Washington, DC Personal Injury Lawyer

First Serious Winter Weather Causes Numerous Car Wrecks

David Tompkins — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:15:50 GMT

Icy road in the Washington D.C. area contributed to a number of car accidents this week. Car accidents are not caused by snow, but by inexperienced drivers. People who don't know how to drive on snow go too fast for conditions and hurt other people and themselves. Insurance companies never find their driver negligent for driving too fast for snowy or icy conditions. Adjusters will always blame the snow, and pay injured people nothing.

Icy conditions, really the first of this year, contributed to numerous car accidents this week. According to NBC4, at least one fatality in the area can be attributed to the weather.

According to this article, one person driving an SUV died when he lost control (going to fast for conditions), was hit by a semi, then pushed off the road on Route 15. The driver died of very serious injuries caused by the collision. The driver of the semi suffered what the article describes as minor injuries.

The article goes on to describe accident after accident caused by snow, ice and weather.

But let's get seroius here. The SNOW did not cause the collision. Poor, unsafe driving causes these collisions. In our society, we just have to get there as fast as we can!

Even more telling is how many of these collision involved SUVs. These large, 4 wheel drive trucks are driven by inexperienced drivers on our roads. What I mean by inexperienced is that the drivers are those who don't really understand how to drive in the SNOW, not how much they drive in general. Driving a 4 wheel drive vehicle will get you moving, but does not help you stop on the snow (at all) and does not really help that much at steering. The person with little experience in the snow will get their large, top heavy vehicle going forward, but can't stop. They become a cannon-ball on the road.

So please, DC drivers, take your time when it is snowing. If you are late, be late and stay alive.

When one of these snow-speed-demons hits you or a loved one, contact an attorney to assist you. Almost guaranteed the insurance company for the other person won't find their driver negligent for driving too fast. The adjuster will blame the snow, and pay you nothing.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Tompkins

Family to Sue Health Insurer for Fatal Delay in Treatment

David Tompkins — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:11:16 GMT

While not a typical automobile post, I'd like to draw your attention to this weeks story about a health insurer who denied a liver transpant to a young insured girl. It seems that liver transplants, to the health insurer, is still considered an "experimental" procedure, so they denied coverage for the procedure.

The young girls family hired a well known TV lawyer to get some media coverage. They call legislators, held press conferences, wrote letters, did the whole "blogosphere" routine. Put some heat on the health insurer, and see if you can move them.

It worked, the carrier changed their position, a few hours before the young girl died. I believe there is a song about this: "Isn't it Ironic."

Now there are calls for criminal charges against the health insurer, civil suits for negligence against the health insurer, and so on. But let's look at why this girl died: MONEY.

The procedure costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Who gets that money? Doctors, for profit hospitals, pharmacutical manufacturers (for the crazy priced anti-rejection drugs) and so on. NONE of these people (I include the doctors here) woudl help this girl, unless there was money in it for them. Think about that for a bit, no one would help her unless the health insurance company (or the girl herself, or her family) coughed up the dough. While we look for money, the girl dies.

Also look at the health insurer. The call now is for a criminal complaint to be filed against the health insurer. A corporation. Corporations cannot go to jail. But there are PEOPLE at the health insurance company who delayed this girl's treatment. If these people knew they would cause this girl's death by delaying her treatment, is that manslaughter. I doubt any district attorney would touch that case. It is morally reprehensible, but probably not a "crime" as such.

I feel badly for the family that lost their beloved daughter. She was killed by our capitalistic, money-grubbing health care system that feeds on insurance company pay-outs and the wages of the poor. The outrage leveled at the health insurer, while deserved, is misplaced. No one is going to cure any disease in America for free.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Tompkins

Doctors Protect Drug Addict Physicians so they Can Treat You!

David Tompkins — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:40:38 GMT

I take a lot of static from doctors who say I am too hard on their profession. "All professionals make mistakes," I have been told. True, but a professional fixes mistakes, or makes their client, patient, etc. whole. That is the nature of a profession, a self-regulating trade.

Doctors don't want to help victims of medical malpractice. Doctors want their injured patients to accept their miserable lot in life and leave them alone. Doctors, you see, are special. Doctors believe they should not have their mistakes (assuming one would even admit a mistake) should be public.

Lawyers self-regulate. Check the D.C. Bar website, and see how many lawyers have been disciplined, reprimanded, or disbarred in the last year! In Public! There are bad lawyers out there, and the legal profession goes after those bad lawyers, and disciplines them publicly, or removes them from the profession, if necessary.

The medical profession, however, has no such regulatory entity, and certainly not one that functions in public.

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

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Tompkins

Hospital Operates on the Wrong Side of the Brain -- For the THIRD TIME!

David Tompkins — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:01:42 GMT

Rhode Island Hospital has been cited for a THIRD incident this year for performing brain surgery on the wrong side of a patient's brain. Two of the victims survived, one did not.

According to Yahoo News, the hospital is reviewing its policies and training of doctors. This is a disturbing trend, and one that indicates significant problems with this hospital.

One question that jumps to my mind is this, "How many other hospitals or clinics have this same problem?" Also, I wonder about the victims. What about the man or woman that had a hole drilled into the wrong side of his or her brain? What damage has been done? What are their rights?

In these cases, is it fair to say to the person with lifetime disability that their pain and suffering is worth only $250,000.00. What will that be when he is 60 years old?

What is being done to protect the public? There are no signs posted at the hospital entrance that state "We operated on the wrong side of a person's brain three times this year." Doctors don't tell patients when they are being evaluated that they have made these mistakes repeatedly in the last year. Consumers of medical care cannot protect themselves from this shoddy care. Imagine, your brain surgeon telling you this before you have surgery, would you still let him do the procedure or have the procedure at that hospital? I believe the answer is no.

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

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Tompkins

Court Rules in Uninsured Motorist Policy Case

Shannon Weidemann — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:21:30 GMT

A New Jersey Appellate Court ruled that a woman who was injured in a drive by shooting can receive compensation from the Uninsured Motorist portion of her car insurance even though she was just entering her car at the time of the shooting. The insurance company denied her claim originally.

But the appellate judges, citing two New Jersey Supreme Court rulings, concluded there is no requirement that the vehicle "literally strike the insured" in order for a policyholder to receive benefits.
"[T]he automobile did more than provide a setting or an enhanced opportunity for the assault. In addition to allowing the assailant to be at the place of attack, it furnished the assailant with what he must have assumed would be both anonymity and a means of escape. The assailant would not likely have committed such an act of apparently random violence use of a car," the judges wrote.

Uninsured Motorist Insurance normally covers a claim when someone is struck by a hit and run driver or by someone without auto insurance.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Des Moines Bicyclist Injured in Accident

Shannon Weidemann — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:53:30 GMT

A bike rider in Des Moines was hurt after being hit by a car. The bicycle accident happened last Tuesday on Interstate Highway 235. The driver of the car did not see the bicycle because of the sun.

Police said he was taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center by fire medics about 8:10 a.m. with injuries that were not incapacitating.

The accident is being investigated but no charges have been filed against the driver of the car.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a bicycle accident, please use the contact form on the right if you would like to speak to an attorney.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Motorcycle Officers Crash on Cardinals Trip to Stadium

Courtney Mills — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:59:33 GMT

The Arizona Cardinals were on their way to the stadium on Sunday when two police motorcycles accompanying their buses crashed into one another. A police escort of two motorcycles was riding with the team to the field when the officers' cycles unexpectedly collided.

According to Washington D.C. police, both officers sustained minor injuries in the accident. The officers were treated in a nearby hospital for their injuries and released a short time thereafter. The reason for the accident was not made immediately clear.

A spokesman for the Arizona Cardinals, Mark Dalton, stated that none of the team members on the buses actually witnessed the accident. Dalton stated that officers waved the buses through the accident scene and onward to the stadium.

For more information on this subject please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

China Receives Apology From Mattel for Recalls

Shannon Weidemann — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:54:42 GMT

A representative for Mattel Inc. traveled to China in order to deliver a personal apology to the head of product safety there. Mattel has issued numerous product recalls this year for toys made in China. Most of the recalls revolve around lead based paint used on the toys.

"Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys," Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, told Li.
The unusual move reflects how invested El Segundo-based Mattel has become in China.
"Mattel certainly must have been facing some pressure to do that, because you can't imagine why they would be trying to push this story along any further," said Eric Johnson, a professor of operations management at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Experts feel that Mattel offered the apology to keep their business costs in China low. Mattel stated that most of the recalls were due to a design flaw with the toy and not due to lead based paint.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Washington Bus Driver Pleads Guilty in Pedestrian Deaths

Shannon Weidemann — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:23:37 GMT

Two woman were hit by a Metrobus in February and killed. The pedestrian accident happened at the intersection of 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue. The driver of the bus has plead guility to two counts of negligent vehicular homicide.

The accident was captured on videotape by a security camera positioned near the roof of the National Archives. Obtained by 9NEWS NOW and broadcast on July 20th, the tape recording clearly showed the bus make a sweeping left hand turn in front of on-coming traffic and into the intersection where the two women were crossing the street with the green light.

The bus driver could face up to 10 years in prison but he will likely be sentenced to three years. He will be sentenced in December. The widower of one of the victims has filed a civil suit against Metrobus.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Airline, Cruise, Bus, and Other Mass Transit Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Dole Improves Testing to Ward of E. Coli Contamination

Jenny Albano — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:00:09 GMT

The Dole Food Company, a major food and fruit producer, has improved testing to try and prevent breakouts of E. coli and other bacteriums that can cause food-bourne illnesses.

Dole is testing samples from all the products the company markets and if anything harmful is found in the produce, the plants from that area will not make it through the processing chain. Also, the company has introduced a new electronic system that can locate a contaminated product within 30 feet of where it was grown.

Dole's steps to more closely monitor produce -- and to convince consumers it is safe -- come as the company hopes to avoid outbreaks such as the one last year, where bagged spinach from Dole and other brands contaminated with E.coli 0157:H7 sickened more than 200 people and killed three.

Eric Shwartz, the president of Dole, stated that many food production companies are trying to improve and come up with new ways to ensure the safety of their products. This can only improve the industry's reputation, by increasing consumer's trust and confidence in their food products.

Another spinach recall occurred this week by Merz Fresh in California, which brought up more concerns about food safety. Dole hopes to improve testing and tracking and prevent future outbreaks of E. coli.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano