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Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog

Missouri injury and accident Law including car accidents, medical malpractice, defective medical devices, burn injuries, and product liability.
By Jeff Lowe, Esq.

Post Frequency: 3.4/day

Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 10:29:53

High-End Manufacturer Recalls Umbrella Strollers for Finger Amputation Risk

Posted on November 20, 2009
As a Missouri defective product lawyer, I was very interested when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of Maclaren strollers Nov. 9. Maclaren, a British manufacturer of high-end baby products, agreed to recall ten years? worth of umbrella strollers after the CPSC received reports of at least 12 children who had lost fingertips because their fingers were caught in the hinges of the folding stroller...

Regulators Failed to Consider Many Cases of Unintended Acceleration in Toyotas

Posted on November 12, 2009
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about a Los Angeles Times report on the recall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Officially, the recall is because of defective floor mats that can cause accelerators to get stuck open, causing unintentional acceleration that can propel the vehicle uncontrollably and cause serious accidents...

Report Shows Automatic License Suspension for Accused Drunk Drivers Isn?t Automatic

Posted on November 04, 2009
As a Missouri car crash lawyer, I have followed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch?s series on problems with Missouri drunk driving laws with great interest. On Nov. 1, the newspaper published a third installment in the series, on the revocation of driver?s licenses for drivers who refuse to take a breath test...

Federal Traffic Safety Estimates Show Fatal Accidents Continue to Decline

Posted on October 27, 2009
As a Missouri auto accident attorney, I was very pleased to see brand-new traffic fatality statistics released by the federal government in October. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency that tracks traffic accidents nationwide, released its projected statistics (PDF) for all traffic fatalities in the United States between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009...

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More Than Floor Mats May Underlie Toyota Safety Recall of 3.8 Million Vehicles

Posted on October 21, 2009
As a Missouri defective automotive product attorney, I had already heard about Toyota Motor Corp.?s safety recall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. This recall, the largest in Toyota?s history, was announced after the automaker and federal regulators found that floor mat problems could cause the accelerator pedal to jam while open...

St. Charles County Residents Call for Improvements to Rural Highway After Teenager?s Death

Posted on October 09, 2009
A recent article on road improvements in St. Charles County caught my eye, as a St. Louis car crash lawyer. According to an Oct. 2 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, residents of a rapidly growing area of the county are pushing for improvements to the area?s Highway DD after a crash claimed the life of a sixteen-year-old girl from Wentzville...

IDOT to Start Work in October to Widen Lanes and Install Barrier on MLK Bridge

Posted on October 01, 2009
As a southern Illinois auto accident lawyer and a commuter who maintains officers in St. Louis and southern Illinois, I was pleased to see that the Illinois Department of Transportation has set dates for its work on the Martin Luther King bridge. According to the Belleville News-Democrat, the department plans to close the bridge, which connects St...

Burn Injuries From Fire During Surgery Killed Southern Illinois Woman, Report Says

Posted on September 22, 2009
As a southern Illinois medical malpractice attorney, I was surprised to see a recent article about an Energy woman who died of burns from an unexpected fire during surgery. Janice McCall, 65, was in surgery at Heartland Regional Medical Center Sept. 2 when a flash fire ignited and burned her, the Southern reported Sept...

Bureaucracy, Poor Communication and Bad Rules Keep Repeat DWI Offenders on the Road

Posted on September 17, 2009
Last week, I wrote about the sentencing of a man with five prior drunk driving convictions who stayed free -- long enough to kill a couple and their unborn child in another crash. On Sept. 13, I was pleased to see that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had followed up, after a fashion, with a special report on just how multiple DWI offenders like that one manage to stay on the road...

Driver Sentenced in Pontoon Beach DUI Crash That Killed Couple and Unborn Baby

Posted on September 09, 2009
A Granite City man received the maximum prison sentence for causing a car wreck that killed a couple and their unborn child, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sept. 8. Donald W. Canterbury pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing Adam Zimmer and Lindsay Arnold-Zimmer, who was five months pregnant at the time...

Association of State Highway Agencies Endorses Ban on Texting and Driving

Posted on September 03, 2009
A group of highway safety officials from around the nation planned to endorsed a ban on text messaging while driving, the New York Times reported Aug. 30. The Governors Highway Safety Association, a group of leaders from state highway safety agencies such as MODot, called for the ban at the beginning of its weeklong annual meeting in Savannah, Georgia...

Seven-Year-Old Boy Dies in ATV Accident Possibly Caused by Defective Throttle

Posted on August 27, 2009
As a St. Louis ATV accident lawyer, I was sorry to see that a seven-year-old boy died this past weekend in a serious ATV accident. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Aug. 24 that Austin Henry of Troy, Ill. was riding his ATV with neighborhood kids and under his father?s supervision Aug...

Newspaper Investigation Finds Rental Car Company Advertised Cars Had Side Airbags When They Did Not

Posted on August 19, 2009
Used Chevy Impalas sold by rental company Enterprise Rent-A-Car were missing a standard safety feature, the Kansas City Star reported Aug. 15. Side air bags were standard on Impalas sold to consumers between 2006 and 2008, the article said -- but Enterprise asked the manufacturer to delete that option when it placed its order, as a cost-saving measure...

First-Grader Released From Hospital After Catastrophic St. Louis Car Accident

Posted on August 14, 2009
An Iowa girl is recovering from injuries sustained in a serious St. Louis car crash, the Fort Madison Daily Democrat reported Aug. 4. Shyanna Hoenig was on her way to the St. Louis Zoo with her family when a driver pulled out unexpectedly and hit the side of her mother?s van...

Missouri Man Sues Park Over Injuries From Truck Crash Into Spectators

Posted on August 06, 2009
A Joplin man sued The Bunker Extreme D-Day Adventure Park over severe injuries he sustained at a truck and bike rally when an off-road truck drove through a safety barrier and into the audience, the Joplin Globe reported July 31. Joel Fulton was one of five people who were hurt July 25, after the driver of the truck lost control while driving through a mud pit, plowing through a safety barrier and into spectators...

Report Shows Federal Agency Withheld Data on Risks of Driving While Talking on the Phone

Posted on July 27, 2009
According to the New York Times, the federal government has buried for six years data showing that talking on the phone while driving causes substantial deaths and injuries. Needless to say, this is a huge story for a Missouri car accident attorney like me...

Driver Involved in SUV Rollover Accident After Trying to Dodge Pedestrian on Interstate 55

Posted on July 15, 2009
Two people were seriously hurt and another suffered minor injuries in an unusual Missouri pedestrian accident, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported July 13. Randy Smith of Steele, Mo., was driving north on the interstate at around 10:30 p.m. when he saw pedestrian Henry Dempke of St...

Governor Vetoes Repeal of Motorcycle Helmet Law, Leaving Helmets Mandatory for All Riders

Posted on July 08, 2009
After more than a month of waiting, Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed the Legislature?s decision to repeal Missouri?s mandatory motorcycle helmet law, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported July 2. The vetoed legislation would have given riders 21 and older the option to not wear helmets, except on interstate highways...

Dangerous Dog Attack Kills Three-Year-Old Southern Illinois Boy

Posted on July 03, 2009
Attacks from at least one of the family?s three dogs killed a three-year-old Johnston City boy, The Southern reported June 29. Gabiral Mandrell was found about 200 feet from his home around 8 p.m. and taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead from blood loss at 8:50 p...

Nearly 200 Injured in Missouri Car Accidents Last Fourth of July

Posted on June 25, 2009
It's that time of year again, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol is ringing it in with somber statistics that unfortunately ring all too true with a Missouri auto accident attorney like me. In a press release on Monday, they reminded motorists to buckle up, obey the speed limit, and keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road...

St. Louis Bicycle Accident Lawyer on New Missouri Ordinance That Protects Cyclists

Posted on June 19, 2009
The other day, I came across an article about a new city ordinance on bicycle safety that passed unanimously in Columbia, Missouri. The ordinance specifies that a motorist commits the class A misdemeanor of harassment if he or she verbally threatens a cyclist, sounds a horn with the aim of frightening or disturbing the cyclist, purposely throws an object at a cyclist, or knowingly engages in conduct that puts the cyclist's life at risk...

Women Injured in Collapse of Deck at St. Louis County Home

Posted on June 11, 2009
A couple days ago I saw a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a wooden deck that collapsed when about 20 women got on it to pose for a picture at a wedding shower. The women fell approximately 10 feet, and nine of them were hurt to varying degrees...

Southern Illinois School Bus Crashes -- Driver Cited for DUI

Posted on June 05, 2009
This week I read a local news story that was remarkable by any measure, and of particular interest to a Southern Illinois car accident attorney like me. On May 27 in Jefferson County, Ill., a school bus driver with a full load of children passed out at the wheel...

Belleville Police Cruiser Hits Minivan Head-On in Southern Illinois Car Crash

Posted on May 28, 2009
A Belleville city police cruiser was involved in a three-car accident Tuesday on Illinois 161, the Belleville News-Democrat reported May 27. The officer, who was alone in his car, apparently lost control just before 8 p.m. and veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a minivan head-on...

To Stop Car Crashes, Missouri and Illinois Consider Banning Cell Phone Text Messaging While Driving

Posted on May 21, 2009
Lawmakers in Missouri and Illinois are both on the verge of making it illegal to send and read text messages behind the wheel, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported May 18. Missouri?s legislature has already passed a bill forbidding drivers under the age of 21 from texting while driving, while their counterparts in Illinois are considering a broader bill that would apply to drivers of every age...

Failure to Diagnosis Cervical Cancer--Chicago Federal Jury Awards $2 million--Illinos Medical Malpractice Attorney

Posted on May 18, 2009
A patient with cervical cancer who claimed that a pathologist misread her Pap smears over the course of 12 years was awarded $2 million by a Chicago federal court jury on May 14. Fordham was represented by attorneys Jeffrey J. Lowe of The Lowe Law Firm and John J...

State Supreme Court Grants New Trial in Missouri Auto Products Liability Lawsuit

Posted on May 13, 2009
Victims of a fatal a rear-end crash can have a new trial in their Missouri product liability lawsuit, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled May 5. According to the Associated Press, the court said misbehavior by attorneys for Ford tainted the trial, entitling motorist Michael Nolte and the family of Trooper Michael Newton to a new trial...

Governor Considering Legislation to Legalize Riding Motorcycles Without a Helmet in Missouri

Posted on May 06, 2009
Legislation repealing Missouri?s mandatory motorcycle helmet law has passed the Legislature and is headed for the desk of Gov. Jay Nixon, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported May 1. The legislation, passed 95-63 in the Missouri House, makes helmets optional for riders age 21 and over...

Prosecutors Considering Charges in Fatal Wrong-Way Accident Involving Police Officer and College Students

Posted on April 29, 2009
St. Louis County prosecutors have taken more than a month to consider whether to file charges against an off-duty police officer for her role in a fatal car crash, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 28. According to the Post-Dispatch, off-duty Sunset Hills policewoman Christine Miller drove her car the wrong way down Dougherty Ferry Road early in the morning of March 21...

Missouri ATV Accident Lawyer on Crash That Killed Kansas City Man

Posted on April 24, 2009
As a Missouri ATV crash attorney, I was disappointed to see that a young man died in an ATV crash near Kansas City April 11. Television station KMBC reported April 13 that Jeffrey Gervy was riding ATVs with a friend around 8 p.m. near a warehouse, when his friend swerved to avoid a puddle...

Chemical Plant Explosion in St. Charles Leaves Worker with Severe Burn Injuries

Posted on April 17, 2009
An explosion at a chemical plant left a worker seriously burned and rocked nearby homes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 14. The explosion took place late on Easter Sunday, when an overnight shift worker mixed two chemicals at the SantoLubes plant in St...

Four Cows Killed in Train and Pickup Truck Accidents in Dense Fog

Posted on April 13, 2009
Loose cattle and dense fog caused one Missouri car accident and one train accident outside Springfield, Missouri April 11. According to the Springfield News-Leader, the first cow was struck by a passing train early in the morning. A short time later, the driver of a pickup truck found 10 to 15 cows standing in the roadway near the railroad tracks...

Patients, Advocates Rally to Replace Medicaid Funding for Brain Injury Rehabilitation with State Funding

Posted on April 06, 2009
Survivors of serious brain injuries and their supporters rallied in Jefferson City in favor of state legislation that would restore services for head injury victims, the Columbia Missourian reported March 5. The state bills would restore funding that was cut three years ago by Missouri Medicaid...

Missouri Auto Accident Victims Talk to Students About Making Smart Choices Behind the Wheel

Posted on March 19, 2009
Students at high schools in and around Marshall, Missouri gathered to hear the stories of disabled victims of serious car crashes, the Marshall Democrat-News reported March 9. The speakers are a part of a program called ThinkFirst Missouri, sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Medicine...

Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer on St. Louis Man Who Fell Through Manhole

Posted on March 12, 2009
A man in his forties had to be rescued by firefighters March 5 when he unexpectedly fell through a manhole cover in northern St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch reported. According to the article, the man was walking through an alley near Cavalry Cemetery when he plunged 15 feet into the sewer and was trapped...

Post Dispatch Article Exposes Lax Drunk Driving Prosecutions Leading to Serious St. Louis Car Wrecks

Posted on March 12, 2009
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an in-depth article March 1 on problems with how our criminal justice system handles drunk drivers. As a St. Louis car accident attorney, I was pleased to see attention being paid to the problem of chronic drunk drivers, who form a large minority of drunk driving arrests every year...

Woman Dies From Injuries Sustained in House Fire -- Missouri Burn Injury Lawyer

Posted on February 27, 2009

Bridge Safety Expert Declares MLK Bridge Deadliest in Region -- St. Louis Car Wreck Attorney

Posted on February 24, 2009
As I have blogged here before, safety experts believe the MLK Bridge connecting St. Louis to East St. Louis needs substantial safety improvements. According to a Feb. 8 article in the Belleville News-Democrat, a bridge safety expert from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts has added his voice to that chorus...

Three Killed by Drunk Wrong-Way Highway Driver in Southern Illinois -- Belleville Illinois Car Accident Attorney

Posted on February 24, 2009
A St. Louis family lost two of its members a fatal car crash near Edwardsville, Ill. Feb. 5. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Tawanda Jackson and her two children, nine-year-old Arnold and 11-year-old Takia, were headed home from Tennessee to attend her grandmother?s funeral, along with Jackson?s friend, Jon Moss...

Guard Cables Credited for Drop in Missouri Highway Accidents -- St. Louis Car Crash Lawyer

Posted on February 16, 2009
Missourians can drive with a little more confidence this year, according to a report by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. The Southeast Missourian reported Feb. 4 that the report says Missouri saw just 941 highway traffic fatalities in 2008, down by about 25% from 1,257 in 2005...

City's Inaction May Be Responsible for Serious Accident -- St. Louis Car Wreck Lawyer

Posted on February 09, 2009
The mother of a young man hurt in a single-vehicle accident wants to know what caused ice to appear in the road, MyFox St. Louis reported Jan. 12. A truck driven by Keyon Matthews, a 25-year-old father of three, slid on the road in North St. Louis and fishtailed before hitting a tree, according to his brother, who was following in another car...

Trucking Accident Death Blamed on Defective Bridge Design -- Southern Illinois Truck Accident Law Firm

Posted on February 04, 2009
A southern Illinois mother is calling for improved safety measures on the Martin Luther King Bridge, the Belleville News-Democrat reported Jan. 11. The call came after the woman lost her 26-year-old son to a serious East St. Louis truck accident on the bridge...

Missouri Pedestrian Accident Attorney on Suburban Teen Hit in Crosswalk

Posted on January 27, 2009
A Webster Groves-area high school student is recovering after being hit in a pedestrian accident Jan. 9, the Webster-Kirkwood Times has reported. The teen was crossing at a crosswalk outside the public library to meet his ride home, the paper said. One car stopped at the crosswalk and motioned him forward, but another passed the first car on the right and hit the teenager...

Plattsburg Missouri car Accident Kills one and Injures two--Missouri Auto Accident Attorney

Posted on January 26, 2009
A Plattsburg, Mo., man was killed and two other people were injured in a traffic accident on Missouri Highway 116 on the evening of Friday, January 2, the St. Joseph News-Press reported. Gailon V. Green, 45, was killed after his eastbound 1997 Dodge crossed the center line and collided with a westbound Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Melissa R...

Street Racing Accident Kills Museum Leader in Kansas City -- Missouri Car Crash Attorney

Posted on January 23, 2009
A 50-year-old man was killed Jan. 10 in a crash on Interstate 70 near Kansas City, the Kansas City Star reported. Gregory Hawley, who was known for his role in unearthing the sunken Steamboat Arabia and turning it into a museum, was on his way home from that museum when he was hit by an out-of-control BMW...

Deadly Medical Helicopter Crash Results Lawsuits by the Parents of the 14-month-old Patient That Died--Missouri/Illinois Product Liability Attorney

Posted on January 09, 2009
Last week, the parents of a 14-month-old patient who died in a medical helicopter crash filed suit against the companies that operated the helicopter as well as the pilot, the Chicago Tribune reports. The accident happened on Oct. 15, 2008. A Bell 222 helicopter was flying Kristin Reann Blockinger to Children?s Memorial Hospital in Chicago when it hit a radio-tower support wire and crashed...

Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Medical Malpractice Damage Caps -- Southern Illinois Medical Malpractice Attorney

Posted on December 26, 2008
About a month ago, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have a dramatic effect on Illinois patients hurt by medical mistakes, as well as my own practice as a southern Illinois medical malpractice lawyer. In Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, the court is considering whether caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are consistent with the state Constitution...

Kansas City Middle Schooler Dies After Head Injury -- Missouri Brain Injury Law Firm

Posted on December 24, 2008
A middle school girl outside Kansas City died in early December after suffering a head injury. The girl had been sent home from school early after hitting her head against a wall during gym class. According to the Kansas City Star, she woke with a headache and stayed home from school again the next day...

New Research Shows Accident Rates Lower for Teens Who Get More Sleep -- Missouri/Illinois Auto Accident Law Firm

Posted on December 22, 2008
A new study by the University of Kentucky suggests that later starting times at high schools could significantly cut rates of serious accidents among teenagers. According to the Washington Post, researchers found a 16.5% drop in accident rates for teens whose schools moved their start times forward an hour...

Kansas City Family Sues City for Wrongful Death of Teenager-- Missouri Car Accident Lawyer

Posted on December 19, 2008
The parents of a young man killed during a police car chase have filed a lawsuit against the city of Independence, Kansas City?s KCTV reported. Seventeen-year-old Chris Cooper was riding his bicycle in November of 2007 when he was hit and killed by a vehicle driven by Wilfredo Pujols, Jr...

Illinois Medical Malpractice--Family of Pregnant Mother to Receive $9.8 Million Settlement

Posted on December 05, 2008
In an Illinois medical malpractice case, the family of a 27-year-old pregnant mother who died three years ago will receive $9.8 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit against Chicago-based Stroger Hospital, the Chicago Tribune reports. In August 2005, Farrah Dickerson began bleeding and collapsed...

Medical Malpractice Case Involving Flesh Eating Bacteria Results in $13.5 Million Jury Award

Posted on November 07, 2008
A Hospitals failure to diagnose flesh-eating bacteria resulting in the death of the patient concluded with the patients family being awarded $13.5 million Boston Globe reports. Amy Altman, a 40-year-old married mother of two young daughters, underwent experimental chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to treat a cancer tumor behind her knee...

Yamaha Rhino Investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Posted on November 04, 2008
At least 30 deaths have been linked to the Yamaha Rhino. Now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating whether the off-road vehicles are safe. Accord to an article in the Wall Street Journal, federal safety regulators are trying to determine whether the all-terrain vehicles (also known as utility terrain vehicles) pose a substantial risk of injury or death...

Birth Injury Case results in $11.4M Jury Verdict

Posted on November 04, 2008
A jury awarded the parents of a brain-damaged boy $11.4 million in a medical malpractice case, the La Crosse Tribune reports. Chad and Amy Jelinek claimed that hospital staff at Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center failed to deliver their son Laine in a timely fashion and that fetal strips that showed their son was in distress were misread...

Suffocation Dangers Trigger Crib Recalls

Posted on October 27, 2008
Last week, the Consumer Products Safety Commission recalled about 1.6 million cribs because of defects that can trap and smother infants. The recalls involve drop side cribs made for New York-based Delta Enterprise Corp. There are two hazardous defects, one involves a spring peg and the other involves missing safety pegs...

Illinois State Trooper Arrested for Drunk Driving

Posted on October 26, 2008
In 2008 an Illinois state trooper driving 120 miles an hour slammed into a car killing to sisters. Near that site another state trooper has been involved in an accident, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. This time the trooper, Jeffrey Gagen, was driving the wrong way on Interstate 64 near the Scott Air Force Base exit when he struck an oncoming car...

Missouri Teen Injured in Rollover ATV Accident

Posted on October 08, 2008
A Missouri teen was seriously injured when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving overturned and landed on top of him. According to the Springfield News-Leader, Michael W. Wilson, 17, was driving a 1988 Suzuki on Missouri NN in Pulaski County when the ATV went off of the right side of the road...

Hundreds of Operating Room Patients Set Ablaze Each Year

Posted on September 25, 2008
Surgical flash fires were once thought to be freak occurrences. But a new report reveals that about 600 people are set ablaze each year in the operating room, 20 to 30 of those patients suffer serious disfigurement and one or two die. The data was gleaned from information collected by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System, MSNBC...

Mini-ATV Recalled Due to Defective Throttle

Posted on September 25, 2008
A recall has been issued on the four-wheeled Razor Dirt Quad because a defective throttle causes the vehicle to surge forward unexpectedly. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of the mini all-terrain vehicle on Sept. 25. Approximately 30,000 of the electric ride-on vehicles designed for children were sold nationwide from August 2006 through September 2007...

Texting While Operating Cars, Trucks and Trains can be Hazardous to Your Health and Everybody Around You.

Posted on September 19, 2008
In the wake of a deadly train crash outside of Los Angeles, attention has turned to the hazards associated with text-messaging. On Sept. 12, a Metrolink commuter train ran a red light and collided head-on with a freight train. Twenty-five people, including the engineer of the commuter train, Robert M...

Colon Cancer Patients Failed by Many U.S. Hospitals

Posted on September 11, 2008
When it comes to colon cancer, many hospitals have failed their patients. That?s the conclusion of a study released this week by Northwestern University?s Feinberg School of Medicine and the American College of Surgeons. The new study found that only 38 percent of approximately 1,300 hospitals checked a minimum of 12 lymph nodes to determine whether colon cancer has spread...

Reckless Illinois Driver who Caused Auto Accident is Convicted of Reckless Homicide

Posted on September 11, 2008
A woman who was driving an estimated 70 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone and weaving in and out of traffic has been convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a 9-year-old boy. According to The News-Gazette, Melissa K. Darr, 42, of Gifford, Ill...

Missouri Motorcyclists Involved in Head-On Crash

Posted on September 03, 2008
Two Missouri motorcyclists were injured in a Labor Day crash, when a pick-up truck crashed head on into the motorcycle they were riding, The Carthage Press reports. The accident occurred on County Road 130 just south of Carthage. The driver of the pick-up truck failed to remain on his side of the road and crashed into the motorcycle when the vehicles reached the crest of a hill...

Motorcycle Riders Deaths Increase

Posted on September 01, 2008
As the number of motorcycle riders continues to climb, so, too, does the number of motorcycle-related fatalities. In the Illinois area of Champaign-Urbana, ten people in the past five months have died in motorcycle accidents, The News-Gazette reports...

Philadelphia Jury Awards $11 Million in Malpractice Case

Posted on August 20, 2008
A woman with a brain tumor who was left blind, paralyzed and brain damaged after emergency room doctors failed to order a simple CT scan has been awarded $11.2 million by a Philadelphia jury, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Yanira Montanez, a 20-year-old mother with a four-month-old baby, arrived at the Episcopal Hospital emergency room in Philadelphia complaining of headaches, numbness, nausea, and vomiting...

Diabetes Drug Byetta Linked to Two Deaths

Posted on August 18, 2008
At least two deaths have been linked to the diabetes drug Byetta, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Aug. 18. Byetta, an injectable drug used to treat adults with type 2 diabetes, is made by San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In October of last year, the FDA issued an alert indicating that it had reviewed 30 postmarketing reports of acute pancreatitis in patients taking Byetta, also known by the generic name exenatide...

Legislation Would Impact Chinese-made ATVs

Posted on August 05, 2008
Last week, lawmakers passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which is expected to be signed by the president. The new law would subject all-terrain vehicles made in China to U.S.-industry rules. The measure would also give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more authority to regulate ATVs...

Allstate?s Bad Faith Justifies $16 Million Verdict

Posted on July 30, 2008
The failure to respond to a settlement offer arising out of an auto accident demonstrated bad faith on the part of Allstate Insurance Co. and justified a $16 million verdict against it, a Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled. Allstate was the insurance carrier for Wayne Davis Jr...

Medical Malpractice Verdict for $4.3 Million in ?Switched? Surgeon Case

Posted on July 15, 2008
A Massachusetts jury awarded a 39-year-old mother $4.3 million after a non-board-certified doctor performed a heart procedure instead of the noted specialist she had retained, the Salem News reports. Denyse Richter had a heart arrhythmia that required medication...

Lasik Doctor Settles Malpractice Claim for $2.1 Million

Posted on July 09, 2008
A prominent eye surgeon has agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle the medical malpractice claim of a patient who claimed Lasik surgery left him legally blind, The Star-Ledger reports. The patient, James Dell?Ermo, hoped Lasik surgery would rid him of the glasses and contact lenses he wore for nearsightedness...

Doctors Upset by Plan to Publish Medical Malpractice Payments in Malpractice Cases

Posted on July 07, 2008
A proposal by North Carolina?s Medical Board to post medical malpractice payment information on its Web site has upset doctors, the News & Observer reports. In ?Plan to post malpractice data irks docs,? staff writer Sarah Avery explains that doctors, their insurers and lawyers who represent doctors are vocal opponents of the measure...

Illinois Surgeon?s License Suspended

Posted on June 16, 2008
The license of an Illinois surgeon who allegedly tried to fill an OxyContin prescription at a pharmacy using a deceased patient?s name has been suspended. Last month, Bradford Roberg, 53, a plastic surgeon with the Northern Illinois Plastic Surgery Center, was arrested after he tried to fill the OxyContin prescription at a CVS pharmacy, the Northwest Herald reports in an article written by Tom Musick...

Three Missouri Teens Killed in Car Crash were not Wearing Seatbelts

Posted on June 12, 2008
A car crash killed three Missouri teens and the deaths may have been preventable; this maybe one of the worst thing that could happen to a parent. Three Missouri teens died after a crash Saturday in Morgan County. The crash happened at 12:44 a.m. on Missouri 135, near state Route BB in Florence, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

Three IDOT Workers Killed in Two Accidents

Posted on June 12, 2008
In Illinois, Two separate accidents left three Illinois Department of Transportation workers dead and one severely injured. According to the Associated Press, two contract workers died on the morning of June 11 while painting a bridge in a Chicago suburb...

Missouri Ranks Ninth for ATV-Related Deaths

Posted on June 11, 2008
Missouri, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, ranked ninth in the nation for all-terrain vehicle-related deaths in 2006. The CPSC also reports that from 2003 to 2006, there were 146,600 ATV-related injuries across the U.S., 27 percent of which were kids under 16...

Misdiagnosed Student Lost Arm From Flesh Eating Bacteria

Posted on June 04, 2008
A medical malpractice lawsuit maybe filed by the family of a college freshman who lost her arm as a result of a flesh-eating bacteria against the student medical center at Ohio University, reports the student-run newspaper The Post. On Sept. 6, 2007, a pain in her right arm sent Molly Millsop to the Hudson Health Center...

Driver Hurt in ATV Rollover Accident

Posted on June 02, 2008
As the weather heats up, all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts are taking to the trails. Unfortunately, some are getting hurt. On Sunday evening, a 40-year-old man suffered a head injury when the four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle he was riding crashed, rolled and landed on a bed of rocks at the bottom of a hill...

Missouri Teens Killed in ATV Crashes

Posted on May 29, 2008
Two Missouri teens were killed last week and one was seriously injured while riding all-terrain vehicles, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Yesterday, Zachary T. Barker, a 15-year-old from Potosi, died. He was a passenger on an ATV being driven by a 14-year-old...

Medical Malpractice--Woman Awarded $17M for Botched C-Section

Posted on May 28, 2008
In a medical malpractice lawsuit a woman claimed her doctor during a Caesarean section damaged her abdominal organs, caused pancreatic fluid and urine to burn through her abdominal wall and required the removal of her pancreas was awarded $17 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit, the Democrat and Chronicle reports...

Illinois Mother Settles Birth Injury Case for $15 million

Posted on May 22, 2008
An Illinois mother who claimed that a doctor?s repeated and futile attempts to deliver her son using a vacuum extractor delayed a timely Cesarean section and led to her son?s brain damage has received a $15.35 million settlement. The pregnant woman was admitted to Valley West Community Hospital in October 2001...

Highway Safety--Missouri Completes Cable Barrier Project to Prevent Cross Over Accidents

Posted on May 19, 2008
The last stretch of median cable barriers designed to reduce cross-over accidents on Missouri?s busiest highways has been installed in Jefferson County. To mark the occasion, the Missouri Department of Transportation has scheduled a ceremony in Herculaneum this afternoon...

Trasylol Pulled From the Market and Can Only be Used for Investigational Use

Posted on May 16, 2008
According to an announcement made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Bayer?s clotting drug Trasylol will now only be available for investigational use. To use Trasylol, a doctor must conclude that a heart surgery patient has a high risk for blood loss, no other medication will work and that the ?benefits of the drug clearly outweighs the risks...

Trasylol Supplies Finally Pulled by Bayer

Posted on May 15, 2008
Bayer is finally removing the remaining supplies of Trasylol from the U.S. market after a long-awaited Canadian study confirmed yet again that the anti-bleeding drug is dangerous. On May 14, the BART study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine...

Canadian Trasylol Study Results Announced

Posted on May 14, 2008
The results of the long-awaited Canadian study on the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol were announced today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that patients who were given Trasylol, known generically as aprotinin, had a 53 percent higher death rate than patients who were given comparable drugs...

Medical Groups Fight to Keep Caps that Hurt Innocent Victims

Posted on May 10, 2008
Even though a 2005 Illinois law unfairly caps the amount of damages a medical malpractice victim can recover from a careless doctor, medical groups recently filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the Illinois Supreme Court to uphold the limits. The Illinois Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of damage caps passed by the legislature...

Artificial Blood Raises Risk of Death, Heart Attack

Posted on April 29, 2008
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported last week that it found that artificial blood raised the risk of death by 30 percent and tripled the chances of suffering a heart attack. The researchers reviewed data collected from sixteen clinical trials and concluded that the dangers were so great that the U...

Caps Hurt Victims of Medical Mistakes

Posted on April 26, 2008
Caps or limits on awards for non-economic damages in Medical Malpractice cases save insurance companies money at the expense of justice for the elderly, young children and the poor in Missouri obtaining justice. In 2005 Missouri law placed limits on the amount of damages that can be recovered when a doctor, a hospital or other medical professional makes a careless mistake...

Illinois Mother Files Birth Injury Lawsuit

Posted on April 26, 2008
In Madison County, Illinois, a mother filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against her former obstetrician and Anderson Hospital on April 22, 2008. The medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that both the doctor and the hospital breached the standard care during the delivery of her child on April 29, 2006...

Bayer Sued Over Anti-Bleeding Drug Trasylol

Posted on April 23, 2008
The Associated Press reported yesterday that eight lawsuits have been filed against Bayer AG over the controversial blood-clotting drug Trasylol. The suits were filed in Florida federal court by attorneys with the St. Louis-based law firms Carey & Danis and The Lowe Law Firm...

Trasylol lawsuits filed against Bayer Corporation for Renal Failure and Death

Posted on April 22, 2008
Eight lawsuits alleging that the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol also known by it generic name aprotinin have been filed in a federal court in Miami, Fla., against Bayer AG. The lawsuits were filed April 17 on behalf of alleged Trasylol victims and their families for injuries and deaths that occurred in California, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico and Wisconsin between 2000 and 2007...

Man Paralyzed by Doctor Settles Medical Malpractice Claim for $3.7 Million

Posted on April 15, 2008
A man who was paralyzed due to alleged medical malpractice after a surgeon implanted a blood-clotting fabric into his spine has settled his medical malpractice claim for $3.7 million. In 2003, Dr. Woosup Michael Park performed spinal decompression surgery on Leopoldo Castillo at New York Presbyterian Hospital...

Illinois Three Vehicle Accident, Husband And Wife On Motorcycle Killed

Posted on April 13, 2008
Two people were killed in a motorcycle accident on the Illinois roads and two others were injured, in a chain reaction crash involving three vehicles in Macoupin County, Illinois. Michael J. Tucker, 43, and his wife, Kimberly S. Tucker, 36, of Brighton, Illinois were westbound on a motorcycle on Illinois State Route 16 in Shipman, Illinois when a pick-up truck struck them on Monday afternoon...

Illinois Doctors to Receive Medical Malpractice Premium Refund

Posted on April 13, 2008
According to the Associated Press, Illinois doctors will collectively receive an $11 million refund from the state?s largest malpractice insurer. The refund will come in the form of a credit on Illinois State Medical Insurance Exchange policy renewals...

Trasylol Lawsuits Transferred to a Miami Federal Court

Posted on April 09, 2008
The federal lawsuits filed against Bayer AG over the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol have been consolidated and transferred to a Miami federal court. http://www.jefflowepc.com/lawyer-attorney-1294349.html On April 7, the transfer order was issued by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation...

Medical Malpractice Birth Injury Results in $30 Million Jury Award

Posted on April 08, 2008
Birth Injuries that are the result of medical malpractice frequently are caused by lengthy labor failure to monitor the fetal heart rate and failure to perform a timely cesarean section. This results in a hypoxic brain injury. Doctors can tell after the baby was born if the injury was the result of a hypoxic brain injury during labor...

Medical Malpractice--Hospitalized Children Hurt by High Number of Drug Errors

Posted on April 07, 2008
As a lawyer who handles medical malpractice cases in Illinois, Missouri as well as many other states, I was surprised by the new study which concluded that medicine mix-ups, overdoses and adverse drug reactions hurts one out of every 15 hospitalized children, the Associated Press reports...

Trasylol Studies Confirm its Association with Increased Death Risks

Posted on April 07, 2008
Trasylol also known as Aprotinin was recalled by Bayer in November 2007. Trasylol is a drug used to reduce the risk of post operative bleeding. Two more Trasylol studies have concluded that patients are more likely to die if treated with the defective drug...

Auto Accident in St. Charles Missouri Kills One and Injures Two

Posted on April 06, 2008
An auto accident in St. Charles Missouri on April 5, 2008 killed one and injure two seriously when the driver lost contol of his pickup truck and hit a tree. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Shawn M. Ressor, 22, of O'Fallon, Mo., was killed in the accident...

Trasylol Recall Time line

Posted on April 03, 2008
Trasylol also known as Aproptinin was recalled in November 2007 after it was linked to kidney damage which is also referred to as renal failure. My law firm represents over fifty plaintiffs who have suffered renal failure after being given Trasylol during cardiac artery bypass surgery...

Celebrex is a Risky Choice for Patients with Heart Problems

Posted on April 02, 2008
Celebrex is risky choice for patients with heart problems,. According to a recently released study, the pain reliever increases the odds that people with heart problems will suffer a heart attack or stroke. The study of the Pfizer-made drug was supported by the National Cancer Institute...

Baby Injured by Birth Trauma Wins $19 Million in Medical Malpractice Suit

Posted on March 31, 2008
A baby boy disabled during birth trauma was awarded $19 million to help pay for the life-long medical care needed due to the boy?s injuries. The boy was born during a c-section, and had to be resuscitated. The baby had to spend the first four months of his life in intensive care...

Judge Denies Higher Bond in Deadly Crash

Posted on March 30, 2008
The Kansas City Missouri driver involved in a deadly crash on Interstate 70 near Columbia Missouri while reportedly being under the influence of marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs at the time of a deadly wreck did not have his bail increased. The driver of the pickup truck was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance in the wreck that killed Charles D...

Lawsuit filed against the maker of Trasylol over man?s death after open-heart surgery

Posted on March 14, 2008
A lawsuit has been filed in a St. Louis federal court against Bayer AG, the maker of the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol, on behalf of a widow whose husband died of kidney failure after open-heart surgery. On Dec. 16, 2005, Samuel Nakis, 81, underwent open-heart surgery at St...

New York Life 401(k) participants get a $14 Million in Self-Dealing Case

Posted on March 11, 2008
A claim that New York Life Insurance Co. improperly transferred pension and 401(k) assets into its mutual fund is almost over. On March 4, Judge Bruce W. Kauffman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved a $14 million settlement between the company and employees and agents who were in the New York Life defined benefit and 401(k) program...

Wyeth and Pfizer Ordered to Pay $27 Million in Punitive Damages

Posted on March 07, 2008
Wyeth and Pfizer must pay more than $27 million in punitive damages to a woman who claimed her breast cancer was linked to the menopause drugs they made, the Wall Street Journal reports. The award was made last Thursday by a federal jury in Little Rock, Ark...

Safety of Trasylol Questioned by Doctors from Duke

Posted on March 06, 2008
The Safety of Trasylol was put at issue by Doctors from Duke University Medical Center who played high-profile roles in the debate over the safety of the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol, Pharmalot notes. Duke?s chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Dr...

Trasylol Studies are Flawed According to Bayer

Posted on March 05, 2008
Trasylol is a drug manufactured by the German Pharmaceutical company Bayer. It was typically used during heart bypass surgey to prevent bleeding. Recently, two studies were released that linked Trasylol to higher risks of death and kidney disease. Bayer AG, the maker of Trasylol, claims those studies are flawed...

Illinois Medical Malpractice--Supreme Court Considers Constitutionality of Non-Economic Caps

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Illinois Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of damage caps passed by the legislature. Last November, Cook County Circuit Judge Diane J. Larsen overturned an Illinois law that capped damages in malpractice cases. Her decision was appealed by the hospital...

Iliniois Medical Malpracitce Plaintiff Awarded $24 Million

Posted on February 26, 2008
In an Illinois Medical Malpractice case a jury in La Salle County Circuit Court decided an Illinois Plaintiff should receive nearly $24 million from a doctor and nurse practitioner in a malpractice case. The 34-year-old Streator man filed a lawsuit in May 2003 against Ephraim W...

The Makers of Premarin, Prempro, and Provera Hit With $2.75 Million Verdict

Posted on February 26, 2008
The manufactures of hormone replacement drugs lost their second case regarding the allegations that their drugs Premarin, Prempro, and Provera caused breast cancer. A federal jury awarded $2.75 million in actual damages to a woman who alleged her breast cancer was caused by hormone replacement drugs, Bloomberg News reports...

Trasylol Linked to Renal Failure and Death

Posted on February 26, 2008
Trasylol the anti-bleeding drug used during heart surgery is more likely to cause patients to die, according to two new studies published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine. The first study involved 10,000 patients who had bypasses at Duke University Medical Center from 1996 through 2005...

Yamaha Rhino Well Known for Causing Deaths and Serious Injuries

Posted on February 24, 2008
ATV's including the Yamaha Rhino have been alleged to have killed more than five hundred people in 2006. Twenty percent of the people that perished in these unfortunate accidents were children. Amid the ATV deaths, 146,600 people visited hospital emergency rooms due to injuries from the well-known Yamaha Rhino ATV within the same year...

Yamaha Rhino Rollovers: Three Tragic Cases

Posted on February 22, 2008
The Yamaha Rhino is a prime example of the need for more regulation and safety measures when it comes to ATVs. Lives could have been saved if more controls were in place, particularly with the design of the Rhino. Complaints are pouring in, alleging that even at low speed and during turns on flat surfaces, rollovers occur due to a defect in the design?a high center of gravity makes the vehicle top-heavy...

Lawsuits Over Faulty Medical Devices Rejected by Supreme Court

Posted on February 22, 2008
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that consumers cannot sue the makers of federally approved medical devices for design defects in state court. The decision was a blow to the family of Charles Riegel. While undergoing a medical procedure to unclog an artery, a catheter burst and seriously injured Riegel...

Yamaha Rhino ATV: An Accident Waiting to Happen

Posted on February 19, 2008
The Yamaha Rhino is the subject of many lawsuits and claims because it is poorly designed. One has to wonder how a vehicle?any vehicle?would be approved for sale without doors, and other alleged design flaws such as being top-heavy and having tires that are too narrow...

Yamaha Sued for Yamaha Rhino Rollover Accidents Resulting in Amputations and Other Severe Injuries

Posted on February 16, 2008
Yamaha Rhino's are the subjects of lawsuits and claims throughout the country because of their propensity to roll over due to their narrow wheel base and high center of gravity. The problem is made much more serious because Rhino's which are all terrain vehicles made by Yamaha Corporation lack doors so when they rollover and the driver or passenger's arms or legs get outside the Rhino, severe injuries and amputations are the result...

Medical Malpractice Case for the Failure to Diagnose Gastric Cancer Settles after Woman?s Gastric Cancer goes Undetected

Posted on February 13, 2008
A lawsuit filed against a doctor who, despite his patient?s symptoms, failed to order a medical test that would allegedly have detected gastric cancer when it was still treatable has been settled for a confidential amount. Attorneys Jeffrey J. Lowe of The Lowe Law Firm represented the woman's family...

Two Fentanyl Patch Recalls

Posted on February 13, 2008
Over the course of five days, two fentanyl patches have been recalled because of defects that could lead to respiratory depression and fatal overdoses. The first recall was announced on Feb. 12 and covers Duragesic pain patches. Made Ortho-McNeil-Jannssen Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, Duragesic is a powerful opioid drug used to treat moderate to severe chronic pain...

The FDA Takes Action Against Unapproved use of Colchicine a Drug used to Treat Gout

Posted on February 06, 2008
Colchicine is a drug used to treat gout which frequently results in inflammation of the joints in the fingers and toes. Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would go after companies marketing unapproved uses for the injectable gout drug, Colchicine...

Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch Manufacture Faces Additional Lawsuits

Posted on January 31, 2008
Lawsuits against Davol, the maker of the Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch, was expanded to include other hernia patches made by the company. On Jan. 10, U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi ruled that a lawsuit alleging the Davol-made Composix EX Mesh Patch was defective could proceed as part of the Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch multi-district litigation pending in Rhode Island...

Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch Raises Blood Clot Risks

Posted on January 21, 2008
A study conducted by the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program confirms that the birth control patch Ortho Evra Contraceptive Transdermal (Skin) Patch increases the risk of developing serious blood clots. Ortho Evra is a birth conrtrol patch manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, and has been linked to blood clots known as deep vein thrombosis or DVT's, as well as pulmonary embolisms which if untreated can be fatal...

Vytorin Study Shows it is no Better Than Generic, Congressional Investigation Continues

Posted on January 16, 2008
After a two-year wait, the makers of the cholesterol drug Vytorin finally released the results of a study that showed the drug is no better than the generic for reducing plaque buildup in the carotid arteries. In fact, Vytorin did slightly worse. And Vytorin is ten times more expensive than the generic alternative...

Illinois Auto Accident That Killed Two Sisters is Being Investigated by Illinois State Police

Posted on January 14, 2008
An Illinois State Trooper was involved in a fatal auto accident on Illinois Interstate 64. Why the trooper racing to an accident when emergency vehicles were already leaving the scene? That?s one of the questions being asked as part of a probe into the double-fatal crash on Nov...

Missouri Appellate Court Upholds $8 million Punitive Damage Award Against State Farm

Posted on January 11, 2008
This week, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District upheld an $8 million punitive damages award against State Farm, calling the insurance company?s conduct ?clearly reprehensible.? The Jan. 8 ruling involves conduct that stretches back ten years...

Diabetes Drugs Avandia and Actos Raise Heart Attack Risks

Posted on January 08, 2008
The diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos significantly increase the odds of suffering a heart attack, congestive heart failure and death for older diabetic patients according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Both drugs, known as thiazolidinediones, or TZDs, increase the body?s sensitivity to insulin...

Medical Malpractice Caps Unfairly Shift the Burden of the Medical Providers Negligence to Injured Patients

Posted on January 05, 2008
As a medical malpractice lawyer who practices in Missouri, Illinois as well as other states, I know that medical malpractice cases are difficult and expensive cases to handle. Medical malpractice cases are also more difficult to win in comparison to a product liability case because in a product liability case you can generally present evidence that the corporation knew of the risk of injury, could make the product sager but made the conscious decision to put profits over safety...

Accidents on the St. Louis Highways During the I-64 Construction--Tips for how to Handle Them

Posted on January 03, 2008
During the rush hour commute, highway accidents are common. But what does a driver do when there?s no shoulder? That?s the question St. Louis drivers are asking now that many are using Interstate 44 as an alternate route during the Highway 40 closure...

Illinois Medical Malpractice Caps Ruled Unconstitutional, Appeal Filed

Posted on January 02, 2008
Illinois' medical malpractice damage caps were declared unconstitutional by a Cook County Circuit Judge on November 13, 2007. On December 13, 2007 the hospital and doctor filed a notice of appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court in an effort have the decision overturned...

Allstate in Missouri Personal Injury Case Ignores Court Order, Fined $25,000 a Day

Posted on January 02, 2008
In a personal injury case pending in Missouri, Allstate Insurance Co. is racking up $25,000-a-day in court fines, because it refuses to comply with a judge?s order to hand over documents, the Kansas City Star reports. At the center of the controversy are papers prepared by consultant McKinsey & Co in the 1990s...

Missouri Medical Malpractice Caps Protects Hospitals, Doctors and Harm Patients

Posted on November 30, 2007
Missouri Medical Malpractice awards for non-economic damages for all cases filed after August 2005 were capped at $350,000.00 total for all defendants. This law protects the financial interests of doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies at the expense of injured patients...

Illinois Pedestrian Killed on Interstate 69 in Allen County Illinois

Posted on November 25, 2007
An Illinois pedestrian killed Thursday night on Interstate 69 has been identified as a Huntington Illinois woman. Police said Betty A. Gilruth, 56, left her broken-down vehicle and was walking south on the highway at the 107 mile marker north of the Illinois Road exit when she was struck by a southbound truck about 8:30 p...

Illinois Auto Accident Kills Two

Posted on November 25, 2007
A Southern Illinois auto accident killed two sisters on Interstate 64 near Scott Air Force Base. The accident occurred when an Illinois State Police trooper heading to an accident, was cut off by another motorist, crossed and slammed into an oncoming car...

FDA Mandates Stronger Warnings on Amgen?s Epogen and Aranesp, and Johnson & Johnson?s Procrit Which are all Prescribed to Treat Anemia

Posted on November 09, 2007
The manufacturers of Epogen, Aranesp, and Procrit used to treat anemia, strengthened the warnings to drugs yesterday, to warn that the drugs could cause heart attacks, worsen cancer and even cause death. The changes, were made after they submitted data to the Food and Drug Administration which evidenced that the drugs can be dangerous if overused...

Vioxx Settlement the Devil is in the Details

Posted on November 09, 2007
At 4:30 a.m. on November 9, 2007, Merck agreed to a purported $4.85 billion settlement. The agreement is 69 pages and has not yet been released publicly. At a hearing in New Orleans this morning the terms of the settlement were revealed. (1) This is not a class action settlement...

Gadolinium Causes Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis in Patients Undergoing Dialysis

Posted on October 31, 2007
Gadolinium a contrast used in MRI's can cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and kidney failure. NSF is a tightening and swelling of the skin and other organs, including the lungs and heart. The American Journal of Dermatopathology, suggest a possible explanation for why some patients on kidney dialysis who are injected with a "contrast agent" during a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) develop nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF)...

Catastrophic Accidents Caused by Blown out Vehicle Tires

Posted on October 15, 2007
Tire blowouts are sometimes caused by defective tires and are a very serious road hazard. Tire blowouts often result in vehicle collisions causing injuries and even fatalities. The remnants of blown truck tire scattered across a highway are the signs that this is not an uncommon occurrence, Debris littering the highways cause over 25,000 accidents and at least 100 deaths in the United States and Canada each year...

Missouri Personal Injury Jury Verdict Overturned Because Juror Failed to disclose information

Posted on October 10, 2007
Personal injuries verdicts can be overturned for what is called juror misconduct. As a trial lawyer that is very frustrating to try a case and get a favorable verdict, but then have the defense lawyer investigate jurors background's and compare it to their testimony during jury selection...

Garbage Truck Kills Illinois Bicyclist Talking on Cell Phone

Posted on October 10, 2007
In Chicago Illinois, a 19-year-old woman on a bicycle was struck and killed by a garbage truck while talking on a cell phone. The accident happened just after 4 p.m. when a garbage truck, was making a right-hand turn struck the woman, who was riding a bicycle...