Welcome to Personal Injury Law Blog

Anyone owning one of these slings should stop using it immediately and contact Infantino.  If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product you should contact a products liability attorney with the law firm of Smith, Welch & Brittain today.

You may have recently seen the ad campaign for the Great Hang Up.  The campaign is designed to encourage Georgian's to hang up their cell phones while driving.  This campaign is in response to a growing epidemic, which at times has turned deadly.  These actions are not reserved to those simply looking to communicate with their friends.  Professionals such as real estate agents, sales people, builders, delivery drivers, truckers, and the average Joe choose to transform their vehicles into working offices in order to make every second in an otherwise busy day count.  Often times these distracted drivers are driving some of the biggest trucks and vehicles on the road.

The evidence pointing to the dangers associated with these activities is clear.  Studies have shown that someone talking on the phone while driving is four times more likely to crash, even if they are using a hands-free headset, than someone who is driving without talking on the phone.  The likelihood for an accident are even greater when texting or surfing the web. 

For this reason, and for the sake of those sharing the road, just hang up.  The benefit you may receive through multitasking behind the wheel is not worth the danger and ultimate harm that could result from these actions.  Avoid the danger to yourself and to others and just hang up.

The Georgia Department of Transportation and your local government has a duty to both design and maintain roads, highways,  and bridges so that they will effectively drain water away from the road's surface and not allow water to accumulate, or stand on the road, which increases the hidden peril of hydroplaning.  Faulty design, poor construction, or improper maintenance of the drainage systems can cause excess water to build upon the roadway presenting an increased risk for hydroplaning.  

If you have recently been involved in an accident as a result of the wet road conditions you should contact one of the personal injury attorneys at the law firm of Smith, Welch & Brittain, LLP to discuss your rights.  The attorneys at Smith, Welch & Brittain are ready to help you pursue a claim against the at fault parties whose negligence caused the accident and get you back on the road again. 

1. An MRI can show an acute injury through evidence of edema or a hemorrhage.
2. The body would absorb the edema or hemorrhage within two to four weeks and therefore would not be revealed in a later MRI.
3. The MRI in question was taken seven months after collision in question.  Thus the good doctor's testimony was totally irrelevant and the jury, fortunately discarded that testimony all together. 

If your MRI does not show an acute injury, but you did suffer an acute history, make sure you get your doctor to explain why that is and how you can verify the injury.  There are other diagnostic tests,  including physical exams, nerve conduction studies and X-Rays.  This is not an exhaustive list, there are others as well.  Often a physician will rely heavily on a patient's history.  If litigation is involved, it is important to verify this history with fact witnesses who can testify that you weren't complaining of pain in a specific area prior to the accident, but you do now.  Also, fact witnesses can explain changes in behavior that further validate the history.  One fact to remember, a doctor treats his/her patient, not an MRI.

As most people have now heard, there's been a recent outbreak of Salmonella cases detected across the United States.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed Salmonella Typhimurium has been found in peanut butter and peanut paste produced in a processing plant in Blakely, Georgia.  Peanut paste is produced mainly from roasted peanuts that are ground into paste.  The manufacturer has issued a recall of all peanut products produced on or after January 1, 2007.  This recall is in response to the rash of Salmonella infections associated with products produced in the Blakely plant.  Some of the recalled items involve foods sold directly to consumers, such as peanut butter crackers, peanut butter cookies, and ice cream made with peanut butter.  The FDA has established a web site to better assist consumers in determining whether products they own are subject to the most recent recall.  That website is  http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and vomiting, often associated with fever, within twelve to seventy-two hours of infection. The symptons can range from mild to severe.  The symptoms associated with Salmonella infection usually lasts from four to seven days.  Most people infected will usually recover without medical treatment, however, the very young, the elderly, and individuals with weakened and/or impaired immune systems are likely to have more severe reactions from a Salmonella infection.   Someone believing they have been infected by contaminated products should consult with their medical provider immediately. 

Is your injury deserving of more than the at fault driver’s available liability insurance?  This is an all too often occurrence.  Georgia requires liability insurance of at least $25,000.00, but what if your injury results in medical bills in excess of that?  If your only source of funds is the at fault driver’s liability insurance, you won’t recover for all your economic damages, not to mention pain and suffering, unless you can find other sources.

The good news is that often there are other sources you might not think about.  If you have “med-pay” insurance, then that can help.  After med-pay, the most common source is your Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM). You may have UM coverage that exceeds that of the at fault driver.  Under a new law passed last year, you also have the option of stacking your UM coverage on top of the at fault driver’s liability coverage unless you choose to opt out of that coverage.  Another form of stacking occurs when you or a family member who resides with you have other policies in place for other cars.  If so, then you may be able to stack those UM policies to yours.

The at fault driver may have other insurance, such as an umbrella policy on his/her homeowner’s policy that would cover acts of negligence away from the home.

If the at fault driver was working at the time of the accident, then you may be able to go after his/her employer.  Employers are liable for the negligent acts of their employees.  It may not be apparent, but with the use of cell phones today, people often make work related calls from their cell phones.  Another potential source is your employer if you were working at the time.  This would take the form of a workman’s comp claim.

There may be more than one responsible party.  Did someone else contribute to the accident?  Often road defects and/or designs can cause accidents.  If so, then the DOT or local government may have exposure. This list is not exhaustive and there are other possibilities.  The point is to make sure you have exhausted all possible sources of recovery before settlement and never sign off on a release until you have talked to an attorney.