Personal Injury

Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, NC :: NASCAR May Be Next Organization to Worry About The Risks of Concussions

January 8, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Despite reports that NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a serious concussion last year, the organization has said it will not require that cognitive testing be done for drivers in 2013. However, the group did not rule out baseline cognitive tests for 2014 as it said it would continue to evaluate its procedures.

The famous driver suffered a concussion after a crash that took place at the end of August last year at the Kansas Speedway. Earnhardt suffered from some concussion symptoms after the crash but it has been revealed that he never had any follow-up exams. Perhaps worst of all, Earnhardt immediately returned to the regularly scheduled season and continued racing despite the brain trauma. He was then injured again and suffered a second concussion in a wreck that took place during the final lap of an early October race at Talladega Superspeedway.

This risk of re-injury is what can compound the effects of a concussion and lead to severe problems down the road. The doctors were sufficiently concerned after his second concussion and ordered him to sit out of races over the next two weeks. NASCAR officials claim they never knew about either concussion until Earnhardt revealed them after his second injury.

An official with NASCAR says the organization is still gathering information about concussions and is not yet prepared to release a policy regarding any new procedures. Rather than require baseline testing now, NASCAR intends to start by educating drivers about the dangers of brain injuries. Whether this will be enough to prevent other drivers from suffering the same injuries that have occurred in those who play professional football remains to be seen.

Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina :: New Medicare Reimbursement Regulations May Result in Better Care For Hospital Patients

January 1, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

In a bit of good news for hospital patients in North Carolina, the federal government’s new reimbursement procedures may help to force doctors to provide better care. New Medicare regulations that began at the end of last year are designed to reduce payments to those hospitals with higher-than-expected readmission rates for heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia. The penalties could be big enough to cost some hospitals millions of dollars and will likely send a clear message to physicians that caring for patients properly the first time around is of the utmost importance.

Though the penalties only apply to a limited set of conditions, this is expected to change to include several other serious health conditions. Hospitals will then have a real incentive to work hard to reduce the number of patients who have to return soon after a discharge, a widespread problem that has yet to be properly addressed.

Experts in the medical field suggest a lack of coordination among healthcare providers is to blame for the high rate of readmissions. Hospitals often fail to identify which patients are at a high risk for complications, which leads to large numbers returning for further medical treatment. Minimal help for patients who have to make the transition from hospital to home is also to blame.

These hospital readmissions are not only costly in terms of unnecessary pain and even death for innocent patients, but financially costly as well. The Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that such readmissions cost the government nearly $26 billion a year. The CMS has said that hospitals need to implement better discharge planning, more home-based follow-up procedures and provide quality patient education.

Wrongful Death Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina :: Cleveland County Fair Sued Over E.coli Outbreak

December 13, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

The parents of two kids who were sickened by an E.coli outbreak linked to the recent Cleveland County Fair have sued the company that put on the event according to this article. According to court records, the complaint was filed last week in Gaston County on behalf of a 5-year-old girl and an 18-month-old boy. The children, who are not related, along with their parents are listed as plaintiffs.

The suit claims that both children attended the Cleveland County, NC fair on October 4 and both became violently ill only a few days later. Each ended up being diagnosed with E.coli. Both children eventually developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening condition that can lead to kidney failure.

Officials have pinpointed the origin of the E.coli outbreak to the petting zoo located on the fairgrounds. They believe that rainy weather allowed the bacteria to spread away from the animals. The outbreak was not limited to the two children, instead, 106 people became sick, including a 2-year-old from Gastonia who ended up dying as a result.

In their suit, the families claim that the company who operated the fair created an environment that was especially susceptible to an E.coli contamination and either knew or should have know of the risks associated with placing the petting zoo where it did. The suit also says that the operator failed to limit the spread of animal waste which is what led to the 100+ illnesses.

The fair’s director, Calvin Hastings, said earlier that they tried to prevent problems with E.coli by taking steps like adding hand-washing stations and posting signs reminding people to wash their hands. Hastings has also said until a plan has been developed to ensure safety, no more animal exhibits will be allowed at the fair.

Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, NC :: Experts Say Hacking Into Medical Devices Represents Realistic Threat

December 6, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

On the most recent episode of the Emmy award-winning drama Homeland, the Vice President of the United States was assassinated by a group of terrorists that hacked into the pacemaker controlling the beat of his heart. The terrorists were able to get their hands on the device’s serial number and then remotely take control of the device, causing it to malfunction and lead to a fatal heart attack.

The plot twist was surprising and left many wondering whether it could ever happen in real life. Shockingly this was not just a Hollywood fabrication but is actually possible due to the serious vulnerabilities of electronic medical implants.

Though such connected medical implants are life saving additions to many people’s lives, there are real risks associated with them. While everyone knows about the dangers that hackers can cause online, almost no one understands the threats that exist when computers are placed inside people.

Though implanted medical devices have been in existence for many years, only in the past decade have they begun to incorporate components that allow for virtual access. This system can be used by doctors to gather important information but comes with very little in the way of security. Lack of battery power means that elaborate security measures are not possible and doing a full “update” requires surgery, not just a click of a button.

Thankfully there have not yet been any reports of death caused by someone hacking into a medical device. However, test hacks have been done and have shown that it is certainly possible. The equipment needed to hack such devices used to cost tens of thousands of dollars; last year one researcher hacked into his insulin pump using materials that cost less than $20. Another security expert demonstrated how with the push of a button he could run a program on his laptop that made any insulin pumps within 300 feet dump their entire contents into a patient’s bloodstream.

Nursing Home Negligence Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: North Carolina Nursing Home Rating System Under Fire

November 22, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

The ABC11 I-Team recently revealed a series of problems with the existing nursing home rating system in North Carolina.

The federal government ranks nursing homes on a system ranging from 1-star for the worst to 5-star for the best such facilities. The news station report revealed that almost half of the homes in North Carolina’s biggest counties are providing subpar service to their needy North Carolina residents.

This low ranking means that almost half the facilities in such populated parts of the state are unsanitary and could even place patients’ health at risk. The report discovered serious violations including failure to report abuse, failure to properly secure residents during transport and even one facility that had room temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees which resulted in one resident dying from hypothermia.

However, even the best facilities can still have serious problems. One woman told reporters that she’s angry after her mother’s death at the Kindred Transitional Care Rehabilitation, one of the top-rated nursing homes in Raleigh, NC. She claims that the staff at the home neglected her mother and never provided the care she needed.

An investigation showed that while the nursing home may have had a 4-star rating, the simplistic system failed to reveal serious past problems at the facility. Just two years ago the state fined the home more than $200,000 for putting residents in “immediate jeopardy to health and safety”. In 2009, another investigation by the state turned up a series of violations that the home then had to take action to correct.

Yet despite the importance of some of the information, the Medicare website where such rankings are found, www.medicare.gov, contained none of it. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid responded to this news by saying that recent changes to the site should help to improve the depth of information available for concerned patients and their families. Though that’s great news, it doesn’t help the families who already placed loved ones in homes while relying on faulty ratings.

Even now, many patients’ rights advocates complain that the Medicare website lags in providing accurate information for caregivers. Given high staff turnover at such facilities, nursing homes can deteriorate quickly and it can take time for resulting problems to appear on the rating website.

Personal Injury Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: New Research Reveals Dangers of Yaz/Yasmin Birth Control

November 20, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

It sounds like it’s been a week of bad news for the maker of the birth control drugs Yasmin and Yaz as Bayer AG announced in its most recent financial report that it had agreed to pay a combined $750 million thus far to settle thousands of claims regarding its birth control drugs causing blood clots.

Adding insult to injury, a new study has found increased risk of blood clots with the use of birth control pills such as Yaz and Yasmin. According to the most recent study published in the journal Contraception, women who take oral contraceptives containing the synthetic hormone drospirenone are more likely to suffer from potentially fatal blood-clotting complications compared to those who were taking another type birth control.

Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research gathered data on 573,680 women between the ages of 10 and 55 between 2001 and 2007. The study looked at women who were new users of combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs), and compared the rate of blood clot related events among women who did or did not take contraceptives containing drospirenone. Overall, the study found that women who took birth control pills containing drospirenone were 77% more likely to experience blood clot related conditions such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Deep vein thrombosis is when a blood clot becomes lodged in the veins of the leg; this can lead to a pulmonary embolism when part of the clot breaks away and travels to blood vessels in the lungs. The study also found that women who take birth control pills containing drospirenone had double the risk of suffering a blockage in their arteries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the latest financial report from Bayer indicates the company has put aside an additional $262.5 million to settle Yaz and Yasmin lawsuits over blood clots. This follows a Bloomberg report over the summer that found that Bayer had reserved $610 million to settle cases, leading to an average of nearly $212,000 per case.

Car Wreck and Personal Injury Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: Charlotte, NC Woman Seriously Injured After SUV Runs Her Off the Road

November 1, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent report in the Shelby Star revealed that a woman involved in a weekend car wreck on Polkville Road in Charlotte, NC is still in the trauma unit at Carolinas Medical Center recovering from her injuries.

According to North Carolina Highway Patrol, a woman in a car heading North on Highway 226 said she swerved to avoid a SUV that was in her lane. She ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected, and hit another car head-on.

The driver who swerved said that she and her daughter were bruised and shaken badly, but otherwise unharmed. The driver is eager to locate the SUV that ran her off the road and hopes that police are able to find the person responsible quickly.

The car that was hit head-on rolled five or six times following the impact. The woman’s husband, who was not in the car at the time, said his wife suffered a broken neck, fractured skull and a broken back. She had to be airlifted from the scene of the accident due to the severity of her injuries.

Motorcycle Accident Lawyers in Charlotte; Mecklenburg County; NC :: North Carolina Motorcyclist Seriously Injured After Being Hit By Bus

October 30, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to Fox Charlotte, a CATS bus in Charlotte, NC and a motorcycle were involved in a crash on the 1500 block on N. Tryon Street at 10:25 one night earlier this week.

The bus was making a left turn from N. Tryon Street onto Dalton Avenue. The 1999 Yamaha Motorcycle was traveling south on N. Tryon Street when the bus turned in front of it. According to police, the motorcyclist was transported to the Carolinas Medical Center by MEDIC with life-threatening injuries.

The bus had 12 passengers on board at the time of the crash. One passenger was transported to the Carolinas Medical Center by MEDIC with minor injuries. The crash is being investigated by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departments Major Crash Investigations Unit and no charges have yet been filed.

According to statistics published by the CDC, if a motorcycle rider is involved in an accident, the likelihood of injury or death is incredibly high: a whopping 98% of accidents involving another motor vehicle resulted in serious injury to motorcyclists. Of that stunningly large group, 45% escaped with only a minor injury meaning the majority weren’t so lucky and suffered serious, likely life-altering injuries.

The most common injuries inflicted on motorcyclists include concussions and brain damage. The dangers associated with such head traumas can be greatly reduced by wearing a helmet; in fact, numbers show that wearing a helmet can reduce a rider’s risk of death by 37%.

Other common injuries include the breakage of joints in elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and wrists. Soft tissue damage or “road rash” is also common because of how the body slides across the surface of the road following a crash. This kind of injury can be avoided by wearing the proper riding apparel such as a riding jacket and sturdy pants.

The best way to avoid injury is to not be involved in an accident in the first place. This is best achieved by being wary of other drivers, not taking unnecessary risks, and obeying the rules of the road at all times.

As North Carolina personal injury attorneys we have represented many personal injury claimants. Injuries sustained by motorcyclists can be very painful and require significant time and medical attention to recover from. Given the vulnerability of motorcyclists, all drivers should be extra vigilant in watching for and yielding to motorcycles when out on the state’s roadways.

Car Accident Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: Children Injured in West Charlotte Car Crash

October 9, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent report out of WBTV, eight people have been injured in a car crash that happened in west Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says that the accident occurred just before 6 p.m. earlier this week. The collision happened at the intersection of West Boulevard and Old Steele Creek Road.

Sadly, two children were among the eight people injured in the crash. Thankfully for the families of the kids both children were reported to have non-life threatening injuries. They were both taken to the hospital and are being treated. Another victim of the car crash was transported to the hospital with what police have said were potentially life-threatening injuries. Six of those people injured in the accident were taken to CMC Main, and the other two were taken to Presbyterian Main.

The accident involved a car and an SUV and police report both vehicles were heavily damaged. The accident happened at rush hour causing traffic delays for commuters in the area. Police have so far remained quiet about the cause of the accident or if any charges will be filed as a result.

Trucking Accident Lawyers in Charlotte, NC :: Truck Drivers with Sleep Apnea Rarely Admit To Problems

October 2, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A new study has found evidence that commercial drivers might lie about sleep apnea problems because they are fearful of losing their job.

Sleep apnea is a condition that causes a person’s breathing to be interrupted while they sleep. As a result, they frequently do not get a full, restful night’s sleep, which can lead to a variety of severe consequences. People with sleep apnea may experience headaches and drowsiness when they are awake and can even suffer from depression due to constant sleep deprivation.

For people whose jobs require them to be on the road frequently, sleep apnea can be a major problem, potentially impacting their ability to earn a living. A driver suffering from sleep apnea is at risk of causing an accident and injuring or killing innocent North Carolina drivers. Given this risk, commercial drivers, such as bus drivers, taxi drivers and truck drivers, can lose their job if it is believed that sleep apnea affects their performance.

The new study, done by researchers at University Hospital in Switzerland, looked at sleep apnea sufferers in two groups. They focused on 37 commercial drivers and 74 people who did not drive as part of their job. The study found that the commercial drivers rated their level of sleepiness during the day several points lower than the non-commercial drivers. In other words, the commercial drivers indicated they were not as tired as the non-drivers.

Even more worryingly, the study discovered that commercial drivers were less likely to receive treatment for their condition. Rather than seek regular care, the drivers were more likely to make spontaneous trips to sleep clinics. Researchers believe this could mean the commercial drivers did not have proper control over their symptoms and were suffering more than they claimed.

Researchers hypothesized that the commercial drivers were downplaying their symptoms out of fear of losing their jobs. Because they had more unexpected visits to sleep clinics than the non-commercial drivers, researchers concluded that the drivers were struggling more with their symptoms than other people suffering from sleep apnea.