The Injury Blog has detailed the concern involving personal injuries from New York gap-related train accidents in the past, and here’s the latest update on the issue. A Newsday story from Tuesday detailed that Long Island Rail Road has experienced a nearly 67 percent increase in reported customer accidents in the first quarter of this year as compared to the same period for 2006. Specifically, the railroad logged 135 total customer accidents in January through March; 39 of those incidents involved gap-related incidents. The number of reported gap-related incidents for the first quarter tripled as compared to last year when there were just 12 such reported incidents.
An LIRR spokesman said in the story that this spike in reported accidents, especially gap-related incidents, may be an offspring of increased public awareness concerning the gap issue. LIRR has been heavily criticized for failing to take proper action in relation to injuries that were occurring in the gaps between their loading platforms and trains. Newsday investigated the problem after the gap-related death of a Minnesota teen last summer, and some of the findings can be seen here.
Of further interest earlier this week, the LIRR/Long Island Bus Committee approved a $427,000 contract to analyze gap measurements at more than 225 platforms. We’ll keep you updated on any more developments with this analysis and the New York gap issue.
A Texas woman has filed a $10 million personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer of a bowel preparatory solution that she said left her with renal failure and other side effects. A recent United Press International story did not reveal the name of the plaintiff but did detail the circumstances surrounding this product liability lawsuit against U.S. firm C.B. Fleet Company for its Phospho-Soda Bowel Prep solution. The Texas woman claims that she was given this solution in preparation for a colonoscopy, a medical procedure that is often preceded by a cleansing of the bowel. The woman has alleged in her lawsuit that the solution interacted with blood pressure medication that she was taking and caused permanent kidney damage and eventual kidney failure, and that Fleet knew of these potential dangers of this product with certain medications for 12 years but failed to do anything about it.
The woman’s Norfolk, Virginia personal injury attorney charged in the story that this case is a clear example of a company putting its bottom line ahead of the safety and best interests of its consumers. Jeffrey Breit and other members of his law firm added that while there have been other complaints about this product, they believe their lawsuit is the first one to be filed claiming personal injury from the solution. We’ll keep you updated on any developments with this personal injury case.
The husband of a woman who was killed in a fatal car accident on a bridge in Mansfield, Louisiana has been awarded a $1.3 million personal injury settlement. A ShreveportTimes.com story detailed how Jeremy Jason Vailes lost his wife Stephanie in 2005 when her car plunged off a White Springs Road Bridge connecting Caddo and DeSoto parishes. Stephanie, a hearing-impaired teacher, drowned after her car landed in Bayou Pierre. A DeSoto Parish civil jury ruled in favor of Mr. Vailes and struck the Caddo Parish Commission and its insurance company with the large verdict.
The story detailed that the wooden-railed bridge in question has been the site of numerous car wrecks over the years. Another accident occurred a year after Vailes’ death and ultimately prompted officials to post more warning signs and speed up plans on building a new bridge. After beginning to hear testimony in this case exactly a week ago, the jury returned its verdict this past Saturday afternoon.
The family of a Fox Lake, Illinois man who was killed in an alleged drunk driving accident has filed a personal injury lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 from the bar which supposedly served alcohol to the driver who has been charged with DUI. 22-year-old Curtiss Phelan was killed on February 3rd during a car accident with 29-year-old Nicole Cerk, who had allegedly been drinking at Halftime Bar and Grill prior to the crash. Frank Phelan filed the personal injury lawsuit against the Johnsburg bar on behalf of his deceased son.
A Northwest Herald story said that Cerk could face 14 years in prison if convicted of aggravated Illinois DUI. Cerk is currently free on $63,000 bond. While having her driving privileges revoked at the time of her arrest, Cerk has been issued a driving permit allowing her to get to and from work and alcohol therapy sessions. On Friday, prosecutors tried to modify this aspect of Cerk’s bond to prevent her from driving at all or consuming any alcohol.
Specifically, prosecutors cited a past incident in which Cerk was allegedly driving drunk. However, Cerk was not convicted in that 1997 incident and rather pleaded guilty to a reduced charge. Judge Joseph Condon denied the request, saying that Cerk’s driving record was clear and that the prosecutors should have made such a request at the time of her bond being set. Visit The Injury Blog and The DUI Blog for the latest updates on this case.
The mother of a Canfield, Ohio man who fell off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship nearly a year ago and was never found again has filed a personal injury lawsuit seeking in excess of $15,000 in damages from the cruise line. A Vindy.com story details how Susan DiPiero filed her wrongful-death lawsuit earlier this week in Miami, Florida on the behalf of her 21-year-old son Daniel DiPiero’s estate, and his father and three sisters. Daniel DiPiero had just started vacationing with friends on the Mariner of the Seas vessel en route to the U.S. Virgin Islands from Miami on May 14th of last year before his untimely death. His friends reported him missing the following day, and a surveillance video later revealed that Daniel fell over a rail early in the morning hours of May 15th.
Among its many claims, this wrongful death lawsuit alleges Royal Caribbean of negligence. It turns out that DiPiero had been drinking throughout the day from a bottle of liquor that he and friends smuggled on the ship and at night in various bars on the vessel. DiPiero was cut off from drinking at one of the ship’s bars and then went to another establishment where he was served more alcohol. Records revealed that DiPiero was served five drinks during a four-hour period that night. The surveillance footage clearly showed DiPiero sleeping on a deck chair for about two hours, waking up and then leaning and falling over a fourth-deck rail at about 2:15 a.m.
Susan DiPiero’s personal injury lawsuit said that crew members never took the effort to make sure that her son made it back to his cabin and also alleged Royal Caribbean of negligence for several reasons. To begin with, the suit said that while the cruise line sold alcohol as a normal part of its business, it failed to prevent injury or death in a much more dangerous environment at sea. As one example, the lawsuit alleged that there was no deck watch, precautions and warnings to let patrons know of the dangers of being on an exterior deck at night while the ship was moving about the sea. It further claimed that the ship let Daniel get so intoxicated that he became a danger to himself and only exacerbated the problem by serving him more alcohol.
Royal Caribbean declined comment on the allegations in the suit and extended its sympathy to the family and friends of Daniel DiPiero. We’ll keep you updated on any more developments with this personal injury case.
On June 14, 1998, Michael Jordan crossed over Bryon Russell of the Utah Jazz en route to a picture-perfect jump shot that gave the Chicago Bulls its sixth NBA championship in eight years (if only the Bulls had such a player in its current series against the Detroit Pistons). In the midst of the championship celebration later that night, Chicago police officers fired 25 bullets into a vehicle carrying 11 young people. Several of those passengers were wounded. On Tuesday, the city council committee recommended that the city of Chicago pay a $2 million personal injury settlement. A Daily Southtown story indicated that the full council is likely going to approve this settlement for these police brutality injuries from almost nine years ago today!
The night of the Bulls’ six championship celebration, the involved youths were turned away from a liquor store when its owner and police officers told them they were closed. The store manager and police said that the car containing the youth then made a U-turn and pulled up on a sidewalk. Police officers alleged that they fired in self-defense, thinking that the car was going to run them over. The passengers in the car said they were no threat at all.
Police bullets peppered the car on its front, side and rear. One of the five plaintiffs involved in the personal injury settlement was hit with four bullets in the side. Other plaintiffs were shot in the buttocks and the elbow and side, respectively. The city added that one plaintiff suffered a leg wound while another woman was grazed with a bullet but did not seek medical attention. The involved officers were later hit with internal discipline charges, none of which were sustained.
In addition to this expected $2 million personal injury settlement, the city had previously settled with other people in the car. Francis Bell lost an eye during the incident and was awarded $1.75 million in her separate personal injury case. Another woman got a $300,000 personal injury settlement in her own case. Alderman Joe Moore of Chicago’s 49th District was critical in the story of the city settling for nearly $4 million in these cases after not finding the officers wrong of any misconduct.
Alleged instances of Chicago police brutality have most recently prompted a media stir. Just last week, a freelance photographer claimed that she was the victim of Chicago police brutality last summer. In the last couple of months, alleged instances of officer brutality in Chicago have included a disturbing image of an off-duty officer beating a female bartender at an establishment on the Northwest side of the city.
The city of Springfield, Massachusetts has come to an $180,000 personal injury settlement with a black school principal who had claimed that he was the victim of police brutality at the hands of five white officers while having a seizure in November 2004. An Associated Press story detailed how Douglas Greer claimed that he was having a diabetic attack inside his car while parked outside of a convenience store when the officers pulled him out of his vehicle. Among his allegations, Greer said the officers kicked and choked him, and accused him of being on drugs. The officers countered that they were trying to hold down Greer as he flailed about and screamed. Greer was eventually taken to the hospital for treatment.
Under this personal injury settlement, neither the city nor any of the five police officers admitted liability. A month after the incident, the Springfield police commission voted to not take any disciplinary action against the five officers, who all remain in the city’s police department. City attorney Edward Pikula called the settlement good for all parties involved in the story and said that the city was glad to move forward from this “unfortunate chapter” in its history.
Perman Glenn III was Greer’s Massachusetts personal injury attorney and described the settlement in the story as being a “step forward” in revealing and preventing police brutality in Springfield. At the time of his personal injuries, Greer was the principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield. He is currently a principal at another charter school in the city.
This Massachusetts personal injury settlement comes in the wake of severe allegations of police brutality in Chicago. We’ll keep you updated on the latest developments surrounding any other interesting cases involving alleged police brutality injuries.
In recent weeks, The Injury Blog has detailed the debate surrounding the Florida Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law requiring drivers in the state to carry up to $10,000 in personal injury insurance for car accident injuries. Last Friday, state legislators failed to extend this personal injury law, which will officially expire on October 1st unless the issue is taken into consideration during a special legislative session in June.
This Florida No Fault Law required drivers to purchase the PIP coverage, which would pay up to a maximum of $10,000 in coverage for car accident injuries, regardless of who caused them. Auto insurance companies had been arguing for the death of this Florida personal injury protection law because of what they said were large cases of fraudulent claims. A recent Insurance Journal story indicated that such a move could save insurance companies more than $350 million in payments to hospitals, doctors and clinics treating car accident injuries.
Proponents of this Florida personal injury protection law have warned about the possible ramifications of if it expired, including the fact that 40 percent of car accident victims in the state have no form of health insurance coverage besides mandatory PIP. The Florida Hospital Association warned that getting rid of Florida PIP would cause some hospitals to seriously consider whether they could even maintain trauma centers. The FHA added that it would urge legislators to add PIP to the agenda of its special session.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist expressed confidence in the story that the issue would be resolved in the special session. The state Senate had previously proposed a bill that would extend Florida personal injury protection for car accident injuries for three more years. A study of the current system would have also been concluded by 2010 under this bill in order to determine whether to keep moving forward with PIP at that time. However, the state House failed to take up the plan passed in the Senate, and rather pushed a proposed law that would let PIP go to the wayside and be replaced by $15,000 of coverage that could only be used in emergency rooms and hospital-owned clinics immediately after a car accident. We’ll keep you updated on any more developments with the Florida PIP debate.
Leftovers from a $40 million personal injury settlement from more than seven years ago will go to three colleges in Louisiana and one community organization. A story on 2theadvocate.com detailed how Southern University, LSU, Baton Rouge Community College and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation will be the beneficiaries of the remaining $3.5 million from the 2000 settlement of a Mississippi River barge accident. In March of 1997, a river barge owned by Nashville, Tennessee company Ingram Barge Co. and containing 400,000 gallons of toluene and benzene capsized just south of the U.S. 190 Mississippi River Bridge. Three years later, the company paid $16 million to people who claimed the accident harmed their health or forced them to leave their homes or close their businesses, and also shelled out $16.7 million to lawyers and $9 million for medical expenses and future claims.
Baton Rouge lawyer Walter Dumas said in a prepared statement from Southern University that the funds were in excess of what the plaintiffs were awarded and thus earmarked for the community. Southern University will get $2.3 million while LSU and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation will get close to $700,000 apiece. Baton Rouge Community College will be given $345,000.
Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter was quoted in a prepared statement as saying that this money will further aid the school’s mission and meet its many needs. Baton Rouge Area Foundation Executive Vice President John Spain said that its share will likely go to one of its educational foundations. The BRAF offers scholarships to college-bound students and also provides grants to entities that address the academic needs of children who were displaced during the hurricanes.
In what’s believed to be the largest award for slip and fall injuries in Virginia history, a Williamsburg woman was recently awarded $12.2 million for the personal injuries she suffered at a gas station convenience store. A DailyPress.com story said that Annette Ritzman was walking into what used to be a Miller Mart in August 2003 when she slipped and fell on a small puddle from a leaky awning. In addition to landing on her chest and chin, Ritzman had her head snap back during the fall. While returning to her hair styling business a couple days later, Ritzman said that she had a hard time concentrating. Doctors later diagnosed her with post-concussion symptoms, and the story added that Ritzman lost brain cells following the slip and fall incident and now suffers seizures.
At the urging of her friends, Ritzman enlisted the help of Virginia brain injury attorney Stephen Smith, who said in the story that he was able to get Miller Mart officials to admit that they knew the outside curb where his client fell was dangerous. The story depicted Miller as painting the case as a wrongful death lawsuit. In other words, Miller said that the Ritzman who friends and family once knew died the day of her slip and fall injuries, which essentially made her appear to be a stranger to those loved ones.
After being hit with the $12.2 million personal injury verdict by a jury in Hampton Circuit Court, neither Miller Mart officials nor its insurance companies had a comment. The story said that it is unknown whether these defendants will appeal the decision. Smith said that it is unlikely that Ritzman will ever return to the spa and added that she will likely hire a life coach to help with her daily life.