Children's Injuries

May 16, 2014

Bounce House Flies Twenty Feet, Injures Three Children

Two boys, ages 6 and 5, and a girl, age 10, sustained fall accident injuries this week when an inflatable bounce house became detached from its plastic anchor stakes and went soaring into the air. The girl fell out soon after the Little Tikes playhouse lifted off the ground, sustaining minor injuries. The boys did not tumble out until the 38-pound toy had reached a height of about fifteen feet.

One boy, who landed on a parked car before striking his head on the pavement, is still in a medically induced coma. The younger boy, sustained broken arms, a broken jaw, and other injuries.

This is not the only inflatable house to go soaring. In 2011, reports USA Today, four kids were hurt when a bounce house was carried away by the wind and landed on a roof. Also that year, a bounce house transported its child occupants across three traffic lanes.

May 7, 2014

Former Student Files Massachusetts Sex Abuse Case, Says Teacher Gave Him Pain Pills For Favors

by Altman & Altman

A 23-year-old man is suing his former Spanish teacher for Massachusetts sexual abuse. The plaintiff, identified only as “John Doe,” says that Emily Parks, who used to be the principal at Westwood High School, and the school committee failed to protect him from Ashworth’s sexual advances.

According to the Massachusetts personal injury case, Ashworth, who is from Needham, became Doe’s Spanish teacher when he was a sophomore. Because he has a debilitating skin disorder, Doe was a special education student and often used a wheelchair.

He claims that Ashworth “groomed” him for the abuse by paying extra attention to him and giving him a higher grade. She became his study adviser and spent time with him outside class.

April 14, 2014

Lawsuits Continue Over Two Amusement Park Deaths

by Altman & Altman

At amusement parks, screaming is commonplace- even encouraged. Eventually those screams turn to laughter and excitement as patrons of all ages gather up the courage to board the tallest, most extreme rides they can handle. Amusement parks, as the name suggests, are meant to be a place of total enjoyment, free of any stress except that very brief moment of pure panic as you sit at the top of the highest roller coaster, staring down at the ground far below.

When an accident occurs at a theme park, happiness quickly turns to tragedy. Eleven-year-old Abiah Jones’ parents watched her leave for a school trip with her classmates one spring morning, unaware that would be the last time they would see their beloved child alive. She climbed into a car on the Giant Wheel at Morey’s Pier in New Jersey as it made its way around to the top. Abiah somehow fell from the top of the ride and did not survive.

Her parents were understandably devastated. They filed a lawsuit against Morey’s Pier, Inc. However, for unknown reasons, the family filed in the State of Pennsylvania. A three-judge appellate court ruled recently that the while the case is valid, it must be tried in the State of New Jersey, where the accident occurred.
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April 1, 2014

Settlement Reached in MA Child’s Escalator Death

by Altman & Altman

A normal day at the Auburn Mall in March of 2011 turned into a scene that will play over and over in the minds of Mark DiBona’s parents for many years. Four-year-old Mark was riding the escalator in Sears when he slipped through a space between the railing and the escalator and fell 18 feet on to the top of a displace case on a lower floor. The young boy sustained serious head injuries and passed away the next day.

The DiBona family was devastated by the loss and filed suit against Sears, Simon Property Group Inc., Schindler Elevator Corp. and Botany Bay Construction, according to CBS Boston. According to their lawyer, the family finds all four companies were negligent and were responsible for the death and suffering of their beloved little boy. The family claimed the escalator was in “dangerous and defective” condition and was in “violation of state building codes, escalator safety standards and the industry standards established by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (CBS Boston).”
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March 30, 2014

CPSC Reports That Liquid Laundry Packets Continue to Be a Child Injury and Poisoning Risk

by Altman & Altman

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it has received about 1,230 reports of kids accidentally sustaining injury because of liquid laundry packets-a dramatic increase from the approximately 500 incidents involving kids and adult victims that it reported at the end of 2012. Meantime, the Poison Help Line says that the number of related reports is even higher at almost 17,500.

At Altman & Altman, LLP, please contact our Boston products liability lawyers if your son or daughter was injured because of a liquid laundry packet or any other type of product. Our Massachusetts child injury law firm handles claims and lawsuits against companies and other parties that may have been responsible in causing the harmful accident.

While efficient for doing laundry, single-load liquid laundry packets have proven to be highly toxic. One 7-month-old baby reportedly died from swallowing one of them. One of the reasons they are such an injury risk to kids is that they are small enough to insert in the mouth, soft and squishy to the touch, and tend to come in bright colors that attract the attention of young kids who might think the product is a toy or candy.

March 25, 2014

Crucial Time in Massachusetts for Carbon Monoxide Safety

by Altman & Altman

It was a bitterly cold January night when firefighters responded to a report of an unconscious 7-year-old girl after the furnace vents in her family’s Plymouth home had been blocked by snow from a recent storm. Nicole Garofalo later died from carbon monoxide poisoning in her own home. Carbon monoxide, often referred to as the “Invisible Killer,” has claimed thousands of lives due to its odorless, colorless, and poisonous qualities. After this particularly terrible event, “Nicole’s Law” was enacted in her honor to require carbon monoxide detectors in homes and businesses in Massachusetts by March of 2006. Eight years later, residents in Massachusetts are reaching a crucial point. According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, carbon monoxide detectors must be replaced every 5-7 years, making alarms installed as a result of the law in dire need of replacement.

According to CBS Boston, “It has been about seven years since the law went into effect, so there could be countless CO detectors that are at the end of their life. The devices are supposed to make a chirping sound to let you know they are no longer working, but there are no guarantees.” In collaboration with fire officials, the local CBS affiliate in Chicago performed an extensive test on several models of carbon monoxide alarms.
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February 22, 2014

8-Year-Old Killed in Gardner, MA Injury Accident Involving a Falling TV Set at an Elementary School

by Altman & Altman

Colby O’Brien, 8, died earlier this month after he was struck by a television set that fell on him. O’Brien and his twin sister were watching Toy Story 2 during an afterschool program at Elm Street Elementary School in Gardner when the tragedy happened.

An investigation is pending to determine exactly what happened to cause the Massachusetts falling objects accident. However, one parent whose child attends the school said that the TV sets used at the school are typically the “big, old fashioned boxy” type and they are usually placed on metal carts.

Witnesses who were there when the Gardner injury accident happened at the school said that they didn’t see the television fall on O’Brien. After hearing a bang, they turned to find the boy on the floor with the TV on him.

January 18, 2014

Clergy Sex Abuse: Pope Benedict Defrocked Almost 400 Priests in Two Years

by Altman & Altman

The Associated Press says it obtained a document revealing that Pope Benedict XVI defrocked close to 400 priests during 2011 and 2012 for sexually abusing children. The information comes from data the Vatican has been gathering to assist the Holy See’s defense before The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child this week.

Speaking before the panel, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, who once served as the sex crimes prosecutor of the Vatican, said that the Holy See now understands that certain changes need to be made in the handling of clergy sex abuse cases. Last year, Pope Francis made the recommendation that the church take decisive action by speaking out about the protection of minors, taking the guilty to task, and helping the victims.

Please contact Altman & Altman, LLP if you believe your child was a victim of Massachusetts clergy sexual abuse and you would like to explore legal options. We also represent adults who were the victims of Boston sexual abuse as children.

January 14, 2014

Two Franklin, MA Children Suffer Fatal Entrapment, Suffocation in Hope Chest

by Altman & Altman

Two siblings died on Sunday after they became entrapped in an old hope chest. Lexi Munroe, 8, and Sean Munroe, 7, were pronounced dead at the hospital. Police say that the Franklin, MA entrapment incident appears to be accidental. Autopsy reports are pending.

The family had purchased chest secondhand over 10 years ago. Lane Furniture, a company that has recalled millions of hope chest over the years due to safety concerns, made the hope chest. Heritage Home Group now owns Lane Furniture.

According to the Associated Press, there were multiple relatives, including an adult, in the home when the Franklin, MA suffocation accident happened. The chest was located next to a TV that had its volume turned up.

January 9, 2014

Waltham Woman Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Massachusetts DCF Over Toddler’s Fatal Abuse

by Altman & Altman

Andrea Rizzitano is suing the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families for the wrongful death of her great-nephew. In her lawsuit, the Waltham woman says the state agency failed to protect Kadyn, 13 months, from his mother, who later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the boy.

Autopsy results indicate that the child died from blunt-force trauma. He also suffered from contusions of the liver, stomach, and colon, as well as internal bleeding.

Rizzitano claims that the DCF repeatedly disregarded warnings that Kadyn’s mother, Christina Hancock, was neglecting and abusing the child. Just two months before his death the boy was admitted to the ER wit a broken arm. A doctor even filed a 51A complaint alleging abuse. While the child was temporarily removed from his home, he was eventually returned to his mother.