Questions on Law- Other types of actions

Hello. I am an attorney practicing in Maryland, D.C., and soon in Virginia, but this blog will be very generalized so that it is not specific to one jurisdiction. The purpose of this blog is to post general information for your rights with regards to various types of personal injury matters, including car accidents, work injuries, medical and dental malpractice, nursing home negligence, products liability, and social security disability. My goal is to provide you with as much information as possible so you are more informed prior to contacting or retaining an attorney to represent you. Each blog posting will cover a specific area of personal injury law. I will update my blog from time to time as necessary. If you have any questions, I can be reached at 240-993-9850 or via e-mail at andrewsindler@aol.com.


PERSONAL INJURY IN GENERAL

It's only natural that when we suffer bodily injury, no matter how severe, we want to blame someone and possibly even be compensated if someone else was at fault... but how far will the law allow us to go? It depends on the type and nature of the injury. To make it easier, I'll break it down by topics. This one is devoted to other types of actions that have not already been discussed.

OTHER TYPES OF ACTIONS

The following are other types of personal injury actions that can be brought if the one common question is answered: Were you injured or caused damages as the result of someone else's negligence?

PRODUCTS LIABILITY: If you are injured from using a consumer product that was defectively or dangerously designed or constructed by the manufactured, and reached you, the consumer, unchanged from the time it left the manufacturing warehouse, you are entitled to bring a claim for any injuries you sustained, as long as you used the product in a safe and foreseeable manner. Common examples of these include tools such as power drills and saws, guns, or even toys. One key piece of advice is to watch out for consumer recalls by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), because that can be a sign that a product that you may have purchased is defective and dangerous, and could cause injury. Once again, keep in mind that you must have used the product in a safe and foreseeable manner prior to being injured in order to be able to recover anything. So, if you were using a power saw to saw a piece of wood and you are injured, you may be able to recover. However, if you were using the same power saw with your friend to re-enact a scene from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you will likely not be able to recover.

AIR, TRAIN & BOAT ACCIDENTS: These are of course similar to car accidents, and because they are modes of transportation like cars, you can be just as easily injured in them as the result of someone else's negligence. Common examples of course include plane, train and boat crashes, and injuries sustained while a passenger on any of these as the result of the operator's negligence (e.g., if the pilot on a plane says you can move about and take off your seatbelt, even though the pilot knows there is severe turbulence, and in relying on the pilot, you fall and injure yourself on the plane as a result of turbulence.

PHARMACEUTICAL ACCIDENTS: These generally come under the category of healthcare malpractice. If a pharmacist gives you the wrong prescription medication, gives you the wrong dosage, or writes incorrect instructions on how to take the medication on the bottle, and you are injured as a result, you may be able to bring a claim for such negligence or malpractice. Remember, a pharmacist is a professional like a doctor, and is deemed to have the requisite amount of knowledge, education, and experience to know what he/she is giving you to take, and that you are going to reasonably rely upon the pharmacist's expertise when you pick up and take your medication as directed. In some cases, the doctor who prescribed the medicine may also be liable if he/she prescribed the wrong medicine or gave the wrong dosage.

TRACTOR-TRAILER ACCIDENTS: Again, these were discussed somewhat in the car accident posting, but the point to emphasize once again is that drivers of big tractor-trailers are "professional" drivers with special licenses to operate these big, complex vehicles, and they are held to a higher standard of care than ordinary drivers, and an additional set of federal and state laws and regulations concerning the operation of these vehicles. Many times, if you are involved in an accident with one of these vehicles, the driver of the vehicle will be cited for violations of these federal and state laws (for example, the drivers are limited in how long they can drive a load before stopping and taking a rest on a highway rest area or other place- remember, they drive big loads for long periods of time). Plus, if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a car accident with one of these huge vehicles, the odds are your injuries will be much more severe and/or fatal.

NURSING HOME ACCIDENTS: Again, I discussed this somewhat in the healthcare malpractice post, but it warrants reiteration. We love our elders and want to ensure they are properly cared for, especially when it becomes too much for us to handle on our own. When we make the conscious but difficult and heart-wrenching decision to place our loved ones in an elderly care facility, for any length of time, we are putting our faith and reliance on the professionals employed by the facility to exercise that greater degree of skill and care to look after and care for our loved ones and ensure their health, safety and well-being. When our loved ones are injured while in the care of a nursing home employee or facility, as a result of negligence, they are entitled to recover for the damages, which are usually significant since injuries in older persons are usually more severe. If one of our elders is fatally injured as a result of such negligence, we have the right to pursue a wrongful death and/or survival action on their behalf, as discussed in a previous post.

ASSAULT/POLICE BRUTALITY: Sometimes we are intentionally injured at the hands of someone else. Generally, when this happens, we don't think of a civil lawsuit for injuries and damages. We think of pressing criminal charges. Well, that's usually the first step. If someone injures us intentionally, we want them to face the appropriate criminal penalties first. Sometimes someone picks a fight with us unintentionally, sometimes they use a weapon on us. Then of course there is the case when we are under arrest or interrogated by the police and the police use excessive, unnecessary force on us, with or without a weapon. Make no mistake, this is illegal and could subject the police to criminal penalties, as well as employment penalties (that is, they can lose their job for using inappropriate force on a suspect). In these types of cases, liability is usually not an issue because the act was done intentionally. If there are criminal penalties imposed (that is, if the assailant either pleads guilty or is found guilty in criminal court), then that can be direct evidence or proof of liability in a case for civil damages. However, many people choose not to pursue a case for civil damages if the assailant receives no criminal penalties (is found not guilty, or isn't even charged). The most important thing to remember is that the burden of proof in a criminal case is much more difficult to meet than in a civil case- if a prosecutor does not meet that burden of proof, he/she may choose not to pursue criminal charges, or the suspect may be found not guilty. But, because the burden of proof is easier to establish in civil cases, then you should not be deterred from making a claim for civil charges against the person who injured you.

DOG BITES/ANIMAL ATTACKS: This one basically speaks for itself, but the bottom line is that an owner of an animal is deemed to be responsible for the animal's actions, and if you are attacked by the animal, unprovoked, you have a right to bring a claim against the owner for any injuries or damages you sustain. The most common occurrence of course is a dog bite or attack, particularly if the type of dog is illegal to own as a pet (for example, pit bulls are often illegal to own as pets in various states and counties).

SWIMMING/DROWNING ACCIDENTS: While these generally involve young children, the fact is that these types of accidents are usually caused by some form of negligence (be it an improperly constructed pool, an incompetent or inattentive life guard, or a mislabeled section of a pool), and as a result, can affect older people as well. While many drownings each year are fatal, many are also non-fatal but cause permanent severe injuries, including brain damage and other conditions. Of course, many people tend to think of the "swim at your own risk" signs as a way for pool owners, managers, or lifeguards to avoid being liable for drowning accidents or injuries. But, that by itself, may not be enough to avoid liability. Each case must be determined on an individual basis.

TERRORISM AND DISASTERS: So what do we think of most commonly when we hear those words? The 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, Tsunamis, Earthquakes. Yes, many of the victims or victims' families were entitled to and did in fact bring claims for damages for the injuries they sustained. If you are the victim of any of these, whether in your home state, or away, you may be entitled to make such a claim.



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