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Tractor trailers are essential to the U.S. economy. They haul goods from factories, warehouses, ports, rail yards, and farms to destinations all over the country. Without them, the economy would surely buckle.

One of the few downsides to tractor trailers, however, is that they are an added danger to America’s already crowded roads and highways. They make it difficult for drivers to see other cars and trucks on the road, and the trucks themselves are difficult to maneuver, even for the most skilled and experienced drivers. On top of that, truck drivers are often tasked with driving long distances in short timeframes, and despite federal regulations capping the number of hours they can drive without a rest, they are often tired and rushing to reach their destination.

Not surprisingly, accidents involving tractor trailers are a common occurrence. Traffic reports and the news media regularly report long backups because of overturned tractor trailers, and just about every driver has been caught in a seemingly endless traffic jam caused by a tractor trailer accident. By some estimates, there are 500,000 trucking accidents each year in the United States.

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Earlier this month, a California jury awarded nearly $10 million in compensatory damages and a staggering $70 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary company Ethicon, stemming from alleged defects in the subsidiary’s hemorrhoid stapler device. The plaintiff was a former police officer who suffered injuries when medical professionals accidentally stapled the officer’s anus shut during a hemorrhoid operation. As a result of these complications, the plaintiff suffers from internal and external scars and a deformed bowel, and she has required the use of a colostomy bag for four years.

In her complaint, the plaintiff alleged that the surgeon who performed the operation was unable to fire the stapling gun properly because the device contained a defect. The plaintiff also alleged that this same defect could be found in roughly one-third of all Ethicon hemorrhoid stapler devices. The surgeon fired the stapler gun once and was unable to remove it without firing it a second time, resulting in the closure of the plaintiff’s anal canal.

The jury concluded that the force required to fire the stapler was more than what was provided in its specifications, and it was the result of a defective manufacturing process that minimized the amount of lubrication provided in the device. Instead of modifying the design and processes used to manufacture the device, the jury concluded that Ethicon pointed the blame at the surgeons who reported experiencing problems when using the stapler devices, despite the fact that Ethicon knew about the devices’ issues.

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It isn’t surprising that when sports fans think of concussion-related injuries, they think of football. Football is a game of hard hits, and even with helmets, head injuries occur. During the course of a game, it is not uncommon to see a player carted off the field with a head injury.

The recent movie, Concussion, starring Will Smith, highlights the dangers of concussions in football. Sports fans may also link concussions with football because of a highly publicized class action lawsuit that former players filed against the National Football League (NFL) for brain-related injuries. A settlement in that case is on hold pending appeal.

Because of all the attention the NFL has received surrounding concussions, other sports, including hockey and soccer, have received far less fanfare despite the dangerous nature of their games. With soccer, it is understandable that the risk of brain injury is often overlooked, since the game is primarily played with the ball on the ground. But soccer is also a sport where players routinely head the ball after it has traveled high and far in the air, and mid-air head collisions can and do occur between players jostling for a head ball.

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Xarelto, a drug commonly used to treat strokes and to prevent blood clots, has come under fire for the severe risks it poses to patients. Although there has not been a recall of the drug, a number of plaintiffs have filed lawsuits alleging that they experienced severe complications as a result of taking Xarelto.

According to the plaintiffs’ complaints, Xarelto caused uncontrollable bleeding to occur. The medication is designed to disrupt blood clotting patterns to prevent strokes from occurring, but it lacks an antidote to prevent any incidences of bleeding from becoming life-threatening. The plaintiffs alleged that the manufacturer did not properly warn against the dangerous risk of bleeding episodes and the inability to stop them once they start.

Instead, the manufacturer advertised Xarelto as being safe and providing a more convenient solution than wafarin, another drug prescribed to combat blood clots and strokes. Unlike Xarelto, however, wafarin has a known antidote that doctors can use to stop bleeding episodes. In reality, Xarelto has been associated with a number of devastating and life-threatening conditions, including gastrointestinal bleeding, brain hemorrhages, strokes, and death.

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With so many cars and trucks on the road these days, it is easy to forget how important passenger and freight trains still are in America. Commuters and travelers often talk about cheap flights or the price of gas, but rarely does the discussion turn to the cost of a train ticket.

But Illinois is a natural hub for the railroads. For passengers traveling from east to west, Chicago acts as a gateway to all that lies beyond Lake Michigan. For freight carriers, Chicago is a logical transfer point to other modes of transportation. Goods from Canada, Mexico, and ports on both coasts arrive in Illinois by rail but often set out for deliveries on tractor trailers.

Much of the produce in supermarkets is transported by rail. If a train carrying produce is involved in an accident, there is little harm except to any cars or pedestrians that may have been hit by the train. However, freight trains often carry goods that are toxic in nature, like oil and other hazardous chemicals, and an accident involving one of these trains can have much broader, and potentially more serious, consequences.

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Entre todos los accidentes de vehículos, accidentes de motocicleta son particularmente aterrador. No hay cinturones de seguridad o bolsas de aire para proteger el cuerpo de un motociclista de una lesión, y algunos estados como Illinois no tienen ley de casco.

Sin estas protecciones, cuando un motociclista esta involucrado en un accidente, las lesiones son casi siempre serias y hasta amenaza-vidas. No importa que tan despacio vaya la motocicleta, si un motociclista es golpeado y su cabeza pega al suelo, existe la probabilidad de un daño permanente al cerebro. Lo mismo es cierto si un motociclista es lanzado al aire sin un cinturón de seguridad para protegerlo.

Al igual que otros conductores, motociclistas pueden lesionarse en numerosas maneras. Con solo do ruedas en el camina, mal clima y calles resbalosas pueden fácilmente causar que una motocicleta pierda tracción y chocar. Además, dado su tamaño, es mas fácil que otros conductores pierdan una motocicleta en su “punto ciego” al cambiar de carril o la fusión de una carretera muy transitada. Continue reading →

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In the recent case of DirectTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, the Supreme Court issued a key decision interpreting the scope of arbitration agreements under the Federal Arbitration Act. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs sought to enforce a class action arbitration waiver, which included a provision providing that the entire clause was not enforceable if the law in the signing party’s state dictated that class action waivers are not enforceable. When the defendants executed the contract, California law stated that class action waivers were not enforceable. The lower court ultimately ruled that the class action arbitration waiver was unconscionable and refused to enforce it.

In reaching this holding, the California courts relied on the language in the contract that said “the law of your state,” finding that this allowed the court a basis for avoiding preemption pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act. The lower court determined that Sections 1751 and 1781 of the California Remedies Act required the provision to be deemed invalid, notwithstanding the application of the Federal Arbitration Act.

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Earlier this month, Vermont’s Toxic Substances in Children’s Products Rule took effect. According to this rule, companies that sell children’s products in Vermont must make certain disclosures about whether the products contain any of the 66 chemicals specified in the legislation if the chemical is present as a contaminant (100 ppm or more), or if the chemical was intentionally added beyond the chemical’s practical quantification limit (PQL).

Some of the chemicals included on the list are formaldehyde, methylene chloride, styrene, and a number of parabens. A manufacturer’s report must include the name of the chemical, a description of the chemical, the amount contained in each product unit, the name and address of the product’s manufacturer, the reason the chemical was included in the product, and the brand name and product model.

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There are side effects with just about any prescription medication. For many patients, the decision to take a specific medication comes only after the benefits of the medication are weighed against the possible side effects, which range from minor annoyances to serious medical risks.

The laundry list of side effects that can be found on the internet and pharmacy receipts is generally discovered through the use of clinical trials. A medication with potential benefits to a specific class of patients is tested and retested to determine its efficacy as well as its risks. Doctors are then guided by the results of these trials. This evidence-based approach to prescribing medication helps doctors better predict how well medications will work in a given patient, and what the side effects of the medication are likely to be.

The evidence produced in clinical trials and reviewed by doctors also helps establish what is known in legal and medical circles as a “standard of care.” Doctors comprehensively review published material on a given medical condition or conditions and try to reach a consensus about how best to treat patients, taking into account all of their medical conditions, as well as other factors like their age, medical history, and additional medications.

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Recently, we discussed the string of food illness outbreaks that have affected a number of U.S. restaurants, including Chipotle. This week, the first lawsuit has been filed against Chipotle alleging severe injuries as a result of consuming contaminated food from the restaurant associated with one of the recent outbreaks.

The plaintiff filed the lawsuit on behalf of her son, who had to be hospitalized after exhibiting severe symptoms. The child’s treating physicians determined that he was fighting a Norovirus infection and that the infection came from a Chipotle burrito in Brighton, Massachusetts. The child ate the burrito on December 4 and started to exhibit symptoms a few days later on December 6, including extreme vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea.

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