Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

In March, our Boston injury lawyers published a blog post on the tragic Worcester County escalator accident at the Auburn Mall that claimed the life of 4-year-old Mark DiBona. Now, his family has filed an Auburn, Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit against Sears Roebuck and Co., the Simon Property Group, the Mall at Auburn LL, Schindler Elevator Corp., Botany Bay Construction Co., and Mayflower Auburn LP. seeking unspecified damages for gross negligence and negligence.

The little boy died after he fell two stories through a 6-inch space of an escalator located in the Sears store at the Auburn Mall. The gap was bigger than the 4-inch maximum allowed under state building codes.

Following the Massachusetts escalator accident, the two inspectors who certified the escalator as being in compliance with the safety code were suspended. The state has also started taking steps to get them terminated from their jobs.

There are currently 51 escalator inspectors in Massachusetts. Each escalator is supposed to be checked yearly. However, when the 927 escalators in the state were recently reinspected, it was discovered that 69 of them were missing barricades.

Escalator Accidents
Escalator accidents can result in tragic accidents. Granted, riders are supposed to hold on to the rail and not wear any clothing that could cause them to get stuck on an escalator. It is still, however, the responsibility of the owner of an escalator to make sure that it is safe to ride. Any hazards should be removed, malfunctions must be remedied immediately, and inspections need to occur as scheduled.

If you or someone you love has gotten hurt in a Boston escalator accident, there may be multiple parties who should be held liable.

Common causes of escalator accidents:

• Improper installation
• Missing parts
• Inadequate maintenance
• Mechanical malfunctions

Boy’s family files lawsuit, Telegram.com, June 10, 2011

Family files suit over Auburn Mall escalator death, Boston, June 9, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Auburn Building Code Enforcement

Massachusetts Department of Public Safety

More Blog Posts:
4-Year-Old Dudley Boy Dies in Auburn, Massachusetts Escalator Fall Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 16, 2011

Massachusetts Premises Liability?: Most Shopping Mall Escalators Are Not Inspected Annually, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 26, 2011

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages For Family of 82-Year-Old Who Was Strangled When Clothing Got Stuck on MBTA Escalator, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, November 4, 2009

Brain injuries affected over a million people in the US every year. March is Brain Injury Awareness month, and our Boston injury lawyers want to remind you that if someone you love has sustained a brain injury because of an accident that was caused by another party’s negligent actions, you may have grounds for a Massachusetts brain injury lawsuit.

Some common causes of Boston traumatic brain injuries:

• Fall accidents
• Car crashes
• Getting hit by or striking a hard object or surface
• Assault crimes
• Medical mistakes
• Strangulation
• Construction accidents
• Choking accidents
• Near drowning accidents
• Electrocution
• Exposure to hazardous substances
• Sports
• Slip and fall accidents
• Birthing injuries

Suffering a brain injury can irrevocably alter the victim’s life. In addition to costly medical and rehabilitation expenses, a brain injury victim may not be able to work, live independently, or maintain the same quality of life or relationships as before.

Signs someone may be suffering from a brain injury after hitting his/her head include, vomiting, anxiety, fatigue, loss of consciousness, slurred speech, sadness, problems remembering new information, blurred vision, listlessness, headache, and convulsions. Brain injuries are not always immediately detectable. Some brain injuries are so dangerous that one moment, a person may think he/she is fine, and the next moment, the person is in a coma.

A brain injury can be mild or it can be severe. That said, even a “mild” brain injury, such as a concussion, can in fact be a serious injury. Brain injuries can cause personality changes, communication difficulties memory problems, epilepsy, emotional problems, cognitive brain impairment, coma, or increase the chances that the person could develop Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s.

Related Web Resources:
Brain Injury Awareness Month

Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page, NINDS


More Blog Posts:
Boston, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against MIT and Delta Upsilon Fraternity for Student’s Fatal Fall, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 28, 2011

Boston Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors Are More Likely to Suffer from Clinical Depression, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 10, 2011

Traffic Crashes and Fall Accidents Continue to be Leading Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 23, 2011

Continue reading "Boston TBIs Highlighted During Brain Injury Awareness Month" »

A new state law has just gone into effect that prohibits kids under age 14 from operating ATVs. Our Boston ATV accident lawyers hope that this will decrease the number of injuries and deaths involving all-terrain vehicles.

According to a new study, the number of spinal cord injuries and brain injuries involving all-terrain vehicles has gone up by up to 50%, with younger riders at greater risk of sustaining this type of serious injury. The study was conducted by Drs. Joel D. MacDonald and Michael A. Finn of University of Utah, Salt Lake City and has been published in this month’s issue of Neurosurgery.

Researchers analyzed trends involving ATV-related spinal and brain injuries that took place in Utah between 2001 and 2005 when about 1,500 patients were injured in ATV accidents:

• 741 of the patients had spine injuries or head injuries or both.
• Approximately 500 patients had injuries serious enough that they had to go to the hospital.
• Over 50% of these patients were the recipients of intensive care.
• On average, hospital stays lasted four days.
• Injuries included facial fractures, skull fractures, facial lacerations, and spinal cord injuries.
• 4 patients were pronounced dead on arrival.
• 15 patients died while in the hospital.
• About 100 patients were sent to a rehabilitation center or nursing home or received home healthcare.
• 30% of the ATV injuries occurred during a vehicle rollover.
• Other common causes of ATV injuries included collisions with other vehicles, collisions with stationary objects, or loss of control of the ATV.
• Patients that hadn’t been using helmets were most likely to suffer head injuries.

Also, today at the American College of Surgeons' annual meeting, public researchers and trauma surgeons said that people are far more likely to die from an ATV accident than a motorcycle crash. When the degree of injuries is the same, ATV accident victims were 50% more likely than motorcycle collision victims to require mechanical ventilation and medical care in an ICU and 50% more likely to die.

While operator error can be a factor in causing a Massachusetts ATV accident, all-terrain vehicle accidents and rollovers can occur because the vehicle was defective or malfunctioned in some way.

Study: Brain, Spinal Injuries Due to ATV Use Rise by 50%, ClaimsJournal.com, October 5, 2010

ATVs more deadly than motorcycles, MSNBC, October 6, 2010

Related Web Resources:
ATV Laws By State, CampingATV.com

ATV-Related Deaths and Injuries for All Ages, 1985-2008, ATV Safety.gov

Continue reading "Preventing Massachusetts ATV Accidents: Kids Under 14 Now Banned from Operating ATVs" »

According to The Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s oldest newspaper, the parents of Robert M. Wells have filed a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against MIT and the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Wells, a 22-year-old MIT student, died in 2008 after falling five stories from the DU fraternity and sustaining skull fractures, blunt impact to his head, brain contusions, lacerations, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and other injuries.

Michael and Laura Wells are alleging 26 counts of Suffolk County, Massachusetts wrongful death. They claim that the defendants did not remedy or warn about the condition of Wells’ living quarters, which had a heating system that was hard to control and had just one “unreliable thermostat.” As a result, the DU brothers would open the windows during the winter to regulate the temperature in their bedrooms.

However, per the lawsuit, all of the windows on the upper floor of the fraternity lacked bars, screens, locks, or other safety devices. Wells, a DU brother, fell after opening the window next to his bed.

The plaintiffs are also seeking damages for conscious pain and suffering.

DU and MIT have filed responses with the Court denying the allegations. They are also citing a Massachusetts law that limits liability of charitable organizations to $20,000. DU also contends that Massachusetts law bars habitability claims from wrongful death cases. The fraternity is arguing that Wells was over 50% at fault in causing his fatal injuries.

Wells is not the only Boston college student to die from a fall accident from a residence or another building. Also in 2008, Boston University student Michael Robertson died after falling out of a fourth floor window of his South Campus residence hall. In November 2007, Art Institute of Boston student Shawn Dow died after falling off the roof of a building’s black-top roof while attending a party. Also that year, MIT student James T. Albrecht died after falling five stories from the roof of a New York apartment building.

Premises Liability
Property owners can be held liable for Boston premises liability if their negligence contributed to a fall accident occurring. Fall accidents can result in broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, massive head trauma, internal injuries, and death.

Parents of dead student sue MIT, Delta Upsilon, The Tech, September 28, 2010

Fall off roof killed student, police say, Boston.com, November 18, 2007

Remembering Michael Robertson, BU Today, January 23, 2007

Obituary: James T. Albrecht ’08, The Tech, September 7, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Delta Upsilon Technology Chapter

According to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in the year after sustaining a traumatic brain injury, about half of TBI survivors experienced an eight times greater risk of suffering from serious depression accompanied by greater mobility problems, more pain, and a harder time accomplishing their usual tasks.

559 people took part in the study. All of them displayed brain trauma signs and complications, such as disorientation and loss of consciousness. Researchers interviewed the participants over the phone several times over the course of the first year after each TBI was sustained to assess their ability to function and mood.

During the study follow-up, 53.1% of participants experienced major depression and were also more inclined to suffer from anxiety disorders. Yet only 44% of TBI patients who suffering from depression received care for this condition. Charles H. Bombardier, the lead author of study and a University of Washington School of Medicine professor, says that depression often began during the first three months and went on for at least a year or longer.

Boston Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
Our Boston, Massachusetts traumatic brain injury lawyers are familiar with the havoc that having a TBI can wreak on the patient and his/her loved ones. Living with a TBI and its resulting consequences can be traumatic, debilitating, financially draining. Personal relationships are often affected.

Car accidents, fall accidents, blunt injuries to the head, penetrating head injuries, and medical mistakes, such as birthing errors, are some of the more common causes of TBIs. Unfortunately, depression is just one of the many effects that can result from living with a TBI.

Major Depression Often Follows Brain Injury, Businessweek, May 18, 2010

Traumatic brain injuries linked to depression, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Journal of the American Medical Association

Brain Injury Basics, Nolo

Continue reading "Boston Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors Are More Likely to Suffer from Clinical Depression" »

During Brain Injury Awareness month, our Boston traumatic brain injury lawyers would like to remind you that you may have grounds for a Massachusetts personal injury lawsuit if your TBI was caused by another party’s reckless or negligent actions. Sustaining a traumatic brain injury can be extremely traumatic and challenging. Living with a permanent TBI is life-altering, as well as devastating for the patient and loved ones.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fall accidents and traffic crashes are the two primary causes of TBIs. About 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries happen every year, resulting in 52,000 fatalities. In its current report, "Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Death," the CDC presents its latest figures on TBIs, including:

• TBIs are a factor in 1/3 of injury-related deaths.
• Assaults and getting hit by or hitting an object are among the other leading causes of TBIs.
• Seniors, teenagers in the 15-19 age group, and children under the age of 5 are at highest risk of suffering from a TBI.
• 75% of TBIs are mild traumatic brain injuries.

A brain injury is an injury that should be taken seriously. In some cases, failure to provide immediate treatment can result in death. Some brain injury victims may not even be aware that they are suffering from one. For instance, some people are diagnosed with having a concussion, which in most cases is a mild TBI. Findings from a recent study showed that kids who were diagnosed with a concussion, as opposed to a mild TBI—even though that is in fact what they were suffering from—were more likely to go back to school and resume their normal physical activities than children who were told that they had a TBI. This can lead to permanent disabilities.

There are ways to prove that your traumatic brain injury would not have occurred if only the responsible party hadn’t been negligent.

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, Brain-Aware for Life

Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Death (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page

Brain Injuries Overview, Justia

Continue reading "Traffic Crashes and Fall Accidents Continue to be Leading Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries" »

While traumatic brain injury experts have known for some time that a TBI can cause personality changes, a new study has revealed that brain injury patients exhibit a higher incidence of emotional processing problems than previously thought. This can make recovery even challenging while causing conflicts in the TBI victim’s relationships.

According to head injury specialist Professor Roger Woo and colleague Claire Williams, traumatic brain injury patients can exhibit a loss of emotional attachment with family and friends, which suggests a connection between empathy problems and traumatic brain injuries.

Per neurology literature, there are three broad categories for empathy:

Cognitive empathy: Allows the person to know what someone else is feeling
Emotional empathy: Let’s someone feel what another is feeling
Compassionate empathy: Enables the person to response to another person’s upset feelings with compassion

In the Wood and Williams study, TBI patients scored low on empathy tests—two times lower, as a matter of fact, than control subjects. TBI patients displayed an impaired ability to identify what people on video and in photographs were feeling. Williams and Wood also tested for alexithymia, a personality trait that makes it hard for a person to know/describe what he/she is feeling. 60% of TBI patients they tested compared to 11% of the control group exhibited this personality trait. One reason that emotional processing can become impaired when a person has a TBI is that the areas of the brain that control this type of activity are susceptible to damage.

Massachusetts Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuits
In addition to wreaking havoc on the victim, a traumatic brain injury can also take a toll on family members and friends. You may be able to obtain Massachusetts injury recovery by filing a Boston traumatic brain injury lawsuit.

Traumatic Brain Injury leads to problems with emotional processing, Psychology Today, January 3, 2010

Impairment in the recognition of emotion across different media following traumatic brain injury, Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Informaworld

Related Web Resources:
NINDS Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page

TBI, The Mayo Clinic

The family of 17-year-old John Causland says he is stlll in critical condition following emergency brain surgery for injuries he sustained in a Massachusetts pedestrian accident on Sunday in Waltham. The high school senior was in a crosswalk when a driver who was allegedly drunk hit him.

The driver of the uninsured and unregistered vehicle that struck him was Bonnie Lee Hicks. The 43-year-old Billerica resident was charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving under the influence, and driving with an expired inspection sticker. She refused a Breathalyzer test at the crash site and failed three field sobriety tests. She pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on personal recognizance. She is not allowed to drive and must appear in court again in January.

Court documents say that Hicks told police that she thinks that the teenager jumped in front of her vehicle. She did not sustain injuries in the Waltham pedestrian accident.

As of yesterday, Causland’s family reported that the teenager was sedated and stabilizing but that he was still living “hour by hour.”

2008 Pedestrian Traffic Safety Facts (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration):

• 4,378 US pedestrian deaths
• 69,000 US pedestrian injuries
• 1 US pedestrian death every 2 hours
• 1 US pedestrian injury every 8 minutes
• 75 Massachusetts pedestrian fatalities

Pedestrians are at risk of sustaining injuries any time they are hit by a motor vehicle. These injuries can be especially catastrophic when the driver who strikes the pedestrian was operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol, text messaging while driving, or speeding. In Massachusetts pedestrian accidents involving a negligent driver, the motorist may not even attempt to stop or be able to avoid hitting the victim, which can increase the chances that the injuries will be permanently life altering or fatal.

‘No good news’ for teen in crash, Boston Herald, December 2, 2009

Teenager fights for life after accident, The Daily News Tribune, December 1, 2009
Teen hit by drunk driver, say police, Boston.com, December 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Traumatic Brain Injury

Continue reading "Massachusetts Teenager Injured in Waltham Pedestrian Accident In Critical Condition Even After Emergency Brain Surgery" »

A Massachusetts wrongful death settlement agreement has been reached between Boston Medical Center and the family of Catherine O’Donnell. The 86-year-old woman died on October 13, 2007 a week after she fell while being readied for transfer from an operating room table to her hospital bed.

O’Donnell sustained a massive head injury during the Boston fall accident. Last year, her family filed a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against the teaching hospital. In their Boston medical malpractice complaint, O’Donnell’s family accused operating room staffers of failing to provide the expected standard of care to O’Donnell and that this resulted in her fatal fall accident. The plaintiffs contend that the medical team was too busy and preoccupied when moving the elderly patient. They also take issue with how they were first told that the hip surgery was a success and were then notified about O’Donnell’s head injury.

Anesthesiologist resident Dr. Carlos Guzman, orthopedic resident Dr. John Pryor, and nurses Ingrid Rush and Harvinder Miller are among the defendants named in the Boston wrongful death lawsuit.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health cited procedural deficiencies as factors leading to O’Donnell’s fall accident. The hospital also determined that the operating staff was not paying full attention when attempting to move the elderly woman and that the removal of the safety belt from her person was not properly communicated between staffers.

Operating room staffers, just like nursing home workers, must exercise the right amount of caution to prevent fall accidents when assisting patients between beds, to their wheelchair, down the hallway, to the bathroom, into the shower, etcetera. Patients who are under anesthesia, unconscious, or not fully lucid for any other reason are usually unable to assist or support themselves during this move and are even more reliant on those around them to ensure a safe transfer or move. Yet the Bureau of Heath Care Safety and Quality says that every year, at least 50% of the 800 medical errors resulting in serious injuries that happen in Massachusetts hospitals involve fall accidents.

Fall accidents can result in serious injuries and may be especially catastrophic for elderly people, whose health may deteriorate as a result.

Family, hospital settle after mother’s fatal fall in operating room, Boston.com, October 14, 2009

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Is Filed After 86-Year-Old Dorchester Woman Sustains Fatal Head Injury In Operating Room Table Fall, Boston Injury Lawyer, January 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Boston Medical Center

Hospital Falls Study Suggests Ways to Reduce Risk, Washington University in St. Louis

At the US Department of Transportation’s Distracted Driving Summit this week, family members who lost loved ones in car accidents involving drivers who were distracted spoke to attendees about their tragedies. One woman lost her mother of a driver who was talking on his cell phone. Another woman, a motorcyclist, was killed when she was struck at a red light by a driver who was painting her nails. And of course, there are the accounts of loved ones lost because drivers were texting while driving, reaching for a cell phone, or glancing at a PDA to "quickly" read a text message.

According to the NHTSA, almost 6,000 people died in distracted driving accidents last year. Over 500,000 others survived these auto accidents with injuries. As one man who lost his mother told the summit, “distracted drivers destroy lives.” Yet many drivers continue to engage in some form of distracted driving.

Talking on a cell phone and texting while driving have proven especially dangerous, and calls for a nationwide ban on texting has become more urgent. The CTIA-The Wireless Association reports that 110 billion texts were sent out in December 2008. Compare this figure to the 10 billion texts that were transmitted in December 2005.

On Wednesday, the Obama Administration announced that federal workers will no longer be allowed to text message while operating a motor vehicle while on the job or in a government-owned auto. According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the government is also considering restricting truck drivers, train operators, and bus drivers from using cell phones.

In Massachusetts, there is still no ban on text messaging. Localities are allowed to decide whether to restrict cell phone use. Earlier this year, the Boston area’s transit authority announced a new policy change banning bus, trolley, and train operators from carrying cell phones and personal electronic devices while they are on the clock. The crackdown came after a trolley operator who was text messaging caused aBoston train accident that injured 49 people.

Boston car drivers are allowed to talk on handheld devices and text message while driving an auto. This can result in serious Massachusetts traffic accidents and personal injuries and wrongful deaths may ensue.

Cell Phone Ban After Boston Trolley Crash, Huffington Post, May 9, 2009

New regulation bans federal employees from texting while driving, Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Distracted Driving Summit, US Department of Transportation

State Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Database (PDF)

Continue reading "At Distracted Driving Summit, Families of Car Accident Victims Bring to Life the Deadly Consequences of Multitasking While Behind the Wheel " »