Washington Injury Attorney Blog

The Farber Law Group is engaged in representing several clients who have claims against DePuy Orthopedics, a division of the Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. Our clients have suffered some serious injuries after they were implanted with defective metal-on-metal hip implants manufactured by DePuy.

It was of great interest to our firm when we read today's front page article in The Seattle Times entitled "Failing hip implants will cost billions to replace." The article discusses at length the money that the failure of metal-on-metal hip implants will cost individuals, the manufacturers of the hip implant devices, the insurance companies, and taxpayers and contribute to the escalating cost of health care. According to The Times' article, the medical costs to replace the faulty hip devices could be in the billions of dollars.

Thousands of patients who received the DePuy hip implant have filed lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson in hopes of receiving compensation for their damages which include medical costs, loss of wages and pain and suffering. Many patients have medical bills of up to a half million dollars. Medical costs are not the only financial hardship to patients. Many of the patients are younger and have been disabled or been prevented from working.

According to the article in The Times, a half million patients have received a metal-on-metal hip replacement. The DePuy ASR XL Acetabular and Hip Resurfacing Systems were recalled on August 24, 2010 after many patients suffered serious side effects and many required a second "revision" surgery to replace their device. Side effects included severe pain, fractures, dislocation, nerve damage and necrosis, or tissue death.

There is also a heightened concern that the metal-on-metal design of the DePuy artificial hips may cause metallosis, a condition in which the metal shavings from the device are shed into the surrounding tissue and cause inflammation. Some symptoms of metallosis include pseudo-tumors, premature tissue death and even cancer.

The DePuy hip implant devices were marketed to active and younger patients but they were brought to market using a "fast track" approval process under FDA rule 510 without the testing necessary to make sure they were safe. By 2008, the FDA received hundreds of complaints from patients who had serious problems with their implants. The devices were pulled from the market in Australia and France where patients there were requiring revision surgeries at an alarming level but DePuy continued to market and sell the product in the United States even though the evidence was mounting that the devices were defective.

DePuy has engaged a risk management company, Broadspire, to deal with patient's medical claims. Broadspire has contacted patients with the defective hip and offering to pay co-payments and deductibles of patients requiring revision surgery. Broadspire asks patients to sign a Medical Release Form which allows the company to see a patient's private medical records. The Farber Law Group recommends that patients not sign such a form until they receive sound advice from a product liability law firm.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of the Seattle product liability law firm, The Farber Law Group. Call us for answers to your questions about your DePuy hip implant device. We provide local representation to patients in the Pacific Northwest. We have a co-counsel relationship with a leading New York law firm in order to maximize your recovery.

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Continue reading " Financial fallout of defective hip implants may cost billions " »

The King County Medical Examiner's (ME) office released their 2010 Annual Report on the investigation of 150 car accident fatalities. While the deaths are listed as "accident" on the death certificate, the ME says the more correct term is "motor vehicle collision."

The Medical Examiner’s office investigates deaths when the death is sudden, violent, unexpected or suspicious. Commonly, they investigate deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents and other accidents such as those that happen at the workplace or in the home. The information tabulated by the ME office allows public institutions to track trends in injury and violence.

The Medical Examiner's report includes 53 fatality investigations where the car accident occurred outside of King County; The King County Medical Examiner investigates a car accident death when the injured victim died after being transported to the Harborview Medical Center, a Level I trauma center, located in Seattle, Washington.

The Medical Examiner report found that of the 150 deaths they investigated:

• In 46% of the cases, the person killed was the driver.
  
• Deaths to teenage drives decreased in 2010 from 10% to 7% of the drivers, a total of 5 teenage drivers killed.
  
• 75% of the drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents were male.
  
• 27 automobile passengers were killed.
  
• No infants were killed and there was only one car accident death of a young child under the age of five.
  
• 35% of the drivers that were killed were not wearing seat belts.
  
• 24 of the 150 killed were motorcycle riders. 83% of the motorcyclists killed were wearing helmets.
  
• 27 pedestrians were killed
  
• 3 bicyclists were killed.
  
• 30% of those killed tested positive for alcohol.

When a person is killed in a motor vehicle accident, the Medical Examiner's investigation report provides necessary information used in settling insurance claims or in criminal or civil proceedings. When a person is killed in a motor vehicle accident due to the negligence of another, the ME’s findings can be used in a wrongful death lawsuit because it contains scientific information about the death and existing pathology.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit

If a loved one has been killed in a motor vehicle accident due to the negligence of a driver, the family of the deceased is entitled to bring forth a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of their deceased loved one. Washington State has a wrongful death statute which allows the family to recover damages in a civil action.

Source: 2010 KCMEO Annual Report
When filing a wrongful death lawsuit, The Farber Law Group advises hiring a personal injury law firm with an extensive experience in handling wrongful death cases.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group.

Continue reading " King County Medical Examiner releases report on 2010 traffic accident deaths " »

Even though nearly all of the states have enacted laws prohibiting cell phone usage while driving, a new study by the National Traffic Safety Administration (NTSA) had found that texting while driving has actually increased by 50% in the past year.

In the latest study, researchers polled drivers and also conducted observations at stoplights and intersections.

Observations

Researches set up their study at stoplights and intersections. They observed that 1% of the drivers were texting or using hand-held devices and were texting, e-mailing, using navigation systems, surfing the internet, dialing, playing games, or holding phones in front of their faces.

Polling

Researchers surveyed drivers 18 years of age and older. 50% of younger drivers — those between the ages of 21 ad 24 — admitted to texting while driving.

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is dangerous. According to NTSA figures, in 2009, 5,500 Americans were killed and 450,000 were injured in distracted-driving related car accidents.

Cases in the News

There have been two high-profile cases in which texting drivers were involved in fatal car accidents.

Joseph Brynda, 20, an Illinois man, received a 7 years sentence this week in the pedestrian accident death of Phillip Rangel, 60, who was killed while walking in a crosswalk. Brynda was under the influence of both alcohol and freon and was driving with his knees while texting when Rangel was hit.

Danae Marie Miller, a 22-year-old California woman, was charged with vehicular manslaughter after she hit and killed Armine Britel, 40, who was riding a bicycle when he was hit by Miller. Miller was texting when the bicycle-car accident occurred and she was also under the influence. She faces a 10-year prison sentence. Her court date is December 12.

In Olympia, Washington, Ashley R. Davis-Jones, was believed to be texting when her car crossed the centerline and collided head-on with another vehicle. IN this accident, Davis-Jones was killed.

Several pilot projects, one in Syracuse, N.Y., and one in Hartford, Conn, found that strictly enforcing cell phone laws and public education campaigns do affect motorists habits. In Syracuse, texting and using cell phones dropped by 30% after enforcement and publicity campaigns. Hartford, after enforcement and publicity, hand-held cell phone use dropped 57% and texting dropped by nearly 75%.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. Our Bellevue car accident lawyers represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents caused by the negligence of another. Read, "What if my accident was caused by someone using a cell phone?" if you believe your car accident was caused by someones negligent use of a cell phone.

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Continue reading " Study finds that despite laws, drivers texting more than ever " »

The wife and daughter of Othon Cortes of Miami have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines and Sky Chefs, an airline catering company, alleging that food contamination of a chicken meal that Cortes consumed on a Barcelona to New York flight on May 18 caused him to become ill and led to his fatal heart attack.

The family is asking for $1 million in damages.

Cortes experienced symptoms of food poisoning including severe stomach cramps and extreme thirst that came on suddenly after he arrived at JFK and not long after he consumed his airline meal. Cortes went ahead and boarded his Miami connecting flight where he experienced a cardiac emergency with symptoms of nausea and shortness of breath. American Airlines landed the plane at Norfolk but Cortes was deceased by the time the flight landed.

Cortes' family claims that the meal was contaminated with Clostridium perfingens bacteria, the third leading cause of food poisoning in the United States.

The bacteria can grow in food that is prepared properly but if too much time elapses before it is served bacteria germination can occur and bacterial colonies can form.

Most times when food is contaminated by C. perfingens it is not lethal

Sky Chefs is attempting to dismiss the case against them saying:

"Based upon the allegations in the complaint it is not possible that Sky Chefs is the responsible party because we did not cater the Barcelona flight in question."

There are a lot of unanswered questions about this case. Most cases of food contamination do not present for 12 to 24 hours. The claimants will need to provide an autopsy report which reveals the presence of perfingens and show how that bacteria contributed to Corte's death.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have serious illness due to foodborne illness and the family of those who have died.

Source: Passenger dies in-flight, family says airline to blame
By Tanya Mohn, msnbc.com contributor
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Continue reading " Family files wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines and Sky Chefs saying food poisoning was a factor in man's death " »

A Washington State Appeals Court has ruled that Pierce County cannot require owners of dogs that animal control officers have deemed to be "dangerous" or “potentially dangerous” to pay fees to appeal the county's ruling on their dog.

Pierce County constructed an animal control ordinance that allowed them to deem any dog a "dangerous animal" if the dog:

• bit a person without provocation
  
• injured or killed another animal without provocation
  
• has previously been found to be potentially dangerous and the owner was previously warned of the animal being aggressive and a danger to human or other animals.

If an owner wanted to appeal the county’s decision, they were required to pay fees for appeal hearings upwards of $500.

A dangerous dog designation requires owners to purchase a $250 permit and buy $25,000 in insurance that allows them to keep a dangerous dog.

The case came before the appeals after one dog owner, Heidi Downey, appealed the ruling that her dog was dangerous after it injured another dog that had to be put to sleep. Downey was required to pay $125 of an initial hearing on the ruling and another $250 for a hearing before an examiner.

The appeals court found that requiring owners to pay such stiff fees to get a hearing is tantamount to “purchasing justice” and that the fees denied owners due process.

Due process is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and it balances the rule of law with an individual’s rights. Due process allows all people to have access to the judicial system regardless of their financial status.

Pierce County argued that without fees that some owners may have “frivolous appeals”. The court, however, felt that dog owners were legally entitled to a hearing before they were deprived of their property.

According to the Centers for Disease Control approximately 4.5 million people suffer dog bites every year and 31,000 people are so severely bitten or injured that they require surgery. In addition, approximately 16 people are killed ever year because of a dog attack.

Washington state does have a dog bite law, RCW 16.08.040 which states that the owner of a dog that injures another person, regardless of whether the dog was previously declared dangerous, to be liable for the injuries to the dog bite victim.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group, a Seattle dog bit lawyer. We represent people who have suffered serious dog bite injures. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Source: Pierce County's dangerous-dog policy unconstitutional, judge rules, The Tacoma News Tribune, 12/04/11

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Continue reading " Washington appeals court says Pierce County "dangerous dog" policy unconstitutional " »