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According to the family of Rogerio Rodrigues, the man who was injured in a Boston car accident involving New England Patriots football quarterback Tom Brady, his condition has gotten worse. Their Brockton personal injury lawyer, the 49-year-old Fall River man will undergo more tests.

The Boston motor vehicle crash occurred on Thursday in the Back Bay at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street when Brady’s 2009 Audi S8 and a 1997 Mercury Villager collided. The football star was not injured.

Police say that Rodrigues’ son Ludgero allegedly ran a red light at the intersection. However, the 21-year-old maintains that he was the one with the green light.

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The Insurance Information Institute says that US home insurers spent 6.4% more on dog bite costs last year than they did in 2008. Dog bite injuries cost $412 million in 2009-up from $387.2 million the year before-with the average claim costing over $24,000. The number of dog bite claims also went up by 4.8% to 16,586 injury claims.

With more than 4.7 million people becoming dog bite victims every year in the US-close to 900,000 of them will require medical attention-dog bites make up one-third of homeowners’ insurance liability claims. Property and casualty insurer Liberty Mutual Group says that over 50% of dog attacks takes place on the pet owner’s property.

In Massachusetts, dog bite victims may be able to hold the dog’s owner liable for Boston personal injury. This is a strict liability state, which means the pet owner does not have to be negligent to be held financially responsible. Also, the dog doesn’t even need to have attacked anyone else in the past for the owner to be held liable. You will, however, have to prove that you or your loved one (as the injured party) did not provoke the dog and did not trespass on the grounds where the Massachusetts dog attack took place.

Dog Bite Facts
• Dog bite victims are twice as likely to be male than female.
• Dog bites are a leading cause of child injuries.
• 10-20% of dog bite victims were strangers to their animal attackers.
• Younger dogs and male dogs are more likely to bite than older and female canines.
• Chow Chows and German Shepherds are the pure bred dogs most often involved in dog bite accidents.
• Pit Bulls and Rottweilers are the breeds most involved in fatal dog attacks.
• Mixed breed dogs are more likely to attack than pure bread dogs.
• On average, a dog bite victim will spend about 3.6 days in the hospital.

Dog-Bite Costs for Home Insurers Rise to $412 Million, Bloomberg Businessweek, August 18, 2010
Insurance Information Institute

Related Web Resources:
Preventing Dog Bites, State Farm

Preventing and Avoiding Dog Bites, Ussartf.org Continue reading

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The fatal explosion which occurred during a Massachusetts condominium construction project in July has led the state attorney general to investigate the delivery of faulty propane to locations across New England and New York.

Martha Coakley, the Attorney General, stated that the propane from a facility in Westfield lacks the necessary odorant which alerts homeowners and workers of a possibly dangerous gas leak.

Officials began to inspect propane supplies following the discovery that it was a propane leak which caused the death of a Norfolk construction worker this summer. Other construction workers stated that they did not smell a leak before the explosion occurred. The propane was traced back to a facility in Westfield.
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According to The Herald News, although latest statistics show that there has been an increase in Massachusetts elder abuse and neglect cases in recent years, there aren’t enough resources to properly deal with these incidents.

During the year ending June 30, 2009, caseworkers investigated about 16,000 reports of Massachusetts elder neglect and abuse in private living environments. An Executive Office of Elder Affairs official cites poor economy and a growing senior age group as among the reasons for the increase in abuse and neglect incidents.

Massachusetts Elder Abuse and Neglect
State law defines elder abuse as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, self-neglect, caretaker neglect, and the financial exploitation of a person belonging to the 60 and over age group. Elder abuse and neglect can take place in Massachusetts nursing homes and in private residences. Perpetrators of elder abuse or neglect have included nursing home workers, professional caretakers working in the patient’s home, family members, and others.

Our Boston, Massachusetts nursing home abuse and neglect law firm wants to remind you that not only is elder abuse and neglect a crime that can cause serious injuries or death to the victim, but as a victim of abuse or neglect your loved one may have grounds for a Massachusetts elder abuse or neglect lawsuit.

Some Signs that Someone You Love May Be a Victim of Boston Elder Abuse or Neglect:
• Unexplained bruises, broken bones, cuts, welts, or sprains • Depression • Restraint marks on wrists
• Signs of possible overmedication • Sudden mood swings • Unexplained paranoia • Fear of caretaker or nursing home worker • Complains of abuse or neglect • Unexplained STDs • Poor hygiene • Malnutrition • Bedsores • Caretaker is unable to explain patient’s injuries

Elder abuse and neglect complaints are on the rise in Massachusetts, Herald News, September 6, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes, Massachusetts Health and Human Services

National Center on Elder Abuse

Financial Abuse, National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
Executive Office of Elder Affairs
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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

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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.
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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.

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