Georgia Injury Law Blog

Published on: May 13, 2009

Safer Roads, Fewer Accidents: Georgia’s Road Improvement Stimulus Funds Are Here

Motorists in Georgia can look forward to repaired highways and safer streets that will reduce the risk of accidents. Governor Perdue last week approved $187 million from federal stimulus funds, which will be used in up to 51 road construction and repair projects in metro Atlanta.

In April, the governor approved $207 million to be spent on highway projects, and these recent funds are in addition to those funds. All in all, Georgia is scheduled to receive $931 million for road improvement projects. Work on highways is expected to begin by summer. According to the Department of Transportation, there are dozens of projects that were in line for funds, but only those that are in poor condition or have had a high incidence of automobile accidents have been marked for construction work.

Here’s where some of those funds will go:

Published on: May 11, 2009

Crashed Cars Increase Risk of Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

An investigation by CBS, Atlanta in April exposed a Roswell-based car dealership that concealed accident damage on the vehicles they sold, with sometimes disastrous consequences.

The dealership Ultra Cars, the investigation found, used to purchase cars that had frame damage at auctions, and sell these to customers. Those earlier car accidents were not reflected in Carfax reports, and gullible customers who walked into the dealership had no way of knowing that the car they were buying had earlier been in a major wreck. Frame damage can affect the structure of the car, and consequently its safety. The damage can decrease the value of a car and investigations revealed that salesmen at Ultra Cars didn’t reveal to customers the fact that the car had suffered accident damage earlier. At least one Ultra Car customer who was sold an accident-damaged-car has been involved in an accident. Keith Newton survived the crash, but the accident could have had fatal consequences. Later, he found that the car he had been sold had only been given a cosmetic patch-up job to cover major damage sustained in an accident.

The dealership has now closed down, but not before selling their vehicles to another dealership nearby. With most of Ultra Car’s vehicles sold to a new owner, the dangers from these cars haven’t disappeared yet.

Published on: May 8, 2009

FDA Warns Against Using Weight Loss Supplement Hydroxycut After Reports of Liver Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In a month in which at least 34 weight loss products of a New York-based company were recalled by the FDA, the agency has issued another warning, this time to consumers who use popular weight loss supplement Hydroxycut, to stop using these immediately. The warning comes because of reported liver injuries in persons who took these products, including at least one death.

Hydroxycut has a lion’s share of the weight loss supplement market with close to 9 million bottles reportedly sold last year alone. The supplement is popular with people on a diet because of its appetite suppressing properties. Besides, it is used widely by bodybuilders to define muscle tone. According to the FDA, some of the Hydroxycut products also have a serious side effect – they cause liver injuries. At least one person’s death has been linked to the weight loss supplement. A 19-year-old man reportedly died in 2007 from liver injuries. Also one person has had to undergo a liver transplant procedure after he suffered liver damage from using the product. According to the FDA, it has received at least 23 reports of liver injuries caused by the supplement.

The company that makes Hydroxycut, Canada based-Iovate Health Sciences has agreed to recall all Hydroxycut products, even though the FDA has linked only about 14 Hydroxycut products to liver injuries. The company however denies that the sole death was linked to its product in any way.

Published on: May 6, 2009

DeKalb County Car Accident Kills Two People

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A tragic car accident on Rockbridge Road in DeKalb County has killed two people, including a teenager.

According to this report, a car carrying six teenage boys crossed the center line and crashed into a Toyota Corolla, driven by 43-year-old Lisa Hutchinson. She died instantly. Her daughter was in the car with her, and suffered a broken collar bone and at least two fractures. The driver of the other car, a Honda Accord, also sustained injuries. One of the occupants of that car, 16-year-old Benjamin Bynum was also killed. All the teenagers, students at Stephenson High School, have suffered minor injuries.

The 16-year-old driver is likely to face charges. According to police, alcohol doesn’t seem to have been a factor in the car accident.

Published on: May 5, 2009

Georgia Ranked on List of States with Poor Doctor Discipline

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A new report by non-profit organization Public Citizen has placed Georgia on the list of ten worst states based on doctor discipline records. The report takes into consideration the numbers of disciplinary actions taken by the state’s boards of medical examiners against negligent physicians. In Georgia, the rate of actions against such doctors is a dismal 2.40 actions for every 1,000 physicians. The state is tenth on the list following Minnesota with a paltry .95 actions per 1,000 doctors, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Connecticut, New Hampshire Maryland, Florida and California.

Not only that, Georgia is also specially marked for criticism as one of the states with the largest decrease in rank for disciplinary action rates. Between 2001 and 20003, the state was at number 15 on the list, while it has dropped to number 42 in this year’s report.

Georgia should take a page out of the book of fellow southern states like Kentucky and Louisiana, each of which features in the ten best states for serious disciplinary actions against doctors. That list also includes Alaska where 6.54 serious disciplinary actions were taken for every 1,000 doctors, Kentucky with 5.87 disciplinary actions, Louisiana with 4.74 actions besides Ohio, Arizona, Okalahoma, North Dakota, Iowa, Colorado and Maine.

Published on: May 1, 2009

DeKalb County Ford Explorer Accident Trial Begins

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A Ford Explorer trial involving a young woman, who suffered spine injuries in an accident involving a Ford Explorer, began in DeKalb County last week. Jessica Mundy, who was 22 years old when the accident took place, is claiming damages from Ford, alleging that a transmission design defect in her Explorer caused the SUV to suddenly shift from park to reverse. The accident left Mundy a quadriplegic.

Mundy claims she put her car in park, and got out to mail a package. The car ran over her, leaving her with a fractured spine. In January 2005, Ford had issued a repair service bulletin involving a transmission problem, and the alert covered a number of vehicles, including Mundy’s SUV. Her lawyer insists that the transmission repair which was conducted on her Explorer, could have contributed to the problem. The bulletin at the time warned owners, that transmission fluid could lead to their vehicles experiencing “delayed/harsh reverse engagements,” and asked owners to get a transmission fluid additive installed to correct the problem at their dealer. Another letter sent on April 2005 again reminded vehicle owners that if the vehicles were left to operate with the original factory-installed fluid, the danger of transmission shifting would actually increase.

More than 200 Ford owners have complained to the National Highway Transport Safety Administration about the transmission defect in the Explorer. In most of the complaints, there is a delay when the Explorer is shifted from park to reverse or from another gear to reverse. Other complaints have involved the vehicle slipping from park to gear, although Ford continues to deny that the complaints say any such thing.

Published on: April 30, 2009

After Near Miss at Atlanta Bus Accident Site, DOT Begins work on HOV Exit

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

But for good fortune, it would have been a repeat of the tragic Bluffton bus accident in Atlanta that killed seven people in 2007. A group of students from Michigan escaped serious injuries when their bus driver almost made the same mistake that the Bluffton University bus driver did.

The students who were on their way from Michigan to Orlando were traveling in two buses. The driver of the first bus mistook the exit ramp for a through lane, and just managed to stop in time to avoid a potentially serious crash. It was the exact same mistake that the driver of the bus in which several Bluffton University students had been killed two years ago, had made. The near miss has called into question Georgia Department of Transportation’s tardiness in making adequate signage available to warn motorists of the dangerous site.

According to driver Rick Overtein who narrowly avoided an accident, the ramp is still very “deceiving.” Two years after the tragic Bluffton college bus accident, it’s obvious that signage warning drivers on the ramp is still insufficient. After the Bluffton accident, the Georgia Department of Transportation had come in for severe criticism, including sharp words from the National Transportation Safety Board for its failure to install proper signage. The Department of Transportation last week began work on updating the HOV exit, where the Bluffton accident occurred, a full two years later. It will be weeks before the overhead signs come up at the site.

Published on: April 29, 2009

Four Year Old Boy Severely Injured in Rockland County Dog Bite Attack

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A 4-year-old Rockland County boy, who was severely mauled in a dog bite attack, is looking at skin graft surgery to fix the injuries, as well as surgery to fox his ear. Nathaniel Stafford was attacked by a Labrador-pit bull mix that his family had been looking after for its owner. His mother found the boy with his head gripped in the dog’s mouth. The pit bull mix was shaking him violently. The boy’s mother pulled him away, and suffered a bite on her arm in the process.

By the time the terrifying ordeal had ended, much of Nathaniel’s scalp had been ripped apart and his ear had been torn off. His stepfather picked up the ear, and put it in a bag to reattach in the hospital. The doctors have not been able to confirm whether they will be reattaching his ear, or if he will need to have a prosthetic ear attached.

Nathaniel is bound to be traumatized after the dog bite attack. Beside the serious head injuries and the mutilated ear, the boy also suffered throat lacerations. He is an animal lover, although how he will react to any dog from here on, is debatable. The dog’s owner meanwhile has agreed to have the dog which is currently being held in quarantine at an animal shelter, put down.

Published on: April 28, 2009

Albany Industrial Accident Leaves Employee with Burn Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A fire at the Equinox Chemical Plant in Albany has left one person severely burnt. The flash fire occurred on April 15^th. 37-year-old Jason Pate suffered second and third degree burn injuries over up to 70% of his body. He was taken to the Augusta Burn Center where his condition has been listed as critical.

According to preliminary investigations, Pate was operating chemical machinery when two gas kit seals suddenly ruptured, due to pressure. That caused the manifold system to blow off the Acetylene, igniting and sparking a fire. The company has shut down production, pending an investigation of the accident. Firefighters remained at the plant all night to ensure that all Acetylene tanks were empty, and there was no danger of fire.

Fire safety is imperative in a chemical plant where the risk of fire and explosions is always present. Burns that result from a chemical fire are severe, leaving long term scars. These burns are extremely painful, and cause significant tissue damage. In cases that are as severe as Pate’s case here, skin grafting may be necessary. All this means many days away from work while the body heals enough to allow for skin graft surgery, as well as a long healing period later.

Published on: April 27, 2009

Tractor Trailer-Tanker Truck Accident in Coweta County Ends in Blaze

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Interstate 85 in Coweta County has been an accident magnet for the past several weeks because of the construction work going on there in both northbound and southbound lanes. Several truck accidents have been reported. The construction work has meant that traffic rules are being broken at random. Truck drivers and motorists, highway authorities complain, are not sticking to the reduced speed limits now posted in the zone. It’s not just traffic police and highway officials who are concerned about the several accidents that have taken place, but also construction workers hard at work on the road.

In an example of what highway authorities are so concerned about, a tractor trailer and a tanker truck collided at the construction zone , resulting in an explosion and fire at the scene. The wheels of the tractor trailer apparently slid off the edge of the payment, and the driver, in a panic, overcorrected, colliding with a tanker nearby. The tanker truck was pushed into a construction barrier wall that had been erected to protect workers. The collision damaged the fuel tank of the tanker truck, and it caught fire. Both the tractor trailer and tanker truck drivers suffered injuries. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. A nearby school was partially evacuated as a precautionary measure, although no students were injured. The initial panic when the tanker truck exploded led to rumors that smaller vehicles had been caught in the collision, but that wasn’t true. All lanes on I-85 were closed for several hours after the accident.

Transportation officials are appealing to motorists to take great care while driving through the construction zone. The construction work is expected to continue for the rest of the year, and conditions on the highway will continue to be dangerous. Officials are asking motorists to use other routes to get to their destination if possible. In spite of lower speed limits, there have been too many instances of speeding drivers causing accidents in the area. Reckless motorists continue to drive at excessive speeds, and there are too few law enforcement officers at the scene to crack down on speeding motorists. The conditions on the road are even worse when it rains.