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Plymouth resident John Norrie is suing Hewlett-Packard Co. for Massachusetts products liability. Norrie’s house burned down in November 2006 when his HP Pavilion Notebook computer overheated and caught fire. Norrie was asleep at the time, but he managed to escape. He says that he sustained serious injuries.

According to Norrie’s Plymouth injury complaint, he fell down a flight of stairs and separated his shoulder as he fled his home. Now, he is seeking over $250,000 in Massachusetts personal injury compensation for his injuries and the damage to his home. Norrie is accusing Hewlett-Packard of breach of warranty and negligence in regards to the manufacture, sale, instruction, and distribution of a product that was defective.

Lithium-Ion Batteries and Laptops
The fact that lithium-ion batteries pose an injury hazard is not news. Over the past five years, HP has announced four recalls of its lithium-ion batteries because they were considered fire hazards. Last May, HP recalled the batteries for nine Pavilion Notebook models because there was a chance the batteries might rupture, posing a fire hazard. 70,000 lithium-ion batteries were part of this recall, which included batteries for HPs, Compaq Presarios, and one HP Compaq model. Over the last several years, other computer manufacturers, including Apple Inc., Compaq, and Dell, have also recalled their lithium-ion batteries.

While a battery that gets a little hot may not sound too dangerous, it can lead to serious injuries and even death if the overheated battery causes a laptop to burst into flames. Last August, a 56-year-old Canadian man died when his HP laptop caught fire after it was left on a sofa. Yet despite the dangers, manufacturers continue to sell laptops that pose a fire hazard. Just this month, The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of approximately 22,000 Acer Aspire notebooks because they might short circuit and overheat.

Plymouth man sues Hewlett-Packard over laptop fire, The Boston Globe, January 8, 2010
Laptop fire blamed for Vancouver death, CBC News, August 26, 2009
HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard, CPSC, May 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Hewlett-Packard

Products Liability, NOLO Continue reading

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The family of a 12-year-old boy who was seriously injured in a Massachusetts pedestrian accident is suing Michelle Medeiros and her dad Fernando for personal injuries to a minor. Michelle, 17, is accused of striking Kelvin Savanhmixay and then leaving the crash scene. Now, his family is seeking damages for his pain and suffering and the injuries that he sustained during the traffic crash, including permanent disfigurement and loss of function.

Lowell police say Medeiros’s motor vehicle struck Kelvin at the intersection of Route 113 and Mammoth Road, causing him to fly about 20 feet in the air. Rather than stopping to help the boy, the teen driver is accused of leaving him dead and rushing off to a Lawrence salon for a hair appointment.

Michelle then called Lawrence police to report that someone had vandalized her father’s car. She also allegedly filed a false police report and had the vehicle towed to a body shop in an attempt to cover up evidence from the Massachusetts car accident.

Police say Michelle later confessed to her involvement in the Massachusetts hit-and-run crash. The high school senior is charged with passing a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating at a speed greater than reasonable and proper, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to use caution when changing lanes.

Hit-and-Run Accidents
Motorists are not allowed to drive away without stopping at the crash scene anytime they are involved in a pedestrian accident. To do so is called hit-and-run driving and against the law. Leaving a crash site can prove catastrophic if the pedestrian is seriously injured and no one calls for medical help. In some pedestrian accidents, victims who should otherwise have survived and recovered from their injuries ended up dying because the motorist that struck them didn’t contact 911.

Law suit filed against Methuen teen in hit and run, The Eagle-Tribune, December 29, 2009
Hit-And-Run Victim Home, With Sense Of Humor, WBZ, November 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Massachusetts Department of Transportation
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In Norfolk Superior Court, Kathi Meyer filed a Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit against the people that allegedly made alcohol available to her daughter Taylor on the day that she died.

Taylor drowned while drunk. The body of the 17-year-old Plainville teen was found in a swamp. She disappeared after leaving an underage drinking party at the abandoned Norfolk airport. A two-day search ensued.

Named as defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit are siblings Paige and Brian Zuzick, Sean Flynn, Rachel Stark, and her mother Dianne, Matthew Dusseault, and Christopher Moran. Brian gave alcohol to Taylor and Paige. Flynn, a 21-year-old North Attleboro resident, bought the rum for Brian. Taylor allegedly had access to alcohol during a party at the Stark residence before she went to the party at the airport. Dusseault and Moran, who are both from Norfolk, are accused of bringing alcohol to the underage drinking party.

In her Norfolk wrongful death complaint, Kathi says that friends laughingly pointed Taylor toward the swamp instead of the street as she left the party at the airport. Kathi is accusing the defendants of negligence, wrongful death, conscious infliction of pain and punishment, and willful and reckless acts.

Underage Drinking
There is a reason why minors are not allowed to drink alcohol. The US Surgeon General reports that about 5,000 minors die every year because of underage drinking. Teens often do not know how to handle their liquor, which can lead to injuries and deaths from tragic car accidents, violent and sexual crimes, suicide, drug use, and other unfortunate incidents.

Mother files lawsuit after daughter’s drowning death at party, Boston Herald, January 13, 2010
Friends, parents sued in teen’s death, The Sun Chronicle, January 13, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Dangers of Teen Drinking, Federal Trade Commission
Underage Drinking, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Continue reading

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While traumatic brain injury experts have known for some time that a TBI can cause personality changes, a new study has revealed that brain injury patients exhibit a higher incidence of emotional processing problems than previously thought. This can make recovery even challenging while causing conflicts in the TBI victim’s relationships.

According to head injury specialist Professor Roger Woo and colleague Claire Williams, traumatic brain injury patients can exhibit a loss of emotional attachment with family and friends, which suggests a connection between empathy problems and traumatic brain injuries.

Per neurology literature, there are three broad categories for empathy:

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A mother is suing Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, three doctors, and two nurses for Massachusetts medical malpractice. Tessa Savicki says that the defendants violated her reproductive rights when they permanently sterilized her without her consent. Savicki, 35, has nine children.

Savicki says that after giving birth to Manuel Flores on December 19, 2006, a medical team performed a tubal ligation, which is a permanent procedure, instead of implanting an intrauterine device, which is a birth control procedure that can be reversed. She says that the permanent procedure left her mentally distressed and upset that she can no longer have more children.

Savicki says the defendants did not have a medical reason for performing the permanent sterilization. She also claims that never signed a written consent for the procedure, which is required for MassHealth patients.

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Two families’ lives were changed forever on Sunday morning when a tragic head-on crash on the Mass Pike claimed the life of one man and left another without an eye. As of earlier today, it was not known whether Rene Bronfield, a 49-year-old Worcester man, would survive his Boston car accident injuries. His childhood friend, whose name police has yet to release, died after he was pinned under the dashboard, which collapsed over him.

According to police, the alleged drunk driver, 33-year-old Philip Daniels, entered Interstate 90 from the wrong way in his 1995 Jeep Cherokee. He is accused of crashing head on into Bronfield’s MG near the Prudential Center tunnel. The fatal Boston motor vehicle crash occurred just before 2am.

Authorities say that Daniels, a financier for John Hancock Financial Services, had a BAC of .23, which is significantly higher than the .08 legal driving limit. The Norwood man reportedly told Massachusetts police that he was drinking beer at Lucky’s Lounge prior to the Boston auto crash.

At his arraignment, the Norwood man pleaded not guilty to motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol.

Drunken Driving Accidents
Drunk driving not only causes serious injuries and deaths, but this dangerous behavior destroys families. In addition to the victims involved in a drunk driving crash, there are the victims’ family members who must now cope with the emotional trauma brought about by losing someone they love prematurely and in such a senseless manner. Drunk driving victims and the people they love will likely spend years grappling with the consequences brought about by someone else’s negligent behavior.

You can hold a drunk driver liable for causing your serious injuries or your loved one’s death.

Financier charged in fatal Pike crash, Boston Herald, December 29, 2009
Surviving victim of wrong-way crash still critical, Telegram, December 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Fatalities and Fatality Rates in Alcohol- Impaired-Driving Crashes by State, 2007-2008, NHTSA (PDF)
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Michael L. VonBehren was just 18-years-old when a Lowell drunk driver fatally struck him on Interstate 290 in December 2008. Now, his parents Dale and Kathleen VonBehren, are suing JBC of Worcester for the Shrewsbury teenager’s Massachusetts wrongful death.

Somang Ath, the 26-year-old driver of the vehicle that struck the car that their son was riding, was also killed in the tragic Massachusetts car accident. Prior to driving the wrong way and crashing head-on into the vehicle that VonBehren was in, Ath drank alcohol with friends at Jillian’s, a Worcester bar.

According to Massachusetts police, Ath’s BAC was .28%. The License Commission suspended the bar’s license for a week after determining that there was evidence that Jillian’s over-served him. JBC of Worcester, which was bought by Revolution Entertainment of Whitinsville this May, was the owner of the bar at the time that the deadly Shrewsbury traffic accident happened. 10 days after the tragic Shrewsbury car crash that killed Ath and VonBehren, Jillian’s allegedly over-served another man who had a BAC of .30.

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Five years after 3-year-old Jason Fox’s death, a Suffolk County jury has awarded his parents $15 million in Massachusetts medical malpractice damages: $5 million for wrongful death, $5 million for the boy’s pain and suffering, and $5 million for the loss of their child. The family’s attorney, James Fox, said fighting the case was an “uphill battle.”

Jason, who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, died in December 2004 after undergoing a procedure at Children’s Hospital in Boston a year and a half earlier to treat his birth defect. The serious defect, which was treatable, prevented his limbs and organs from receiving enough oxygen.

Jason underwent seven cardiac catheterizations and open heart surgery. During his second catheterization in April 2003, Jason had a seizure. The contrast dye, which allowed doctors to better see his anatomy, went into his brain.

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Along with the Window Covering Safety Council, Consumer Product Safety Commission is announcing another major recall-one of its largest ever-of 50 million roll-up blinds and Roman shades because they pose a possible strangulation hazard. Roman shades have been the reported cause of 16 near strangulations and 5 fatalities in just the last three years, while since 2001, the CPSC has received reports of 3 deaths because of roll-up blinds. Some three million roll-up blinds and five million Roman shades are sold annually.

The CPSC and the WCSC are providing free repair kits. Also, to prevent strangulation accidents involving window coverings, they are recommending that only cordless window coverings be used in homes that have young children. If your window blinds or shades do come with cords, then they are advising that you keep the cords out of children’s reach.

The Safe Kids USA Web site reports that airway obstruction (through suffocation, choking, and strangulation), is the number one cause of accidental injury-related fatalities among children younger than age 1. Kids, especially in the younger than 3 age range, are especially prone to strangulation injuries and deaths.

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In Massachusetts, a 98-year-old nursing home patient is charged with killing a 100-year-old woman. Laura B. Lundquist is accused of strangling Elizabeth W. Barrow. The two of them were roommates at Brandon Woods of Dartmouth. Lundquist has suffered from dementia.

Barrow’s body was discovered in her bed last September. She had a plastic bag over her head. While suicide was explored as a possible cause of death, autopsy results say she was murdered by manual strangulation.

The victim’s son says he asked nursing home workers at the Dartmouth, Massachusetts nursing home to separate the two women, who did not appear to get along. Scott Barrow claims that Lundquist accused Barrow of stealing from her and complained about her visitors. The Massachusetts nursing home says that they asked the two women if either of them wanted to move to a different room but they both refused.

Last week, New Bedford Superior Court Judge Lloyd MacDonald sent Lundquist to a state hospital where she will undergo a lengthy competency evaluation prior to her arraignment. She is charged with second-degree murder.

Massachusetts Nursing Home Negligence
Nursing homes are supposed to make sure that patients with violent tendencies are closely monitored and/or are kept separate from the other patients. They are also supposed to determine whether patients suffering from mental illness pose a danger to themselves or others and if so, nursing home employees must take the proper steps to prevent that patient from hurting others. Failure to provide this protection can give an assisted living facility patient and/or family members cause for filing a Boston nursing home negligence lawsuit.

Examples of nursing home patient violence:

• Molestation • Physical assault • Sexual assault • Murder • Rape
Woman, 98, charged in slay, Boston Herald, December 12, 2009
Roomate, 98, indicted for murder in 100-year-old woman’s nursing home death, SouthCoastToday, December 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Aggression between nursing-home residents more common than widely believed, studies find, Cornell University, May 29, 2008
Nursing Homes, Mass.gov Continue reading

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