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The family of an ex-Andover High School Student are suing the town, two teachers, and EF Travel Inc., which is an agency located in Cambridge, for Massachusetts personal injury. The plaintiffs contend that the ex-student was raped during a school trip abroad in 2008 when she was 16.

In their Andover personal injury complaint, the victim is accusing the defendants of not properly monitoring the students during the European trip and of family to prevent them from consuming alcohol on the evening of the alleged rape. They are also accusing the teachers, Brian Shea and Josephine Goldin, of stopping the girl from calling police and failing to get her medical help after the alleged sex assault.

The plaintiffs say that the alleged rape occurred in a Germany hotel on the last night of the trip. Because the students knew when the teacher-chaperones were going to check on them that night, they planned their drinking party for after. The alleged victim, referred to as Jane Doe, was among those who got drunk and she claims that this was when a male student from another school restrained and sexually assaulted her.

Jane Doe says that when Goldin and Shea were notified of the alleged rape, they made her stand in front of the accused attacker and other students and questioned her about what happened and whether she’d been drinking. It wasn’t until she returned to the US and told her parents about the sexual assault that the police were contacted. A medical exam at a Boston hospital showed that she was the victim of nonconsensual sex. Also, The Massachusetts Department of Social Services, which conducted an investigation into the matter, says that Jane Doe’s allegations are credible.

If your son or daughter sustained serious injuries while under the supervision of another adult, group, organization, or institution, you may have reason for filing a Boston personal injury lawsuit not just against the person that caused the injury, but also against the party that was supposed to be responsible for safeguarding your loved one’s safety during that time and/or had the duty to prevent such an incident from happening.

Many Boston sexual assault victims don’t realize that they may be entitled to civil damages for the harm that they’ve suffered. In addition to serious personal injuries, there also may be psychological and emotional damage from such a violation.

Ex-student’s suit faults Andover High teachers in alleged rape on Europe trip, Boston.com, August 22, 2011
Girl sues Andover High teachers over alleged rape on European field trip, Eagle Tribune, August 21, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Cape Cod Sex Abuse: Woman Sues Camp Attended by US Senator Scott Brown, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 18, 2011
Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 17, 2011
Boston Sexual Assault: Former High School Basketball Coach Faces Criminal Charges for 1976 Rape, Boston Injury Lawyer, April 18, 2011 Continue reading

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Cheryl A. Madden has filed a Barnstable sexual abuse lawsuit against the same Cape Cod camp where US Senator Scott Brown claims he was sexually abused as a boy. Madden, 45, says that a janitor at the camp raped her more than once and that officials at Camp Good News failed to protect her.

The defendants of her Cape Cod sex abuse case are the camp, two of its executives, the man who allegedly assaulted her, and a counselor. Madden claims that the counselors failed to take action even though she was in the girls’ bathroom during one of the rapes. Madden says that the janitor raped her multiple times during the summers of 1973 (when she was 7), 1974, and 1975. Camp Good News says there is no merit to Madden’s claim.

Madden claims that memories of the abuse surfaced two years ago after her dad, who died, left Camp Good News $111,000. She believes that the defendants either knew or should have known that the janitor was molesting her. Madden is accusing camp officials of concealing, suppressing, and purposely preventing the disclosure of the child sex abuse incidents that occurred there.

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As our Boston injury lawyers have written in the past, Massachusetts slip and fall accidents can cause serious personal injuries for those involved. Hip fractures, back injuries, spinal injuries, and traumatic brain injuries, and even death can result. It is the responsibility of property owners to make sure that there are no slick, slippery, or wet surfaces/floors on their premises than can cause someone to slip and fall.

Four common types of Boston slip and fall accidents:

• The typical “slip and fall,” which involves someone losing traction, slipping on a surface, and falling.
• The “step and fall,” which involves a person falling into a hole or stepping into another type of defect on the flooring/another type of surface and falling.
• The “stump and fall,” which involves an individual stumbling over an obstruction on the ground and falling.
• The “trip and fall,” which can occur when someone trips over an object and falls.

Slip and fall accidents can occur anywhere. Today, however, our Boston premises liability lawyers today would like to report on a number of recent US slip accidents lawsuits over incidents that occurred in stores.

Last month, a woman filed a slip and fall accident case against Walmart. Jennifer Lombrana says she got hurt last March when she slipped and fell in a puddle of water on the ground close to the girls’ clothing section. In another premises liability lawsuit, Crystal Lewis is suing a Family Dollar store for injuries she says she sustained in 2009 when she slipped and fell on a slippery substance that had been left on the store floor. A third woman, Leslie Douglas, is suing Kroger because she says she slipped and fell on water that left on the ground in the grocery store in 2009. Douglas says that she injured her hand, shoulder, and hip.

Storeowners must make sure that any wet/slippery surfaces are wiped/mopped dry right away. In the event that it will take some time before the floor is no longer wet, employees must post warnings to notify people that the ground is slippery. Even if the area where the wet surface is located isn’t frequented by a lot of traffic, you never know who could end walking through the area. The slip hazard must be removed to decrease the chances of injury.

Kroger blamed for slip and fall, Ultimate Pasadena, August 11, 2011
Family Dollar

Kroger


Related Web Resources:
Slip and Fall, Nolo
Premises Liability Overview, Justia

More Blog Posts:
Boston Slip and Fall Accidents Usually Require the Attention of an Experienced Injury Attorney, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 26, 2011
Winter Weather Tests Massachusetts Slip and Fall Ruling by SJC, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, December 23, 2010
Supreme Judicial Court’s Massachusetts Slip and Fall Ruling in Lawsuit Against Target Ruling Dissolves Distinction Between Unnatural and Natural Ice and Snow Accumulations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 26, 2010 Continue reading

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A Framingham woman who underwent breast augmentation surgery right before her 40th birthday has died. Adriana Paula Da Silva Toledo, who was a single mom, leaves behind three children.

Da Silva Toledo, a south side housekeeper, had the 90-minute operation done at the Destination Beauty MedSpa in Framingham on Saturday. The next afternoon, she became dizzy, fell in her parents’ bathroom, and struck her head. She died later that day. Although autopsy results are still pending, her parents have retained a Boston injury lawyer in the event that Massachusetts cosmetic surgery was a factor.

Da Silva Toledo is a Brazilian native. According to her sister-in-law, the doctor who heads up the medical spa is popular in the Brazilian community. The spa’s website warns that patients who undergo breast augmentations may feel tired on day one and should stay home.

If the breast augmentation procedure was a factor in Da Silva Toledo’s death, her family may have grounds for a Framingham cosmetic surgery malpractice lawsuit.

Massachusetts Plastic Surgery Malpractice
Like any other type of operation, plastic surgery comes with certain risks. It is the responsibility of the plastic surgeon and the other medical professionals involved with the procedure to make sure that no errors occur that could cause serious injury, disfigurement or death. In addition to the usual risks of anesthesia complications, adverse reaction to medications, wrong-site procedures, blood clots, or infection that come with an operation, plastic surgery complications can include (depending on the procedure and where on the body it is performed):

• Disfigurement • Over-correction • Under-correction • Nerve damage • Asymmetry • Scarring • Wrong size implants • Breast implant deflation, leakage, or rupture • Encapsulation • Loss of breast skin cover • Change in nipple sensation • Rippling • Loss of nipple cover • Dry eyes • Too much skin removal • Lidocaine overdose • Burning
• Blistering • Pulmonary embolism
Death after surgery draws concern, Boston.com, August 12, 2011
Plastic surgery doctor expresses sorrow over Framingham patient death, Wicked Local, August 12, 2011

Related Web Resources:
10 Plastic Surgery Mistakes No One Talks About, Total Beauty
Living With Plastic Surgery Mistakes, ABC News, July 29, 2009

More Blog Posts:
Family’s Boston, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Suit Alleges Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 5, 2010
Coronor Says Rapper Kanye West’s Mother May Have Died From Cosmetic Surgery or Anesthesia, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, November 17, 2007
Mother’s Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Accuses Springfield Hospital of Sterilizing Her Without Consent, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 4, 2010 Continue reading

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A Massachusetts personal injury settlement has been reached in the federal lawsuit between Westport Police Officer Francis Napert III and Berkley resident Carl Conforti over the alleged use of excessive police force. Under the terms of the agreement, Officer Napert will pay Conforti $50,350.

Per court records, on January 30, 2010, Napert, who was off-duty at the time, apprehended Conforti, a 46-year-old paraplegic in a wheelchair, who was going through a Westport neighborhood to gather fallen tree branches so he could heat his sister’s home. Napert, who was wearing civilian clothes and following him in a pickup truck, identified himself to Conforti as a cop and told him that he was watching him because he was making his way slowly through the neighborhood and peering into people’s residences.

Conforti asked Napert for police identification and that is when the latter allegedly started yelling at him, forced him to the ground, broke his glasses, and arrested him. Witnesses say that Conforti, who had wires in his chest after undergoing tracheal resection surgery, called for help. The criminal charges of disorderly conduct, larceny of wood, and resisting arrest that had been filed against Conforti were later dropped.

The Westport police say that the decision to settle was one done for practical reasons and not because they believe that Napert did anything wrong.

Boston Police Brutality
The use of unnecessary and excessive physical, verbal, or emotional force by a cop when dealing with members of the public is an abuse of authority and power, which can be grounds for a Boston personal injury lawsuit alleging Massachusetts police brutality. Excessive use of police force is also a violation of the victim’s civil rights.

Unfortunately, it can be virtually impossible to get a police officer or his department to admit that police brutality occurred. Often, unless the incident of excessive use of police force is a blatant one, charges likely won’t be filed against the cop. This doesn’t mean, however, that you cannot hold the police officer liable in civil court and obtain Boston injury damages for the harm that you or your loved one suffered.

Westport officer settles civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force, South Coast Today, August 9, 2011

Related Web Resource:
Westport Police Department

More Blog Posts:
Massachusetts Personal Injury: Two Women Sue Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office Over Dog Attack by K-9, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, May 27, 2011
Wrongful Death: Parents of Easton, Massachusetts Man Fatally Shot by NY Police Officer File Lawsuit, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 23, 2011
Boston Personal Injury Lawsuit Accuses Police Motorcyclist of Assault and Battery in ’07 Marathon Pedestrian Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 15, 2011 Continue reading

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13 people were injured when a Newton motor vehicle crash on Monday when a van drove into a stopped garbage truck at around 9am. Three of the special needs passengers sustained serious injuries. The Jaws of Life had to be used to remove the passenger in the front seat. At the time of the Middlesex County traffic crash the van was taking the adult special needs passengers to the Price Center where they were going to avail of rehabilitation and employment services.

Police have charged the driver of the van, Addis Gabriel Woldeguiorguis, with driving while driving under the influence of drugs. Woldeguiorguis, who was also injured in the Newton van accident, told police that he took oxycodone pills a few hours before the Newton traffic crash because his foot hurt and he suffers from diabetes, prostate cancer, and tuberculosis. However, police also say that they found a crack pipe, and a bag with what they think might be crack cocaine.

The company that Woldeguiorguis, was operating the van for is called AART Transportation. The Boston Globe says that Woldeguiorguis had an extensive traffic history in New York going back to the 1980’s, including a notation for drug possession in 2005. However, because regulators only check a driver’s Massachusetts record when assessing the credentials of contracted drivers, these out-of-state violations went undetected.

It is the job of employers to make sure that any drivers that they retain have a solid driving record and are good, experienced, and safe drivers. Employers can be held liable for Boston personal injury if the person that they hired was negligent in causing a collision that resulted in someone getting hurt or dying. There may also other parties affiliated with the vehicle or the service provided by the driver who should also be held financially liable for the victim’s injuries or death.

Van crash shocker: Charged driver has spotty record, Boston Herald, August 2, 2011
Driver of special needs van faces OUI charge after Newton crash injures 13, Boston.com, August 1, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts General Laws

The Price Center


More Blog Posts:
Is the State Doing Enough to Prevent Massachusetts Car Crashes By Discouraging Drunk Driving?, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 12, 2011
Drunk Driver Crashes Stolen Car After Police Chase on Interstate 93, Boston Car Accident Lawyer, June 17, 2011 Continue reading

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Plaintiffs blaming Accutane for severe intestinal issues are continuing to submit their dangerous drug lawsuits to the courts. Our Boston products liability lawyers represent Massachusetts clients who have suffered serious health complications from taking pharmaceutical products. If you or someone you love has developed Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disorder, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, ulcerative colitis, hair loss, depression, and suicidal tendencies you may have reason for filing a Massachusetts dangerous drug complaint against Roche and generic makers of this medication, which is often used to treat acne. Accutane is no longer sold in the United States.

In New Jersey state court alone-where all of the actions pending in the state were consolidated into one mass action-a least 5,169 Accutane injury lawsuits have been filed as of last month. That’s almost two thousands new complaints since early May. All of the dangerous drug cases accuse LaRoche and generic drug manufacturers of not doing enough research on the medication and failing to warn about the risk of serious side effects. Seven of the first nine cases have been decided in favor of the plaintiffs. To date, Roche has been ordered to pay over $55 million.

One of the largest Accutane injury damages awarded to a plaintiff so far is $25 million. Andrew McCarrell started taking Accutane isotretinoin in June 1995 when he was a college football player. He stopped taking the medication after about four months. The next summer, he developed inflammatory bowel disease and then later Corhn’s disease. In December 1996 he had to have his rectum and colon. McCarrell has undergone several surgeries because of his IBD. A jury initially awarded him $2.62 million in 2007. Hoffman-LaRoche appealed the verdict and the case was remanded to back to trial. This time, the court awarded McCarrell $25.16 million.

Unfortunately, every year there are patients who suffer serious injuries and side effects from taking a medication. Sometimes the drug manufacturer wasn’t aware that the drug wasn’t safe for use or posed such serious risks. In another instances, pharmaceutical companies may have known about the risks but chosen to conceal

Accutane, New Jersey Courts
Roche

Accutane (Isotretinoin), National Center for Biotechnology Information

More Blog Posts:
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
Massachusetts Dangerous Drug?: FDA Pulls Avandia Because of Cardiovascular Risks, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, May 23, 2011 Continue reading

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Our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog occasionally covers accidents and lawsuits that occurred outside the state of Massachusetts. In this post, we bring the latest on a tragic accident that made national headlines two years ago:

Daniel Schuler, the husband of Diane Schuler, is suing the state of New York and his brother-in-law for wrongful death. Diane, 36, and seven others, including their 2-year-old daughter Erin and her three nieces, were killed in 2009 after she drove her minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and collided in a head-on crash with another vehicle on July 26, 2009. Now, Daniel is seeking compensation for Erin and her brother Bryan, 5, who survived the collision with serious, permanent, serious injuries.

Toxicologists later said that Diane was drunk and high that day. Test results indicate that she had marijuana and the equivalent of 10 shots of vodka in her system. Daniel, however, believes the findings are a mistake. In his wrongful death complaint against NY State, he says that the highway is inadequately designed and had poor signage.

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Aaditya Basrur, who was critically hurt after almost drowning in a Shrewsbury, Massachusetts swimming pool accident, has died from his injuries. Basrur, who was rushed from St. John’s High School to the hospital on July 14, was attending the Camp Saint John summer day camp for kids. He died a few days after the incident.

At the time of the Shrewsbury near drowning accident, Basrur was taking part in an “open swim” with about 40 kids in the outdoor pool. Administrators say that there were lifeguards on duty.

School superintendent Joseph Sawyer later issued a press release about Basrur’s death. The young boy had just finished first grade at Paton Elementary School.

Massachusetts Swimming Pool Accidents
With drowning accidents a leading cause of death for young children, it is important that swimming pool owners and those charged with supervising swimmers exercise the necessary precautions to prevent drownings and near drowning accidents from happening. Even if someone is lucky enough to survive a Boston drowning accident, he/she may have been deprived of oxygen for long enough to be left with a traumatic brain injury.

Young kids can drown in swimming pools, hot tubs, inflatable pools, and on the beach, which is why it is important that they are not allowed in the water without proper supervision. Private pool owners should make sure that their pools are properly fenced in or covered when not in use so that no one can get in without their consent. Public pool owners should also make sure that access to the pool is restricted during off hours. In addition to lifeguards, easy access to an emergency phone, and making sure there is adequate rescue and safety equipment nearby, swimming pool owners should make sure that the pool is free of debris so that if someone does drown that he/she is easily visible. Just recently, the body of a woman who drowned in a Fall River public pool went undetected in the water for two days. No one saw her through the “cloudy” water.

Mass. boy critical after near drowning at day camp, Boston.com, July 15, 2011
Schools react to the loss of Aaditya Basrur, counseling to be available to students, The Daily Shrewsbury, July 19, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Unintentional Drowning: Fact Sheet, CDC
Camp Saint John, Saint John’s High School

More Blog Posts:
Massachusetts Swimming Pool Accident: Drowned Woman’s Body Was Concealed by “Cloudy” Water for Two Days, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 30, 2011
Truro Man’s Family to Sue Provincetown for Man’s 2008 Massachusetts Drowning Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 14, 2010 Continue reading

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According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a $600,000 Massachusetts personal injury and wrongful death settlement has been reached between manufacturer Kahr Arms and the families of Danny Guzman and Armando Maisonet. Both men were shot by a 9mm handgun outside a nightclub on December 24, 1999. The weapon was stolen from the gun-maker’s factory and later was illegally sold to the assailant in exchange for drugs. Guzman died from his injuries. Maisonet injured his shoulder.

In the families’ Worcester, MA injury lawsuit, the plaintiffs accused the gun manufacturer of negligence, including inadequate security at its manufacturing plant, lack of sufficient inventory controls, and failure to screen employees for a criminal history or drug addiction. They claim that Kahr Arms hired Mark Cronin, who took the gun, even though he had a history of alcohol abuse and drug addiction. Their complaint also said that Cronin had said that guns that didn’t have their serial numbers on them yet were easy to remove from the factory.

He sold the gun to Robert Jachimczyk for cocaine, who in turn sold the gun to Edwin Novas for heroine. Novas is the man charged in the shooting. Cronin pleaded guilty to gun theft, while Novas has yet to be caught. Following the shooting, the Kahr Arms gun was found behind an apartment building close to where the shooting happened. A 4-year-old child discovered the loaded weapon.

Under the Massachusetts injury settlement, 70% will go to Guzman’s family, while 30% will go to Maisonet. The gun manufacturer had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that it should be shielded under the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”

As the outcome of this Worcester wrongful death case shows, sometimes, liable parties are individuals and entities that may not have directly caused a Massachusetts injury or death but whose negligence contributed to it happening.

Gun-maker to pay Brady Center $600,000, UPI, July 26, 2011
Mass. gun-maker to pay $600K in gun-death lawsuit, ABC12, July 26, 2011 Continue reading

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