Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: April 24, 2009

Toy Company to Pay $1.1 Million to CPSC to Settle Defective Toy Allegations

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced that Mega Brands America Inc. will pay a $1.1 million civil penalty to settle allegations that the company failed to inform the government about the dangers posed by its Magnetix building sets.

The defective toys were the subject of a recall in 2006 after a 22-month-old child died after swallowing tiny magnets that had come loose and fallen out of the toy. The first indication that Kenny Sweet’s parents had that Kenny was sick was flu like symptoms. and shallow breathing. When he was taken to the hospital, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he suffered a cardiac arrest. His left lung collapsed, and Kenny died soon after. His parents asked for an autopsy to find out what had happened to their precious little boy. The report arrived the next day, and the results were shocking. The coroner had found eight small magnets in Kenny’s intestine. When Kenny’s horrified parents who suspected that the magnets could only have come from the Magnetix toys, checked the toy, they found several magnets missing.

In 2005, Mega Brands which was then known as Rose Art Inc reported Kenny’s death to the CPSC. However, the company failed to provide any information about how the tragedy had occurred, and instead, claimed that the magnets probably fell out because of aggressive use of the toy. On February 1^st 2006, the company again submitted a full report which did not mention any complaints it had received of the loose magnets falling out of the toy. In March, the company recalled close to 4 million units of the toy. The CPSC later discovered that when Rose Art had first reported Kenny’s death in December 2005, it has already receive more than 1,100 complains of magnets falling out of several magnetic toy models. These complaints had included at least one report of a child being injured after swallowing the magnet. By the time the company acted to recall the toys, the number of complaints had grown to more than 1,500 across 65 different models.

Published on: April 24, 2009

BMW Driver in Fatal South Fulton Accident Arrested

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Police in Fulton County arrested the driver of BMW that was involved in a fatal car accident on Easter Sunday. The car accident killed Robert and Delisia Carter, their nine-year-old daughter Kayla, and their two month old son. A six year old child in another car was also killed in the multi vehicle accident.

The Carters had been out for an Easter Sunday drive when a BMW crashed into their car, and then struck a Volkswagen. The Mercedes burst into flames, killing the family inside. The driver of the Volkswagen, Tracey Johnson sustained serious injuries in the accident. Her six-year-old daughter was also killed.

The BMW fled from the scene of the accident. Fulton police had been looking out for the driver since Sunday. This morning residents of Walden Park in south Fulton County woke up to find that one of their neighbors, 22-year-old Aimee Michael was the driver of the BMW involved in the tragic Easter crash.

Published on: April 15, 2009

Storms Batter North Georgia, One Killed in Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Raging storms lashed Atlanta and much of north Georgia over the weekend, and several accidents were traced to the poor weather, including one fatal car accident that left one man dead.

Pickens County resident, Raymond Jones was killed when a tree fell on a car on Nacoochee Drive in Atlanta. The car quickly caught fire, and Jones was killed at the scene. Across metro Atlanta, trees and power lines collapsed, creating scenes that were ripe for automobile accidents. Other accidents were reported from Cobb County where a car was struck by a falling tree. Forsyth County saw several boats damaged during the storm, and a collapsed dock. However, there were no serious accidents reported. Power outages were widespread across North Georgia, and with a forecast of more rain in the next couple of days, we can expect the bad weather to continue.

Driving in adverse conditions is one of the most series challenges for a motorist. The existing problems involved in negotiating heavy traffic and avoiding pedestrians and bicyclists, are only compounded when you have to deal with strong winds, heavy rains, snowfall, hail or fog. Wet and slippery road can leave vehicles at risk for skidding accidents or rollovers that can lead to serious injuries. Howling winds and the sound of the rain can make it harder for a motorist to hear the horns of other drivers nearby. Water on the road can spray on the windshields of other vehicles nearby, impacting their ability to see clearly. The risk of hydroplaning increases when you are driving at excessive speeds on a wet highway. When there is excessive water on the road and you are driving at 55 mph – which could be the normal posted speed limit on the road – you run the risk of the tires losing contact with the road surface.

Published on: April 10, 2009

Risk of Truck Accidents by Medically Unfit Drivers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Thousands of motorists continue to be at risk from truck accidents caused by truckers who are just too sick to drive. That terrifying fact comes to us via a report by a television station which claims that tens of thousands of truck drivers continue to be able to drive, despite suffering from a variety of ailments that should actually keep them away from the wheel.

Under trucking laws, drivers are expected to be able to produce a copy of their medical certificate that certifies that the driver is medically fit to be behind the wheel of a large commercial truck. However, far too many drivers are getting by with phony medical certificates. The process of obtaining a fake medical certificate is so easy it’s almost a joke. Blank certificates are available from the government website, and all a far-from-fit driver has to do is download a blank copy which he can then fill out himself, and sign. Verification methods are notoriously hard with the result that these drivers manage to smoothly and easily slip through the cracks. An investigation last year revealed that out of every three medical certificates produced at truck inspection stops, one could not be verified.

It’s not just the kind of deceit going on that should alarm Atlanta truck accident lawyers, but also the scale. According to a federal report last year, there are more than 560,000 truck drivers who are also currently receiving full medical-disability payments. That means there are 560,000 truck drivers with a valid commercial driver’s license who are not in any condition to be driving a large vehicle.

Published on: April 7, 2009

Georgia’s School Students at Risk for Illnesses from Toxic Exhaust Fumes

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia’s school children are sharing their buses with more than just their school mates, this report reveals. The presence of several types of toxins that can not only trigger asthma and other respiratory disorders, but also cause cancer is enough reason for parents to worry. .

According to the report, newer school buses come with special particulate filters that block these toxins from entering the passenger cabins. However, an overwhelming majority of school buses in operation in the state are older and come with an antiquated exhaust system that does little to prevent particulates from entering the cabin.In the cabins, these often carcinogenic substances wear away at young, developing lungs that are more at risk for the detrimental health effects caused by these minute particles.

Some schools seem to have done a better job of protecting children from the risk of illnesses caused by these toxins than others. Atlanta Public Schools for instance, has retrofitted 373 of its school buses with newer diesel particulate filters. The school district used funds allotted to it in 2005 to carry out the retrofitting. In sharp contrast, Gwinnett County Public Schools has not made any attempts at retrofitting its buses, and has not even applied for funds to carry out the retrofitting programs. Gwinnett County is Georgia’s largest public school district, and the failure to equip existing vehicles with the new filter systems means that 120,000 students are traveling in these school buses everyday, inhaling toxic flumes that are dangerous to their health.

Published on: April 6, 2009

Student in Fatal Cobb County Drunk Driving Accident Intoxicated During Crash

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The toxicology report of a Cobb County high school student who was killed in a car accident in January has confirmed that he had a blood alcohol level of .133 at the time of the crash.

16-year-old Garrett Reed was killed on January 24^th in a collision with another car. Reed had been drinking for several hours before the crash, and before he left his friend’s home in his car, he told him that he was drunk, but was able to drive. As the accident later proved, Reed had been in no condition to drive.

A week after the drunk driving accident, the mother of one of Reed’s classmates Kecia Evangela Whitfield was arrested on charges of providing alcohol to Reed and his friends. She is awaiting trial in April.

Published on: April 4, 2009

Families Mark Second Anniversary of Bryan County Car Accident Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

March 21^st marked two years since the car accident that killed three Bryan County high school students. Melissa and Heather Arthur and Laura Cobb were killed in an accident just two miles from their school.

On the day of the accident, the three girls were passengers in a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Tam Duc Le. As the car turned a curve on highway 119, it collided with a pickup truck. Tam Duc Le was charged with felony counts of first degree vehicular homicide and charges of reckless driving and several other traffic violations, including failure to maintain lanes and driving too fast for conditions.

The accident also brought into focus the dangerous highway curve where the accident occurred. Before the accident that killed the three high school students, there had been several other accidents on the curve caused by speeding drivers. At the accident scene, there is still a sign asking motorists to drive at 40 miles per hour. However, families in the area say that motorists frequently drive at far higher speeds.

Published on: April 3, 2009

Fulton County Boy Awarded $2.3 Million in Medical Malpractice Award for Botched Circumcision

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

There could be not a medical malpractice awardthatcould compensate this boy and his family for the unimaginable horror they have been made to suffer.While a Fulton County Jury has awarded them damages of $2.3 million for a circumcision procedure that went wrong, the boy and his family will need counseling for a very long time.

The award relates to the injury caused to the young boy during what should have been a fairly routine circumcision procedure performed soon after he was born. The procedure however ended with the doctor removing a small portion of the tip of the penis. There was bungling on the part of more than one doctor at the hospital, Tenet South Fulton Medical Center where the procedure was performed in 2004. The pediatrician who was informed by a nurse after the boy began to bleed heavily, failed to respond to the call. Due to the negligence and failures of both the doctors, the boy suffered a permanent injury.

In 2006, his mother filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor who performed the circumcision, as well as the pediatrician who failed to respond to an emergency. The jury was convinced that the doctor Haiba Sonyika snipped off a portion of the organ and that the pediatrician Cheryl J. Kendall could have reattached the cut off portion if she had responded to the emergency immediately.The boy has been awarded $1.8 million in damages, while his mother has been awarded an additional award of $500,000. The hospital where the procedure was performed was not found negligent.

Published on: March 31, 2009

Nursing homes Become Dumping Grounds for mentally ill, Increase Risk of Elder Abuse

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Associated Press has a shocking report about the manner in which spare beds at nursing homes around the country are being filled by mentally ill patients, thus exposing the facility’s elderly patients to assaults and abuse.

Across the country, deplorable conditions at mental health institutions have been responsible for the closure of these facilities. Besides, the mentally ill over the past few decades, have benefited from better treatment and more effective drugs which have also played a part in the closure of several of these facilities. This has meant that there are insufficient beds for the mentally ill, and many of them have been shifted to nursing homes instead. In these elder care facilities, these mentally ill patients who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental conditions are made to share rooms with weak and sick elderly residents, most of who are above 65 years of age. What makes the problem worse is that the mentally ill patients are much younger, and therefore stronger and healthier than their geriatric roommates. This has given rise to a potentially dangerous situation in which the elderly are at risk of violent assaults and even sexual abuse at the hands of the mentally ill.

There is no official data on how many of such assaults on the elderly by their mentally ill roommates have taken place, but numerous cases have been reported. In one instance, in 2003 a mentally ill woman at a nursing home in Hartford, Connecticut, set fire to the nursing home she was living at. Sixteen residents were killed n the inferno. The woman was judged incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental institution. There have been other instances of assault, including beatings and rapes of elderly residents.

Published on: March 27, 2009

St. Patrick’s Day Drunk Driving Crackdown Means More DUI Arrests, Fewer Alcohol Related Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Law enforcement officers in Georgia expect to be busier than usual during alcohol-heavy holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, cracking down on offenders and preventing drunk driving accidents. This year, was no different. In fact, it was a bumper harvest of sorts for police officers in downtown Athens who lodged a total of 268 criminal charges for a range of offenses, including drunk driving.

Those charged included drivers as well as their passengers, and included charges for violations like drug offenses and outstanding warrants, while others were cited for failure to wear seat belts.The crackdown was part of a special St. Patrick’s Day enforcement involving some 50 troopers manning at least seven different checkpoints. The crackdown is named "Operation Rolling Thunder," and last year it was used to rein in drunk drivers on four University of Georgia game days. This year, officers were expecting several arrests, given the fact that drinking is so much a part of the St. Patrick’s’ Day tradition, but even so they were unprepared for the large numbers of arrests.Officers had warned jail authorities to expect a larger than usual flow of guests, but Clarke County jail has only one fingerprint system, and jail officers ended up dealing with more numbers of offenders than they were prepared for.Most of those arrested were forced to spend many hours in jail before they could be bonded out.

Law enforcement officers tend to have their hands full during busy holidays, especially those that involve plenty of drinking and merriment, like Thanksgiving and New Year’s.The numbers of people drinking and driving tend to peak around New Years Eve, which is arguably the most alcohol-heavy holiday of the year. St Patrick’s’ Day however must rank close behind.While no one wants to play party-pooper, it’s a fact that the number of alcohol-related car accidents increase exponentially during a holiday. That’s why crackdowns like Rolling Thunder are essential – to make sure that those who have tempered their enjoyment with responsible drinking behavior, are not made to pay for those who have been stupid enough to tank up and slip behind the wheel. The St. Patrick’s Day crackdown in Athens received plenty of complaints from "victims" who were "made" to wait 20 hours before being bonded out, and lodged in crammed cells that were full of other likeminded DUI offenders.For those who whine about being made to wheeze into a breathalyzer and have their holiday end in a jail cell, Atlanta car accident lawyers would have one simple piece of advice – don’t drink and drive.