Massachusetts Personal Injury Blog

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice happens everyday in Massachusetts.  The legal test of medical malpractice in Massachusetts is whether the the medical treatment, or lack thereof, deviated from the standard of care of the average qualified professional.  Medical malpractice is not limited to doctors; everyone from EMT's all the way up to the most prolific surgeons face medical malpractice liability.

It is important to know that there is generally a three (3) year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Massachusetts, although there are exceptions to this rule.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the various types of medical malpractice scenarios:

- Improper diagnosis;

- Failure to diagnose;

- Medication errors;

- Surgical errors;

- Medical instruments, sponges, needles and other foreign objects left in the body;

- Birth defects;

- Failure to advise of diagnosis;

- Lack of informed consent;

- Improper drug prescription;

- Failure to inform patient of available treatments;

Tags: medical malpractice information and Massachusetts medical malpractice

Massachusetts Third-Party Negligence and Workers' Compensation

Many people in Massachusetts are injured at work.  When that happens, a workers' compensation claim is made.  But sometimes, there exists the possibility of bringing a third-party claim for negligence if someone other than your employer caused your injuries.  This often happens when you are out driving, for work-related purposes, and someone injures you in a Massachusetts car accident.  In that instance, you have both a workers' compensation claim, and a possible third-party negligence claim against the driver(s) who caused the car accident.

I received a call this week from a client who slipped and fell where she worked.  The slip and fall accident was caused by a third-party who was responsible for cleaning the floors where the client worked.  She already had a workers' compensation claim filed, but she had no idea she could sue the third-party that caused her injury.  She suffered a seriously fractured wrist, and she had no idea she could sue the third-party for negligence.

The lesson here:  if you have been injured at work, you may have a valid Massachusetts workers' compensation claim.  But remember, you may also have a negligence claim is someone other than your employer caused your injuries.

I invite you as always to contact me with any Massachusetts personal injury questions you may have.

Tags: third-party negligence and Massachusetts auto accident

Massachusetts Pedestrian Accidents

Massachusetts pedestrian accidents can cause very serious injuries to victims of such accidents.  Injuries can include damage to soft tissue, fractures, disfigurement, significant head trauma, and even death.  A pedestrian crossing a street is a common fact pattern that gives rise to pedestrian accidents.  Due to the high number of pedestrians in Boston, and the odd and antiquated configurations of Boston streets, pedestrians are commonly struck by motor vehicles here.  Many Boston pedestrian accidents occur when drivers fail to yield the right-of-way. 

Children are especially vulnerable to pedestrian accidents because they often are  inattentive, depending on their age, when they are crossing a street.  I urge all pedestrians to exercise great caution while walking in Boston as well as in the other cities and towns of Massachusetts.

Tags: pedestrian and Massachusetts

Massachusetts Dog Bites

With the high prevalence of dog bites in Massachusetts, it is important for you to know how best to prevent dog bites and dog attacks.  This is a chilling fact:  the majority of dog bite cases involve children.  I found the following on wcco.com which does a good job of telling you how to avoid a Massachusetts dog bite.

Herniated Discs and Personal Injuries

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Herniated discs are a common injury I see in my personal injury practice.  They can occur from a multitude of accidents, most notably, from car accidents and slip and falls.  Many Massachusetts personal injury victims therefore suffer from herniated discs.  If you have ever suffered from a herniated disc, it is important for you to know what it is.  This explanation of what a herniated disc is was provided by spine on line:

Herniated discs are often referred to as "slipped discs". This term derived from the action of the nucleus tissue when it is forced from the center of the disc. The disc itself does not slip. However, the nucleus tissues located in the center of the disc can be placed under so much pressure that it can cause the annulus to herniate or rupture against one or more of the spinal nerves which can cause pain, numbness, or weakness in the low back. leg or foot.

Massachusetts Personal Injuries From Intentional Acts

Most Massachusetts personal injury claims are based on negligence.  For example, if you have been involved in a Massachusetts car accident, the driver who caused your injuries may be found to be negligent.  Or, if you have a Massachusetts slip and fall claim, the property owner may be found liable based on negligence principles.  Both of these examples have one thing in common: they are based on and arise from negligent or "unreasonable" conduct.

But you can also have a Massachusetts personal injury claim if someone intentionally injures you.  For example, (and this is based on a real case) if you are in a taxi cab and the driver turns around and punches you and injures you, you can sue him for personal injuries.  His conduct was intentional.  You can sue him for all damages that his intentional act caused to you.  Therefore, be aware that it is not only negligent or unreasonably conduct that can form the basis of a Massachusetts personal injury case.

I invite you to contact me with any Massachusetts personal injury questions you may have.

Medical Malpractice Claims from Surgical Errors (oops!)

USA Today reports on a disturbing trend in the medical field.  Apparently - and this has been going on for a long time - surgeons are operating on parts of the body that are perfectly healthy, instead of operating on those parts of the body that are in need of surgery.  Example, removing a perfectly good arm or operating on the wrong lung.  Now that is bad.  But, surgeons are people just like you and I.  But, notwithstanding that, that is why we have medical malpractice law to see to it that doctors and medical personnel perform their job "reasonably."

Here is an excerpt from the article provided by USA Today:

"Last year, health care facilities reported 84 operations to the commission that involved the wrong body part or the wrong patient. While some states require hospitals to report such blunders, many hospitals across the nation are not obligated to account for them publicly.

A new study documents cases in which surgeons operated on the wrong arm, the wrong rib and in one case the wrong person, among other mistakes.

The study of 2.8 million operations over a 20-year period, published in today's Archives of Surgery, suggests that the rate of "wrong site" surgery anywhere other than the spine is 1 in every 112,994 operations. The study excludes the spine, the authors explain, because surgical sites on the spine are verified with X-rays, in contrast to the apparent simplicity of marking the correct knee or ear in advance.

The study, funded by the federal Agency for health care Research and Quality, concludes that the rate is "exceedingly rare" but "unacceptable.""

Massachusetts Emotional Distress Personal Injuries

Emotional distress is a type of injury within Massachusetts personal injury law.  Sometimes the emotional distress claim is brought by someone who was injured in a Massachusetts personal injury accident and suffered not only physical injuries, but emotional distress injuries after the accident.  Or, sometimes Massachusetts emotional distress claims are brought by a parent who, for example, witnesses his/her son get hurt in a Massachusetts accident.  These claims are based on a bystander theory of liability.

There are two kinds of Massachusetts emotional distress claims.  Intentional and negligent.  For both, it is necessary to show a high level of distress in order to recover on the claim.  The conduct of the wrongdoer has to "shock the conscience" of a sensible person.  This is a difficult and high standard to meet. 

In order to recover on a Massachusetts emotional distress claim, it usually helps if you have gone to see a therapist or other qualified professional.  Medical treatment sought and received after the event you claimed caused you the distress can make your Massachusetts emotional distress claim more buoyant.

I invite you to contact me if you think you have experienced emotional distress as a result of a person's intentional or negligent conduct.

Common Causes of Massachusetts Trucking Accidents

Trucking accidents that occur on Massachusetts roadways usually cause very serious and permanent personal injuries, and even death.  Massachusetts truck accidents can be legally complex in terms of determining the cause of the accident, and who was at fault for the accident.  Although there are many causes of truck accidents, here are few that you should be aware of, which I found on the web site of Munley, Munley & Cartwright:

• Aggressive drivers
• Unrealistic schedules
• Failure to inspect tires, brakes and lights
• Tailgating
• Long work-shifts
• Driver fatigue
• Cell phone use
• Failure to install blind spot mirrors
• Jackknifing
• Speeding and ignoring reduced truck speed limits

What Causes Most Car Accidents?

Massachusetts car accidents happen unfortunately each and every day with alarming frequency.  It is therefore imperative for Massachusetts motorists to use caution and prudence when operating a motor vehicle.  I think it is important for people to know some of the common, and less obvious, causes of most car accidents.

To that end I provide the following courtesy of the The Washington Post:

• While cell phones have recently sprung up as a common cause of car accidents, a study, the largest to date on crashes involving distracted drivers, found that rubbernecking causes far more accidents than cell phone use.
• The largest number of accidents was caused by drivers looking at other accidents, traffic or roadside incidents. Comparatively, cell phone use ranked as the sixth highest cause. The study included data on more than 2,700 accidents involving distracted drivers between June and November 2002.
• Moreover, some 98 percent of the accidents reported involved a single distracted driver.
• According to the study, rubbernecking accounted for 16 percent of accidents reported. This was followed by driver fatigue, which was responsible for 12 percent, looking at scenery or landmarks (10 percent), passenger or child distractions (nine percent), adjusting the radio, tape or CD player (seven percent), and cell phone use (five percent).
• Distractions from inside the vehicle accounted for 62 percent of the distractions reported while distractions from outside the vehicle accounted for 35 percent, and three percent of the distractions were undetermined.
• Of the crashes that occurred in rural areas, nearly two-thirds of the crashes reported, common causes included driver fatigue, insects entering or striking the vehicle, or animals and unrestrained pet distractions.
• In urban areas, automobile accidents caused by distracted drivers were often due to drivers looking at other crashes, traffic or vehicles, or cell phone use.

Information About Fatal Bicycle Accidents

Many bicyclists each and every year are injured on Massachusetts roadways.  In fact, many bicycle accidents in Massachusetts cause fatal injuries.  And the number of fatal injuries stemming from Massachusetts bicycle accidents is staggering.  I found the following on Wrong Diagnosis which provides some chilling statistics about fatal bicycle accidents:

Cyclist deaths: Related Death Statistics

• Males represented 88% of all bicycle fatalities in the US 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, 2003)
• Females represented 12% of all bicycle fatalities in the US 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, 2003)
• Over 20% of cyclists who died in traffic accidents were aged 5-15 years in the US 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, 2003)
• Cyclists represented nearly 1% of all traffic deaths in the US 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, 2003)
• 40% (17,013) of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related in the US 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, 2003).

I exhort you to wear a helmet and to use caution when you are operating a bicycle on the roadways of Massachusetts.

Neck and Back Strains/Sprains Following a Massachusetts Accident

Many, if not most of my clients who have been injured in a Massachusetts accident suffer from neck and back stains/sprains.  This is especially true in auto accident victims.  Almost all insurance companies will tell you that neck and back strains/sprains are not serious injuries.  That is rubbish!  In fact, strains and sprains, depending on their severity, what caused them, and where on the body they are, can be very painful and debilitating.  The more you know about strains and sprains, the better you can negotiate your personal injury claim with the relevant insurance adjuster.  But more importantly, the more you know about these injuries can greatly assist you in selecting the proper treatment, and helping you manage these injuries.

I found the following on the web site of Dr. Bradley Wolff, a chiropractor in Palm Springs, California:

• Strains - I think we all have a pretty good idea about this one - an overexerted muscle or tendon that might even have some tearing (of the muscle and/or tendon) as well. We have all had them before and we know from experience that they're usually a lot better after about three days of rest.
  
  Sprains are a totally different animal. With a sprain, a joint is affected and it isn't pretty. The tissue that surrounds the joint - the joint capsule - may be damaged, maybe even the joint cartilage, but ligaments are always damaged in a sprain. Ligaments are the tough fibers that connect bone to bone; holding it all together. Ligaments are strong, but they don't like to stretch and they hate to be torn. Sprains differ from strains too because they heal slower, and often require a second and just as important phase of treatment: rehabilitation to restore and prevent problems down the road. FYI: The vertebrae that make up your spine have discs, sure, but when you hurt your back, you almost always sprain one of the joints that connect between back bones.