Maryland Accident Law Blog

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that its time that the US government mandate that warning labels be placed on the packaging of foods that pose a potential choking hazard to children. The pediatricians’ group also is calling for a redesign of certain manufactured foods, such as candies and hot dogs, which can be reshaped in a manner that is safer for kids.

Dr. Gary Smith, the head of the group’s Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, says that foods that are round or cylindrical in shape are a choking hazard. Smith noted that there are steps that can be taken to protect kids from choking, which is considered the number one cause of death in the five and under age group and the reason that thousands of kids under age 15 end up in the emergency room. One study reports that hot dogs are a factor in 17% of the asphyxiation accidents involving food and kids in the 10 and under age group.

Some other choking accident food culprits include:

• Peanuts
• Marshmallows
• Meat chunk
• Cheese chunks
• Peanut butter

At least one child fatality every five days is caused by a food-related choking accident. For a boy or girl who is lucky enough to survive an accidental choking incident, if the brain was deprived of oxygen for long enough, there may be the possibility of a traumatic brain injury.

Our Maryland injuries to children and minors attorneys are determined to help our young clients and their families obtain financial recovery for the harm they have suffered because a manufacturer or another party was liable for food products liability.

Pediatricians Want Redesign of Hot Dogs, Candy to Curb Kids' Choking, BusinessWeek, February 22, 2010

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog, USA Today, February 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
American Academy of Pediatrics

Food Choking Dangers for Babies and Toddlers, Suite101.com

A Maryland jury has awarded Brooke Greenberg $250,000 for Baltimore medical malpractice injuries she sustained while at Johns Hopkins Children's Center after she underwent a medical procedure to replace her feeding tube in 2007. The Reisterstown teenager is known internationally for never aging past infancy, despite the fact that she is 17-years-old.

After she was discharged from the hospital, her home nurse and parents noticed that there were bruises on her legs and arms. Her parents sued for Maryland medical malpractice involving injuries to a minor on her behalf.

Last week, a Baltimore city jury found the famous hospital in breach of the standard of care when Greenberg was inappropriately restrained after the surgery. They awarded her damages for the emotional trauma and physical pain she suffered.

The hospital is debating whether to appeal the jury verdict. Hospital officials claim that Greenberg was suffering from a disorder that caused spontaneous bruising. However, the jury determined otherwise.

Greenberg has never developed past infancy. Scientists are trying to determine the cause of her mysterious condition.

Hospitals are supposed to provide each patient with the standard of care. Failure to meet that standard of care or deviating from that standard can be cause for filing a Maryland personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit if the patient gets hurt, suffers emotional trauma, or dies.

Medication mixups, poor sanitation, surgical errors, inappropriate restraints, wrong diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, anesthesia errors, nursing negligence, failure to check vitals, and failure to do follow-ups following procedures are some of the reasons why people have sued for Maryland medical malpractice.

Hopkins weighs appeal of verdict in girl's bruising, The Baltimore Sun, February 10, 2010

Duly noted: Girl who doesn’t age wins suit against Johns Hopkins, MDDailyRecord, February 15, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Johns Hopkins Children's Center

The Curious Case of Brooke Greenberg: 16-Year-Old Has the Body and Mind of a Toddler, FoxNews, August 7, 2009

Maryland’s Board of Public Works has given the green light to a $1.5 million Baltimore County wrongful death settlement over the fatal train accident that killed two teenagers last year. Kyle Patrick Wankmiller and Jarrett Connor Peterson were walking along tracks that are usually used by trains headed southbound in Lutherville on July 5 when a northbound train hit the two 17-year-olds. The Maryland Transit Administration had switched the direction of traffic on the tracks.

Following the deadly Maryland train collision, the MTA said the two teens had their backs to the trains when they were hit from behind. A spokesperson says the two boys thought the train was using the other track as it approached them. The public is not allowed to be on the tracks unless they are at designated crossing areas.

The train’s operator reportedly did not notice that the train had hit the two boys and did not stop. The operator of a second train that later passed through also failed to see the teenagers. It wasn’t until a third train came through that a fare inspector saw their severely injured bodies.

Two train operators were fired and six other workers were disciplined over the tragic Baltimore County train accident. No criminal charges were filed over the deadly incident.

The families’ Maryland injury attorney notified the state that they planned to sue. A Baltimore County wrongful death settlement was reached before the families filed their lawsuit. The lawyer noted that even though state law prevents plaintiffs who contributed to their personal injury from recovering damages, the Maryland’s wrongful death law has a provision that holds responsible the party that has the “last clear chance” of preventing an injury accident from happening.

Maryland Train Accident Injuries to Pedestrians
Pedestrians that are struck by trains will likely have sustained serious have sustained serious injuries that require medical attention as soon as possible. Train operators must exercise caution that they don’t accidentally strike someone or, if they do, that they get that person medical help right away. Some common causes of train accidents include mechanical failure, operator error, inadequate maintenance, and speeding.

State OKs $1.5 million settlement in case of teens killed by light rail train, The Baltimore Sun, January 21, 2010

MTA Says It Plans To Fire 2 For Deadly Accident, WJZ, December 18, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Maryland Board of Public Works

Maryland Transit Administration

A team of researchers are recommending that concussions should be called mild traumatic brain injuries so that this type of condition is taken more seriously. The team is concerned that many people don’t think of a concussion as an injury to the brain.

The researchers looked at the medical records of 300 children with traumatic brain injuries who were treated at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Canada. 102 of them were diagnosed with having a concussion. 385 of the kids diagnosed with a concussion actually had a mild TBI, while 24% in fact had a serious or moderate TBI.

According to Professor Carol DeMatteo of the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University, in each case involving a child diagnosed with a concussion, the patient and their parents did not think the injury was serious. DeMatteo says this can be a problem.

According to the study’s findings, kids that were diagnosed with having concussion diagnosis spent less time in the hospital than children who were diagnosed with a mild brain injury. They also went back to school and resumed playing sports sooner than kids diagnosed with more serious brain injuries.

DeMatteo notes that if a child isn’t given enough time to recover, more concussions may occur and the risk of permanent brain damage increases.

Brain Injuries to Children
Brain injury is one of the most common causes of death and disability to young children. If your son or daughter suffers an injury to the head, it is important that you get medical help right away. What may appear to be a mild injury to the head may actually be a brain injury.

If your child sustained a TBI in a car crash, fall accident on another person’s property, or another kind of injury accident, you may have grounds for filing a Maryland traumatic brain injury lawsuit involving injuries to minors.

Concussion needs a new name, researchers say, Globe Life, January 17, 2010

Children and Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI Resource Guide, Centre for Neuro Skills

Related Web Resources:
Concussion, Empowered Doctor

McMaster Children’s Hospital

Continue reading "Maryland TBI: Call a Concussion a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Says Researchers" »

The family of Isaiah Simmons III has reached a $1.2 million Maryland wrongful death settlement with Bowling Brook Preparatory School and the state's Department of Juvenile Services. The Maryland teen died in 2007 after he was restrained at the reform school.

Simmons’ family had accused counselors of holding him face down and sitting on him for about three hours. Simmons, a Baltimore 17-year-old, eventually lost consciousness and stopped breathing. The counselors are accused of waiting 41 minutes after Simmons became unresponsive to contact 911. Simmons was pronounced dead at Carroll Hospital Center. Following the tragic incident, Bowling Brook maintained that its staff followed appropriate procedures and denied that workers knelt or sat on Simmons’ head or torso.

Per the school's report, on January 23, 2007, a staff member questioned Simmons about threats he allegedly made. The teenager allegedly made more threats and at around 4:45 pm, staff members and students restrained him. An ambulance was called at about 8:15 pm.

A school staff member told a 911 dispatcher that the restraint methods the counselors used on Simmons were not unusual. The employee said that the school had dealt with other aggressive kids in similar fashion.

Student eyewitnesses claim that five staffers were sitting on Simmons. One student says Simmons told them he couldn’t breathe and that he was in pain but the counselors didn’t believe him.

The reform school was eventually shut down. It reopened last year under new management. The school is now called Silver Oak Academy.

The $1.2 million Baltimore wrongful death settlement is the maximum allowed under Maryland personal injury law.

CPR, 911 call for youth were delayed, ISACCORP.org, January 31, 2007

Family of teen who died settles with Bowling Brook, state, Baltimore Sun, January 7, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Maryland Department of Juvenile Services

Wrongful Death, Nolo

Noah Asid, the 9-year-old who was injured on December 29 when a large hickory tree fell on him at the Hashawha Environmental Center has died at a Baltimore hospital. Asid, who was attending a nature camp, was getting ready to go hiking with a group of children and counselors when the tragic accident happened.

According to reports, the 60-foot tree fell against a maple tree. This caused the maple branches to give way and the hickory and a number of large branches to hit the ground, striking Asid and another child. The girl, 10, has been released from Carroll Hospital Center.

The Carroll County sheriff’s office is determining what caused the tree to fall. Winds hitting speeds of up to 35 mph on the day of the accident may have been a factor.

Falling Tree Accidents
Falling tree accidents are not as uncommon as they sound and can cause catastrophic injuries to children and adults. Trees in parks, public areas, and other places frequented by children and other members of the public must be properly maintained so that they don’t pose a premise liability. If a property owner or overseer could (and should have) been taken to prevent the premises liability accident from happening, the victim or surviving family members can sue for Maryland personal injury or wrongful death.

Just last year, a 30-year-old man died after he was hit by a tree branch that fell in New York’s Central Park. In December, a wrongful death settlement was reached with the family of a woman who died after a tree fell on the car that she and her daughter were riding. The tree’s decaying root system contributed to its fall.

Falling tree injures children, Carroll County Times, January 6, 2010

Update: Boy, 9, injured by falling tree at Hashawha Environmental Center, dies, Carroll Eagle, January 1, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Hashawha Environmental Center

Recognizing Tree Hazards, Trees are Good

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is once again warning parents, adults, and child caretakers about the dangers of using a Simplicity drop-side crib. An 11th child death has been linked to the defective cribs. The crib's plastic hardware is prone to deformity and breakage. If this occurs and the drop side detaches, a space can open up between the crib mattress and the side of the crib that a toddler or a sleeping baby can fall into, becoming entrapped and suffocating.

The CPSC has recalled all Simplicity drop-side cribs—over 2 million—in the last four years. However, Simplicity is not the only crib maker whose drop side cribs have been recalled. Last month, the CPSC recalled 2.1 million Stork Craft Manufacturing drop-side cribs after reports of four infant suffocations. Two of the other drop-side sleeper recalls: 1.6 million Delta drop side cribs following two infant deaths and about 2000 Playkids USA portable cribs after a 5-month old suffocated when he became entrapped between the drop-side rail and the mattress.

While drop-side cribs are popular with consumers because the side that drops makes it easy for adults to lift their kids into and out of the supposedly secure beds, there have been so many reported child injuries and deaths involving this kind of crib that some crib manufacturers have called for a ban on all drop-side cribs. Broken and missing pieces, poor design, poor assembly directions, and defective materials are some of the product defects that have led to drop-side crib-related entrapment accidents, fall accidents, and strangulation accidents.

Our Maryland injuries to minors and children lawyers handle products liability claims for families seeking damages for a child's personal injury or wrongful death. We'd be happy to discuss your defective crib case during your free consultation.

Drop-side cribs are not the only child sleepers considered an entrapment hazard. Last month the CPSC recalled approximately 24,000 Amby Baby Motion Beds/Hammocks. Two infants died from suffocation while in an Amby Baby Hammock. The movement of the hammock makes it easy for the infant to roll into and get stuck against the mattress pad and/or fabric.

11 baby deaths now linked to Simplicity cribs, AP/Google, December 17, 2009

Infant Suffocation Deaths Prompt Recall of Amby Baby Motion Beds/Hammocks, CPSC, December 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Crib Safety, HealthBanks

Will Drop-Side Cribs Be Banned?, ParentDish

Continue reading "Simplicity Drop-Side Cribs Linked to Eleventh Infant Death" »

A 17-year-old high school football player is dead following a tragic single-car accident that occurred early Sunday at around 3am. Steven Dankos and teammate and best friend Thomas Erdman were riding in a pickup truck driven by Edrman’s brother, David Dixon Edrman, when the 22-year-old lost control of the truck, which then struck three decorative stone pillars before overturning.

Dankos was pronounced dead at the Howard County car crash site. Thomas and David sustained injuries. David is charged with homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated, driving under the influence, and manslaughter by motor vehicle.

Drunk Driving Accidents
Drunk driving crashes are preventable. Yet every year, thousands of people are killed in the US because someone was driving drunk.

NHTSA 2008 Alcohol-Impaired Driving Facts

• 11,773 drunk driver-related deaths
• That’s 1 alcohol-related car crash death every 45 minutes

Drunk driving is a crime and also a form of negligent driving. A person who is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs has impaired reflexes and senses and may not realize that he or she is speeding or about to collide with another vehicle or into oncoming traffic. Losing control of an auto when someone is inebriated is easy. It is the consequences and repercussions that follow which can be hard to live with.

A drunk driving conviction usually results in jail time. It can also destroy the lives of any victims, surviving family members, and the drunk driver who likely never intended to harm anyone.

After the season, the greatest loss, Washington Post, November 30, 2009

River Hill football player remembered as 'great kid', ExploreHoward, December 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Groups press for tougher drunk driving laws, Baltimore Sun, November 1, 2009

Drinking & Driving

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Continue reading "Maryland High School Football Player Killed in Howard County Car Accident" »

A 2-year-old boy has died after becoming entangled in a drapery cord in his Damascus, Maryland home. Thapelo Andre Kwofie’s parents found him unconscious at around 3pm. They administered CPR to him before an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital. He was pronounced dead soon after his arrival at Shady Grove Hospital.

Montgomery County, Maryland police are investigating the tragic accident.

Window Cord-Strangulation Accidents
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about one child (7 months to age 10) dies and another is nearly strangled in window-cord strangulation accidents every year. Window cords for blinds and drapes are considered a strangulation hazard for kids.

Young kids can easily get entangled in either the inner cords for raising blinds or pull cords. The cord can form a loop around the child’s neck that can cause strangulation.

Drapery cords that cause serious injury or death can be grounds for suing the drapery maker for products liability. Product manufacturers are supposed to make sure their products do not pose an injury hazard to anyone. An experienced Maryland products liability lawyer can help you determine whether you have grounds for an injury case.

Just last August, the CPSC recalled some 5.5 million window shades and blinds following several reports of child strangulation deaths and injuries.

Other products that have been known to cause strangulation injury or death to kids:

• Cribs
• Strollers
• Clothing with drawstrings
• Toys or infant products that come with cords or strings

Strangulation injuries can also result in traumatic brain injuries for those who survive.

Damascus toddler dies after caught in drapery cord, Gazette.net, November 4, 2009

5.5M window covers recalled after child deaths, MSNBC, August 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Window blind or drapery cords, .docstoc.com

nsumer Product Safety Commission

More than 15 years after Dontae and Searra Wallace’s mother moved them into a City Homes rental in an effort to protect them from additional lead exposure, a Maryland jury has awarded the siblings over $2.5 million for their Baltimore personal injuries caused by lead poisoning.

Searra, 17, and Dontae, 20, sustained permanent behavioral and cognitive disabilities. They are unlikely to graduate from high school or get a GED, and their IQ’s are below average. Dontae dropped out of school four years ago and Searra failed two grades.

Their mother, Tiffini, says that the family moved out of a rental that used lead paint into a City Homes Inc. home. She says the nonprofit group told her the Baltimore City row house was safe.

Witnesses for the plaintiffs, however, say that while the lead paint was contained to a certain degree, the kids were still exposed to lead. There were paint flakes and chips in several areas of the residence. One wall got wet during storms, and rats that chewed on walls left behind lead dust.

The defendants of the Maryland lead paint lawsuit, City Homes and its president Barry Mankowitz, have said that the home the Wallaces were living in were inspected before and after the family lived there. They claimed that the Wallace siblings have disabilities because they were exposed to dangerous levels of lead before they moved into the City Homes residence.

Tiffini moved the family into the home on Booth Street after joining a Kennedy Krieger Institute Inc. study. The study has been criticized for persuading parents to live in residences where lead was contained in varying levels so that researchers could find out whether there were less costly means to protect kids from lead poisoning.

We now know that even the smallest exposure to lead can cause children to suffer from lead poisoning, which can be detrimental to their cognitive and behavioral development. Lead paint in a home is a Maryland premises liability.

The jury found City Homes and its president Barry Mankowitz guilty of negligent misrepresentation and negligence. They awarded Searra $1.3 million and Dontae $1.2 million.

$2.5 million awarded in lead-paint lawsuit, Baltimore Sun, November 4, 2009

Baltimore City Lead Paint Lawsuit Results in $2.5M Verdict, About Lawsuits, November 5, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Environmental Protection Agency

What You Should Know About Lead Based Paint in Your Home: Safety Alert, Consumer Product Safety Commission

A young bicyclist sustained a head injury and leg fractures when he was injured in a Maryland bicycle accident in Washington County on August 30. 8-year-old David Greeley, a 3rd grader at Fountain Rock Elementary School, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC where he underwent several surgery and received a number of blood transfusions.

The Maryland bicycle crash occurred in the early evening. Reports indicate that the driver, Fairplay resident Meghann Marie Weaver, was going over the crest of a hill when she hit the boy. The 21-year-old motorist is charged with reckless driving, driving at a speed greater than reasonable, and negligent driving.

Greeley’s family is asking for donations to help pay for the costly medical care he has received and will likely need.

According to researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital:

• More than half of the 85 million cyclists in the US are minors.
• About 10,700 children are hospitalized/year for about 3 days for injuries they sustained during bicycle accidents.
• The child recreational sport that results in the most ER visits each year is bicycle riding.
• 1/3rd of child bicycle accident victims suffered from traumatic brain injuries.

Sending your child out into the world on their own at any age is never easy. It can be especially devastating if your son or daughter was injured in a Maryland bicycle accident because a driver was negligent, careless, made a mistake, or wasn’t paying attention.

The medical costs for surgery, physical therapy, and other recovery services can be daunting—especially when coping with your child’s pain and suffering, as well as your own.

Driver of vehicle that struck boy is charged, The Herald-Mail, August 31, 2009

Pediatric Bicycle-related Injuries Result in Nearly $200 Million in Hospital Charges Annually, Newswise, October 15, 2007

Bicycles, Department of Transportation Highway and Safety Administration

Continue reading "8-Year-Old Boy Sustains Serious Injuries in Maryland Bicycle Accident" »

Yesterday, the parents of James Becker filed a $40 million Maryland personal injury lawsuit against the Woodcroft Swim Club and D.R.D. Pool Management Inc. They are accusing the defendants of failing to recognize and respond in timely manner to their son’s near drowning accident on July 29, 2006 and of neglecting to properly resuscitate him.

According to plaintiffs Mary Becker and William J. Becker III, James, then 15, was deprived of adequate oxygen to his brain for approximately 10 minutes. Paramedics arrived at the scene 13 minutes after the teenager was discovered without a pulse. By the time that they could feel James’s pulse, he had already sustained a traumatic brain injury.

The Becker family is seeking $36 million for James, who will require special care for the rest of his life, $3 million for expenses his parents have incurred as a result of his traumatic brain injury, and $1 million for Mary Becker, who experienced the trauma of seeing her son almost drown in the pool.

James, now 18, attends a special school for children who are developmentally disabled or have special needs. He is severely disabled, unable to speak, and must use a wheelchair. He should have been attending college this year.

The attorney representing the defendants says that James sustained a traumatic brain injury not because he almost drowned but because he had a heart attack while in the pool. The defendants deny any negligence on their part.

Near-Drowning Accidents
Near drowning accidents can lead to permanent traumatic brain injuries. This type of injury occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended amount of time. Sometimes, it can take several years to know the full effects of a brain injury sustained during a near drowning accident.

Caring for someone with a traumatic brain injury can be very costly. It can also be devastating for the victim, who may no longer be able to live a normal life.

Youth's parents sue swim club for brain damage, The Baltimore Sun, July 24, 2009

Family Of Injured Teen Sues Swim Club For $40M, WBALTV.com, July 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Water-Related Injuries: Fact Sheet, CDC

Injury Facts Drowning, Safe Kids USA

If your child is going swimming in a Maryland pool located in a hotel or a public area, you should check to make sure that the pool owners have installed the new pool drains that have been approved by the federal government. The Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 went into effect last December and by this time public pool owners and spa operators were supposed to have installed these drains that are designed to prevent pool entrapment accidents from happening. Unfortunately, not all pool and spa owners have met this deadline.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that between 1999 and 2008, 83 children were involved in spa and pool entrapment accidents, resulting in 69 injuries and 11 deaths. Just this April, a 38-year-old man drowned in a pool entrapment accident involving a hotel pool drain. And kids, who are smaller in size, are at particular risk of becoming the victim of pool or spa entrapment accidents in the event that their hair, a body part, or swimsuit gets trapped in a drain’s powerful suction.

The CPSC says, however, that defective pool drains are not the only issue of concern for parents when it comes to protecting their kids while they are swimming. Every year, approximately 300 kids drown and 3,000 others sustain serious injuries in pools and spas throughout the US. In addition to pool entrapment injuries and drowning accidents, another cause of injury can occur when a child dives into the water and strikes his or her head on the bottom of the spa or pool.

While drowning accidents can prove fatal, those that do survive are sometimes left disabled for life because they sustained atraumatic brain injury. A child or adult that strikes his or her head against the bottom of the pool can end up with a spinal cord injury, a TBI, or broken bones.

There are steps that public and private pool and spa owners can take to protect adults and kids from getting hurt in a swimming accident. Failure to execute these safety precautions can be grounds for a Maryland premises liability claim or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Safety Concerns to Delay Opening of Some Maryland Pools, WJLA.com, May 23, 2009

CPSC Announces New Report on Child Drownings and Near-drownings in Pools and Spas, CPSC, May 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pool Safety

Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 (PDF)

Continue reading "Maryland Premises Liability: Keeping Pools Safe to Prevent Drowning Accidents" »

In Maryland, the family of a young boy who sustained serious burn injuries from sulfuric acid that two teenagers poured on a playground slide have settled their injuries to minor lawsuit. Payton Potochne was just 2 when he went down the slide that had industrial strength drain cleaner on it. The injury accident occurred at Victory Villa Elementary School.

It wasn’t until he was taken to Franklin Square Hospital that doctors determined that there was sulfuric acid on the boy’s legs and he had sustained second- and third-degree burns. The hospital had to evacuate the emergency room and the toddler was taken to Johns Hopkins Burn Center. Since the tragic playground incident, Payton has had to undergo over six surgeries, including numerous skin grafts. He will also need medical care for life because of his injuries.

A hazmat team poured thousands of gallons of water onto the slide to remove the chemical from the playground. A Baltimore County Police Department spokesperson says the dangerous liquid had been poured onto all the different playground rides, including the monkey bars and the jungle gym.

The two teens, Matt Dybala and Kyle Meredith, had told police they poured the acid onto a plastic sliding board to see if it would melt, which it didn’t. Police, however, contend that the teenagers poured at least two bottles of the chemical onto the slide and used a brush to apply the acid onto other playground equipment. Criminal charges were filed against both Dybala and Meredith, who were both found delinquent in juvenile court.

Last year, Payton's parents filed a $6 million Maryland personal injury lawsuit against the teenagers’ family. While the terms of the injuries to minors and children settlement have not been disclosed, the lawyer for Payton's family says that his clients will receive the maximum payments allowed under the homeowners insurance policies of the plaintiffs’ parents.

The Baltimore County Board of Education is the remaining defendant of the personal injury lawsuit. A civil trial is scheduled for the fall. Payton's family says the board shouldn’t have kept the drain cleaner bottles in its maintenance shed, which had been broken into in the past.

Boy’s family settles with teens who poured acid on slide, The Daily Record, May 26, 2009

Police: Playground-Dousing Teens Intended To Cause Injury, WBALTV, April 23, 2007

Toddler hospitalized with burns from acid on playground slide, USA Today, April 15, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Sulfuric Acid Facts, DHSS.mo.gov

Johns Hopkins Burn Center

A jury has awarded 18-year-old Lakia Roberts $2 million for her Maryland lead paint lawsuit. Roberts was exposed to lead paint during the first six years of her life at the Baltimore rental where she lived.

Her Maryland personal injury lawsuit, filed along with her mother, Learland D. Clark, contended that she suffered from lead poisoning after she ingested paint flakes and chips in their Baltimore rental. As a result, they claim that the teenager experienced a 10 to 12 point loss in IQ and suffers from severe cognitive deficits. The two of them filed their lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

The jury found that the home’s landlord, Attsgood Reealty, failed to remove the toxic paint that was peeling off the plaintiffs’ home walls, as well as failed to properly maintain the property. They awarded Roberts and Clark $1.5 million in non-economic damages and $500,000 in economic damages. Maryland’s cap on damages, however, reduces the plaintiffs’ non-economic damages to $350,000—the maximum amount that was allowed under state law in the early 90’s when the plaintiffs had their cause of action. This reduces the plaintiffs’ total judgment to $850,000.

Despite a nationwide ban on lead paint that is over 30-years-old, thousands of older homes—especially those that are poorly maintained—throughout the US still contain lead paint. Over 50% of the housing units in Baltimore City were made before 1950 when lead paint was still being used in homes. According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, in 2007 there were 892 cases of children in Maryland who were diagnosed with high levels of lead in their blood. 624 of those cases involved Baltimore City children.

Also, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that approximately 2/3rds of homes constructed before 1940 and 50% of homes built between 1940 and 1960 have paint on or in them that contain high levels of lead. A number of homes made after the 1960’s may also contain lead paint.

Lead paint can cause serious injury to adults and especially to children—whose mental development may become seriously and permanently impaired. If you or your child was injured or became ill or suffered other mental or physical health issues because of exposure to lead paint, you may have grounds to file a premises liability claim against a negligent landlord or a products liability lawsuit against the company that made the lead paint.

Lead paint victim awarded $2M, The Daily Record, May 15, 2009

What You Should Know About Lead Based Paint in Your Home: Safety Alert, CPSC.gov

Related Web Resources:
For many kids, lead threat is right in their own homes, USA Today, October 28, 2007

General Lead Information, CDC

This week, pharmacist Eric Cropp pleaded no contest to an involuntary manslaughter charge involving the death of a two-year-old patient in 2006. The toddler, Emily Jerry, died after she was administered an overdose of sodium chloride while undergoing chemotherapy at a hospital.

Cropp made the fatal pharmacy error while working as the supervising pharmacist at a hospital. On February 26, 2006, Cropp neglected to catch the pharmacy technician’s preparation error and properly verify whether the contents and composition of the solution were correct before approving a mix that was 23% salt-based when it should have only been 1%. The technician, Katie Dudash, later testified that she had warned Cropp that she didn’t think the mixture was correct.

Following the medication overdose, Emily slipped into a coma before dying on March 1.

Prosecutor James Gutierrez says that Cropp admitted to the mistake and says that he could have or should have seen the warning signs and caught the deadly mistake. Following the pharmacy misfill incident, another pharmacy hired Cropp, who made 15 more pharmacy errors until his license was revoked.

As part of Cropp’s plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the reckless homicide charge against him. Cropp’s sentencing is scheduled for July 17. He could end up serving a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Pharmacy misfills can be catastrophic for the patients that take the wrong medicine or dosage. This is why it is so important that the pharmacy or the pharmacist supervisor double check a prescription or mix to make sure that the dose and/or medication is correct.

In an unrelated incident in another US state, baby Lindsey Lindberg could have died last month if her mother hadn’t noticed that she gave her the wrong medication more than once because of a labeling error.

Lindsey was born in November with a heart defect. Her mother, Courtney Lindberg, had been giving her a number of prescriptions that she would get filled at a Walgreens. Right before the Lindsey was supposed to undergo open heart surgery, she began to act fussy. It wasn’t until she spit up that Courtney realized that Walgreens had put the correct label for Lindsey’s medication on a bottle containing the wrong medicine.

A 2-year-old. A death. A pharmacist facing jail. What will spur lasting change?, MedCity News, May 14, 2009

Pharmacist Could Get 5 Years For Fatal Chemo Error In Toddler, Newsnet5.com, May 13, 2009

Mom gives baby wrong drug after labeling error, SeattlePI.com, May 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Unreported Pharmacy Errors, ABC News

20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children, AHRQ.gov

Continue reading "Maryland Pharmacy Error Injury Attorneys: Fatal Error that Killed Toddler Could Send Pharmacist to Prison" »

In Maryland, Delegate Andrew A Serafina is cosponsoring a bill calling for extending the period of time that new drivers must have their learner’s permits and provisional licenses before they can receive an official driver’s license. The bill calls for increasing the age that a teen driver can get his or her provisional license to 16 years and 6 months and delaying when they can get their full driving privileges to age 18.

The legislation also includes a ban that would prevent drivers younger than 18 from driving around other minors for the first 9 months of having a license. At that point, the teen driver would only be allowed to have one minor in the car with him or her for the next nine months or until turning age 18.Current state law prevents minors with provisional licenses from having for the first 151 days any occupants in the vehicle who are under 18 that are not family members.

Following the enactment in 2005 of the latest passenger restrictions for teen drivers, there was a decrease in the number of passengers injured in teen driving accidents from over 1,000 annually (from 2003 – 2005) to less than 800 a year (from 2006 – 2007). The number of passengers killed in Maryland teen driving accidents went down from about 13 a year to approximately 8 annually.

Studies show that teen drivers are more likely to engage in aggressive driving or speeding when they are accompanied by other teenagers. Teens are also more likely to get easily distracted.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Says:

• Teen drivers make up the majority of teens that are killed in auto accidents.
• Many teenagers also have died as vehicle occupants.
• 39% of 16-19 year olds killed in Maryland traffic accidents from 1998 to 2007 were motor vehicle passengers.
• 76% of the 16-year-old vehicle occupants that died in Maryland motor vehicle accidents were teen drivers.

Measure would restrict new drivers in Md., March 28, 2009

Deciphering Details Might Necessitate a Map, The Washington Post, March 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Passenger and Nighttime Restrictions for Young Drivers, IIHS.org (PDF)

Senate Bill 265

House Bill 303

Continue reading "Maryland Teen Driving Bill Proposes Extending Time New Drivers Must Hold Learner’s Permit and Provisional License " »

This week, the Maryland Senate approved by a 43 to 4 vote a bill banning drivers from text messaging whenever they are operating their motor vehicles. If the bill becomes law, it would make reading, composing, sending, or receiving text messages a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $500 fine. Maryland would also join a growing list of states and jurisdictions, including Virginia and Washington DC, that are banning text messaging—whether on a cell phone, PDA, or IPod Touch or another device—while operating a motor vehicle.

Sending short messages via cell phone or other electronic devices is a bad habit that has grown more popular in recent years—especially among younger, more inexperienced drivers. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, one of its studies last year found that about 50% of young drivers, ages 18 – 24, text message while driving. The study found that among drivers ages 45 and older, less than 5% engaged in text messaging while operating a motor vehicle.

Text messaging is a type of distracted driving, and like all other forms of distracted driving, including talking on a handheld cellular phone, applying making, or reading the newspaper, can lead to deadly auto accidents. ABC News says that a 2006 study showed that 65% of near-motor vehicle collisions and 80% of auto crashes occur because of distracted driving.

For example, one Maryland child lost her right forearm in a catastrophic bus accident that occurred while the bus driver was texting on his cell phone. 30 people were injured in this Maryland motor vehicle accident. In another traffic accident, a 26-year-old woman died last year in a truck accident when she was struck by a tractor-trailer while the truck driver had been texting.

These kinds of catastrophic motor vehicle collisions could have been avoided if the drivers had not been engaged in distracted driving.

Md. Is Latest State to Target Text Messaging by Drivers, Washington Post, March 18, 2009

Texting While Driving Could Spell Trouble, ABC News, May 8, 2007

Driving and Dialing Bus Drivers May Case Accidents, ABC News, Feb 7, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Examination of Maryland Senate Bill 98 (PDF)

Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

Continue reading "Maryland Senate Votes for Text Messaging While Driving Ban" »

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says most of the victims killed in teen driving accidents are people other than the teen drivers. The AAA compiled this information based on its analysis of 10 years of crash information.

According to its findings:

• Between 1998 and 2007, 28,138 victims died in teen (Ages 15 – 17) driving accidents in the United States.
• Between 1995 and 2004, 30,917 people were killed in teen driving accidents.
• Approximately 1/3 of fatalities are the teen drivers, ages 15 to 17.
• Almost 2/3rd of the other teen driving accident victims are the passengers in the vehicle, other vehicle occupants, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists.

AAA Western and Central New York President and CEO Tom Chestnut says that these findings show how important teen driving safety is not just to the teenagers but to everyone involved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the leading causes of teen driving deaths and accidents include:

• Driver inexperience
• Immaturity
• Speeding
• Drunk driving
• Failing to wear a seat belt
• Talking on the cell phone
• Listening to loud music
• Talking to other teenagers in the vehicle
• Driving at night
• Drug use
• Drowsy driving

The NHTSA recommends ways to reduce motor vehicle accidents involving teen drivers including:
• Eliminating teen access to alcohol.
• Graduated driver’s licensing program.

Maryland had strict driving laws for teenagers including:
• A teen driver must have a provisional license for six months before he or she can apply for a provisional license.
• A Maryland teen driver must undergo at least 60 hours of driving practice with someone 21-years-old or older who has had a driver’s license for at least 3 years.
• 10 of the practice driving hours must happen at night.

Teen crashes more likely to kill others, WIVB.com, March 2, 2009

Maryland Teen Driving Laws, About.com

Related Web Resources:
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Maryland Website for Parents of Young Drivers

Continue reading "AAA Says Most Teen Driving Accident Victims are Other Motorists, Vehicle Occupants, and Pedestrians" »

In Washington DC, the father of eight-year-old twin boys is suing the DC Water and Sewer Authority for $200 million. John Parkhurst says that his children have learning and behavioral problems because they were affected by the high levels of lead present in the city’s waters from 2001 through 2004. Parkhurst, who filed his personal injury case in DC Superior Court, hopes that the case will become a class-action lawsuit.

According to the DC injuries to minors lawsuit, when his sons were babies they were fed formula and food that were mixed with tap water. At age 2, the boys had a medical checkup that revealed signs of lead poisoning. Parkhurst's complaint accuses WASA officials of concealing the fact that the elevated levels of lead in DC waters would eventually prove to be a serious health concern.

Just this year, a new study found that about 42,000 District children were exposed to high levels of lead in the city’s tap water from 2000 to 2003. Many of these children would have been under 3 years of age or in their mothers’ wombs at the time.

Lead Exposure
Lead exposure can cause different degrees of developmental and behavioral problems in kids. Some of the effects can range from irritability, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity to growth delays, learning and reading problems, permanent brain damage, and death.

Common causes of lead poisoning include lead in paint chips from buildings and the dust in the surrounding soil. Also, in the last couple of years, toy manufacturers have announced massive recalls of some popular products after discovering that a number of toys, many of them made in China, had been manufactured using excessive levels of lead.

If your son or daughter became ill or was injured because of exposure to a hazardous or toxic product, you may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit or products liability claim on their behalf.

Lead in Water Harmed Sons, D.C. Man Claims, The Washington Post, February 18, 2009

Lead Exposure In Children Affects Brain And Behavior, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Related Web Resources:
Childhood Lead Exposure, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

High Lead Levels Found in D.C. Kids, Washington Post, January 27, 2009