Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

April 13, 2018

Driver Under the Influence Hits a Department of Natural Resources Officer

A Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Officer was struck Wednesday night, April 11, 2018, by a driver under the influence. The DNR officer had responded to a call regarding a lost seal. The seal was spotted near Onset Avenue.

The DNR officer was not injured in the crash, but the driver who was under the influence and struck the DNR officer was treated by Wareham EMS workers who then took the driver to local area Tobey Hospital for evaluation and treatment of his injuries. The extent of the driver’s injuries has not been released. He is being charged with operating while under the influence, as well as other charges.

The Wareham DNR driver had his warning lights flashing while he was sitting in his truck on Onset Avenue. He was trying to find a seal that had previously been seen nearby. The driver of the other vehicle struck the truck while attempting to drive past.

April 13, 2018

Multiple Lanes Closed on Route 93 In Woburn Due to Crash and Reported Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Major backups reported in Woburn due to a crash on Route 93 North. The crash caused both right lanes to be closed during rush hour traffic. The accident happened late afternoon on Thursday, April 12, 2018. Injuries have been reported by State Police at the crash near the interchange of Route 128. Only one travel lane remained open for the rush hour traffic.

The State Police reported that all lanes had been reopened and the scene was clear around 4:23 pm. Further details surrounding the cause of the accident and the injuries sustained have not yet been released.

Although the cause of the above accident has not been identified, car accidents can happen due to a myriad of factors, any place, any time. The leading cause of accidents across the United States is distracted drivers. With the use of and ease of access to technology, drivers are becoming more and more distracted. The more drivers are distracted, the more accidents and higher the severity the accidents will become.

April 13, 2018

Pit Bull Shot by Police During Attack on Boston Woman

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Wednesday afternoon, April 11, 2018, around 4:00 pm, police shot and killed a pit bull that was attacking a Roxbury woman on Eustis Street. Police were in the Boston neighborhood on Eustis Street investigating the shooting of two people that occurred days earlier, not related to this incident.

Roxbury Pitbull attack

While police were asking questions about the previous shooting, they observed a woman walking a pit bull down the street. They then saw the dog over power the woman, break-free, and run away from his owner. Once free, the dog attacked another woman in the area.

Police tried to get to the dog to stop the attack, but the dog then threatened the officers, at which point the dog was shot. It was the only way to stop the attack. The dog was not killed, only injured.

The victim of the dog attack sustained serious injuries and was transported to a local area hospital for evaluation and treatment of her injuries.

Animal control has taken the dog in to custody and says he will survive the shot. The investigation in to the attack is ongoing.

April 13, 2018

Workplace Injury Results in $8.25M Jury Award

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

On April 12, 2018 a Massachusetts jury returned a verdict in favor of Brian Goodrich in the amount of $8.25 million. The award comes after years of litigation beginning in 2013 when Mr. Goodrich’s head was nearly crushed because the jack holding up a piece of equipment failed. He suffered horrendous injuries which included facial disfigurement, blindness and loss of cognitive function.

The jury found, after hearing 11 days of testimony, that the company which designed the equipment was a majority at fault. Mr. Goodrich was changing the oil on the equipment meant to melt asphalt and fill cracks in the road. Although Mr. Goodrich acknowledged not using the safety pin with the jack which held the machine up, the company failed to include safety warnings and failed to manufacture the machine appropriately knowing such accidents were possible.

April 13, 2018

Sexagenarian Injured by Turkey Crashing through her Windshield

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

“Turkey town” sees another car accident caused by a turkey flying through a windshield. On Friday the 13th of April, a 60-year old woman was driving on Route 25 in Wareham in the early hours of the morning when a turkey smashed through her windshield completely destroying it; her Volvo XC90 was towed from the scene. She was treated by Wareham EMS and the State Police were called.

This is the third such incident in as many weeks in this town. Wareham is known as “turkey town” because of the neighboring turkey farms.

April 13, 2018

Hit-and-Run Accident Sends Man to Hospital in Brockton

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

At noon on April 12^th, in Brockton, a vehicle attempted to make a left turn onto Nilsson Avenue from Warren Avenue and collided into a Honda Accord and another driver. The vehicle fled the scene and Brockton Police later uncovered it on Fulton Street where they learned it was reported stolen prior to the accident.

The triple car collision resulted in an injury the driver of the Honda Accord, who was ultimately hospitalized. The Honda Accord was smashed into a utility pole. There were several witnesses who gave their observations to the police.

April 13, 2018

Flatbed Truck Runs Over Man, Crashes Into Tree

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Earlier this afternoon, as two flatbed truck workers were loading a Honda Accord onto the tow truck, the truck began to roll and ran over one of the workers. He was taken away in an ambulance. The Pipo’s Towing truck ended up descending approximately 250 feet down hill. This occurred on Haviland Street in Worcester at around 1:30 p.m. There were several witnesses to the incident including the three women getting the Honda Accord towed.

The other Pipo’s Towing worker was also injured when, after attempting to jump into the tow truck to stop it from continuing to roll down hill further, he fell out of the truck onto the pavement. There were no further injuries when the truck came to rest against a tree that stopped it. The accident investigation team of the Worcester Police are investigating mechanical failure as a possible cause, among other factors.

April 12, 2018

Piece of Metal Crashed Through Window of Honda Odyssey Seriously Injuring Driver on Route 128

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Around 11:00 am, April 11, 2018, a driver travelling along Route 128 in Waltham had a piece of metal smash through their windshield, hitting them and causing serious injuries.

The Honda Odyssey was travelling down Route 128, near Exit 26, when a tractor lost a piece of equipment which crashed through the windshield. It appeared to be a tractor trailer’s metal piece which was made to hold a mud flap over the tire.

The driver has not yet been identified but was transported to Mass General Hospital for evaluation and treatment of serious injuries sustained to their face. The injuries were not life-threatening, but serious.

April 8, 2018

Evidentiary Practice in Boston Personal Injury Lawsuits

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Most Boston personal injury claims will settle prior to going to trial. Mainly, this is due to the fact the insurance company will assess the possible risk of going to trial and the cost of defending an action at trial and usually offer based upon these calculations. However, if an insurance company does not make a reasonable offer, which provides plaintiff with a full and appropriate financial recovery, it will be necessary to take the case to trial and fight for plaintiff’s rights in open court. If your attorney is going to take a case to trial, it is essential he or she has handled many cases in court before and is well versed in the rules of evidence and trial practice to increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

The first thing to understand is Massachusetts does not have formally codified rule evidence like most other states, so it is technically improper to refer to a particular rule by number, even though it happens all the time in court. These numbers generally come from the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE), which apply in federal courts as well as state evidence codes, which typically closely resemble the federal rules of evidence. This is not to say Massachusetts does not have any rules of evidence, they just do not come from a code book or the Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.). Continue reading

March 24, 2018

Report: Surgery Centers Gain Steam at Cost to Patient Well-Being

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Not long ago, a series of mistakes at an eye surgery clinic in West Springfield resulted in five patients suffering from blindness. Each had been operated on the same Tuesday morning in what was promised to be a quick, 15-minute outpatient procedure. Blindness in general is a rare complication for such a surgery which should have raised a red flag. Five occurrences in the same day at the same clinic while undergoing the same procedure seems unprecedented, and the allegations are that the doctor used a needle to inject patients with anesthesia rather than offer a less risky alternative. One of those patients later won a $1.3 million verdict, while other cases are pending.

What this case has in common with a growing number of other Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuits is the fact that it occurred at a surgical center. A recent analysis by USA Today and Kaiser Health News revealed that as surgical centers have risen in popularity, obtaining approval for an ever-expanding range of complex procedures, despite having a lack of training and state-of-the-art life-saving equipment.

The report indicated there are more than 5,600 surgical centers across the country. These facilities first started gaining steam about five decades ago, touted as a lower cost alternative for those seeking relatively minor procedures. However, now the number of surgery centers has dwarfed the number of hospitals. Although any surgical procedure has the potential for complications, there is no question that hospitals on the whole are better equipped to handle emergencies than these surgical centers. Continue reading