Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

January 6, 2016

Woman Killed at Ski Resort in “Spruce Trap”

While this hasn’t been much of a winter for most of the country, it has been getting a little colder in the New England area, including in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One of the winter activities that is quite popular in our region is going to the ski slopes for skiing or snowboarding. While there is no question that skiing or snowboarding is an inherently dangerous activity, especially for those who are inexperienced, a ski resort is still required to take whatever reasonable steps it can to prevent foreseeable injury to foreseeable persons and property

Preventing foreseeable injury to foreseeable persons and property is the duty of care owed under the common law definition of negligence in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One issue that arises in these cases is that, whenever you go to a ski area, you are often required to sign a waiver of any and all liability. This is either done when you sign an electronic signature pad, such as you do when picking up a prescription at your local pharmacy, or it is actually printed on the back of your lift ticket. They say that by affixing the lift ticket to your jacket, you are agreeing to the conditions of the waiver. Continue reading

January 4, 2016

Davis v. S. Nassau Communities Hospital: Medical Malpractice and Third Party Plaintiffs

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Davis v. S. Nassau Communities Hospital, a case from the New York Court of Appeals, involved a patient who went to defendant’s emergency room for treatment for a painful medical condition. Court records indicate that she drove herself to the hospital. When she arrived and was treated by doctors, she was given a narcotic opioid-based painkiller and Ativan. Ativan is a benzodiazepine like Valium or Xanax. She was given her medication at around 11 a.m.

The common side effects for Ativan are dizziness, sedation, disorientation, and weakness. An expert testifying for plaintiff said the effect of Ativan was both hypnotic and sedative. The expert also testified about Dilaudid, which was the painkiller given to patient. This medication causes impairment of the ability to perform certain activities and makes it dangerous to drive a car. The drug also contains an insert in the package, which says ambulatory patients (leaving the same day) should be cautioned about the dangers of driving. Continue reading

January 2, 2016

Accidental Shooting at Gun Show Results in Serious Personal Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

With all the recent gun violence around the world, we have once again been hearing about efforts to increase gun control restrictions in the United States, and we have been hearing from those who oppose gun control. Regardless of one’s personal feelings on gun control, there is no question that guns are a big issue in the country, as well as big business. Even in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where there have been substantial gun control laws for many years, there are still many residents who strongly support one’s right to own firearms.

There are still many guns sold in our state, and some of those of guns are sold at gun shows held at conference centers and hotels across the Commonwealth. At the shows, buyers can look at guns and firearms-related products, and, if they have a valid Firearms ID card, or FID card, they may purchase certain firearms. While anyone is allowed to show up at these events with their own firearm, assuming they have a permit, they are supposed to not carry around any loaded weapons to prevent a serious personal injury or death. Continue reading

December 29, 2015

Massachusetts Non-Profit Trains Dogs to Help Veterans with Brain Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Any personal injury lawsuit filed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts often involves significantly more complexity than other types lawsuits if a plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It doesn’t matter whether the lawsuit is filed under a negligence-based theory or intention torts-based theory, such as assault and battery, because, regardless of causation, proving damages will require extensive medical documentation and expert testimony.

One of the reasons for this is that, despite all doctors have learned about the human brain and traumatic brain injury in the last decade or so, there is still much doctors and researchers do not understand. However, there is no question that there have been tremendous strides in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery, and this is largely due the large number of serious brain injury cases during recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While war and injuries are clearly nothing new, this war marks the first time in our history that the military had the technology to effectively evacuate many of the casualties and get them in an operating room within a matter of minutes or hours. In past wars, such as Vietnam, the wounded soldiers were not evacuated in time and died from their injures. Today, we have many more survivors, but that often means survivors with a traumatic brain injury. Continue reading

December 25, 2015

Australia Looks to Massachusetts for Advice on Banning ATVs to Prevent Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

This time of year, many people will be heading outdoors and taking advantage of the many exciting activities available in the fall and winter in Massachusetts. Two of the more popular activities are snowmobiling and riding ATVs. While ATVs are often used in the summer, many people use them on snow as well, and this can certainly be exciting.

However, using an all terrain vehicle (ATV) or snowmobile can be very dangerous as well, and they have been the cause of a significant amount of personal injury, especially among children. While, from a factual standpoint, the cause of most of these accidents involves falling off an ATV or running into a low tree branch, there are variety of different legal theories of causation that can be used in a personal injury lawsuit; however, we are still generally dealing with a negligence case. Continue reading

December 22, 2015

Promising New Research Could Help Spinal Cord Injury Victims

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Each year, approximately 12,500 new spinal cord injuries will occur within the United States. The National Spinal Cord Injury Model System explains these statistics do not reflect the number of people who die at the scene of accidents as a result of spinal injuries. Males account for 80 percent of new spinal cord injury patients, and the average age at which a person sustains a spinal cord injury is 42 years old. This is a 29 year increase in average age since the 1970s.

Spinal cord injuries are permanent when they occur, and can cause profound changes to the lives of victims and their families. Treatment of spinal cord injury is limited and is often focused on managing symptoms and conditions resulting from full or partial paralysis. However, Reuters reports there is new research currently underway which may be showing promise for improving treatment options.

New Research Leading to Advances in Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

December 18, 2015

Boston Brain Injury Victims Could Soon Get More Effective Treatment

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

One of the most serious injuries that a person can sustain is injury to the brain. Injuries to the brain are invasive and can impact all aspects of a person’s life. Brian injuries can be fatal or, in severe cases, can leave an individual permanently incapacitated or with significantly impaired cognitive function. Even brain injuries that seem relatively mild, like concussions, can have profound and lasting impacts that can affect health decades after the original injury occurred.

Brain injuries are not only life-changing for many victims, but they are also very difficult to treat effectively because there is a great deal that medical professionals do not yet understand about the human brain. Research is ongoing with the goal of providing more effective treatments for symptoms and health problems affecting brain injury victims, and recently Breakthroughs reported a new drug was showing some promise in early testing.

December 15, 2015

Parking Lot Accidents a Boston Injury Risk

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Parking lots can be a dangerous place both for people walking and for people driving. During the holiday season and the rest of the winter months, the risk is exacerbated because of the potential for slippery conditions.

Motorists should be alert to the risks they face when in parking lots, and should do everything possible to try to avoid getting hurt when they get out of their cars to head to their destination. Unfortunately, often it is drivers or parking lot owners who are negligent in a manner that leads to an accident.

December 12, 2015

Holiday Shopping Injury Risks at Massachusetts Stores

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

During the holiday season, consumers like to hit the malls to find the perfect gifts for loved ones. Unfortunately, holiday shopping can be stressful on the body. While there are some risks from lifting heavy items and carrying stacked shopping bags, the biggest dangers occur when stores and shopping malls don’t have effective safety plans and protocols in place.

Stores and malls can be held accountable in situations where there is an injury caused by negligence. Consumers need to know their rights and must be aware of the risks associated with holiday shopping so they can stay safe throughout the season.

December 6, 2015

Brandner v. Pease: Medical Malpractice Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Brandner v. Pease, a case from the Supreme Court of Alaska, involved a plaintiff who suffered a heart attack in late 2009. He was admitted to a local hospital to undergo an emergency bypass operation. A doctor and an anesthesiologist took part in the surgery. The plaintiff also happened to be a board certified doctor in plastic surgery.

Plaintiff was in surgery for around six hours. It took two attempts for the anesthesiologist to intubate plaintiff, and the drug used to put patient under anesthesia was propofol. During the surgery, plaintiff’s blood pressure began to drop to a dangerously low level, but he did not suffer complete cardiac arrest, according to the surgeon. At this point, surgeon performed CPR, and nurses gave plaintiff medications to raise his blood pressure back to a normal level. After his blood pressure was normalized, the surgery resumed as scheduled. Continue reading