Families of those killed on Continental Connections Flight 3407 have begun to file lawsuits over what appears to have been a preventable aviation accident. While several families have already hired legal representation, it is expected that most families will do so in the future.

Losing a loved one in an aviation accident is an experience most of us will hopefully never have to go through. For those who have lost a loved one, the experience is described as surreal or numbing. While these words seem obvious, those who have never gone through this kind of a loss can’t really understand. It’s because of this time of shock and grief that the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 was created. This federal law requires a 45-day waiting period in which attorneys cannot approach the families. However, the families may always contact an attorney whenever they want.

The families and loved ones of those killed on Flight 3407 may have different reasons for filing lawsuits. For many, it is simple economics. When the person who was bringing in most of the family’s income has died, those left behind will need to be taken care of. This is one of the obvious reasons.

The other reason is the nature of this accident. While it will take up to a year before the NTSB finishes its report on the crash, some theories as to what the cause was are being bandied about. If it was ice on the wings that brought down the turboprop, then what was it doing flying in that kind of weather? Should the flight have been grounded?

If there was icing on the wings, why was the crew allowing the flight to continue on autopilot? The black box shows auto pilot was on seconds before the plane began to roll violently. In fact, the autopilot was adjusting to gain more speed, perhaps due to the icing. As a result, the nose was being forced down. Several authorities believe that the crew may have panicked and pulled the nose back up. This then caused the plane to stall. So, pilot error is another area that is being looked at. And, since the crew has come into question, so has their training. Were they experienced enough to be flying the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400?

How families will get through their own tragedy and not wanting to see other families to go through the same thing are two of the biggest reasons lawsuits are filed in this type of catastrophic accident. It is still believed, and rightly so, that if the airline industry believes lawyers are looking closely at it, they will take steps to improve on how they build airplanes and conduct safety. While no amount of compensation will ever be enough, hopefully this is all it takes to keep aviation disasters as rare as possible.

If you have lost a loved one in a plane crash, you may have cause to file a claim. Please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Cochran Firm. We serve clients nationwide.

During the night of February 5 this year in Itasca, IL, an 89-year-old nursing home resident, one Sarah Wentworth, wandered out the door. She wore only her nightgown. As a dementia patient she was wearing an ankle bracelet that set off an alarm at the nurses’ station. However the nurse on duty at the time was watching a television show and did not get up to investigate.

At about 5 a.m. Wentworth was found dead outside the nursing home and her body was placed in her bed. Nursing home personnel claimed that she died in her sleep. Later it was noticed that her body was cool to the touch – cooler than room temperature. Police then began an investigation into her death.

The medical examiner listed hypothermia as one of the causes of death. Hypothermia is a very low body temperature, too low to sustain life. Investigators have found that she must have been outdoors for about an hour and a half before her body was found.

Wentworth was a frail woman who could not get up out of bed or dress herself without assistance. She had lived for over two years at this nursing home. One of the home’s policies requires staff to look around in the area between the nursing station and the courtyard door whenever an alarm goes off.

• How did she manage to go through two doors that both had alarms, especially since she needed a walker to get around?
• Had she been left up all night?
• Did someone help her out of bed and give her the walker and then disappear?

Wentworth’s daughters have filed a wrongful death suit against the facility – The Arbor Nursing Home – in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit claims that the nursing home and its staff failed to provide proper resident supervision and medical care, and that the home failed to train its staff adequately.

The court has ordered an inspection of the nursing home and the family is conducting its own investigation. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, this facility has had fourteen complaints filed against it in the past twelve months.

Nursing home neglect is a type of elder abuse and is actionable. Our attorneys have a great deal of experience in prosecuting it. If you have a loved one who has been mistreated in a nursing home, please contact our nursing home abuse lawyers to schedule a free consultation.

When we go to the doctor, we trust the medical professionals with our most important attribute – our health. Sometimes humans make mistakes, and there are medical malpractice laws to protect us from those mistakes. However, it is also possible that the devices the doctors and medical professionals use may be defective. Defective medical devices can lead to injuries or even fatalities that you may not have had to face if those devices were manufactured properly or used as intended.

Take the shoulder pain pump, for example. The shoulder pain pump is a device that is used to deliver pain medication after arthroscopic surgery. However, it was later discovered that the shoulder pain pump was causing destruction of the cartilage in the joint of the shoulder.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency that gives the seal of approval on new drugs and medical devices. The FDA has to approve medical devices for use and distribution to the public after ensuring that such product is safe for use. Physicians are also required to submit Medical Device Report if they encounter any medical device failure that resulted in an injury, illness or fatality.

The FDA approval only applies to the manufacturer, however. Physicians are not governed by the FDA in how they use medical devices. Even though a medical device is approved by the FDA for one use, a physician may use that device in a manner not approved by the FDA.

Whether the device fails when being used in a manner approved by the FDA, or if the physician was using it in another way, defective medical devices can often pose catastrophic risks to patients.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to a defective medical device, please contact the experienced attorneys at The Cochran Firm, with offices nationwide, today.

Currently, House and Senate Democrats are seeking to pass legislation that would nullify a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that virtually stripped defective medical device victims of all recourse of action against the products’ manufacturers.

The ruling prevents injured patients and the surviving family members of victims killed by defective medical devices from suing the device manufacturers if the product had received FDA approval.

As a result of this highly misguided and grossly irresponsible Supreme Court ruling, courts all across the country have been dismissing product liability claims against medical device manufacturers for injuries caused by their products’ defects. This ruling has left victims of defective medical products all but helpless when trying to recover fair compensation for their injuries, and it has created a situation where neither the Food and Drug Administration nor medical device manufacturers are being held accountable for errors leading to the severe injury and death of many Americans seeking essential medical treatment.

The description of cases that have been dismissed in the past year will leave you shocked and appalled. Some of the more notable cases include:

• A woman who suffered internal burn injuries by a medical device intended to reduce her menstrual bleeding
• A man suffering internal injuries from the use of a prostate treatment device
• Many patients who sustained serious injuries from defective joint and heart implants

This week in St. Paul, Minnesota, a woman filed a claim against Medtronic after one of their defective defibrillator leads resulted in the death of her 33-year-old husband. Due to the Supreme Court’s decision last year, her claim will most likely be dismissed as well.

Clearly, this legislation must pass in order to restore the rights of defective medical device victims and to create a greater sense of accountability on the part of the FDA and the medical device manufacturers. With such a large number of defective devices receiving approval to be sold on the market, it is clear that the FDA is not doing an adequate job at protecting the safety of Americans.

The Supreme Court is currently deliberating over whether to extend the same protections to drug manufacturers. Considering the large number of pharmaceutical products that are approved before studies can evaluate their long-term side effects, such a ruling would be disastrous to the many Americans seeking recourse for injuries sustained due to defective drugs.

If you have been injured by a defective medical product, the Cochran Firm can help you receive the compensation you deserve. Please contact one of our product liability attorneys today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients nationwide.

Recently the Children’s National Medical Center and Virginia Tech together did a research study of the lead levels in D.C. tap water between 2001 and 2004. They concluded that many D.C. children could be at risk for:

• Developmental delays
• Behavioral problems
• Permanent intelligence loss
  

Now a single father, one John Parkhurst, has filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status for the children in D.C. It claims that the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) knew that lead levels were too high, that they withheld language that could have warned people about this problem in public education campaigns, and that they encouraged D.C. residents to drink tap water.

WASA officials have replied that to link lead in drinking water to developmental and behavioral problems would require “scientific and case-specific substantiation”, not just an assertion. They are in continuing communication with the scientific community and health experts on this matter.

Parkhurst’s Twin Boys

Parkhurst’s lawsuit claims that he prepared baby formula and food for his twin boys using tap water, starting when he adopted them from Vietnam at the age of eight months until they were two, in 2002. The boys are now eight years old. When they had an annual medical checkup in 2002, Pankhurst learned that they had dangerous blood lead levels. One child’s lead levels were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Physicians advised him to add more root vegetables to their diet.

By the time the boys were in school, Pankhurst reportedly noticed that one had high anxiety levels and both had severe attention problems. Medical evaluations identified behavioral and learning problems.

The Parkhurst suit wants WASA to pay for his medication and therapy costs for the twins, and for the costs of all other D.C. children who drank the high-lead water before the age of six. It is not yet a class-action suit, as a judge must certify to proceed in that way.

Lead Poisoning Symptoms

Lead ingested above a certain level can certainly be poisonous. It can damage the brain and nervous system, the kidneys and the heart. It can also cause very noticeable symptoms such as nausea, insomnia, chest pain, headaches and even seizures. There is no known use for it in human physiology. It forms deposits in the bones and is very slow to leave the body once it is there.

If you have a child who has sustained a brain injury because of another’s negligence, please call or email our personal injury attorneys today for a free case evaluation.

If your loved one perished in a plane crash, you may have a valid personal injury claim. Please contact the experienced Aviation Accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm, with offices nationwide, today.

In Washington state last week the state Supreme Court made a ruling on a medical malpractice case involving a dentist. One Mystie Michael had been to see dentist Dr. Betsy Mosquera-Lacy for dental work involving a bone graft. She requested that the dentist not use any cow bone, but only human bone for the graft. This was not for any health reasons, but just because she “could not fathom the thought of having animal parts in her body”, according to the court.

The dentist complied, beginning the procedure with human bone. But the graft required more human tissue than she had on hand, which led her to complete the graft using cow bone.

Some time later, Michael was admitted to hospital for a drug allergy unrelated to her dental work. At that time it was discovered that cow bone had been used in her graft.

She sued Mosquera-Lacy and her dental practice for medical battery, negligence and violations of the Consumer Protection Act. However, the Consumer Protection claims were thrown out of court. She settled the other claims with the dentist and then appealed on the Consumer Protection claims.

However, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled last week that Michael cannot bring those claims under the Consumer Protection Act because her case does not meet that law’s standards for unfair business practices.

• Cow bone is a standard graft material in dentistry
• The dentist was not in the business of selling cow or human bone and not advertising their use in her grafting techniques. She was simply practicing medicine and treating Michael.

So Michael’s case was dismissed.

Medical Malpractice Cases Typically Complex

Medical Malpractice can take a myriad forms and surgical mistakes are one form. In this case the court decided that no surgical mistakes were made and although Michael was unhappy with her dental graft, she did not have any further legal recourse.

All medical malpractice cases can be complex and long-drawn-out. Medical documents must be examined by experts before a case is taken on, to determine its validity. Insurance companies have teams of lawyers on retainer, available for any insurance defense to fight medical malpractice cases.

If you are wondering whether you have a valid medical malpractice claim, please do not try to make that determination on your own. You need an experienced attorney with access to medical experts and knowledge of the specifically relevant laws. We will be happy to give you a free case evaluation if you call or send an email to our personal injury law firm.

Traumatic brain injuries are caused when trauma to the head damages the brain. The effects of a traumatic brain injury can vary from mild to life-changing. Some of these effects include:

• Memory loss
  
• Headaches/Migraines
  
• Vision impairment
  
• Speech impairment
  
• Dizziness
  
• Nausea
  
• Confusion
  
• Numbness in your arms or legs
  
• Ringing in the ears
  

It is imperative that you seek immediate medical attention after suffering a trauma to your head. Traumatic brain injuries are often misdiagnosed because their symptoms resemble those of many other conditions. Also, the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can remain unnoticed until several days after the trauma. Accordingly, if you have suffered a head trauma, you may think you feel fine and you are okay, however you should seek medical attention anyway. A CT scan may need to be performed in order to properly assess whether a traumatic brain injury has been suffered.

Traumatic brain injuries are often suffered after car accidents, slip and falls, or any other incident that causes injury to the head. The brain is protected by our skull; however, when we suffer a trauma to the head, the brain may move inside the skull, colliding with the skull wall, and causing a traumatic brain injury.

If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, please contact the experienced traumatic brain injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm, which operates 27 offices nationwide, today.

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Tasers are a type of stun gun used by police since about 2000. Civilian models are also available and sold to women for self-protection. The police models use compressed nitrogen and fire darts which can penetrate up to one inch of clothing. They deliver an electric shock of 50,000 volts. They are designed to be used when a suspect resists arrest to the point where police must subdue him somehow to avoid injuries either to the suspect or the officers.

Over 70 wrongful death suits have been filed against Taser International Inc., the manufacturer of Tasers. Most of them have been decided for Taser. But in June, 2008, the company was ordered to pay a little over $1 million in damages to the family of a man who died after being hit by a Taser several times. Taser International was also ordered to pay $5.2 million in punitive damages even though the jury found the Taser to be only 15 percent responsible for the suspect’s death and the suspect 85 percent responsible.

Taser Controversy

Nationwide, over 70 deaths of people in custody have been blamed at least partly on Taser use. Much responsibility has also been assigned to each suspect’s pre-existing health conditions and drug abuse. When police make an arrest and the suspect resists, the officers have a choice of “takedown tactics”. They can use nightsticks or pepper spray, Tasers or guns. It depends on how strongly the suspect is resisting.

There have been several dozen Taser reviews and the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division conducted a year-long review in response to excessive-force complaints made against deputies. The Canadian Medical Association Journal published a review in May, 2008 that concluded Tasers could interfere with a person’s heart beat – contrary to the standard view that they only affected skeletal muscles. However, some of the data came from studies of pigs.

Medical Study of Taser Risks

On January 15, 2009, the Annals of Emergency Medicine released the results of a three-year study on connections between Taser use and subsequent health problems. The researchers reviewed 1,201 arrest cases where a suspect had been Taser-stunned during arrest. Of those, two had died:

• One had ingested a fatal amount of anti-psychotic medication
• The other was overweight, using cocaine, and had a pre-existing heart condition

Also among the 1,201 cases were three severe injuries involving two men who fell after being stunned and hit their head and a third man who sustained kidney and muscle damage. All three recovered. There were also 408 skin punctures.

Researchers found no links between Tasers and fatal heart attacks. However, these issues are not fully resolved. There can be heart problems long after the Taser use and more research needs to be done.

If you have been injured by another’s negligence you may have a valid civil case. Please call or email our personal injury law firm to schedule a free case evaluation.

The rear end collision is the most common type of auto accident. A frequent cause of these types of accidents is driver distraction. With cell phones, radios, gps navigation units, and other types of technology being found in more and more vehicles across the country, it is easy to understand how drivers become distracted.

Rear end collisions happen most often when a driver is distracted and does not realize the car in front of him is coming to a stop. Rear end collisions are usually minor, resulting in only slight injuries; however, they can be catastrophic, especially if you were traveling at a high rate of speed.

Cars do come equipped with bumpers, which cushion the effect of the collision in rear end accidents, however, defective bumpers and speed can make their affect negligible. In today's day and age we are seeing bumper systems that are designed more to protect the vehicle than the driver and passengers, so often there can be serious injuries sustained due to a rear end collision.

If you are obeying traffic laws and traveling at a safe rate of speed, you are not guaranteed to avoid an accident. You may be injured because the driver behind you was not paying attention and collides with your vehicle. Although in this situation you are not at fault, insurance companies are always difficult to deal with, and to ensure you receive the compensation you are entitled to, it is always best to seek the advice of an experienced attorney before speaking to any insurance adjustors.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a rear end collision accident, please contact the experienced automobile accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm, operating numerous offices nationwide, today.