Month: March 2010

Laying down a motorcycle and sliding to avoid fatal injuries saved this man’s life. The car driver that caused the accident was oblivious.

This is another case we heard about and were interested in because we handle a fair number of motorcycle accidents every year. Many of them are fatal. This one was not, but it did cause the rider a lot of grief in the long run.

“This happened in 2007 and involved a Honda custom motorcycle that was traveling along a highway when a car heading in the opposite direction to the biker suddenly made a left turn a few feet in front of him without signaling. With no place else to go, the biker did the smart thing and laid his bike down on its side and slid behind it to avoid a fatality,” recounted Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

To say that he was in rather rough shape when all was said and done would be an understatement, so he contacted a personal injury attorney to find out if he could recover damages for his bike and his medical bills. “In this particular case, the car driver did admit he was at fault and was negligent in not signaling his intentions. In fact the driver was also cited by the police,” Ozcomert added.

The biker’s injuries were multiple and very uncomfortable, and included severe road rash on his back, legs and arms, almost too many cuts and bruises to count, a possible dislocated shoulder, plus rib and chest trauma. In other words, the injuries are painful, may be permanent and may cause him limited mobility later.

“But for the negligence of this car driver, this man would not have been so badly hurt in a motorcycle accident. Unfortunately, bikers are always constantly aware that drivers rarely see them or pay attention to them and thus they face some serious problems on the road at times,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

For anyone involved in a motorcycle accident, someone who survives, or is badly injured or permanently injured, contact a skilled personal injury lawyer and find out how to proceed with a lawsuit. If the biker does not survive the crash, the family needs to speak to an attorney about filing a wrongful death case.

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

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

Slip and fall accidents may be more than just embarrassing. They may cause serious injuries and even death.

“Premises liability is a tricky area of the law and there are several things that need to be in place before a good case is made to take to court. Let’s take a look at a case we heard about recently that involved an entrepreneur with her own business that badly injured her knee in a slip and fall at a grocery store,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

The woman in question was shopping at a local grocery store where she slipped and fell in a high traffic area due to standing water on a concrete floor. The condition was made even worse because the water had plant food and organic soil in it, which made the surface of the concrete very slick. “In other words, this was not just standing water on concrete. It was standing water with additives that made the surface of the concrete slippery,” Ozcomert pointed out.

The concrete area where she slipped also had a crack in the floor, and when she fell, her knee hit the lip of the crack and badly twist her knee, plus sustained other cuts, bruises and scrapes. “After she fell, she checked the area for any warning signs or cones to warn people about the water. There were none in view, although there were some behind a counter. As you can see, this case is slowly shaping up to have some meat to take it to court,” explained Ozcomert.

“The woman who fell was classified as a business invitee on the grocery store premises, which means the standard of care for a business invitee is notched up to a higher level. Why? Because the store, or premises, is open to the public so they can come and do business,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia. In other words, the grocer owed her the highest degree of care to keep its premises safe and to inspect it regularly to ensure customer’s safety.

The fall did enough damage to her knee that the woman had to shell out over $15,000 in medical bills. She spoke to a personal injury attorney who took her case to court and she subsequently won over $60,000. Although it took three years for the case to be finalized, the outcome was favorable for the woman.

Premises liability cases need the expertise of a seasoned personal injury attorney who knows what to look for and how to handle and present cases such as this one in court. “Anyone who has slipped and fallen in similar circumstances would be doing a smart thing by consulting with an attorney. Not every slip and fall case may be taken to court, but the attorney is the best person to assess the case on its merits,” added Ozcomert.

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

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Time is of the essence when it comes to a medical diagnosis in a great number of cases. One indifferent or missed diagnosis may cause serious complications or death.

Diagnosing men with prostate cancer is a challenging art, but one that can be done if the doctor follows the standard and well accepted usual protocol of having their patient screened. Screening involves a blood test that looks for something called the prostate specific antigen (PSA). So, the PSA test tells a doctor how much PSA is in the bloodstream as a result of changes in the man’s prostate. As a man ages, the levels of PSA in their blood usually increase and their prostate also gets larger.

This particular test can be used to detect other things such as inflammation or various kinds of trauma, but primarily it is used as an early detection test for prostate cancer; an invaluable test in terms of reducing mortality risks. In other words, if the presence of cancer is detected early enough, something can be done about it quickly and with far less stress and anxiety than if the disease progresses.

What happens when prostate cancer isn’t detected early enough or the doctor dismisses the results as being normal for a man of a certain age? Consider the hypothetical case of Ernie, who is 65 and went to a urologist on a regular basis. He got PSA tests. In fact, in a 10 month span of time Ernie’s PSA went from 3.2 to 4.1. This wasn’t a very good sign, but Ernie’s doctor didn’t order a biopsy. He did order a repeat PSA for six months later.

Six months passed and Ernie trundled in for another PSA test which showed his levels to be at 4.8. He was correctly worried about the possibility of cancer, but chose to agree with his doctor who indicated a biopsy wasn’t really needed, because his levels weren’t that high for his age. The physician also insisted he didn’t feel anything odd during a physical exam.

Another year passes and Ernie’s PSA hits a whopping 6.55 and was subsequently diagnosed with a virulent form of prostate cancer after he finally got a biopsy. The good news/bad news scenario here is that Ernie knew for sure he had cancer, but that it has spread and gone metastatic to his bones. His chances of surviving this would be very low.

What’s the lesson to be learned here? If you aren’t comfortable with what your doctor is telling you, then get another opinion or two or three. Did Ernie sue his doctor for medical malpractice/missed diagnosis/failure to diagnose? He certainly could have given what did not transpire during Ernie’s numerous trips to see him.

When in doubt about things that happened at the hands of a doctor or other medical professional, talk to an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice attorney. Find out what your rights are and how you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries.

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.

People just don’t seem to realize that being on a cell phone while driving is a deadly distraction. This case demonstrates that clearly.

This car crash happened on an expressway where vehicles were traveling at high rates of speed. A state trooper was seriously injured as a result of this collision caused by a 19-year-old woman talking on her cell phone.

The details of this case indicate that the 19-year-old Kimmy Buetel (name has been changed to protect the victims) was on the local expressway and busy talking on her cell phone; so busy in fact that she didn’t pay attention to the state police cruiser parked on the right shoulder of the road. The officer was handling a traffic stop.

The female trooper was hit by the speeding Toyota and sustained two broken legs, a crushed pelvis and assorted other serious injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit at the nearest hospital. The 29-year-old trooper, identified as Shoron Leibel, will be in the hospital for quite some time and may not be able to resume her duties as a police officer. She may not be able to walk that well either depending on how well the long and intensive therapy turns out.

Buetel was charged and subsequently indicted for aggravated reckless conduct and had her bond set at $50,000. While that may seem a bit severe, it wasn’t, considering what the police discovered from interviewing Buetel’s passenger.

Buetel was evidently warned several times to switch lanes to go around the trooper. She ignored the warnings. The passenger even tried to turn the steering wheel to avoid a collision, but Buetel grabbed the wheel back and wrenched it so that her car was aimed directly at the trooper. All this while still talking on the cell phone.

While this is a pretty graphic example of what can happen while talking on a cell phone and driving at the same time, it certainly makes a point. The trooper will have a good case for filing a personal injury lawsuit when she is at a point in her recovery to be able to handle the rigors of filing a suit.

It would be best if she didn’t wait too long, as evidence is crucial in cases like this, and the Atlanta personal injury attorney needs to get on top of the case right away. This of course will not stop the criminal proceedings, but they may be dealt with once any criminal sanctions have been handed out.

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.