Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: April 29, 2008

School Bus Accidents Rampant in April

April has been a bad month for school bus accidents.We covered this subject in March when a Cherokee County school bus overturned and several students were taken to area hospitals.Since then, school bus accidents continue to be the subject of local news programs across the country.Many students suffered serious personal injuries as a result.

Monday morning of this week, two Pope High School students were injured when a car, driven by a teenage driver, ran up on the sidewalk and struck them.A fifteen-year-old girl was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital at Scottish Rite and is in critical condition.A seventeen-year-old boy was taken to Kennestone Hospital and treated and released.

The driver of the Jeep, Corey O’Connell, was driving northbound when a Nissan Maxima stopped in front of him to make a left-hand turn.He did not see the stopped car in time, swerved onto the sidewalk, and ran over a fire hydrant and an electrical box before striking the students with his vehicle.He has been charged with following too closely and failure to maintain his lane.

Published on: April 11, 2008

Product Liability Suit Fails Against Anti-Depressant Manufacturer

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline won a significant ruling this week in the Third Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals in Colaccio vs. Apotex.SmithKline, the manufacturer of the anti-depressants Paxil and Zoloft, defended two separate state tort claims that the manufacturer failed to warn of the risk of suicide from taking the drug.Plaintiffs product liability suits failed.

In a split decision, the Third Circuit ruled that federal regulatory law pre-empted state tort law claims in cases against manufacturers of anti-depressants for failure to warn of the risk of suicide.

Anti-depressants are drugs known as selective serotonin re-upate inhibitors (SSRIs).The drugs block the re-absorption of serotonin into the brain.Serotonin is a natural body chemical that regulates mood, sleep and appetite.By blocking the re-absorption the brain cells get an extra dose of a feel-good chemical.Some experts believe that the increase in serotonin causes a drop in the natural chemical dopamine. Dopamine regulates cognition and behavior.

Published on: April 2, 2008

Hit and Run Driver Faces Felony Charges

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

On Monday night, a red Acura, allegedly driven by Cody Rhoden, attempted to pass an SUV limousine carrying five members of the Randle family and the limo driver, Mark Anthony Gay on I-85 near Indian Springs Road.

As the Acura approached the SUV, it entered the left-hand emergency lane.The SUV was traveling in the HOV lane.The Acura attempted to improperly pass on the left.The Acura clipped the SUV as the emergency lane narrowed with the concrete median wall.

As the Acura cut off the SUV when it entered the HOV lane, it then struck two cars in the lane ahead. Immediately after, the SUV slammed into the back of the struck vehicles, causing the SUV to flip.The SUV rolled over six times before coming to rest roof-side down.

Published on: March 17, 2008

Tornados Wreak Havoc; Bad Faith in Issue

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Friday night tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, causing serious damage to buildings in the business district.Inside the CNN Center, water flooded parts of the building, shattered glass littered the floor and dust and debris entered from the torn roof. Next door at the Georgia Dome the SEC conference basketball game was halted.The storm ripped part of the ceiling of the dome off.

On Saturday afternoon, a second tornado claimed the lives of two victims in Bartow and Floyd County in north Georgia. That twister was five times wider and stayed on the ground longer than the Friday tornado.One victim was killed when her home was flattened; flying debris killed the other.

Spring is peak season for tornados.Most tornados occur in what is known as “Tornado Alley” which is the plains of the central and southern states – east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Appalachian Mountains.The most frequently hit states are Florida, Oklahoma and Texas.Wind speeds vary from 100 to 300 miles per hour and most tornados are two miles long.Tornados come from the energy released in a thunderstorm.

Published on: March 12, 2008

Students Injured in Canton Bus Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A school bus carrying 27 students overturned on March 3, 2008 in Canton, Georgia.Twenty-six students were taking to area hospitals, but none were seriously injured.The driver, Luis Monserrate, was charged with failure to maintain a lane.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the driver let the school bus dip off the roadway onto the shoulder.He then overcorrected, causing the bus to veer off the road.The bus clipped a utility pole and then overturned.

Currently, there are 585,000 school buses in use in the nation.Over twenty-three million children travel on school buses each year.The Transportation Research Board reports that school buses are the safest mode of transportation for students. School bus accidents account for 6000 injuries annually and 20 deaths.Compared to incidents caused by adult drivers transporting students in a private vehicle, these cause 51,000 injuries and 169 deaths annually.Most deaths occur from students boarding or exiting buses.

Published on: March 4, 2008

Medical Malpractice Rights Denied by Tort Reform

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Tort Reform Act of 2005 may be going up on appeal. In 2005 Georgia legislators saw fit to pass a Tort Reform Act that, among other things, gave emergency room doctors virtual immunity from negligence suits.

That bill provided that the ER staff cannot be held liable for damages unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the doctor or health care provider’s actions showed “gross negligence.”Gross negligence is defined as the absence of that degree of care that every man of common sense, however inattentive he may be, exercises under the same or similar circumstances.Another common definition of “gross negligence” is “reckless disregard for the safety of the patient.”

In addition to this standard of care change, pain and suffering damages in a medical malpractice case were capped at $350,000.Thus, if you are injured as a result of medical malpractice, your right to recover has been greatly diminished.

Published on: February 25, 2008

Two More Workers Die In Sugar Refinery Blast

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Two sugar refinery workers died over the weekend from the February 7^th explosion at the Imperial Sugar Plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia.That brings the total number killed in this workplace accident to 11.Twelve remain in critical condition at Doctors’ Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.Two are in serious condition.Over forty workers were injured and released from treatment.

The explosion occurred Thursday night around 7:30 p.m. when plant workers were packaging refined sugar into Dixie Crystal bags.Investigators believe the blast was caused by the accumulation of sugar dust in a basement area beneath the plant’s storage silos. Sugar dust is combustible. While the cause of the ignition is not yet known, stacked and dry sugar could create a static electric charge that could have ignited.

The explosion was so powerful that neighbors thought a bomb went off. Floors inside the plant collapsed, flames spread throughout the building, metal girders buckled, and sheet metal corridors connecting the plant buildings gave way.Molten sugar burned at more than 4000 degrees.Fire crews worked through the night and for several days following to put out the flames.Doors to the plant were glued shut by crystallized sugar sludge.

Published on: February 22, 2008

Million Dollar Personal Injury Settlement by Distracted Driver

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Cell phone liability is back in the news again. Last week the Fulton County Daily Report highlighted the recent International Paper personal injury settlement. International Paper ( "IP") paid out $5.2 million to settle a personal injury suit for an automobile collision that an IP employee caused by talking on a cell phone.

IP employee Vanessa McGrogan was talking on her company-supplied cell phone when she rear-ended a vehicle driven by Debra Ford. The collision pushed Ford into a ditch on the right side of the road. The car overturned and dragged the driver’s side across the roadway. Ford’s arm was caught between the door and the asphalt. Ford, a widowed mother of four, had to have her arm amputated at the shoulder.

McGrogan had her cruise control set at 77 mph. In addition to this, she was talking on her cell phone to the point of distraction. The plaintiff raised the issue of intentional negligence. The trial court in ruling on a motion for partial summary judgment allowed the plaintiff to seek punitive damages. The case was set for trial in March and settled this month.

Published on: February 5, 2008

Accidents Likely as Bridge Inspection Reports Faked

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution front-page article provides a shocking revelation from the Department of Transportation.A twenty-nine year employee charged with inspecting state bridges faked his reports since last fall.Falsified inspection reports could suggest that faulty bridges are safe. A bridge collapse could lead to serious personal injuries or even death for the occupants of vehicles.

The two-man inspection team fell behind in their work, partly because one team member took off a good deal of time from work last year.Rather than own up to missing a deadline, they falsified reports.Not apparently the swiftest, the team claimed to have inspected 18 bridges in one day, which caught the attention of a supervisor.The DOT reports it will send out a new team to inspect the 54 bridges affected by the employee lying scandal.

Bridges are inspected at two-year intervals.However, bridges deemed critical may get an annual inspection.Valid DOT inspection reports show that one in five Georgia bridges are in need of repair or new design.Georgia spends about $100 million a year on bridge maintenance, but claims it needs $2.5 billion to rebuild deficient bridges.

Published on: January 29, 2008

Product Defects Evident in 2007 Automobile Recalls

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Former Mitsubishi President, Katsuhiko Kawasoe, was sentenced in Japan last week for professional negligence for his role in covering up defects in Mitsubishi trucks in cars over a three-year period from 1997 to 2000. Apparently, the auto manufacturer hid defects in its clutch system on several models of trucks and cars. The defect caused the brakes to fail. In some cases, occupants were killed in collisions caused by the faulty system. Wrongful death suits arising from these collisions uncovered the scandal.

Mitsubishi hid reports of defects, choosing to secretly repair the cars when brought into dealerships rather than issue a product recall that would have protected consumers. When news of the cover-up came out, sales plummeted, and company officials were forced out in disgrace. Subsequently, those officials were charged with professional negligence and criminal violations for falsifying reports and failing to take proper recall measures.

In the United States, the National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) has issued its 2007 recall report. Automobile recalls increased in 2007 by thirty percent from the previous year. Manufacturers issued 588 recalls, affecting almost 15 million vehicles.