- Brooks Schuelke | October 31, 2007 9:41 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsYesterday, the Texas Transportation Institute released the results of a study of teen drivers that concluded that teen drivers are not aware of the dangers that lead to most car wrecks. According to TTI, car crashes kill about 6,000 teens nationwide each year making car wrecks the number one cause of death for U.S. teenagers. The car accidents are primarily caused by driver inexperience...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 30, 2007 9:08 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe Consumer Product Safety Commission has once again issued their Halloween safety tips. Among other items, the CPSC has the following safety tips:Carry flashlights.Use reflective tape on your treat bag.Make sure masks or other parts of costumes don't obstruct your child's view.Watch out for candles and Jack O' Lanterns when approaching front doors.Warn children not to eat any candy until it...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 29, 2007 12:55 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeLast Friday's New York Times Health Blog addressed the emotional toll felt by peoples that are the victims of medical malpractice. The entry, which discusses a new article and proposed documentary, states the following:The writers, Dr. Tom Delbanco and Dr. Sigall K. Bell of the Harvard Medical School, note that while the medical community has focused largely on reducing error rates, hospitals...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 24, 2007 2:35 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsPolice today identified a 16 year old victim of a weekend hit and run car wreck. It doesn't appear that they have many leads, but with any luck, someone with information will step forward.This latest incident follows two motorcycle hit and run wrecks in June, an August hit and run wrongful death, and an unusual stabbing hit and run earlier this month. For more information on this subject,...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 22, 2007 3:54 PM |
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MiscellaneousInjury Prevention magazine published a startling study about bicycle related injuries. The study, conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, estimates that 10,700 children are hospitalized each year for bicycle-related injuries. One-third of those were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (many of which could have been prevented...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 19, 2007 8:50 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsIn August, the Atlanta Journal Constitution broke a story about Progressive Insurance Company's use of private investigators in a shocking manner. The story, which is unfortunately no longer available online, stated as follows:When a new couple arrived at Southside Christian Fellowship in August 2005, members welcomed them with open arms. Soon, the new couple talked their way into private group...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 18, 2007 9:30 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe Texas Progress Council has just posted a short new video on YouTube. We encourage anyone interested in personal injury and civil justice issues to take a couple of minutes to watch.
- Brooks Schuelke | October 15, 2007 10:11 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThere have been numerous recall stories in the news lately, but in the last ten days, the recalls have reached core American products such as boy scout badges, some cans of Campbell's soup, and, heaven forbid, even hammocks. The constant news stories about recalls really leads to the question, "How is someone supposed to keep up with what's safe?" One of the best websites out there is...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 13, 2007 12:49 PM |
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Tractor-Trailer AccidentsIt would seem to be unusual way for a trucking accident to occur, but a new story in the Indianapolis Star reports that six people have been killed on the nation's highways this year by wheels that broke loose from semi trucks. The latest victim was a police officer that was helping another officer at a traffic stop. Particularly disconcerting is the fact that the truck driver didn't even...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 12, 2007 8:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsEarlier this week, the Austin American Statesman ran a story detailing various insurance companies' efforts to reduce auto accidents by monitoring teen drivers. The story stated:Several U.S. auto insurers have begun offering in-car cameras or global positioning equipment to help parents monitor their teenagers' driving behavior, hoping to reduce the alarming number of crashes involving young...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 11, 2007 12:50 PM |
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Workplace InjuriesConstruction cranes are commonplace in downtown Austin. But yesterday morning, there was a unique worksite accident when a crane at a construction site collapsed. Amazingly, no one was injured. Sadly, that wasn't the case for another Austin employee. Earlier this month, an employee was killed in a construction accident after falliing off the shell of a building under construction. With all...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 09, 2007 1:54 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeYesterday's Miami Herald had an article about a recent trend of American and Canadian citizens seeking medical care in foreign countries, particularly Cuba. The entire article was interesting, but this quote about potential medical malpractice stuck out:René Rodriguez, a Cuban-born physician now living in Miami, thinks Cuba would be a ''lousy place'' to have surgery. ``If anything happens to...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 08, 2007 12:22 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsToday's New York Times had a great article discussing the issues facing the Consumer Products Safety Commission in its attempts to regulate defective products. The articles uses a do-it-yourself tile waterproofing product, Stand 'n Seal, and the injuries it caused to a New York doctor as its case study of what's going wrong. According the article:Dr. Friedel was the latest victim of a product...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 06, 2007 8:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe big news in Austin today is obviously the Texas-Oklahoma football game. And as even the most casual fan knows, our footbal team has had more than its share of legal woes this year. But Mack Brown has found a hopefully effective way of teaching the team about the dangers of drunk driving. His method:So after Texas players Henry Melton of Grapevine and Sergio Kindle of Dallas were charged...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 05, 2007 4:53 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsFor whatever reason, there have been several train wrecks in the Austin area over the last couple of weeks. On September 4th, a man was killed in an Austin train wreck. On September 26th there was another Austin train wreck, but fortunately no one was injured. On September 29th, a Seguin woman collided with a train and had to jump out of her car. And yesterday, a train derailment in East...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 03, 2007 8:44 AM |
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Medical MalpracticePhillip Peters, a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, has written a new article entitled The Fairness of Malpractice Settlements. Professor Peters looked at the correlation between settlements in medical malpractice claims and the strength of the underlying cases. He concluded:Researchers have studied the settlements that result from thisprocess and their findings...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 02, 2007 9:50 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeIn one of the more unusual medical malpractice cases you'll hear about, a North Texas man has filed suit against several companies alleging that a bone implanted in his neck was stolen from a corpse. James Livingston, 44, of Weatherford, does not seek a specific monetary amount in his suit filed in New York last month against Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. for fraud and negligence."How can...
- Brooks Schuelke | October 01, 2007 11:26 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeIn medical malpractice news, WOAI has reported that the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services has continued to certify nurse aides even after the agency had previously blacklisted the nurses. The story reports:A newspaper investigation has found that nurse aides blacklisted by the state for complaints like abuse and stealing money from elderly patients continue to get certified work...