreme Court has elected justices that are influenced by campaign donations from big business.

Let’s have a show of hands of lawyers in support of elected judges in Mississippi or anywhere? Personal injury lawyers? No hands. How about defense lawyers? No hands. Because everyone seems to know that elections and judges are toxic. Yet in Mississippi and throughout most of this country, we continue to elect judges.

Mississippi personal injury lawyer Zach Scruggs denied conspiring to bribe a state judge, but plead guilty Friday to a felony that will cost him his legal career.

I have never written about this story before so I began to start giving a little history but then I figured I would just refer you the Insurance Coverage Law Blog which is the most extensive analysis I have ever seen of a defense case since the O.J. trial. This blog breaks down the players, the lawyers, and everyone connected to the case.

I just cannot imagine being a billionaire - which I think Dick Scruggs was - and putting yourself in a position where you are going to spend five years in jail and your actions led your son to disbarment and a felony conviction so you can get more money in a fee dispute case. I think this is far more mind boggling than Eliot Spitzer, which was mind boggling in its own right.

A truck driver whose wife was tragically killed at a crossing at a Mississippi truck stop failed to allege facts sufficent to defeat a motion for directed verdict, Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision. Plaintiff's lawyers had alleged that the truck stop operators negligently failed to provide adequate lighting and had placed a propane tank and advertising in its parking lot, obstructing the view of pedestrians and drivers of oncoming traffic. But the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the danger of crossing the public roadway should have been obvious to the truck driver's wife. Four of the judges disagreed, finding that even though the truck stop did not own the area in question, there was testimony at trial that it was generally known that truckers parked in the area, even those that were not customers at the truck stop. Unfortunately for the Plaintiff, he was one judge short.

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