Month: December 2010

On September 14 2009 Barbara Kelley was injured in a head-on collision near San Antonio. The car accident occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m. as Kellys Ford F-150 was struck by a Ford Taurus that crossed into her lane while passing an 18-wheeler. The driver of both cars were flown to University Hospital in San Antonio for treatment of serious injuries. 

On June 13 2009 20-year-old Jake Flemming was seriously injured when he was punched in a Fair Park parking lot. The incident occurred as Flemming and a group of friends were about to get into a taxi cab after attending a concert. Authorities believe that the assailant had been arguing with a member of Flemmings party but not Flemming himself. The unidentified attacker is said to have sucker punched Flemming before fleeing the scene in an unmarked party van. The punch sent Flemming falling to the ground where he struck his head on the concrete. Flemming suffered swelling of the brain and has been in a medically induced coma for four days now. Authorities have not been able to apprehend the unidentified man who attacked the young tennis player. If you have any information at all please contact the Dallas Police Department. 

On May 3 2009 a gas explosion rocked an Irving home in the 2600 block of Syracuse Drive near the intersection of Highway 183 (Airport Freeway) and story Road. The explosion injured one person who was in the home at the time of the accident. The home was heavily damaged by the explosion however there was little in the way of fire. Officials from Atmos Energy were on the property investigating the cause of the accident. 

On March 3 2009 two men were severely injured in a plane crash that occurred at the Addison Airport in Addison TX. The accident occurred at approximately 9 p.m. as the plane crashed during takeoff. Authorities say that the plane was taking off from the runway in the northbound direction when it veered off the end of the runway and crashed on the airport grounds. The planes occupants were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital one by helicopter and another by ambulance. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined. 

On  March 25 2009 a 10-year-old boy was impaled by a crowbar in an automobile accident. The accident occurred at approximately 4:40 p.m. at the intersection of highway highway 28t and highway 34 in Ennis TX as the young boy and several members of his family were traveling in a Ford Ranger pickup truck and were rear-ended by another vehicle. Upon impact a crowbar that was in the bed of the truck was forced through the cabin where it pierced through the childs lower back and leg. The crowbar continued forward piercing the rear of the front passenger side side puncturing the childs 38-year-old mother in her back.

Rescue workers worked for more than an hour to free the boy from the truck before transporting him to Medical City Childrens Hospital with part of the crowbar still in his body. The childs mother was taken to Parkland Hospital for treatment. Miraculously both of the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to recover. 

On March 19 2009 a 5-year-old girl was struck by a car outside of a Plano daycare facility. The accident occurred at approximately 3:25 p.m. in the parking lot of the KinderCare Learning Center in the 6800 block of Independence Pkwy. It was reported that the child was walking with her mother along a sidewalk when the driver of the car a teacher at the daycare allegedly allowed the childs mother to pass in front of her vehicle as she was waiting to exit the parking lot however she did not see the child and drove into her. The young girl was taken to Medical Center of Plano and later transferred to Childrens Medical Center Dallas. The extent of her injuries are not yet known. 

On March 16 2009 three people were injured in a natural gas explosion in Pasadena CA. It is unclear whether the explosion ignited a gas tank that was attached to a commercial vehicle or if the explosion was unrelated to the truck but then caught the truck on fire. In any event a tank that was attached to the truck was launched some 1000 feet in the air. Three employees of the Dy-Dee Diaper Service were injured in the blast; one critically. 

In 2001 Houston Doctor Jeffrey Klem allegedly molested two young femalepatients. Recently Dr. Klem was sentenced to five years deferred adjudicationafter a The Harris County District Attorneys office agreed to a plea bargainwhereby the charges against Klem were reduced to Injury to a Child.AdditionallyKlem must write a letter of apology to the two girls and pay a rather smallfine.

You may be wondering why I am talking about a criminal case on a personalinjury blog. In the spirit of educating the public on some of the more complexaspects of civil law I feel this story illustrates an example where many may feelthat the punishment in criminal court was not severe enough. Often times whenthe victims of an assault are not satisfied with the outcome in criminal courtthey turn to civil court as another option.

In a case such as this determining the basis of the civil suit is a trickybalancing act that most non-attorneys have a hard time making sense of. On onehand you have the obvious option of suing the doctor himself as anindividual for the assault. This would be an easy argument to make especiallygiven the outcome of the criminal case but the possibility of recovering anydamages (making any money for the victim) rests entirely on whether or not thedoctor has any non-judgment proof assets. Effectively some assets such as thedoctors home and other similar personal property are what we consider to bejudgment proof; which means that you cannot sue them and expectthem to pay you with those assets. In other words if all a doctor owns is amillion dollar house and has $10000 in his checking account you would only beable to collect from his $10000. Most people consider doctors to be well paidand have a hard time imagining that a doctor does not have appreciable assetsbut you would be surprised. Many doctors spend a disproportionate amount oftheir income on purchasing a home as it is a safe harbor for their wealth andthey are left with little liquid assets. Not to mention this particular doctorhas probably spent a significant amount of his personal income on defending hiscriminal case.

On the flip side you can sue the doctor citing that the alleged sexualassault is a form of medical malpractice but there are two problems to thisapproach.

1) If the damages are high in value (meaning that you are suing for a highdollar amount) then the damages may be capped due to the tort reform measuresadopted by The State of Texas in the 90s which would seriously affect yourchances of getting a fair recovery.

2) The other problem with this approach is that an assault is a deliberatetort. As such most medical malpractice insurance policies will not cover theevent. This is the equivalent of the difference between when a car insurancecompany chooses to cover the damages when one of their insured accidentallyhurts someone with their car vs. NOT covering the damages when their insureddeliberately uses their car as a weapon to hurt someone.

A third option for a civil suit would be the possibility of suing thecorporate entity that the doctor is a part of for negligent hiring or someother similar cause of action. This of course rests on the possibility thatthe company is set up in such a way that the doctor is more or less anemployee.

Naturally there could be a forth option and a fifth option so on and soforth. The best option would be decided by the plaintiffs attorney once they doa little investigative work and get a feel for the situation. This quiteclearly illustrates the point that in order to have any type of success withsuch a case you need an attorney that has the experience to guide your casedown the proper path and to avoid the common pitfalls.

Its my understanding that the family of one of the girls who was assaultedis filing a civil suit against the doctor in one from or another. I wish themand their attorney the best of luck in this case.

 

In April of 2000 record store owner Diana Levine went to a local clinic for treatment of a migraine. A nurse on staff injected a drug called Phenergan Manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Wyeth directly into Levines vein resulting in gangrene. The FDA warning label affixed to the drugs container made no mention of this side effect as a result of misuse. Levines attorney filed a lawsuit against Wyeth alleging that the company was responsible for meeting The State of Vermonts own drug warning label laws. A jury in Vermont awarded $6.7 million to Levine and Wyeths attorneys appealed the decision taking it to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 decision the Supreme Court upheld the verdict sending a strong message regarding the power of state liability laws. Prior to this significant outcome many held to the belief that state liability laws were overridden by the FDAs standards. If a drugs warning label met the federal requirements an opposing or differing law at the state level was thought to be less relevant. The outcome will likely prompt many pending drug injury cases to move forward where a potential roadblock once kept such cases at a stand still. 

 

On February 26 2009 35-year-old Gordon Gunter was injured in a motorcycle accident in Texarkana TX. The accident occurred in the morning as Gunter was traveling northbound on Highway 59 in Bowie County. The 52-year-old female driver in a southbound car turned left in front of Gunters motorcycle causing him to crash into her passenger side door coming to rest on the roof of her car. The motorcyclist was transfered to Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler TX where he was listed in critical condition. Authorities expect to file charges against the driver of the car who escaped with only minor injuries.