Articles Posted in Personal Injury

There is risk in life. That’s just part of the package, whether you live in Maryland or some other state. As safe as we would like to be from any harm that might occur, there is no way to prevent every possible source of personal injury. That said, when you allow a medical professional to surgically implant a medical device into your body on the promise that it is going to provide a significant benefit, you have a right to consider legal action if it actually does more harm than good.

There are regulatory systems in place to minimize the chances of faulty medical devices reaching the market. But as recent reporting by The Associated Press shows, some public safety advocates are beginning to wonder whether the lead agency in this regard, the Food and Drug Administration, is putting consumers at risk in favor of making it easier for manufacturers to feed their bottom lines.

Among the devices under special media scrutiny are spinal-cord stimulator implants. While these have been touted by companies and doctors as the answer for delivering relief to millions of people for all sorts of chronic pains, AP and other investigative journalists have found they are perhaps more dangerous than anyone could imagine – causing shocks, burns, and even greater muscle and nerve damage that leaves some patients virtually paralyzed.

Maryland holidays are typically a time when many people take to the roadways to visit family and loved ones. With the increase of vehicles on highways, the likelihood of being involved in a car accident increases. When someone gets behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the odds of an auto accident increase significantly.

Nine people have been injured and another person has died in a car accident that occurred around 5:30 p.m. in Anne Arundel County. A vehicle heading northbound on a busy road crossed the center line and side-swiped a car in Churchton. The driver of the vehicle that was hit was transported to a local hospital and treated for injuries not considered life-threatening. The two passengers in the struck vehicle suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment.

The vehicle that crossed center then hit another car that was headed southbound on the same roadway. The driver and two of the front passengers and one rear seat passenger in the southbound vehicle suffered minor injuries. Another rear seat passenger, an 87-year-old woman, suffered serious injury and was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries the following day.

The Eastern Shore in Maryland is a well sought-after vacation for many locals. The busy route that is taken to reach the shore can be confusing for out-of-towners to navigate sometimes. This confusion can lead to a car accident that could seriously injure or even prove fatal to motorists. A recent wrong way driving incident has led to a four-vehicle accident on a busy highway.

Around 8:45 p.m., police headquarters began to receive numerous calls from very concerned motorists. The frantic calls reported a vehicle heading west in an eastbound lane of the busy roadway. The final call came in to report a head-on collision.

Reports indicate that a 43-year-old woman was traveling in the wrong direction and struck three other vehicles. The fourth vehicle she struck resulted in the head-on collision that mostly affected the passenger side of the vehicle that was struck. The wrong-way driver and the 51-year-old female passenger in the car that was hit head-on were flown to the nearest shock trauma facility for treatment. The highway was shut down for two hours as state police investigated the crash.

Suffering an injury at the hands of another can have lasting effects on the unsuspecting victims. A personal injury can leave the victims and their families financially strapped for cash, suffering from debilitating and/or painful bodily injuries and other devastating consequences. Maryland drivers who are injured due to the negligence of another may have legal options to help recoup the financial losses incurred.

Around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 21, authorities were called to the scene of an accident that shut down a busy highway. A tractor-trailer collided with a vehicle in an eastbound lane while attempting to make a lane change. When the large rig began to merge into the same lane as a sedan, the driver of the car lost control.

The driver of the sedan collided with the tractor-trailer, causing the big rig to overturn. The car then crashed into a shoulder barrier. Some of the passengers suffered injuries, none of which were considered life-threatening. Authorities are reviewing the tractor-trailer’s dash cam video.

Car accidents can occur even with the most diligent of Maryland drivers. Errors occur and unforeseen circumstances can crop up, placing those in the vicinity in danger. Sometimes, an accident is a result of misinterpreting the right of way or a quick change in action by the driver of another vehicle. Regardless, these mishaps can lead to a car crash that can cause serious personal injury or even death.

Rescue services were called to the scene of a car accident around 9:55 p.m.recently. Authorities believe a 29-year-old male driver of a car was attempting to make a left turn when an another vehicle traveling westbound on the same road struck the car. The driver in the vehicle that was attempting to make the left turn was pronounced dead by rescue workers on the scene.

Four passengers in the vehicle were injured and were transported to a local hospital where they were treated for serious injuries. The driver of the car that struck the vehicle was treated for minor injuries. Authorities are still determining who had the right of way at the time of the accident.

Many parents of school-aged children would not think twice about the safety of their kids while they attend school. With systems and plans in place should almost any crisis occur, Maryland school’s have a plan with explicit procedures to keep students safe. When kids who suffer from health concerns or have to contend with learning or physical obstacles, there are specific plans for each of these children which is personalized to the needs of their challenge. When schools do not follow protocol and their negligence leads to an injury or death, a school system can find itself as the defendant in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

A grieving family of a 14-year-old Montgomery County student has recently filed a wrongful death claim for $10 million against her school. The lawsuit alleges that the student suffered an asthma attack while in gym class and that the teacher refused her request to obtain her inhaler several times. Finally, the girl told the teacher she was leaving the class and retrieving her inhaler from her locker. She was unaccompanied and her safety disregarded while she struggled to breathe and made an attempt to gather her inhaler.

The student was later found by school staff unconscious on the floor and was placed in a wheelchair. The school nurse used an oximeter to determine her blood oxygen levels and found the saturation level at 79 percent, which indicates near death. The girl was rushed to a local hospital by emergency services, receiving epinephrine along the way, but was pronounced dead by the hospital staff.

The most dangerous place on the road for a motorcycle may be an intersection. If other drivers fail to notice the smaller vehicle, the operator of the motorcycle may be in danger of serious injury should a collision occur. A recent accident at a Maryland intersection resulted in multiple injuries.

The incident occurred just before noon on a Sunday when a 26-year-old woman was heading eastbound in her SUV. She approached an intersection and allegedly failed to stop at the stop sign. As she entered the intersection, a motorcycle traveling northbound collided with her vehicle. The 66-year-old operator was seriously injured when he was thrown from the motorcycle.

None of the passengers in the SUV were badly injured, but medical responders transported them to area hospitals for treatment of minor wounds. However, the operator of the motorcycle was flown to Baltimore Shock Trauma by helicopter. The extent of his injuries was not released to the media. Although charges have not been filed against the driver of the SUV, police believe the accident resulted when she ran the stop sign.

People get hurt every day. Some of the actions behind the injury are the injured person’s own fault. Lack of attention or sheer accident can lead to bumps and bruises and sometimes a trip to the emergency room. Other times,  these accidents are the result of the negligence of someone else. When a Maryland resident is seriously hurt by the actions of another, the outcome can be traumatic and expensive for the victim and their family.

Authorities were called to a local home around 11:19 p.m. A woman who was traveling through a neighborhood was found to have driven her car through the side of the house. A 16-year-old boy, who happened to be sleeping on the couch in the living room, was pinned by the car for over an hour. He was eventually freed and taken to a local trauma center where he was treated for a serious burn on his arm.

Reports indicate that the woman was approaching a stop sign when a truck cut her off. The woman then over-corrected her vehicle and accelerated. These two combined actions lead her to jump a nearby curb and collide with the house.

Teenagers taking to the roads have many more distractions to keep their eyes and concentration off of the task at hand. Even so, many experienced drivers also are plagued with the same distractions that can lead to fatal mistakes. Three Maryland juveniles suffered serious injury after a car accident when a driver failed to yield the right of way.

The incident occurred just prior to 3 p.m. on June 6, 2017. A driver in a pick-up truck was in the westbound median making a left turn. A small sedan was traveling eastbound when the pick-up executed the turn. The result was a near head-on collision.

The driver and front passenger of the sedan were taken to a local hospital and treated for their injuries. The back seat passenger was taken by aircraft to a local trauma center. The driver of the truck did not seek medical attention after the crash. He is being charged with failure to yield and negligent driving.

A woman is suing a gas station after contracting botulism. She claims that her symptoms started after she consumed tortilla chips and the store’s own nacho cheese sauce. She and her partner believe that the cheese sauce was contaminated, causing her to become sick with the rare form of food poisoning. While botulism is fortunately not a common illness, personal injury cases from bad food happen every year in Maryland.

The state in which this occurred is currently investigating 10 cases in which the victims are suffering from botulism. It is not yet clear whether or not all of these people ate the same cheese sauce that the woman blames for her illness. All 10 of these victims are in the hospital at this time. Four local health departments are also on the case, and the store at which the sauce was served has had its right to sell food and drinks revoked.

The woman felt sick within hours of eating the chips and cheese sauce and was taken to the local hospital with blurred vision the next morning. Although she was initially sent home, she returned to the ER a few hours later with trouble breathing and vomiting. She was then diagnosed with botulism, which has taken away her ability to even open her own eyes.