Maryland Accident Law Blog

An autopsy conducted on the body of a man found in a downtown Baltimore apartment building trash chute indicates his injuries are “consistent with a bad fall,” says the police department and reports the Baltimore Sun. Also, police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi says that if another person had inserted the body into the chute, there would have been “more signs {of a struggle} on the body.” Homicide detectives and the state medical examiner are continuing to investigate his death.

Building employees found the man's body on Thursday morning. According to police, the man seems to have fallen into the chute from around the 20th floor. The 26-floor building, located on N. Charles Street, houses offices and apartment units.

According to ex- and current tenants, each of the building’s trash chutes have a spring mounted door that must be pulled. The chute opening is approximately 3 feet high by 2 feet wide. It opens at an angle. One resident says that he usually must “push a little” to get a regular-sized garbage bag to go through the chute opening.

Trash Chute Accidents
In the event that someone falls through a garbage chute because it was poorly designed or faulty in some other way, the injured party may have grounds for a Maryland products liability and/or Baltimore premises liability. Property owners must make sure that there are no hazards on the premise that could cause serious Baltimore personal injuries.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that someone has been injured from falling down a trash chute. In February, a 38-year-old man accidentally fell into his apartment complex trash chute. According to the county coroner, the man was trapped upside down in the chute for a long time and died from suffocation. Last year, another man died after falling down a narrow garbage chute. He was drunk at the time.

Police: Man found dead in trash chute may have fallen, Baltimore Sun, August 13, 2010

Central IL man's trash chute death an accident, KMOV, February 5, 2010

Jersey City man plunges 25 stories to death down NYC trash chute, NJ.com, April 13, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Products Liability, Nolo

Premises Liability, Justia

Continue reading "Maryland Fall Accident?: Police Probe Death of Man Discovered in Trash Chute" »

Robin Vanderlip says she suffers from Foreign Accent Syndrome because she was injured in a Maryland fall accident three years ago. The 42-year-old says that because a handrail at the conference center in Chevy Chase was faulty, she fell backwards down a staircase and hit her head.

Vanderlip, who is American, claims that because of her head injury, she had a stroke and now can only speak with a Russian accent. She also suffers from fatigue and memory problems.

The single mother of two is seeking over $1 million in Maryland personal injury compensation from the National 4-H Council. Meantime, she continues to undergo treatment at the University of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health. Vanderlip says that her daughter is embarrassed by her foreign accent.

Foreign Accent Syndrome
This rare brain disorder causes people to speak with an accent that sounds different from their native tongue and can be triggered by a brain trauma. According to ABC News, one woman, CindyLou Romberg, was diagnosed with FAS 15 years after she fell out of a moving truck and sustained a depressed skull. She recovered from her serious brain injury and could speak normally until in 2006 when she went to see a chiropractor and lost her voice for two days.

When Romberg's voice returned, her American accent had disappeared and she could only speak English with a foreign accent. According to neuroscientist Julius Fridriksson, Romberg may have experienced decreased blood supply to the brain during manipulation, which could have resulted in FAS.

The first case of FAS was reported during World War II and involved a Norwegian woman who woke up from a coma with a German accent after she got hit in the head by shrapnel. Her countrymen alienated her because of her accent.

Woman says fall changed her accent, The Washington Post, May 24, 2010

US woman with Russian accent suffers from 'Foreign Accent Syndrome', UK Telegraph, May 30, 2010

Foreign Accent Syndrome Gives Sufferers an International Sound, ABC/Good Morning America, November 13, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Foreign Accent Syndrome

National 4-H Council

Investigators are trying to determine what caused a fatal fire to break out at Cecil County townhouse early Saturday. While 29-year-old Jewel Johnson was able to escape through a second-story window, three of her four young children were not as lucky.

Neighbors say they couldn’t rescue the children, who were screaming for help, because the flames were too high to walk across. Johnson’s oldest son, age 10, wasn’t there that night.

Following her rescue, Johnson was transported to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center where she is being treated for smoke inhalation and burns. She was admitted in critical but stable condition.

According to Maryland State Fire Marshal spokesperson Bruce Bush, the fire started in the first-floor living room. The townhouse, built in 1974, did not have sprinklers. Fire crews have yet to determine whether the smoke detector alarms went off after the blaze broke out.

Maryland Premises Liability
Property owners are supposed to make sure that there are no fire hazards on a premise. Appropriate fire prevention measures and warning systems must also be in place so that in the event a fire does break out, residents, patrons, visitors, and others can attempt to douse the flames and/or escape in time. You may be able to file a Maryland premises liability lawsuit against a negligent landlord, business owner, or another responsible parties.

Burn Injuries
Burn injuries are incredibly painful and disfiguring and can also lead to nerve damage, internal injuries, respiratory injuries, muscle injuries, shock, depression, electrolyte imbalance, infections, physical deformity, and death. The medical treatments required can be extensive and costly.

3 children killed in Cecil Co. townhouse fire, Baltimore Sun, May 15, 2010

3 Children Die In Cecil Co. Fire, WJZ, May 15, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Burn Survivor Resource Center

Smoke Detectors and Sprinkler Systems, Peoples-Law.org

Continue reading "Cecil County Townhouse Fire Kills Three Young Children and Leaves Mother with Maryland Burn Injuries" »

Four years after a 14-year-old girl was fatally electrocuted at a softball field on Druid Hill, her loved ones are considering whether to seek a motion asking a court reevaluate its decision to dismiss the Maryland wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Baltimore. Green, a Deer Park Middle School student, died on May 5, 2006 when she was electrocuted while stretching against a steel fence before a church league softball game.

The fence was in contact with an underground power line. Green grabbed hold of another fence and her body completed completed an electrical circuit. She was knocked down immediately and never regained consciousness.

In 2009, Green’s family filed a Maryland wrongful death complaint against the city of Baltimore, Del Electric Inc., and Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. A judge later dismissed the case against the city and BGE.

Now, the family’s Baltimore wrongful death attorneys are saying that on more than one occasion the city hired Del Electric to deal with electrical problems that took place at the field prior to Green’s death. Their attorney contends that this new information sheds additional light on the role that the city of Baltimore may have played as the owner of the premise where Green died. The family also says that following her death, the city never took steps to rework the electrical system at the field.

Electrocution Accidents
Maryland electrical shock accidents can result in serious injuries, including burn injuries, brain damage, heart damage, muscle damage, nerve damage, and tissue damage. If you or someone you love was electrocuted on another party’s property and the premise owner was negligent in causing the injury accident, you may have grounds for filing a Maryland premises liability or wrongful death case. Signs of electrical shock include burns, respiratory failure, spinal cord injury, cardiac arrest, headaches, hearing problems, unconsciousness, tingling, weakness, numbness, seizures, muscle pain, broken bones, deformity, and heart arrhythmia.

Answers Sought In Girl's Death, Baltimore Sun, September 9, 2010

Family of Girl Electrocuted at Baltimore Softball Field to Return to Court, ABC2, May 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Electrical Injuries, eMedicine

City of Baltimore, Maryland

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 family of truck driver John Short has amended their Maryland wrongful death complaint to include the state as a defendant. Short died in a truck crash in August 2008 when he swerved his tractor-trailer to avoid another vehicle, crashed into a bridge wall, and drove off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

In June, the 57-year-old trucker’s family filed a $7 million Maryland wrongful death lawsuit against 19-year-old Candy Lynn Baldwin, who had fallen asleep while driving.

While Baldwin, who had been drinking before the tragic Maryland truck crash, did not have a blood alcohol level high enough for her to be charged with drunk driving, Short’s family says her results would have been different if authorities had tested her BAC right after the truck collision. They have pointed to her MySpace page, which included pictures of Baldwin, a minor, drinking alcohol. One photo shows her holding a bottle of alcohol while she’s seated in the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle.

Now, Short’s family is also suing the state of Maryland for wrongful death. They are citing poor maintenance and inspection of the bridge. While the walls are there as a protective barrier, they obviously weren’t enough to keep Short’s large truck from crashing into the water. Their wrongful death complaint also contends that the two-way traffic allowed the bridge has led to a number of fatalities.

Since the fatal truck collision that claimed Short’s life, Maryland has spent $3 million repairing and inspecting the bridge’s sidewalls.

Truck Accidents Involving Truck Driver Victims
While the majority of truck accident fatalities are the people who weren’t riding in the large trucks when the catastrophic traffic collisions happened, truck drivers do get injured or killed in truck crashes that are caused by other negligent parties.

Md. Named In Fatal Bay Bridge Crash Suit, WJZ, December 12, 2009

Trucker's Family Sues Over Bay Bridge Fatal Crash, ABC2News.com

Related Web Resources:
Maryland

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

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

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

In Baltimore County last Wednesday, three women, an 18-month-old boy, and an 11-year-old boy were transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. All five victims live in the first block of Cove Village Complex, a townhouse community.

Readings showed approximately 85 parts per million of the gas close to an upstairs bedroom and 74 parts per million in the downstairs area. Most CO detectors go off at around 35 parts per million.

According to the Baltimore County Fire Department, this is not the first time that CO poisoning has been an issue at the complex. In July 2005, a 48-year-old resident and his two stepdaughters, ages 15 and 14, died in their home. The tragic accident occurred because a hot-water heater had a faulty pipe. In August 2005, nine people were rushed to a hospital after suffering from symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning.

There are now carbon monoxide alarms throughout the complex. Last year, however, the fire department was called to Maryland townhouse complex 20 times because the alarms went off.

The unit where Wednesday’s incident occurred is owned by Sawyer Reality Holdings LLC.

Carbon Monoxide
CO often goes undetected, which is one of the reasons it claims so many lives. It continues to be the number one cause of accidental poison deaths in the US. Exposure to carbon monoxide for an extended period of time can lead to brain damage and death.

Earlier this month, a family staying in an Ocean City, Maryland condominium had to evacuate the premise when they started feeling sick because of a carbon monoxide leak. Firefighters say the level of carbon monoxide was over 1,000 parts per million. A mother, father, two grandchildren, and two grandparents were treated and released from Atlantic General Hospital.

Three years ago, a father and his 10-year-old died in Ocean City at a Days Inn because of a carbon monoxide leak. The man’s widow filed a $30 million Maryland wrongful death lawsuit against several defendants and a settlement was reached this April.

A property manager that fails to properly maintain a premise can be held liable for Maryland premises liability if a carbon monoxide leak causes someone to get sick or sustain a brain injury.

5 hospitalized with CO exposure symptoms, Examiner.com, June 25, 2009

Pa. family made sick by toxic gas in condominium, DelMarvaNw.com, June 18, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, EMedicineHealth.com

Premises Liability Overview, Justia

Continue reading "Baltimore County Fire Department Says Latest Carbon Monoxide Not the First Involving Essex Townhouse Community" »

In Maryland, a woman is suing Ocean City, the Ocean City Convention and Visitors Bureau, and ThyssenKrupp Elevator Company for personal injury over an escalator accident that occurred in May 2006. Rebecca Beall filed her Maryland premises liability lawsuit in US District Court.

Beall was a high school student at the time of the escalator accident that injured her and several other students from her school band. The band was in Ocean City to attend the Youth Music Competition taking place at the Convention Center.

On May 5, 2006 the escalator they were riding to the next floor stopped abruptly and began moving in the opposite direction. A number of students fell and some of them were taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries.

In her Maryland personal injury complaint, Beall contends that she sustained serious injuries when students that fell pinned her to the escalator that was still moving. Her face, shoulder, and scalp became lacerated, and she now suffers from anxiety, post-traumatic migraine disorders, and has an escalator phobia. She also suffers from migraines, serious headaches, chills, nausea, blackouts, shaking, and is sensitive to light and sound.

Beall is seeking $500,000 from the defendants. Her Maryland civil lawsuit alleges negligence and contends that defendants knew or should have known that the escalator was experiencing problems before the escalator accident yet failed to act to repair the issues to remove its safety hazards. A year after the accident, an independent inspector assessed the escalator’s condition and found that it had worn and failing gear parts.

According to a 2005 CBS News report, almost 10,000 people a year sustain escalator injuries serious enough to warrant hospital emergency room care. Common kinds of escalator accidents include those involving:

• Sudden stops
• Slip and fall accidents
• Fall accidents
• Metal teeth on the escalator coming loose
• Hands, clothing, feet, or shoes getting caught in the escalator

$500K Lawsuit Filed In OC Escalator Fall, MDCoastDispatch.com, May 29, 2009

Danger On The Escalator, CBS News, February 17, 2005

Related Web Resources:
Thousands Injured in Escalator, Elevator Accidents, NewsInferno.com, May 14, 2008

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" »

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

In Maryland, the family of a heart patient who died while trapped in a hospital bathroom has reached a wrongful death settlement with Washington Adventist Hospital. Jose Valladares died in 2006.

He went to the bathroom in his room and locked the door. He experienced a cardiac event while using the toilet. The heart monitor he was using showed that his heart rate had decreased.

Hospital staffers in the area were unable to unlock the door immediately because they didn’t have a key. EMS workers and the Montgomery County Fire department broke down the door a number of minutes later but by then Valladares was already dead.

He had been admitted to the Takoma Park hospital just four days before. Washington Adventist Hospital has said that soon after Valladares’s death, all locks were taken off the bathroom doors in the hospital.

Maryland hospitals and nursing homes are supposed to make sure that there are no hazards or unsafe conditions on the premise that could cause injury or death to patients, residents, and visitors. Sick, mentally challenged, elderly, and frail residents are also more susceptible to injury in certain situations than healthier, younger people, which is why long-term care facilities, hospitals, and medical centers must make sure that they make allowances for all possible eventualities to keep everyone safe from harm.

Examples of hazards that could be grounds for a premises liability lawsuit against a hospital or a nursing home:

• Slippery or uneven floors
• Defective beds
• Inadequate security
• Staircases lacking the appropriate handrails
• Exposure to hazardous substances or unsanitary conditions

Family of trapped bathroom patient settles with hospital, WTOP.com, April 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Washington Adventist Hospital

Premises Liability Overview, Justia

A Maryland wrongful death settlement has been reached between a woman whose husband and 10-year-old daughter died after being exposed to CO and the Bay Shore Development Corp, Heat Transfer Products, R.E. Michel Co., and All About Plumbing. Yvonne Boughtner’s carbon monoxide lawsuit had sought $30 million in damages.

In 2006, Yvonne was on vacation with her husband Patrick, 30 and their daughters Kelly, 10, and Morgan when carbon monoxide started leaking from a disconnected water heater pipe at the at the Days Inn Hotel in Ocean City. Patrick and Kelly died in the hotel room, while Yvonne and Morgan were transported to Baltimore where they were admitted to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

A fire marshal report noted that the heater right under the family’s room was leaking CO. The heater was reportedly only meant for residential use and not for commercial use.

Yvonne's first 911 call reportedly garnered a delayed response by emergency officials because they got her call confused with another call made from the hotel by another family. She called them again four hours later, but by the time the emergency team got there her daughter and husband were no longer alive. According to Ocean City, the emergency responders did nothing wrong.

Yvonne filed her Maryland wrongful death lawsuit in February 2008. Since then, the defendants have filed a number of counter-claims blaming each other for the deadly accident. The terms of the out-of-court settlement with Yvonne are confidential.

According to a local government Web site, the health effects of exposure to carbon monoxide (depending on the degree of concentration) can include:

• Fatigue in people who are healthy
• Cheat pains in people suffering from heart disease
• Headaches
• Impaired vision
• Poor coordination
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Death, which can even occur if the person is exposed to concentrations under 1%.

Following the deaths of Patrick and Kelly, Maryland's Ocean City now requires that new houses, hotels, and condos have carbon monoxide detectors.

If you or someone you love was seriously injured on another party’s premise because there was a hazardous toxin or another condition on the premise that could have and should have been remedied, you may have grounds for filing a Maryland premises liability claim or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Settlement reached in carbon monoxide suit, Delmarvanow.com, April 7, 2009

Hotel settles suit over Lebanon County pair's deaths, PennLive.com, April 1, 2009

Quick Facts on Carbon Monoxide, EDC.gov.us

In Washington County Circuit Court, a woman whose mother died in a 2006 fire is suing a tobacco company and the landlord of the property where the fatal accident occurred. Dawn Bunch’s Maryland wrongful death lawsuit is seeking $30 million against Barbara Bristow, who owns the property where she and her mother, Linda Ford, lived and Lorillard Tobacco Company.

Bunch is accusing the tobacco company of acting negligently when it manufactured, sold, and brought cigarettes into the marketplace—the product that caused her mother’s fatal injuries. She also accuses Lorillard of making a tobacco product that was an unreasonable fire risk. Bunch points out that the company could have made self-extinguishing cigarettes. As for defendant Bristow, the plaintiff alleges she breached the duty of care she owed her tenants when she failed to provide them with fire protection or warning devices in their mobile home rental.

Ford, 58, died after a fire broke out in her mattress and caused her hair to catch fire. She reportedly went looking for water to douse the flames but a maintenance worker had shut down the water at their mobile home.

Bunch was also injured in the fire. She was treated at a local Maryland hospital for smoke inhalation and second-degree burns. She is seeking $10 million for lost wages and earning capacity, medical expenses, pain, mental trauma, and disfigurement. She is also seeking $10 million for her mother’s physical pain and suffering, under Maryland’s Survival Statute, and $10 million, under Maryland’s Wrongful Death Statute, for mental anguish caused by her mother’s death, funeral costs, and exemplary and punitive damages.

Premises Liability
Landlords owe their tenants a duty of care to make sure that a premise is safe to live in. When inadequate safety measures or hazards exist on the property that lead to injuries or death, the property owner or manager can be held liable under Maryland’s premises liability law.

Landlord, tobacco firm sued in woman's death, The Herald-Mail, February 25, 2009

Premises Liability, Justia

Related Web Resource:
Lorillard Tobacco Company

This year, the Court of Appeals of Maryland will hear Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc., a lead-paint lawsuit involving serious injuries to a now 13-year-old girl. In 2007, a Baltimore jury issued a Maryland personal injury verdict ordering the family’s landlord to pay the family of Kelly Green $2.3 million. Because of the state’s non-economic damages statutory cap, however, the judge that presided over the premises liability trial lowered the award to $515,000.

The case continues a years-long battle over the legitimacy of Maryland’s cap, which is $710,000 for claims filed after October 1, 2008. Claims filed before then have a non-economic damages cap of $695,000. Also at issue is whether the cap is preventing children who are seriously injured because of exposure to lead paint from recovering more compensation.

For example, in 2006, two children who experienced lead poisoning were awarded $7 million by a jury. Due to the non-economic damages cap, that part was lowered to $700,000. In 2003, a jury awarded two other kids $2.2 million for non-economic damages, which were also reduced because of the Maryland cap.

Kelly v. N.B.S. Inc.
In this latest case, Celestine Green was pregnant with Kelly when she moved into a residence on Montpelier street beginning January 1995. As a young child, Kelly would eat chips of lead paint off her home’s walls.

At 10 months, Kelly’s lead level was already just one unit below the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's “action level” of 10. In December 2006, her lead level readings registered at 12 and 15.

Kelly's family claims that the girl has physical and mental impairments, as well as a decreased IQ, because of her exposure to lead paint. There is also the chance that if she has kids, they could be poisoned by the lead in her body.

Lead Paint Exposure
Exposure to lead paint can lead to serious injuries if the paint is ingested. Kids are not only susceptible to lead paint that can be found on older structures, but high levels of lead were recently discovered in many consumer products, including furniture and toys. Millions of toys and other products with high levels of lead have been recalled to prevent kids from becoming the victims of lead poisoning.

Lead-paint case the latest battleground in war over limit on non-economic damages, Maryland Daily Record, December 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Court of Appeals of Maryland

Lead Poisoning in Children, Family Doctor

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Continue reading "Court of Appeals of Maryland to Hear Lead-Paint Lawsuit" »

Two Wal-Mart shoppers are suing the retail store for personal injury. Fritz, 51, and 19-year-old Jonathan Mesadieu say they sustained back and neck injuries after they got caught in the crowd of people stampeding into a Wal-Mart store during last week's Black Friday shopping rush.

Some 2,000 shoppers reportedly broke through the glass door and rushed into the building at around 5am on November 28. The Mesadieus’ personal injury lawyer says the two men were carried from where they were standing by the throng of people. They are now are experiencing back and neck pain.

Also, temporary Wal-Mart employee Jdimytai Damour died in the same stampede after he was crushed to death while he and other workers tried to open the store doors for the shoppers. Autopsy results indicate that the 34-year-old died of asphyxiation. Video footage shows up to a dozen people getting knocked to the ground as shoppers pushed their way into the Wal-Mart store. Damour was reportedly stepped on by hundreds of people.

The Mesadieus' personal injury lawsuit accuses Wal-Mart of recklessness, carelessness, and negligence. The father and son have also filed a claim against local police. They are saying that their injuries is causing them to suffer monetary damages in the form of legal and medical expenses in the range of $2 million.

Their personal injury attorney says that Wal-Mart failed to exercise reasonable care, including putting up barriers, improved police presence, and bringing in more security, that could have prevented the Mesadieus' injuries from happening, The Mesadieus say they saw police at the scene but that they left. Lt. Kevin Smith, however, says it was the store’s responsibility to provide security on Black Friday.

There have been other personal injury lawsuits filed by customers against Wal-Mart in the past. Five shoppers sued the retail chain in 1999 for injuries they say they sustained because other shoppers were rushing to buy Furby dolls. Another shopper sued Wal-Mart three years ago because she said that two other customers pushed her and pulled at her neck when she tried to cut in line.

Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart, CNN.com, December 2, 2008

Experts: Trampling death may be hard to prosecute, Newsday.com, December 2, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

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In Maryland, a man who previously sought medical treatment at Sinai Hospital for depression is suing the hospital and security guard Timothy Hough for $77 million. The former patient, Gerrod Lewis, says that Hough assaulted him in the hospital emergency room on Labor Day.

Sinai Hospital acknowledges that an unfortunate altercation happened but maintains that Hough was “defending himself” against Louis, who they accuse of being “violent and out-of-control.” Hough continues to work at the hospital.

According to Lewis’s Maryland personal injury lawsuit, Hough started beating him on the head after he refused to remove his earring. Lewis maintains that the assault occurred in an exam room after an emergency technician left him alone with Hough. Lewis, who sustained head and eye injuries from the incident that occurred on September 1, alleges that Hough struck him about 20 times until he was on the ground in “puddles of blood.”

Following an investigation by Baltimore police, Hough was charged with attempted first-degree assault, attempted second-degree murder, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment. Since then, however, Baltimore city prosecutors have dropped the attempted murder charge.

Hough has filed a second-degree assault charge against Lewis, accusing him of verbal abuse, spitting on his face, and approaching him in a threatening manner. Hough says his actions toward Lewis were acts of “self-defense.”

Premises Liability
If you were assaulted on another party’s premise and the property owner or manager should have or could have acted to prevent the incident, you may be entitled to personal injury compensation. Premises liability law holds property owners liable for injuries or deaths that could have (or should have) been prevented.

Video Could Be Crucial In Sinai Lawsuit, WBALTV.com, October 20, 2008

Patient sues for assault, BaltimoreSun.com, October 18, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Sinai Hospital, LifeBridge Health

Premises Liability, Justia

Two kids suffered burn injuries in Washington DC on Monday during a fire accident on a playground at the Columbia Heights Village Apartment Complex. Neighbors blame careless workers for leaving a can of gasoline at the playground.

Police say that a boy was playing with the can of gas when the fire started. A little girl sitting on a bench got burned and was later hospitalized. Neighbors say they called emergency crew members when they heard screaming.

According to The Burn Institute:

• Children younger than 5 are two times as likely as other people to die in a fire accident.
• Children are at highest risk of dying from their burn injuries.
• Playing with fire is the number one cause of death for very young children.
• 18-month old toddlers have been known to start serious fires.

Property owners and managers and those in charge of overseeing job sites, public events, public areas, and other premises frequented by kids, patrons, employees, visitors, and others are supposed to make sure that there are no unsafe conditions on a premise that can lead to serious injuries or deaths.

Common causes of fire injures to children younger than 15:

• Fireworks
• Ovens
• Curling irons
• Heaters
• Matches and lighters
• Hot liquids and hot foods
• Household appliances
• Defective electrical products

Kids Playing with Fire Leave Two Hurt in D.C., MyFoxDC.com, September 2, 2008

Burn Injury Fact Sheet, CT Safe Kids

Related Web Resources:

The Burn Institute

Fire Deaths and Injuries: Fact Sheet, CDC

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In Maryland, the family of Cassandra Blake, is suing Cedar Towers Apartment, American Pool Enterprises, Inc., American Pool Management Inc., Doug Kusher Co., and Westminster Management for $100 million for her wrongful death.

The 23-year-old Baltimore County woman died in 2005 after drowning in the Cedar Towers Apartment complex swimming pool. The lawsuit contends that the lifeguards that were on duty at the time of the accident were unqualified and had only one week’s worth of training.

Blake was visiting a friend at the Cedar Towers complex, and she had gone to the pool with her son, her sister, and other kids. A lifeguard and security guard reportedly told her it was okay to use the pool. At some point, Blake, who could not swim, either fell or was pushed into the deep end of the pool where she drowned.

According to the lawsuit, the children called to the lifeguard for help. Because the pool was murky, he had to use goggles to find Blake. He was unable to resuscitate her. The plaintiffs contend that the lifeguard was not qualified to do his job, that more lifeguards should have been provided, and the pool was poorly maintained, causing the murky water and unsafe conditions to result in Blake’s drowning death. The lawsuit accuses American Pool of hiring Jamaicans to train lifeguards for a week and that even the trainees that didn’t pass the tests were issued licenses.

If you or someone you love died in a pool drowning accident in Maryland, an experienced Baltimore personal injury lawyer can determine whether you have grounds to file a wrongful death claim against a negligent party. A pool that is poorly maintained or lacks the proper safety measures is considered a premise liability if someone is injured or killed as a result.

OCHealthinfo.com offers a list of potentially hazard conditions that could render a pool unsafe for use:

• Defective, loose, or missing drain covers.
• Murky water that makes it difficult to see the main drain at the bottom of the pool.
• Inaccurate or missing water depth markers.
• A nonfunctioning or defective recirculation system.
• Human feces or a dead animal in the pool.

Drowned woman's kin file lawsuit, BaltimoreSun.com, August 15, 2008

Pool Safety Issues, OCHealthinfo.com

Related Web Resources:

Health and Safety Tips, American Red Cross

American Red Cross Lifeguarding