Massachusetts Personal Injury Blog

Information Regarding the Ving Rhames Dog Attack Case

Kudos to the Boston Injury Lawyer Blog for this post on recent developments on the tragic dog mauling death that occurred last week on actor Ving Rhames' property.  Here is part of the post:

Police have identified the man who was mauled by dogs on the Brentwood property owned by movie star Ving Rhames as Jacob Adams. Adams lived on the property and had been employed to take care of the actor’s dogs.

Medical examiners are still trying to determine whether Adams died as a result of the numerous dog bites he sustained during the attack or from heart failure during the attack.

Animal services have confiscated an English bulldog and three bull mastiffs that were living on Rhames’ property.

$13M Verdict Handed Down Today in Suffolk County

Today a Suffolk County jury awarded a man $13M for serious personal injuries he sustained after being struck by a motor vehicle.  The case name is William T. Dodge v. Arda Tezel.  With interest, the verdict comes to approximately $16M.  The plaintiff was however assessed 1% comparative negligence by the jury.  I will provide more information on this case as it becomes available. 

Important New Massachusetts Snow and Ice Decision

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently decided the case of O'Brien v. Leahy Landscaping.  In that case, the plaintiff, O'Brien, sustained a fractured wrist after slipping and falling due to snow and ice that had remained on the Defendant's premises for five days following a snow storm.  As you may know from reading this blog, the only way to create liability in Massachusetts snow and ice cases is to show the accident was caused by an 'unnatural' accumulation of ice and snow.  Many times, this is difficult, if not impossible to show.

O'Brien's lawyer successfully argued that the snow and ice had been converted to an 'unnatural' accumulation by the landowner's failure to clear it within a reasonable period of time.  This case is significant because it expands the definition of what constitutes an 'unnatural' accumulation of ice and snow in Massachusetts.  That means those injured in snow and ice accidents now have an added way in which to create liability on the part of a landowner.

Massachusetts High Court Rules Against Big Tobacco

The following is provided courtesy of Massachusetts Law Updates:

In the case of Haglund v. Phillip Morris, the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday ruled that the fact that a smoker knew that cigarettes were dangerous but smoked anyway does not constitute an "unreasonable" use of the product under Correia v. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., 388 Mass. 342 (1983) and thus cannot serve as a defense for the tobacco company. The opinion says, in part, "the Correia defense presumes that the product at issue is, in normal circumstances, reasonably safe and capable of being reasonably safely used, and therefore that the consumer's unreasonable use of the product he knows to be defective and dangerous is appropriately penalized. Here, however, both Philip Morris and the plaintiff agree that cigarette smoking is inherently dangerous and that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette. Because no cigarette can be safely used for its ordinary purpose, smoking, there can be no nonunreasonable use of cigarettes. Thus the Correia defense, which serves to deter unreasonable use of products in a dangerous and defective state, will, in the usual course, be inapplicable."

Estate of Texas Woman Sues Salon for Death By Pedicure

This is a rather unusual case.  A Texas woman died after she allegedly developed a staff infection following a pedicure she received at a salon.  The woman died of a heart attack which her estate claims was caused by the staff infection.  The estate in suing the salon for wrongful death.

This is a case which highlights the difficulty in establishing causation in certain personal injury cases.  In my mind, establishing causation will be very difficult in this case.   Here is an excerpt of the story provided courtesy of the  Associated Press:

AP) - FORT WORTH, Texas-Kimberly Kay Jackson loved getting pedicures each month, especially with bright pink nail polish, although as a paraplegic she couldn't feel the massages and bubbling water on her feet.

But after her heel was cut with a pumice stone during a July pedicure, she developed an oozing wound that wouldn't heal despite repeated rounds of antibiotics, relatives said. The 46-year-old died in February of a heart attack triggered by a staph infection, said the family's attorney, Steven C. Laird.

Now, her three teenage children are suing Angel Nails and its owner for unspecified damages. The lawsuit, filed last week, claims the Fort Worth salon did not follow state regulations for disinfecting the whirlpool and instruments.

Angel Nails is being investigated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which started overseeing nail salons in September after the Texas Cosmetology Commission dissolved, said department spokesman Patrick Schaughnessy.

Strange Case of Medical Malpractice

I found this over at injuryboard.com which highlights a unique case of medical malpractice, and the problems faced when a doctor does not have medical malpractice insurance:

A Hawaii jury has awarded damages of nearly $5.6 million in a lawsuit against a surgeon who placed a piece of a screwdriver in the patient's back.

Two hours into the surgery the doctor discovered that the titanium rods to be placed in the patient's back were missing and he improvised a new rod by cutting the shaft of a stainless steel medical screwdriver. He did this despite the fact that a representative of the medical supply company said another set of titanium rods could be at the hospital in 90 minutes. A week later the piece of screwdriver broke requiring another operation. Further surgery was required and the patient later died from complications.

The defendant physician, Robert Ricketson, did not carry malpractice insurance and served as his own attorney. Dr. Ricketson is expected not to practice further in Hawaii, because under Hawaiilaw his earnings would go towards paying his share of the damages awarded for the death of his patient.

An Egregious Example of Possible Medical Malpractice

Many people think medical malpractice liability only applies to doctors.  Actually, medical malpractice liability applies to EMT's, to doctors, and nearly everyone in between in the medical field.  Here is an ignominious example of possible medical malpractice committed by a nurse, as provided by the Associated Press:

U.S. hospital: Unsterilized instruments may have exposed patients to HIV

(AP) - SAN DIEGO-A hospital nurse who failed to clean surgical instruments may have exposed nearly 300 patients to hepatitis or HIV, officials have said.

Officials at Scripps Memorial Hospital said Wednesday the patients, who all underwent stomach-reduction surgery, had a "very low" risk of infection because the tools had undergone preliminary washes and rinses, although they were not sterilized with chemicals.

The nurse, whose name was not released, knowingly violated operating room procedures when she failed to fully clean a gastroscope, which is used to retrieve other surgical instruments from the stomach, said Scripps spokesman Don Stanziano.

The nurse worked at the hospital from September 2004 until last month, when she resigned after hospital officials confronted her.

"This employee was aware of the procedures and chose not to follow them, which is something we do not tolerate," Stanziano said.

State health officials are investigating the case.

Tags: nurses and medical malpractice

Personal Injury and Bed Bugs?

Here is a rather interesting post from The Total Injury Blog about a recent case out of Illinois where a woman sustained personal injuries due to alleged bed bug bites:

"A Chicago couple has filed a $20 million law suit against a Catskills resort where the woman sustained nearly 500 bed bug bites. Although bed bug bites are usually fairly harmless, the woman apparently suffered an allergic reaction that required medical treatment.

In at least one previous case, a hotel has been ordered to pay large punitive damages to a guest bitten by bed bugs. In a 2003 case, the plaintiff was awarded $5000 in compensatory damages for bed bug bites that were annoying but not harmful, and an additional $186,000 in punitive damages.

The court in that case considered the fact that, in the absence of a large punitive damage award, it might be profitable for the hotel to deceive customers rather than addressing the bed bug problem."

Woman Receives $1.2 Million Dollar Verdict for False Arrest

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer yesterday reported on a Columbus, Ohio woman who received a jury verdict against a department store stemming from an unlawful arrest.  The woman, Patricia Gail Jackson, on May 21, 2003 purchased a pair of shorts at the store.  After leaving the store and while approaching her car, two plain-clothes security officers employed by the store told her she had just been caught shoplifting.  The woman tried to show the two officers her receipt of the purchase but the men would not look at the receipt and insisted she come back into the store.

At this time the woman told the men she wanted to call the police, but the men took her phone away from her and placed her in handcuffs.  The woman was then brought to a detention room in the store.  Eventually, the security guards, after verifying the woman's purchase, released her from custody and allowed her to leave the store.

Unlike auto accidents, slips and falls, and other accidents where negligence is involved, this case demonstrates what is often referred to as "intentional torts."  Intentional torts include civil assault, battery, and false imprisonment.  These three intentional torts were at play in this case.  This case sent a message to department stores, as well as other stores, that they will be financially punished if they do not respect the rights of their customers.

Miss. Diocese Pays Out 5.1 Million to Settle Sex Abuse Allegations

A Mississippi diocese by way of settlement has agreed to pay 19 victims 5.1 million who claimed to have been sexually molested by priests in the diocese.  Some of the claims that were settled dated back to allegations of molestation from the 1960's.  Please click here for the full article.