Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog

Supreme Court Strikes Down North Carolina’s Medicaid Reimbursement Law :: Personal Injury Law Firm in Charlotte, NC

March 23, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent Supreme Court decision concerning a disabled North Carolina girl was recently handed down. The case, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services v. E.M.A., resulted in a 6-3 ruling that struck down a law allowing North Carolina officials to seize one-third of medical malpractice settlements won by Medicaid patients. The ruling affects not only North Carolina, but also other states that also use similar rules to reclaim portions of individual medical malpractice awards.

The Court wrote that federal Medicaid law prevents states like North Carolina from claiming such a large share of med mal awards. The purpose of the claim in the first place is to allow states to reimburse themselves for Medicaid money they spent on individuals who later went on to collect sizable sums. The Supreme Court decided that the amount contained in the North Carolina law was unreasonable and arbitrary. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said that North Carolina law acts as a one-size fits all approach and does not take into account individual circumstances.

In the case of the North Carolina family, which we previously discussed here, it means that they will be able to keep more of the $2.8 million awarded to Emily Armstrong in a recent medical malpractice case. Emily, who is only 13-years-old, was born with serious disabilities and requires constant care. The girl was diagnosed with cerebral palsy soon after her birth and is blind, deaf and mentally handicapped. The family sued her obstetrician, claiming that his history of drug abuse led to mistakes during the birthing process. The case was settled for millions which set in motion the recent Supreme Court case.

North Carolina officials caught wind of the big settlement and went after the Armstrongs for a cut of the money. The state said it spent more than $1.9 million in Medicaid funds paying for Emily’s medical care and that it should be allowed to try and recoup some of that money. The state then put a lien on $933,333.33, exactly one-third of the settlement.

E. Coli Outbreak At North Carolina State Fair Leads to $500,000 Lawsuit :: Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, North Carolina

March 19, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent article by WBTV, the family of a child who was hospitalized due to an E. coli outbreak has now filed suit against the North Carolina State Fair.

We discussed the case late last year and since that time the family of the 3-year-old boy gathered important information before filing their suit against the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Conservation.

The lawsuit was filed before the North Carolina Industrial Commission last week and claims that the boy’s injuries were the direct and proximate result of negligence by the State of North Carolina. Specifically, the suit alleges that North Carolina owed a duty to the claimant, his family and the public at large to keep the State Fairground safe.

The family of the young boy says that the State failed to keep the fairgrounds safe by not sufficiently cleaning the animal holding areas inside the main building on the site. The public was put at serious risk because of the multiple surfaces in the building that had E. coli present and the fact that the State encouraged the public to eat and drink inside the building, making use of those contaminated surfaces. The state also failed to provide a sufficient number of hand washing stations for the public. The family’s attorneys pointed out that the state even failed to live up to its own specific guidelines about proper disposal of animal waste.

The little boy’s family is still hurting from the incident back in 2011. They have found themselves saddled with massive hospital bills and have already depleted their savings account trying to pay medical bills that continue arriving every day. Given the financial harm suffered by the family and the physical harm suffered by the boy, they are asking that the state be responsible for paying $500,000.

CDC Names Fishing Industry, Specifically North Carolina Shrimp Fleet, Most Dangerous Occupation :: Workers’ Compensation Law Firm in Charlotte, NC

February 28, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named an industry popular in North Carolina the most dangerous occupation in the country.

The report, part of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality assessment, said that the commercial fishing industry has the highest occupational fatality rate in the U.S. The numbers are so astounding that those in the commercial fishing business have death rates 35 times higher than the rate for an ordinary U.S. worker.

Between 2000 and 2009 a total of 504 commercial fishermen were killed on the job. Of this number, 51% died by drowning due to the sinking of their vessels. Thirty percent of commercial fishing deaths were from falls overboard and another 10% occurred due to injuries sustained on-board fishing boats.

These on-board injuries are the ones that most commonly impact workers from North Carolina. According to the report, common on-board injuries include entanglement in machinery while using winches. Use of these winches occurs most frequently in the Southern United States on vessels used to haul in shrimp.

The CDC specifically explored the Southern shrimp fleet and found that in the past decade eight people died and another 27 were serious injured in work-related accidents that involved on-board winches. The Southern shrimp fleet is based primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, but has another major location off the Atlantic coast of North Carolina and employees hundreds of North Carolina fishermen.

North Carolina Employees Face Tough Road To Bring Court Case Against Employers :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

February 26, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Earlier this year the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned a $450,000 jury award to a former Goodyear Tire employee for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The Court of Appeals said that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case. The ruling demonstrates just how difficult it can be for employees to seek recovery for workplace injuries through the court system rather than through the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

The suit, Shaw v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., was launched after Lashanda Shaw sued her former employer for mishandling complaints based on workplace harassment. Shaw alleged a supervisor was rude and aggressive towards her and frequently engaged in harassing and intimidating tirades. Despite repeated complaints to human resources personnel, the supervisor remained in his position and continued harassing her.

The jury who heard the case agreed that Shaw had suffered severe emotional distress caused by Goodyear and that the company failed to intervene to stop the harassment. The jury decided Shaw was entitled to $450,000 in compensatory damages as a result of the harm she suffered.

Unsurprisingly, Goodyear appealed the decision and argued that there was no jurisdiction for the lower court to hear the case. Goodyear claimed that her negligent inflection of emotional distress claim amounted to an “accident” that should be heard only according to the terms of the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act. The North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed.

No Headlights At Night Lead To Accident in North Carolina :: Car Wreck Attorneys in Charlotte, North Carolina

February 22, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A terrible accident took place in Newport, North Carolina a few weeks ago that resulted in several people being taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries. The two vehicle crash took place early one evening and is being blamed on one driver’s failure to turn on her headlights.

Police say they have charged the one driver with failure to burn her headlights and to properly inflate her tires. The woman was driving her car, an older model Pontiac, west on Highway 70 in Newport, NC with only her parking lights on. It was then that a van making a left turn onto Highway 70 crashed into the Pontiac. Five people were taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, while emergency responders at the scene treated a sixth person.

In a normal accident that unfolds in this way, many might think that the car that turned left onto Highway 70 and thus into the path of the Pontiac would be at fault since it did not respect the right of way of the oncoming vehicle. However, the driver of the Pontiac did not have her headlights on which meant she is being held liable for the terrible accident.

North Carolina General Statutes § 20-131 is very clear on the requirement for drivers to keep their headlights on. The language of the law reads:

The headlamps of motor vehicles shall be so constructed, arranged, and adjusted that, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, they will at all times mentioned in G.S. 20 129, and under normal atmospheric conditions and on a level road, produce a driving light sufficient to render clearly discernible a person 200 feet ahead.

Injured NASCAR Fans Look For Legal Representation :: Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, North Carolina

February 19, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Several of the fans injured in the recent NASCAR Nationwide Race in Dayton have retained lawyers to ensure that they are compensated for the injuries they sustained in the fiery accident.

The crash took place during the February 23rd Nationwide Series race at Daytona. At least 28 people were injured when a section of Kyle Larson’s car went airborne and overshot the catch fence designed to protect spectators from harm. Flaming debris then went flying into the front-stretch stands during the last lap of the race; sending a few dozen people to the hospital for treatment.

Some injuries were relatively minor, with only scrapes and small cuts. Others were much more serious, so serious in fact that two people remain in the Daytona Beach Halifax Health Hospital today, weeks after the crash. The two remaining patients were injured after being hit by Kyle Larson’s tire and each suffered what were initially life-threatening injuries.

One man from North Carolina was injured in the NASCAR crash. The man, from Angier, NC, was taken to a Daytona hospital to receive medical after suffering from cuts to his face and body. The cuts were deep enough that he had to receive 12 stitches in his head. He’s now back home recovering from his wounds.

Some legal experts interviewed by USA Today are saying that NASCAR could face liability for the accident, despite issuing tickets that say spectators assume the risk of any injuries. Some have said that a strong case could be made that the organization could have done more to prevent these injuries from occurring by using a stronger fence or better assembling it to hold up to the force of a crash.

North Carolina Court of Appeals Says Employer Responsible For Worker Injured During Lunch Break :: Workers’ Compensation Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC

February 14, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent case before the North Carolina Court of Appeals dealt with what happens when a employee is injured while on premises controlled by an employer but while out on a lunch break and engaged in a personal activity.

The case, Mintz v. Verizon Wireless, involved a customer service representative for Verizon who worked on the second floor of an office building. Verizon did not own the building, only leasing a portion of the office space, and was one of several tenants. The woman was required to take a half hour lunch each day, during which time she liked to walk along the halls for exercise, especially those on first floor.

One day, after walking for close to 30 minutes, the woman went into a bathroom on the first floor. After she was done and about to walk out the door to head to her cubicle, she slipped and fell on a piece of ice that had fallen out of an ice machine situated near the bathroom door. When she fell, she hit the ground hard and seriously injured her knee. The woman had a history of knee problems and had even had surgery on that same knee five years before. After going to get medical treatment, her doctor determined that the fall had seriously aggravated the already bad arthritis in her knee.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals, upon hearing the case, decided that the woman was entitled to benefits related to her fall. The Appeals Court said that the woman’s injury occurred as a result of her employment. Though Verizon may not have owned the building or even occupied the floor the woman was walking on, she was injured due to a condition in a common area of the building; a space the court determined was part of her workplace. The Court justified this decision by saying that Verizon specifically encouraged employees to go to the first floor of the building given that was where the communal cafeteria was located.

The Court of Appeals ruled against Verizon, dismissing their argument that the injury did not take place during the course of the woman’s employment. The Court made clear that Verizon was a major tenant in the building and that this allowed them to essentially control the premises. The fact that she was injured on a different floor did not matter given that she was returning to her desk after a paid, and mandated, break.

The Problem With Secret Settlements :: Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC

February 12, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

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Everyone’s heard of confidentiality agreements; those documents you sign agreeing not to disclose certain important bits of information. What people may not realize is just how often such confidentiality agreements are employed in North Carolina to keep critical information regarding medical malpractice or dangerous devices or drugs from going public.

The agreements, which help ensure that settlement stay secret, often only work to the benefit of the doctor, hospital or manufacturer responsible for causing devastating harm. The victim of the negligence receives next to no benefit from such agreements. Even more disturbing is how they can be used to shield the public from important information about dangerous practices or products.

A recent case involving a North Carolina mother who’s young son died due to negligence among the hospital staff where he was taken after falling ill highlights just how rarely such cases make news. The woman was told to sign a confidentiality agreement to receive her settlement and that the whole case would go away if she did. She refused, saying she wanted the public to know about the medical safety issues that led to her son’s death.

The mother’s decision to speak out and not sign the confidentiality agreement is very rare. The majority of such lawsuits in North Carolina end with the victim signing an agreement promising not to reveal important information in exchange for a set amount of money.

The danger of this approach is that, for example, in the case of a defective product, if all those injured sign a confidentiality agreement and the company is able to settle the cases quietly, then the public will never be made aware of the problems associated with the dangerous product, depriving other potential future victims of the chance to safeguard their families.

A real world example of this is the case of the faulty Firestone tires. Years before the nationwide recall was announced, the company began settling cases involving the failing tires on Ford SUVs and made sure each plaintiff signed confidentiality agreements. These dangers were thus not revealed until much later, something that experts say led to 270 additional deaths.

Charlotte Launches Campaign To Protect Pedestrians :: Personal Injury Law Firms Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

February 7, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent report by WBTV, pedestrians in Charlotte might have some good news in terms of safety. That’s because the city has announced the start of a new program designed to make sidewalks in Charlotte safer for those on foot.

The campaign was started after joggers, disabled citizens and those walking to work and school voiced complaints with the city about the lack of safety for pedestrians. The complaints began after a string of traffic crashes were reported last year involving pedestrians. The accidents were bad enough that two resulted in fatalities for innocent pedestrians.

Last year a terrible accident crystalized some of the problems seen in Charlotte that are caused by overly crowded sidewalks. A student at Myers Park High School was riding his bike when he tried to avoid a garbage can that had been placed on a sidewalk. When he swerved to avoid the can he fell off his bike into the street where he was hit and killed by a passing vehicle.

Number Of ER Visits Related To Energy Drinks Doubles In Four Years :: Personal Injury Law Firms in Charlotte, North Carolina

February 5, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to recently released data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the recent surge in popularity of energy drinks have led to a corresponding surge in emergency room visits. The popularity of the caffeinated drinks caused the number of ER visits associated with consumption of the beverages to double between 2007 and 2011.

The typical person affected by the energy drinks was unsurprisingly a teenager or young adult. People between the ages of 18 and 25 accounted for most of those admitted to emergency rooms. The next largest group was those between 26 and 39. Alarming to some researchers was the boom in admittances associated with those over the age of 40. ER visits by those older than 40 increased by a massive 279 percent during those four years, from 1,400 to 5,200 ER.

Males were more likely to be admitted for problems associated with the energy drinks, with men accounting for two-thirds of ER visits during that four-year span. Despite this, the number of women admitted after consuming energy drinks doubled during the same time span, indicating a steep rise in female interest in the drinks.

Data showed that while a little over 40% of the ER visits involved energy drinks mixed with other substances, the majority, 58%, were for energy drinks alone. Of those instances involving other substances, alcohol was the most commonly seen. After that, prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall were also found.

The problem with energy drinks is the vast amount of caffeine and other stimulants contained in the beverages. Caffeine acts as a stimulant to both the cardiovascular and central nervous system. This means that the drinks can cause a major increase in heart rates and drive up blood pressure to dangerous levels in certain cases. According to one cardiologist, for those with underlying heart conditions, the drinks can quite literally be deadly.