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Was Negligence the Cause of a Boat Explosion on Lake Norman?

Michael Chandler — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:19:08 GMT

It was just after 4:00 on a sunny Tuesday afternoon on Lake Norman just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Champion II, an 80 foot party yacht had just been docked following a graduation party cruise. In fact the celebration had just slowed down when a massive explosion rocked the Westport Marina as the large vessel was being refueled.

As of early this morning a nineteen year old college student was still missing following the incident. As the search resumes this morning, the question still remains what caused the explosion that has lead to Nate Coppick’s disappearance. One of the likely causes for these types of explosions is negligence. As the investigation continues, InjuryBoard will continue to monitor the case and provide updates as they occur.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Michael Chandler

Yamaha In Rhino ATV Liability Case

Greg Jones — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:30:11 GMT

On Thursday, a Texas jury rejected product liability claims brought by the family of Forest “Eddie” Ray, against Yamaha Motor Corp. USA. Eddie Ray, 13, died in September 2007,while riding one of the company's Rhino all-terrain vehicles.

One of the major facts that may have contributed to the verdict was testimony from Ray's father that the child was driving without a helmet.

Yamaha argued that his death was caused by operator error.

The Plaintiff believed their evidence established that the Rhino was defectively designed. Yamaha maintains that the Rhino ATV is a safe and useful off-road vehicle and will continue to vigorously defend the product.

In April, after numerous product liability suits, Yamaha suspended sales of the vehicles and provided free repairs to customers.

On March 31, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for the Yamaha's Rhino 450 and 660 model vehicles and advised consumers to immediately stop using the ATVs until certain repairs were made.

120,000 Rhino models were subject to the recall throughout the U.S., according to the agency.

The first Rhino trial in federal court is set for June 2010.

The Plaintiff's lawyer said it best, "[Thursday's] defense verdict will not deter the prosecution of other pending Yamaha Rhino lawsuits."

Our firm has cases pending the the Multidistrict Litigation in Federal Court and we are continuing to zealously prosecuting these cases as well as other ATV cases such as Polaris and other products that have defective designs contributing to injury and death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

Hip Replacement Gone Bad - Zimmer Durom Cup

Greg Jones — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:24:05 GMT

Hip Replacement Surgery, usually a procedure reserved for the elderly, is now becoming more and more common among young people, especially young athletes. It is a risky and difficult surgical procedure for any patient, and as such, doctors often prefer to try other methods of rehabilitation for their patients, such as:

physical therapy

walking aids

anti-inflammatory drugs

cortisone injections

joint supplements

hip resurfacing

hip fusion

resection anthroplasty (the bone around the hip joint is removed and allowed to fill with scar tissue)

hip osteotomy (when the bones of the hip joint are realigned)

Even if all other the other therapies are unsuccessful, doctors still prefer to limit hip replacement surgeries to the patients that are suffering from the worst symptoms, or to the patients whose quality of life has been drastically reduced by their pain. If hip replacement surgery is absolutely necessary, then the patient will have to undergo a procedure in which parts of the hip will be removed, and replaced with artificial implants.

After this surgery, patients are often at risk for a variety of negative side effects, such as blood clots, infections, or joint stiffening. However, there was another, much nastier side effect that surfaced between 2006 and 2008: the malfunctioning of the Durom Cup (one of the artificial components of hip surgery) made by the Zimmer Company.

The Zimmer Durom Cup had been approved for use in Europe since 2003, three years before the FDA approved its use in the United States. However, doctors in America noticed that the surgeries they performed with the Zimmer Durom Cup often resulted in a painful failure for the patients. The cups would either loosen in the sockets, coming loose at the slightest touch, or they would actually migrate to a different part of the patient's leg, no longer serving their purpose. These malfunctions were very painful for the patients, and often resulted in expensive reparative medical procedures.

After a public outcry over the ridiculously high rate of failure by the Zimmer Durom Cup, Zimmer pulled their product from the market in 2008 (despite their insistence that the fault lay with the doctors, and not their product), and has set aside over $47 million to pay for the impending lawsuits. It did not stay off the market for very long, however, and is being used again in the United States, albeit this time by many fewer surgeons. Nevertheless, if you find yourself needing medical treatment for your hip, you may want to strongly consider a less invasive, more therapeutic option, such as those listed above.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

FDA Panel Urges Ban on Vicodin, Percocet

Greg Jones — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:47:48 GMT

Following the release of an FDA report last month that found severe liver damage, and even death, due to consumer's lack of awareness that acetaminophen can cause serious injury, an FDA panel is urging that the popular prescription painkillers Vicodin and Percocet, which combine acetaminophen with an opiate narcotic, be banned. The FDA panel is also urging the lowering of the the maximum dose of over-the-counter painkillers with acetaminophen, like Tylenol or Excedrin.

The panel showed a rear concern with the potential abuse of Vicodin and Percocet but went further to caution on the OTC, over the counter, drugs as well. The panel believed that people often consume more of the recommended dose of acetaminophen mistakenly thinking that taking more will be better against pain without posing any health risks

The FDA is not obligated to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it usually does.

Please be diligent with your intake of medicine, either over the counter or prescription, that contain acetaminophen. Especially in the case of children, side effects can be quite serious if over adminsitered. This should hlep remind us all that even seemingless harmless drugs that must of us keep in our medicine cabinets have potentially harmful side effects that should not be ignored.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

The Great Insurance Lie?

Greg Jones — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:46:29 GMT

Have a worker’s compensation case? Let me guess, the adjuster has told you there is no reason to hire a lawyer because worker’s comp benefits are limited and you’ll only end up getting the same settlement and you’ll have to give part of it to a lawyer…why not keep it all? This is the Great Lie.

It is true; worker’s comp benefits are limited. For example, many states, North Carolina included, don’t pay for pain and suffering or other types of collateral damages. What is not true is that you’ll get the same settlement in every case. There are many different ways to value a case depending on the severity of the injury and possible length of disability. I can assure you (after having worked for the insurance companies for years) that the adjuster will offer you the LOWEST value and say that is all you’re entitled to. Her tag line will be "You can either take this amount now, or you can take it later minus what you have to pay your lawyer." If that were true, why would she care if you were going to hire a lawyer? Why even bring it up? She was going to pay the same amount no matter what, right?

Not right. If someone tells you not to do something, it should spark your thought and make you say "why doesn’t she want me to contact a lawyer?" The most probable reason isn’t that she cares about you and just wants you to have all the money. It is more likely that she’s trying to low ball your settlement and hopes you’ll believe that Great Insurance Lie.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

FDA Starts Safety Review Of Weight Loss Drug Meridia

Greg Jones — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:25:09 GMT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun an expedited safety review of sibutramine based on a recent study showing that some patients have a higher rate of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events after taking the weight loss drug. Abbott Laboratories markets sibutramine as the popular weight loss drug Meridia.

Although the FDA has not made any conclusions, it is studying the initial data from a six-year study referred to a s the SCOUT study which examined the effects of the drug on overweight or obese subjects at risk of a cardiovascular event.

The SCOUT study results demonstrate the need for patients with a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias or stroke to avoid using sibutramine or Meridia.

The SCOUT data looked at roughly 10,000 patients who were at least 55, overweight or obese and had a history or heart disease or type 2 diabetes as well as at least one other cardiovascular risk factor. The study did not include those who had recently suffered a heart attack or stroke. The study was designed to demonstrate that weight loss achieved through sibutramine and "standard care" lowered the number of cardiovascular events more effectively than weight loss reached through a placebo and standard care.

The FDA said it "understands the serious nature of the preliminary data" and vowed to share its conclusions with the public as soon as it finishes its expedited safety review.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

Jury tags Pfizer another $28M In Punitive Damages For Prempro

Greg Jones — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:11:11 GMT

Three days after awarding $6.3 million in compensation, a Pennsylvania jury determined Pfizer Inc. will have to pay $28 million in punitive damages to a 66-year-old Donna Kendall claiming that the menopause drugs Prempro and Provera caused her breast cancer.

Kendall took the hormone replacement drugs between 1991 and 2002. Ms. Kendall was diagnosed with breast cancer that would lead to her double mastectomy.

Pfizer said it would appeal the Kendall verdict as well as a jury verdict in the same court ordering the company to fork over $75 million in punitive damages to bellwether plaintiff Connie Barton.

Wyeth, meanwhile, is also one of several defendants named in multidistrict litigation over Prempro. Other defendants named in the MDL include Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In that case, the plaintiffs claim that the drug company defendant, convinced doctors and the public that menopause was a chronic disease that required hormone drug treatment by an agressive and lengthy marketing campaign.

In cases like these, the jury send s a message that not only sure Pfizer and other companies not only compensate victims but should be punished by large punitive damages for ignoring the public health consequences in lieu of profits.

Members of the jury said after the trial that the evidence showed Pfizer units Wyeth and Pharmacia & Upjohn dismissed opinions that their hormone replacement drugs cause cancer, according to the Plaintiff's lawyer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

Pfizer Popped With $6.3M Prempro Verdict

Greg Jones — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:14:33 GMT

A Pennsylvania jury has ruled that two Pfizer Inc. units areliable for at least $6.3 million in compensatory damages to an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after she began taking the menopause drugs Prempro and Provera. The jury has yet to decide on punitive damages.

On Friday, that the jury in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas had issued the verdict after finding that the combination of Wyeth’s Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Provera substantially contributed to 66-year-old plaintiff Donna Kendall’s breast cancer.

Kendall, whose case is one of about 1,500 Prempro lawsuits pending in Philadelphia, took the hormone-replacement drugs for 11 years.

Wyeth and Upjohn have prevailed in the "vast majority" of hormone therapy cases set for trial.

Earlier in November, a jury in the same court ordered Pfizer to fork over $75 million in punitive damages to bellwether plaintiff Connie Barton, who developed invasive breast cancer after she began taking Prempro. The same jury had previously awarded Barton $3.7 million in compensatory damages.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

2 NC judges nominated to fill vacancies on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Greg Jones — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:51:09 GMT

President Obama has nominated two North Carolina judges to fill vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Wednesday, Obama nominated Judges Albert Diaz and James Wynn to fill seats in the appeals court.

Diaz currently serves as a special superior court judge for complex business cases commonly reffered as "Business Court". Wynn is currently on the the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

In 2001, Diaz became the first Latino to take the bench in the North Carolina Superior Court.

Wynn chairs the ABA's Judicial Division.

According to Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., since 1801, only six North Carolinians have served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Currently, Judge Allyson Duncan is the only judge from North Carolina sitting on the court.

I have had the pleasure to know Judge Wynn for quite some time through the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Recently I appeared before Judge Diaz on a very complex securites matter. Both are fine jurists and a credit to the North Carolina Judicial System.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones

FDA Issues Warning Over Diabetes Drug Byetta

Greg Jones — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:03:34 GMT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about possible kidney problems associated with the use of Byetta, a diabetes drug marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. Byetta, known generically as exenatide, is used in patients with type 2 diabetes to lower blood sugar levels without the use of insulin, according to the manufacturer. The drug is supposed to imitate the effects of a human hormone and improves blood sugar levels by several mechanisms that work in concert on the stomach, liver, pancreas and brain.

The FDA received 78 reports of kidney problems in patients using Byetta from April 2005 through October 2008, in Tuesday's warning.

Byetta's most common side effects include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which may have contributed to the kidney problems reported. Kidney malfunction can lead to serious or life-threatening illness, according to the FDA.

This is not the first warning issued concerning Byetta. In August 2008, the FDA issued warnings after it received reports of two deaths and six cases of severe pancreatitis.

Byetta should be promptly discontinued if pancreatitis is suspected, the warning said.

Our law firm encourages anyone taking Byetta and experiencing any of the symptoms listed above to check with their doctor. Simple tests may be able to detect if any problems exist. We have been investigating Byetta cases for over a year and continue to review possible cases.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Jones