Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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I was appalled to read an August 12 AP news report about asbestos production in India being hailed as a form of social welfare, a way to save lives and elevate the living standards of some of the world’s poorest people. India is already the world’s biggest importer of asbestos, which they say provides 300,000 jobs. Guess who the world’s biggest exporter is? Russia.

Are they completely overlooking the fact that asbestos has been linked to deadly diseases like lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, sometimes developing 20 to 40 years after exposure? Or that dozens of countries — including Japan, Argentina and all European Union nations — have banned it entirely, and others, like the U.S., have severely curbed its use?

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If you’re young and single, you may think I’m talking about those little glasses of vodka or whiskey meant to be downed in one quick swallow. If you’re a parent of school-aged children, you know I’m talking about back-to-school vaccinations, which are not nearly so enticing.

Way back in 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the authority of the states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws (Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11). Childhood immunizations protect children from diseases which can have serious complications:

Measles – About one out of 10 children with measles also gets an ear infection, and up to one out of 20 gets pneumonia. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die.

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UFO Dangers
When we think injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident, we generally think of those caused by the impact from an outside force – another car or truck, or a tree or highway sign. We’re not surprised that some injuries are a result of a hard blow with a portion of the vehicle itself – the steering wheel, windshield, or even airbags. But what frequently causes injury to occupants of a wrecked vehicle are flying objects. They’re not exactly “unidentified” flying objects, because we all know what they are – cell phones, purses, laptops, groceries, golf clubs – anything that is loose in the passenger compartment. We’ll call them “unsecured flying objects.”

The Physics of a Car Crash

A car crash may be thought of as having two phases: a first is the collision between the vehicle and other objects; then there is a second collision between the occupants and the vehicle itself or other objects inside the vehicle. It’s a double whammy.

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SC Tattoo Lawsuits
Statistics from the Pew Research Center compiled from a December 2013 poll show that 14% of all Americans (45 million) have at least one tattoo; 36% of adults age 18-25 have at least one tattoo; and 40% of adults 26-40 have at least one. Tats aren’t just for rebels or seamen any more. No longer is sporting a colorful tattoo a sign that one is a risk taker. And yet, there are definitely risks involved in getting inked. We’re not talking about the risk that you might someday regret having that romance indelibly memorialized on your bicep – we’re talking about the risk of serious infection, bloodborne diseases and allergic reactions.

Contaminated Ink

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), contaminated inks have caused serious infections in a number of states. Of particular concern is a bacterial organism called non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), which can cause infections of skin, joints, lungs, and other organs, as well as eye problems. These infections can be difficult to diagnose and can require treatment lasting six months or longer with a combination of antibiotics. Severe abscesses can require extensive and multiple surgical debridements.

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Shopping for a used car or truck? You probably assume that the dealer will have fixed any recalled parts and that it’s safe to drive off the lot. If that’s what you think, you’re probably wrong.

Already in 2014, 39.85 million vehicles have been recalled. How many of those do you think are sitting on used-car lots? And the dealer is not required to fix a recall defect on a used car before selling it. In fact, they don’t even have to tell you about the outstanding recall. Federal law prohibits auto dealers from selling new cars that are under a safety recall, but there is no similar law to protect used car buyers.

This is why nearly a dozen consumer safety groups have filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission urging the FTC to investigate and take enforcement action against CarMax, the used-car superstore chain. The groups allege that CarMax uses deceptive advertising and sales practices when it characterizes its used vehicles as “CarMax Quality Certified” and assures consumers that each used vehicle has passed a rigorous inspection. Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), said, “CarMax is playing recalled used car roulette with its customers’ lives.”

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Columbia’s newspaper, The State, has reported that seven – and maybe more – people suffered serious infections after they were treated at University Specialty Clinics for orthopedic problems. University Specialty Clinics is staffed by doctors from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia and has nearly 200 doctors in 35 specialties.

Although the infected patients were treated in 2012 or 2013, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has stonewalled, refusing to release information about the problem.

The problem was mycobacteria, some forms of which cause tuberculosis and leprosy. But the particular form in question at the University Specialty Clinics is mycobacterium abscessus, in a group of environmental mycobacteria found in water, soil, and dust. It can also contaminate medications and products such as medical devices and syringes. According to the National Institutes of Health, the prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacteria has increased, and so it is no surprise that we are hearing increasingly about instances of infections acquired in a healthcare setting.

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One of the most refreshing activities for a hot summer day is a plunge in a chilly swimming pool, and you can find them all over our southern state – in residential backyards, community centers, amusement parks, motels, and apartment complexes. They’re the site of much frivolity, as well as athletic competition, but they can also be the site of tragic accidents.

Already this year we’ve read of several drownings in South Carolina swimming pools. On the last day of May, a 2-year-old Columbia boy drowned in a home swimming pool. The child and his 3-year-old sister managed to get out of the house while their parents slept, by piling up child-sized plastic furniture, climbing on it and unlocking the door.

Just two weeks later, a 3-year-old drowned in her grandmother’s swimming pool in Abbeville County. The woman went into the bathroom and when she came out she was not able to find the little girl in the house. She discovered her outside, in the swimming pool. The grandmother administered CPR, but the child did not survive.

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The official Atlantic hurricane season began June 1. That’s why the month of June is Hurricane Preparedness Month. In South Carolina, the first week of June was proclaimed Hurricane Awareness Week.

Are you aware of the fact that this year is the 60th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel? Hazel, a Category 4 storm, made landfall on October 15, 1954, near the border of North and South Carolina. Her winds packed a 106-mph punch and shoved a 16.9-foot storm surge onto the land. One South Carolinian was killed and damage in the Palmetto State was estimated at $27 million. North Carolina fared much worse, with 19 deaths and $136 million in property damage; 15,000 homes and structures were destroyed and 39,000 damaged.

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ATV-accidents-columbia-sc

“Crunch time” – that’s what they call the period from May through September, when ATV-related incidents are at their peak. ATVs have become increasingly popular; dealers reported sales of 228,305 new ATVs in 2013. Sadly, each year thousands of riders are injured or killed while out on an ATV adventure.

During the first week of June, we read of six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken being critically injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident in Arizona. Amy hit a curb in a restaurant parking lot and went over a dropoff of 5 to 7 feet. The accident severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebrae; slivers of bone narrowly missed rupturing her aorta. After being airlifted to a hospital in Scottsdale, Amy underwent surgery to stabilize the spine. She remains paralyzed and has a long road ahead of her in rehabilitation.

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South Carolina Parasailing Safety
Approximately 3.8 million people enjoy the sport of parasailing each year, according to Parasail.org. It’s one of the fastest growing adventure sports, available at nearly all of the major coastline tourist areas. There are approximately 240 parasail companies in the United States, with more than 650 boats providing a seagull’s view of sandy shores. Thrilling . . . but how safe is it?

The Parasail Safety Council, which has tracked injuries and deaths from the activity, reports that in the U.S. 73 people were killed and at least 1,600 injured between 1982 and 2012. That’s a low accident rate, but when a parasailing mishap does occur, it can be terrifying, with lifelong results.

You may recall the horrific accident in Panama City, Florida, in July of 2013 that was caught on video and viewed worldwide. Two teenage girls took a tandem parasail ride that had a tragic end. The tow line to the boat snapped, leaving the pair at the mercy of a gusting wind which slammed them into the 13th floor of a condominium complex and propelled them into power lines before they crashed into cars parked below. Both girls were hospitalized in critical condition in Florida and then were transferred to a facility in Indianapolis for rehabilitation. One girl’s spine was cracked and she sustained brain trauma that has left her with double vision and loss of peripheral vision. Her friend has had three cranial surgeries and extensive spinal surgery since the accident. She lost a large portion of her skull and still struggles with balance, mobility and learning.

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