Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog

Our Atlanta personal injury law firm has gone to court against all the major auto manufacturers. Vehicle design and manufacturing defects often lead to catastrophic injuries on the highways.

Still, it is shocking when a car manufacturer knows of a defect and delays recalls and warnings . USA Today (1/25, Healey) reports, "Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall." Toyota announced last Thursday a planned recall of 2.3 million vehicles, back to 2005 models, because the defect trend had picked up." If a defect is known then warnings or recalls should be mandatory.

Georgia and Atlanta cases against Toyota for sudden acceleration issues will be increasing now that the company has admitted the problem. Unfortunately, that will not help the people who were unnecessarily injured or killed.

It has come to light in the national news that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration had conducted a study which confirmed what most everyone knows: talking or texting on a cell phone is dangerous and increases the likelihood of an accident. According to the numerous news reports this federal agency withheld the findings out of concern that it would stir up a hornets nest in Congress. The thinking supposedly was that it would force political decisions about enacting legislation to limit or prevent cell phone use while driving. This follows recent events where train collisions have occurred while operators were supposedly texting.
While political considerations may interfere with safety regulations at the Federal or State level, including here in Georgia, there are no limitations on how this safety issue is handled in our Atlanta, Georgia serious injury truck and auto accident law firm. As part of every investigation we make in vehicle collision cases, we determine if the at-fault driver was distracted by cell phone use. When we file suit, we aggressively pursue this issue in discovery, which includes cross examining the driver and witnesses on the subject, subpoening cell phone records and taking all other measures to see if this played any part in the negligence of the driver.

The New York Times - July 20, 2009

Why should someone in Georgia be injured or die from a dangerous product already found defective? The house judiciary committee in Washington faces that question as they hold hearings on the "Sunshine in Litigation Act."

Do Courts seal too many documents? State and Federal Courts regularly allow documents to be sealed and injured parties silenced by confidentiality agreements when lawsuits are settled. A victim is in a weak bargaining position. A settlement may mean avoiding financial disaster following a life altering injury. Obviously, the manufacturer wants to keep the information from the public. Not a compelling argument for playing Russian roulette with the safety of the next victim of a defective product.

Our Atlanta injury law firm will monitor progress in these hearings and report on the results.

During the presidency of George W. Bush the rule of "Pre-Emption" was aggressively expanded.  This rule prevented many consumers and other citizens from bringing lawsuits for wrongs committed by drug makers, manufacturers and other corporations. The rule of pre-emption basically has held that where a federal agency has enacted a regulation that permitted the sale of a product, this would protect the maker of the product from being sued, even if the product was defective or negligently made, marketed or distributed. Obviously, this was grossly unfair to victims of corporate wrongdoing. The Obama administration has taken steps to overrule this grossly unfair legal priciple. This should now protect the public and allow meritorious lawsuits to be brought against wrongdoers. Our negligence/product liability Atlanta Law Firm has a long history of successfully representing victims in major cases who have been injured or killed through the fault of dangerous and defective products of all types.

Boston Globe - "Obama ends Bush-era lawsuit policy"

 

 

Georgia and U.S. consumers won a tremendous victory for fair compensation when injured by  defective and dangerous prescription drugs today. The United States Supreme Court held in a 6 to 3 decision that Food and Drug Administration drug approval does not prevent consumers from bringing lawsuits for negligent manufacture and labeling of these products. Wyeth v. Levine, No. 06-1249. March 4, 2009

At the same time Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has been pushing a 2009 bill in the Georgia legislature to shield negligent manufacturers from lawsuits. Sonny believes that a 300 year history of common law civil justice and the jury system should be scrapped in favor of defective product manufacturers. He argues that business interests would flock to a State that reduced their obligation to live by the rules of equal protection under the law. No joke!

If a conservative Supreme Court in Washington can appreciate the importance of the rule of law to a functioning society then what does that say about the current Georgia executive? Why not an exemption for drunk driver's on their way home from corporate and business functions? It could really help to lure business to Georgia!

Lawyers USA March 4, 2009

In case Georgia hospitals were not enough of a danger to surgical patients from infections, surgical errors and negligent hospital care there is a new and growing problem. Sudden fires
caused by high tech equipment in the oxygen rich operating rooms are causing an increase in surgical catastrophes.

Medical negligence claims for burn injuries from these deadly and preventable errors are rising in Georgia and across the nation. More technology in the OR means more fire burn injuries where there are high oxygen concentrations such as during general anesthesia. Surgical lasers have ignited oxygen tubing, and MRI machines have burned patients wearing smoking patches.

The problem is even worse due to the number of operations being conducted in centers outside of hospitals and in doctors offices. In these locations even the rules that govern hospitals (Joint Accreditation Commission on Hospital Accreditation) are often ignored.

Our Atlanta malpractice law firm would rather you be an informed patient than an injured client.

In Just a Flash, Surgery Can Turn Deadly Wall Street Journal, Feb. 18, 2009

Traffic and vehicle deaths fell sharply in Georgia and across the country in 2008.  NHTSA and the Governors Highway Safety Association studies found that more than 10,000 lives may have been saved. The reasons are not clear but the Wall Street Journal suggests that improved car safety, government design requirements, safer highway design and gas prices may all play a part.                     

What about all the families and personal injury lawyers who forced safer cars and roads through lawsuits? Their crash worthiness and secondary impact cases have been uncovering defects and forcing car manufacturers to build safer cars for decades making changes well beyond minimal regulatory requirements. Private personal injury lawsuits are one of the most effective safety protections and taxpayers do not bear the direct costs of these cases.     

Manufacturers and the government both had to be dragged to the courthouse by grieving families before seat belts, airbags, and head restraints became standard safety features. Defective door latch, seat back failures, rollover claims, and tire defects were all found by lawyers and their families before any government agency.Our Atlanta Georgia product defect law firm  have represented three families with children under 12 who were paralyzed from injuries in cars with only lap belts in the rear seat when everyone else in the car walked away with minor injuries.
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As our world becomes more complex in consumer, industrial and even financial products the right to a jury trial becomes ever more important to a safer world and civil justice.

Auto Fatalities Decline Wall Street Journal Feb. 9, 2009