Arkansas injury lawyer
Do Not Text and Drive at the Same Time
It’s depressing how many people text and drive at the same time. It’s equally depressing to see the high number of deaths because of it.
At one time, no one had a cell phone and there were not as many accidents. Along came cell phones, and at first, people were careful with them, and did not use them while driving. Then, some bright spark figured out they could save time and talk while they were behind the wheel of a potentially lethal vehicle. The accidents started to happen.
Flash forward to the 21st century and the advent of texting, sexting, computer games on the phone, high res screens with directions for driving and all manner of other distracting things a driver can do while driving. Read that again – “while driving.” What is wrong with that picture? Who on planet earth has the ability to text, talk, play and watch anything at the same time they are driving, and still be safe? Answer is: “No one,” and yet people continue to do it and act surprised when they get into an accident, which they may or may not survive.
Take the case of Roberta Doe, on her way home from the doctor after finding out she was several months pregnant. In a flush of joy, she texted her long time boyfriend the good news. When she looked up from the phone, while driving at 60 mph, she was face to face with an 18-wheeler. Roberta’s grave stone paid homage to her short life and that of her baby.
Consider the case of a big rig logging truck driver who was texting while driving and not staying in the proper lane. That scenario ended up in a spectacular wreck. The trucker lost control, wandered off the west side of the highway, overcorrected, veered back across the highway to the east ditch and flipped. The driver was pinned inside for over two hours and had sustained serious injuries.
Once the Jaws of Life had extricated him, he was taken to hospital. All this, because he was texting while driving. No one is immune from causing an accident while texting. No one has immunity to being killed, either because of their own recklessness or that of another driver, texting or talking on the phone while driving.
We could cite any one of a number of hundreds of cases where cell phones were being used while people were supposed to be watching the roadway. What is so all fired important that it cannot wait until the person gets to their destination? Seems that the way things were, when there weren’t cell phones to contend with, that people were safer on the nation’s roads than they are now.
If you have been injured in an accident involving someone who was texting while driving, do not wait to call an Arkansas injury lawyer for help. They have the answers to your questions, can walk you through your legal rights and options and are there to help you win your case. An Arkansas injury lawyer understands your fears about paying medical bills and losing wages; understands that you need justice. Make the first contact for help an experienced Arkansas injury lawyer. It is a call well worth making.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Wrongful Death of a Daughter Leaves Family Hoping It Never Happens to Another
Life changes on a dime, as this one family discovered when their daughter was killed. Their wrongful death lawsuit hopes to make a point for others.
The young college student in this case was out for an evening of fun with friends. They had gone to a club and were in party mode until about 2 a.m. when they decided to head home. What happened next was horrendous and took the life of a 23-year-old woman.
The after party crowd was making their way outside to their vehicles, when the defendant in this reported case got into his souped up monster truck (Ford F-250) and ran over the woman with both front and back tires. She died at the scene from blunt force internal injuries. She never had a chance. The truck’s driver said he never saw her.
Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming the drunk driver and the club who over served the man well past the legal intoxication limit, let him leave, and get into a vehicle to drive while under the influence. Was the club negligent? Yes, it was. They have the responsibility to not over serve alcohol to inebriated patrons for very reason that killed the young woman in this case. They did not do anything to stop him from leaving, even though they knew he was more than three sheets to the wind.
Turns out that the F-250 driver was driving with a suspended license and was so blasted that he had no idea he had even hit anyone, let alone killed them. The reason he never saw his victim? The man had a lift kit on his truck that restricted his field of vision; a kit that was not in line with federal and state laws. In other words, the truck was not fit to drive.
The man was charged with intoxication manslaughter and his blood alcohol content clocked in at 0.18; more than twice the legal limit. He was subsequently released on $100,000 bail. The criminal charges are typically dealt with first and later, the civil wrongful death lawsuit may be filed.
The family of the young woman wants to make sure something like this never happens to anyone else. But for the negligence of the club in illegally serving an already drunk person even more liquor, this young woman may have been still alive. But for the negligence of the drunk driver, this young woman may have still been alive. Her family would not be facing the devastation of the daughter’s death for a senseless reason.
If you are faced with a situation similar to this, your best bet is to call skilled legal counsel. Talk to an experienced Arkansas injury lawyer. They understand the nuances of wrongful death cases and what the family wants to achieve by filing one. Often wrongful death cases are not about getting even with the defendant; instead, they are about wanting to prevent the same horrid thing from happening to anyone else. Is there financial compensation for the death? Yes, as typically there is an insurance settlement involved, and you will need an Arkansas injury lawyer to help you get the settlement you deserve.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Deceased Doctor Pedophile Sued for Medical Malpractice
This is one of the most bizarre cases on record. A deceased doctor’s estate sued for medical malpractice.
Just when you think you might have heard just about everything, and nothing would surprise you, along comes a truly strange tale; a tale from the grave. This is a reported story about a doctor who, during the course of what he referred to as “growth studies,” took thousands of pictures of naked kids as he was masturbating them. It’s a story about a hospital that let the man run amuck without supervision. It’s a story about innocent children who were victims of a warped mind.
The malpractice suit stated that the hospital failed the children, thanks to negligent supervision, and also breached their special duty of care to them. The defense argued it was not their job to supervise the unknown, kinky behavior of the doctor in charge of a project and their main concern would have been to supervise research protocols. The plaintiff is asking the court for between $5 and $8 million. There was not just one plaintiff involved in this horrendous case; there were an estimated total of 94 plaintiffs, seeking justice.
The shocking revelations that the deceased Dr. Reardon had engaged in sexual abuse came to light as the result of a strange twist of fate. The new owner of the doctor’s house was remodeling, when he broke open a wall where a cache of over 50,000 pictures were nestled – slides of naked girls and boys, with some of them posed in sexually provocative positions.
Evidence at trial showed that the hospital did not take any measures to check Reardon’s “growth study” between the mid-60’s and 80’s, when the first of many complaints were made to the state medical board. Dr. Reardon died in 1998, with no one the wiser about his unethical activities, until the pictures were found in 2007. He was never sued civilly.
The deceased doctor had children come into the hospital on a regular basis and measured their genitalia with calipers, roughly every six months. Although no one was quite sure why a doctor with zero for experience in the area of pediatric medicine was conducting this study, no one asked any questions.
In the meantime, Reardon, the chief of endocrinology, was masturbating children on a regular basis. Counsel for the plaintiff suggested that if the hospital had bothered to supervise the study, Reardon would have been caught and the pain and humiliation his victims suffered would have been put to a stop. All it would have taken was a systematic review of what the doctor was doing in his office on the fourth floor of the hospital. After all, the hospital bought enough film for 38,000 pictures. Wasn’t anyone wondering where those pictures were and what they entailed? Evidently not.
Medical malpractice? Yes, in a different form than what we typically think of malpractice as being, but malpractice nonetheless. Not everyone will be involved in a case like this, but obviously, the truth is stranger than fiction. This is one of the reasons why, if you suspect you have been the victim of some form of medical malpractice at the hands of a medical professional, don’t wait at home, second guessing whether you have a case or not. Pick up the phone and call a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer and find out if you “do” have a case and cause worth pursuing in the courts.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
18-Wheeler Horror Story Continues
Once charged for vehicular manslaughter, you would think the trucker would get off the road. Not so.
This case truly points out the utter stupidity of some people when it comes to taking responsibility for their actions. The trucker in this horror story was already charged with felony vehicular manslaughter when he was slapped with a wrongful death, civil lawsuit, for the deaths of three people in August 2010.
The 18-wheeler driver rammed his out of control trunk into a house nestled at the bottom of a highway. Unfortunately, there were people home at the time, and the force of the impact killed two adults and an 8-year-old child. When the big rig hit, it was hauling two trailers of gravel, and a load that no one could see until later; a load of vehicle code violations, serious enough that the rig should never have been in service.
The 61-year-old trucker had a string of citations for faulty brakes, speeding, bad tire treads, spilled loads and other infractions that spanned 10 years. It was not the first time he had run into a stationary object either. An accident looking for a place to happen? Definitely. But more than that, a negligent man who took the lives of three innocent, unsuspecting people. The lawsuit is asking for punitive and compensatory damages, and names not just the trucker, but the man’s trucking company, the city where the accident happened, the county and the state.
The trucker’s defense counsel suggests the accident was the result of a poorly maintained and dangerous highway, largely due to the way it was designed and constructed and how it was repaired. In other words, the trucker was attempting to point the finger of blame at the county and state by suggesting the steep downgrade and heavy traffic caused the accident.
The trucker pled not guilty to the three charges he faces, and will have his day in court. In the meantime, he was let out on bail and now also faces a wrongful death lawsuit. Chances are that lawsuit be successful. Unfortunately, it will not bring the dead family back, but it will help the remaining family come to terms with their slaughter by truck. It will likely also provide them with financial compensation to allow them to continue with their lives.
Wrongful death lawsuits are often more about making sure a similar incident does not happen to anyone else. This family does not want to see this trucker on the road again; locked and loaded and out of control to potentially kill someone else. They may well get their wish.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Wrongful Death May Follow When Things Go Bad Medically
When you go to hospital, you tend to expect you will come out well, and alive. This did not happen in this shocking case.
It has been reported that there will likely be more than one wrongful death lawsuit filed by grieving families in this case that shocked the nation. Nineteen people, high-risk patients, were on IV lines, being fed bagged total parenteral nutrition – bags that were subsequently discovered to be contaminated with a deadly bacteria. This is something that could happen in any state, city, town or community, which is what makes it so frightening.
The pharmaceutical supplier who provided the parenteral nutrition bags was named in the two lawsuits filed to date, with more expected. The families of the victims, who went to hospital, sure that they would be home when they were better, filed the lawsuits to make a point about the supplier taking responsibility for the contaminated IV bags. The irony of this situation is that those who relied on the life sustaining fluid, paid with their lives when they were infected with serratia marcescens bacteremia.
In total, nine people died and another 10 had to be kept in hospital while they battled this new opportunistic disease that hitchhiked into their blood streams from the contaminated IV bags. Total parenteral nutrition is typically used for patients who are unable to or should not eat food. This particular bug is noted for causing infection in the urinary tract, in wounds, they eyes and respiratory tract. In this case, because it was introduced directly into the bloodstream, its effects were far more deadly.
The basis of the wrongful death lawsuits filed so far, indicate that the pharmaceutical supplier should have known the product was contaminated or defective. It is their business to produce safe products for people who rely on them for their lives. Thanks to this monumental and deadly error, six hospitals in the areas were reporting the serratia marcescens bacteremia infection.
This kind of incident gives one pause about going to hospital. How could it not? This is the stuff of nightmares for people facing any kind of hospital time. What will happen to me? Will I get the right medications? Will they be safe and not harm or kill me? With things like this going on, it’s not much wonder people regard hospitals and pharmaceutical suppliers and drug makers with a jaundiced eye.
The whole point of this though is that when someone you love goes to hospital to be healed, and then ends up fighting a serious infection or dying, because someone was negligent, something has to be done about this. The company that made the bags needs to be held accountable for their actions. The subsequent point to be made is also that something like this can happen at any time, to anyone, in any location. To receive just compensation, you need to hire the expertise of an Arkansas injury lawyer.
Wrongful death cases are highly complex, gut wrenching events for the family and take a long time moving through the courts. However, with a skilled Arkansas injury lawyer by your side, getting justice and fair and equitable compensation is what you deserve and will get.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Gruesome Auto Accident Kills Tow Truck Driver Reports Arkansas Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury accidents resulting in wrongful death may be horrific. This case is a prime example.
“This was a horrible case and the man killed suffered terribly before he died. His family faced a very difficult time trying to cope with his loss and move forward with their lives,” said Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury lawyer and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Arkansas. “While I was not involved in this case, when I read it, it brought to mind that personal injury accidents may happen anytime, anywhere and those involved would need skilled legal assistance.”
The man went to work as he always did every day and hopped into his tow truck, wondering what the day would hold for him. He got a call to tow an illegally parked SUV. In the middle of trying to hook it up to tow away, the woman who owned the vehicle got into it and drove away. The man’s leg was tangled in the tow cable used to hook the SUV to the truck. It broke as the SUV was speeding away.
As the SUV was racing off, it was dragging the man behind it. As a consequence of this brutal dragging, his leg was torn from his torso and both his legs were ultimately severed. Although he was rushed to hospital, he died a short time after arriving. “The police tracked down the driver of the SUV. The outcome of this case will be anyone’s guess, but the family of the deceased man will no doubt want to talk to a skilled injury lawyer,” Smith said.
Cases like this are incredibly difficult to handle for everyone involved, particularly given the cause of death and the circumstances leading up to it. Negligence? Certainly a case could be made that the driver was negligent in driving away while the tow truck operator was right there hooking her vehicle up. Recklessness? It was definitely reckless to take off speeding when a person was right behind her vehicle. She also dragged him far enough that she should have realized something was wrong.
Wrongful death? Yes, definitely. And in this case, there may be the possibility of punitive damages for egregious behavior. Certainly there would be a case for substantial damages given the nature of the case and the trauma the man suffered prior to his death.
“While no one wants to think they are profiting from a loved one’s death, the facts are that in cases like this there is generally insurance money involved. The deceased’s family should be entitled to that after all they have been through. They have lost a loved family member, they should not be left financially destitute as well,” Smith said.
To get aggressive representation and a fair and equitable settlement or court verdict, a case like this would be best in the hands of a skilled Arkansas injury lawyer.
Learn more by visiting http://www.Arkansaslawhelp.com
The Face Of Medical Malpractice May Be Founded In Prescribing Psychiatric Drugs
Over the years, the practice of medicine has radically changed. Now, psychiatric medicine is regarded as a legitimate field.
Many psychiatric patients today are able to get their prescriptions from their psychiatrist without dealing with their family doctor. While this is a boon for the patient, there are risks inherent in this practice. For example, prescribing psychiatric drugs without knowing the rest of the patient’s medical history is a case of medical malpractice looking for a place to happen.
Many of the psychiatric medications on the market today are noted mainly for their side effects alone, never mind how those side effects would manifest in the presence of other drugs. Keeping track of conflicting drugs is a major nightmare. If one drug is prescribed and causes a bad reaction, it will need to be replaced with something else. In other words, it’s a bit like trying to experiment with making a cocktail – keep adding things until something works without harming the patient.
In this potential minefield of psychiatric drugs versus other drugs a patient may be on, there is a very real question of how these drugs may affect a baby. Most, if not all of these types of drugs, have an impact on the tender and developing neural system of a fetus. If the drug affects the mother in an adverse manner, you may be sure it will affect the baby as well. The most common difficulties are nerve and brain damage. If a doctor does not warn his or her pregnant patient about the potential side effects and complications of psychiatric drugs, the baby may sustain serious damage and/or disabilities.
Consider the case of the 32-year-old psychiatric patient who was two months pregnant. She was prescribed pills for depression that caused her to suffer severe anxiety attacks, paranoia and several other disturbing symptoms. She returned to the doctor, who prescribed another drug that seemed to work well for her. Nine months later, she delivered a brain-damaged baby, a noted side effect of the drug prescribed. Since she had received no warnings about the drug she was on, she could not make an informed decision about whether to discontinue it or not.
Medical malpractice? Likely. Could the woman file a medical malpractice lawsuit? Yes. Would she win? Likely, but that would depend on the evidence presented in the case. If you have been in a similar situation, take your case and concerns to a competent Arkansas malpractice lawyer and find out how you may recover damages for your situation.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Unresolved Business Disputes May Tank A Company
Running a business is not all it is cracked up to be some days. This is more so true when you need to deal with business disputes.
There are a number of ways to handle disputes in a workplace setting. What you choose to do will be based solely on your preferences, budget and how effective you think the methods may be in your particular workplace. For instance, the first thing you might want to try is direct negotiation. It does not cost that much to accomplish, but, it is not always the easiest way to get things done. People will be people and they are not always easy to deal with, so you need to be prepared before you try direct negotiation.
An example of getting ready to enter into direct negotiations would be that you, and hopefully the person you will be negotiating with, will be very clear on what is wanted, why it is wanted and how valuable the future relationship is with the other person.
Having done that, you then need to try and understand what the situation looks like from the other person’s point of view. That means you must take the time to really listen, understand, observe and ask questions to clarify. If all goes well, you can then draft an agreement that works for both parties.
If you are not comfortable with direct negotiation, and many people are not, you might want to try mediation. This simply means finding a way for the problem to be solved or resolved, not to figure out who is right or wrong.
The parties involved in mediation get to tell their respective stories to a neutral third party; one who does not have any authority to make decisions. They are there to facilitate a resolution to the situation – period. Of course, the solution needs to be okay with both parties. None of the material used during mediation is useable in court, a point you need to remember when considering your options for dealing with business disputes.
The next step after mediation is arbitration. This is when you take your business dispute to a neutral arbitrator who goes over all the evidence, hears both sides and then delivers a binding decision. Even if the parties to the arbitration do not like the decision, they have to accept it. This process is more time consuming and thus is usually more expensive, if you have budget concerns.
When all else fails, and in some cases, it does fail, you still have the legal option. This would involve letting a judge figure out who is right or wrong and making a decision. Most civil cases do not get that far, simply because they settle out of court to save money. While litigation is a definite option, it has two large drawbacks. It will generally ruin any working relationship between the parties and it can be costly.
What options would suit your business style? That would be something for you to determine, but generally speaking, the option that best suits your dilemma is one that suits your management style.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Drug Prescribed by Doctor Used to Overdose 4 year Old Girl Reports Arkansas Personal Injury Lawyer
When a wrongful death involves a young child, it is heartbreaking. In this case, the parents and the child’s psychiatrist were guilty of causing the child’s death.
“This was a really tough case and it resulted in the wrongful death of a 4-year-old little girl who is dead as a result of an overdose of psychiatric drugs prescribed by the doctor named in the suit. Shockingly, the parents were convicted of killing their daughter by negligently giving her drugs for ADHD and bipolar disease,” said Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury lawyer and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Arkansas.
The settlement in the case was based on the maximum amount of medical malpractice insurance that may be paid out on behalf of a doctor. Because there was a full payout to the maximum allowable limit, the family may assume that the doctor was indeed culpable in the child’s death, even though there was no admission of wrongdoing on the part of the doctor.
“At the time of the little girl’s death, all three of the children had been seeing the same doctor and were receiving the same medications. There were questions about why the doctor was not held criminally negligent in the death as well. Testimony at trial indicated the psychiatrist had been duped by the parents into believing their children had major psychiatric problems. Evidently, this was done so the parents could collect federal disability checks,” Smith said.
The sad part of this whole affair is that the doctor seemingly did not know that the parents were giving extra medication to their children. While it is nice that the case was settled in favor of the estate of the 4-year-old girl, no amount of money will ever make the situation right or bring her back to life. That is part of the reason why people file wrongful death lawsuits – to obtain justice and to get financial compensation for the loss to allow them to continue on with their lives.
Wrongful death lawsuits are not about getting even with the people who caused the death, as compensation will not make up for the loss of a loved family member. Suing for compensation is not about greedy people wanting to punish someone and get money. It is about making the life of the survivors easier. They should not have to suffer financial ramifications as a result of a death caused by someone else.
“Do you know when you have a wrongful death case? If the death of your loved one happened as the result of a drunk driver, reckless, speeding trucker, auto accident, unsafe premises or a defective product or a medication error, like this case, you may have a wrongful death case. By all means, if you aren’t sure, give my office a call. I would welcome the chance to talk to you,” Smith said.
Learn more by visiting http://www.Arkansaslawhelp.com
Wrongful Death Came Calling In The Form Of A Deadly Prank
Pranks that take on a deadly element may be responsible for the wrongful death of an innocent victim. Such is the story in this case.
This is a case our law office read about and that involved a young sophomore who died as a result of a college prank gone awry. Often people relate best to actual case examples when learning more about how the law works when it comes to personal injuries and wrongful death lawsuits.
In this case, the 19-year-old man who died was living in a house with three other roommates. One night, while he was asleep, the other roomies got drunk and decided to play around with fireworks. Someone came up with the idea of sticking two Roman candles under the young man’s bedroom door with the idea that it would scare him awake and they could all have a good laugh when he came running out.
Roman candles are quite active when they get lit and often spew out at least 10 or more fireballs. With two of them under his door, there would have been roughly 20 fireballs blasting off into his room. The pranksters beat it outside and when they looked up at his room, they realized the whole thing was on fire by the glow in the window. They tried to save him but the intense heat drove them back.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed by the man’s parents stated that the four other boys who pulled this deadly prank were negligent and acting in a willful and wanton way and totally disregarded the safety of their son by starting a fire in his bedroom. The end result of the trial in this case was that the jury awarded the man’s family $700,000 for his wrongful death. The four all pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter; a move that netted them a plea bargain that gave them probation and six months in jail.
This was a totally devastating case for the dead young man’s family. They thought he was safe with his friends. Little did they know that when the alcohol prevailed and overrode common sense, that their son would lose his life. What the four boys did was negligent, reckless and ultimately fatal. The presence of negligence is required in a wrongful death case and that negligence must be the proximate or direct cause of the death. In this instance, it was clearly the fireworks placed under the door by the boys that led to another’s demise.
If you have been in a similar situation or involved in another scenario where you lost someone you loved because of the actions of another, it is best to seek an Arkansas injury lawyer right away. Wrongful death lawsuits are civil, not criminal, cases and they are also subject to the Statute of Limitations, meaning you only have a certain amount of time to file suit or lose your chance. Just remember that every state has different wrongful death provisions and you will need to speak to a skilled Arkansas injury lawyer to find out what applies in your case.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
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