Personal Injury

Published on: December 22, 2010

Icy Weather Blamed for More Than 600 Auto Accidents in Gwinnett County, Georgia

Close to 600 auto accidents in Gwinnett County, Georgia, last week were blamed on hazardous road conditions caused by icy roads. These accidents included a 15-car pileup on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Fortunately, none of these auto accidents ended in fatalities.

However, according to police, at least nine accidents resulted in occupants becoming trapped in their vehicles. They were 27 hit-and-run accidents reported. There was also at least one pedestrian accident that ended with injuries. In Cherokee County alone, police handled more than 300 accident cases. Meanwhile, in the metro Atlanta area, roadways were shut down, and schools were closed as a precautionary measure.

The hazardous road conditions were created after a mass of Arctic air collided with the moist air, creating a thin coating of ice on the roadways. Emergency rescue departments in Gwinnett County found themselves overwhelmed with thousands of calls for rescue, not just from accident victims, but also calls related to structure and wood fires.

Published on: December 13, 2010

Auto Accident Victims with Spinal Cord Injuries Find hope in Stem Cell Trial

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Spinal cord injuries, which frequently occur during auto accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents, are one of the most life-altering injuries. There is no complete cure for spinal cord injuries, but there have been very encouraging developments in possible therapies for spinal cord injury, all of them involving the use of stem cells. A California-based company has announced that it has received approval to begin nerve stem cell trials into the treatment of spinal cord injury. This study provides a reason for hope for auto accident victims who suffered this injury.

The trials will be conducted in Switzerland. Researchers believe that the country offers greater patient referral networks and a higher expertise of professionals. However, that isn’t only how these stem cell trials will differ from others. These are believed to be the first trials that will focus on treatment of older or chronic spinal cord injuries.

Earlier this year, another company, Geron Corporation announced the world’s first embryonic stem cell clinical trials into the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Those trials are partly being conducted in Atlanta. However, those trials will only focus on new spinal cord injuries. These Swiss trials will focus on injuries that are between three and 12 months older, and if these treatments are successful, it will offer hope to the more than 2 million spinal cord injury patients in the US, who currently live with these injuries. The Swiss trial researchers believe that older spinal cord injuries have been ignored, and too much of the research is focused on fresh injuries.

Published on: December 12, 2010

Study Shows Increase in Serious Dog Bite Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new study shows an increase in the numbers of people being hospitalized after suffering a dog bite. Statisticians from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality looked at dog bite data between 1993 and 2008. They found that the number of people who needed hospitalization after a dog bite actually grew by 86%.

In 1993, 5,100 people had to be rushed to the hospital after a dog bite, and that number ballooned to 9,500 cases in 2008. Every day, an approximate 856 Americans are forced to seek emergency treatment after a dog bite. Of these, an average of 26 are admitted to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

Other findings from the study:

Published on: December 3, 2010

Increased Risk of Auto Accidents with Georgia Winter

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Last year, Atlanta motorists were treated to an unusual experience – sudden and unexpected snowstorms that contributed to icy roads, poor visibility and an increased number of auto accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents. Since Atlanta and Georgia in general only gets a snowstorm once every year or two, motorists are unable to deal with suddenly slippery conditions and accidents result. Winter has already begun much earlier than usual in some parts of Georgia, and it’s important for drivers to be prepared for any sudden change in weather conditions that can increase the risks of accidents.

Extreme winter weather means ice, snow and sleet on the roads, creating increasingly slippery conditions. Motorists driving in such conditions are much more likely to lose control of their vehicles. Even worse, if your car not been prepared for driving through snow, you can expect a breakdown. Stay safe this winter by being prepared for extreme weather.

Make sure that your car is primed for winter driving. Fluid levels, particularly anti-freeze fluids, must be topped. Keep your gas tank as full as possible. Last year’s snowstorms caught everybody by surprise.

Published on: December 3, 2010

Medical Lien Secrets Every Injured Car Accident Victim Should Know

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A number of personal injury victims sign medical liens every year.The victims often times do not know the consequences that a lien can have on their personal injury settlement.Signing a medical lien could be a fatal mistake that can wreck your personal injury claim.

Receive Treatment for Your Injuries

Whatever your case may be (lien or no lien) it is important to receive treatment and continue that treatment if necessary.Your recovery is critical to you and your family.Receiving treatment will help to ensure your injuries do not get worse after your accident.

Published on: November 26, 2010

New Airport Security Procedures Could Mean Increase in Highway Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Couldthe new enhanced airport security procedures adopted by the Transportation Security Administration unwittingly lead to an increase in highway accidents and fatalities this Thanksgiving holiday? It’s a question that two transportation economists have already addressed. According to them, there is very likely to be a spike in highway travel this year.

The main reason is likely to be the embarrassing patdown procedures, which have already received plenty of negative press as being intrusive and humiliating.In fact, an activist group is calling for “National Opt-Out Day” in protest against the procedures on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest flight days.That could mean even more delays.

Airport security has become a painfully cumbersome procedure post 9/11, and many people, especially those with kids, only fly because it gives them a chance to reach their destination quicker. However, if flying now also comes with a long drawn-out and embarrassing patdown, with the prospect of more delays, many Americans would simply choose to drive to their destination instead.

Published on: October 26, 2010

Why Georgia Needs to Pass a No Texting While Driving Bill

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Lilburn teenager was seriously injured in a single vehicle accident apparently caused because he was text messaging while driving. Nineteen-year-old Soheb Roy was text messaging his friend while driving his car, and crashed the vehicle into a telephone pole. He sustained serious injuries. The impact of the accident was strong enough to break the telephone pole into two. Police are likely to charge Roy with improper use of a cell phone while driving and failure to maintain lanes.

The accident is just one more reason why we need to have a new bill banning text messaging, passed as quickly possible. Last week, state republicans Allen Peake and Amos Amerson introduced bills that will ban text messaging behind the wheel for all motorists. Violations will come with fines and license penalties. The bill proposes fines of $50 and at least two license penalty points for violations.

Last year, one bill that would have banned texting while driving only for teen drivers, failed to pass. Whether this new bill will have better luck, remains to be seen. Georgia has failed to take the kind of serious steps necessary to prevent the 1.4 million crashes every year that are caused by having conversations on cell phones while driving, and 200,000 crashes that occur because of text messaging while driving.

Published on: September 29, 2010

Georgia Accident Victims Need More Trauma Care Facilities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia Accident Victims Need More Trauma Care Facilities

An uneven distribution of trauma care facilities in Georgia means that persons who meet with accidents in DeKalb or Fulton Counties have a better chance of surviving, compared to those in rural Georgia.The metropolitan Atlanta area has access to several trauma care centers where healthcare professionals can provide the kind of emergency care that saves lives.Thousands of people across Georgia are not that lucky.A new measure would remove this gap, giving accident victims in rural areas a chance to survive.

Come November, Georgia citizens can vote on a referendum on a vehicle license tag fee.The measure would add $10 to the existing fee structure, and the funds generated would be used to pay for the expansion of the trauma care facility system in Georgia.However good the intentions may be, the measure may have trouble being approved, especially during an election year.

Published on: September 9, 2010

Back to School, but Safely

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Back to School, but Safely

School is back in session again, and that means more school buses on our roads, and more harassed parents racing against the clock to get to the gates on time.This is always a riskier time of the year, not just for students, but also for Atlanta’s motorists.It’s very likely that most children and their parents have forgotten about safety over the holidays, and hence, this reminder.

There will be thousands of children across Georgia using school buses after the long summer.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, children are more likely to be injured when they are either getting down from, or getting on the bus, and not when they are riding on one.That is definitely something that parents need to think about.

Published on: September 7, 2010

Calls for Brain Injury to Be Defined As Disease

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Calls for Brain Injury to Be Defined As Disease

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not just a one-time injury that heals quickly, allowing a person to move on and forget about the injury.Rather, a person with a TBI can suffer several complications over his entire lifetime, depending on the severity of the TBI.A moderate brain injury could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, besides placing the person at a higher risk for neuroendocrine disorders and depression.That is the reason why a team of researchers from the University Of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is calling for a redefining of traumatic brain injury as a chronic disease, like diabetes.

According to the researchers, defining brain injury as a disease would allow doctors to frequently monitor patients with TBI for complications or new conditions that might develop in the future.Take diabetes, for instance.Diabetes is considered a chronic disease, and a patient is placed under frequent monitoring, that involves regular testing of his blood sugar levels.The doctors also monitor the patient for other complications that may arise, like kidney disorders.The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers are calling for similar scheduled monitoring and tracking of patients with TBI.Currently, this is not done.Instead, patients with TBI often find themselves confused, anxious and with no financial and educational resources to deal with these complications.Defining TBI as a disease would allow these patients to be reimbursed regularly by insurers.