The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) released a strongly-worded letter to the leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee formally urging them to repeal the driver hours-of-service exemptions for agriculture and utility drivers. This is a very important issue, as there is no rational basis for endangering others on the road by allowing two classes of drivers to drive beyond the point of exhaustion. Begam, Lewis & Marks has a long history of holding trucking companies and their drivers responsible for injuries and deaths that they have caused and a history of fighting for tougher laws and regulations to protect the public.

A radiology practice and hospital were negligent in the treatment of a woman whose bowel was damaged during surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, a Michigan jury has ruled. Following 9 years of legal wrangling, a Shiawassee County jury on Friday awarded $2.9 million to Sue Apsey in her lawsuit against Owosso Memorial Hospital and Shiawassee Radiology Consultants. State caps on damages will likely reduce the award to $1 million less, according to attorneys familiar with the matter. Bryn Mickle, MLive 06/02/2009 Read Article: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/06/jury_awards_owosso_woman_nearl.html Attorneys at Begam, Lewis & Marks have extensive experience with medical malpractice cases and fight for our clients, even when resolution may require many years of work. Please contact us if you or a loved one has been injured by negligent medical care.

The families of three people killed in a 2005 plane crash off of the Florida coast have settled their lawsuits against federal aviation officials. According to the lawsuit Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers failed to promptly notify rescuers when pilot Gary Tillman reported engine trouble shortly after takeoff from Craig Municipal Airport in Jacksonville. Tillman, his daughter and another passenger died in the crash. The settlement to the Tillman family and the family of Anna Kipp, the other passenger killed in the crash, is worth $3.75 million. Paul Pinkham, Florida Times Union 06/02/2009 Read Article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-06-01/story/faa_settles_vilano_crash_cases_for_375_million Begam, Lewis & Marks has a long history of handling claims involving aviation related injuries. Please contact us for a free consultation.

In the New York Times, Vital Signs column, Eric Nagourney writes that, according to a study appearing in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, "injuries involving overturned televisions, shelves, and other household items are on the rise." Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio examined data on "furniture tip-over injuries for an 18-year period" that involved "12 types of furniture, including desks, dressers, and cabinets." They found "a 40 percent increase" in such injuries, noting that "more than 14,000 Americans a year are injured." If you, your child, or a loved one was injured as a result of furniture or an applicance (such as a stove or refrigerator) falling over, please call Begam, Lewis & Marks for a free consultation. We can investigate the injury to determine whether negligence or defective design or installation played a role and if someone should be held accountable. We are currently handing similar cases, including a severeburn injury resulting from a stove falling over on two young children.

To read the NYT article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/health/05haza.html?_r=1&ref=health

Pain pumps provide pain medication directly to an area of injury that is causing chronic, severe pain. Those pumps were approved for use in areas such as spinal pain in the back. The manufacturers of the pain pumps also applied for, but were denied, FDA approval for the use of pain pumps in an enclosed area such as the shoulder. Nonetheless, the manufacturers, including Stryker and IFlow, advised doctors that there were no risks involved with such a use. In fact though, shoulder Pain Pumps cause permanent damage to the cartilage leaving thepatient, now victim,in permanent, severe pain. Begam, Lewis & Marksis working closely with national leaders in the pain-pump litigation across the country and handling a number of cases right here in Arizona. If youor a loved one has been injured by an intra-articular pain pump or are having severe joint pain after installation of ones of these types of pumps, you may have a legal right to compensation. Please contact us for a free consultation

A Seattle-area construction company has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to settle a lawsuit by the family of cyclist crushed by a dump truck in 2007. Bryce Lewis died after a Nelson & Sons dump truck turned suddenly while he and another cyclist were riding in a bike lane near the University of Washington. Begam, Lewis &Marks has a long history of handling bicycle crash cases involving trucks and cars, as well as involving bike manufacturing defects and negligent roadway and bike lane designs. Please call for a free consultation. Read the full article in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009138622_webbikedeath28m.html

Federal safety investigators criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Monday for failing to enact tougher standards for the commercial bus industry. Citing a deadly 2008 rollover crash in Utah, The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency charged with investigating major transportation accidents, said the NHTSA has been to slow to implement longstanding safety recommendations for commercial buses. The 2008 bus accident killed nine passengers and injured 43 others. Begam, Lewis & Marks has particular expertise in handing interstate trucking and bus crash cases. If you or a loved one has been injured in an interstate truck or bus crash, call for a free consultation. Read Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103494.html

In an opinion upholding a jury verdict finding a worker's compensation insurance carrier's IME physician liable for medical malpractice, the held that even absent a formal doctor-patient relationship, a doctor conducting an Independent Medical Examination owes a duty of reasonable care to the patient. The IME doctor wrote a report that the patient was stable, not in need of further treatment, and could return to work, despite the fact that the patient was suffereing from a spinal cord compression injury. The compensation carrier denied him any further treatment. By the time the patient was able to get care from other sources, he had suffered a permanent injury, which ultimately resulted in his death. Begam, Lewis & Marks handles medical malpractice cases and has more than 40 years experience. Call for a free consultation. To read the full opinion: http://www.cofad1.state.az.us/opinionfiles/CV/CV080099.pdf

Citing potentially serious conflicts of interest, a report from an influential medical advisory group has urged doctors to sever many of their ties with drug and medical device makers. The report, produced by the Institute of Medicine, said the acceptance of the money, gifts and free drug samples by doctors threatens public trust in medicine. Additionally, the report called for lawmakers to pass legislation that would force drug and device makers to disclose all payments made to doctors. Gardiner Harris, The New York Times. Read Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/health/policy/29drug.html?_r=2&hp

Los Angeles Times (2/6, Cart) reports that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission "launched an investigation Thursday into this week's accidental death of an Orange County child caught in a washing machine." A spokesperson for the agency said that "investigators will examine the front-loading washer to determine if the design poses a safety risk." The machine in question, "a Kenmore 417, features an 'easy start' button that is 20 inches from the floor. Read complete story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-washing-machine-death6-2009feb06,0,4007015.story Begam, Lewis & Marks attorneys have significant experience handing product liability cases against manafacturers to hold them responsible when their defectively designed or manufactured products cause injury or death.