Maryland Accident Law Blog

NTSB Calls for Better Injury Accident Prevention Measures to Protect Metro Train Workers

January 24, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to implement proper safeguards to protect workers on train tracks.

Among its recommendations, the safety board suggested that Metro implement pre-work briefings, conduct surprise inspections, and immediately install new technology that automatically warns track employees when trains are approaching and lets train operators know that there are workers in the area.

The safety board’s assessment follows two deadly train accidents that claimed the lives of three train track workers. In two separate incidents in 2006, three Metro employees died after being hit by Metrorail trains. During both accidents, the Operations Control Center only announced one time to train operators that workers were on the tracks.

One of the fatal accidents involved Jong Won Lee, a senior mechanic, who died after he was hit by a Red Line train in May 2006. In the other accident, on November 30, 2006, train operator Lynne Harris did not ask for permission to leave her last stop, failed to slow down, and may have been using her cell phone while operating the train. Track inspectors did not properly watch out for the train. Track workers Leslie Cherry and Matthew Brooks died from their injuries.

It wasn’t until after the November 2006 accident that Metro mandated that announcements be made every 20 minutes to informi train operators that workers were on the tracks.

Metro believes that implementing protection policies and making sure that they are followed will create a strong safety culture for train workers. Between 2001 and 2006, about 1.5 train worker fatalities have occurred involving Metro trains.

If someone you is a train employee who was injured while working on the train tracks, you should speak with a Maryland or Washington D.C. personal injury lawyer who is experienced in dealing with train accident injuries and is familiar with FELA, the Federal Employees Liability Act, which allows train workers to seek injury compensation.

Being struck by a train is often fatal. And the injuries that can be sustained if the injury victim survives can be catastrophic. Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, neck and back injuries, massive internal injuries, and broken bones can result.

Safety Procedures Not Followed, NTSB Says, Washington Post, January 24, 2008
NTSB: Metro’s culture deadly, Examiner.com, January 24, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

National Transportation Safety Board

Maryland to Close Rosewood Center After Multiple Reports of Neglect and Abuse

January 21, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Rosewood Center, a Maryland facility for the developmentally disabled located in Baltimore County, will close in the next year and a half. The decision by the state to shut down the facility comes in the wake of reports of serious cases of abuse and neglect over the past several years. The decision to shut down Rosewood was announced by Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley on January 15.

In December, Maryland’s Office of Health Care Quality reported 130 cases of neglect, abuse, mistreatment, and injuries at the center over an 8-week period. Unnecessary restraints, wrong medication doses, missed feedings of residents that were intubated, and assaults between residents are some of the abusive and neglectful incidents that reportedly occurred.

About 150 people live at Rosewood, which opened in 1888 as the Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded. At one point, the center had 3,700 residents.

Last year, however, new admissions were banned at Rosewood three times. Poor conditions at the center have placed it at risk of losing its federal funding.

In February 2007, the Maryland Disability Law Center issued a report about Rosewood that included information about injuries, neglect, and the unnecessary and lengthy isolation of some of its residents.

Workers at Rosewood claim the abuse reports are exaggerated. They worry that residents will be traumatized because they have to leave the facility. Patients will be placed in group homes or released to guardians over the next 18 months.

Nursing home abuse and Neglect

State residential homes are supposed to provide its residents with proper medical and residential care. A failure to do so violates the law and can also be grounds for a nursing home abuse lawsuit.

If you believe that someone you love has been abused or neglected while staying at a residential care facility, you should talk to a Washington D.C. or Maryland nursing home abuse law firm right away. Physical and emotional injuries and even death can result because of the abuse or neglect and the law entitles your injured loved one to nursing abuse compensation.

State to Shutter Home for Disabled, Baltimore Sun.com, January 15, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Rosewood Center: A Demand for Closure, Maryland Disability Law Center, February 1, 2007 (PDF)

Rosewood Center, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Maryland Family Files Medical Malpractice Complaint In Woman’s Blood Clot-Related Death

January 17, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Maryland, the surviving family members of Nicole Letrice Smith,22, filed a medical malpractice complaint saying that the improper medical care that Smith received at Union Memorial Hospital following a 2006 car accident was the cause of her death. The complaint was filed with the state’s Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office and the family plans to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Smith was injured in a car accident when a Johns Hopkins pathologist driving the wrong way on the freeway hit her car. The family claims that improper treatment resulted in her death when a blood clot traveled from her broken leg to her lungs.

The claim says that her doctors should have notified Smith, who was obese, taking birth control pills at the time, and immobile because of her broken leg, that she was at risk for blood clots.

Named as defendants in the complaint are Union Memorial Hospital, Yuhwan Hong, and Lew Schon. Schon treated Smith when she was admitted to the hospital on July 8, 2006 and Hong treated her later before discharging her from the hospital. Three days after her release, Smith had a heart attack and died.

The driver of the motor vehicle that smashed into Smith’s car, Dr. Todd B. Sheridan, pleaded guilty to DUI and automobile manslaughter. He will be sentenced in April.

It is up to your doctor to warn you of any potential side effects that can result from your treatment or care. If failure to do so results in injury or death, you should talk to a medical malpractice attorney about filing a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.

In order to receive medical malpractice compensation, you must file your claim or lawsuit before the statute of limitations ends. In Maryland, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice action is five years from the time the incident occurred or three years from when medical malpractice as the cause of injury or death is discovered. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims and lawsuits in Washington D.C. is three years.

If you or someone you love is the victim of medical malpractice in Washington D.C. or Maryland, you should contact a medical malpractice law firm immediately.

Family files malpractice complaint against hospital, Baltimore Sun, January 17, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Medical Malpractice Overview, Wrong Diagnosis, January 17, 2008
Medical Malpractice, Statute of Limitations

NTSB Says Design Error Caused Deadly 2007 Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

January 15, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The National Transportation Safety Board says that a design flaw is what led to undersized gusset plates holding the steel beams on Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota to snap and the bridge to collapse into the Mississippi River last August. More than 100 people were injured and 13 others were killed.

According to NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker, investigators discovered 16 fractured gusset plates—which were reportedly half the thickness that they need to be and were installed that way. Rosenker said investigators could not locate the design calculations to determine the source of the design flaw. He also stated that there was no evidence to indicate that corrosion, cracking, or other wear was responsible for the bridge collapse.

Investigators have suggested that a construction going on at the bridge at the time of the accident may have been put much weight and pressure on the bridge’s structure.

After the accident in August, Minnesota officials said that the eight-lane bridge, open since 1967, had passed inspections for years—albeit without flying colors. During a 2006 inspection, the Minneapolis Bridge rated a 4 out of 9 for its supporting structure, which was in reportedly poor condition.

As far back as 1990, the federal government had categorized the bridge as structurally deficient. The bridge, like many bridges built in the 1950’s and 1960’s, was missing the redundant protection needed to reduce the types of single structural failures that can cause the bridge to come crashing down.

When flaws in the design of a product results in serious injuries, the manufacturer of the product, the companies that installed or made the product available for use, and the person responsible for authorizing the product’s use can be held liable in a products liability lawsuit.

The owner of an unsafe premise—whether public or private—can also be held liable if a person is injured on a property because the premise itself or a condition on the premise was unsafe, hazardous, or improperly maintained. A premises liability lawsuit may even name a local, state, or federal government entity if the plaintiff has grounds to hold them responsible for the injuries or deaths.

NTSB: Minneapolis bridge that collapsed had design flaw, CNN.com, January 15, 2008
Design Flaw Said to Have Caused Minn. Bridge to Collapse, Washington Post, January 15, 2008
Minneapolis Bridge Had Passed Inspections, New York Times, August 3, 2007

Related Web Resource:

National Transportation Safety Board

Injured Maryland Father Mourns the Deaths of his Wife and Four Children in Drunk Driving Accident

January 11, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Daniel Griffin Jr. may be physically recovering from the injuries that he sustained in a deadly car crash involving a drunk driver in Ohio on December 30, but his life will never be the same.

Griffin lost his wife 36-year-old wife Bethany and four of his children, Jordan Griffin, 10, Vadie Griffin, 8 weeks, Haley Burkman, 10, and Lacie Burkman, 7 in the fatal crash. Two of Daniel’s other children, Sidney Griffin, and Beau Burkman, both age 8, were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio and later released.

Griffin and his family are from Parkville, Maryland. They were driving home after a holiday trip to Michigan when the minivan they were riding in was hit by a pickup truck driving the wrong way on Interstate 280.

The truck driver, 24-year-old Michael P. Gagnon, has been indicted on two counts of vehicular homicide and five counts of aggravated vehicular assault charges. Ohio police say that he blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal limit.

If convicted, Gagnon faces up to 50 years in prison.

Drunk driving is reckless, negligent, and dangerous behavior that can lead to serious injuries and the deaths of friends, family members, and strangers.

When a drunk driver injures or kills another person in a motor vehicle accident, not only will he or she face criminal charges, but the injured party or the family of the deceased can sue the driver for personal injury or wrongful death.

Don’t Drink and Drive

Obviously, if you are going to drink alcohol, the best way to avoid driving drunk is to not drive at all. In the event that driving is unavoidable, consider the following:

• Know your drinking limit.
• Accompany your drinking with food.
• Pace yourself.

• Avoid drinking anything if you are on any type of medication.

If your attempt to drink moderately fails, or when in doubt, consider taking a cab or asking someone else to drive you home.

Hundreds mourn Parkville family killed in crash, Baltimore Sun, January 11, 2008
Mich. man indicted in crash that killed 5, Baltimore Sun, January 11, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Impaired Driving, CDC

Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention

Multiple Failures by Cedars-Sinai Led to Heparin Overdose of Dennis Quaid’s Twins, Says State Probe

January 10, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Movie star Dennis Quaid says that Cedars Sinai Medical Center was not forthcoming about its role in the accidental Heparin overdose of his newborn twins.

. Quaid’s allegations follows the California Department of Public Health’s release of a 20-page report regarding the medical center’s handling of pediatric patients.

In the report, state inspectors accused Cedars-Sinai of multiple failures in the incident, including its failure to follow set rules and procedures when administering medication. California inspectors found that the center’s unsafe medication practices put all of its patients at risk of injury or death.

Other errors cited in the report included the failure by Cedars-Sinai pharmacy technicians and nurses to check product labels before dispensing Heparin and not keeping up-to-date and thorough records of when the drug was administered. Cedars-Sinai has 10 days to respond to the report.

Quaid’s son and daughter were administered overdoses of Heparin, a blood thinner, because they were given the wrong doses. The vial of Heparin that each twin was administered had 10,000 united per millimeter of the medication—the dosage used for adults—rather than the 10 units prescribed for infants.

Now, however, new information reveals that the twins were overdosed a second time within an eight hour period.The twins had to be treated with protamine to reverse Heparin’s effects.

Quaid and his wife Kimberly have already filed a products liability lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare, the drug maker of Heparin. The lawsuit claims that the similar packaging of the different doses makes it easy for hospital workers to mix one dose with the other.

If you or your child was injured at a Maryland or Washington D.C. hospital because of a prescription overdose caused by the negligence of a doctor, nurse, medical technician, or any other health care provider you should contact a medical malpractice law firm immediately.

State cites safety drug lapses at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2007
Drug mix-up outrageous, says Quaid, The Press Association, January 10, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Heparin Injection, MedlinePlus

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Motorcyclist Dies in Crofton, Maryland After Collision with SUV

January 8, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, a 52-year-old motorcyclist died yesterday evening after being struck by a Toyota 4-Runner on Defense Highway in Crofton.

John Carlton Winner, a Bowie resident, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead. Karleen Jeane Talbot, the SUV driver, was not injured in the deadly collision.

According to Anne Arundel police, the accident happened when Talbott tried turning left onto Defense Highway (from Priest Bridge Center). The motorcycle was heading up Defense Highway from the opposite direction. Talbot turned her SUV directly into the path of the 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which caused Winner to be thrown off.

Motorcycle accidents can be deadly accidents for the motorcyclist—even if he or she is wearing a helmet and the proper protective gear.

2006 Motorcycle Accident Statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

• There were 4,810 motorcycle fatalities in 2006.
• 88,000 motorcyclists were injured in accidents.
• Motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to die in a traffic collision than the occupant of car, truck, or bus, and eight times more likely to survive with sustain injuries.
• Speeding and drunk driving were among the most common causes of deadly motorcycle accidents.

• 47% of the people who died in motorcycle crashes were 40 years of age or older.

In Maryland and Washington D.C., anyone riding a motorcycle is required to wear a Department of Transportation-approved safety helmet. Across the U.S., 1,658 motorcyclists survived their crashes because they were using helmets.

Please contact a Maryland or Washington D.C. motorcycle accident lawyer if you or someone you love was seriously injured while riding a motorcycle because another driver was careless or reckless. The law entitles to you personal injury compensation. If you have lost a family member in a motorcycle crash, you may be entitled to receive wrongful death compensation.

Motorcyclist killed in crash in Arundel, Baltimore Sun.com, January 8, 2008
Motorcycle Crashes, Insurance Information Institute

Related Web Resources:

Maryland Motorcycle Roads

Motorcycle Riding Laws by State

Window Washer Who Fell 47 Stories Will File Personal Injury Lawsuit

January 4, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The man who survived the force of gravity when he fell 47 stories while getting ready to wash the windows of a Manhattan building plans to file a personal injury lawsuit against the company that installed the scaffolding that broke, as well as the skyscraper’s management company.

37-year-old window washer Alcides Moreno says it just wasn’t his time to die after he dropped more than 500 feet to land on the ground and lived to tell his tale.

The catastrophic work accident occurred on December 7 while Alcides and his brother Edgar were cleaning windows on the Upper East Side. Edgar died of his injuries.

Doctors say the fact that Alcides even survived is a miracle. He has already undergone nine surgeries and is starting to talk. More surgeries are expected.

Alcides arrived in the ER at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, abdominal injuries, chest injuries, and fractures to his legs, ribs, and one of his arms. He received 19 blood plasma units 24 units of blood. Alcides is expected to make a slow but substantial recovery.

According to the Department of Buildings, the scaffolding the two men were standing on fell because the cables connecting it to the roof snapped. The two brothers had previously voiced concerns about the safety conditions at the building, located on E. 66th St.

Solow Management Corp is the building’s management company and Trachtel Group is the company that installed the scaffolding. The Moreno brothers worked for City Wide Window Cleaning.

If you are seriously injury in a work accident anywhere in Maryland or Washington D.C., workers’ compensation guarantees you benefits to pay for medical expenses. However, this does not mean that you should not speak to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to make sure that you are receiving the maximum benefits for your injuries.

Although you cannot sue your employer for personal injury, there may be other parties that can be held liable for your injuries.

Family, NYC hospital officials describe window washer’s ‘miracle’ recovery, Newsday, January 3, 2008
Hurt window washer will sue, NY DailyNews, January 2, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Solow Management Corporation, NY Bites

Maryland Court Rules on Cancer Patient’s Wrongful Death, Saying There Was No Negligence in Missed Cancer Diagnosis

January 3, 2008 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A divided Maryland Court of Special Appeals says there is insufficient evidence to show that medical malpractice caused the death of Sherri Schaefer, who died of uterine cancer in 2005. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2001.

Schaefer’s husband, Charles Marcantonio, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Melissa Moen, a gynecologist at Women’s OB/GYN in Parole, Maryland.

In his lawsuit, Marcantonio claimed that Moen and Anne Arundel Diagnostics Inc.’s Dr. Paula Decandido did not conduct enough tests when his wife was first diagnosed with the disease.

Schaefer first went to the hospital in 2002 because she was experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding. Dr. Moen attributed the bleeding to hormone-replacement therapy. The bleeding continued for seven months. Following a biopsy, the ovarian cancer was discovered.

Marcantonio claims that Moen and Decandido missed a 1.5 cm. ovarian mass on the sonogram. Decandido is the one who interpreted the sonogram. Because of this, Schaefer’s diagnosis was delayed. Marcantonio says his wife’s chances of survival went down to 50-60 % from 80%.

Maryland’s second highest court, however, disagreed, and said that the plaintiff was unable to prove that any of the defendants acted negligently—resulting in Schaefer’s death.

According to Judge James P. Salmon of the Court of Special Appeals, “The major issue to be decided is whether proof that a health care provider was responsible for a twenty- to thirty-percent reduction in the decedent’s chance of survival is sufficient to prove that the malpractice caused the death. We shall hold that it is not.”

Medical malpractice and wrongful death cases can be challenging to prove. This is why it is so important that you hire a Maryland or Washington D.C. personal injury attorney to take on your case.

Losing someone you love is hard enough without having the cause of death be the carelessness or negligence of a physician. A wrongful death lawyer can file a lawsuit on your behalf to hold the negligent party or parties financially responsible.

Missed cancer diagnosis not negligence, The Daily Record, December 31, 2007
Wrongful death case hinged on mass allegedly missed in sonogram, Capital Online, December 28, 2007

Related Web Resource:

Liberia RPCV Sherri Schaefer dies in Annapolis, PeaceCorps, May 23, 2005

Family Says They Will Sue Cigna HealthCare for Daughter’s Transplant Delay

December 28, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family of Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old teenager who died just hours after CIGNA HealthCare reversed its decision and agreed to pay for her liver transplant, says they will sue the health insurer for her wrongful death.

Nataline had been fighting leukemia. Her liver failed because of a complication she developed after receiving a bone marrow transplant from her brother. Nataline had been in a vegetative state for weeks.

On December 11, Doctors at UCLA asked CIGNA HealthCare to approve her transplant. CIGNA HealthCare denied the request. They said the transplant procedure was experimental and not within its scope of coverage. Her family took her off life support on December 20.

Protestors stood outside CIGNA’s Glendale, California office to complain about their decision not to pay for the transplant. The healthcare company then changed its mind and decided to pay.

The survival rate of patients whose liver transplants were performed in the U.S.:

• The 1 year survival rate for patients who have a liver transplant is 85% in the US (University of Southern California’s Center for Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases)

• The 5 year survival rate for patients who have a liver transplant is 70% in the US (University of Southern California’s Center for Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases)

If you believe that a person or business contributed in any way to the death of your loved one, you should speak with a wrongful death lawyer right away. A wrongful death lawyer will know the proper steps to take to maximize your changes of recovery for the death of your loved one.

Family plans to sue Cigna HealthCare, STLtoday.com, December 22, 2007
Teen’s family plans to sue health insurer over transplant delay, Examiner.com, December 21, 2007
Prognosis of Liver conditions, WrongDiagnosis.com

Related Web Resource:

CIGNA