Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

In Westwood on Tuesday, Officer John McHarrie of the Westwood Police Department was released from the hospital after he was treated for personal injuries he sustained when the police motorcycle he was riding was hit by a motor vehicle. The traffic collision occurred close to the intersection of Westdale Road and Carroll Avenue.

The 37-year-old police veteran had to be airlifted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston where he was treated for his injuries and then sent home to continue recovering.

McHarrie was on duty at the time of the accident and was looking into a burglar alarm report at a home on St. Denis Drive. He had activated the police emergency lights on his motorcycle.

Massachusetts State Police and Westwood Police both investigated the crash. They say that Jooyoun Paik, the 33-year-old driver of a Toyota Matrix hatchback, hit McHarrie’s motorcycle while trying to turn left into a driveway. The Westwood resident was issued two citations for failure to yield while making a left turn and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Both citations are civil, not criminal charges.

Motorcycle drivers are especially susceptible to personal injuries during traffic collisions because they don’t have anything to physically protect them from being hurt in a crash.

The Insurance Information Institute offers a number of statistics regarding motorcycle accidents, including the following:

4,798 people died in motorcycle crashes in 2006.

About 88,000 motorcycles were involved in crashes in 2004.

The Hurt Study says that 75% of motorcycle collisions involved some kind of car. Motorists’ failure to notice motorcycles on the road is a major cause for motorcycle accidents, with intersections being one of the more common places for a traffic collision involving a motorcycle crash to occur.

Also, 98% of motorcycle crashes where there was at least one other vehicle involved resulted in some type of injury to the motorcycle rider. 50% of injuries sustained by a motorcycle rider usually occurred to the lower half of the body, including the thighs, upper leg, knee, lower leg, foot, ankle, and groin area. Chest and head injured sustained in a motor crash proved to be the most fatal.

If you or someone you love has been critically injured in a motorcycle accident because another motor vehicle driver acted negligently, a personal injury lawyer can help you file a claim so that you can obtain the compensation that you deserve. Medical bills will likely be extremely high, which is why you need a personal injury attorney to deal with the other party and make sure that you are not shortchanged on the recovery money that you need to help you get the proper care that you need.

Driver Cited After Hitting Motorcycle Cop, Boston Herald.com, July 26, 2007

Motorcycle Crashes, Insurance Information Institute

Findings from the Hurt Study

Related Web Resources:

Motorcycle Safety Foundation

Injury Prevention: Motorcycles, NHTSA

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9-year-old Yaritza Diaz is not very responsive and is in critical condition at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston after being seriously injured in a boating accident involving two Sea-Doo watercrafts last May.

Carlos Lopez, 21, and Jose M. Cruz Delgado, 30, have both been charged with negligent driving of a watercraft, failing to follow inland navigation rules, failing to file a written boat accident report, and driving a personal watercraft in excess of headway speed.

Investigators say that Yaritza was riding on the back of the family’s Sea-doo, which had been driven by Lopez. Another Sea-doo, driven by Delgado, was driving on the same course but coming from the opposite direction. The two watercrafts collided. Yaritza was thrown at least 15 feet into the air and was struck by part of one of the vessels. She sustained serious head injuries in the crash.

An investigator on the case says that the vessels were moving at 31 mph, which is way over the 6mph speed limit.

Charges have been filed against the drivers of both vessels—one of them is a family friend of the Diaz family.

Antonia Diaz, the mother of Yaritza, believes that more severe charges should be made against the men. She thinks that misdemeanor charges are not enough to hold the men responsible for what happened to her daughter, who is unable to stand or sit on her own. Yaritza uses a feeding tube and has not been responsive to treatment.

Felony charges, however, can only be made if the two men had been drinking while driving a watercraft and if someone had been killed during the accident.

Yaritza will soon be transferred back to U Mass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. Her mother says that a full-time nurse will be needed to take care of her daughter.

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a boating accident, an experienced personal injury attorney can help you determine whether you have grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit. Award damages from a personal injury lawsuit may include medical bills, compensation for pain and suffering, and ongoing recovery costs.

The CDC offers a number of 2005 boating accident statistics on its Web site, including the following:

*In 2005, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports for 4,969 boating incidents; 3,451 participants were reported injured and 697 died in boating incidents.

*Open motorboats were involved in 45% of all reported incidents and personal watercraft were involved in another 26%.

*The number of reported nonfatal injuries (1,007) involving personal watercraft (PWC), such as Jet Skis® and WaveRunners®, increased for the first time since 1996. PWC-related fatalities (65) also increased in 2005.

Watercraft drivers face charges in accident, Telegram.com, July 23, 2007

Boating Safety, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Related Web Resources:

Sea-Doo

Your Resource Center for Boating Safety, USCGboating.org

Continue reading "9-Year-Old Massachusetts Girl is Seriously Injured in Boating Accident on Indian Lake" »

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Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis told a jury in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday that it is difficult for him to stand on his feet all day and he is unable to walk properly. He is suing the surgeons who performed his gastric bypass procedure for medical malpractice.

Weis, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, claims that Doctors Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin acted negligently when they let him bleed internally for 30 hours following his surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2002.

This is the second trial related to Weis’s medical malpractice lawsuit. The first one ended in a mistrial last February after a juror collapsed and the two doctor defendants rushed forward to assist him.

Hodin, a Harvard Medical School professor, and Ferguson, the director of Massachusetts General’s surgical residency program, dispute Weis’s claim. Both men say that they provided the college football coach with excellent medical care.

Weis’s medical malpractice attorney says that the doctors were negligent for allowing Weis to bleed internally before conducting another operation to fix the complication. The football coach spent two weeks in a coma and almost died.

The defendants claim that internal bleeding is not an unusual complication related to gastric bypass surgery. They thought the bleeding would stop without their assistance, which is what they claim usually occurs in similar cases. The doctors say that they were cautious about performing the second surgery because they were worried that Weis would end up having a pulmonary embolism.

The plaintiff’s side says the delay in operation has left Weis with permanent numbness and pain in his feet. Rehabilitation from surgery has reportedly been painful. The pain he experiences sometimes forces him to use a motorized cart.

Medical malpractice law allows a person injured by a medical provider to file a lawsuit against the liable party.

Common causes for medical malpractice include:

• Wrong diagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Surgical errors
• Birthing errors
• Prescription errors
• Lack of informed consent
• Sub-standard care

Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and primary care physicians are just some of those in the medical profession that can be held liable for medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice cases are very complicated, which is why you should hire a medical malpractice law firm that knows how to prove that the injuries were a result of negligence on the part of a medical practitioner.

Weis Testifies in Medical Malpractice Case, My Fox Boston, July 18, 2007

Weis's second medical malpractice lawsuit opens, Boston.com, July 17, 2007

Related Web Resource:

Medical Malpractice

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Milton firefighter Antonio Pickens is in critical condition at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts after being run down by an alleged drunk driver on Saturday. Pickens sustained massive injuries to his head and body when he was hit by a black Buick LeSabre Sedan while assisting motorists involved in a minor fender-bender outside the fire station where he works on Blue Hill Avenue.

Sustaining massive head injuries in a car accident can be very serious, especially if the head injuries result in traumatic brain injuries (TBI), such as hematoma (brain bruising), nerve damage, concussions, skull fractures, and permanent brain damage. Serious head injuries can lead to prolonged repercussions, including seizures, paralysis, changes in personality, changes in mental ability, loss of full use of any of the five senses, speech problems, and coma.

According to Milton Fire Lieutenant Jack Grant, doctors at the hospital have reattached Pickens’s arm, which was partially severed in the collision. Blood flow has been restored to his leg, which had sustained major arterial damage.

Recent drunk driving statistics say that there were 16,885 alcohol-related deaths in 2005. Approximately 254,000 people sustained injuries in a collision where alcohol was involved. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program says that more than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for DUI in 2004.

C.W. Tolbert, the driver of the sedan, pleaded not guilty to charges of third-offense drunken driving, driving drunk, and causing serious bodily injury and negligent driving.

According to Milton officials, the intersection of Atherton Street and Blue Hill Avenue where the accident occurred is one of several busy intersections that needs to be upgraded to ensure that the area is safer for drivers and pedestrians.

Massachusetts Firefighter Hit by Car, Firehouse.com, July 16, 2007

2005 Drunk Driving Statistics, Alcohol Alert.com

Head injury, Medline Plus

Related Web Resource:

Firefighter injuries by type of duty, National Fire Protection Association

Continue reading "Firefighter in Massachusetts Sustains Traumatic Head and Body Injuries After Being Hit By Allegedly Drunk Driver " »

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A jury in Suffolk County, Massachusetts has awarded William Dodge, a Boston resident, over $16 million in a personal injury lawsuit.

Dodge lost the ability to use his legs and arms in 2005 after being struck by an automobile while crossing the street in a crosswalk on Bridge Street close to the Salem commuter rail station. The defendant, Arda Tezel (the driver of the car that hit Dodge) was speeding when he struck the former executive chef. Dodge became a quadriplegic after sustaining a fractured spine in the crash. In addition to medical bills so far costing three quarters of a million dollars, he will need medical assistance for the remainder of his life.

The $16 million dollar plus verdict is one of the largest awards given by a jury to a personal injury plaintiff in Massachusetts this year. Dodge received $13,129,671. Interest already earned pushes the total to over $16 million. The jury announced the verdict in Suffolk Superior Court following an eight-day trial.

Tezel resides in Turkey. An arrest warrant has been issued for the defendant, as he has failed to appear in court. Police have also filed a criminal complaint against him.

The costs that come with recovering from a serious car accident can be astronomical, which is why it is so important to hire a good personal injury lawyer who can help you obtain the largest recovery possible. Your personal injury attorney can negotiate a settlement with the negligent party’s insurance company and, if necessary, file a personal injury lawsuit and demand your financial recovery in court.

Spinal cord injuries can be especially severe and life altering. The costs associated with a spinal cord injury can include not only medical bills and rehabilitation, but also ongoing medical care. The personal injury lawyer that you work with should also be experienced in dealing with spinal cord injury cases.

Man who lost use of limbs awarded $16m, Boston Globe, June 30, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Spinal Cord Injuries, MedlinePlus

Spinal Injury Overview, Justia.com

Continue reading "Massachusetts Pedestrian Is Awarded $16 Million For Losing the Use of His Limbs After 2005 Car Accident in Suffolk County" »

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A motorcycle trooper faces disciplinary action after a video on YouTube, titled "Spectator Hit by Motorcycle" showed that the trooper was partially responsible for a collision that injured a female Boston Marathon spectator.

The initial report findings, written by a police lieutenant, had found the pedestrian, 61-year-old Framingham resident Norma Shulman, at fault for the April 16 injury accident.

The video from WBZ-TV, however, shows Sgt. Dennis M. Bertulli running Shulman down with his motorcycle as he accompanied lead women marathon runners going down Route 135 in Natick.

The first report, written by Lt. William Cederquist, Bertulli’s supervisor, said Shulman had “entered the road” before being struck by the trooper. Shulman, however, had been watching from inside a white line along the curb. A final review now says that both Bertulli and Shulman were at-fault.

There are approximately 2 million pedestrians in Boston. Statistics from 2004 show that 82 pedestrians were killed and 268 others were seriously injured in Massachusetts. Injuries to pedestrians can be very serious if not fatal. They can include broken bones, severe burns, disfigurements, severed limbs, and other serious injuries.

Some Causes for Common Pedestrian Accidents:

• A motor vehicle doesn’t stop at a crosswalk
• A motor vehicle does not stop before turning right on a red light
• A motor vehicle does not see the pedestrian

If you are a pedestrian who suffered injuries on the road because another party behaved negligently, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer right away. Your personal injury lawyer can help you file a recovery claim for your injuries.

Massachusetts Trooper Disciplined in Pedestrian Crash, Officer.com, July 6, 2007

Pedestrian Safety / Walk This Way, Boston Public Health Commission

Pedestrian Safety, Massachusetts.gov

Related Web Resource:

Pedestrian Safety, FHWA Safety

Continue reading "YouTube Video Shows Massachusetts Motorcycle Trooper Struck and Injured 61-Year-Old Female Pedestrian On Patriots Day " »

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Settlement negotiations between the parties held liable for last year’s collapse of the Big Dig tunnel's ceiling in Boston and the family of the woman who died in the collapse have faltered. The two sides are reportedly millions of dollars apart, which increases the chances of the wrongful death lawsuit going to court. The family is said to be asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in award money.

Milena del Valle, 39, was riding through the tunnel with her husband when a number of concrete ceiling panels fell onto the vehicle that they were riding in. She died from her injuries.

Her family is suing 15 different companies, including Modern Continental Construction Co. and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, that were responsible for building and designing the tunnel ceiling. Del Valle’s family is citing negligence as the cause of her wrongful death. They are also suing the Maryland Turnpike Authority.

Experts say that the bolts that were supposed to hold the panels in place became lose due to epoxy resin failure. The epoxy resin was supposed to glue the bolts so that the panels would stay up.

In Massachusetts, the statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death action is either three years from the date of the victim’s death or three years from the time that the cause of wrongful death was discovered. Immediate family members, such as husbands, wives, children, and parents, are allowed to sue a negligent party for causing the wrongful death of their loved one.

In the meantime, the Big Dig tunnel continues to leak nearly 2 million gallons of water into the Thomas P. O’Neil Jr. Tunnel. The amount of water leaking through the tunnels has increased 18% since last year. The O’Neil tunnel opened in 2003, but the leaks have been a problem since the tunnel roof was attached to the walls during construction years before. There are leaks throughout the length of the 1.5 mile tunnel. Construction crews reportedly had trouble building a waterproof membrane.

Settlement Talks Fail In Big Dig Lawsuit, The BostonChannel.com, June 30, 2007

Report: Settlement Talks to Begin in Big Dig Death Lawsuit, Boston.com, June 24, 2007

Leakage in Big Dig Tunnel Rises, Boston.com, July 1, 2007

Related Web Resource:

The Big Dig, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority

Wrongful Death, The General Laws of Massachusetts

Continue reading "Secret Settlement Discussions In Big Dig Wrongful Death Lawsuit Break Down in Massachusetts " »

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Officials in Massachusetts have ordered Dr. Joseph Z. Zolot, a Boston area doctor, to stop practicing medicine. They claim that he provided poor treatment to at least 30 patients. Three of his patients died within days of their appointments with Dr. Zolot. During these appointments, he prescribed drugs, including OxCotin and methadone. Five other patients also died, most of them from drug overdoses.

Dr. Zolot specializes in nonsurgical orthopedics. He has been licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts since 1993. The state’s Board of Registration in Medicine has ordered the immediate suspension of his license. Federal and state law enforcement officials continue to investigate Dr. Zolot. They seized patient records during a search warrant raid of his office last May.

In a medical board document, officials are accusing Zolot of providing substandard care, medical malpractice, and medical misconduct. He is accused of prescribing powerful painkillers to patients who, based on their diagnosis, did not need them. He is also accused of not being fully informed about his patient’s medical history, giving too many joint injections, and not taking action against patients when he found out that they did not follow their proper prescription dosage.

Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice takes place when doctor error, carelessness, or negligence results in a patient becoming injured or dying. Grounds for medical malpractice are numerous, but can include misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, prescription errors, physician error, lack of proper care, and lack of informed consent.

In Massachusetts, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice action is three years from the time that the medical malpractice incident occurred. Due to the complexities involved in a medical malpractice case, it is advisable that you speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Needham doctor's license is suspended, Boston Globe, June 21, 2007

Related Web Resources:

OxyContin, U.S. FDA

Dr. Joseph Zolot, MD

Medication Errors Harming Millions, Report Says, Washington Post, July 21, 2006

Continue reading "Patients of Boston Area Doctor Ordered to Stop Practicing May Have Grounds for Medical Malpractice" »

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