A 22-year-old driver has been charged in the Worcester, Massachusetts car crash that left two people dead. A prosecutor says that Robert J. Curran was allegedly driving at 80-100 mph at around 2am when he struck the vehicle transporting 19-year-old Joel Rodriguez and 18-year-old Andres Guzman. Also injured in the Massachusetts car accident was 19-year-old Jesus Molina, who was riding in the car with Guzman and Rodriguez.

Curran, a Grafton resident, is accused of then stopping at the Worcester County traffic accident site but then leaving. He faces charges involving negligent driving, motor vehicle homicide, leaving the scene of an accident where there has been a fatality, personal injury, and property damage, speeding, and operating a vehicle while having a suspended license.

Curran, who is hospitalized at UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus over his injuries, has pleaded guilty to all the charges. He reportedly left the Worcester motor vehicle accident site after paramedics arrived. He then went to a Webster hospital where he told staff that he was hurt during a brawl at a bar.

Motorists are not supposed to leave a Massachusetts car accident. This means that they cannot stop momentarily and then take off-especially if anyone else involved in the crash got hurt or died.

If you or someone you loved was injured in a traffic accident that was caused by another party, you should speak with a Boston injury lawyer right away. Massachusetts motor vehicle accidents can cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, organ damage, disfigurement, back and neck injuries, and wrongful death.

You may be entitled to Boston personal injury compensation for medical bills, lost wages, property damage, funeral costs, burial expenses, and other damages.

Driver in double fatality is held on $20,000 bail, Telegram.com, October 11, 2011

Related Web Resources:

Car accidents, Nolo
Speeding, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
MASSDOT

More Blog Posts:
Can Cell Phone Addiction Cause Boston Car Accidents?, Boston Injury Lawyer, August 27, 2011
Driver in Head-On Collision Pleads Guilty to Driving to Endanger, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, September 28, 2011
Foxboro Man Seriously Injured in Rollover Accident, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, August 10, 2011 Continue reading

A jury has awarded 22-year-old Christopher Trejo $48.1 million in his products liability lawsuit against McKesson Corp., McNeil Consumer Healthcare, and Johnson & Johnson. Trejo claimed he developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolosysis as a teenager after taking Motrin for his fever in 2005.

Soon after, skin developed lesions and blisters and he was treated for injuries similar to second-degree burns. His vision and internal organs also became damaged.

In 2008, Trejo filed a dangerous drug lawsuit accusing the defendants of negligence, design negligence, and failure to warn about certain complications. Motrin finally included warnings on its label that rashes, blistering, and reddened skin were possible risks in 2006-a year after Trejo took the pain reliever.

Trejo is not the only one to suffer severe injuries from taking Motrin. Earlier this year, a jury awarded Brianna Maya’s family $10 million in their dangerous drug lawsuit against J & J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

The 13-year-old was just 3 when she took alternating doses of Children’s Tylenol and Children’s Motrin to help quell her fever. Soon after, she developed burns and blisters inside and outside her body, became blind in one eye, and was treated for burn injuries. Doctors determined that her symptoms were a reaction to taking Children’s Motrin.

When rendering its Motrin lawsuit verdict, the jury found that the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary did not properly warn consumers about the possible risk of developing SJS and TEN. In the wake of developing both illnesses, Brianna has had to undergo recurring eye surgeries, suffers from periodic lung and eye infections, and now experience seizures. She also won’t ever be able to experience normal sexual relations or have kids.

It is imperative that drug manufacturers warn of serious health complications that can result from taking any kind of medication, whether over-the-counter or prescription. While the prescription version of Motrin has always included references to TEN and SJS and potentially fatal reactions, the nonprescription version, which is the one that both Trejo and Maya took, did not specifically mention either condition by name.

Man awarded $48 million in Motrin illness case, Contra Costa Times, October 3, 2011
Motrin Lawsuit: Jury Awards Girl $10 Million for Burns and Blindness, ABCNews, June 3, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Motrin

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome , Mayo Clinic

More Blog Posts:

Boston Personal Injury Lawsuit Blames Prenatal Exposure to DES for Breast Cancer, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 29, 2011
Boston, Massachusetts Accutane Lawsuits Blame Acne Drug for Severe Intestinal Problems, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 2, 2011
Propecia Lawsuits: Plaintiffs Claim Hair Loss Drug May Cause Permanent Impotence, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 6, 2011 Continue reading

In Middlesex County Superior Court, a jury awarded a boiler repairman $7.7 million for his Boston burn injuries that he sustained while on the job. The defendant in the case was the Falmouth condominium complex where the victim had been doing work on an industrial water heater.

The worker sustained burns to 50% of his body in November 2008 when the heater, which was supposed to be depressurized and empty, emanated steam and very hot water. The repairman was treated at a burn unit for a few weeks and he had to undergo four skin graft procedures. He also developed PTSD because of the work accident and was not able to go back to work.

According to the Boston personal injury complaint, the boiler had been inadequately maintained. The heater tank’s gauges indicated to him, as had the condo manager, that was empty, the pressure had been released, and it was ready to be repaired.

The condo complex had tried to settle the Falmouth personal injury lawsuit for $200,000.

Work Injuries
You may not be able to pursue damages from your employer for injuries sustained on the job, but third parties that played a role in causing your work accident can be held responsible for your Boston personal injury. In addition to receiving Boston workers’ compensation benefits from your employer, you may also be entitled to civil damages. There is no reason why you shouldn’t receive both.

It is important that you file your Massachusetts workers’ compensation claim right away so that you can start receiving benefits as soon as possible. You can also start working with a lawyer right away to start exploring other legal options.

The outcome of this Massachusetts injury case is an example of why you shouldn’t settle right away because you may be entitled to receive so much more for the harm that you suffered.

Workers’ Compensation, Massachusetts
The International Society for Burn Injuries


More Blog Posts:

Family that Obtained Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Over 2005 Plum Island Construction Accident Wants Newburyport Wrongful Death and Injury Recovery, Boston Injury Lawyer, April 11, 2011
Salem Construction Accident at Massachusetts Courthouse Last Summer Caused by Wrong Screw, Boston Injury Lawyer, January 19, 2011
Repairman Loses Consciousness 14 Feet Underground in Septic Pump Chamber, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer, October 5, 2011 Continue reading

In Salem Superior Court, a Massachusetts injuries to minors lawsuit has been filed against Ameriken Caring Services on behalf of one girl and three boys. The children are ages 9 and 10. According to the complaint, the Revere van company did not protect the kids from being physically assaulted and sexually molested by a van monitor.

The Peabody School Department had hired the van company to transport the kids to a summer program. The kids were allegedly molested on several occasions in July. Incidents involved inappropriate and painful touching and physical abuse.

According to the victims’ Marblehead personal injury lawyer, the children were scared to tell their parents about the abuse because they knew they would see the bus monitor the next day. The Salem, Massachusetts sex abuse complaint is alleging negligent supervision, hiring, and retention.

Massachusetts Sex Abuse
Unfortunately, sex abuse can happen to a child while under the supervision of another party. Even if that party didn’t actually molest your son/daughter, if he/she/the entity allowed your child to suffer any kind of harm, you may be have grounds for a Salem injuries to a minor lawsuit.

Child sex abuse can cause serious trauma to a child. Many of the injuries are invisible but can wreak havoc on the victim’s life.

In Massachusetts, the statute of limitations for filing a Boston child sex abuse action is within three years of the alleged acts or within three years of the victim discovering or reasonably discovering there was psychological or emotional trauma caused by the alleged abuse. However, the time limit for this action has to be told for a child until he/she turns 18.

Revere van company sued over alleged assaults, AP/Boston.com, September 14, 2011
General Laws, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Related Web Resources:

Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Warning Signs, Stop it Now

More Blog Posts:

Cape Cod Sex Abuse: Woman Sues Camp Attended by US Senator Scott Brown, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 18, 2011
Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2011
Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse of Child Patients, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February , 2011 Continue reading

A Reading, Massachusetts is the latest plaintiff of a Boston personal injury lawsuit seeking damages from drug manufacturers, including ex-DES drur makers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, for her breast cancer. Barbara Bradlee believes she developed breast cancer because she was exposed to the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) while her mom was still pregnant with her. DES, an estrogen medication, used to prescribed to pregnant moms a few decades ago because it was thought the drug would stop miscarriages.

Studies eventually showed, however, that DES was not effective and could cause cancer and reproductive tract defects in females who were exposed to them while they were still in their mothers’ wombs. Bradlee, 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago.

While the drug manufacturers are continuing to maintain that the link between breast cancer and DES is not definitive, a study conducted by Julie Palmer, who is a Boston University epidemiologist, found that the the risk of breast cancer in women over 40 who experienced prenatal exposure to DES is double that of the average woman. Palmer, however, did tell the Boston Globe that the risk of breast cancer from prenatal DES exposure is not high and this connection has not been confirmed.

That said, considering that the risk of a female who wasn’t exposed to DES for developing cancer is one out of eight and it is one out of four for women who experienced prenatal DES exposure is 1 in 4-that’s a 25% cancer risk. According to the American Cancer Society, about 5 to 10 million people were exposed to DES, including pregnant moms and their babies.

DES exposure has also been linked to vaginal adenocarcinoma. Some studies report that a DES daughter’s risk of developing this rare type of cancer is 40 times more than that of the average female women. Approximately 1 out of a thousand women under age 30 who were exposed to the drug in this manner will develop these cancer tumors.

Dangerous Drugs
Unfortunately, there are dangerous medications that can cause serious harm to the fetus. This can result in serious birth defects and other injuries and health complications after delivery. Drug manufacturers must be held liable for Massachusetts products liability if their medications caused these types of injuries-especially as many others wouldn’t have taken these medications if they’d known the possible health complications they could be creating for their children.

Possible breast cancer link to DES exposure spurs Boston lawsuit, Boston.com, September 28, 2011
Prenatal diethylstilbestrol exposure and risk of breast cancer, PubMed.gov
Vaginal Cancer, American Cancer Society
Prenatal diethylstilbestrol exposure and risk of breast cancer, NIH.gov

More Blog Posts:

Boston, Massachusetts Accutane Lawsuits Blame Acne Drug for Severe Intestinal Problems, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 2, 2011
Study Reports that Epilepsy Drugs May Up Pregnancy Risks, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 15, 2011
Propecia Lawsuits: Plaintiffs Claim Hair Loss Drug May Cause Permanent Impotence, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 6, 2011 Continue reading

A former SouthernCare employee has filed a whistleblower complaint against the hospice company. Karina Christensen is accusing Southern Care of charging Medicare for hospice care that was given to treat patients who weren’t dying.

In order to have hospice care covered under Medicare, a doctor must have determined that the patient have no more than six months to live before it will agree to cover the costs. Hospice care is focused on helping decrease the severity of the disease’s symptoms during the last months of the patient’s life.

Christensen contends that not only did her supervise encourage this type of fraudulent enrollment in hospice care, but also they disregarded her complaints that this was against the law. Soon after she wrote a letter to the regional director and the board of directors about her concerns in 2010, she was fired from her job. Christensen worked as a clinical director at SouthernCare’s Madison office in Alabama.

Christensen that it would usually be several days after patients were enrolled and Medicare had been charged that she would receive medical information about them. She says that among the patients who were given hospice care was someone who supposedly was dying of cancer but was, in fact, cancer-free. There was also a heart disease patient who exhibited no symptoms of the condition.

SouthernCare, which is a for-profit company that has 75 offices in 15 states, settled similar claims in Alabama in 2009 by paying the federal government $24.7 million. The settlement stemmed from two whistleblower/qui tam complaints submitted by two ex-SouthernCare employees. Per the False Claims Act, which entitles whistleblowers that file lawsuits against parties that defrauded the government to part of the recovery, both women were to receive $4.9 million.

Medicare Billing Fraud
Unfortunately, it is the taxpayers who end up for paying for Medicare billing fraud. Meantime, money that should be treating patients who actually need this care ends up going to the wrongdoers.

Fortunately, the government has established laws to reward and protect those within the industry who come forward and report such wrongdoing. The whistleblower may even be entitled to up to 30% of what the government collects.

Whistle-blower suit accuses hospice company of Medicare fraud, Madison.com, September 14, 2011
Alabama-Based Hospice Company Pays U.S. $24.7 Million to Settle Health Care Fraud Claims, Department of Justice, January 15, 2009
The Federal False Claims Act, TAF.org

More Blog Posts:

Massachusetts Whistleblower Lawsuits, Hospice Neglect, and Medicare Fraud, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 26, 2010
Pharmaceutical Fraud May Be Grounds for Filing a Massachusetts Whistleblower Lawsuit, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 23, 2011
Whistleblowers Expose Medicare Fraud in the Hospice Industry, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 28, 2011 Continue reading

The family of Edward P. Harrigan is suing Tobey Hospital and nurse Susan Spaulding for Wareham, Massachusetts medical malpractice and wrongful death. The civil complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.

The 87-year-old man was treated at the Wareham hospital in 2008. According to the federal lawsuit, even though his electrocardiogram showed a flat line for over two hours because his heart monitor’s battery had run out, no one at the hospital replaced the battery.

Harrigan’s heart then stopped. However, because his monitor had shut down, an alarm didn’t go off so hospital staff did not know he had gone into cardiac arrest. By the time they went back to him, he no longer had a pulse.

Alarm Fatigue
According to the family’s Boston medical malpractice complaint, alarm fatigue is what caused Harrigan’s death. This term refers to people becoming desensitized to monitor alarms. One reason for this is that so many “false alarms” happen at hospitals it can be hard to take each one that goes off seriously.

Unfortunately, alarm-related deaths are not uncommon. According to the Food and Drug Administration, some 566 alarm-related deaths occurred in this country alone between 2005 and 2008.

In August 2010, alarm fatigue” was a factor in the death of a patient at Umass Memorial Medical Center. This is the second alarm fatigue-related death to occur at that Worcester hospital in four years.

Some are asking whether medical device manufacturers are doing enough to make sure that the alarms they design sound off in a manner that nurses and other medical staff can’t help but pay attention. If not, then could a medical device maker be held liable for Massachusetts products liability if the company knew that alarm fatigue could pose a problem and didn’t design its product to combat it?

At Hospitals, Patient Alarms Often Ignored, ABC News, September 23, 2011
‘Alarm fatigue’ a factor in 2d death, Boston.com, September 21, 2011
Tobey, nurse sued in patient’s death, SouthCoast Today, September 23, 2011

More Blog Posts:
$7M Boston Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded in Newborn’s Massachusetts Wrongful Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 31, 2011
$2.6M Worcester, Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded to Man Who Ended Up with Surgical Tack Inside His Small Bowel, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 23, 2011
Medication Overdose: Boston Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Claims Massachusetts General Hospital Gave 76-Year-Old Woman the Wrong Blood Thinner, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 10, 2011 Continue reading

With the US Food and Drug Administration classifying the risk involved in using transvaginal mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse from “moderate” to “high,” the number of defective medical devices lawsuits over injuries caused by surgical mesh is expected to rise. Already, there have been at least 600 transvaginal mesh lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, American Medical Systems, and other mesh product manufacturers. In Massachusetts, please contact our Boston defective medical device law firm and request your free consultation.

Mesh products used to treat pelvic prolapse are often used to support the organs that have started to fall or keep them from pressing against the vagina or bladder. Vaginal mesh can also be used to treat Stress Urinary Incontinence.

It was just last July that the FDA cautioned that there has been a fivefold increase in women experiencing injuries and pain after having the mesh vaginally inserted during surgery. The federal agency also reported that undergoing a transvaginal mesh procedure placed a patient at higher risk of complications than if she had opted for treatment with another type of surgical procedure. Considering that last year alone approximately 300,000 women underwent pelvic prolapse surgeries with over 70,000 of them using vaginal mesh, the fact that so many more women are now experiencing related complications is disturbing.

Signs you may be experiencing surgical mesh complications:
• Infection • Vaginal scarring • Painful intercourse • Pain • Mesh erosion • Urinary issues • Perforation of the bladder, bowel, or blood vessel • Deformed vaginal tissues • Rectal problems • Pelvic pin • Nerve damage • Prolapsed organs
Many women suffering from these complications may not be aware that their mesh product is the cause of their pain and discomfort. They may even have to undergo more surgical procedures to rectify the problem, which can cause even more pain and place them at risk of further complications.

The Next Medical Device Controversy: Vaginal Mesh, Bloomberg Businessweek, September 15, 2011
FDA Panel Calls for Tougher Approvals for Vaginal Mesh, Medscape News, September 9, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Food and Drug Administration

Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Mayo Clinic

More Blog Posts:
Boston Products Liability?: FDA Considering Tougher Review Process for Mesh Products, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 30, 2011
Defective Medical Device?: Transvaginal Mesh to Treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse May Cause Health Complications, Warns FDA, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 15, 2011
Boston Products Liability Lawsuits Filed Over DePuy ASR Hip Devices, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 4, 2011 Continue reading

10 years after terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes on September 11, 2011, the family of Mark Bavis has settled their wrongful death lawsuit. Bavis, 31, died when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the World Trade Center. The wrongful death complaint, filed by Bavis’s Boston family, was the only lawsuit over the 9/11 terrorist attacks that hadn’t yet been resolved.

Bavis’s loved ones had held back on settling their complaint, which they filed in 2002, because they wanted to go to trial and hold defendants United Airlines and Huntleigh USA, the security company in charge of the checkpoint at the Boston airport, publicly responsible. Attorneys for the Bavis family have said the gross negligence is what allowed five terrorists to get onto the United airplane. Last week, they submitted a compendium detailing their evidence about the alleged security failures on that tragic day.

Both defendants, however, contended that the shouldn’t be held liable for not being able to prevent a terrorist assault that even the federal government couldn’t have predicted or made plans to prevent. They have said that United’s security system was implemented at the direction of the government and was never designed to stop the 9/11 attacks. The compendium was a response to their motion to have the case dismissed.

The Bavis family believes that the details provided in their compendium achieves their goal of holding United and Huntleigh USA publicly accountable However, Bavis’s twin brother, Michael Bavis, says that the “only reason” a settlement was reached was that “rulings and manipulations of the law” impairs his family’s ability during a trial to tell what happened. The terms of the wrongful death settlement are confidential.

Massachusetts Wrongful Death
If someone you love died because of what you feel was negligence on another party’s part, you may have reason for filing a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against them. The defendant doesn’t need to have been the direct cause of your loved one’s death, but may have acted or failed to act in a way that allowed the death to happen.

Family and United Airlines Settle Last 9/11 Wrongful-Death Lawsuit, NY Times, September 19, 2011
Bavis family settles 9/11 lawsuit, Boston.com, September 19, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Logan International Airport

September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2011

More Blog Posts:
Wrongful Death: Family of 9/11 Victim Claims Security Screeners at Logan International Airport Did Poor Job, Boston Injury Lawyer, June 21, 2011
Massport Asked to Be Released from Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed by Family of Man Killed Aboard United Airlines Flight 175 on 9/11, Boston Injury Lawyer, July 7, 2011
Boston’s Logan Airport Is Scene Of Mystery Passenger And Pending Warrant, Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, March 22, 2010 Continue reading

17-month-old Gabriel Josh-Cazir Pierre died last week after he was accidentally left inside a hot day care van for several hours last Monday. The van’s driver, Luis Matos, did not notice that the toddler was still in the vehicle when he dropped off the kids at a day care center. Temperatures that day hit the low 80’s.

Police are trying to figure out how this fatal Boston child injury accident happened. An autopsy is being conducted to determine the boy’s cause of death. Criminal charges could be filed against Matos, whose Registry of Motor Vehicles license to transport kids has since been revoked.

It hasn’t been verified whether/not the day care center that Pierre attended notified his family that he hadn’t shown up or if they even noticed that he wasn’t there. Current rules don’t require day care providers to get in touch with parents if kids don’t arrive at a center.

Unfortunately, child deaths and injuries from vehicular heat stroke are not uncommon. With this summer considered to one of the hottest on record in many parts of the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been working hard to remind people of the dangers that can arise from leaving a child in a hot vehicle. If your child was injured or killed while under the supervision/care of another party, you should speak with a Boston injury lawyer to find out if you have a case.

Hyperthermia is the leading cause of non-car collision fatalities for children under 14. Already this year, there have been at least 21 deaths caused by heat stroke involving children in this age group. Examples of serious hyperthermia-related injuries include permanent blindness, organ failure, and other serious injuries.

Meantime, officials have shut down the Boston day care located where the van that Pierre was left in was parked. This is a different operation from the one that the toddler was enrolled in. The city, however, decided to close down the center after inspectors discovered that the building lacked carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, or an evacuation. While the owner of Gloria Luna’s Family Day Care is licensed to run this type of facility, she did not have the certificate necessary to run it out of her basement.

Boston Day Care Closed After Child Found Dead In Van, WBUR, September 12, 2011
Van driver’s license suspended, Boston Herald, September 15, 2011
Dorchester mother: Family is heartbroken over loss of infant son in day care van case, Boston Globe, September 13, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Department of Early Education & Care, Mass.gov
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles

Keeping Kids Safe, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

More Blog Posts:
Boy Dies Following Shrewsbury Drowning Accident at Summer Camp, Boston Injury Lawyer, July 29, 2011
12-Year-Old Massachusetts Boy Dies After Collapsing During Holden Soccer Camp, Boston Injury Lawyer, July 19, 2011
Worcester County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed By Family of Dudley Boy Killed in Massachusetts Escalator Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer, June 10, 2011 Continue reading

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