Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

As a Fort Worth Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease attorney, I am providing this latest update to the Accutane lawsuits which have been filed in New Jersey.

3,000 Accutane lawsuits have been filed in New Jersey state court, Atlantic City, alleging that makers of the acne skin medication failed to adequately warn about the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease.

All of the New Jersey state court lawsuits over Accutane and generic versions have been consolidated as a Mass Tort.

The first Accutane lawsuit was filed on September 23, 2004 and the 3,000th case was filed earlier this month, on February 9, 2011.

Roche discontinued Accutane in June 2009 due to the increasing costs associated with the Accutane litigation, but a number of generic versions remain available under names such as Claravis, Sotret, Amnesteem and generic isotretinoin.

Roche has lost all six cases that have reached a jury verdict.

A trial is scheduled to begin this month before Judge Higbee involving three Accutane suits, including one brought by actor James Marshall.

Continue reading "Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease" »

As a Fort Worth Traumatic Brain Injury, Wrongful Death and Truck Accident attorney I am providing this jury verdict out of California. Count this as a win for the good guys, but unfortunately no amount of money can turn back the clock and fully compensate the victims of this tragic and needless accident.

A California jury has awarded $49 million in a lawsuit stemming from a highway accident in 2007 that left one man dead and a police officer paralyzed.

Officer Pedeferri had pulled over motorist Andres Parra on U.S. Highway 101 north of Ventura when a man driving a truck slammed into them, killing Parra, and rendering the police officer a quadriplegic.

Jurors awarded Parra's parents $10.2 million for the loss of their son.

The truck driver pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and transporting marijuana. He was sentenced in 2008 to 15 years in prison.

Continue reading "$49 M Awarded in Wrongful Death Drunk Driving Truck Accident" »

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney I am providing this Texas medical malpractice update.

Texas lawmakers passed legislative changes in 2003, which made it more difficult for patients to be awarded damages in any health care medical malpractice setting.

The tort reform state lawmakers passed in 2003, the toughest in the country, capped medical liability for non economic damages at $250,000 per health care provider, with a maximum award of $750,000.

This is particularly true in emergency rooms medical malpractice claims, where plaintiffs must prove doctors acted with "willful and wanton" negligence. This standard means that they not only put the patient in extreme risk but knew they were doing it. Plaintiffs must prove that ER doctors acted with conscious indifference, or gross negligence, rather than simple negligence.

Tort reform advocates say the law is needed to protect ER doctors operating in volatile environments.

Medical malpractice attorneys argue the threshold is nearly impossible to cross, the “willful and wanton” rule means ER care in Texas is some of the most dangerous in the country, because no one can be held accountable for failure to diagnose, failure to treat or wrong care.

Unfortunately Texans are unaware that their Legislature has mandated a very low standard of care — almost no care, and heaven forbid they or a loved one gets injured by the negligence of an ER doctor, then they find out, the hard way, that they have no legal recourse.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney I am providing this update on drunk driving related car accidents and fatalities. These incredible statistics reveal why drunk driving is a major public policy issue.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving MADD, these are the statistics for 2010 for the State of Texas.

Rank: 45

3 time offenders: 124,662

5 time offenders: 18,271

DUI Fatalities: 1,235

% of total traffic deaths DUI related 40%

% of change in DUI fatalities from previous to current year: -6

State subsidy of drunk driving fatalities: $5.8 Billion

Summary:

The Legislature rejected lifesaving interlock legislation and sobriety checkpoint legislation in 2009; MADD is working toward the 2011 session.

Alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 26%

Binge alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 17%

Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2007 and 2008.

We are following closely this local story involving a drunk Fort Worth police officer and the tragic car accident that he was involved in. Read full Fort Worth Star Telegram story here.

An accident investigator said a former Fort Worth police officer's alcohol intoxication is to blame for a fatal car crash.

Jesus Cisneros, a former undercover narcotics officer, is charged with intoxication manslaughter in the wrongful death of a 27-year-old mother.

Sonia Baker died in December when a Fort Worth issued SUV driven by Cisneros crashed into her. The SUV apparently was speeding at 76 mph in a busy residential area when it collided with Baker's car. Baker could not have been able to avoid the accident, according to the investigators.

According to State Prosecutors, the crash came after Cisneros attended a birthday party for a fellow officer at a Fort Worth bar. Video that was recorded at the party show him drinking heavily.

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As a Southlake car accident and car wreck attorney I frequently provide updates to my readers.
If you are involved in a car accident, car wreck, hit and run, fender bender or any other terms you that may use for a car collision, you should be familiar with the Texas driving rules of the road.

As a Fort Worth Car Wreck attorney, I am involved with many of the similar types of car accident cases as I read about this weekend.

Dallas taxi broadsides SUV, leads to critical injuries of a stranded driver. Read full story here. A taxicab carrying seven passengers broadsided a Buick at a downtown Dallas intersection Saturday morning, sending the SUV crashing into a man as he filled his dead vehicle with gas.

Obviously the taxi cab driver did not keep a proper lookout and went through a busy intersection, causing the accident and causing significant brain trauma to a pedestrian.

In Texas, all drivers have to keep a “proper lookout”and observe the speed, traffic signals/signs and traffic conditions for that particular stretch of road. It is the law in Texas to wear a seat belt and so buckle up. That means that the driver has to pay continuous attention to the road as well as other drivers and failure to observe this could result in a Texas car accident because of negligence.

Every driver in Texas- whether you live in Southlake, or any other area- has a responsibility to be careful when driving. Remember a Texas driver license is a privilege and not an automatic right to use the road.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about a car accident, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

The personal injury sage continues. As a Fort Worth Personal Injury attorney I am writing this blog to hopefully provide insight to my readers, about the law works with its byzantine rules and regulations.

The Law and its practical applications are murky at best and we as lawyers have developed our own rituals and our own special language. Because if we spoke in plain English, then it would not be special anymore.

In my last missive I detailed the week before an actual trial that we were getting ready to do on our slip and fall case. The case got continued. Now we are using this opportunity to continue in our siege of the defendants castle. We continue to press our charge and are unrelenting in our skirmishes.

The defendants strategy in every personal injury case, irrespective of the claim, is to first deny the claim, then to deflect the claim ie somebody elses fault and then finally to delay the case going to trial. They hope with this strategy with wear out the plaintiff and make the cost of litigation prohibitively expensive to continue.

This standard strategy is designed to sap the will of the opponent, to make the risk reward ratio tilt in their favor. This tactic may have traction in some quarters especially in the claim is weak or ill founded, but to us it is like waving a red flag to a bull. We are only spurred on, and I have a natural dislike for bullies, and that is what the defense are; bullies by any other name are still bullies, with their repeated denials and rejections of liability and fault.

In this particular instance, we have been at it for over 3 years. The defense is a stubborn lot, mangy and dogged in their delay tactics. We shall prevail, Justice will triumph in the end and the dark forces crushed.

Ultimately the defendants insurance is going to rein them in especially when they have spent more in defending this case than they could have settled it for. They are consumed by over reaching hubris and a lack of common sense. They will ultimately lose this account.

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war."

And so it begins, twenty four hours from now, with a drop of the hammer and a cry of "Order, Court now in session," the battle banners would have unfurled with the sounds of trumpets.

As a Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney, I would like to offer the following insights. As I mentioned in my last posting from the battlefront, we were due in court tomorrow to argue our slip and fall case which just got canceled and set for a new date.

The foul air would have been filled with the clanging of steel, the clashing of shields, the stench of panic and fear permeating the air to be supplemented with whiffs of gunpowder. My friends, this was no ordinary skirmish, but the accumulation of 3 years hard labor. But it was not to be...

My friends that is what a court room feels and sounds like, all shrouded in the fog of war and at the end of the day, one victor and the vanquished. Carnage and havoc for both.
Trials are no easy things and the plaintiffs all want their day in court. It is hard to then explain to them when you get a worse deal at trial that in settlement talks a year earlier.

In this particular battle, the decision to go to war was easy, we had no offers to settle or offers through mediation. Here, if we had failed to press our charge and we lost, what did we lose? We came with nothing and left with nothing. Then the next time the defense would know we spared no quarter, we yielded no ground, and we fought to the last man. Each man died a hero, with sword in hand, a bloody battle indeed.

In this battle dear readers, there are no prisoners.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Who Will Fight For You 817-900-8439" »

According to OSHA, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009.

"With every one of these fatalities, the lives of a worker's family members were shattered and forever changed. We can't forget that fact."
-Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor

Poorly Managed Construction Sites Are Dangerous.

Construction site injuries include:

* Falls
* Struck by falling object
* Struck by laterally moving object or equipment
* Impalement or penetrating injury
* Truck or other motor vehicle accident
* Electrocution
* Explosions
* Burns

Continue reading "Dallas Fort Worth Construction Sites Can Lead to Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries" »

I am proud of our work this week. We just settled another car accident injury claim. My client was minding his own business, one night in Dallas. Somebody plowed into him and rear ended him. The folks who hit him were drunk and tried to run. They were caught by an off duty apartment security guard.

Come to find out they were high as a kite and ready to fly.

Luckily for my client he had minor soft tissue injuries, but he had pre-existing neck problems including cervical neck fusion. Obviously we were concerned that he may have had neck injuries. But after medical evaluation he was cleared of major injuries.

We settled for insurance policy limits.

When you need to help after an injury or accident, you need to find the Dallas Fort Worth Texas personal injury lawyers.

We evaluate and accept cases all over Texas including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio car accidents, auto wrongful death cases, mesothelioma, burn injuries, Accutane side effect bowel disease, Paxil birth defects, brain injuries, 18 wheeler, semi truck, tractor trailer accidents, diesel truck or big rig accidents.

If you have been injured in an accident as a result of the negligence of others,
please call 817-900-8439, 888-210-9693 or Contact Me Online.

A Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant who was left paralyzed and a special-teams coach whose neck was broken in the May 2 collapse of the team’s practice facility in Irving filed separate lawsuits against the Pennsylvania-based company that built the structure.

The lawsuits, which also name an engineer and five other companies involved in construction and maintenance of the facility, contend that structural problems and code violations were kept from the team for years before the tentlike structure collapsed in gusting winds.

Rich Behm, who was paralyzed from the waist down, and coach Joe DeCamillis are seeking an undisclosed amount for their pain and suffering and for punitive damages.

Continue reading "Dallas Cowboys Staffers File Lawsuits Over Sport Facility Collapse" »

On June 26, 2007, at about 5:30 p.m., plaintiff Brian Moore, 19, a college student, hit a tree after he lost control of his sedan heading east on Peach Road in Fairfield County, South Carolina.

Moore alleged that he saw a clump of mud near the road's shoulder and tried to avoid it, but he couldn't, causing him to spin out of control and force him off the road. He was able to return to the road but overcorrected the vehicle which then yawed (when the vehicle's wheels are turned but the vehicle is also sliding sideways) 180 degrees and swerved through the oncoming lane and crashed into a tree with the passenger rear corner panel. Moore was paralyzed in the crash.

The road was being widened--2-foot paved shoulders were being added--and resurfaced by Boggs Paving Inc. under a contract with the state Department of Transportation. Boggs was putting down dirt that day to dress the shoulders, but the work was interrupted by a summer thunderstorm. Moore claimed that the road was contaminated with mud that had washed from the shoulders which resulted in his losing control of his vehicle.

Continue reading "Mud on Road Caused Car Crash, Paralyzing Driver" »

A paralyzed father of three plans to move from a nursing facility back home with his family after winning a $19.2 million negligence award against Montefiore Medical Center earlier this month.

Wilfredo Figueroa, 58, was working as a radiology technician on Sept. 22, 2004, when he was admitted to Montefiore, complaining of severe back pain.

The Bronx hospital's staff failed to diagnose a spinal abscess- an infection on his spinal cord - which rapidly led to his permanent paralysis, according to lawyer Edward Bithorn and court documents.

Continue reading "Montefiore Hospital to pay $19.2 M for Medical Malpractice" »

A Steuben County couple has sued a Fort Wayne orthopedics firm, alleging a missed diagnosis for a blood clot caused the wife to lose her leg.

Filed in Allen Superior Court this week by Jeanette Presley and Allen Presley, the lawsuit against Orthopaedics Northeast seeks compensatory damages and comes after the couple received a ruling from the state’s Medical Review Panel that Orthopaedics Northeast failed to comply with appropriate standards of care, according to court documents.

Continue reading "Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Doctors Caused Leg Amputation" »

A 20-year-old airman was in critical condition at University of California Davis Medical Center on Monday, after losing both legs in what his family described as complications of routine gallbladder surgery.

Neither the medical center nor Travis Air Force Base, where Airman 1st Class Colton Read underwent surgery this month, would comment on specifics of his case.

Travis said only that a "serious medical incident" occurred at its David Grant Medical Center on July 9 and is being investigated by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Read, who was stationed at Beale Air Force Base east of Marysville, Calif., was supposed to get his gallbladder removed laparoscopically at the Travis hospital, said his wife, Jessica Read.

Continue reading "Airman Loses Legs After Gallbladder Operation" »

A Harris County Texas jury has ruled in favor of a Houston man in a medical malpractice case, awarding him $10 million in damages stemming from a lawsuit against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated him there.

John German developed gangrene that required the amputation of his left leg above the knee, all the toes on his right foot and all of his fingers in the aftermath of heart surgery in 2002 .

“It’s been a long time coming, but I feel vindicated,” said German, who was a 32-year-old mechanic at the time of the care.

Continue reading "Texas Patient Awarded $10 M in Medical Malpractice Claim" »

Nicholas Anderson should be a multimillionaire.

Instead, he is penniless - and in need of medical treatment he can't afford.

On Dec. 23, 2004, Anderson was driving home when a tire caught on a six-inch lip on the roadside and he lost control of his car. The car crashed into a guardrail, which impaled the vehicle, severing Anderson's left leg and nearly severing his left arm. He was 18.

He sued Camden County, and last year a jury awarded him $31 million, finding that the county-maintained road was dangerous because of the drop in elevation between the road and shoulder, and because of the guardrail's design.

"I'm in pain every day," Anderson said.

Continue reading "N.J. Crash Victim Caught in County-Insurer Lawsuits" »

A Broward Circuit Court judge has ordered an insurance company to pay a paralyzed truck driver $14.6 million because of a 2007 accident.

Derry Brown Jr. of Pahokee was hauling a load of sugar in an 18-wheeler when a driver ran a stop sign, cutting him off on May 31, 2007. Brown, 64, swerved out of the way, and his truck overturned on State Road 80, just east of Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach County.

The accident cost Brown the use of his arms and legs and left him with mounting medical bills. If Brown had not swerved, the other driver would have died, Brown's attorney, Robert Kelley, told the court.

Continue reading "Florida Court Awards Paralyzed Trucker $14.6 M" »

A Chinese woman who fell out of a moving Disneyland tram and suffered injuries that left her needing 24-hour medical supervision for the rest of her life has reached a settlement in a lawsuit she filed against the Walt Disney Co.

Lawyers for Qi Zhao and Disney reached the agreement, bringing a two-week trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court to an abrupt end.

Details of the accord were not released.

Zhao, 48, filed her suit in 2007, alleging the tram driver was going too fast. She was riding the tram with two sisters and a niece. According to the complaint, one of the sisters fell from the King tram as it moved toward a parking lot.

Reacting to the fall, the other two sisters also fell out. One suffered minor injuries and Zhao hit her head on the pavement, suffering severe traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures and was in a coma for three weeks.

Continue reading "Disney and Tram-Injured Woman Reach Settlement" »

A Los Angeles judge has ordered automaker Jaguar Land Rover to pay $21.1 million to a Simi Valley man who was paralyzed in 2003 when his Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle rolled over several times after a collision on the 118 Freeway.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert H. O'Brien cited two key reasons for his decision: The vehicle's high center of gravity made it susceptible to rolling over, and its roof collapsed too easily, causing Sukhsagar Pannu to suffer a debilitating spinal cord injury.

Continue reading "Land Rover Maker Ordered to Pay $21.1 M in Rollover Case" »

A young Connecticut man who was paralyzed from the chest down in 2002 while pole vaulting at Southern Connecticut State University has won $6.4 million in damages from the Connecticut affiliate of USA Track and Field.

Brandon White, 25, won the civil lawsuit from a six-member New Haven Superior Court jury.

Continue reading "Paralyzed Pole Vaulter Wins Lawsuit" »

A Staten Island man stricken with polio has won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against a drug maker, claiming he contracted polio 30 years ago while changing his daughter's diaper.

Dominick Tenuto was awarded $22.5 million, believed to be one of the highest awards ever on Staten Island.

The lawsuit claims that the oral vaccine Tenuto's daughter received, which contained a live virus, passed through her body and infected Tenuto while he was changing her diaper.

The 61-year-old Tenuto, a former Wall Street executive, sued two years after contracting polio and losing his job.

The drug maker, Lederle Laboratories, plans to appeal.

A Miami Beach woman left bedridden and in excruciating pain following spinal surgery in 2003 at Mount Sinai Medical Center was awarded $38 million by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury.

The six-person jury deliberated nine hours over two days before finding that neurosurgeon Mario Nanes, Mount Sinai and the hospital's pharmacy management firm caused Amanda Slavin's debilitating injuries.

Mount Sinai settled before the case went to trial, so it is not on the hook to pay any part of the award. The hospital's pharmacy management firm at the time, McKesson Medication Management, vowed to appeal.

Continue reading "Miami Beach Woman Awarded $38 M For Botched Spinal Surgery" »

DALLAS — A Bedford infectious-disease specialist has been ordered to pay $7.5 million to a former maintenance man who lost his arms and legs to an MRSA infection.

Judge Jim Jordan ordered Dr. Meenakshi Prabhakar to pay David Fitzgerald after a Dallas County jury found in Fitzgerald's favor in his medical malpractice lawsuit. Prabhakar treated Fitzgerald in 2003 when he developed an infection following surgery at RHD Medical Center in Farmers Branch. Photo courtesy of Dallas Morning News

Continue reading "Dallas Doctor Ordered to Pay Man Who Lost Limbs $7.5M " »

An Illinois woman's homeowners insurance will pay $2.5 M to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who was injured in a crash that occurred after an underage drinking party in her home.

The settlement between the woman, whose teenage daughters hosted the party, and George Baldwin, 22, was approved by the judge in Lake County Circuit Court.

In 2006, Baldwin, then a 19-year-old Lake Forest High School graduate, went to the woman's home with a friend, William Klairmont, then 18 and also from Lake Forest. They were visiting Pfeifer's daughters, and all drank beer in the girls' bedroom.

Klairmont was intoxicated when he drove home and lost control of his car. Baldwin, a passenger, was injured with resulting paralysis.

Continue reading "Man Paralyzed in Crash After Underage Drinking Party Settles Lawsuit " »

On Sept. 24, a jury rejected a family's claim that its elderly patriarch died as a result of injuries sustained when he fell at a Family Dollar Store.

The family of Warren Tiner, 84, alleged he was shopping at the Tyler store when he tripped over a box left out in an aisle.

Complaining of back pain, he checked into a hospital eight days after the September 2006 incident. His condition worsened, and he developed other health issues, including pneumonia, heart problems and eventually paralysis from spinal cord compression.

Tiner's family claimed his death in July 2008 was related to injuries from the fall. Family Dollar denied that a box was in the aisle and contended that even if it were, Tiner should have seen and avoided it.

The defense also argued that Tiner suffered from chronic health problems prior to the incident.

Tiner v. Family Dollar Stores of Texas L.P., No. 07-1759-C

Court: 241st District Court, Smith County

DALLAS-A federal court jury ordered Dallas County on Tuesday August 27, 2008 to pay $900,000 to a former Dallas County jail inmate for denying him proper medical care while he was in custody.

The jury found that Stanley Shepherd's constitutional rights were violated when he was denied basic medical care while in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on burglary and drug charges in late 2003.

Continue reading "Dallas County to Pay $900,000 Over Lack of Medical Care " »

A construction worker, Clifford Moncrieffe, was operating a Bobcat X320 compact excavator when the machine tipped over. Moncrieffe's left foot was outside the operator's compartment and his foot was crushed. Ultimately he underwent a knee amputation.

Moncrieffe sued manufacturer Clark Equipment Co., in Federal Court in Florida, for products liability (strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty and failure to warn).

Continue reading "Bobcat Excavator Accident Settles for $1.85M" »