Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

May 18, 2015

Teen Bonfire Ends in Injury in Massachusetts

Teens and college kids in Massachusetts love to have bonfires. While a bonfire can be a lot of fun, it is not hard to imagine how a giant tower of burning, unstable wood could result in serious personal injury.

One of the more famous bonfire accidents occurred in 1999 at Texas A&M University during an annual event known as the Aggie Bonfire. During that horrific incident, which featured a world-record sized bonfire, the logs collapsed while lit and resulted in 12 deaths and more than 20 other serious personal injuries.

While this event got a great deal of national media attention, there are still bonfire accidents happening each year that do not manage to capture national attention but still result in serious personal injury. According to a recent news article from the Westwood, Massachusetts Patch, the Westwood Police Department was called to respond to a teen bonfire after it was reported a girl had been injured.
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May 14, 2015

Amtrak Crash Death Toll at 7, Passengers Still Missing, High Speed Cited

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The latest update from the disastrous Amtrak train crash outside of Philadelphia this week is that at least seven people are dead, more than 200 were injured and several passengers are still unaccounted for as crews continue to search the massive piles of wreckage.

What’s more, an initial investigation indicates the train was traveling at approximately 102- to 106-mph while negotiating a sharp curve on its way to New York. Trains are supposed to enter that curve traveling just 50 mph. Evidence emerging from the active National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation reveals the train engineer/conductor did apply the brakes, but only after the train had already begun rounding the curve.

This information was gleaned from the train’s “black box” data recorder.
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May 13, 2015

Amtrak Train Accident: 6 Dead, 144 Injured, Crews Comb Wreckage

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Another horrific mass transit accident has been reported, this time just outside of Philadelphia, where a passenger train was catapulted off the tracks.

On Tuesday, May 12 around 9 p.m., an Amtrak train carrying 238 passengers and five crew members from Washington D.C. to New York City derailed, careening off the tracks, causing the seven cars to spin, flip and rip apart. The wreck happened on the busy New York-to-Philadelphia corridor.

In the initial aftermath, authorities are reporting at least six people are dead and 144 are known to be injured. Although most of the others are not seriously hurt, authorities have ominously revealed not all passengers are accounted for. That’s why emergency crews have been toiling away to search for anyone who may still be trapped in the gnarled mess of metal wreckage that remains.
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May 10, 2015

Children Drank Detergent Mixture at Daycare

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news report from WHDH, children at a local daycare ingested a detergent mixture while they were supposed to be under close staff supervision. The mixture was supposedly mistaken for water.

Witnesses say after a number of children ingested the detergent and water mixture, staff became aware of the issue, and they immediately called parents and authorities, though they stated no child appeared to become sick as a result of drinking the solution. Notifying parents and calling poison control was part of the required protocol in the case of an accidental ingestion of a potentially dangerous substance.

The local fire chief said while he was dismayed this had occurred, he was only a little surprised. He had actually heard of this happening at other daycare facilities and schools in his jurisdiction.
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May 7, 2015

Yoga to Help Treat Brain Injury Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In recent years, doctors and researchers have made a great deal of progress in development of new treatments for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. A lot of these advances were made possible through the sacrifices of those who suffered from TBIs as result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reason for this is that, in some ways, these wars were very different form past conflicts, especially with respect to medical treatment options for injured soldiers.

In past wars, such as Vietnam, most soldiers who suffered serious head trauma did not survive. There was no way to get them the immediate medical attention necessary to treat their serious injuries. Today, soldiers who are wounded are sometimes airlifted to technologically advanced Combat Support Hospitals (CSHs) to be stabilized, and then airlifted to a military hospital in Germany for treatment. After treatment, these wounded warriors are sent back to hospitals in the United States. With all of these TBI patients in need of help, there was a greater opportunity for research and demand for new techniques, which has been able to offer some help to TBI victims never available in the past.

While many head injuries occurred in war zones, thousands of civilians are injured every year in accidents throughout the United States, and many of these patients also suffer a TBI. These new treatment options developed through military medicine can now be used to aid civilian patients back home.
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May 3, 2015

Man Killed In Quincy Bar Fight

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news report from Boston.com, a 42-year-old man died after he was allegedly attacked at a bar in Quincy, Massachusetts. Authorities say defendant attacked victim in the bar, for reasons which have not yet been released, and left him there to die with serious bodily injuries, which is how first responders found him when they arrived at the scene of the alleged attack.

Norfolk County prosecutors say they have charged defendant with murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury. Prosecutors also say this alleged assault was entirely without provocation, and defendant is being held without bond in the Norfolk County jail to await trial.

Victim was survived by his two boys, ages 18 and 15. It is important to understand, defendant has not been convicted of any crime in connection with this alleged assault and is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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April 29, 2015

Negligent Acts and Omissions in Massachusetts Personal Injury Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Personal injury cases in Massachusetts typically involve claims of negligence. Essentially, plaintiff is accusing defendant of acting in a negligent manner or failing to act (claim of omission), when they are required by law to do so.

An example of a negligent act would be drunk driving. Every driver owes a duty to others on the roads and sidewalks to operate their motor vehicle in a reasonably safe manner so as to prevent foreseeable (predictable) injury to other persons and property. When someone drinks to the point of intoxication and then gets behind the wheel of car, they are not acting in a responsible manner, since everyone knows or should know drunk driving is dangerous. If this negligent conduct results in an accident in which a victim is injured, plaintiff can file a negligence-based claim in civil court.

With respect to a negligent omission, normally, people are not legally required to come to the assistance of another person. While we hope people wouldn’t ignore someone in need, if you walk by a pond and see someone drowning, you are generally under no obligation to call for help or try to help victim yourself. Again, we hope someone would not simply walk away, but there is generally no legal requirement to come to the aid of another person.

However, there are two main exceptions to this law. If you are the reason victim was placed in peril, you do have a duty to act. For example, if you pushed victim into the pond, or negligently fell into them, and they fell into the pond, you have a legal duty to come to their aid, or at the very least, call someone who can assist them.
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April 25, 2015

Two-Year-Old Child Injured after Falling into Cheetah Habitat

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article form Fox News Insider, a two-year-old boy was injured when fell into the cheetah exhibit at a zoo in Cleveland. Witnesses and zoo officials say the boy’s mother was dangling him over the cheetah enclosure when she lost her grip on the child and dropped him approximately ten feet into the pit.

Once the boy hit the ground, his parents quickly entered the pit themselves and came to the aid of their son. Zoo officials said the cheetahs never came anywhere near the boy or his parents, and the animal caretakers were able to free the family from the Cheetah exhibit without any problems. The boy apparently suffered what zoo officials said was a minor leg injury as result of falling ten feet and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment. Many people questioned for this story and other media outlets have expressed amazement the boy was not attacked by the cheetah, though it is not known how likely it would have been for well-fed animals in captivity to act in an aggressive manner in any case.

Zoo officials have also stated how it is unfortunate that it appears the mother was dangling the child over the cheetah exhibit, according to multiple eyewitness reports, and, therefore, the zoo will be asking police and prosecutors to charge the parents with child endangerment. However, it should be noted, the family has not been charged with any crime in connection with this incident.
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April 20, 2015

Children’s Pajamas Recalled Over Burn Fears

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

When we purchase clothes for young children, we normally think about how they will fit and whether they will look good. We normally do not worry about whether they present an unreasonable risk of burn injuries due to a defective design.

We don’t concern ourselves about this because we assume manufacturers of children’s clothing have followed the law and all recommended safety guidelines and do everything in their power to avoid safety risks. We also assume if a company learns of a problem, it will immediately issue a voluntary safety recall and notify the public.

According to a recent news article from WFLA News, one manufacturer of children’s pajamas is recalling its products as a result of a violation of the federal flammability regulation. Officials have reported the pajamas in question pose a significant safety risk due to burn injuries.

In response to this alleged violation of federal flammability standards, the company says they are recalling around 8,000 units affected by this issue. The company also urges parents to have their children stop wearing the potentially hazardous pajamas immediately. The pajamas involved in the recall were one-piece and two-piece sets made of 100 percent polyester. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported as result of the burn hazard, but these allegedly defective children’s pajamas were sold from 2012 to 2015.
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April 14, 2015

Daycare Employer Arrested for Allegedly Tying Up Children

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent story from KYTX News, a woman in Spring, TX was arrested for allegedly tying up two children in the classroom in which she worked. Authorities are reporting defendant was charged with unlawful restraining and injury to a child following the conclusion of their investigation.

The authorities first became aware of a problem when two witnesses allegedly told police officers that they saw defendant tying up and injuring children while in her classroom at the daycare facility. It should be noted, these two witnesses were said to be referring to two separate incidents they apparently observed.

During one of these occasions, a witness told police she heard defendant screaming at a child who was not a student of defendant. The child was sitting in a chair with her hands tied together. The witness further alleged when she entered the classroom and defendant saw her, defendant untied the girl and sent her back to sit her normal spot in the classroom.
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