South Carolina Personal Injury Blog - Personal Injury

Health Risks from Denture Cream turn Smiles into Frowns

Amanda Wick — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:51:06 GMT

As the saying goes, you are never fully dressed without a smile. For years Poligrip and Fixodent have helped those with dental work such as dentures and bridges keep their teeth in place. Users with difficult fitting dentures have stood by these products and used them several times per day. Although denture cream is placed in your mouth and may potentially be swallowed or absorbed into the blood stream, the FDA classifies denture cream as a Class 1 low risk dental device, meaning Poligrip and Fixodent were not even required to advise you as to what is in the cream. Denture cream users are now faced with the reality that denture cream products contain zinc and may lead to problems including:

* Paralysis

* Numbness

* Loss of Sensation

* Tingling in the Hands or Feet

* Muscle Weakness

* Unexplained Pain

The zinc poisoning caused by Poligrip and Fixodent can cause permanent injury if it is not diagnosed early and treated. Several lawsuits have already been filed claiming that Poligrip and Fixodent should have tested these creams and warned consumers that they are dangerous.

Are you a denture cream user who has unexplained symptoms? Contact a denture cream attorney who can help protect your rights. Strom Law Firm is a personal injury and criminal defense law firm centrally located in Columbia, South Carolina. Our firm proudly handles personal injury, criminal defense, defective products, class actions, pharmaceutical liability, toxic torts, medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, workers compensation, social security disability, veteran's benefits, qui tam, predatory lending, tax investigations, business litigation, and wills and estates. Our lawyers proudly edit the Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board as well as the Strom Law Blog as a pro bono effort to provide the public valuable information. Our lawyers are licensed in: South Carolina, New York, Georgia, Florida, and the District of Columbia.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amanda Wick

Tort Reform: An Attack On Consumer & Constitutional Rights

Mike Kelly — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:00:00 GMT

South Carolina Senator Larry Martin recently introduced Bill S.350, which seeks to provide limits on the award of non-economic and punitive damages in personal injury actions. The bill seeks to limit non-economic damages (pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life) to $350,000 in all personal injury actions, regardless of the separate causes of action on which the claim is based. A total cap of $1,050,000, regardless of the number of defendants, would also be implemented. To “cap” it all off, punitive awards would be limited to three times the actual award or $250,000, whichever is greater.

This reform goes too far too fast, especially considering that South Carolina passed tort reform only 5 years ago. While the State of South Carolina needs to encourage business, there has to be a balance. This bill reduces corporate responsibility and erodes the duty to take reasonable care to avoid doing harm to others.

The Truth about the Constitutionality of Tort Reform

Tort Reform raises serious and fundamental challenges to the role of the jury in the administration of justice and protecting American freedoms. Tort Reform continues to chip away at our Amendment VII constitutional rights. Such reform essentially guts the Seventh Amendment, which reads: “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy exceeds twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.” These proposed arbitrary caps on damages allow corporations to plan and budget for their own irresponsibility more effectively.

The use of lawsuits to compel improvements in product safety has historical underpinnings as a fundamental concept dating back to centuries-old common law, and the U.S. civil justice system. Industries need incentives to improve their practices and the safety of their products. It has been an American tradition that a primary source of that incentive comes from the imminent possibility of litigation.

Tort reform advocates seek to limit the rights and protections our Constitution provides to those who are injured from defective products, toxic chemicals, medical malpractice, etc. As a result, the independence of our nation’s individualized system of justice and democracy is directly challenged. The American jury system epitomizes our democracy by allowing common citizens to decide winners and losers. Common citizens, unlike legislators and judges, are typically not influenced by big business.

Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of our country, had this to say about our constitutional right to a jury trial: “But there are certain principles in which all agree, and which all cherish as vitally essential to the protection of the life, liberty, property, and safety of the citizen:…Trial by jury, the best of all safeguards for the person, the property, and the fame of every individual…” – Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson went on to declare that “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

Justice John Marshall proclaimed in Marbury v. Madison that: "The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection.”

Tort reform limits redress and favors perpetrators of harm – a class with disproportionately high transient political power – over victims of harm. Furthermore, tort reform has demonstrable disproportionately harmful effects on women, children, and the elderly. See Lucinda M. Finley, The Hidden Victims of Tort Reform: Women, Children, and the Elderly, Emory Law Journal, Fall 2004.

Do not let tort reformists, big business and corporations attack our fundamental rights by misleading accounts of jury trials and its propaganda war on individual rights. Bill S.350 will further eliminate corporate accountability and appears to put a price on South Carolina consumer safety.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Kelly

Yamaha Rhino Recall - Models 450 and 660

Will Parker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:23:44 GMT

Yesterday the Associated Press reported all Yamaha Rhino 450 and 660 model vehicles were recalled for repairs designed to prevent accidents resulting in 46 deaths and hundreds of injuries between the fall of 2003, when the vehicles were first distributed, through the present.

More than two-thirds of the incidents were rollovers. According to the CPSC many of the incidents involved turns on level ground at relatively slow speeds. A number of incidents did involve riders not wearing safety belts.

The repairs are designed to reduce rollover risk, as well as to improve handling and keep riders’ limbs inside the vehicles.

Rhino 450 and 660 owners should stop using these vehicles and call their local dealer to schedule an appointment for repairs.

Sales of these vehicles have been suspended to conduct repairs. This represents the first government recall of this category of rv. If you or anyone you know has been injured as a result of one these models, feel free to contact us at any time.

For more detailed information, you may contact Yamaha at 800-962-7926.

SOURCE: The Associated Press

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Will Parker

Drivers Beware... Bambi Runs There!!!!

Will Parker — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:14:23 GMT

Drivers Beware…. Bambi Runs There!!!!!

Dropping tempatures, less tourists, and shorter days can only mean one thing… fall has arrived. I love the fall. I love football. I love deer….especially venison, but that is beside the point. Though a great time of year for many besides myself, there is a downfall…an increase in the number of collisions, injuries and deaths resulting from deer-related car crashes. Their migration and mating season runs from October through December. This time period results in a dramatic increase in the number of deer-related accidents.

“Drivers should be especially cautious just before and after sunrise and from sunset to midnight when deer tend to be moving more. Also, buckle up and pay attention to all deer crossing signs,” states the South Carolina Insurance News Service.

Statistics show each year there are more than 1.5 million deer-auto collisions resulting in tens of thousands of injuries along and approximately 150 deaths. These accidents, totaling over 1 billion dollars in vehicle damage nationwide, are a serious concern. Insurance companies, covering the damages under your comprehensive portion of your automobile policy estimate the average cost per claim $2,600 nationwide, but can run as high as $11,000.

The South Carolina Insurance News Service suggests taking these precautions while driving:

Drive with caution in posted areas and in areas known to have a large deer population - especially in the early morning and evening hours.
If you see a deer cross the road, look for others. Deer often move in groups.
If you think you’re going to hit a deer, then brake firmly and stay in your lane. If you swerve to avoid it, the results can be even worse. If you hit the deer, do not touch it. Call the police immediately to report the incident.
Use your high-beam headlights to see the eyes of the deer better on and near the roadway. Also, blow your horn to frighten the deer away.
Heed deer crossing signs, lower your speed, always buckle up and stay awake, alert and sober.
Contact your insurance agent or company as quickly as possible to report any damage to your car.

So, for your sake (and Bambi’s, as well) please be careful or call me if you’re not!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Will Parker

One Died in Hopkins Car Accident

Jenny Albano — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:05:56 GMT

On Saturday morning there was a car accident that left one dead in Hopkins, South Carolina.

Around 4:00 a.m. a 51-year-old driver of a 1994 Ford Explorer was driving north on Mt. Elon Church Road when the driver drove off the side of the road into a ditch. The Explorer then overturned and the driver died at the scene from injuries.

The driver was wearing his seatbelt when the accident occurred.

The name of the driver has no been released by the Richland County Coroner's Office until the next of kin has been notified.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Ford Motor Company Ordered To Pay $6.5 Million In Rollover Case Where Man Suffered Brain Damage

Amy Rothschild — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:28:29 GMT

In 2004, Ruben Zamora, an oil field worker who was disabled prior to the accident, lost control of a 1993 Ford Motor Company Explorer sports utility vehicle when a tire lost its tread. The Explorer rolled over and the 41 year old driver was ejected from the vehicle. Ruben Zamora lost control of the 1993 Explorer when a tire lost its tread and was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over. Mr. Zamora suffered severe brain damage as a result of the accident and will need lifetime care.

Mr. Zamora's mother who sued on his behalf said that the tire tread separations set off vibrations in the rear of the vehilce that made it slide sideways becuase of a defect in the vehicle's suspension. ``The tires get to bouncing severely and the back end swings around,'' causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, Zamora's attorney, Bill Neumann, said today in a phone interview. ``They've known about the problem for years and failed to fix it.''

On February 1, 2007, a La Salle County jury in Texas agreed with the victim's mother and held that the Explorer was defective defective and awarded $10 million in damages. The jury also found that because Mr. Zamora was 35 percent at-fault for the accident, the $10 million jury verdict was reduced by 35 percent leaving a verdict of $6.5 million against Ford.

Ford stated that it plans to appeal the verdict claiming that Mr. Zamora was not properly belted when the vehicle rolled over. It appears that a prior owner had somehow modified the seatbelt system. Ford believes that the verdict will be further reduced because of a prior settlement with another defendant in the lawsuit.

Ford, the second largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, sold 137,817 Explorers last year, a 23 percent decline from 2006. Ford sold more than 400,000 Explorers in 2002. Honda Motor Co.'s smaller CR-V surpassed Explorer in 2007 as the top- selling sport-utility vehicle.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Hospital Accused In Sending Deceased Infant to Dirty Laundry Rather Than Morgue

Amy Rothschild — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:13:30 GMT

On July 8, Kourtney McGee of Cleburne was in her second trimester when she went to Huguley Memorial Medical Center of Fort Worth because she was bleeding. She gave birth prematurely to Jacob Dwayne Robinson, who did not survive. Hospital staff told Ms. McGee, the mother, and Milburn "Pete" Robinson, the father, that their child's body would be taken to the morgue.

When the funeral director arrived at the hospital to retrieve the baby's body, he was told that the body could not be found. The baby's body was not refrigerated when it got to the morgue. Instead it was sent to a commercial cleaner with the dirty laundry.

The parents filed a lawsuit for negligence and gross negligence against Huguley Memorial Medical Center
as a result of hospital staff sending their deceased newborn not the hospital's morgue, but rather, to the cleaners with the dirty laundry. The lawsuit alleges that it took 19 hours for the hospital staff to find the newborn's missing body. By then, the body had been crushed and disfigured.

The lawsuit contends that Huguley Memorial Medical Center had a duty to care for, handle, maintain and/or prepare for burial the body of Jacob Robinson. It breached its duty by "mishandling, misplacing, and disfiguring the body..." The family is seeking damages for severe emotional pain and anguish, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.
How did the baby end up in the laundry?

The hospital has denied doing anything inappropriate.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

Students Burned in School Chemistry Accident Reach $1.8 Million Settlement

Amy Rothschild — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:41:46 GMT

Calais Weber and Cecilia Chen suffered personal injuries when a chemistry experiment burst into a ball of fire at a private boarding school in Hudson, Ohio. The personal injury lawsuit settled for $18.9 million.

Calais suffered burns over 46 percent of her body, and Cecilia was burned over 18 percent of her body. In addition to the intense pain, Calais also suffered deep depression. Calais has undergone at least 16 surgeries with more to follow. Cecilia has undergone at least three procedures with more scheduled. A teacher and her eleven year old son who were visiting the classroom were also injured but were not part of the lawsuit.

Calais who is now seventeen years, old attends Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Cecilia, who is also seventeen years old, is currently a student at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The parents of the victims will voluntarily spend $100,000 of the settlement proceeds to hire a nationally recognized education-safety expert to create a program that will prevent similar accidents and improve safety measures at the school.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Amy Rothschild

FDA Warns About Fentanyl Again

Jenny Albano — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:45:00 GMT

The FDA warned, for the second time in two years, that improper use of the fentanyl patch, a painkiller, is still claiming lives. Some of the deaths were due to doctors prescribing the patch to the wrong patients.

The drug is supposed to be used for chronic pain for patients who are used to narcotics, but some doctors were prescribing the drug to patients with headaches or for post-surgery pain. Patients are also accidentally overdosing from the drug by using it incorrectly; some patients put on more than one patch, change them too often, or get them too hot.

The FDA first warned about improper use of the patches in 2005, when it announced it was investigating 120 deaths among users. The agency didn't immediately say how many more deaths it had learned of since that warning. But the FDA said Friday it had ordered makers of all fentanyl patches to create special "medication guides" for patients that spell out the dangers of overdoses and improper use in easy-to-understand language.

Some of the warning include: the patch can cause trouble breathing, the patch is only for round-the-clock moderate to severe pain, the patch should not be the first narcotic a patient takes, do not do anything that would increase your heat, etc.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on FDA and Prescription Drugs.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

New England School Mistakenly Administers Shock Therapy to Students

Courtney Mills — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:12:44 GMT

A New England school for the emotionally and mentally handicapped mistakenly administered electric shock therapy (EST) to two students earlier this year, according to admissions by school officials. A single prank caller to the school initiated the mistaken shock therapy to the affected students.

According to officials at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, allegedly a former student at the school made a call earlier this summer posing as a teacher at the institution, and issued instructions to school officials for two students to receive shock therapy. The prank caller directed officials to administer 29 shocks to one student and, unbelievably, 77 shocks to another student. A school spokesman admitted that although both treatments are an excessive number of shock treatments, the electric shock treatments were carried out.

According to media reports, Massachusetts's Disabled Persons Protection Committee's 24-hour hotline received an anonymous call after the incident alerting the authorities to the mistaken shock therapy treatments. Both students were under 22 years of age and their names have not been released.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills