America’s Watchdog - a national organization that serves as an advocate for consumer rights - has branched out into a new genre for its services.

The Nursing Home Complaint Center is a new organization under the America’s Watchdog parent company designed to help people who have suffered, or have relatives who have suffered, from elder abuse or nursing home neglect.

The goal of the organization is to pair with personal injury lawyers across the country to help get justice for elderly abuse victims and their families.

With this system, victims, families, nursing home employees and the American taxpayer will all be protected. Some things the organization plans to focus on include:

• Medicare over-billing
• Improperly compensated employees
• Neglectful or inadequate/unprofessional care

Patients or family members who believe they or their loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse should not hesitate to talk to a personal injury attorney to help find out what options are available.

Nursing home abuse and improper care are not new problems in the world of personal injury - and it can be difficult to prove the offenses and take action against elder care organizations. It’s great that America’s Watchdog has recognized the problem and is taking measures to help everyone potentially involved.

Have you ever had a doctor tell you that the potential outcome of whatever illness you’re suffering from is far worse than you expected or than it should be?

Take, for example, a friend of mine who recently dropped a cardboard box on her foot, got a paper cut from it, and found herself in the hospital the next day.

The cut got infected and swelled badly - causing the emergency room doctor to put my friend on antibiotics. The doctor also said that if the swelling didn’t go down and the infection didn’t subside, amputation might be necessary.

You can imagine my friend’s reaction - “Amputation from a paper cut?! You have to be kidding!” - and the doctor admitted that an outcome like that was incredibly unlikely. Okay, so then why did she even say it, and is she allowed to give drastic prognoses like that?

Legally, yes. There’s no way to know if the doctor truly believed that amputation would be necessary, but if the infection did get bad enough (it didn’t), amputation may have been a valid solution. That doesn’t make it right to say so, though.

Whether doctors scare patients on purpose remains to be seen - the situation and doctor in question vary, of course. But these scare tactics are not considered medical malpractice.

Sometimes doctors say things that scare patients without even realizing it - it’s like when you think out loud and other people hear you. You think it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you believe it. If this happens to you, say something to your doctor - ask them to clarify, and ask them why they said what they said.

If some kind of injury happens to you because of a procedure, shot, surgery or technique a doctor uses on you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a personal injury lawyer and ask questions about medical malpractice.

Words aren’t enough to press any charges against a medical professional, but as in anything, actions speak louder than words. If you think you’re a victim of medical malpractice, ask a local personal injury lawyer.

When you are injured because of someone else’s mistake or wrongdoing, it seems only fair to receive compensation from the person who did you wrong. But what happens when the person responsible for your injury is a close friend or relative?

I recently hurt my back while carrying heavy furniture up four flights of stairs helping my friend move. I volunteered to help - so it’s my fault, right? I think so - but if the injury was bad enough I could enlist the help of a local personal injury attorney to find out if my friend is at all liable, and if so, how to proceed.

My injury is not that severe; however if I were in the situation of Charla Nash, I definitely would not hesitate to file charges against the friend whose crazy chimpanzee brutally attacked me and destroyed my face.

In many cases, deciding to file a suit against a friend of yours could be a difficult decision to make.  I probably wouldn’t do it unless it was a really severe and/or expensive case, but it’s definitely a situational decision.

If you have an injury and it’s because of something a friend of yours did or did not do, try talking with a personal injury lawyer in your area to find out if it might be worth your time and effort to file a personal injury lawsuit. Almost all personal injury attorneys offer a free consultation, so if you’re questioning a situation, it can’t hurt to check it out.

While dying of cancer, a former district attorney confessed to suppressing a lab report that would have exonerated John Thompson, a man who was convicted of murder and on death row for the 1984 killing of a New Orleans hotel executive.

Thompson spent 14 long years awaiting his execution before he was exonerated and finally released from prison.

Last year a jury awarded him $14 million—a million for each year he sat on death row as an innocent man. His award was appealed but this week the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he will rightfully retain the $14 million compensation for pain and suffering.

If you’ve been wrongly convicted or have experienced pain and suffering because of another person’s wrongdoings, you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries. Talk to a personal injury lawyer today about your legal options and demand justice.

An Ohio jury decided that the estate of a truck driver who died in a 2006 crash with a train should not be awarded any money for personal injury.

The jury ruled that the 62-year-old man was 51 percent negligent in the crash and that the railroad was 49 percent negligent but didn’t raise the level of “actual malice”.

The man was killed when his tractor-trailer hit a train when he was crossing the road. The intersection was not marked with light or gates at the time.

It’s a sad story when injured people and/or their families don’t get fair compensation for their injuries. If you’ve been injured, make sure you have a personal injury lawyer on your side.

Total Injury can connect you—for free and with no obligation—to a personal injury attorney in your area. Just fill out this free case evaluation form or call us at 1 (877) 288-7564.

Stories of train accidents and settlements have frequently been in the news recently. Just yesterday, some residents of Bullitt County, Kentucky were either evacuated from the town or ordered to stay inside their homes following a CSX train derailment that caused a chemical fire.

This accident follows last week’s personal injury settlement of a 2005 Graniteville, South Carolina train wreck which released a toxic cloud that killed nine, injured hundreds and forced some 1400 people to evacuate the small town. Also happening last week, 18 people were injured in a Washington Metro derailment, and an Iowa man was awarded $1.1 million in a railroad car accident settlement with CSX Railroad.

Trains are safe and reliable means of transportation for many Americans each day. In those instances when there is a train accident, you need to know your rights if involved and should speak to a local personal injury attorney.

A Simi Valley California personal injury court ruled Vons Supermarket must pay James Stevens $16.73 million in punitive damages and $1.672 million for emotional distress and economic loss for the sexual harassment inflicted on him by a female supervisor.  In his personal injury case testimony, Stevens alleged Laura Marko harassed him from 2001 to 2002 and was himself transferred when he complained of the harassment.  Von’s fired Stevens shortly after he filed the complaint and Marko never received any discipline or counseling for her actions.