Often we read stories in local papers about professional misconduct of a person in an organization or group. We shake our heads and wonder about what motivates people to do such mindless things. Often people don’t relate professional misconduct with its other term, malpractice.

Professional misconduct is best shown by an example of a doctor treating a man for an infection by giving him antibiotics that are not suited for that particular bacteria, and the patient dies. Although the doctor intended to treat the person, s/he killed him as a direct consequence of professional misconduct/malpractice.

Put another way, malpractice is about the behavior of a professional (doctor, dentist, chiropractor, nurse; accountant or auditor) doing something that doesn’t live up to the standards of his or her profession. That “something” usually results in harm to patients or clients. That “something” also may be due to an omission, negligence, intentional fault, or ignorance of information the person should have known.

Don’t get the wrong idea that exercising professional judgment itself is considered to be malpractice. To prove malpractice, there needs to be testimony from an expert about the acceptable standard of care in the circumstances alleged to be malpractice. The testimony needs to also state the professional was not able to reach that standard. Of course the defendant will call their own expert witnesses to rebut the plaintiff’s witnesses.

In some states there must be a written demand/notice that gives the professional organization a chance to settle before a lawsuit is filed. Understand that malpractice suits are the most difficult to deal with, since often the reason for the lawsuit in the first place is that the client didn’t like what they got for results. This has little to do with malpractice and a lot to do with miscommunication.

Individuals who feel they’re a victim of professional misconduct/malpractice should seek legal representation to assess whether or not they have a viable case.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.

In the 21st century people are living longer, fuller lives. In some instances, however, seniors or those with other disabilities need to be admitted to the care of a nursing or long-term care home. Statistics are showing that negligence and nursing home abuse is on the rise.

It’s a fact, over 1.6 million people in the US alone are nursing home residents, or patients in a long-term care facility. This is the tip of the iceberg though, as further analysis of the population trends indicate that nearly one quarter of the total US population will, at some point in their lives, need long-term care. This, of course, means an enormous load for the nursing staff dealing with these individuals on a daily basis.

While we’d like to think that our loved ones receive quality care, respect, a healing touch, and the dignity they deserve, this often is not the case. Studies carried out by the federal government have instead highlighted that nursing home care is not what it should be by any stretch of the imagination. Negligence and abuse are on the increase.

The numbers are dismal and show that roughly 30% of all nursing facilities are guilty of some type of nursing home malpractice. and that over 50% of them aren’t helping their patients manage pain. Malpractice covers psychosocial harm and mental and physical abuse. Specifically such abuse may include bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, infections, emotional abuse, medication errors, and inappropriate physical restraint.

The bottom line is that this type of crime has to stop; not just for those on the receiving end of such indignities, but because it is immoral and unethical. Think about this - if it is not stopped now, it may lie in wait for when we need the same kind of nursing care later in life. It is our responsibility, as a member of the world community, to care for our elders, to respect them, help and protect them. We have no reasonable excuses why we should not be there for them when they were there for us as we grew up.

Remember, life is a cycle that is immutable and nursing home abuse should have no part to play in the lives of our seniors. If you feel a loved one is being abused, speak to a personal injury attorney about your options. Do not let abuse or suspected abuse continue.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.

Dining out can be a lot of fun. What may come later might not be.

These days it seems that you have to really watch what you are eating and where you are eating. Kind of takes the fun out the experience, doesn’t it? The fact of the matter is that eating out has become a little like a round of Russian roulette, you never know when you might wind up with food poisoning.

In the US alone,the Center for Disease Control indicates that spoiled food is the reason for 76 million illnesses; 5,000 deaths; and over 325,000 stays in hospital yearly. Those statistics are quite scary. It puts a whole new light on staying at home and enjoying your own cooking, so long as you follow safe food preparation procedures.

Here are a few more statistics that will get your attention. There are about 250 kinds of diseases that can infect people via the food they eat. Let’s break this down into something a little easier to follow. One method of food poisoning is through infectious agents such as parasites, bacteria and viruses. Another one is via a toxic agent like mushrooms and foods not cleaned properly that may contain pesticides, etc.

The only sure-fire way of preventing food poisoning is to practice rigorous hygiene and sanitation. This is no small task, but is critical to the well-being of people who eat at your establishment, or your home for that matter. No one really wants to wind up in the hospital with vomiting, a nasty headache, nausea, serious stomach cramping, a fever, bloody diarrhea, blurred vision, and possible kidney failure leading to death. Blood tests are the usual standard for detecting food poisoning, but a urine test might also be called for to confirm the diagnosis.

How to avoid food poisoning is a bit of a dicey proposition, but being careful with your choices will help in the long run. For instance, don’t buy torn packages of food; buy meats or frozen items just prior to leaving the store; don’t directly handle raw foods; and keep all working surfaces and hands clean. This cannot be emphasized enough, wash your hands until you get totally sick of it, and then wash them some more.

Take time to read the proper cooking temperature for certain foods, more specifically meats; don’t leave meat or other hot foods standing on the counter for long periods of time; and cover them when putting them away in the fridge.

Food poisoning from home cooked meals is one thing. If you contract food poisoning after eating out, that is another matter. In circumstances like that, immediately contact a personal injury attorney and discuss your case. You may be able to file a lawsuit and receive compensation for your pain and suffering.

Never assume that speaking to a lawyer is going to cost you serious money, as most lawyers are willing to give their first consultation free. They will be able to advise you if you have a good case or not.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.

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Of all the things in this world that you would think should be safe for your children, you would think toys would be. In most instances they are; in others, they can cause untold harm.

What is this world coming to when we cannot even rely on the safety of innocent toys for our kids? Things aren’t so innocent anymore; we read in the news more and more about toys being yanked off the shelves for causing serious harm or death.

Think about it – lead paint on toys, poor design that causes a toy to malfunction and cause injuries, and magnets that could be swallowed. What a terrible litany of disasters. Imagine how a parent feels when they discover that a toy they thought was safe may cause a great deal of harm. What’s a parent to do when faced with a situation like this?

If a toy you have given to your child turns out to be dangerous and causes harm, waste no time in speaking with a personal injury attorney. Attorneys who litigate in this area of the law know how frightening this kind of situation is for parents, and make it a point to explain what they are doing. In fact, many personal injury attorneys have children themselves and are able to empathize with their client’s fears.

Aside from suing a manufacturer for a defective product (toy) the real question becomes what are some of these people thinking making products like this? For instance, the news is filled with stories about Mattel recalling millions of their toys because of product defects, poor design, and lead paint. Interestingly enough, although over 60% of their toys are made in China, Mattel said some of the flaws were their own responsibility.

So what is going on that their factories are producing toys with serious design flaws? Things didn’t used to be that way. If you think back to when you were a kid, the toys were well made and durable. Today, the same thing can’t be said and it’s interesting on Christmas morning to see how long a toy will last.

The most serious problem over the last few years hasn’t been design flaws so much as it has been excessive levels of lead found in hundreds of thousands of items. This seems to be just the tip of the iceberg, too. For instance, Fisher-Price pulled roughly one million Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street products for unsafe/toxic lead levels. Mattel and Disney have experienced similar recalls.

Mattel seems to have had it the worst though as they were forced to recall over 345,000 action figures due to unsafe magnets that could be swallowed. If a child swallowed two, they’d stick together and require surgical removal.

Hasbro had its day in the limelight when they recalled over one million Easy-Bake Ovens because kids were getting their fingers stuck in the oven’s opening. And the list goes on. If you think you have a toy that has been recalled, check to see if the product number is listed in the recall notice. When push comes to shove and you are not sure, toss it - better safe than sorry.

If your child may have been exposed to high levels of lead, get them tested immediately. Take the time to speak to a personal injury attorney about the possibility of filing a defective product lawsuit as well. It may be time well spent.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.

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In many cases if a person slips and falls at the home or business of another person, the home or business owner may be responsible for any injuries.

As a general rule of thumb, if someone slips and falls on badly constructed stairs or trips over a patio block and falls on pavement, the property owner is legally responsible for any injuries incurred. However, there are instances when the owner is not responsible for the accident.

The various exceptions to the law will be laid out by an attorney, such as Stephen Ozcomert of Decatur, Georgia, prior to anyone making a decision to file a slip, trip, fall lawsuit.

There is another side to the slip, trip and fall law – that everyone is assumed to be responsible for their own safety. If a situation looks like it may be dangerous, could reasonably be expected to be dangerous and a plaintiff proceeds anyway, the property owner may not be held liable for the situation.

In another instance, if the property owner has posted his property with warnings, done all he or she is able to do to prevent accidents and one still happens, the courts look at the negligence of the injured person for not paying attention to possible posted dangers.

Liability is handed out by the courts in a slip, trip, fall case if the property owner or worker caused a spill, uneven surface, slippery material to accumulate or objects that may be stepped on to cause such an accident.

If, in addition, the property owner knows about the dangerous condition, and did nothing to fix the situation, liability may be apportioned to the property owner. The other facet of slip, trip, fall law is how the court views the overall situation; they consider if the property owner should have been aware of the dangerous situation (and being responsible) should have fixed the hazard.

The definition of reasonable is another item usually determined by the courts, based on case law. In most instances, being reasonable means the landowner must have a “regular and systematic” system to keep their property safe.

Never underestimate the power of a highly qualified attorney such as Stephen Ozcomert of Decatur, Georgia, in fighting for your rights. Ozcomert has handled hundreds of slip, trip, fall cases and is intimately familiar with the court system. Having an attorney that knows the ropes is more than half the battle in winning a decent settlement.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.

Knowing what to do if faced with filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is the first step to resolving a difficult situation. Medmal is usually regarded as conduct that is immoral or improper, a mistake due to ignorance or even carelessness.

The first thing you need to know is what medmal is defined as. It’s normally conduct considered to be immoral or improper, a mistake that was caused by ignorance or carelessness.

It may have been caused intentionally or happened because of another incident. So it boils down to medmal being the result of unskilled handling of a case or negligent handling of duties to treat a patient.

Speak with a medmal lawyer who has extensive experience in this area to find out if moving forward with a lawsuit is feasible. Stephen Ozcomert of Decatur, Georgia, is a lawyer that will go to the wall to protect the rights of his clients. He has handled hundreds of professional malpractice lawsuits over the years.

Before a lawsuit is filed, there are a number of things a client will need to work through with their attorney. The nature of the injury and the precise complaint is important to know. Any tests that were done and their results are needed as part of the comprehensive package.

Along with the medical evidence goes legal strategy that involves determining if the case is based on a misdiagnosis, how to proceed. Or, if the case may have its roots in a botched surgical procedure, what the best way to assess damages may be. Details like this are the key components of any well fought and settled lawsuit.

Knowing things like this will also give you an idea of the costs of pursuing cases like this. Typically professional malpractice suits take their toll on a plaintiff both financially and emotionally. No one knows that better than attorney Stephen Ozcomert of Decatur, Georgia. A person needs to know what odds they may be facing prior to making a decision to proceed or not.

Another thing people need to consider before filing a lawsuit of this nature is the real reasons they are doing it. If the idea is to seek a monetary damage, that is one thing, but if the plan it to just find out why the incident happened, that is something else. Either way, how one approaches a medmal lawsuit will determine how the lawyer will structure his or her case.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.

Slip, trip and fall law is a bit of an odd duck legally speaking, as it deals with a landowner maintaining property in a safe manner. Where the difficulty comes into play in proving this type of a lawsuit is what constitutes negligence on the part of the property owner.

Various conditions could lead to a slip, trip, fall accident such as broken stairs, wet surfaces, icy and snow packed areas, cracked pavement or even bad lighting. The key here is whether the owner knew about these things and then did nothing to correct them. In other words, if the landowner did nothing to fix the hazards, s/he may be found negligent and thus at fault for another’s injuries.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit, speak to a competent attorney who will be able to assess your case. Not all instances of slipping, tripping or falling qualify to be taken to court. Ask first before assuming an outcome that may not happen.

If there is negligence involved, you more than likely have a case, but your lawyer must make sure the negligence is indeed proven. What has to happen is the landowner must be shown to have failed to follow certain basic rules of safety, and that by not doing so caused your injuries.

While this may sound simple enough on the surface, the next step is what you were doing on the defendant’s property – meaning if you were there are a trespasser, licensee or an invitee. What you are determines the defendant’s liability to you.

If you were invited on the property, a landowner’s duty to you is higher and the premises must be safe and regularly inspected. Examples of invitees are shopping malls, restaurants, etc. If it is shown the landowner took all reasonable precautions to avoid injury, then the success of such a case would be dismal.

A licensee is a person who enters a property with the permission of the owner for his or her own benefit, not the property owners. The landowner here must give fair warning of known hazards. In this situation the landowner doesn’t have to inspect or fix defects but does carry the responsibility to inform you.

If you’re trespassing, the owner is not liable for injuries incurred since s/he was not aware of the trespasser.

As you see, there are a variety of things that need to be addressed before a successful lawsuit may be filed for a slip, trip or fall injury. The best thing to do is speak to a competent attorney about the details of your possible claim.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.

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Professional malpractice is generally thought to be when a doctor makes a mistake of some sort, or a hospital doesn’t treat a patient correctly and the consequences are very serious or life threatening. Professional malpractice is more than that and actually covers dentists and lawyers.

The question when dealing with the issue of professional malpractice is how to identify it. In addition to that is determining if what we are seeing, hearing or witnessing is actually negligence. While you may feel what was said or done was not professional and has a result you didn’t like, it may not always be the result of professional malpractice.

When it comes to lawyers, the advice given must be knowingly provided in such a way that it is not in the best interest of the client. The proof is in the pudding – so to speak – and the client must prove there was an attorney client relationship. Then, they must also prove what the attorney did had an adverse effect on them. The key here is that the act would foreseeably cause the client harm.

Dentists and doctors have high standards to live up to and we trust they will do what is best for us. If a cover up or a mistake violates that trust, injuries suffered as a result of this may be recovered.

Be aware that each state has its own set of criteria as to what constitutes malpractice in that state. So before you attempt to file a lawsuit, consult a highly qualified professional malpractice attorney to find out what is considered to be malpractice in your home state.

The most difficult aspect of a professional malpractice suit is the feeling of being betrayed by your doctor, dentist or lawyer. They went to school for all those years to help you and instead wind up harming you. We don’t like to think of them making mistakes. However, lawyers, dentists and physicians are humans and do make mistakes. The question is if those mistakes were intentional or unintentional.

With regard to medical malpractice; you expect the doctor to know what is in your medical file and that they won’t give you something that is bad for you – a medication or treatment. You just expect good service, excellent care and a doctor that stays up-to-date on the latest treatments and medications in the field.

Unfortunately, being human and being overworked means good service isn’t always the byword of the day and knowing all the latest medications is virtually a full time job in itself. Mistakes do happen. Again, the question is if they did something completely against accepted medical practice when treating you.

Knowing what constitutes malpractice is something in which you need to speak to a qualified malpractice lawyer. This is the best way to find out what options are available and what case law potentially applies to your circumstances – whether it is medical, dental or legal malpractice.

Be aware there is a statute of limitations in all instances of malpractice. You need to know when the statute expires in your state, preventing a potential lawsuit.

Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.

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Warning labels are on products for a good reason. Unfortunately many people don’t read them, and in some cases they’re not adequate.

There are a lot of funny warning labels on the Internet, including one that said something like “Don’t operate hairdryer while having a shower.” Or one of the better ones floating around says about a mattress – “Warning: do not attempt to swallow.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone trying to swallow a mattress. However, the fact that the warning label states that it shouldn’t be attempted indicates the manufacturers are trying to make sure they don’t get sued for the eventuality. That’s the main reason for warning labels – to avoid lawsuits if something goes wrong with the product.

Most often people associate warning labels and lawsuits in the same sentence when they’re taking medications. It’s quite common that many drugs do have side effects; some so serious they may even cause death. The US courts are quite busy with dangerous product lawsuits relating to drugs that harm.

A warning label is supposed to tell consumers there may be a problem with the product. Some might sound highly ridiculous and pretty obvious, like the one on pepper spray that states, “Don’t spray in your own eyes.” If those warnings weren’t there, and something bad happened, anyone could sue the company for selling a defective product.

It’s the 1994 Safety Regulations that are in effect for most new and used products such as vehicles, medicines, clothing, pesticides, DIY tools and household goods etc. The rules say that the manufacturers must provide safe products for normal and “unusual, but predictable applications.”

The definition of predictable applications is sometimes difficult to define. For instance, taking a shower while using a blow dryer, not that usual and not a highly predictable activity – yet someone obviously tried it.

If a product just doesn’t work and doesn’t hurt anyone, then it’s not defective. It should be taken back to the manufacturer, but if it’s not dangerous it doesn’t qualify for a defective product lawsuit.

If a person thinks they may have grounds for a defective product lawsuit, they should contact a competent attorney with experience in this area. S/he will assess the merits of the potential case and provide advice on how to proceed.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.

It’s a little known fact that dentists may be sued for dental malpractice.

In fact, dental malpractice is just as serious as medical malpractice (medmal). This is why most dentists carry malpractice insurance.

Dental malpractice suits generally have smaller damage awards than for medmal. When they happen, they’re usually the result of the dentist not having detected or diagnosed certain conditions.

Injuries may include death related to anesthetic use, injuries relating to dental surgery, failure to notice oral cancer or other diseases of the mouth, nerve damage and injuries to the tongue, jaw or lips.

At the root of these cases is the reasonable expectation that the patient has to get a professional, accurate diagnosis and the correct treatment for it. The same goes when visiting a family physician. This doesn’t apply to every thing a dentist does, buy may apply to cases where injuries are severe and/or permanent.

The worst-case scenario would be the death of a dental patient due to the improper use of anesthesia. Infections occurring in the jaw or tooth sockets may also be quite devastating. Losing sensation or taste, having trouble talking, eating or swallowing may also be considered as injuries serious enough to launch a dental malpractice suit.

Even seemingly routine procedures may cause problems, such as a tooth extraction, particularly if the wrong tooth is removed, or if the patient is taking Fosamax (or any other bone metabolism regulator). The Fosamax may cause a condition called Dead Jaw.

If the dentist doesn’t spot periodontal disease or oral cancer, or does something not authorized or given consent for, they may also face a malpractice lawsuit.

If a dental patient feels they may have a potential malpractice suit, take the time to talk to a qualified attorney who can take a look at the situation. S/he will be able to assess if there is enough cause to file a dental malpractice lawsuit.

To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.

The law offices of Stephen M. Ozcomert specialize in personal injury, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta Georgia.