Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

June 7, 2015

Daycare Facility Dishwashers Not Hot Enough to Sanitize Dishes

Recently, there has been more attention paid by the media to daycare accidents and injuries to young children. While some claim this is just the media’s latest fascination, it seems that these often preventable injuries and illnesses are finally getting the attention they deserve, so parents can make more informed decisions about choosing a daycare provider to care for their young children.

According to a recent news report from the Chicago Tribune, there is one major safety concern often overlooked by safety inspectors at a number of daycare facilities. This problem involves the water temperate in dishwashers at the centers.
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June 4, 2015

Grilling Safety Tips in Massachusetts: Preventing Burn Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

This spring and summer, many people will fire up the patio or backyard grill after work or on the weekends. While there is nothing like grilling up a burger or steak on your own grill, one Massachusetts fire marshal wants to remind everyone to follow all recommended safety practices, and do whatever you can reasonably due to prevent fires and burn injuries.

According to a recent public safety announcement from Wicked Local East Bridgewater, the town fire marshal recommends everyone take the time to inspect their propane and natural gas grills for any leaks and cracks prior to using them, as this can help prevent serious personal injury. He also urges parents to teach their young children to stay at least three feet away from a lit grill at all times, as children are at a particular risk for accidental burn injuries.
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May 31, 2015

Millions in Grants Awarded for TBI Research

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A traumatic brain injury or “TBI” can have serious effects on victims that can last the rest of their lives if they are fortunate to survive the initial trauma. Those who suffer a traumatic brain injury may have difficulty with both long- and short-term memory, performing tasks requiring use of motor skills, automatic bodily functions, and concentration and cognitive abilities.

Some of this damage will never go away, while some of the symptoms can improve though hard work, determination and a very lengthy rehabilitation process. That process is too often not only extensive, but extremely expensive. It is costly not only in terms of medicals bills, but in the financial hardship associated with not being able to work.

To help traumatic brain injury patients, scientists are working on new techniques in the operating room and during the rehabilitation process. While they are making daily progress, many researchers rely on grants to fund their expensive research. According to a recent news article from NJBIZ, $6.3 million in new grants have been awarded to help with their ongoing efforts.
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May 26, 2015

Dangerous Pets in New England

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many people choose to own pets. When we are talking about a cat or a nonviolent breed of dog, or a fish, this typically doesn’t cause any problems, and people derive a great deal of enjoyment from their animals.

However, some people choose to keep more exotic species of animals as pets, and some pose a safety risk to others. Some of these exotic animals are even illegal to keep as pets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

You may recall the report in recent years regarding a neighbor who was attacked by a neighbor’s pet chimpanzee or another harmed by a pet snake. While these incidents may be reported as crazy occurrences, the fact is, these kind of injuries happen on a regular basis.

According to a recent report from Bangor Daily News, we are experiencing an increase in the frequency of dangerous animal attacks throughout the New England area.

Of course, the article discusses the 2011 case of a Boston woman who was attacked by her employer’s pet chimpanzee. In that incident, the 200-pound chimpanzee attacked her, causing her to lose her nose, lips, hands and eyelids, and, later, a disease from the animal caused doctors to have to remove her eyes. She required a full face transplant and suffered extreme disfigurement which will never heal and unimaginable emotional distress.
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May 22, 2015

Amtrak Train May Have Been Hit By Something, Conductor Says

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Over the past week, we have seen a lot of news coverage on the Amtrak train derailment that resulted in eight dead and many more injured. As this investigation is still very much ongoing, it is expected new details will come out on a daily basis. First, we learned the train was allegedly going 106 mph around a sharp curve where the maximum safe top speed was set at 50 mph. Then we learned the driver supposedly did not attempt to slow the train going into the curve.

Now, according to a breaking news report from CNN, a train conductor told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the train might have been hit by something prior to the horrific derailment accident.

The NTSB and FBI are conducting a joint investigation, and during the course of their investigation, there is speculation the locomotive and possibly two other trains were hit by some unknown objects just prior to the crash in Philadelphia. While much of the damage is obviously a result of the derailment and subsequent crash, based upon these tips, investigators have become concerned with damage to the lower portion of the locomotive, which may have been caused by whatever these objects were.
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May 18, 2015

Teen Bonfire Ends in Injury in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

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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