Personal Injury Law

Boston-Based Consumer Watchdog Announced 2009 List of 10 Most Dangerous Toys

Posted on November 20, 2009
When shopping for kids? toys this year, here is a list of products that World Against Toys Causing Harm, a Boston-based consumer watchdog group, is placing on its list of "most dangerous toys" because of the injury risks that WATCH says the items pose: ? Spy Gear Viper Blaster: May cause eye injuries...

Woman Files Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Accusing Yarmouth Police Officer of Using Excessive Force to Apprehend Boyfriend

Posted on November 18, 2009
Camille Campos is alleging police brutality in the Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit she has filed against police officer Christopher Van Ness and the town of Yarmouth. The officer fatally shot Andre Luiz de Castro Martins following a high-speed police pursuit...

Massachusetts Dog Attack: English Bulldog Seriously Injures 77-Year-Old Woman

Posted on November 14, 2009
A 77-year-old Wollaston, Massachusetts woman sustained serious bite injuries when she was attacked by an English bulldog outside her home. The dog, which will be put down, belongs to a neighbor. This was the second time the animal had bitten the elderly victim...

Parents file $4 million Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit over 8-year-old's fatal machine gun accident

Posted on November 13, 2009
The parents of 8-year-old Christopher K. Bizilj are suing seven defendants for their son?s wrongful death. Christopher died after a Micro Uzi machine gun he was holding accidentally discharged last October at a Westfield gun fair. Charles D. and Suzanne M...

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Boston Products Liability?: Kids? Fingertip Amputations Lead to Recall of Approximately 1 Million Strollers by Maclaren

Posted on November 11, 2009
Long known for the dependability of its strollers, manufacturer Maclaren may find that its reliable reputation has been tarnished following reports that 12 kids have suffered fingertip amputations while using its strollers. This week, Maclaren along with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, announced the recall of some 1 million strollers over concerns that fingertip amputations and lacerations can occur...

Boston Injury Accidents Caused by Drowsy Driving Are Preventable

Posted on November 06, 2009
A 2009 poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation reports that in the last year, up to 1.9 million US motorists have either been in a motor vehicle accident or were nearly in an auto collision because they were drowsy while driving. 105 million motorists admitted that they?ve driven while sleepy in the last year, while 54 million drivers say they drowsy drive at least once a month...

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages For Family of 82-Year-Old Who Was Strangled When Clothing Got Stuck on MBTA Escalator

Posted on November 04, 2009
It?s been eight months since an 82-year-old Dorchester woman died while riding an MBTA escalator. Now, the family of Helen Jackson is suing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for Boston wrongful death. The lawsuit alleges that Jackson died of strangulation when, during a fall accident while riding the escalator, her jacket, scarf, and hair got stuck in the metal machinery...

Toxic Face Paint and Massachusetts Pedestrian Accidents Can Make Halloween Really Scary for Parents and Kids

Posted on October 30, 2009
Just when you thought ghosts and goblins were your worst worries on Halloween, now there is news that there may be other dangers lurking in the shadows on an evening that should be best known for candy, trick or treating, and costumes. The Food and Drug Administration is warning parents to be very careful when selecting a face paint for children to use...

Massachusetts Teen Driving Accidents: 18-Year-Old Charged in Boxford Car Crash that Claimed the Life of Other Teenager

Posted on October 26, 2009
A teen driver has been charged with speeding and motor vehicle homicide over a fatal Boxford car crash that killed his friend last night. The single-auto collision claimed the life of 18-year-old Michael Doherty after the car they were riding struck a tree...

Massachusetts Injuries to Minor Lawsuit Seeks Damages for 1-Year-Old Injured in Wal-Mart Car Crash

Posted on October 23, 2009
The mother of Makayla Hayes, 1, is suing the 93-year-old Peabody driver for the little girl?s injuries. Louis Vesprini accidentally drove his car into a Danvers Wal-Mart in June. Alaina Hayes, a Gloucester resident, was pushing her daughter in a stroller when the Massachusetts car accident happened...

Boston Wrongful Death Settlement Reached over Dorchester Woman?s Fatal Fall from Operating Table

Posted on October 20, 2009
A Massachusetts wrongful death settlement agreement has been reached between Boston Medical Center and the family of Catherine O?Donnell. The 86-year-old woman died on October 13, 2007 a week after she fell while being readied for transfer from an operating room table to her hospital bed...

Wrongful Death?: Police Probe of Sweat Lodge Fatalities Becomes a Murder Investigation

Posted on October 15, 2009
Police say they are now treating their probe into the deaths of two people who attended a sweat lodge for two hours as a homicide investigation. 38-year-old Kirby Brown and 40-year-old James Shore died on Friday while attending a ?Spiritual Warrior? program run by self-help expert James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Resort...

84-Year-Old Woman Injured in Salem Pedestrian Accident on Boston Street

Posted on October 12, 2009
An 84-year-old woman sustained serious injured last week when she was struck by an SUV on Boston Street. Laura Camara was in the crosswalk when the Salem pedestrian accident happened. Police have cited William Conway, the driver of the sport utility vehicle, for negligent operation and failure to yield to a pedestrian...

100-Year-Old Patient Murdered in Dartmouth, Massachusetts Nursing Home

Posted on October 08, 2009
In Bristol County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Sam Sutter announced that the 100-year-old woman who was found dead in her bed at a Dartmouth nursing home on September 24 was strangled. Elizabeth Barrows was a resident at the Brandon Woods nursing home...

Former Boston City Councilor Files Massachusetts Brutality Lawsuit

Posted on October 06, 2009
Former Boston Councilor David Scondras is suing Lawrence police for Massachusetts police brutality. Scondras, who was the city?s first openly gay city councilor, claims that Lawrence police beat him on October 9, 2006 when he arrived at a school parking lot to meet a man who he had been flirting with online...

At Distracted Driving Summit, Families of Car Accident Victims Bring to Life the Deadly Consequences of Multitasking While Behind the Wheel

Posted on October 02, 2009
At the US Department of Transportation?s Distracted Driving Summit this week, family members who lost loved ones in car accidents involving drivers who were distracted spoke to attendees about their tragedies. One woman lost her mother of a driver who was talking on his cell phone...

Worcester Boy Injured in Massachusetts Pit Bull Attack Gets Over 100 Stitches on his Face

Posted on September 28, 2009
A 3-year-old boy who was seriously injured during a Worcester, Massachusetts dog attack is reportedly so traumatized by what happened that he doesn?t want to go home. Bartolo Colon was bitten on the face by a neighbor?s pit bull on Saturday after midnight...

Father of 15-Year-old Killed in Marblehead Pedestrian Accident Accuses Essex District Attorney of Protecting Teen Driver

Posted on September 24, 2009
One month after 15-year-old Alessandra Castner was killed in a Marblehead, Massachusetts pedestrian accident while crossing the street, the investigation into the fatal traffic crash continues. However, the probe has become controversial following allegations by ?Allie?s? father, Christopher Castner, that prosecutors are engaged in a coverup...

Boston Police Brutality Allegations Gain Further Credence After Beaten Firefighter is Acquitted of Domestic Violence Charges

Posted on September 22, 2009
A Boston Police Internal Affairs investigation is expected to heat up now that the man alleging Boston police brutality has been acquitted of assaulting his girlfriend. Firefighter Wayne Abron claims that Boston cops David Santosuosso and Brian Dunford severely beat him when they arrived in his mother?s backyard while he and his then-girlfriend, Edwinna Wynn, were arguing loudly on March 23, 2008...

Gangsters ?Whitey? Bulger" and ?The Rifleman? Flemmi Ordered to Pay Victim?s Family $30 Million for Her Massachusetts Wrongful Death

Posted on September 18, 2009
In Norfolk Superior Court, Judge Patrick F. Brady has ordered Boston mobsters James ?Whitey?? Bulger and Stephen ?The Rifleman?? Flemmi to pay $30 million for the Massachusetts wrongful death of Debra Davis. Flemmi, who was the 26-year-old woman's boyfriend, testified of his reluctance to kill her...

Massachusetts Wrongful Death: Beverly Police Say They Can?t Find 911 Tape Warning Of ?Possible Suicidal Female?

Posted on September 14, 2009
Over a year ago, our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog posted a story about a $10 million Massachusetts wrongful death filed against the city of Beverly and three of its police officers over the 2005 suicide death of then-19-year-old Danielle Tarsook. The lawsuit accused the defendants of negligence in the way they handled a 911 call about a ?possible suicidal female, who happened to be Danielle...

Clergy Sexual Abuse: Defrocked Priest Paul Shanley Challenges Conviction for Indecent Assault & Battery and Child Rape

Posted on September 10, 2009
Experts are watching to determine the outcome of a clergy sex abuse case involving defrocked priest Paul Shanley. Shanley was convicted of child rape and indecent assault and battery for abusing a 27-year-old man when he was just a young boy. The victim would go on to receive a $500,000 Boston child sex abuse settlement for his personal injuries...

Four People Injured in Jamaica Plain Car Accident When Driver Strikes Boston Fire Department Vehicle After Running Red Light

Posted on September 09, 2009
Four people were injured on Monday in a Jamaica Plane car accident when a motorist ran a red light, striking a Boston Fire Department vehicle. The driver of the 1998 Audi, Victor Cowart, was trying to get to his fiancé?s home after finding out the kitchen had caught fire...

Will Boston Auto Products Liability Lawyers Push Toyota Motor Corp. To Open Previously Resolved Rollover Lawsuits?

Posted on September 04, 2009
Following allegations made by a former lawyer for Toyota that it hid key records from past rollover accident plaintiffs suing for personal injury and wrongful death, the world?s auto manufacturer could find that it will be forced to defend itself against auto products liability lawsuits that the company had already settled or won...

Teen Driver Talking on Cell Phone Injures Barrington Rider During Bedford Motorcycle Accident

Posted on September 03, 2009
A 50-year-old Barrington man was injured in a Bedford motorcycle accident on August 20 when he was hit by a motor vehicle on Route 101. Robert Heywood was treated for his injuries at a Manchester hospital and then later released. Heywood reportedly injured his leg, broke his knee, and sustained lacerations to his head and ear...

Despite Warnings that Drinking Too Much Alcohol Can Cause Boston Car Accidents, Many People Still Overindulge

Posted on August 28, 2009
We all know that driving drunk can result in catastrophic Boston car crashes. Unfortunately, many people still continue to get behind the steering wheel of a vehicle after drinking too much and they risk their lives and the lives of others in the process...

Coroner Rules Michael Jackson?s Death a Homicide While The King of Pop's Mother Considers Filing Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Posted on August 25, 2009
The Associated Press says that a law enforcement officer has told them that the Los Angeles Coroner?s office has determined that Michael?s Jackson?s death was a homicide caused by a combination of drugs. By calling the singer?s death a homicide, this means that the pop star died as a result of another person...

Marshfield Man Dies in Massachusetts Bicycle Accident

Posted on August 21, 2009
A Marshfield man died on Wednesday morning when he was injured in a Massachusetts bicycle accident near Green Harbor Marina. The collision happened around 10:30 am when a woman driving a sedan hit him. The bicyclist, who was in his late 60?s, was not wearing a helmet...

Quincy Nursing Home Abuse Allegations: Massachusetts Nursing Assistant Accused of Assaulting Alzheimer?s Patients

Posted on August 19, 2009
A 23-year-old Quincy nursing assistant is under house arrest for allegedly beating four Alzheimer?s patients. On Friday, Kara A. Murphy pleaded not guilty to seven counts of assault and battery on a person over 60. The alleged Quincy nursing home abuse incident reportedly occurred at the Atrium at Faxon Woods where Murphy worked...

At the Risk of Causing Boston Injury Accidents, Many Cab Drivers Still Talk on Cell Phones While Driving Despite Ban

Posted on August 17, 2009
Even though Boston cab drivers are now banned from using a cell phone while driving, the Boston Herald is reporting that many cabbies are either ignoring the rule or just don?t know about it?or so they say. This behavior is dangerous and can cause Boston injury accidents...

Man Agrees to Clinton, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Settlement Over Wife?s Stabbing Murder at KFC-Taco Bell Site

Posted on August 13, 2009
A Gardner man who lost his wife when she was murdered by a construction worker at the fast food chain where she was employed has reached a Massachusetts wrongful death settlement over the case. The plaintiff and the defendants arrived at an agreement on August 4, while the Worcester Superior Court jury was in its second day of jury deliberations over a possible verdict...

Randolph, Massachusetts Driver Who is Charged with Fatal Milton Car Accident Pleads Not Guilty

Posted on August 11, 2009
In Quincy District Court, 29-year-old Eric Lum has pleaded innocent to a number of criminal charges over the Milton, Massachusetts car accident death of a 25-year-old special needs teacher. Lum is accused of driving the sport utility vehicle that crashed into Alison Regan?s car in a head-on crash on Route 28 right before midnight on Sunday...

Scaffold Malfunction Leaves Two Boston Window Washers Dangling 37 Floors

Posted on August 06, 2009
In Boston, the lives of two window washers were left hanging 37 floors above a street in the Financial District when the scaffold they were standing on collapsed. Julio Ortiz and Kyle Redmond banged on the windows of the skyscraper they were working on, calling for help...

Deadly LA Fitness Shooting Leaves 4 People Dead and Injures 10

Posted on August 05, 2009
Four people are dead after a lone gunman entered an LA Fitness gym in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, shut off the lights in an aerobics room, and began shooting at patrons. He then killed himself. Three women died in the shooting and at least 10 others were injured from the 50 rounds that he fired...

New Study Says Boston Truck Accidents 23 Times More Likely When Texting and NHTSA Introduces New Truck Braking Standards

Posted on July 31, 2009
The issue of truck safety has been in the news lately. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration introduced new braking standards for truck drivers that the federal agency says will save 227 lives a year and prevent 300 serious injuries from happening...

Wrong-Way Car Crash Kills 4 Adults and 4 Kids

Posted on July 27, 2009
A deadly wrong-way driving crash claimed the lives of 8 people in New York on Sunday afternoon after a minivan traveled the wrong way on a suburban parkway for almost 2 miles before striking another car. Killed in the deadly motor vehicle collision were the minivan?s driver, 36-year-old Diane Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter Erin, three of her nieces, Emma, 9, Alison, 7, and Kate, 5 (her three nieces are the daughters of her brother, Warren Hance, who owns the minivan), driver Guy Bastardi, his father Michael, and Daniel Longo...

Boston Police Dog Attacks Woman in the Stomach, Face, and Leg in Mattapan

Posted on July 24, 2009
In Mattapan, Massachusetts, an off-duty Boston police dog attacked a woman who was walking her Chihuahua-like pet on Wednesday. The Boston dog bite incident occurred when the police dog ran away from its handler and went after the tinier dog. As the little dog?s 60-year-old owner tried to protect it, the Boston police dog bit her in the stomach, face, and leg...

Four Massachusetts Traffic Accidents Cause Pedestrian Injuries and Deaths

Posted on July 21, 2009
In the last five days, at least two people died and one person was seriously injured in Massachusetts pedestrian accidents. On Sunday night, 17-year-old Nicholas Bitsis sustained injuries to his head and body when a car struck him in Seekonk. The driver of the motor vehicle, Margaret Whitaker, is 78...

Supreme Judicial Court Upholds $4.4 Million Wrongful Death Award for Family of Yarmouth Man Fatally Injured in Gillette Stadium-Massachusetts Bus Accident

Posted on July 16, 2009
The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the Massachusetts wrongful death award that a jury gave to the family of a Yarmouth man who died after the bus he was riding was hit by a large security gate arm. The tragic Foxborough, Massachusetts premises liability accident happened in 2003 as the bus was driving through an empty parking lot...

2008 Newton Train Accident: Sleep Disorder May Have Caused Operator To Doze Off

Posted on July 14, 2009
According to a federal safety panel, Terrese Edmonds, the train operator who failed adhere to a red stop signal, causing the May 2008 Newton, Massachusetts train accident, may have fallen asleep because she was suffering from an undiagnosed sleep disorder...

Boston Nursing Home Negligence: Sally?s Law Would Require Massachusetts Nursing Homes to Provide Copy of Patients? Rights

Posted on July 09, 2009
A Boston woman wants Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a new law that would require local nursing homes to provide nursing home residents and their families with a copy of their rights. Rachel Geller began pushing for the law after her aunt was dismissed from a Jamaica Plain nursing home without warning...

8 People Killed in Massachusetts Car Crashes Over July 4 Weekend

Posted on July 06, 2009
The holiday weekend turned tragic for a number of Massachusetts car accident victims and their families when eight people were killed and one person was seriously injured in Quincy, Walpole, Attleboro, and Sudbury. According to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant David Wilson said that in his more than two decades reconstructing car accidents, he doesn?t remember so many fatalities in one night...

Massachusetts Traffic Deaths Drop 16% to 363 Fatalities in 2008

Posted on July 03, 2009
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reporting a 16% drop in the number of Massachusetts traffic deaths between 2007 and 2008. 363 people died in traffic accidents throughout the state last year. 434 people died in 2007. Worcester County and Middlesex County tied for first place as the counties with the most traffic fatalities?56 deaths each...

Two More Massachusetts Car Accidents Involving Elderly Drivers Adds Fuel to Issue of Whether the State Needs Tougher Driving Rules for Older Seniors

Posted on June 30, 2009
In Boston, lawmakers are considering whether to impose stricter driving regulations on elderly senior drivers. The debate comes in the wake of several high profile Massachusetts car accidents this month involving senior motorists. Just today, an 83-year-old Malden driver faces negligent operation charges following an accident that left a 78-year-old woman with life-threatening injuries...

Stoughton, Massachusetts Pedestrian Death: 88-Year-Old Driver Contests Charges That She Struck 4-Year-Old On Route 138

Posted on June 26, 2009
An 88-year-old Canton driver that is accused of striking and killing a child pedestrian is contesting the criminal charges that were filed against her. Ilse Horn allegedly hit Stoughton resident Diya Patel on Saturday on June 13 while the 4-year-old was crossing Route 138 on a scooter with her grandfather and siblings...

Boston MBTA Accident Attorneys: Deadly DC Train Crash Kills at Least 9 People and Injures Over 70 Others

Posted on June 23, 2009
As our Boston MBTA accident lawyers at Altman & Altman, LLP know, the injuries and damages from a serious train crash can be devastating. Just yesterday in Washington DC, at least 9 people died and over 70 people were taken to local hospitals after one subway train rammed into another train during the rush hour commute...

Boston Wrongful Death: Government Ordered to Pay $6.25 Million to Family of Revere Club Owner Murdered by Mob

Posted on June 18, 2009
In Massachusetts, US District Judge William G. Young told the federal government that it must pay the family of Richard J. Castucci $6.25 for his wrongful death. Castucci, a Revere nightclub owner, was murdered in 1976 in a mob slaying organized by FBI Informants Stephen Flemmi and James Bulger...

Stop Boston Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15, 2009

Posted on June 15, 2009
Around the globe on June 15, organizations will hold events to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The day supports the United Nations International Plan of Action that recognizes elder abuse as a public health and human rights problem. Unfortunately, many people around the world still fail to recognize and/or stop elder neglect or abuse when these incidents happen...

Preventing Boston Car Accidents: Lawmakers and Groups Calling on Massachusetts to Retest Elderly Drivers

Posted on June 10, 2009
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick says he?ll support legislation mandating that drivers, 85 and older, must pass road and eye tests every year before their driver?s licenses can be renewed. While most advocates for the elderly consider such oversight based on age to be discriminatory, Safe Roads Now, which is a Massachusetts coalition of groups that are advocates for the elderly, is also calling for retesting...

Boston Wrongful Death: Families of Firefighters Killed in West Roxbury Restaurant Blaze Agree to $2.2 Million Settlement

Posted on June 08, 2009
In Massachusetts, the families of Boston firefighters Warren J. Payne and Paul J. Cahill have reached a $2.2 million Boston wrongful death settlement with defendants Tai Ho Mandarin and Cantonese restaurant, J& B Cleaning, and the restaurant?s landlord, Continental Realty LLC...

93-Year-Old Massachusetts Driver Crashes Car into Danvers Wal-Mart, Injuring a Mother and Toddler

Posted on June 03, 2009
A Massachusetts mother and her one-year-old daughter had to be taken to local hospitals for treatment of their injuries sustained after a 93-year-old driver rode his car into a Danvers Wal-Mart on Tuesday. According to police, the driver may have intended to step on the brake but instead placed his foot on the gas pedal...

Prevent Boston Pool and Spa Drowning Accidents by Installing New Drains and Implementing the Proper Safety Measures, Says CPSC

Posted on June 02, 2009
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that nearly 300 kids 4 ages 4 and under are killed in pool and spa accidents a year, while some 3,000 others are injured. More than 50% of the child victims are under 3 years of age. 80% of fatal drowning accidents involving child victims occur in spas and pools in private residences...

Former Student Files $1 Million Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Cambridge Private School

Posted on May 29, 2009
A former Buckingham Browne & Nichols student is suing the Cambridge, Massachusetts private school for the sexual abuse he says he suffered during the 80?s at the hands of an ex-English teacher. The man that Daniel Weinreib is accusing of abusing him, Edward Washburn, is now a convicted pedophile...

Boston Personal Injury Law Firm: Massachusetts Senate Approves Amendment Banning Texting and All Internet Use While Driving

Posted on May 26, 2009
Last Thursday, the Massachusetts Senate included and approved in its version of the state budget an amendment banning Internet use while driving?this includes text messaging, emailing, or surfing the Web while operating a motor vehicle. Bus drivers, train operators, trolley drivers, and the drivers of other public transit vehicles would be banned from holding a cell phone while driving and would only be allowed to carry the device for emergency purposes...

After 36 Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident Deaths in 2008, Safety Awareness Month is a Good Time to Remind Boston Motorcyclists and Other Motorists that They "Share the Roads"

Posted on May 21, 2009
The month of May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness month in the United States. This is a time to remind Boston motorcyclists and motor vehicle riders that they share the roads with each other and that both groups are responsible for taking the necessary precautions to prevent Massachusetts motorcycle accidents from happening...

City of Methuen Reaches $600,000 Massachusetts Wrongful Death Settlement with Family of Boy Crushed by 1,600 Pound Iron Gate

Posted on May 19, 2009
In Massachusetts, the family of Timothy DiLeo will receive $600,000 for his wrongful death from the city of Methuen. DiLeo died on Labor Day 2007 at Tenney Grammar School after a 1,600-pound iron gate fell on top of him. He was 11. Two of DiLeos brothers and another boy were playing at the school when the gate fell on Timothy and his 8-year-old brother Andrew...

Quincy Couple Files Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawsuit Suing Brigham and Women?s Hospital for Destroying Embryos

Posted on May 17, 2009
A Quincy couple is suing Brigham and Women?s Hospital for Massachusetts personal injury, including negligence, emotional injury, and breach of contract. The hospital had accidentally destroyed all 13 frozen embryos that the plaintiffs, Julie and Michael Norton, had placed in their care...

Could Long Waits to Visit Boston Doctors Lead to Delayed Diagnosis?

Posted on May 15, 2009
According to the Boston Globe, a recent study reveals that patients seeking nonurgent appointments with Boston medical specialists may have to wait anywhere from an average of 50 days to up to a year before they can actually see the doctor. While delays to see some of the area?s top medical professionals are not uncommon, doctors say a 2006 health insurance law that required hundreds of thousands of people to get insurance coverage has only added to the long wait...

Boston Green Line Train Crash that Injured Dozens is A Reminder of Why Text Messaging And Driving Don?t Mix

Posted on May 12, 2009
The Daily News Tribune says that during the time it takes to compose and send a simple text message while driving (requiring the driver to take his or her eyes off the road), a motor vehicle will likely have traveled the length of a football field?enough time and distance for at least one motor vehicle crash to occur...

Preventing Boston Car Accidents: IIHS Says The Bigger and Heavier the Motor Vehicle, the Greater the Safety Protection Provided

Posted on May 07, 2009
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently announced the results of three front-to-front crash tests it conducted. A microcar or minicar and a midsize model from the same auto maker were used for each test. IIHS president Adrian Lund says that while there are undoubtedly benefits to buying the smaller cars, including the facts that they cost less and don't use up as much gas, these latest tests show that people may be sacrificing occupant safety for financial savings...

?Whitey Bulger Victims? Families Awarded Nearly $8.5 Million for Their Massachusetts Wrongful Deaths

Posted on May 03, 2009
US District Judge William G. Young is ordering the US government to pay the families of Edward ?Brian? Halloran and Michael Donahue nearly $8.5 million for their Massachusetts wrongful deaths. The surviving family members of two men who were shot to death in Boston in 1982 by FBI informant James ?White? Bulger...

Boston Workers' Compensation Law Firm: 66 Massachusetts Workers Died Because of Work-Related Accidents and Ailments in 2008

Posted on April 28, 2009
According to a report coauthored by the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, 66 Massachusetts workers died last year while at work or because of illnesses they sustained while doing their jobs...

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit To Be Filed By Family of Worcester Man Made to Walk Down Stairs by Paramedics

Posted on April 27, 2009
In Massachusetts, the family of Charles F. Rondeau is considering filing a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit for his wrongful death. Rondeau died on May 11, 2008. UMass Memorial EMS paramedics arrived at his home after he complained that he wasn?t feeling well...

Recent Massachusetts Cheerleading Accidents Spur Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits

Posted on April 24, 2009
The vision of athletic girls dressed in short skirts, cheering, and performing acrobatic moves is a common sight at athletic events in schools and at professional sporting events throughout the US. Yet, cheerleading can be a dangerous activity, leading to serious personal injuries and wrongful deaths for some of its participants...

GM and NHTSA Announce Recall of 1.5 Million Motor Vehicles

Posted on April 21, 2009
General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced the recall of 1,497,517 motor vehicles because of a a defect in the 3.8 liter engines of the autos that could lead to a car fire. The cars included in the recall are the Chevrolet Lumina (1998 to 2003 models), the Buick Regal (1997 to 2003), the Chevrolet Monte Carlo (1998 to 2003), the Chevrolet Impala (1998 to 1999), the Pontiac Grand Prix (1998 to 2003), and the Oldsmobile Intrigue (1998 to 1999)...

Clergy Sex Abuse Victim Supporters Want Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to Reveal Names of Local Priests Credibly Accused of Molestation and Sexual Assault

Posted on April 17, 2009
The Boston Voice of the Faithful, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and BishopAccountability.org have sent letters to Cardinal Sean O?Malley of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston asking for the names of all of its priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse...

Quincy Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks $10 Million Over Deadly Blaze Inside Illegal Apartment

Posted on April 14, 2009
The Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer of a woman whose husband and two sons were killed in a fire at an illegal apartment is seeking to attach the assets of landlords Jinny Xiu Ma and Andy Huang. The two property owners are the defendants of the $10 million wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of 27-year-old Terri Knight...

Massachusetts Hospitals Rack Up Over 300 Medical Mistakes, Including Fall Accidents, Medication Errors, and Surgical Malpractice, In 2008

Posted on April 10, 2009
According to Massachusetts health officials, 338 medical mistakes occurred in hospitals throughout the state last year. Many of these errors could have been avoided. The findings are part of a study that documents ?serious reportable events? in 2008. Breakdown of the 338 serious reportable incidents occurring in Massachusetts hospitals last year: ? Fall accidents: 224 ? Retained foreign objects: 32 ? Wrong site: 24 ? Serious bedsores: 12 ? Medication mistakes: 12 ? Sexual assault: 11 ? Burn accidents: 6 ? Incorrect procedure: 5 ? Device or product malfunction: 3 ? Attempted suicide or suicide: 3 ? Air embolism: 2 ? Restraint/bedrail incidents: 1 ? Maternal death/disability: 1 ? Hyperbilirubinemia in newborn: 1 ? Wrong patient: 1 19 hospital fatalities were linked to these kinds of incidents...

Two Brockton, Massachusetts Traffic Accidents Result in Serious Injuries

Posted on April 07, 2009
In Massachusetts, two serious Brockton motor vehicle accidents have left its victims with injuries. On Friday morning, two sisters from East Bridgewater got hurt when their compact car was involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer. 19-year-old Esther Martinez sustained a fractured skull, two spinal fractures, brain contusions, serious facial factures, and a broken collar bone...

Brockton Pedestrian Accident Kills 3-Year-Old Boy and Seriously Injures His Mom and Two Siblings

Posted on April 02, 2009
Residents in Brockton are still reeling following Tuesday?s Massachusetts pedestrian accident that killed 3-year-old Christopher Mitchell and seriously injured his mom and two siblings. The family was crossing North Main Street when they were struck by a black Toyota minivan...

Massachusetts Woman Sues City of Taunton and Police Officer for Personal Injury and Police Brutality

Posted on March 30, 2009
In Massachusetts, a Taunton woman is suing the city of Taunton and police officer Robert Kramer for personal injuries she sustained from an alleged police brutality incident. In her federal lawsuit, Celine Kaye is seeking unspecified damages for broken ribs, facial fractures, and emotional trauma...

Quincy Apartment Where Fire Killed Father and Two Children Was in Illegal Basement and Didn?t Have Sprinklers or Working Smoke Alarm

Posted on March 26, 2009
According to the Quincy building commissioner, the apartment where a man and his two children were killed in a fire on Wednesday was illegally constructed in a basement that did not contain sprinklers or a working smoke detector. Three other families who live in the apartment building say that the smoke alarms in their units also do not work...

Blackstone Woman Wins $6.4 Million Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict

Posted on March 24, 2009
A woman has won a $6.4 million Massachusetts medical malpractice verdict in court. Kimberly Monson, a Blackstone resident, claims that her doctor neglected to treat her properly when she developed a potentially dangerous condition when she was pregnant and as a result, suffered brain damage...

Natasha Richardson?s Death a Reminder of How a Seemingly Minor Head Injury Can Prove Fatal

Posted on March 18, 2009
Movie Star Natasha Richardson?s death from a traumatic brain injury she sustained when she fell during a beginner?s ski lesson is a tragic reminder of not just how important it is to use a helmet when skiing or snowboarding, but of how what might appear to be a simple head injury can quickly turn into one that is catastrophic...

Surgical Fires Can Be Grounds for Massachusetts Medical Malpractice

Posted on March 16, 2009
According to the Emergency Care Research Institute, out of the 50 million medical operations that take place in the US, about 600 of them result in accidental surgical fires. The outcome can be catastrophic for the patient, who may sustain serious burn injuries...

Following Deadly Boston Fire Truck Accident Caused by Brake Failure, City Fire Department Criticized for Poor Fleet Maintenance

Posted on March 11, 2009
An outside inspection of the Boston Fire Department?s 44 fire trucks found that the department practices shoddy fleet maintenance across the board. Some of the deficiencies noted by the report: ? Not enough driver training. ? Vehicle abuse or misuse...

Massachusetts to be Sued for Wrongful Death of Couple Murdered by Convicted Killer Tavares

Posted on March 09, 2009
The families of Brian and Beverly Mauck have notified the state of Massachusetts that it is going to be one of the defendants that will be sued for the couple?s wrongful deaths. The Maucks were shot to death on November 17, 2007 by convicted murderer Daniel J...

US Supreme Court Upholds $6.7 Drug Litigation Verdict Against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Rejects Plea that Federal Approval of Phenergan Pre-Empts Personal Injury Lawsuits

Posted on March 05, 2009

Former Sudbury, Massachusetts Nursing Home Worker Charged With Sexually Molesting Patient

Posted on March 03, 2009

Restoring to Injured Patients the Right to Sue Medical Device Makers

Posted on February 26, 2009

82-Year-Old Boston Woman Dies in MBTA Escalator Accident

Posted on February 24, 2009
In Boston, an 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead today at Massachusetts General Hospital after falling on an escalator at the MBTA?s State Street Station. Her clothing reportedly got caught in the escalator. According to Boston EMS spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan, a ?cardiac incident? and the ?escalator accident? were both factors in the elderly Boston woman?s death...

Massachusetts Student Files Slip and Fall Lawsuit Against City of Lynn

Posted on February 19, 2009
In Massachusetts, a former Breed Middle School student is suing the city of Lynn for personal injury. Ralph Ozual?s slip and fall lawsuit, filed in Salem Superior Court, is seeking $100,000 in damages. Ozual?s complaint contends that on January 14, 2002, he sustained serious personal injuries when he slipped an fell on ice and snow in the Breed Middle School yard while walking from the bus to the school entrance...

Federal Investigators Probe Cause of Continental Plane Crash That Killed 50 People

Posted on February 17, 2009
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration are trying to determine the cause of last Thursday?s deadly plane crash that killed all 49 people onboard the plane and another victim on the ground...

State Trooper Files Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawsuit Against Taser Manufacturer

Posted on February 12, 2009
In the US District Court in Worcester, a state trooper is suing Taser International, the makers of the Taser stun gun, for $1 million. James Foley, a Grafton resident, says that when the weapon was used on him during a law enforcement seminar on Tasers, the electric currents that went through his body bent a surgical screw that was in his leg...

Some 48 Massachusetts Residents Affected by Salmonella Illness that Has Spurred Mass Peanut Product Recall

Posted on February 10, 2009
Public health officials in Massachusetts say 48 residents have been afflicted by the same strain of Salmonella that has made over 600 people in the United States sick. The Salmonella Typhimurium originated from a peanut plant in Georgia that is owned by the Peanut Corporation of America...

Boston Crane Collapse Kills One Massachusetts Construction Worker and Injures Another

Posted on February 08, 2009
In Boston, one worker has died and another suffered serious injuries when a crane fell at Suffolk University on Saturday morning. The crane was being used to inspect the roof of a seven-story dorm building when it tipped over, causing its 110-foot arm to crash into a building and barely miss a number of shoppers who were browsing books at the Brattle Book Shop?s outdoor display...

Massachusetts Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit Pending Against Brockton Nursing Home Assistant Convicted of Assault and Battery of a 93-Year-Old Patient

Posted on February 04, 2009
In Brockton Superior Court, Judge Carroll Ball sentenced former Massachusetts nursing home assistant Steven Laroche to a two-year suspended jail sentence for sexually assaulting an elderly person. Laroche had pleaded guilty to the charges of assault and battery...

Family Of Marine Who Was Refused Care At The VA Hospital In Massachusetts to Receive Wrongful Death Settlement

Posted on February 02, 2009
A $350,000 wrongful death settlement has been reached between the federal government and the family of a US marine reserve corporal who was refused care at the Veterans Administration hospital in Leeds, Massachusetts. Marine Reserve Corporal Jeffrey Lucey hanged himself in June 2004...

Toyota Issues International Recall of 1.3 Million Motor Vehicles

Posted on January 29, 2009
Toyota is recalling 1.3 million motor vehicles over concerns that a foam pad located close to the seat belt could catch fire during an auto crash. Included in the automaker?s recall are 134,000 Yaris subcompacts (2006 and 2007 models) that were sold in the United States...

Seat Belts and Air Bags Together Are Key to Preventing Spine Fractures During Motor Vehicle Accidents

Posted on January 27, 2009
New information in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine offers convincing evidence that the combined use of seat belts and air bags is the best protection that auto accident victims can have from sustaining spine fractures. The findings are based on an examination of over 20,000 motor vehicle crash victims who were treated in Wisconsin hospitals between 1994 and 2002...

Massachusetts Man Awarded $2 Million for Wrongful Death of Wife Due to Medication Error During Cesarean Delivery

Posted on January 23, 2009
In Salem Superior Court, a jury awarded the family of Priscilla Jardine $2 million for her wrongful death. Jardine died on February 26, 2004 soon after giving birth to a baby girl during an emergency cesarean section. The jury issued its Massachusetts wrongful death verdict after finding that Jardine?s obstetrician, Dr...

Investigators Probe Cause of Massachusetts Bus Accident that Injured 5 People

Posted on January 20, 2009
In Massachusetts, an investigation is taking place into a bus crash that occured last Sunday night in Grafton. Five people were injured and taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester. The bus, carrying 30 passengers, was headed to the Mohegan Sun casino when its driver crashed through a Massachusetts Turnpike guardrail and stopped in the woods...

Medical Complications and Operating Room Deaths are Reduced When Safety Checklist is Followed, Says Harvard Study

Posted on January 15, 2009
Researchers from Harvard say that operating room deaths and medical complications are decreased by 1/3rd whenever nurses and doctors follow a 19-step checklist before, during, and after the surgical procedure. Their findings come from a international study involving eight hospitals...

Stork Craft and CPSC announce product recall of over 500,000 cribs due to suffocation and entrapment hazards

Posted on January 13, 2009
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Stork Craft Manufacturing are announcing the recall of some 535,000 Stork Craft Baby Cribs. They are telling consumers to stop using the cribs right away. Stork Craft will provide crib owners with a free replacement kit...

Deadly Boston Fire Truck Accident May Have Been Caused By Brake Failure, Says Survivors

Posted on January 11, 2009
Investigators looking into the deadly accident involving a Boston Fire Department ladder truck driving through an intersection and ramming into a high-rise apartment building are examining the vehicle?s brakes. The focus on catastrophic brake failure as a possible cause for the fatal crash comes after reports from survivors that the fire truck?s driver frantically pumped on the brakes in an effort to stop Ladder 26 from flying down Parker Hill Avenue before crashing into the building that housed a computer learning center where kids were working...

More Higher Quality Massachusetts Nursing Homes Are Located in More Affluent Areas, Says the Associated Press

Posted on January 08, 2009
An Associated Press review of the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ranking system found that Massachusetts nursing homes located in the state?s more affluent areas tended to receive higher ratings for quality than their counterparts in poorer counties...

Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Plymouth Police Alleges Police Brutality

Posted on January 07, 2009
In Massachusetts, the mother of 16-year-old Anthony McGrath is suing the town of Plymouth, former police chief Robert Pomeroy, and officers Edwin Almeida and Richard Tavares for his wrongful death. McGrath was shot by Almeida and Tavares following a high-speed motor vehicle pursuit on January 10, 2006...

Movie Star Dennis Quaid and his Wife Agree to $75,000 Medical Malpractice Settlement from Cedars-Sinai for Twins? Accidental Heparin Overdose

Posted on December 29, 2008
Dennis and Kimberly Quaid have reached a $750,000 medical malpractice settlement agreement with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the medication error that nearly killed their twin infants last year. Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid were accidentally administered 1,000 times the recommended dose of heparin, a blood thinner...

11 Boston Area Motor Vehicle Crashes Reported During Weekend Snowstorm

Posted on December 24, 2008
Police in the Boston area say at least 11 motor vehicle crashes occurred over the weekend. According to the National Weather Service, some 8.8 inches of snow fell from the sky on Friday, with another 3.7 inches of snow falling on Saturday and 3.8 inches on Saturday...

NTSB Investigate Continental Airlines Jet Crash that Injured Nearly 40 Passengers

Posted on December 23, 2008
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the Continental Airlines jet crash that occurred last Saturday as it took off from Denver International Airport. The plane accident took place a little after 6pm as the Boeing 737 was speeding down an airport runway...

Six Massachusetts Apartment Residents Are Sent To Boston-Area Hospitals Following Exposure To Carbon Monoxide

Posted on December 18, 2008
In Massachusetts, three children and three adults were taken to Boston-area hospitals for evaluation after a heating malfunction at their Dorchester apartment building released carbon monoxide into their rooms. The sound of carbon monoxide detectors going off prompted a fast evacuation of the premise...

54 MBTA Workers Kept Their Jobs After Failing Alcohol and Drug Tests

Posted on December 17, 2008
According to the Boston Herald, T substance abuse test results in the last three years show that 77 MBTA trolley operators, bus drivers, and train operators had tested positive for alcohol or drug use. Despite these results, only 21 of these MBTA workers were fired, while 2 other employees resigned...

Two Middleborough Teens Killed in Massachusetts Car Accident

Posted on December 12, 2008
Two Massachusetts teenagers died in Middleborough on Thursday after the 18-year-old driver lost control of his car and struck a tree. Driver Joseph W. DeYoung and his 17-year-old passenger, Brian McMahon, died from their injuries. DeYoung had just earned his driver?s license on December 2...

Leading Causes of Child Deaths Are Also Among Common Causes of Personal Injuries and Wrongful Deaths

Posted on December 10, 2008
Unicef and the World Health Organization say that 830,000 children are killed around the world in accidents. Their report, the World Report on Child Injury Prevention, is the first report to gather all known information on child injuries and deaths around the globe...

Marlborough Worker?s Widow to Receive $1.2 Million for Massachusetts Wrongful Death

Posted on December 04, 2008
The widow of a worker who died after he was crushed by 2,500 pounds of granite has settled her Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit with a company for $1.2 million. As part of the agreement, the name of the company that settled the lawsuit will remain confidential...

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled During Black Friday Shopping Sale Died From Positional Asphyxia

Posted on December 02, 2008
The attorney for the family of Jdimytai Damour, a seasonal Wal-Mart maintenance employee who died after being trampled by shoppers that were scrambling to enter the store during last week?s Black Friday sale, says that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could have done more to prevent the 34-year-old?s death...

One Fatality, One Injury, in Massachusetts Multi-Vehicle Crash Involving Tanker Truck

Posted on November 25, 2008
One woman is dead and five other people sustained injuries in a multi-vehicle collision in Littleton on Tuesday involving an empty tanker truck. The Massachusetts motor vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of Spectacle Pond Road and Route 2a. According to Fire Chief Stephen Carter, the elderly woman who died was in the vehicle that collided with the truck...

Boston Pedestrian Accidents Frequently Occur on Massachusetts Avenue

Posted on November 24, 2008
Students and workers on Massachusetts Avenue are complaining that the street is a danger zone for pedestrians. Aggressive drivers, multiple buses, motorcyclists weaving through traffic, speeding ambulances, faulty walk signals, and pedestrians talking on cell phones are some of the reasons they cite for why so many pedestrian accidents keep happening on this busy Boston road...

2 MBTA Workers Involved in Separate Massachusetts Train Accidents Test Positive for Substance Abuse

Posted on November 21, 2008
A Massachusetts Transportation Bay Authority spokesperson says that two MBTA workers who were involved in separate Green Line train accidents over the last week tested positive for alcohol or drugs. Both employees have been suspended without pay until the formal process for firing them is concluded...

Massachusetts Doctors Say Fear of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Compels Them to Practice Defensive Medicine

Posted on November 18, 2008
According to the Massachusetts Medical Society, many physicians in the state are so afraid that patients will sue them for medical malpractice that they order unnecessary procedures, hospital stays, tests, and referrals just to prevent lawsuits from happening...

Couple Files Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit Against the Town of Pepperell

Posted on November 13, 2008
A Pepperell couple is suing the town of Pepperell for personal injuries they sustained in a Massachusetts motorcycle collision in 2005. Edward and Jennifer DiNitto are suing the town for $500,000 to cover medical bills and lost wages. They filed the personal injury lawsuit in Lowell Superior Court...

Quincy Woman Who Lost Her Arm in Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident is Awarded $5 Million for Personal Injury

Posted on November 11, 2008
An Essex Superior Court jury has ordered the 99 Restaurants of Boston and Haverhill resident David Kvinlaug to pay a Quincy woman $5 million for personal injury. Laurie Clifford lost her arm in a 2003 drunk driving accident. Kvinlaug, who was driving the car that Clifford was riding in, pleaded guilty to drunk driving and served 90 days in jail...

$13.5 Million Boston Wrongful Death Verdict Awarded to Family of Woman Who Died After Receiving Experimental Cancer Drug Treatment

Posted on November 06, 2008
In Boston, Massachusetts, a Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded the family of Amy Altman $13.5 million for her wrongful death. Altman died in July 2003 after undergoing a cycle of experimental chemotherapy to treat her cancer. The 40-year-old mother of two young girls, who sought treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was receiving chemotherapy for Ewing?s sarcoma once every two weeks instead of the standard treatment of once every three weeks...

Dorchester Crossing Guard Struck by Car in Massachusetts Traffic Accident Dies From Her Injuries

Posted on November 05, 2008
In Massachusetts, the 59-year old crossing guard who was struck by a car as she helped a 10-year-old across a Dorchester street has died. Marie Conley passed away one week after the October 21 pedestrian accident that took place outside Mathers Elementary School...

Mother and 9-Year-old Son Die in Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Accident While Trick-or-Treating

Posted on November 02, 2008
In Westfield, a mother and her nine-year-old son died on Halloween Night when they were struck by a car while trick-or-treating. Roberta A. Salois, 47, and Steven X. Smith-Salois were crossing the street when the deadly Massachusetts motor vehicle crash happened on South Maple Street, which is also called Route 202...

8-Year-old Boy Dies After Accidentally Shooting Himself with Machine Gun at Massachusetts Gun Show

Posted on October 29, 2008
Massachusetts state troopers are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accidental shooting death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj at a gun show in Hampden County over the weekend. Bizilj was attending the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo, an annual event at the Westfield Sportsman?s Club, when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a 9mm micro submachine gun...

Massachusetts Construction Worker Sustains Crush Injuries After Getting Trapped Under Machinery in Whitman Accident

Posted on October 27, 2008
A Massachusetts construction worker sustained moderate crush injuries after getting hurt at T & K Asphalt Sealing in Whitman on Monday. The worker, 32, was under the cab of a bobcat when the bucket arms of the heavy machinery came down and crushed him...

Mother of Medford Cheerleader Sues Tewskbury Gym for Wrongful Death in Massachusetts

Posted on October 23, 2008
A Medford mother is suing East Elite Cheer Gym for her daughter?s 2005 wrongful death. Ashley Burns, then 14, died from a lacerated spleen after she fell during a routine cheerleading stunt at the gym. Ashley was taking cheerleading lessons at the gym, along with other members of the Medford High School cheerleading team when the accident happened...

Appeals Court Upholds Quincy Family?s $3.1 Million Award For FBI Leak that Led to Fisherman?s Death

Posted on October 20, 2008
Last week, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $3.1 million award against the US government for the wrongful death of a Massachusetts fisherman who was murdered in Boston by Winter Hill gang leaders Stephen Flemmi and James ?Whitey? Bulger after an FBI agent leaked information to them...

NHTSA Records 61 Pedestrian Deaths in Massachusetts

Posted on October 16, 2008
Out of the 417 Massachusetts traffic deaths in 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 61 of those fatalities were pedestrians. Nationally in the US, there were 4,654 pedestrian deaths last year, with one pedestrian dying every 13 minutes...

One Massachusetts Construction Worker is Dead and Another is Injured in Fall Accident From Lift at a Waltham Job Site

Posted on October 13, 2008
In Massachusetts, a construction accident on the AstraZeneca campus in Waltham on Sunday has left one worker, 40, dead and another, age 30, with serious injuries. According to Waltham Police, the work accident occurred at around 11 in the morning while the men were installing aluminum panels to the side of the lab that is under construction...

Widow of Massachusetts Doctor Killed When Patient Drove Car Into Brockton Hospital Sues the Driver?s Doctors for His Wrongful Death

Posted on October 09, 2008
In Massachusetts, a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Plymouth County Superior Court alleges that the doctors of the woman who accidentally drove her car into Brockton Hospital last year are also responsible for her husband's wrongful death. Kathleen Vasa is suing Compass Medical, Dr...

Cape Code Hospital Loses Key Evidence in Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Alleging Surgical Malpractice

Posted on October 08, 2008
Key evidence in the Massachusetts medical malpractice case filed by a woman who went blind after undergoing sinus surgery at Cape Code Hospital has disappeared. The medical malpractice trial is slated to begin next week. The missing evidence consists of absorbent gauze, sutures, and a latex glove finger that were involved in the surgical malpractice incident...

Massachusetts Family to Receive $28 Million For Wrongful Death of Woman Killed When Big Dig Tunnel Ceiling Collapsed

Posted on October 06, 2008
The Boston widower and children of a woman that died in July 2006 when 26 tons of concrete fell from the Big Dig tunnel ceiling onto the car she was riding, will receive over $28 million for her wrongful death. The settlement resolves the family?s claim against all the defendants, including the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Modern Continental Co...

Two Massachusetts Men Seriously Injured in Multi-Crash Near Mendon Town Line

Posted on September 30, 2008
A Massachusetts three-car collision close to the Mendon town line this weekend left two Milford men with serious injuries, while four others were also treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. The auto crash happened on Saturday afternoon on Hartford Avenue when a Ford pickup truck hydroplaned, colliding with two cars...

US Coast Guard Reports 9 Massachusetts Recreational Boating Accidents in 2007

Posted on September 24, 2008
The US Coast Guard has released the latest statistics involving boating accidents in Massachusetts and throughout the United States. Statistics Include: ? 685 boating fatalities throughout the US in 2007. ? 9 of these deaths occurred in Massachusetts, where 36 boating accidents occurred...

Federal Drug Regulators Investigate Whether Certain Medications Used to Treat Physical Illnesses Pose a Suicide Risk

Posted on September 22, 2008
While the Food and Drug Administration has done extensive study on psychiatric drugs to see whether they increase the risk of suicide, they are now taking a look at whether other medications, such as drugs to treat seizures, smoking, and asthma, also pose a similar risk...

Rock Band Great White To Pay Injury Victims Of 2003 Club Fire $1 Million

Posted on September 18, 2008
Five years after a pyrotechnics display at a nightclub killed 100 people during a rock concert, the Great White band has reached a $1 million settlement agreement with survivors and victims families. Over 200 people were injured in the fatal fire. Great White band member Ty Longley also died in the blaze, which has been called the 4th worst nightclub blaze in US history...

$3 Million Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Teen?s Death Following Freak Chimney Collapse

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Massachusetts family of Visar Luzha, a 19-year-old teenager who died in a chimney collapse accident at a party in 2005, is suing the party host for wrongful death. The plaintiffs, who are seeking $3 million in damages on behalf of Luzha?s estate, filed their lawsuit in Salem Superior Court in August...

Massachusetts Traumatic Brain Injury Patients Seek to Leave Nursing Homes

Posted on September 09, 2008
Some 2,000 Massachusetts nursing home residents suffering from traumatic brain injuries may soon leave the homes. The move could be the result of an all-but-final court settlement stemming from a lawsuit filed last year by advocates estimating that at least 25% of the 8,200 TBI patients residing in nursing home want to live somewhere else...

Nantucket Police Admits that Officers Used Excessive Force Against Massachusetts Teens that Filed Lawsuit

Posted on September 08, 2008
A group of Massachusetts teenagers that say Nantucket police officers applied ?excessive force? when arresting them without probable cause have filed a federal lawsuit. Troy Sullivan, Nicholas Phillips, David Loveberry, Adeane Watty, and Terrance Johnson, ages 13 to 18 and all African-American, say they were riding their bikes on August 8, 2007 at around 10:30 at night in Nantucket when Police Officer Taylor Noll told them to ?move to the other side of the street...

Fire Hazard Prompts General Motors to Recall 944,000 Motor Vehicles

Posted on September 03, 2008
General Motors has announced the recall of 944,000 motor vehicles due to concerns that a fire could break out in the vehicles? heated windshield washer fluid system. 850,000 of the vehicles recalled are in the US. According to GM, If the circuit board that controls the system experiences a short circuit, a grounding wire could overheat...

15-Passenger Van Accident on Massachusetts's Tobin Bridge Leaves 13 People Injured

Posted on September 01, 2008
Massachusetts State Police say that all 13 people riding a 15-passenger van were injured on Thursday when the vehicle crashed into a tollbooth barrier after driving onto a median. The accident victims were transported to Tufts Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston Medical Center following the collision...

To Prevent Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accidents Over the Labor Day Weekend, Officials and Police Warn Motorists Against Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs

Posted on August 28, 2008
Officials in Massachusetts came together on Wednesday to warn motorists of the dangers of operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The warning comes two days before the start of the three-day Labor Day holiday and is part of the state?s "Drunk Driving...

NTSB Issues Preliminary Report on Easton Plane Crash that Left Three People Dead

Posted on August 27, 2008
The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its preliminary report on the August 12 plane crash that left three people dead in South Easton, Massachusetts. Cancer patient Robert Gregory, his wife Donna, and pilot Joe E. Baker were killed in the aviation accident when the aircraft, a Beech G35, crashed into a shopping center parking lot...

Massachusetts Construction Worker Suffers Serious Head Injuries from Fall Accident in Salem

Posted on August 22, 2008
A construction worker sustained serious head injuries on August 13 after falling 20 feet from the roof of a construction site onto the cement floor of a building under construction. He was ?unconscious and unresponsive? after the work accident and was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital...

NHTSA Releases 2007 Traffic Accident Statistics

Posted on August 19, 2008
This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its 2007 Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Fatalities and People Injured data. Statistics for last year indicate a 3.9% percent decrease in traffic accident fatalities between 2006 and 2007...

Town of Andover Sued for Personal Injury After Massachusetts Man is Struck by Police Car

Posted on August 15, 2008
An Andover resident and his family are suing the town for personal injuries he suffered when he was hit by a police car. Christopher ?Gerry? Lohan was shoveling snow in his driveway last December when the accident happened. Officer Daniel Devine was driving the police cruiser...

Medical Malpractice Accidents More Likely to Happen When Doctors Engage in ?Medical Road Rage?

Posted on August 13, 2008
The Joint Commission, a US hospital accreditation group, is trying to get healthcare facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, to prevent angry outbursts by doctors. There is concern that swearing, throwing objects, and yelling can increase the chances that a medical mistake will occur...

Two Former Nursing Home Owners Say They Neglected Patients

Posted on August 12, 2008
In Norfolk Superior Court, Joel K. Logan and Todd Logan, have pleaded guilty to neglecting patients and stealing funds at five nursing homes they used to own. The two men had been charged with medical assistance fraud, larceny, embezzlement, conspiracy, and patient neglect, and they have been ordered to serve five years probation and pay $150,000 in restitution...

Bill Banning Lead and Phthalates in Kids? Products Now Goes To President Bush

Posted on August 08, 2008
A bill banning lead and six kinds of phthalates has been sent to US President Bush. The bill, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, was passed by both the House and the Senate last week?both times by overwhelming majorities. Despite objections by the Bush Administration to parts of the bill, the President is expected to sign it...

Family of Clark University Professor Question Whether Massachusetts Hospital?s Alleged Negligence Led to Suicide

Posted on June 12, 2008
In Massachusetts, the family of Winston Napier, a 55-year-old Clark University Professor that committed suicide inside his St. Vincent Hospital room last month, is wondering why he wasn?t under close watch even after he had threatened to commit suicide...

Beverly, Massachusetts Police Officers Sued For Failing To Prevent Suicide of Ex-Cop's Daughter

Posted on June 09, 2008
The estate of Danielle Tarsook, the daughter of a Beverly, Massachusetts retired police officer, is suing three Beverly cops for $10 million. They are accused of failing to stop her suicide. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Boston in federal court last month...

First Massachusetts Train Accident Lawsuit Against MBTA in Canton Runaway Train Crash is Filed

Posted on June 05, 2008
In Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts, three people who were injured on March 25 when a runaway freight train hit an MBTA commuter train in Canton, have filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co...

MBTA Two-Train Crash Kills Train Operator and Seriously Injures Several Passengers

Posted on May 29, 2008
In Newton, Massachusetts, eleven National Transportation Safety Board investigators are examining the Green Line Trolley that rear-ended another train yesterday. The deadly Massachusetts train accident left an MBTA operator dead, seriously injured seven passengers, and had emergency medics treating five other people at the crash scene for cuts and bruises...

Massachusetts Man Files $9.9 Million Personal Injury Lawsuit Against the Middlesex Sheriff and the State Prison System From Behind Bars

Posted on May 22, 2008
In Massachusetts, Steven J. Huard, a prisoner at the Middleton jail in has filed a $9.9 million personal injury lawsuit in federal court against the Massachusetts State Prison System, the Middlesex sheriff, other Massachusetts officials, and several doctors...

OSHA Says Owners of Salem Harbor Power Station in Massachusetts Did Not Protect Workers that Died in 2007 Boiler Blast

Posted on May 19, 2008
The Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration says that the owners of the Salem Harbor Power Station failed to protect three workers that died when a faulty boiler ruptured at the plant on November 6, 2007. Following its investigation into the deadly work accident, OSHA says that it found 10 serious safety violations at the plant, owned by Dominion Energy New England, including a failure to enter or inspect the area where the blast occurred for the past several years...

NHTSA Says Summer Months Are the Deadliest Period for 15-Passenger Vans

Posted on May 15, 2008
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that the greatest number of deadly accidents involving 15-passenger vans take place from June through August each year. The NHTSA issued its latest report this month. According to the NHTSA, 31% of deadly 15-passenger van rollovers happen during this time because the summer holidays are a busy time for travel...

CAI Inc. Could Have Prevented Danvers, Massachusetts 2006 Factory Explosion, Says Federal Report

Posted on May 13, 2008
The US Chemical Safety Board says that the 2006 chemical explosion in Danvers, Massachusetts could have been avoided if ink manufacturer CAI Inc had implemented the proper safety measures at its factory. The safety board issued its findings today in a final report...

Fall River Teenager Sues Massachusetts State Trooper For Personal Injury After Strip Search

Posted on May 05, 2008
In Massachusetts, Fall River resident Alyssa Bolduc, is suing Massachusetts State Trooper Allyson Powell for compensatory damages over a strip search that took place during a traffic stop in Dartmouth in March 2007. Bolduc, 18, says that she and three friends were pulled over because of an unlit headlight...

80 Massachusetts Workers Died From Job-Related Injuries in 2007

Posted on April 29, 2008
A report coauthored by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO found that 80 Massachusetts workers died in 2007 because of injuries sustained while at work or because of work-related illnesses. The report is called "Dying for Work in Massachusetts...

Appeals Court Reduces Actor Robert Blake?s $30 Million Wrongful Death Judgment

Posted on April 27, 2008
The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles has reduced the $30 million wrongful death judgment against actor Robert Blake to $15 million. Blake,74, had lost the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of his murdered wife Bonny Lee Bakley, but filed an appeal...

Boston-Area Psychiatrist is Sued for Prescription Overdose Death of 4-Year-Old Massachusetts Girl

Posted on April 24, 2008
In Massachusetts, Boston-area psychiatrist Dr. Kayoko Kifuji is being sued for the wrongful death of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley. Rebecca died in 2006 following an overdose of psychiatric drugs. The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Rebecca was mostly prescribed drugs over the phone, using ?slipshod diagnosis...

MBTA Files Lawsuit Over Canton, Massachusetts Train Accident that Injured 150 and Caused Property Damage

Posted on April 21, 2008
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is suing CSX Transportation and Cohenno Inc, a Stoughton lumber company, and is accusing them of negligence, for allegedly causing a 112-ton freight car to crash into a commuter train in Canton on March 25...

Massachusetts Widow Sues PetSmart After Husband Dies From Rodent Virus Infection

Posted on April 17, 2008
Nancy Magee, a Whitman, Massachusetts woman, is suing pet store chain PetSmart for the death of her husband. Her wrongful lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that Thomas Magee and two other people became infected with a rodent virus during their transplant surgeries...

Sleepy Boston ?Big Dig? Construction Workers Not Eligible For Workers? Compensation

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says that Michael Haslam, a construction worker on Boston?s ?Big Dig? freeway project, is not eligible to receive workers? compensation benefits for injuries he sustained when he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home after working for 27 hours straight...

Former Children?s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Is Sued For Sexual Abuse And Medical Malpractice

Posted on April 01, 2008
In Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts, an unnamed plaintiff has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit suing pediatrician doctor Melvin D. Levine for sexual assault, battery, and abuse from 1980 to 1985. This is not the first time that Dr. Levine has been accused of sexual abuse by a former patient...

Raynham, Massachusetts Drunk Driver Causes Injury Accident While Driving the Wrong Way

Posted on March 25, 2008
Anne Ferreira, the Raynham, Massachusetts woman who drover her 1996 Toyota Camry sedan the wrong way on the Route 25 freeway on March 11, is being charged with DUI. She crashed her sedan into a 1997 Buick LeSabre sedan. Both Ferreira and the driver of the sedan, 65-year-old New Bedford resident David McGowan, had to be pried from their motor vehicles...

Oprah Winfrey Show Audience Member Sues Harpo Productions For Fall Accident

Posted on March 24, 2008
Orit Greenberg, an audience member at the taping of the ?Oprah Winfrey Show? on December 5, 2006, is suing Harpo Studios for personal injury. Greenberg says that she suffered serious and permanent injuries when she fell down a flight of stairs during a mad rush by audience members to secure the best audience seats...

Massachusetts Gynecologist Sued for Wrongful Death

Posted on March 23, 2008
Dr. Rapin Osathanondh, the Massachusetts gynecologist whose patient died last September at his Women?s Health Center in Hyannis, is being sued for wrongful death. The wrongful death plaintiff is Eileen Smith, the mother of 22-year-old Laura Hope Smith, who died during an abortion procedure...

New York Crane Construction Accident Leaves Seven People Dead

Posted on March 20, 2008
Six construction workers and a Florida tourist died in a construction accident on Saturday after a crane collapsed at a construction site in New York. 10 other people were injured. The construction site was at a 43-year-old building that had already received multiple safety violations...

Haverhill, Massachusetts Woman Awarded $8.5 Million Verdict for Motorcyclist Husband?s Wrongful Death

Posted on March 18, 2008
Jackie Monahan, a Haverhill, Massachusetts, woman has won $8.5 million in the wrongful death lawsuit against Alexis Ortiz, the 22-year-old driver who was speeding when he killed her husband Larry, 54, who had been riding his motorcycle outside their residence on March 18, 2006...

Massachusetts Suspends Obstetrician?s Medical License Following Several Medical Malpractice Cases

Posted on March 14, 2008
Medical regulators in Massachusetts suspended the medical license of Dr. Suzanne B. Rothchild, a Winchester Hospital obstetrician. The Board of Registration in Medicine called Rothchild ?an immediate and serious threat to public health.? Since the board?s decision, Winchester Hospital has suspended Rothchild?s medical privileges...

Woman Sued for Wrongful Death in Deadly Massachusetts Car Accident

Posted on March 12, 2008
A woman who has been charged in the motor vehicle homicide death of a female pedestrian she accidentally struck outside a car wash in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is now the defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by Roger Young, the husband of Robin Young, who was killed last year on June 16 at Hafner?s carwash, located on the Haverhill/Plaistow line...

Mother Considers Suing Massachusetts Water Park for Children?s Chemical Burn Injuries

Posted on March 10, 2008
A Connecticut woman is considering filing a personal injury lawsuit for the chemical burn injuries she says that her children sustained while swimming at CoCo Key Water Resort, a Danvers, Massachusetts water park. Kristen Baker says that her daughter Emily, 9, and son Austin, 11, experienced blisters, rashes, skin burns, and breathing problems after a visit to the resort during a chaperoned girl scout trip...

Series of School Bus Accidents Raise Issues of Children?s Safety

Posted on March 08, 2008
A recent string of school bus accidents across the United States have caused parents to question the safety of the transportation vehicle normally considered the safest type of transportation for school kids. Just this week, three people were injured, including one student on Friday near Zoarville, Ohio, when a school bus was involved in a multi-vehicle collision...

US Government Wants $3.1 Wrongful Death Verdict of Quincy Fisherman Allegedly Killed by James ?Whitey? Bulger Overturned

Posted on March 07, 2008
The U.S. government is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a wrongful death verdict awarding $3.1 to the family of Quincy fisherman John McIntyre for his murder. McIntyre was allegedly murdered by FBI Informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi...

Massachusetts Judge Approves Record $6 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement In Baby Birth Injury Case

Posted on March 06, 2008
In Massachusetts's Worcester Superior Court, a judge has approved a $6 million dollar medical malpractice settlement to be paid to Bruce and Susan Hanks and Jacob M. Hanks for the birth injuries suffered by Jacob. The settlement amount is the largest pretrial settlement amount ever approved in a medical negligence case filed in Massachusetts...

Supreme Court Considers Whether To Provide Drug Manufacturers Injury Lawsuit Protection

Posted on February 29, 2008
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a case that could determine whether drug makers should receive a similar protection from lawsuits to the one the court granted to medical device makers last week. The main issue, according to Justice Stephen Breyer, is whether a drug, ?on balance,? will save people or hurt people...

Waltham Nursing Home Under Investigation for Problems with Patient Care

Posted on February 28, 2008
Piety Corner Nursing Home, a Waltham, Massachusetts nursing home, has been placed on a federal government list of facilities that have serious issues with patient care. The 34-bed facility must now undergo government reviews more often. In 2006, Piety Corner was cited for over two dozen violations?eight of which were considered actions that placed patients in immediate danger or harm, including: ? Failing to prevent neglect...

Judge allows $105 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against NBC?s ?Predator? for Suspect?s Suicide

Posted on February 27, 2008
A federal judge is allowing a $105 million wrongful death lawsuit against Dateline NBC: ?To Catch a Predator? to proceed. The lawsuit, brought by Patricia Conradt, alleges that her brother, Dallas prosecutor Louis William Conradt Jr. committed suicide because a sting operation accused him of having an online sexual conversation with someone pretending to be a 13-year-old boy...

Boston Couple Sues Funeral Home for Losing Stillborn Baby?s Remains

Posted on February 22, 2008
In Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts, the civil trial between a Boston couple and J.S. Waterman and Sons funeral home began on Thursday. Robert and Therese Bellisimo Benedict are suing the Boston funeral home for losing their stillborn son?s remains and possibly cremating him with the body of an adult woman...

Woman Files Products Liability Lawsuit Against Contact Lens Solution Manufacturer Advanced Medical Optics

Posted on February 21, 2008
A Texas woman has filed a products liability lawsuit against Advanced Medical Optics Inc. for its contact lens disinfectant Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose solution?s failure to properly disinfect her contact lenses. Kimlyn Cline, a contact lense wearer for 35 years, says she always cleans and disinfects her contact lenses properly and that the infection in her left eye occurred because she used the solution...

New England Patriots Sued $100 Million for Allegedly Taping Rams Practice

Posted on February 18, 2008
A lawsuit has been filed against the New England Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick for $100 million. The plaintiffs, former St. Louis Rams football player Willie Gary, a Rams seat license holder, and two 2002 Super Bowl ticket holders, claim that the Patriots defrauded St...

FDA Warns of Connection Between Botox and Botulism-Related Deaths

Posted on February 15, 2008
The Federal Drug Administration wants people to know that the anti-wrinkle drug Botox has been linked to several botulism related-deaths. A number of these victims were children. The warning comes three weeks after Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, cited 180 reported incidents?including 16 deaths?where people who had used Botox experienced pneumonia, difficulty swallowing, or fluid in the lungs...

Thousands of Massachusetts Drivers Have Been Involved In Multiple Motor Vehicle Accidents

Posted on February 14, 2008
Approximately 87,000 Massachusetts drivers have been in at least two motor vehicle accidents from 2002 through June 2007. 8,400 of these drivers have been in three crashes. Some 1,100 were in four auto collisions. Some 220 people have been in at least five accidents...

Jury Awards Brain Damaged-Massachusetts Woman Hit by MBTA Bus $10 Million Personal Injury Verdict

Posted on February 12, 2008
A jury in Massachusetts has awarded Louise Scialdone, a 58-year-old Somerville resident, $10 million in her personal injury lawsuit against the Massachusetts Transportation Bay Authority (MBTA). The total sum, interest included, is nearly $12.8 million...

$67 Million John Ritter Wrongful Death Lawsuit Goes to Court

Posted on February 08, 2008
This week, attorneys involved in John Ritter wrongful death lawsuit began jury selection. The case finally goes to court more than four years following the September 2003 death of the beloved actor. The late actor?s wife, actress Amy Yasbeck, and his children are suing two cardiologist Joseph Lee and radiologist Matthew Lotysch, who both treated the actor...

8-Year Old Massachusetts Girl in Medically Induced Coma After Being Struck by Elderly Voter in Car

Posted on February 07, 2008
8-Year-old Brittany Noel suffered internal injuries and a fractured skull after being struck by an SUV in the schoolyard at E.G. Lyons Elementary School in Randolph, Massachusetts on Tuesday. She was placed in a medically induced coma at Boston Medical Center last night...

90-Year-Old Boston Woman Dies in Pedestrian Accident While Crossing Massachusetts Avenue

Posted on February 05, 2008
Bert Hirschberg, a 90-year-old Boston grandmother and women?s rights activist, died while crossing Massachusetts Avenue when she was struck by a car. Hirshberg used a walker to get around. She was crossing the avenue, located close to her apartment, when she was hit by a Toyota...

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Death of Boy Who Drowned In Pool Drain Suction Accident

Posted on January 31, 2008
The parents of Zachary Cohn, a six-year-old boy who died last July after his arm got stuck in an underwater suction drain in the deep end of their swimming pool, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, Shoreline Pools, as well as several other defendants...

Boston, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Is Filed After 86-Year-Old Dorchester Woman Sustains Fatal Head Injury In Operating Room Table Fall

Posted on January 30, 2008
The family of Catherine O?Donnell, the 86-year-old woman who died after falling from an operating room table at Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctor, two nurses, an orthopedic resident, and an anesthesiology resident?all who were in the operating room at the time...

Multi-Vehicle Car Collision in Eastern Massachusetts Kills One Person During Monday Morning Commute

Posted on January 28, 2008
A brawl between two truck drivers, one fatality, two multi-car collisions, a car fire, and series of fender benders slowed morning traffic for commuters on different freeways in Eastern Massachusetts. Massachusetts State Police say that two tractor-trailer drivers were reportedly involved in a physical altercation on the side of the road on Route 295 S at the 1B exit in North Attleboro...

Two Massachusetts Students Get $18.9 Million Personal Injury Settlement For Burn Accident Caused By Chemistry Experiment

Posted on January 25, 2008
Calais Weber and Cecilia Chen, both 17, are now college students studying in Massachusetts. Calais is a Wellesley College undergraduate, while Chen studies at Harvard. The two students are also burn injury survivors of a chemistry experiment gone bad when they were high school students at Western Reserve Academy, a private boarding school in Ohio...

CPSC Recalls Toy Magnetic Construction Sets to Protect Children from Personal Injury

Posted on January 24, 2008
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Battat Inc. are recalling 125,000 Battat Magnabild Magnetic Building Systems due to concerns that if young children swallow more than one of the magnets, they may experience intestinal blockages or perforations or even die...

Boston, Massachusetts Shells Out $9 Million to Fix Its Most Dangerous Intersection

Posted on January 22, 2008
Dubbed Boston?s ?most dangerous intersection,? the corner of Walk Hill Street and American Legion Highway has been the scene of 97 motor vehicle accidents in four years. Residents in the area think that this calculation is on the low end and they call the busy intersection ?Kamikaze Way...

Man Files Personal Injury Lawsuit Claiming that Eating Microwave Popcorn Injured His Lungs

Posted on January 17, 2008
Kenneth McClain, a Denver, Colorado resident, has filed a personal injury lawsuit because he says that the artificial butter flavoring on microwave popcorn gave him bronchiolitis obliterans, also called ?popcorn lung.? He filed his lawsuit against Kroger Company, Inter-American Products Inc...

Norfolk County Man is Third Fatality Linked to Tainted Milk From Whittier Farms Dairy in Massachusetts

Posted on January 14, 2008
An 87-year-old man from Norfolk County is the third elderly person to die in connection with drinking contaminated milk. Health officials are citing Whittier Farms, a dairy located in Massachusetts, as the source of the tainted milk. The other two people who died were also elderly men, ages 78 and 75...

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Sues Massachusetts and Norfolk County for Slip and Fall Accident

Posted on January 11, 2008
In Massachusetts, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Paul Chernoff is suing the state of Massachusetts and Norfolk County for the injuries he sustained when he slipped and fell on the steps of the Norfolk County Courthouse in Lowell in 2004. The commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Norfolk County Commission, and the Division of Capital Asset Management were named as the parties held liable for not making sure that the building was maintained properly...

13-Year-Old Massachusetts Bicyclist Dies After Being Struck by Driver Who Was Text Messaging

Posted on January 08, 2008
In Massachusetts last month, at about 12:30am on, 13-year-old Earman Machado was riding his bicycle next to a friend, who was walking on the shoulder of the road that runs parallel to Route 24, when he was plowed down by a car. The driver of the motor vehicle did not stop at the accident scene...

58 Fire Fatalities in Massachusetts in 2007

Posted on January 04, 2008
Out of the 58 people that died in Massachusetts due to fires in 2007, 11 of these fatalities took place in Boston and 11 of the year?s fatalities occurred in December. The death toll from fire accidents could rise if any of those who survived accidental fires but sustained serious burn injuries end up dying...

Medtronic to Pay $114.1 Million to Settle Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator Lawsuits

Posted on January 02, 2008
Medtronic Inc. will settle 2682 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who claim that the implantable biomedical device maker knew that its Marquis line of implanted cardiac defibrillators was defective but didn't do enough to pull the devices off the market or let patients know there were safer alternatives...

Toby Keith?s Family Wins $2.8 Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Posted on December 28, 2007
A jury awarded country music star Toby Keith and his family $2.8 million in the wrongful death of his father, H.K. Covel, who was killed in a motor vehicle crash in 2001. Keith, his mother Carolyn Covel, his sister Tonni, and his brother Tracey were the other plaintiffs named in the lawsuit...

Worcester Jury Awards Massachusetts Teen $2.85 For Escalator Accident that Mangled His Hand

Posted on December 27, 2007
Massachusetts middle school student Kevin Lou, 13, was awarded $2.85 million in Worcester Superior Court for the escalator accident that mangled his right hand nine years ago. Kevin and his family filed the personal injury lawsuit against Otis Elevator Co, the U...

Truck Safety Coalition Lawsuit Wants to Limit Truckers' Work Hours

Posted on December 23, 2007
A coalition of truck safety advocates are asking a federal court to overturn a ruling that allows truck drivers to drive one more hour before taking a break. A new rule, introduced by the Bush Administration in 2003 had increase the number of hours that a commercial trucker can drive during a 14-hour period?from 10 hours to 11 hours?before taking a break...

Massachusetts Group Home Fires Staff Members for Administering Electrical Shocks to Teenagers

Posted on December 21, 2007
In Massachusetts, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center fired seven staff members for administering dozens of electrical shocks to two emotionally disturbed teenagers because a caller pretending to be a supervisor told them to do so. Six of the fired staff members worked the graveyard shift at the center?s Stoughton group home...

Massachusetts Jury Awards Family $6.1 Million Wrongful Death Verdict In Gillette Stadium Metal Gate Lawsuit

Posted on December 20, 2007
The family of Cape Cod, Massachusetts resident Thomas Kelly was awarded $6.1 in the Suffolk County wrongful death lawsuit against Foxboro Realty Associates, Standard Parking, and Apollo Security. A Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded the $4.4 million judgment on Tuesday...

Massachusetts Family of Big Dig Victim May Agree to Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $6 Million

Posted on December 19, 2007
The Massachusetts family of a 38-year-old Jamaica Plane woman who died when the Big Dig Tunnel ceiling collapsed last year may be close to reaching a settlement agreement with Powers Fasteners, the company that provided the ceiling bolt epoxy that is believed to be responsible for the collapse...

Nine People Injured In Massachusetts When Two Green Line Trains Collide

Posted on December 14, 2007
Nine people were hurt in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday after one Green line train rear-ended another trolley on Thursday. All nine people were transported to the hospital for medical care. Two of the victims were taken away in stretchers. The train accident took place at a Boston platform at the Boylston Street station where one train came in and rear-ended another train parked there...

Massachusetts Woman Wins $2.5 Medical Malpractice Verdict for HIV Misdiagnosis

Posted on December 13, 2007
A jury in Massachusetts awarded Fitchburg resident Audrey Serrano $2.5 million in her medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Kwan Lai, the doctor who misdiagnosed her with HIV. Serrano was treated for HIV for nearly nine years before she found out that she never had the virus...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules that Doctor Can Be Liable if Patient Causes Motor Vehicle Accidents

Posted on December 13, 2007
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling earlier this week that says a doctor can be sued for personal injury if his patient caused a deadly car accident. The case before the SJC involved a mother who wants to sue a doctor because he allegedly did not warn his patient that taking his medication could cause him to become a dangerous driver...

Diabetes Drug Avandia May Cause Bone Fractures

Posted on December 05, 2007
New research shows that the popular diabetes drug Avandia may cause bone thinning, which could lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures. Although GlaxoSmith-Kline has admitted that women who take Avandia have a higher risk of bone fractures, this most recent study is the first one to explain the connection between bone fractures and the drug...