Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

The city of Los Angeles paid $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a volunteer for the Los Angeles Triathlon, who was left a paraplegic by an accident during the event in 2007, according to his attorney.

Steve Albala, who was 60 at the time of the accident, was on his motorcycle helping to officiate the bicycle portion of the triathlon. A traffic officer motioned for a vehicle to enter an intersection into the volunteer's path, causing the accident, Albala's attorney contended in the lawsuit.

Read the full story here at the LA Times.

Continue reading "L.A. Settles Accident Lawsuit for $7 M" »

A Chicago man injured on a mini-trampoline when he was an eighth-grade student at a South Side elementary school 18 years ago has settled a lawsuit with the Chicago Board of Education and a private youth center for almost $14.7 million, his attorneys said Thursday.

Ryan Murray, who was 13 at the time, was injured in a tumbling class on Dec. 14, 1992, at what was then Bryn Mawr Elementary School, the attorneys said. Murray, now 30, became a quadriplegic after he hit his head as he did a flip off a mini-trampoline onto a mat in the school's gymnasium, the attorneys said.

Read full story here at the Chicago Tribune

Continue reading "$14.7 M Settlement in Trampoline Lawsuit Against Chicago Board of Education" »

A N.J., man who suffered a head injury in a shopping center accident accepted $10.3 million to settle his suit.

On July 9, 2008, Michael Hess was leaning on a metal railing on an elevated walkway outside a store at Echo Plaza in Springfield when the railing gave way. He fell four feet to the pavement below, hitting his head. The railing had broken the day before, but the shopping center used wire to hold it together and did not post warning signs, says the plaintiffs attorney, Raymond Gill.

Hess suffered three fractured vertebrae, dislocated his left shoulder, and suffered nerve problems in his feet from walking on crutches.

Continue reading "N.J. Shopping Center to Pay $10.3 M in Premises Liability Suit" »

An Idaho Springs man was awarded $18.5 million for catastrophic injuries he suffered when a driver drunk on alcohol and high on marijuana left a mountain road and slammed into him as he was changing the oil on his wife's car in their driveway.

Clear Creek District Court Judge Granger assessed the award against the driver, Kevin Ruszkowski, 24; the owner of the Jeep, Randall Guy; and Guy's son, Justin Guy, 20, who had allowed Ruszkowski to drive the vehicle.

Paul Savage, 46, who was injured, was head waiter at the Alpenglow Stube at Keystone at the time.

Ruszkowski had no license because his driving privileges had either been suspended or revoked for prior driving misconduct.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14419648#ixzz0gN2hsQw2

Continue reading "Idaho Springs Man Awarded $18.5 M in DUI Case " »

A pedestrian wearing a hooded jacket has been killed by a commuter train in Dallas.

The woman walked into a Trinity Railway Express train, which links Dallas and Fort Worth and carries about 10,000 passengers daily, during afternoon rush hour Monday.

Read full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Continue reading "Texas Woman Dies After Walking Into Train in Dallas" »

Faced with an unprecedented recall of millions of vehicles and rivals swooping in on its customers, the public relations machine at Toyota Motor Corp -- one of the most savvy brand-creators in Asia -- is floundering.

Toyota has consistently played down recurring complaints of unintended acceleration, breaking what PR experts said is the cardinal rule in crisis management: assume the worst.

Read full article here.

Continue reading "Toyota Grapples With Huge Car Recall" »

Already on the hook for the lion's share of a $17.7 million judgment and waiting for a decision from a jury that was out considering punitive damages, Ford Motor Co. decided to settle with a couple who sued following a Christmas 2005 wreck that left the woman paralyzed.

The agreement came after a Clayton County, Ga., jury ordered Ford on Dec. 18 to pay more than $16 million of the judgment to compensate for what the plaintiffs argued were design defects in the 2002 Explorer sport utility vehicle in which the woman was a passenger.

Continue reading "Ford Settles Explorer Suit as Jury Considers Damages" »

A Santa Rosa winery has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a Sebastopol man who was permanently disabled in an alcohol-related car crash in 2006.

Paradise Ridge Winery was sued by Joshua Apodaca, the passenger in a car driven by a 19-year-old classmate, Sean Bradley, who allegedly was served beer at a wedding reception hosted by the winery.

A crash early the next morning left Apodaca with a serious brain injury and his family sought damages from Paradise Ridge, Bradley and the owners of a Sebastopol 7-Eleven store where Bradley bought additional alcohol.

Continue reading "Santa Rosa Winery to pay $3 M to Teen Injured in DUI" »

A 33-year-old man who suffered brain and spinal injuries in July when a heavy limb fell from a tree in Central Park and struck him has sued the city and the Central Park Conservancy for negligence.

The man, Mr. Goldensohn, a computer scientist who works for Google, remains hospitalized from his injuries and has undergone several operations, said his lawyer, Nicholas Papain.

Continue reading "Man Hurt by Falling Tree Limb in NY Central Park " »

The worsening impact of head injuries on football was underscored when it was revealed that La Salle University had agreed to pay $7.5 million to a severely brain-damaged player, an amount five times the school's annual athletic budget.

Preston Plevretes, a sophomore linebacker, was severely injured in a Nov. 5, 2005, game against Duquesne, six weeks after suffering a concussion during an Explorers practice. His lawyers argued that because La Salle prematurely cleared him to return, without having him undergo proper testing or be seen by a doctor, the player became a victim of second-impact syndrome.

Continue reading "La Salle to Pay $7.5 M to Brain-Injured Football Player" »

The state Supreme Court reinstated an $8 million default judgment against Hyundai Motor Co. in a lawsuit over the backward collapse of a front seat in a 1997 crash that left a man paralyzed.

In a 7-2 ruling, the high court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had overturned a trial court's finding for Jesse Magana of Vancouver.

The justices said the South Korean automaker deliberately withheld documentation from Magana's lawyers for too long concerning other crashes in which front seats collapsed backward.

"Trial courts need not tolerate deliberate and willful discovery abuse," wrote the majority. "This result appropriately compensates the other party, punishes Hyundai, and hopefully educates and deters others so inclined."

Continue reading "WA Supreme Court Reinstates $8M Award Against Hyundai" »

A slip and fall accident is a type of personal injury claim that occurs when an individual slips and falls on another person’s property. It is based on the breach of duty that the owner of the property was negligent in failing to correct the dangerous condition that caused the slip and fall.

The term Premises Liability is used when assigning responsibility for injuries caused by the defective design or maintenance of property, including private homes, public buildings, and anywhere a person would have a reasonable expectation of safety.

"Negligence" means failure to use ordinary care to provide a safe place and to reduce or eliminate an unreasonable risk of harm created by the condition or use of a place, equipment or procedures.

Continue reading "Dallas Texas Slip and Fall Attorney Update" »

A trial date has been set in the case against Wal-Mart in the death of a Chadron, Neb., woman.

David Lehman sued the corporation shortly after his wife, Julie, died after falling in the Chadron store. The case, filed in Dawes County District Court was removed to the U.S. District Court, which has scheduled a trial for Feb. 16.

Julie Lehman was in Wal-Mart July 21 with her son, Steffan, 17, when she slipped on a wet floor in the automotive cleaning products aisle on her way to the restroom. Julie received her initial diagnosis and treatment at the Chadron Community Hospital before being flown to Rapid City Regional to have a massive blood clot in her brain surgically removed. Julie never woke up after surgery and died July 27.

Continue reading "Trial Set in Wrongful Death of Wal-Mart Slip and Fall" »

A 4-year-old boy with cerebral palsy received a judge approved a $5.75 million settlement on his behalf.

Cannon Hoops got $1.75 million up front and another $4 million in annuities that are expected to pay for his medical and assistive care as well as future lost earnings over the rest of his life. The money was awarded by the University of California Board of Regents as a result of injuries the boy suffered when he was born in the UC Davis Medical Center.

Continue reading "UC Medical Malpractice Case Settled for $6 M" »

In what is believed to be the largest personal injury lawsuit verdict in the history of the Capital Region, a state Supreme Court jury in Saratoga County awarded $43.5 million to a woman who sued the Bellevue Maternity Hospital in Niskayuna for severe brain damage she suffered during her birth in 1984.

Tiffany Busone, 24, of Schoharie County, sued the hospital for malpractice, arguing she suffered cerebral palsy as a result of a lack of oxygen and a failure to properly resuscitate her during her birth on July 15, 1984.

While Busone has above-average intelligence and earned a degree from Arizona State University, she uses a wheelchair and lacks motor skills due to the brain damage, the sources said.

The lawsuit, initially filed by the woman's mother, J. Tracy Busone, dates to 1984 when the family lived in Saratoga County.

Continue reading "Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Case Costs Hospital $43.5 M " »

An 80-year-old woman has been awarded a $7 million settlement from Target Corp. and a mechanical door company after she was knocked to the ground by a faulty automatic door at a Target store in Rosemont in 2007, the woman's lawyers said in a statement.

The incident on June 21, 2007, caused Claire Putman brain injuries and resulted in "cognitive deficits," according to the statement from the law firm. Putman, whom records list as a Des Plaines resident, had to move into a nursing home because of her injuries.

According to the statement, Putman was walking into the Target at 7000 Mannheim Rd. when the door malfunctioned and knocked her to the floor, causing her to hit her head. She was then struck by the door again as it continued to open and close.

Continue reading "Woman Settles for $7 M in Target Brain Injury Lawsuit" »

A Tarrant County jury has awarded more than $11 million to the family of a boy who was seriously injured after being struck by a car driven by another child in the parking lot at Texas Motor Speedway.

The parents of Ryan Davies, who was injured in 2006, sued the speedway after an accident left the boy with traumatic brain injuries that limit his mobility and mental capacity.

Continue reading "Jury Awards Family more than $11 M in Texas Motor Speedway Lawsuit" »

On Sept. 22, 2006, plaintiff Marcus Button, 16, a student, was a front-seat passenger in his friend's sedan that was heading east on State Road 54. At the intersection at Meadow Pointe Boulevard where there was no traffic signal, a Pasco County School bus made a left turn and struck the sedan. Marcus sustained a brain injury. Investigators found that the bus driver was at fault.

Individually and as Marcus' parents, Mark and Robin Button sued Pasco County School Board for the bus driver's negligence.

Plaintiff's counsel stated that the bus driver violated state law in not yielding the right of way. Investigators determined that the bus driver was at fault. Plaintiff's counsel also pointed to the bus driver's deposition testimony in which he stated that he never saw the plaintiff's vehicle.

Defense counsel presented an accident reconstructionist who stated that the driver of Button's vehicle had ample time to observe and avoid the bus.

Continue reading "Florida Teen Sustained Brain Injury in Crash With School Bus" »

Yamaha Motor Co., the world’s second-largest motorcycle maker, is not liable for damages to the family of a Texas teenager who died while driving the company’s Rhino all-terrain vehicle.

Jurors in state court in Orange, Texas, deliberated about two hours before ruling the vehicle wasn’t to blame for the death of 13-year-old Forest “Eddie” Ray in 2007. The Rhino, a cross between a golf cart and an ATV, has been linked to 59 deaths in the U.S. The case is the first of about 500 to go to trial.

Continue reading "Texas Jury Decides Yamaha Not Liable for Teen’s Rhino Death" »

It only took a few hours for Southeast Texas jurors in the first trial over Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicle rollovers to return a swift ruling of no negligence -- a verdict in the company's favor that could have far reaching effects.

With hundreds of Yamaha ATV suits pending in courts around the country, the victorious outcome obtained in Orange County may influence how Yamaha proceeds with similar litigation.

The product liability trial of Johnny Ray vs. Yamaha Motor Co. kicked off Aug. 18 and ended Aug. 27.

Jurors in the Orange County District Court of Judge Buddy Hahn were tasked to decide if Yamaha Motor Co. cut costs and negligently placed a defective off-road vehicle into the stream of commerce.

Continue reading "South Texas Jury Finds Yamaha not Negligent in First Rhino Rollover Trial" »

On May 15, 2007, plaintiff Jonny Osler, a 57-year-old language instructor, was riding a motor scooter on Collins Road in Sunny Isles when Nasir Jamal allegedly changed lanes in his Mercedes and hit him. Osler was wearing a helmet, but he was rendered unconscious by the impact. Having no recollection of the accident, Osler was ticketed at the scene. Osler sustained a subdural hematoma and fractured collar bone.

Osler sued Jamal for vehicular negligence, alleging that Jamal was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident. Although subpoenaed records supported that theory, Jamal denied at trial that he was on the phone when the collision occurred. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Osler's accident reconstruction expert testified that Jamal's testimony was incredible. He opined that the way the scooter was laying on the ground after the accident according to the police report was inconsistent with Jamal's claim. Jamal paid cash to have his car repaired shortly after the accident. According to counsel for Osler, questions arose as to whether Jamal had repaired his vehicle and if so what had been repaired.

Continue reading "Motor scooter rider sustained head injury in collision" »

On April 5, 2005, plaintiff Liria Lopez, 49, a self-employed house cleaner, entered a Minyard Food Store on the corner of Abrams Road and Gaston Avenue in Dallas. It had rained that day and water had accumulated in the store's foyer area. As Lopez exited, she slipped on the water.

Lopez sued Minyard Food Stores Inc., alleging premises liability. She claimed that other customers had fallen in the same area under reasonably similar conditions about 18 months earlier. She also maintained that on the day of her accident there there were no warning signs or mats placed in the foyer, nor were there any warnings from store employees prior to her fall.

Lopez's walking surfaces/traction expert testified that the manner in which Minyard addressed the water issue in the foyer was below the standard of care. After looking at the records, he said Minyard did not adequately handle the continuing problem of a wet slick floor on rainy days.

Continue reading "Dallas Woman Sustained Brain, Knee Injuries in Slip-and-Fall Incident" »

Three years ago, James Becker was doing what many vigorous 15-year-old boys do - playing baseball, basketball and soccer.

Now he is severely disabled, must use a wheelchair and is under the constant care of his mother.

The accident that reduced James to such circumstances occurred at the Woodcroft Swim Club in Parkville on July 29, 2006, when, his family's lawyer says, he almost drowned. His brain was apparently deprived of adequate oxygen for about 10 minutes.

His parents, William J. Becker III and Mary Becker, have filed a $40 million lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the swim club and the company that runs it, D.R.D. Pool Management Inc., accusing them of failing to both "timely recognize and respond" to the struggling boy and to properly perform resuscitation efforts.

Continue reading " Swim Club Lawsuit for Brain Damage Caused by Drowning " »

Two trucking companies and their drivers are being sued over a 2008 accident on I-15 in Las Vegas in which two honeymooners outside their stranded vehicle were struck and killed.

Attorneys for the parents of one of the victims, Lisa Lynn Prock-Hills, filed a negligence suit in Clark County District Court against truck driver Stanislaw Masalski of Clearwater, Fla., and his company, Stan Trucking Inc.

Also sued were driver Sam Montalvo Martinez and his employer at the time of the accident, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. of Lowell, Ark.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said Kevin Edward Hills, 38, and Prock-Hills, 41, were killed on Interstate 15 just south of Silverado Ranch Boulevard on March 13, 2008.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed in I-15 Wrongful Death of Stranded Honeymooners" »

An Oakland musician who was made a quadriplegic in a rollover crash four years ago won an $18.3 million verdict against Ford Motor Co. in federal court.

Dax Pierson, 38, suffered severe spinal injuries when a Ford passenger van that the band was traveling in ran off an icy highway in Iowa and rolled over in a ditch on Feb. 24, 2005.

Pierson sued Ford for creating a defective seat-latching mechanism that caused his seat to come loose, resulting in his head hitting the roof of the rolled-over van.

The $18.3 million jury award came after three weeks of trial in the court of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton. It includes $12.3 million for past and future medical expenses and lost earnings plus $6 million for pain and suffering.

Continue reading "Quadriplegic Musician Wins $18 M Verdict Against Ford Motor Co." »

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 Denver jury awarded $2 million to a woman who was injured at a Colorado Springs resort while participating in a mock sumo wrestling game with her coworkers.

Katherine Giles was attending her company's retreat at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in September 2005 when the accident happened.

Mock sumo wrestling is sometimes used by companies as a team building exercise. It involves participants wearing enormous padded or inflatable suits and helmets.

Continue reading "Denver Jury Awards Millions In Sumo Wrestling Lawsuit" »

The family of a 19-year-old man, whose death on a Seattle street in 2007 triggered a community outpouring for better bike-safety measures, has settled a lawsuit against the company that owned the dump truck that crushed him.

The parents of Bryce Lewis, Marc and Laura Paolicelli of Colorado, have agreed to an undisclosed sum of money from Nelson & Sons Construction of Woodinville.

Continue reading "Family of Seattle Cyclist Killed by Dump Truck Settles Lawsuit" »

It has been a year since Lauren Chang collapsed during a cheerleading competition and died, leaving behind her smiling portrait as a grim testament to the dangers of her sport.

That tragedy, as well as another death and a serious injury suffered by cheerleaders in recent years, has placed Massachusetts in a pivotal point in the crusade to make cheerleading safer.

Last fall, the mother of Ashley Burns, a Medford 14-year-old who died in a 2005 cheerleading accident, filed a lawsuit in her death. In addition to seeking damages, Ruth Burns is also asking a judge to force national groups that sanction cheerleading competitions and oversee the sport to adopt more stringent safety rules.

Continue reading "Raising Alarm at Cheerleading's Dangers" »

King County has agreed to pay $3.5 million to a Seattle man and his wife after the man suffered a permanent brain injury when he was thrown from his bicycle.

Lawyers for Jeffrey Totten and his wife Danielle Leavell said the county was at fault because it promoted Novelty Hill Road as a bike route but failed to maintain it in a safe condition.

Totten, an endurance athlete, was thrown from his bike when it struck a depression around a survey "monument" in the roadway Sept. 4, 2006. He was 31.

He has been in a hospital, a rehabilitation center and now a group home in Mount Vernon since the accident, which left him in a coma for seven months. The settlement will allow funds for round-the-clock care for the rest of his life, his attorneys said.

Continue reading "King County to Pay $3.5 M to Injured Bicyclist " »

A now-12-year-old Temecula boy who fell from a fast-food restaurant's play structure and struck his head, causing brain damage, was awarded a $20 million settlement from the franchise's parent company.

The money was awarded to Jacob Buckett and his sister, Isabelle, who was 5 at the time of Jacob's fall at the Temecula restaurant on Aug. 4, 2005.

The structure was inside the restaurant and there was no rubber beneath the bars, just tile, according to Jacob's attorney.
The defendants, the restaurant franchisee, parent company and playground manufacturer, were not named because of the settlement's confidentiality clause but according to the Web site momlogic.com, the restaurant was a Burger King.

Delta Marketing Inc., the installer of the playground, was also sued.

Continue reading "Boy Awarded $20 M in Brain Damage Case" »

A judge has awarded $45 million in damages to a San Mateo woman who was paralyzed when a wrecking and demolition company's truck ran a red light and hit her car.

Tricia Roth, now 41, a former software developer for Microsoft Corp., suffered a broken neck and spinal injuries in the September 2006 accident, according to her lawyer. Her doctors said she requires full-time attendant care and will never walk again.

The driver, Roman Pantoja, failed to see the light on East Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo near Highway 101 and admitted that he was at fault, according to a court hearing.

Superior Court Judge awarded damages against Pantoja and his employer, Division 1 All Service.

A jury awarded a 21-year-old Florida woman $65 million for her injuries in a 2007 crash. The verdict is considered to be one of the largest by a Polk County jury.

The verdict stemmed from a traffic crash in Zolfo Springs that left Kendra Lymon in a coma and hospitalized for months.

Lymon had been driving her Dodge Neon on Aug. 21, 2007, when a tractor-trailer owned by Bynum Transport, struck her car at State Road 35 and State Road 64, according to the lawsuit naming Bynum and the driver.

The truck's driver, Robert Bohn, a battalion chief for Polk County Fire Services, was working part-time for the trucking company.

Continue reading "Florida Jury Awards Woman $65 M in Crash" »

The family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages against the primate's owner, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."

The suit also alleges that Herold had given the chimp medication that further upset the animal. Herold has made conflicting public statements about whether she gave Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, to Travis on the day of the attack. The drug had not been prescribed for the animal, police said.

Herold knew the 200-pound chimp, Travis, was agitated when she asked Nash to come to her house on Feb. 16, the lawsuit said. The suit accuses Herold of negligence and recklessness for owning "a wild animal with violent propensities, even though she lacked sufficient skill, strength and/or experience to subdue the chimpanzee when necessary."

Continue reading "Family of Chimp Attack Victim Seeks $50M" »

An Arlington, Texas boy aged 2, who was critically injured in a drunken driving crash last week remained on life support as his parents coped with his devastating prognosis.

Eighty percent of Abdallah Khader’s brain was destroyed in the crash, according to his doctor, Jeff McGlothlin. If Abdallah survives, he will be severely disabled for the rest of his life.

Continue reading "Arlington Texas Family Struggles to Cope After Drunken Driving Crash" »

A South Carolina jury has awarded $4.4 million to the parents of a 4-year-old girl who died after suffering brain injury at birth at Piedmont Medical Center.

The jury found that the hospital was at fault in 2003 when it assigned a nurse trainee to monitor expectant mother Robin Wilson, who had arrived at the hospital three days before her scheduled induction, complaining of nausea and vomiting.

Continue reading "SC Jury Awards $4.4M Against Hospital" »

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 " »

High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, according to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.

The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.

At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.

Continue reading "Wisconsin Ruling Limits Cheerleader Injury Suits" »

CA lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would offer greater legal protections to Good Samaritans in light of a recent California Supreme Court decision.

Legislators have introduced three bills to address Van Horn v. Watson, 08 C.D.O.S. 15199, which held that a state statute only shields rescuers from liability if they provide medical care in an emergency situation. The ruling puts at risk aid-givers who inadvertently hurt victims while removing them from a burning building or other potentially dangerous scenarios.

Continue reading "California to Rescue Good Samaritans " »

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

A New York jury has awarded nearly $11 million to a woman who suffered a stroke after waiting two hours for a hospital brain scan.
New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens was found by the jurors to be negligent in the medical treatment of a 71 year old woman after she fractured her skull in a fall in 2004.

The hospital denies liability for the woman's resulting medical condition and is appealing the Oct. 3 decision awarding her $10.7 million.

Continue reading "Lawsuit for Delayed Brain Scan" »

In Texas Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major public health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 144,000 Texas sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, one every 4 minutes. More than 381,000 Texans are living with TBI disability and more than 5,700 are permanently disabled by TBI each year. The prevalence of disability from TBI is greater than from AIDS, Alzheimer's, stroke, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury.

TBI is the leading cause of death and disability among children and young adults. TBI accounts for more years of lost productivity than any other injury.
Read brochure here.