Category: Articles

A slip and fall may cause far more than just bruises and embarrassment. Falling may cause traumatic brain injury.

We’ve likely all done this: slipped on something and taken what we laughingly refer to as a “prat fall.” We may have gotten up off the floor and been just fine, aside from bruised ego and some cuts and scrapes. Not everyone is that lucky though. Some slip and fall accidents end up with serious consequences, such as traumatic brain injury.

Consider the case of the woman shopping at her local grocery store where they had a garden section just outside the main doors. She wanted some flowers for her garden and as she was walking along one of the outside aisles, covered with linoleum, she slipped in an unseen puddle, fell and struck her head on the floor. The floor under the linoleum is concrete. She was knocked unconscious and by the time she came to in the hospital, she was told she had a serious concussion.

Where do things go from here? Generally speaking, she may be able to battle her way through her injury and come out the other side still mostly functioning well enough to live her life. On the other end of the spectrum, she may not be able to live the life she had prior to her fall because her brain doesn’t function like it used to anymore. Does she get damages from the store for leaving the water on a linoleum floor and not cleaning it up? Chances are she does, and they may be substantial, depending on the extent of her injuries.

It’s not “just” that the store left the puddle in the middle of the floor and it caused an accident that is at issue here. The main point is that the store, being a property owner, is responsible for keeping their premises safe for those who do business there. In other words they are responsible for making sure people “do not” fall and injure themselves.

The thing to remember when it comes to slip and falls is that embarrassment isn’t the only injury that may hurt. There may be bumps, bruises, concussion, coma, broken bones, ripped muscles, sprained joints, internal injuries and in some cases, death. Any one of these injuries can take a long time to recover from and cost thousands in medical expenses; expenses which may include not just the doctor’s bills and medications, but ongoing therapy, tests, surgery and rehabilitation. Sadly, some of the injuries, while treatable to a certain extent, may not be curable, meaning the person is facing a long-term disability for life.

If you’ve slipped and fallen in a public place and are struggling with injuries, speak to a personal injury lawyer about what your options are in recovering compensation for your medical costs and pain and suffering.

Tim Anderson writes for 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.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, the number of nursing malpractice cases has been increasing. This is not good news.

Evidently, nursing malpractice statistics have started to increase sharply over the last five years or so. The evidence of this is provided by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, whose figures reveal that registered nurses are now, more than ever, being held accountable for malpractice and negligence. The types of errors they are being held accountable for include medication errors, documentation errors and failure to assess or intervene.

It may be helpful to understand just what negligence actually means on the part of a medical professional from the point of view of an Atlanta personal injury attorney. A medical professional may be a doctor, EMT, RN, LPN, dentist, physiotherapist, radiation technician or anesthetist, etc. Negligence means they fail to perform a medical duty or obligation according to the “normal” standard of care. In many cases, nurses are also present when patients are injured mentally or physically.

In looking for an explanation for the drastic increase in nurse malpractice cases, one only has to look at the current nursing shortage in the US. Those that are working are overworked, overloaded and overwhelmed. They often don’t have enough rest time to enable them to stay on the ball; something that is the result of longer shifts. It’s a no-brainer that lack of sleep makes a person inattentive and easily distracted, and this may cause harm to patients.

Other causes of nursing malpractice relate to under qualification. There are a fair number of nurses who didn’t finish the full nursing education program and some don’t even have the proper training. It would follow that in those cases, medical malpractice may happen. Nurses are vitally important to the care and recovery of patients in the hospital or other medical settings. If malpractice happens, it is significant and may cause serious injury or death.

Those who have been the victim of nurse malpractice may be able to file a claim for compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and other things such as lost wages and benefits. In order to find out if you do qualify to file a medical malpractice case, speak to a competent Atlanta personal injury lawyer. If a death resulted from the malpractice, as a family member you may be able to file a wrongful death suit and claim for loss of companionship, loss of support, and funeral and burial expenses – to name a few.

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.

Malpractice can happen in just about any field. It’s not just exclusive to the medical profession.
When it comes to malpractice, people tend to automatically think medical malpractice. While there is a fair amount of medical malpractice happening these days, it isn’t just doctors and nurses that may be sued for malpractice.

In a nutshell, any professional with greater learning who makes a mistake and doesn’t treat you according to their level of higher learning, may be guilty of malpractice. Put another way, a malpractice case may involve those who have been specially educated or certified in some manner “not” doing their job up to the expected level.

Does this usually involve a fair degree of “interpretation?” Fair question and a valid one and yes, your definition of someone not living up to their expected level of expertise may not be what others think that same level happens to be. There is a “usual” accepted standard of performance for various professionals used as a rule of thumb when it comes to assessing any deviation from that standard.

Some examples may be architects, accountants and dentists who know more than the man on the street corner about doing certain things. If you hire someone “professional,” you expect they’ll do the job right, based on their education and the amount of experience they have in their field. In other words, you trust they will do right by you. Malpractice may also be applicable in the case of lawyers.
For a multitude of reasons, you want the advice your lawyer gives you to be right on the money. If it isn’t, you may be in some really sticky situations with no way out. On the extreme end of legal representation, you would consider a murder charge to be critical and hire someone that knows how to defend you within an inch of your life – and in some cases (capital ones) that may be just what happens. In others, to a lesser degree, you want legal advice to be accurate; e.g., you want your assets divided a certain way and not have the family fighting over them – you need a solid will.

Accountants must follow really strict standards. After all, they’re working with someone else’s money. If they mess up and you are audited and found in non-compliance, you can lose money, face damages or face legal problems. When it comes to other professions, like engineers and architects, they too need to know what they’re doing and make sure it works, as the buildings they design and build have to stay erect and not collapse.

Professionals go to school for training that teaches them how to build buildings, balance money, be good doctors and build cases against defendants in court. If they act negligently and don’t do what they’re supposed to do, it’s the client that suffers. If you’ve been in a situation like this or are in one now, speak to a lawyer that has worked in the area of dealing with malpractice cases of all kinds.

Tim Anderson writes for 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.

Investment fraud is a form of professional misconduct that unsuspecting people need to be aware of these days.

Investment fraud or investment scams generally have the same outcome – someone loses money they can’t afford to lose. They have been bilked into investing their hard earned dollars in a scheme that sounds “great” but the information is often fake and gravely misleading. Too often in situations like this the person who lost their savings doesn’t have much in the way of recourse to recover their losses.

The unfortunate thing here is that the financial planning industry seems to have more than its fair share of brokers and advisors who would think nothing of scamming their customers just to get rich quick. This isn’t to say that the brokerage industry isn’t regulated, because it is, by federal and state laws. Professional misconduct and fraud is definitely illegal and you may be interested in knowing some of the things to watch for when dealing with financial advisors that walk on the wild side.

There are some advisors that get their money from commissions on the purchase or sale of securities. It’s not hard for some of them to over-buy and sell to get more commissions. This shady activity isn’t easy to spot if the advisor is being overly flagrant about it. On the other hand, this activity, called churning, is obvious if an account happens to be small.

Another thing to watch out for is breach of fiduciary responsibility. Because of the nature of the advisors’ job, advising clients on investments, etc., they have a greater level of responsibility to live up to or a legal fiduciary duty. This means they must act with their client’s best interests in mind and not have any conflict of interest. In the past, there have been cases of financial advisors doing things like investing a retired client’s money into highly volatile stocks. This is a recipe for disaster and considered a breach of duty.

Although many people who work in the securities industry don’t often talk about this, it does happen – financial advisors misrepresenting the facts about an opportunity. They may slightly fudge a company’s earnings or potential to get you to buy stock. The other situation that may arise is if you (or another client) have a hefty investment in a particular security, the advisor chooses to “not” tell you about a potential problem the company may have.

If you happen to catch a financial advisor doing some of the things mentioned above, you may have legal recourse. Keep in mind that in cases like this proving professional misconduct is sometimes difficult to do. Along with that observation comes the added caution that figuring out what kind of conduct is illegal and what isn’t may be a challenge. Why is this? This may turn out to be the case because the SEC lets brokers that sell investment vehicles avoid registering as licensed investment advisors. No doubt you can immediately understand how that would confuse things legally.

If you suspect you have been a victim of professional misconduct, it’s best to talk to an experienced lawyer who works in this area. They will be able to give you some kind of idea as to whether or not you will be able to recover any losses.

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.

This accident was unusual, as it was a single vehicle 18-wheeler crash. It cost the trucker his life.

This 18-wheeler accident happened on I-95 in Oklahoma. The trucker was hauling equipment for country and western singer Carrie Underwood when his vehicle veered to the left shoulder and scraped along 400 feet of guardrail. During the impact, the fuel tank was torn open, igniting the diesel as it spilled. The flames consumed the driver side of the bus he was hauling, as his truck slammed into a bridge abutment.

The abutment was located right where the I-95 passes over another road. At that point, the trailer tumbled over the embankment and landed on the median of the road under the abutment, blocking both southbound lanes.

The driver, in his late 40s was charred beyond recognition and had to be identified through the use of dental records. Miss Underwood was thoughtful enough to sing a song at her performance that night in tribute to the trucker.

This was an awful accident, one that many eyewitnesses will recall with horror. It seemed to happen in slow motion, and while many onlookers could see what was happening, there was no way they could help the trucker as he burned to death. The chain of events that led the trucker to veer suddenly to the left has not been identified and there will be a full investigation into the circumstances.

Driving a big rig is not an easy job, nor does it traditionally pay that well given the economy of the nation today. Truckers drive long hours, have shorter breaks, are on very short turnaround times, and under enormous pressure to get their loads to their destination. This accident could have happened for a number of reasons ranging from a blown tire to a load that suddenly shifted, or from driver fatigue to a mechanical failure of some sort that caused him to veer left suddenly.

Unfortunately, with the number of big rigs on the roads these days, the number of accidents has shot up to seemingly keep deadly pace. Unsafe rig driving has become even more of an issue with more accidents involving oversize loads, improperly maintained trucks and driver error. Since the trucking industry is deregulated, and the pressure to deliver products is so high, truckers pull out all the stops to get the job done. Sadly, one in every eight highway deaths is attributed to a truck collision. Furthermore, if you take a look at the federal crash statistics, they reveal that just about 20% of 18-wheeler wrecks are because the trucker was speeding.

If you have been in an 18-wheeler accident, it’s very important to talk to an Atlanta personal injury lawyer who has experience in this area of law. While there are laws, rule and regulations to protect motorists from negligent truck drivers and their employers, the plaintiff needs to be able to prove it. You can’t do that without the help of a skilled Atlanta personal injury lawyer.

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.

When will the product recalls stop? This time, baby sling carriers are in question.

First it was kids’ toys, then jewelry and now, baby slings. What is the world coming to with all the dangerous products on the market lately? It isn’t just kids’ products either. Witness the massive recalls of blinds that are known to strangle children, cars that suddenly accelerate for no reason and cause accidents and death, Blue Bird school buses with wiring harness problems and All Tom’s BBQ potato chips for the risk of salmonella.

The latest flap involves two baby slings made by Infantino in San Diego, California. Although, this may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to baby slings in general. “These sling style carriers were recalled after three babies suffocated in them, prompting a massive recall of over 1 million slings,” outlined Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

This danger came to light when it was discovered that when small infants have their nose and mouth covered, they don’t have the strength to turn their heads, causing them to suffocate. This also happened when the baby was pressed against the sling carrier. Evidently, babies’ air could also be cut off if they’re placed in the sling in a position where their chins rest on their chests.

“This means that there will be more than just this one sling carrier that has the potential to cause deaths,” said Ozcomert. “In fact, there are several other models that may also be just as dangerous as ones that have been tested,” he added.

Industry safety analysts say that any sling that holds a child is in a curved position, with the chin on the chest, is not safe. The better alternative, and safer one, is a carrier that keeps the child totally upright and either strapped to the front or back of an adult. While this idea might not appeal to parents who want their babies close to their body, doing it with a sling may be asking for trouble in light of these recent developments.

On the other side of the fence are sling advocates who say there is a safe way to use the sling and if people do it the right way, there is no risk of harming the child. Although, most of the slings being discussed are not that harmful, they are not the deep-pocket ones that Infantino is selling; a model where the baby’s face needs to stay clear of the fabric.

“No matter what camp a parent happens to be in, if they have experienced problems with this defective product, the Infantino baby sling, it would be a good idea to talk to a dedicated attorney who practices in this area of the law. Those who make dangerous products must be held accountable,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert, who handles personal injury cases, accidents, and malpractice law in Atlanta, Georgia.

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

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.

This case could have had another outcome if negligence had been identified. Personal injury cases involving 18-wheelers are extremely complex.

Tangling with an 18-wheeler never has a happy ending. This particular case is even more tragic in that it appeared on the surface to be the result of driver error. Although the investigation is not yet complete, there may be other evidence that surfaces that will change the initial evaluation of the crash.

A young 17-year-old girl was killed when she and her passenger crashed into a 1992 Kenworth tractor-trailer. The young driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger was transported to medical care at the nearest hospital. The truck driver made it out of the crash unscathed. The accident happened just after 11 p.m. at night.

No one is quite sure what happened, and this is where the details of the case – yet to be investigated – may change the outcome of this story. It appears that the young lady pulled out in order to pass the semi, misjudged her distance and speed, and clipped the trailer part of the 18-wheeler. Unfortunately, massive blunt force trauma from the impact caused her instant death.

If the roads were bad due to weather; poor highway maintenance; visibility was impaired due to weather; the tractor-trailer was not properly lit with running lights; the trucker was too close to the median line and didn’t see the other vehicle pulling out to pass and moved over to make a turn; or the rear axle was not properly maintained and a hazard, the determination of any negligence may need to be made later.

Apparently the rear axle of the truck could be seen at the crash site, lying away from the trailer. While it may look like the axle was hit and then separated from the truck, there is just as much likelihood that it may have come off and rolled into the path of the teen’s Ford Explorer. The ultimate point to be made here is that each personal injury case is defined by its individual nature. In other words, no two cases are alike. The details are critically important, and it’s the job of the Atlanta personal injury lawyer to winnow out these details to make a case.

If this case later turns out to involve negligence on the part of the truck driver, the family of the deceased young teen may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. The details are of vital importance, as is whether or not there is negligence involved. If you’re not sure what is involved in a case that may affect you or a loved one, speak to a seasoned Atlanta personal injury lawyer.

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.

Who would think that premises liability would extend to a golf course? It does and course owners and employees need to be aware.

Let’s consider a case that we heard about just recently about a man who wound up with traumatic brain injury after falling off a golf cart. The man’s wife is seeking damages for the trauma and loss of consortium in the form of a personal injury lawsuit.

The story goes like this: the gentleman was golfing when one of the club’s employees offered to give him a ride in one of the club’s golf carts. Evidently rather than being able to sit on the front seat with the employee, he was told to stand in the area normally reserved for carrying the golf clubs. The foundation of this personal injury lawsuit is the negligence of the employee who was driving the golf cart at the time of the accident.

Other pertinent facts in the case were revealed in the court documents and dealt with the allegations that the employee drove the cart with excessive speed for the conditions of the terrain and made an exceedingly sharp turn with no warning, causing the woman’s husband to be thrown from the cart.

The man was taken to hospital for treatment and the doctor treating him informed the court that the man is in a coma. His chances of recovering are extremely poor.

Other points that go toward a judge and jury making a decision have to do with charges that the defendant didn’t adequately train their employees on proper golf cart operation, failed to warn the man of the dangers of standing in the back of the golf cart, and that the employee overloaded the cart, thus causing it to be unstable.

The underlying premises here is that property owners may be held liable for personal injuries sustained by an injured party if there was a dangerous/hazardous condition on the property that could/should have been fixed. In fact, that dangerous condition should not even have been there in the first place. However, the fact that it was, increases the level of responsibility the defendant has to those who use the defendant’s property, in this case the golf course and its carts. Because the employee represents the property owner, they have a duty of care toward people using the property.

Falls have the potential to cause extremely serious injuries that include traumatic brain injury (such as this case), broken hips, dislocations, and spinal cord injuries. These aren’t exactly easy injuries to treat, and many of them are long-term, painful and costly to treat. Many of these injuries also have the potential to be permanent.

If you’ve been hurt in an accident similar to this or at a different location, don’t hesitate to speak to a dedicated and highly skilled Atlanta personal injury lawyer. Part of proving that a plaintiff who was injured is eligible for compensation is showing that accidents are avoidable but for negligence on the part of the liable party.

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.