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Fall accidents and suffocation are two of the leading causes of injuries to young children. This is why in the last seven days, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with three manufacturers, have announced recalls of products that pose serious injuries to children. If your son or daughter is one of these victims, do not hesitate to request your free consultation with our Boston products liability lawyers. We are committed to making sure that child injury victims and their families receive the Massachusetts personal injury compensation that they are owed.

On March 18, the CPSC and Graco recalled approximately 1.2 million Harmony™ High Chairs following 24 reports of injuries to children, which included bruises, bumps, and scratches to the body and head, as well as an arm hairline fracture. At least 464 reports of screws coming loose and plastic brackets cracking have been reported to Graco. These defects can make the high chairs unstable.

If a chair tips over and a child is in it, a fall accident can occur. All Harmony™ High Chairs are affected by the recall and the CPSC wants people to stop using them right away.

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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

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The family of Jeffrey Thompson is suing National Seating & Mobility Inc. for $10 million. They filed their Boston, Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence in Suffolk Superior Court. Thompson, who is a quadriplegic, died after his wheelchair malfunctioned while it was being repaired in 3007. The 29-year-old broke his leg and went into “uncontrollable seizures.”

The plaintiffs contend that the repair technicians should have removed Thompson from the chair and taken out the device’s battery before beginning routine repairs on the electrical wiring. The chair malfunctioned and “jumped,” and the movement caused his legs to get pinned under a table.

The repairmen contacted Thomson’s personal care assistant, who told them to call 911. He was transported to a hospital and died the next day. The Boston wrongful death complaint contends that the technicians were inadequately trained.

According to Thompson’s father Charles, another technician that had come to do maintenance on the wheelchair had always removed his son from the $15,000 wheelchair before beginning to work.

Wheelchair Maintenance
Wheelchairs require regular maintenance to ensure full functionality. Axles, nuts, bolts, legrests, armrests, footrests, backrests, pivot points, ball bearings, the chair frame, and any electrical components need to be in proper working condition. Damaged parts should be replaced, certain parts should be properly lubricated, and any necessary repairs should be made. This is not a process that should cause injury to anyone.

Disability advocate’s family sues after he dies during repairs to his wheelchair, StarTribune, March 17, 2010
Activist’s family sues over wheelchair death, Boston.com/AP, March 18, 2010

Related Web Resource:
National Seating & Mobility Inc.

Wrongful Death, Nolo Continue reading

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Here is a warning for Massachusetts parents and guardians. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, baby slings can be deadly for your infants. Over the years, this carrier has proved to be a popular accessory, allowing parents to “wear” their kids while keeping them close so that they can bond or breastfeed. Yet the CPSC says that in the last 20 years, it has looked into at least 13 deaths that have been linked to these sling carriers.

12 of the babies that died were under the age of four months. Three of the fatalities happened last year. Consumer Reports noted in 2008 that there had been about two dozen serious injuries to children involving the baby slings.

The main hazards associated with the baby slings are fall accidents, which can lead to skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries, and suffocation, which can happen if the baby ends up in a “C-like” position close to the mom’s belly or chest or if the sling’s fabric ends up covering the infant’s mouth and nose. Both can make it hard for the baby to breath properly.

If your child died because of a defective product, you may want to consider filing a Boston, Massachusetts products liability lawsuit so that you can obtain compensation for the injuries to your child caused by a negligent manufacturer.

If you are going to continue to use your child’s baby sling, then it is important that you:

• Check with the doctor to make sure the sling is the right carrier to use for your baby.
• Follow directions for proper use.
• Make sure that your baby is securely in the sling and isn’t at risk of falling.
• Make sure that the sling fabric doesn’t cover your baby’s face.
• After feeding the infant, shift his/her position so that the head is facing up.
• Frequently check your baby’s position in the sling.

Unfortunately, there are furniture, clothing, accessories, toys, and other children’s products that are either defectively designed or poorly made to the point that they can cause serious injuries to children. Choking, strangulation, lead poisoning, fingertip amputation, and eye hazards are just some of the potential dangers that can cause Boston, Massachusetts injuries to minors.

Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC Warning About Sling Carriers for Babies, CPSC, March 12, 2010
Infant deaths prompt gov’t warning on slings, Associated Press/The Boston Globe, March 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Strangulation and Suffocation, Parents.com
Child Injuries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Continue reading

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The family of Joshua Messier intends to file a Massachusetts wrongful death complaint against the state now that the medical examiner’s officer has issued a homicide ruling. Messier died from blunt head impact and “compression of the chest” last May after he was restrained by guards at Bridgewater State Hospital.

The 23-year-old psychiatric patient was treated at the Brockton Hospital ER on May 4 for heart failure. There was dried blood in his hair and nostrils. He also had facial bruises and ligature marks on his body. The Plymouth District Attorney’s Office is investigating Messier’s death.

Meantime, the officers involve claim that after patient assaulted two cops, other officers helped restrain him. Messier then went into cardiac arrest. According to The Boston Globe, Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union Steve Kenneway is calling the incident a “clean use of force.” He says that that the examiner’s finding that Messier’s death was a homicide is just a legal term noting that another person was involved in the fatality.

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Helen T. Van Dale was a patient at Wingate’s Silver Lake Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Residence in Kingston in 2007 when she hit her head during a fall accident. The 92-year-old nursing home resident died within 24 hours. Now, in an attempt to hold the assisted living facility liable for her mother’s wrongful death, Van Dale’s 74-year-old daughter, Dottie Hammond, has filed a complaint alleging Massachusetts nursing home neglect.

Hammond contends that during the five weeks her mother stayed at the Kingston long-term care facility, her health declined because the nursing home staff failed to diagnose that she was suffering from a UTI. The infection caused Van Dale to feel disoriented, which is why she fell off her wheelchair.

Last July, a Massachusetts superior court medical tribunal determined that there was enough evidence for Hammond’s Massachusetts medical malpractice complaint to go forward. Hammond is determined to hold the South Shore nursing home liable for nursing neglect so that other patients won’t “suffer.”

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In Middlesex Superior Court, family of Donna Ames has filed a Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages for plastic surgery malpractice. Ames, 49, died last July while trying to get a face lift. The family’s wrongful death lawyers claim that the procedure killed her.

Ames paid $4,700 for the elective procedure, which was supposed to be an outpatient surgery that should have lasted only an hour. However, after she was administered a local anesthesia, she began to experience what may have been adverse side effects. The oxygen in her blood dropped and her body started to violently jerk around. She was already brain dead by the time the ambulance was called.

According to Ames’ Boston cosmetic surgery malpractice lawyer, there was no anesthesiologist present during Ames’ procedure, and no one had connected her to any monitoring equipment. He says that the staff therefore had no way of determining how much oxygen she was getting. They called the ambulance 48 minutes after giving Ames her first injection.

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The family of Marianne Murphy has filed a Massachusetts auto products liability lawsuit against Toyota seeking damages for her wrongful death. The 47-year-old Medford woman died last October when her 2010 Toyota Camry accelerated out of control, causing her husband, Gerald Murphy, to crash the vehicle into an Interstate 93 South guardrail.

Gerald was also injured in the Massachusetts car accident. Their children were in the car with them.

According to the family’s Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit, as Gerald removed his foot from the gas pedal to exit off the interstate on October 18, 2009, the Camry accelerated instead of slowing down. Gerald tried to slow down the car by stepping on the brakes, but the vehicle kept picking up speed until it struck the rails. The family contends that by the time the tragic Toyota runaway car crash happened, the auto manufacturer had already received a number of complaints that some of its vehicles were accelerating out of control.

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According to WCVBTV 5, there are level 3 sex offenders living and working in Massachusetts nursing homes. This category of sex offender is considered the most dangerous. They can be at risk of reoffending.

The idea that sexual offenders who are likely to strike again are living with other nursing home patients or providing them with nursing care is very disturbing to our Boston nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers. Their presence is a danger to the other residents, who risk becoming the victims of sexual assault, rape, molestation, uninvited fondling, harassment, and other sexually inappropriate behavior.

According to Team 5, there are two level 3 sex offenders living at the Old Soldier’s Home, a Chelsea nursing home. While the two men reportedly have not reoffended, A Perfect Cause, an organization committed to protecting nursing home residents throughout the US, says it has documented over 60 incidents of sexual and physical assault committed by molesters against nursing home residents.

In 2005, John Enos, a 69-year-old level 3 sex offender and nursing home patient in a wheelchair, allegedly raped his 90-year-old roommate. Prior to the incident, Enos had sexually assaulted his 9-year-old daughter. He died before he could be tried over the nursing home sexual assault.

Although it is illegal in Massachusetts for level 3 sex offenders to “knowingly and willingly” reside in nursing homes, the statute provides a loophole. Also, nursing homes don’t’ have to notify anyone that there is a level 3 sex offender working or living at the assisted living facility.

Boston, Massachusetts Nursing Home Negligence
Not only is it the responsibility for Boston nursing homes to provide the proper nursing and medical care to residents, but they must also protect their residents from becoming the victims of any type of crime. This means ensuring that prospective nursing home workers and patients do not have histories that could make them likely to abuse or neglect other residents. Also, any nursing home patients with violent physical or sexual histories must be kept away from other residents.

Sex Predators Live, Work Inside Local Nursing Homes, WCVB TV, February 18, 2010
Information for Sex Offenders, Mass.gov

Related Web Resources:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

A Perfect Cause
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Questions are being raised over whether the handrails that line several miles of the Big Dig tunnel are a danger to Boston motor vehicle accident victims. Seven of the victims that died in the tunnel system between 2004 and 2008 were dismembered after they struck the handrails. One Massachusetts traffic accident victim who did survive lost an arm.

In Suffolk Superior Court, Massachusetts trooper Vincent Cila’s widow is suing the turnpike and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff for Boston wrongful death. Her Boston, Massachusetts motorcycle accident complaint claims that the sharp edges that support the handrails have the same effect on a person as would blades from a shredder. Cila was riding a motorcycle when he hit a handrail post in 2005. He severed his arm and broke his neck.

The handrails have earned the nickname “ginsu guardrails” after the ginsu knives. They were installed in the Big Dig System to prevent workers from falling into traffic.

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