On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Products Liability on Friday, March 2, 2012
A lawsuit held in New Jersey federal court alleged that executives for a drug manufacturer withheld vital study information concerning a cholesterol lowering drugs out of fear that the release of such information would adversely affect sales. The medication was thought to be a defective product in that promises of the drug's effectiveness was brought into question.
The medication was still marketed as effective nearly 2-years after the study suggested otherwise. Part of the settlement of the federal lawsuit is for the company's research branch to now inform the company's board of directors regarding delays in making the clinical trial information available to the public.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Workers' Compensation on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
New Jersey workers that perform a very public service are increasingly being injured on the job and rely on the local workers' compensation program for public employees to cover them. School crossing guards that escort children across the street are increasingly being injured while performing their duties on the job due to careless drivers that are simply not paying attention.
Though the accident rate on our streets has been declining in recent years, such crossing guards are injured more often on the job than just a few years ago. "The school crossing guard has become the most dangerous job in municipal government," said the executive director of the Municipal Excess Liability and Joint Insurance Fund of New Jersey.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Brain Injuries on Thursday, February 23, 2012
The least predictable of all medical maladies are brain injuries. Brain trauma can result in unexpected behavior and rage in individuals that never was associated with the individual prior to the injury.
A New Jersey man was struck by a vehicle operated by a drunken driver and his body was thrown 26-feet before striking pavement. The man underwent brain surgery and spent approximately three weeks in a coma. He suffers from cognitive problems that are described as permanent, has trouble speaking and has lost his sense of taste and smell.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Premises Liability on Monday, February 20, 2012
The Port Authority of New Jersey is working with its neighboring state and city agencies to determine what exactly while construction is going on at the World Trade Center site. Nearly 20 tons of steel fell 40 stories down and ended up crashing upon a flatbed truck. Though it was fortunate that no injuries had occurred, we can just imagine the coverage in the newspapers if someone had been badly injured or killed in this construction accident.
Too often construction companies are in a hurry to complete various projects and shortcuts are taken that increases the likelihood of someone being injured in this type of accident. Sadly, most injuries that do happen at such worksites are never minor in nature. It's difficult to imagine how many things could go wrong when this amount of steel falls from so far up. Anyone in the immediate vicinity was in danger of losing their life.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Products Liability on Thursday, February 16, 2012
Of the many different defective products that are out there on the marketplace, probably nobody would suspect that chandeliers would present enough dangers that a manufacturer would feel the need to issue a recall. Yet Spectrum Home Furnishings, a New Jersey manufacturer has done just that because it was determined that mountings were insufficient to prevent the chandeliers from following from the ceiling.
These chandeliers were just some of the mundane products recently recalled in recent weeks. Lamps with frayed cords that can cause fires and coffee makers and espresso discs that spray individuals with hot coffee have also been recalled.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Brain Injuries on Monday, February 13, 2012
A New Jersey college student suffered a brain injury when a deck at a Scranton home collapsed and fell down upon him. A lawsuit has been filed against the landlord of the property, the contractor that built the deck, and six other college students that were standing on the deck when the accident occurred.
The deck was placed upon the home in 2008 as an effort to attract tenants. It has also been alleged that neither the landlord nor the contractor warned the tenants about the number of people that the deck could support.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Workers' Compensation on Thursday, February 9, 2012
Public workers are often injured on the job due to the negligence or carelessness of other individuals and then have to rely on Workers' Compensation benefits. A recent car crash along the New Jersey turnpike not only killed two individuals riding in a car, it also resulted in the injury to two construction workers on the jobsite.
Witnesses told police that a car veered over onto the left shoulder of the turnpike and struck the rear of a vehicle that was on the shoulder with the express purpose of protecting the workers. Though the two construction workers only suffered minor injuries, it would not have been surprising if the accident had turned out to be much worse seeing that two people were already killed in the crash.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Spinal Cord Injuries on Monday, February 6, 2012
A New Jersey based insurance company has denied any responsibility in paying for the settlement of a woman paralyzed in a hayride accident run by a farm market. There is apparently language in the insurance policy stating it does not cover bodily injury for any temporary worker.
The paralyzed woman apparently asked to work at the market on weekends in order to give hayrides for customers. The accident occurred when the woman was trying to gain control of two horses. The woman was subsequently thrown from the wagon and then run over causing a fracture to the spine and paralysis from the waist on down.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Products Liability on Thursday, February 2, 2012
New Jersey owners of a Jeep Liberty SUV may be facing a hidden danger in the operation of their vehicles. There have been 50 injury reports of the airbag being deployed in the 2002 and 203 Jeep Liberty SUV where the vehicle was not involved in a crash.
The National Highway Traffic Administration is investigating these deployments, and this investigation has been upgraded to a full engineering analysis. Such a defective product resulting in injuries incurred because of such deployments may ultimately end in a recall and possible litigation.
On behalf of The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. posted in Premises Liability on Monday, January 30, 2012
Though most New Jersey residents probably would not consider slip and fall accidents to be serious in nature, a recent jury hearing a slip and fall case returned a verdict of $2.3 million. The plaintiff, while shopping at a Kroger grocery store, slipped on a piece of crushed fruit next to the deli and then fell upon his back.
The plaintiff suffered a spinal cord injury which resulted in multiple surgeries and the placement of hardware in an attempt to stabilize the spine. The plaintiff's medical bills were in the area of $135,000 and, as a landscaper, he has not been able to return to his job.
