The flowers are blooming, heralding the arrival of spring and the Spring 2009 Texas Law Alert! This table-of-contents article and the following short blog entries are all part of this winter’s Alert. Easy-to-read tips and articles on common legal questions make up each Texas Law Alert, a free service from Street and Ragsdale, your Fort Worth/Dallas car crash lawyers.

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The time following a car crash or personal injury is often difficult. There are many things to take care of. Hiring a good lawyer is one of them.

You can trust our personal injury lawyers and our track record of winning cases and recovering settlements. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, call us. We will aggressively represent you and make sure that you are justly compensated for your injuries.

PREVENTABLE INFECTIONS ON THE RISE

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), patients in American hospitals come down with over 2 million hospital-acquired infections each year, 90,000 of which result in death. Given the lack of news coverage regarding the number of deaths caused by infections, it could be called a silent epidemic.

MEDICARE LIMITS PAYMENTS FOR TREATMENT OF INFECTIONS

In a potentially helpful development, the federal government has passed new rules that limit the payments Medicare will make to a hospital to pay bills incurred in treating preventable infections and medical errors the hospital should have avoided.

AGGRESSIVE DRIVING

As roads become more congested and people’s lives become more hectic, aggressive driving and the dangers associated with it increase. Aggressive driving is the combination of unsafe and unlawful driving actions that show a disregard for safety.

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas given off by fuel-burning appliances such as gas heaters and gasoline-burning engines. According to the CDC, about 500 Americans die every year from CO poisoning not related to a house fire, and more than 15,000 are injured.

COMMON TREATMENT TIED TO JAW PROBLEMS

According to a recent university medical study, a drug commonly prescribed to treat osteoporosis in women may have the unintended side effect of causing a serious jaw disease.

DANGEROUS PRODUCTS MADE IN FOREIGN LANDS

A few years ago, the news was full of stories of toys being pulled from shelves for dangerous levels of lead in their paint. Anyone who was injured by these dangerous toys certainly has a claim against the manufacturer, but asserting a claim is often difficult, especially if the factory that made the product is in another country.

KNOW ABOUT THE “NO-ZONE”

All drivers should be aware of the “no-zone,” the area on the sides and rear of 18-wheelers where the truck driver cannot see a car.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), patients in American hospitals come down with over 2 million hospital-acquired infections each year, 90,000 of which result in death. Nor are nursing home patients immune: The CDC estimates that this population suffers another 1.5 million preventable infections each year, for a total of 3.5 million facility-acquired infections annually. While these numbers are grim enough on their own, they become even more so when you realize that, by comparison, the incidence of new AIDS infections ranges from 38,000 to 56,000 per year, while AIDS deaths number about 16,000 per year. Given the lack of news coverage regarding the number of deaths caused by infections, it could be called a silent epidemic.

The number of such infections has been on the rise in recent years, although experts disagree about the reasons. Some point to the rise in the number of infectious agents that are resistant to some or all of the antibiotics used to treat infections. Others point to the increasing prevalence of HMOs, which can result in patients’ not being treated by a specialist trained to recognize an infection until after it has become established, when it is more difficult to treat. Others claim that the infection rate is the same as it has always been, and it is just that reporting has gotten better.

Many authorities reject hospitals’ traditional response to complaints about infections acquired in their facilities–that a certain number of infections is inevitable–and have concluded that most of these infections result from the failure of the hospital or its staff to strictly follow the rules intended to prevent the infections.

Revolutions

The response to this information has led to a legal revolution that will hopefully bring about a health-care revolution. More than half of the states have passed laws requiring hospital-acquired infections to be reported to state health authorities, so people have a better idea of the scope of the problem. The CDC itself has given the issue much more attention than it ever did in the past, and has recently issued guidelines that hospitals and nursing homes should follow to prevent infections in their patients. So has the Joint Commission, a body that gives hospitals their accreditation and whose regulations are considered by many to be a good statement of the standards that hospitals should follow.

These changes are not just regulatory, but also legal. Lawyers who counsel hospitals and nursing homes have taken these standards seriously, and they advise their clients to enact protocols to ensure that these standards are met, rules that can include something as simple as requiring the staff to wash or otherwise disinfect their hands when moving from one patient to another.

Lawyers also advise hospitals to regularly screen patients for the presence of drug-resistant organisms and to regularly use instruments that have been pretreated with antibiotics to prevent infections before they occur. In recent years, based on these recommendations, many facilities have overhauled their policies and procedures that are intended to prevent infections, even imposing penalties on doctors and staff who are caught failing to obey the new, stricter rules.

Lawsuits

However, because not all hospitals and nursing homes have gotten the message, and because some of them allow profits to come before patient care, another legal avenue is being pursued: litigation. With the problem of hospital-acquired infections now well known, and with the enactment of many new regulations designed to address the issue, hospitals are finding it harder to avoid liability when a patient does become infected.

In some rare cases, juries are awarding tens of millions of dollars to patients who contracted serious bacterial infections while they were patients at hospitals or nursing homes, infections that often involve drug-resistant, flesh-eating bacteria and that lead to death or to the loss of limbs and organs. Most experts agree that the publicity given to the problem has also made jurors more aware of the problem, and so less tolerant of a hospital’s lack of a similar awareness and concern.

Despite increased awareness, lawsuits regarding facility-acquired infections can be difficult to win. Although the fact of the infection is known, the cause is often difficult to pinpoint. In some cases, the medical records allow experts to determine the likely source or cause of the infection, but, in others, it is not possible to know exactly where the infection came from and, therefore, who is at fault. This uncertainty means hospital infection cases must be handled very carefully by experienced lawyers to ensure that the injured patient or his or her surviving family have their day in court.

If you feel that you or someone you love may have been a victim of a preventable infection, contact us. We can help you determine the best course of action for you under the circumstances.

In a potentially helpful development, the federal government has passed new rules that limit the payments Medicare will make to a hospital to pay bills incurred in treating preventable infections and medical errors the hospital should have avoided. These same regulations also specify that neither may the hospital bill the patient for this care.

Proponents of these regulations claim that making the hospitals pay for their own mistakes will give them a financial incentive to take steps to prevent infections and errors that can be avoided. However, some ask whether Medicare will be able to adequately monitor these rules, while others ask whether these rules might endanger patients because hospitals are unwilling to provide high-quality care if they know they will not be paid.

As roads become more congested and people’s lives become more hectic, aggressive driving and the dangers associated with it increase. Aggressive driving is the combination of unsafe and unlawful driving actions that show a disregard for safety. An aggressive driver is one who operates his or her vehicle in a selfish, bold, or pushy manner, without regard for the rights or safety of others.

Aggressive driving is often triggered by trivial disputes and includes such things as refusing to allow a motorist to pass, obscene gestures, horn blowing, tailgating, and failure to obey traffic laws. Aggressive driving is different than “road rage.” Road rage usually involves a driver breaking a criminal law, such as by shooting a gun at another driver who cut him off. However, aggressive driving can be just as dangerous, to both the aggressive driver and those with whom he shares the road.

You can protect yourself from the hazards posed by aggressive drivers by allowing yourself extra travel time to arrive at your destination so you do not have to hurry, by avoiding stress, and by remaining calm in traffic. The best way to avoid being the target of an aggressive driver is to practice basic traffic courtesy. Assume the best of other drivers, and assume if they make a mistake that it is not personal. Avoid conflict if possible (even if you are in the right) and carefully consider the possible consequences before you react. Finally, call 911 to report unsafe or aggressive drivers. The risks and consequences of aggressive driving are great, and you should take care to be neither a perpetrator nor a victim.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas given off by fuel-burning appliances such as gas heaters and gasoline-burning engines. CO can become deadly when these types of appliances are used indoors or without adequate ventilation. According to the CDC, about 500 Americans die every year from CO poisoning not related to a house fire, and more than 15,000 are injured.

Deaths and injuries peak in midwinter, when heater use is highest and when houses are tightly closed. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, and confusion, and, because they resemble symptoms of other illnesses, people often do not realize they are being poisoned by carbon monoxide until it is too late.

In order to protect yourself against CO poisoning, you should have your gas heating system inspected every season. Don’t use generators or gasoline-powered heaters or tools inside, or in an enclosed space like a garage. Also, keep these CO-producers away from windows and intake vents, which can spread CO throughout the house.

Because CO is hard to detect, the best way to protect yourself from CO exposure is to buy a CO detector. They look like smoke detectors, and will sound an alarm if CO levels get too high. Be sure to play it safe and protect yourself against this deadly gas.

According to a recent university medical study, a drug commonly prescribed to treat osteoporosis in women may have the unintended side effect of causing a serious jaw disease.

The drug, called Fosamax, is made by the pharmaceutical company Merck. It is the most common drug prescribed to treat this condition (which affects about 10 million Americans) and is one of the 20 or so most common drugs prescribed in this country. Unfortunately, researchers at the University of Southern California have linked its use with a condition known as “jaw necrosis” (also known as “ONJ” or “Dead Jaw”), which causes the jaw bone to decay. Symptoms can include jaw pain, sores on the jaw, and loss of teeth. The condition can be disfiguring, and is often very difficult to treat.

According to the study, 9 of 208 people prescribed Fosamax developed jaw necrosis, about 4% of those taking the drug. Some developed problems even though they took the drug for only a short time. However, Merck does not warn people of the danger, and in fact denies that Fosamax causes jaw necrosis.

If you have reason to suspect that you or someone you love has been harmed by Fosamax, or know someone who has developed jaw necrosis, call us. We can help you determine if you have been injured or are entitled to any compensation.

A few years ago, the news was full of stories of toys being pulled from shelves for dangerous levels of lead in their paint. Anyone who was injured by these dangerous toys certainly has a claim against the manufacturer, but asserting a claim is often difficult, especially if the factory that made the product is in another country.

Although product liability laws offer very powerful protections to consumers who have been injured by dangerous or defective products, it is often hard to identify the foreign manufacturer of a given product to bring suit against, and even if you do succeed in identifying the manufacturer, it is often even more difficult to collect any judgment from the manufacturer when the suit is over.

However, the law does not leave consumers without any remedy. In addition to the actual manufacturer of the defective product, the law usually also makes those in the chain between the manufacturer and the consumer liable for the dangerous product. In the case of a toy made in China, this may mean that both the distributor of the toy and the store where it was sold can also be liable for any injury the defect in the toy may cause. Because the wholesaler and the retailer are usually American companies, they are usually much easier to find and to sue.

That said, product liability law can be complex, and it varies from state to state. Going it alone, without the assistance of an experienced attorney, is not a good idea. If you have been injured by a dangerous or defective product, call us–we would be happy to discuss your case and your options.

All drivers should be aware of the “no-zone,” the area on the sides and rear of 18-wheelers where the truck driver cannot see a car. This dangerous area is easy to locate: If you can’t see the driver of the truck in his mirror, then he can’t see you.

The no-zone is dangerous for two reasons. First, if the truck driver cannot see you, he might try to pull into your lane, causing a crash. Second, if you drive in the no-zone, the truck and its trailer cut off your view to the side and reduce your view to the front, making it harder to avoid accidents.

If you are behind a truck, stay out of the no-zone so that the driver can see you. If you are passing a truck, do not linger in the no-zone–get through it as quickly as you can while still driving safely. Remember: No matter who had the right of way, when an 18-wheeler and a car collide, the car always loses.

A recent Dallas car accident left a woman critically injured, and now a police officer involved in the accident is being accused of being intoxicated at the time of the accident. According to the DallasNews.com article, this isn’t the first time he has been in trouble over an alcohol-related incident.

The article explains that the police officer is now on administrative leave, and he faces a felony charge of intoxication assault. The Dallas car accident happened when the police officer was driving near Midway Road and Bonham Street when he hit a car, leaving his passenger with serious personal injuries. At the time of the article, she was still in intensive care at a Dallas area hospital. Police who arrived at the scene of this Dallas car accident said the man “smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, slurred his speech and was unsteady on his feet.”

As for the alcohol-related incident that happened before this one, the police officer had been off duty on his 28th birthday, riding in a vehicle that was involved in a car accident.

A Dallas Car Accident Can Wreck Lives

A Dallas car accident can be very dangerous, often resulting in very serious injuries for those involved. Catastrophic damage to vehicles and people, along with the possiblity of death, or wrongful death, is possible. A Dallas car accident victim may have their life changed forever.

When you’ve been injured in a Dallas car accident due to someone else’s negligence, it’s time to hire a personal injury attorney who will fight for your rights. A good Dallas car accident attorney will aggressively work to see that you get the compensation you deserve for your emotional and physical suffering.

If you’re looking for a Dallas car accident attorney, contact the law firm of Street and Ragsdale today to find out what steps to take next.

Last week, a police sergeant was involved in not one, but two Dallas car accidents. And they happened in just a 24-hour period.

According to the Dallas News CRIME Blog, the 42-year-old sergeant experienced the first Dallas car accident when he was on patrol in North Dallas. He was traveling on Montfort Drive north of Spring Valley Road. A woman seemed to be turning left onto Montfort Drive from the east, but instead she drove straight across the Dallas police sergeant’s lane.

The second Dallas car accident resulted in the man’s police car striking the front of the woman’s car, then going into a wall. The police sergeant’s airbag did not deploy, and he spent the night at a Dallas hospital due to back and neck injuries.

That was the first Dallas car accident. After the man was released from the hospital the next day, he was driving with his wife and young child to Irving via Interstate 635, his wife behind the wheel. They were just past Marsh Lane when traffic came to a stop and a car behind them struck their vehicle. As they described it to the Dallas News CRIME Blog, “The trunk of our car was in the back seat.”