Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

December 27, 2014

Northampton Woman Criminally Charged, Accused of Massachusetts Nursing Negligence

Anne L. Fisher has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges accusing her of pretending to be a licensed practical nurse and stealing drugs and personal items from three elderly people. The 29-year-old is charged with multiple counts of larceny above $250 from a person that is either over the age of 60 or disabled, larceny of drugs, larceny from a building, assault and battery on a disabled person or one over 60, and practicing practical nursing without authorization. Such crimes, depending on the specifics, may be acts of Massachusetts nursing negligence.

According to police, Fisher, whose certified nurse’s aide license expired in 2012, was hired to give prescription meds to three elderly persons at a Western Massachusetts retirement community. An Easthampton pharmacist who examined the pills after it seemed they weren’t working discovered the medications had been substituted with over-the-counter pills, such as ibuprofen and antihistamines.

Fisher allegedly stole hundreds of prescription meds-including OxyContin, Xanax, diazepam, and other kinds of pills-from the three female patients. She is also accused of stealing jewelry and other expensive items from one of the women.

December 23, 2014

Family Files Boston Elevator Accident Lawsuit Against Fenway Park

by Altman & Altman

The family of Elisabeth Scotland is suing Fenway Sports Group for injuries she sustained in a Boston elevator accident. The woman, 22, suffered critical injuries earlier this year when she fell into the elevator shaft at Fenway Park.

The plaintiffs, in the Massachusetts premises liability case, say that Scotland was on the fourth floor of the ballpark waiting for an elevator when she lost her balance, fell into the shaft, and went down two stories. She landed on top of the elevator car.

Scotland sustained spinal injury, traumatic brain injury, dental damage, and facial fractures. The official state report says that she bumped into the elevator door after jumping on her father, hugging him, and jumping off him. That was when she struck the elevator door and it opened.

December 18, 2014

Cape Cod Drowning Death is Second Swimming Fatality at Yarmouth Hotel in Four Months

by Altman & Altman

A 40-year-old Medford man died earlier this month in a Cape Cod, MA drowning accident at the Bayside Resort Hotel in Yarmouth. This is the second swimming fatality at the hotel in four months.

According to the media, first responders started administering CPR to Thomas Flynn at the scene. He was later pronounced dead upon arrival at Cape Cod Hospital.

Police say that a young hotel guest discovered him at the bottom of the pool’s shallow end. Bystanders pulled him out of the water.

December 16, 2014

Judge Says Billerica Man Can Proceed with Boston Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Harvard University

by Altman & Altman

A judge says that Stephen Embry can go ahead with his lawsuit against Harvard University. The 57-year-old Billerica man’s Boston child sex abuse case was dismissed over a year ago, before a new Massachusetts bill extending the statute of limitations for such cases was passed into law.

According to Embry, when he was 12, swimming coach Benn Merritt raped and molested him. The sexual assaults allegedly occurred over 100 times and went on for three years. Embry says the incidents usually took place at the Harvard pool where Merritt was a coach.

He contends that Harvard misled him about how long he had to file a Boston sexual abuse claim, telling him the assaults occurred too long ago. Embry says that the school did not disclose that another claim was brought against it in 1996 involving Merritt. The plaintiff in that case contended that the swim teacher molested him from 1965 to 1970, beginning when he was 11. Merritt killed himself not long after that case was filed. The lawsuit with him was settled. The one against Harvard was dismissed.

December 10, 2014

Ex- Fessenden School Students to File Newton, MA Child Sex Abuse Case

by Altman & Altman

A number of ex-students of Fessenden School reportedly intend to file a Massachusetts child sex abuse case against several teacher and their supervisors. The Newton sex abuse incidents allegedly occurred at the all boys boarding school between 1968 and 1976 and involved male victims who were ages 10 to 14 at the time.

It was in 2011 that David B. Stettler, the headmaster of school, sent a letter to faculty, alumni, and parents disclosing that over the past few years, there had been two legal complaints accusing assistant headmaster Arthur Clarridge and his friend of child sex abuse. The plaintiffs said they were ages 10 and 13 respectively when they were sexually violated. One of them settled his case with the school.

In a recent internal probe, the school found out about at least two other alumni who had submitted Massachusetts child sexual abuse complaints involving allegations that would have occurred in the ’70s and 60’s. Other students also made claims that were never officially reported.

December 8, 2014

Honda Recalls Another 2.6 Million Cars with Takata Air Bags in the U.S.

by Altman & Altman

Honda Motor Co. said that it is expanding its U.S. recall of vehicles with Takata air bags to include another 2.6 million autos. The action, which had only applied to certain areas of the country with high humidity, has now gone national. The automaker says it will replace the air bag inflators on the vehicles.

The air bags, made by the Japanese supplier, are at risk of inflating too forcefully. Should this happen, an air bag explosion might occur, causing shrapnel from the safety device to shoot out in the vehicle, potentially causing debilitating even fatal injuries. At least five fatalities have been blamed on the faulty air bags. All of the vehicles involved with these fatalities were Hondas.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been calling on automakers with vehicles that have Takata air bags to make needed fixes to the safety devices. Honda is the only one to comply with the regulator’s demand so far. Ford, BMW, and Mazda haven’t decided whether to call for a national recall, while Chrysler has refused, as has Takata.

December 4, 2014

Massachusetts Medical Mistakes Impact Almost 25% of State’s Residents, Reports Poll

by Altman & Altman

According to a recently released survey, almost one-quarter of Massachusetts residents or someone close to them has experienced a medical mistake in the last five years. About 50% of those who reported the error said that serious health consequences resulted.

The poll, conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, surveyed 1,224 residents. The researchers said that a lot of people chose not to report a medical mistake either because they didn’t think it would make a difference or they did not know how to report the incident.

According to the Boston Globe, the survey is one of a number of reports commissioned by the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction. Lehman, a 39-year-old mother, died twenty years ago after she was administered a massive overdose of an anticancer drug.

December 2, 2014

NHTSA Probes Graco Car Seat Recall

by Altman & Altman

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Graco Children’s Products Inc. waited too long to recall 6.1 million child safety seats. If the manufacturer did delay the recall of its car seats, it could be subject to a fine of up to $35 million, although now reportedly the White House is trying to get Congress to raise the maximum for that type of violation to $300 million for each incident.

Graco succumbed to government pressure last July, recalling around 1.9 million infant car seats made between 7/10 and 5/13. The safety issue involved buckles that could prove hard to open. This can be dangerous if a child needs to be removed from the child safety device immediately, especially in an emergency situation. That announcement expanded the company’s callback to over 6.1 million car seats.

Earlier in the year, Graco had recalled 3.7 million booster seats and toddler seats that were constructed between ’09- ’13 in the wake of NHTSA pressure. The agency had wanted Graco to recall 5.6 million child safety seats. A month later, Graco recalled another 400,000 car seats. Those were manufactured prior to 2009.

November 28, 2014

It’s The Most Dangerous Time of the Year: Preventing Slip and Fall Accidents this Winter

by Altman & Altman

Slip and fall injuries are one of the most common types of personal injury lawsuits. During wintertime, unsurprisingly, there seems to be a hike in these types of accidents, caused by icy or snowy conditions.

Slip and fall accidents are often considered relatively straightforward in terms of liability: the finger can usually be pointed at the owner or possessor of the building or land. Victims who have slipped, tripped and fallen as the result of the property owner’s negligence to heed certain precautions that would have prevented such an accident from occurring, may be entitled to financial compensation for their injuries. Below, we’ve outlined some of the common scenarios which often lead to slip and fall accidents, as well as rules regarding property owners’ rights and responsibilities to ensure their premise(s) are free of slip and fall hazards.

Ice or Snow Outside a Building

Generally, the Massachusetts law doesn’t require a property owner or property possessor to remove ice or snow that accumulates outside his or her building as the result of inclement weather. However, if conditions on the property cause an unnatural accumulation of ice or snow, the property owner may be liable for slip and fall accidents, including when:

– Ice accumulates on the roof and then melts and drips off because of a clogged drain, then refreezes on the ground,
– The surface of a parking lot causes melting ice to form puddles, and then refreeze into ice patches, resulting in slippery surfaces that may cause individuals to fall.
– If a property owner/possessor elects to provide snow or ice removal, he must not do so negligently.

Inadequate Outdoor Lighting

Failing to adequately light an outdoor area may also lead to slip and fall accidents, especially slip and falls in parking lots, trips over curbing, falls on a step or stairs from a parking lot to a store, and trips and falls due to holes, cracks, and uneven surfaces. When these types of situations occur, the property owner may be found liable if he or she knew or should have known of the poor lighting and failed to fix the problem.

Parking Lots

Parking lot and parking garage owners are responsible for maintaining the property so that it is reasonably safe for people to access it. This includes filling and patching cracks and holes and ensuring that differences in height from one section of the lot to another are gradual rather than abrupt.

Sidewalks

Generally speaking, a property owner is not liable for injuries sustained as the result of a slip and fall on a public sidewalk located outside his or her property (property that is owned and maintained by a city or town). In some cases however, an owner may be responsible if a victim sustained an injury on a private sidewalk used only by customers coming to and from the business.
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November 26, 2014

MBTA Subway Trolleys Collide in Dorchester: Passengers Injured

by Altman & Altman

An Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway trolley collision this morning, injured a reported seven passengers according to WCVB.com and Boston.com.

The accident occurred around 6:40 Wednesday morning on the Mattapan line in Dorchester just outside of the Butler Street station, as the trolleys were en route toward Ashmont. An out-of-service trolley car, luckily carrying no passengers at the time, apparently hit another trolley, which was carrying passengers, an MBTA spokesperson told reporters.

The spokesman also stated that there were at least seven people who were injured in the collision; several reported experiencing some back pain, as well as minor bumps and bruises. Two of the injured individuals included trolley operators.
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