Miscellaneous

• Virginia Department of Transportation Report Shows Red Light Cameras Increase Accidents

  Ben Glass | July 10, 2007 6:50 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  A study released in early July by the Virginia Department of Transportation shows that the red light cameras that were supposed to increase driver accountability have actually increased car accidents. The statistics varied from county to county, but overall accidents have actually increased rear-end crashes by as much as 31 to 54 percent.Red light cameras have been in place in Virginia since...

• Crime victims or codefendants?

  Ben Glass | July 08, 2007 5:31 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Do you remember the stock market scam of 18 months ago where people would deliberately call and leave messages on voice mails which sounded like the messages were being left for someone else? The person listening to their voicemail were led to believe that certain stocks were going to skyrocket but they believe that the message had been mistakenly left on their voicemail.These people would then...

• Frivolous lawsuits

  Ben Glass | July 08, 2007 12:34 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  The Federal judicial Center, the research and education agency of the federal court system, surveyed its judges in 2006 on the issue of "frivolous lawsuits." Two hundred seventy eight federal judges responded and 70% declared that groundless litigation is either a "small problem" or a "very small problem". 15% of the judges surveyed said that frivolous litigation was no problem at all.For...

• $12 million settlement for truck accident victim

  Ben Glass | July 06, 2007 6:36 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  According to published reports a trucking company and its insurers have paid $12 million in settlement to a catastrophically injured man. The plaintiff, Jerome Stewart, was left a quadriplegic after the accident with a garbage truck owned by Potomac disposal services of Virginia.The medical bills alone exceeded $1 million as Stewart suffered injuries ranging from a spinal cord injury at C5-Sea...

• Malfunctioning Fireworks Traced Back to One Manufacturer?

  Ben Glass | July 06, 2007 5:58 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  According to various news reports, the fireworks that shot into a crowd in Vienna, Virginia were made by the same company whose fireworks malfunctioned elsewhere on July 4. The fireworks displays at at least six shows operated by Pyrotechnics of Ronks, Pa. allegedly malfunctioned. So far it appears that the only malfunctions causing injuries were at the Vienna Elementary School show.Two people...

• Vienna Virginia Fireworks Injury Horror

  Ben Glass | July 05, 2007 8:32 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  At least nine people were injured last night at Vienna elementary school in Vienna Virginia when fireworks at a public fireworks display misfired and were shot into the crowd. According to news reports this morning several of the injuries are serious and one man has been transported to the Washington Hospital Center's burn unit.Unfortunately, fireworks are a major cause of injury in the United...

• Merck Dealt Major Blow in Vioxx Case

  Ben Glass | July 04, 2007 8:15 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  The fact that the Food and Drug Administration approved certain warnings to be placed in Merck's pain drug Vioxx does not immunize the company from lawsuits for "failure to warn." This is the ruling of Federal Judge Eldon Fallon, sitting in New Orleans. Drug companies and other product manufacturers typically try to hide behind the fact that "the government approved our warning, so you can't sue...

• Arbitration Award for Falling Ladder

  Ben Glass | June 25, 2007 5:37 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  According to published reports the plaintiff was injured when a ladder fell in a back room of a Food Lion grocery store in Richmond Virginia. While she did not immediately seek medical treatment she began to complain of persistent headaches about a week after the accident.She was diagnosed with post concussion syndrome and developed short-term memory problems that result by the time of an...

• When "But I just had one beer" might work

  Ben Glass | June 21, 2007 6:06 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  According to new published studies there's now another risk for those undergoing gastric bypass surgery: it may only take one drink to become legally intoxicated. This should be a clear warning to gastric bypass patients who consider drinking and driving. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine conducted the testng by giving 19 post-operative gastric bypass patients and 17 control...

• Idiot Adults and Underage Drinking

  Ben Glass | June 20, 2007 11:48 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  I've written frequently in my firm newsletter about idiot parents hosting underage drinking parties and some Virginia parents just went off to the slammer for 27 months for hosting a really big one. This morning's Washington Post has an article about a Bethesda soccer club coach who was arrested in Dewey Beach, Delaware, and charged with a whole bunch of counts of endangering the welfare of...