That slight chill in the air is clear proof of that unmistakable Texas winter, and with that comes the Winter 2009/2010 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.

WE PREFER YOU TO REFER!

The period of time following an accident is one of confusion and uncertainty. There are many things to take care of. Hiring a good lawyer is one of them.

Many times, people don’t know where to go when they need legal help. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, call us. We will vigorously represent you and make sure that you are justly compensated for your injuries. That’s our job.

BIG RIGS = BIG PROBLEMS

We all know the feeling: that uncomfortable tightening of the chest we get when we look into our rearview mirror and see an 80,000‑pound 18‑wheeler truck barreling down on our back bumper. This feeling is not entirely irrational. According to federal statistics, such trucks cause thousands of collisions each year. Given a truck’s size and weight, common sense tells us that a collision between a big rig and a car—or even an SUV—is likely to turn out badly for the car or SUV.

A RISE IN NURSING HOME ASSAULTS

Many of us are aware that se­niors can face dangers in nursing homes. Residents can receive substandard medical care, be given the wrong medications, or simply be neglected. However, recent data show a rise in new and unexpected problems—assaults, rape, and even murder.

PREVENT BURGLARY

Approximately every 15 seconds, a house is robbed somewhere in America. A few simple precautions can make your home a less‑inviting target and can convince burglars to try their luck elsewhere.

DRUG WARNING: ORAL SODIUM PHOSPHATE

Having a colonoscopy can be unpleasant, but it may also be dangerous. Before such a procedure, doctors often ask patients to take oral sodium phosphate (OSP) to clean out the bowels. However, OSP (which is available over the counter) can be very dangerous.

TIRED TRUCKERS CAUSE ACCIDENTS

Of all of the causes of truck collisions, one of the most preventable gets the least press: driver fatigue—in other words, tired truckers. Although federal law both limits the maximum number of hours that a truck driver is supposed to drive and prohibits truckers from driving if they are “impaired through fatigue,” the fact is that more and more big‑rig drivers are taking to the highways without enough sleep.

We all know the feeling: that uncomfortable tightening of the chest we get when we look into our rearview mirror and see an 80,000‑pound 18‑wheeler truck barreling down on our back bumper. This feeling is not entirely irrational. According to federal statistics, such trucks cause thousands of collisions each year. Given a truck’s size and weight, common sense tells us that a collision between a big rig and a car—or even an SUV—is likely to turn out badly for the car or SUV.

In a collision between a truck and a passenger automobile, the fatalities occur in the automobile 98% of the time. To put concrete numbers on the problem, in 2004, such crashes killed almost 5,200 people (12% of all traffic fatalities) and injured 116,000 more. This is the equivalent of 25 fully loaded jumbo jets crashing every year.

Some of the reasons are obvious: Trucks are bigger, heavier, and longer than cars; they need more room to maneuver; and they take a lot more road to come to a stop. Many collisions involving trucks are caused by the same things that cause run‑of‑the‑mill car accidents: poorly maintained trucks, speeding, overly aggressive driving, failure to yield the right of way, or bad driving conditions caused by rain or snow, etc. However, there are many other causes of these collisions, causes that are very avoidable.

One of the biggest causes of crashes is excessive truck size. Federal law currently limits trucks to no more than 80,000 pounds in weight, but an 80,000‑pound truck is more than twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as a 50,000‑pound truck; furthermore it causes more “wear and tear” to the roads.

Trucks are also getting longer, with the industry‑standard trailer having grown from 40 feet long in the 1960s to 53 feet long today. Longer trucks mean larger blind spots, resulting in more accidents. Additionally, many roads (including interstates) were designed when trucks were shorter, and their ramps and merge lanes were not designed to handle today’s longer trucks. As a result, these trucks cross over into other lanes of traffic, increasing the danger of a collision.

Larger, longer, and heavier trucks require more braking time, meaning that they are more likely to be in a collision because they cannot stop. For example, a truck weighing 100,000 pounds can take up to 25% longer to stop than one weighing 80,000 pounds.

Other truck‑related collisions are caused by a driver’s inexperience in operating a particular kind or size of truck. Still other collisions are caused by tired truckers who have been on the road for too long and are fatigued, an increasing problem with the deregulation of the trucking industry, changes in the ways goods are shipped to a “just‑in‑time” delivery system, and even recent changes in the rules governing how long a trucker may drive before he is required to stop for a rest.

Suits involving truckers are often more difficult to prove than other kinds of collision suits, for several reasons. First, it may be difficult to find the trucker after the collision. The nature of a trucker’s job means that he might be involved in a collision in a state far from where he lives and to which he will never return.

Trucking companies are also very skilled in defending themselves against negligence claims (which, to them, are just a part of doing business), and they can be very aggressive in denying claims, because every dollar that they pay out in compensation to accident victims is a dollar that does not go into their pockets.

Finally, most commercial big‑rig accidents involve far more parties than the typical fender bender (the driver, the trucking company, multiple other drivers, the shipper(s), the insurance adjuster, and the insurer, just to name the most common), and the legal relationships among all of these parties can be difficult to unravel.

A person who has been involved in a collision with a trucker is entitled to recover an amount necessary to compensate him for his injuries. This amount may include compensation for such items as medical bills, time lost from work, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of earning capacity. The complexity of these cases means that you should consult an experienced attorney and should NOT rely on the trucking company’s insurance adjuster to look out for your interests.

Call us if you or a loved one has been involved in a big‑rig collision. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you and work to get you the compensation that you deserve.

Many of us are aware that se­niors can face dangers in nursing homes. Residents can receive substandard medical care, be given the wrong medications, or simply be neglected. However, recent data show a rise in new and unexpected problems—assaults, rape, and even murder.

In 2000, there were 5,000 cases of patient‑on‑patient assaults in nursing homes; by 2003 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), this number had risen to 5,515. During the same period, the number of rapes increased by 51%.

There are a number of reasons for this increase in attacks on the elderly. As the population ages, nursing homes have become more crowded. More people suffer from dementia or mental illness, which sometimes can cause them to lash out violently. Some nursing homes house younger, mentally ill patients with older, defenseless elderly residents. Finally, some nursing home residents are criminals, elderly sex offenders, or murderers. Unfortunately, Texas was one of the states identified in a survey as having among the highest numbers of registered sex offenders living in nursing homes.

Usually, the person responsible for a criminal act is the criminal. However, in many cases, these assaults lead to civil suits against the nursing homes, based on the claim that the nursing home was negligent for not keeping a dangerous resident away from the victim or for not taking the time to determine which residents are potentially dangerous. The suits argue that a nursing home should be aware of these things and that it should take steps to protect residents from assaults once it knows that a particular person presents some kind of danger to others.

Nursing homes often point to health‑care privacy laws and claim that these laws prevent them from issuing warnings about other residents. They also sometimes cite inconsistent state laws or claim that the costs of background checks and the like are too high for them to bear.

Advocates for the elderly are more likely to cite understaffing, incompetence, and an unwillingness to admit that there is a problem. Whatever the cause, individuals whose loved ones reside in nursing homes should be aware of the potential for violent assaults and should keep their eyes open and not be afraid to ask hard questions of the management and staff.

Approximately every 15 seconds, a house is robbed somewhere in America. A few simple precautions can make your home a less‑inviting target and can convince burglars to try their luck elsewhere.

• Install deadbolt locks on all outside doors, and make sure that all windows (not just those on the ground floor) have good, strong locks;

• Keep your property well lit and consider installing outdoor lights hooked to motion sensors—thieves hate it when they can’t hide;

• Keep trees and shrubbery cut back from windows so thieves do not have a place to hide;

• If you are leaving town for several days, suspend mail and newspaper delivery, and ask a trusted neighbor to keep an eye on your home;

• If you are not at home, keep a light on so the house looks occupied;

• Consider an alarm system monitored by a reputable security company;

• Keep a car parked in your driveway. Like lights, it makes the house look occupied and stops burglars from backing up a van and cleaning you out.

Finally, remember that even the best precautions do not work if you don’t use them! So give your home a security checkup, keep those doors and windows locked, and beat burglars at their own game.

Having a colonoscopy can be unpleasant, but it may also be dangerous. Before such a procedure, doctors often ask patients to take oral sodium phosphate (OSP) to clean out the bowels. However, OSP (which is available over the counter) can be very dangerous.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), OSP has been linked to acute phosphate nephropathy (also known as nephrocalcinosis), a serious condition affecting the kidneys. In patients suffering from acute phosphate nephropathy, calcium‑phosphate crystals are deposited in the renal tubes. The effect of this condition can be very serious: Patients may need dialysis, they may need a kidney transplant, or they may die from renal failure.

The problem often is not promptly diagnosed, because the symptoms of acute phosphate nephropathy can vary widely from victim to victim and include such common symptoms as nausea, headaches, drowsiness, pain, bleeding, dehydration, swelling (especially of the feet), and a general lethargy. Although acute phosphate nephropathy does seem to be more common in those over the age of 55 or in those already taking a medication that affects the kidneys, it can strike anyone.

The FDA has recently mandated that OSPs contain a so‑called “boxed warning,” which is a very serious step. If you or a loved one has used an OSP and suffered a kidney injury, contact us. We may be able to help you receive compensation for your injuries.

Of all of the causes of truck collisions, one of the most preventable gets the least press: driver fatigue—in other words, tired truckers.

Although federal law both limits the maximum number of hours that a truck driver is supposed to drive and prohibits truckers from driving if they are “impaired through fatigue,” the fact is that more and more big‑rig drivers are taking to the highways without enough sleep. There are several reasons for this, including the relaxed industry regulation that has resulted in less‑experienced truck drivers on the road.

Before 2004, the federal government allowed truckers to drive no more than 10 consecutive hours. Statistics from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) showed that the number of fatigue‑related crashes jumped dramatically after eight hours of driving and continued to increase through the 10th hour allowed. Despite this evidence, the federal regulations were changed in 2004, and truck drivers are now allowed to drive up to 11 consecutive hours, meaning that there are more tired truckers on the road than ever.

As you might guess, the number of fatalities caused by large trucks increased in 2004 and 2005, with fatigue cited as a factor in 20% more accidents than under the old law. Interestingly, the FMCSA’s failure to consider the obvious (more time driving = more driver fatigue) has been cited by at least two federal courts that are considering whether these regulations should be allowed to continue.

The deregulation of the trucking industry has also resulted in increased competition among trucking companies, increasing the pressure on drivers to complete their routes quickly. Finally, changes in the ways that goods carried by trucks are distributed, such as the increased use of “just‑in‑time” delivery, have resulted in tighter deadlines for truck drivers than was the case in the past.

Taken together, all of these factors mean that the pressures on truck drivers to ignore the law and complete their deliveries, even if they are too tired to drive safely, will only increase.

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.

WE PREFER YOU TO REFER!

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.