Maryland Accident Law Blog

D.C. District Court Ruling Upholds Assumption of Risk Defense to In-Home Construction Accident Lawsuit

December 10, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A recent District of Columbia federal district court case, Bell v. BUILDERS, Dist. Ct., Dist. Col. (2013), gives a helpful overview of the concept of Assumption of Risk as it relates to personal injury claims.

Construction had begun in February of 2009, and plaintiff elected to remain in her house during the construction. One morning in May of 2009, the plaintiff went down stairs in order to investigate a loud sound she had heard. She turned on the lights and walked through her kitchen to look out the sliding glass door into her backyard. Seeing several possums in the backyard, she decided to retrieve her camera from the living room to take some pictures. When she returned with her camera and opened the sliding glass door, she leaned out to take a picture of the animals, when her left ankle became twisted up in the drop cloth on the floor, causing her to fall out the door, and to suffer, “severe, painful, and permanent injuries.”

The plaintiff’s lawsuit stemmed from her assertion that by covering her kitchen floor with a drop cloth, the defendant construction company created a “dangerous and defective condition” that caused her to slip and fall and sustain her injuries. The defendants motioned for summary judgment, asserting the defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of the risk.

U.S. Court of Appeals Decision Affirms Necessity of Certification in Medical Malpractice Claims

December 3, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit recently made a decision that, while technically routine, has a substantial impact on the individual plaintiff.

The case, LITTLEPAIGE v. U.S., Ct. App. 4th Cir. (2013), was based on the alleged negligence in the care the plaintiff’s husband received at a VA hospital, which resulted in him suffering a hip fracture. The plaintiff’s husband had been placed on a special supervisory list/designation called “falls precaution,” due to his risk of injury. Yet, he was found on the floor twice, once resulting in a hip fracture, which required subsequent surgery, and caused him pain and suffering, among related claims.

The defendants in the case were granted a motion to dismiss the complaint, because the plaintiff failed to meet North Carolina’s certification requirement, mandatory in its medical malpractice claims.

D.C. Court of Appeals Upholds Jury Decision for Consumer in Baseball Mask Product’s Liability Case

November 25, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year on a products liability case that attempted to exclude expert testimony regarding defective product design, and implicate the defense of “assumption of risk” in a personal injury case.

The decision, Wilson Sporting Goods Co. v. Hickox, 59 A. 3d 1267 Ct. App. D.C. (2013), dealt with a baseball umpire who became permanently injured as a result of an allegedly defectively designed face mask that he was wearing. The plaintiff, Edwin Hickox, was given the mask by a Wilson representative at an annual retreat for Major League Baseball players. The representative claimed that the mask was a new, safer design.

Several months later, Hickox was wearing the mask while he worked behind the home plate during a game in Washington D.C. Towards the end of the game, he was struck in the mask with a foul ball, the impact of which gave him a concussion, and damaged a joint between the bones in his inner ear. As a result, he now suffers from mild to moderate permanent hearing loss.

Two Lawsuits Accuse Neurosurgeon of Malpractice Following Nerve and Other Injuries

November 18, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Two lawsuits were filed in recent months alleging that a Texas neurosurgeon caused two patients to suffer serious injuries following the surgeries that he performed on them.

The first lawsuit, which was filed in June, stated that the doctor was supposed to perform a specialized procedure on the plaintiff, but that when she awoke, she had completely lost function in her left quadriceps, preventing her from being able to bear any weight on her left leg.

According to her lawsuit, the woman underwent a second operation, intended to counteract the problems from the initial surgery. The second surgeon reported finding “severe malpositioning of the surgical implants,” which were responsible for causing injury to the plaintiff’s nerves. Despite the subsequent surgery, the plaintiff still reportedly suffers from chronic pain and difficulty walking.

Punkin Chunkin Considers Move Due to Liability Concerns

November 11, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The organizers of the popular Fall related event “Punkin Chunkin” are considering relocating out of Delaware due to concerns related to liability insurance and related costs.

The president of the Punkin Chunkin, which is a nonprofit organization, has begun to reconsider its location, taking into account its costs for services from governmental agencies (safety and parking coordination) within the state, in addition to liability limitations for lawsuits related to the festival’s activities. While the festival itself has reportedly grown by 56% over the past six years, the costs associated with the governmental agencies have reportedly grown some 600%. All proceeds from the event fund subsequent events, or are donated to various charities and/or scholarship funds.

Despite the costs of the various services, which also include on site emergency crews, organizers for the event acknowledge the need to have these agencies present on-site. The ability to respond immediately was mentioned specifically in regards to a car fire that occurred in the parking lot and an ATV accident in a past year.

Baltimore City Police Officer Convicted in Accidental Training Shooting

November 4, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The police officer responsible for the accidental shooting of a police academy trainee during a training exercise was convicted last month for his role in the accident. (For information regarding the civil lawsuit, see this blog post). The accident occurred during a simulation, when the officer drew his live gun, rather than the proper (harmless) simulation weapon.

Although the accident was reportedly unintentional, the verdict apparently hinged on the fact that the defendant should not have had his weapon “out of the field,” and in any event, any weapons used in training exercises are not supposed to be “live” or loaded with ammunition.

In this case, a training exercise in a police academy, the defendant brought his weapon into the simulation, which was conducted in an abandoned hospital. Then, when it was time to draw a weapon, rather than grabbing the simulated weapon, which was loaded with paintballs, he instead mistakenly drew his gun, firing a shot through a glass window, and injured an academy trainee.

Negligence Lawsuit Filed Following Movie Theater Death of Man with Down Syndrome

October 18, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A civil lawsuit was recently filed in the case of a man with Down Syndrome who was killed by Sheriff’s Deputies following a misunderstanding after his attempt to view a movie twice without paying.

The altercation happened last January, when the man and his caretaker had just finished watching a film. His caretaker left him out front to retrieve her car, and the man attempted to re-enter the theater to watch the film a second time. After a confrontation with the management, several Sheriff’s Deputies arrived. According to witness statements, deputies wrestled the man from his seat and onto the floor despite warnings from his caregiver that the man would “freak out” if they touched him, and requesting that they be able to “wait it out.” The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said, when they released the full incident report, that the man had resisted and swore at the officers.

The lawsuit states that he “died a violent, terrifying, and painful death” due to the alleged negligence of the theater and deputies.

Baltimore County School Bus Flips in Single Vehicle Accident

October 11, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A school bus accident on a Baltimore County road earlier this month led to at least ten middle school students escaping from emergency exits. The accident happened after the driver reportedly lost control of the bus, causing it to flip off of the side of the road.

The single vehicle accident occurred at nearly 7:30 a.m., and sent the bus nearly end-over-end. As a result, windows were smashed and a tree pierced the front left wheel well. It reportedly finally came to rest on its left side, nearly on its roof, in a gully full of brambles, trees, vines and other vegetation, its door pointed skyward.

The accident reportedly sent the bus driver and five students to local hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, according to a Fire Department spokesperson. According to a later statement from a school official, the worst injury sustained was reportedly a sprained ankle. The cause of the accident is unknown, and remains under investigation. Authorities plan to review coverage from the bus’s three onboard cameras, among other evidence.

Four Year Old Maryland Boy Accidentally Shoots Self

October 4, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that a four year old boy accidentally shot himself with a gun in a car parked in a driveway in La Plata last week.

The incident occurred in the early evening. According to deputies, a woman was reportedly watching her grandson play outside, and then the boy went into a parked car. The woman said she heard a gunshot and that the boy then ran to her. She saw the boy had a head wound, and immediately called 911.

The Sheriff’s Office said that the boy was flown to a hospital for treatment of a graze wound, and is expected to recover. Following a search, the police found a 9mm handgun in the parked car, which officers say is registered to a relative of the child. The incident remains under investigation.

Overuse of Cardiac Stents Associated with Serious Injuries and Death

October 1, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Patients and state regulatory boards alike are beginning to bring awareness to and concern over the alleged “binge”-like use of unnecessary coronary stents in the treatment of cardiac conditions.

In one case, a man received a total of 21 coronary stents over a period of eight months. In one procedure alone, the operating doctor tore a blood vessel, and as a result inserted five of the devices into a single artery. This information is according to the Texas Medical Board staff in a complaint. The complaint further states that the excessive and unnecessary stents weakened the man’s heart and exposed him to complications which included clots, blockages, and reportedly also his “ultimately death.” In that case, the doctor reportedly paid $10,000 and agreed to two years of additional oversight in order to settle the complaint for the man and other patients.

Cardiac stents are generally used to restore blood flow in patients who have suffered heart complications, such as heart attacks. In many cases, they are the best or only option for treatment. However, there is also a reported massive amount of so called elective stent surgery, which allegedly takes place at least on some level due to the immense payout to the individual doctors and hospitals by whom they are employed. According to court documents and other filings, the overuse of these devices has been associated with injury, death, and fraud. At least one expert believes that at two out of three elective stents are unnecessary, which equates to about one third of stent procedures overall.