Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

This past week, A Bristol County jury awarded $500,000 in damages to a New Bedford man who suffered injuries in a 2006 motorcycle accident. ( note to readers – the plaintiff was not represented by Altman and Altman LLP)

As a result of the crash, which occurred four years ago, the plaintiff required multiple surgeries and was unable to return to work for more than two years. The man works as a civil engineer with the Massachusetts Highway Department.

The collision occurred on August 8, 2006 in Fairhaven. On that day, the defendant in the case was making a left turn onto Huttleston Avenue from Weedon Road. The defendant claimed that he did not see the plaintiff on his motorcycle because his view was obstructed by another vehicle. The defendant was working in his capacity as a pizza delivery driver when the crash took place.

Continue reading "$500,000 Awarded to New Bedford man for Injuries Sustained in a Fairhaven Motorcycle Accident" »

Yesterday, a 12-year-old boy was struck by a car while riding his bicycle in Lowell. The local authorities have stated that the boy was riding his bike on Willard Street at approximately 2 p.m. when he was hit.

The bicyclist was struck by a red sedan, which allegedly sent the boy flying through the air. Neighbors that witnessed the accident claim that the crash sounded like two vehicles colliding. Witnesses further stated that the boy was not wearing a helmet when the impact occurred.

Following the collision, the boy was positioned on a stretcher and was placed in a neck brace. The victim was airlifted from the scene of the crash to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. According to the police, the boy suffered from serious head and neck injuries as a result of the collision.

Police stated that the bicyclist was not wearing a helmet when he was hit by the red sedan on Willard Street.

Continue reading "12-year-old Boy Hit by Car While Riding his Bike in Lowell" »

A 25-year-old man was killed in a bar fight early in the morning on August 14th across the street from Fenway Park. The altercation occurred on Lansdowne Street at approximately 12:10 a.m.

The suspect whose actions played a role in the death of the young man has been identified as a 25-year-old resident of Boston. The victim was killed when a glass was thrown during the altercation and a shard lacerated the man’s neck.

In addition to killing the one man, the shards of glass also injured two others, a 22-year old man and a 23-year-old woman, that were in the area at the time of the bar fight.

Continue reading "25-year-old Man Killed in Bar Fight Near Fenway Park" »

Chris Rybicki, a 35-year-old Lynn resident, sustained serious injuries early Saturday when he was struck by an allegedly drunk Peabody motorist driving a Volkswagen Passat. Rybicki was riding a Yamaha scooter at the time of the Salem car accident.

Police say that the driver, 25-year-old Beth Erin MacGillivray, had bloodshot eyes, her speech and her breath were slurred, and she smelled like alcohol. She reportedly admitted to earlier drinking four beers. MacGillivray, who failed two out of three sobriety tests, was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol with serious bodily injury, as well as her second offense of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Drunk Driving
According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that surveyed 6,999 people, one out of 12 drivers surveyed admitted that they’ve driven drunk at least once over the course of 12 months. One in five motorists say they’ve driven within two hours of consuming an alcoholic drunk. Four out of five drivers said they considered drunk driving to be a major threat to people’s safety.

Drunk driving impairs the senses, slows reflexes, dulls the mind, causes blurry vision, drowsiness, and makes it nearly impossibly for the motorist to stay in control of his/her vehicle. Our Boston, Massachusetts personal injury lawyers represent car crash victims that were injured because a motorist was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The US Department of Transportation says that drunk drivers are involved in 1/3rd of all deadly US auto accidents. Governors Highway Safety Association chairman Vernon Betkey has said that the number of traffic deaths could be reduced by 50% if drunk driving was eliminated and everyone used seatbelts.

Lynn man seriously injured when hit by alleged drunken driver, Itemlive, August 30, 2010

Government study: 1 in 12 drivers admit driving drunk, USA Today, August 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Impaired Driving, CDC

Drunk Driving, Insurance Information Institute

Continue reading "Lynn Man Sustains Serious Injuries in Salem Car Crash Involving Alleged Drunken Driver " »

An emergency room doctor was killed this past Friday when the motor scooter he was operating collided with a truck. The accident occurred at approximately 10 a.m. on Beacon Street in Brighton.

The doctor was an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. The chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital stated that the doctor was killed after his motor scooter collided with a truck.

The doctor was rushed to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. At this time, no citations have been issues and the cause of the collision is under investigation.

The victim was married with three children.

Continue reading "Motor Scooter Accident Kills Boston ER Doctor" »

Mike Findley and his wife Mary have agreed to settle their Boston medical malpractice lawsuit over an unsuccessful kidney transplant that he received at Tufts Medical Center for $1.25 million. The agreement was reached with the hospital, which was called New England Medical Center at the time, Drs. Krista Johansen, Erick Schadde, and Lauren Cornella and Nurse Janet A. Turgeon right before their Massachusetts personal injury trial was set to begin in Suffolk Superior Court.

The couple had accused doctors of botching what should have been the perfect kidney match in 2003. The donor kidney, which had comes from Mike’s brother Jeff, was the perfect match, but the Findleys contend that inexperienced physicians, administrative breakdowns at the teaching hospital, and understaffing allegedly contributed to its death just one week after the transplant, which took place on June 25, 2003.

According to Mike’s Boston medical malpractice attorney, following the transplant procedure, doctors and nurses failed to respond properly even though they knew that the patient’s urine output was dramatically reduced—a sign that the new kidney was failing. No attending physician was called and a renal ultrasound wasn’t ordered until the next day. Also, three of the doctors involved were in training and two were interns that had been working there for less than a month.

Mike was forced to undergo a second transplant, but that kidney has also failed. He is currently on a national kidney transplant list with an approximately 4- to 5-year waiting list.

Kidney Transplants
The National Kidney Foundation says that nearly 80,000 people are waiting for a new kidney. Doctors cannot afford to make mistakes that can cause a kidney transplant to fail. This type of medical error can make the different between life and death for a patient. Also, successful kidney transplant can significantly improve the patient’s quality of life.

Couple, hospital settle for $1.25M in kidney transplant suit, Boston Herald, August 15, 2010

Related Web Resources:
National Kidney Foundation

Tufts Medical Center

A man fell down a staircase at Fenway Park during a game last week between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. As a result of the fall, the man suffered severe injuries to his head and neck.

The fan fell approximately 14 feet down the staircase located at Gate B at Fenway Park. The man, whose name has not been released by the police, was treated by rescue workers at the scene who removed the injured man from the park on a stretcher. Following the treatment which the fan received at the scene of the accident, he was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for further treatment of the serious injuries he sustained in the fall.

In a brief statement to the press, the Red Sox reported that a fan was injured in a fall and was treated at the scene before being taken to the hospital. The Red Sox did not make any further comments about the incident.

Continue reading "Man Suffers Head and Neck Injuries From Fall Down Fenway Park Stairs" »

The Massachusetts wrongful death trial against a Lawrence cop and two State Police troopers over Alfonso Santana’s 2005 unexpected passing is scheduled to begin today. At issue, reports The Boston Globe, is whether Santana, 39, died from a police choke hold, cocaine intoxication, or another cause.

Santana was apprehended on October 19, 2005 by the three defendants, (former) Lawrence cop Mark Rivet, and Troopers Stephen R. Gondella and Mark F. Blanchard. The three men, who were watching a suspected drug house on Forest Street in Lawrence, had approached Santana, who had just parked his car, and asked for his ID. The officers say that they restrained Santana when they saw him put a white object in his mouth.

Court records report that police pepper-sprayed Santana and hit his face during a struggle that lasted for several minutes. For most of the altercation, Gondella’s arm was “around Santana’s neck.” Police were eventually able to retrieve what proved to be “a small amount of cocaine.”

After Santana was handcuffed, police realized that Santana did not have a pulse and was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Autopsy results from the state medical examiner’s office determined that Santana died from “acute cocaine intoxication” from an “acute and chronic substance abuse.’’ However, a pathologist for Santana’s family says that the toxicology tests that the medical examiner ordered found no cocaine in Santana’s urine.

Former Massachusetts medical examiner Gerald A. Feigin has said that in over 6,000 autopsies, there was never a case where he found cocaine in the blood but none in the urine. He is wondering whether someone planted cocaine in Santana’s blood specimen. Feigin has also said that he thinks that Santana may have died because he was choked too hard and for too long.

Excessive Use of Force
Excessive use of police force—whether unintentional or not—has been known to cause serious injuries, including death. Massachusetts police brutality is a violation of one’s rights and can be grounds for a Boston injury lawsuit. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that police cannot abuse their power by using excessive force and the victims fail to report such incidents.

Police sued over death in ’05 arrest, Boston.com, August 20, 2010

Read the Civil Action, US Courts, July 16, 2010 (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Lawrence Police Department

Massachusetts State Police

A 17-year-old girl who was raped in an elevator at the Lynn commuter rail station last June is suing the MBTA for Massachusetts premises liability. She is claiming that inadequate security, poor lighting, and failure by the MBTA to take the appropriate precautions to protect members of the public contributed to her becoming the victim of the violent crime.

Police say that the teenager was waiting to take the train home on a Sunday evening when a man shoved her into an elevator, choked, and raped her. When the elevator doors opened, two people were able to pull the attacker off her. The victim says that the sexual assault lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. Joseph Sarcione, a 23-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged.

According to the plaintiff’s Massachusetts injury attorney, with 23 crimes reported at the Lynn station since January, MBTA police officials knew that the train station could be a dangerous place for patrons and should have done more to prevent the rape from happening. However, Transit Police contends that only one of the crimes prior to the sex assault incident involved any violence.

Since the woman was raped, the T has improved security on the rail platform and in its three block-long garage. Police patrols now go through the garage several times a day, broken lights have been replaced, and a police officer accompanies passengers exiting late night trains.

Inadequate Security
Property owners and managers can be held liable for Boston premises liability if inadequate security contributed to someone becoming the victim of a violent crime. Premise owners have a responsibility of taking the appropriate action to prevent crimes from happening. Depending on the type of property, preventive measures involving adequate security can include:

• Setting up a working alarm system
• Hiring security guards
• Scheduling police patrol
• Installing surveillance camera
• Making sure there are working locks on entryways and exits
• Installing adequate lighting
• Requiring people to sign in and out of a premise

Woman sues T over rape, Boston Herald, August 14, 2010

Teen choked in Lynn T station attempted rape, MyFox Boston, June 11, 2010

Related Web Resources:
MBTA

Inadequate Security, Justia

A Plymouth Superior Court jury has awarded a $400,000 Brockton nursing home abuse verdict to 76-year-old Marlene Owens, who is the only living relative of John J. Donahue. The 93-year-old nursing home resident died in 2005 after he lost his eye during an accident at Embassy Rehabilitation and Health Center and developed sepsis.

Donahue’s eye was removed more than 18 hours after a metal safety hook on the Hoyer lift that a female nursing home worker was using to transfer him out of his bed gouged it. According to the state, two people are supposed to operate the device when moving a patient. Donahue died 47 days later.

While the jury did not find Kindred Healthcare, the then-owner of the Brockton assisted living facility, liable for Donahue’s Plymouth County wrongful death, they did find the defendant liable for his eye injury. The $400,000 award is for his pain, suffering, and disfigurement.

However, obtaining Brockton nursing home abuse recovery for the elderly man’s personal injuries was not easy. In 2003, a few years prior to his passing, Donahue had signed a “voluntary” agreement giving up his right to sue the assisted living facility for personal injury or wrongful death. By signing the agreement, Donahue had agreed to resolve such disputes through arbitration. Last year, a judge invalidated the arbitration agreement because Donahue was already suffering from delusions when he signed it.

Massachusetts nursing home workers are supposed to follow proper procedures when moving patients from their beds or wheelchairs or when helping them walk to the bathroom or another destination. The reason these procedures are in place is to prevent Boston injury accidents from happening. Many nursing home patients already are in poor health and injuries can cause serious health complications, even death. Failure to abide by such procedures and regulations can be grounds for a Boston nursing home neglect case.

Stepdaughter wins $400G over nursing home abuse, Boston Herald, August 15, 2010

Brockton jury awards $400,000 in Embassy nursing-home accident, PatriotLedger, August 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
How to Use a Hoyer Lift to Transfer a Patient, eHow

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

The widow of Robert J. Martin Sr. a 73-year-old Truro selectman intends to sue the town of Provincetown and the Old Colony Tap bar for his Massachusetts drowning death. Martin’s body was found close to Fisherman’s Wharf on the evening of September 28, 2008.

While the amounts that she plans to seek from the town and the bar have not been determined, Margo Martin did send a demand letter to the town of Provincetown last year seeking $900,000 for its negligence. Margo contends that town workers contributed to her late husband’s Provincetown, Massachusetts wrongful death because they did not try to rescue or revive him when he still could have been saved. According to a police report, choppy seas, high tides, heavy wind, seaweed buildup, poor lighting on the beach, blocked vehicle access, and storm drain construction caused delays in retrieving Martin’s body.

Margo is also accusing the town of inadequate maintenance of its drains, culverts, beachfront, and ditches, which created a safety hazard that also contributed to Martin’s Massachusetts wrongful death. Because the town did not resolve her claim within the six months, she can now file her Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit in court.

As for the Old Colony Tap bar, it reportedly served Martin alcohol on the night that he died. This, even though a family member had previously asked the bar not to serve Martin alcohol because he had started drinking again after years of being sober.

Also, Margo’s Boston wrongful death lawyer says that the bar improperly served Martin two other times. He ended up with a DUI criminal charge after one occasion. After the other time, he fell on his face and got hurt.

Massachusetts Drowning Accident
There are drowning accidents that could have been prevented were it not for other parties’ negligence. In addition to drownings in natural bodies of water, swimming pools, and hot tubs, drowning deaths can also happen during boating accidents, as well as when someone is injured or falls unconscious in a bathtub. Children are at high risk of bathtub drownings.

Report details night of Provincetown drowning, DailyMe, August 5, 2010

Drowning victim's wife to sue Provincetown, Cape Cod Times, August 10, 2010

Family seeks $900K in Provincetown drowning, Boston Herald, August 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Provincetown.com

Continue reading "Truro Man’s Family to Sue Provincetown for Man’s 2008 Massachusetts Drowning Death" »

Our Boston attorneys have recently seen that a 55-year-old resident of Millbury was hit by a MBTA commuter rail train yesterday afternoon. The accident occurred on the tracks near 61 Frank Street in Worcester.

The commuter rail train left Boston at 2:40 p.m. and was traveling at approximately 40 mph when it struck the pedestrian.

Luckily, one of the passengers on the train was a registered nurse. The nurse provided first aid to the pedestrian until Worcester EMS arrived. The injured man was immediately taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus for treatment.

Continue reading "Man hit by MBTA Operated Commuter Rail Train in Worcester " »