Personal Injury Archive

Chinese Drywall, Foreclosure and…Mosquitoes

August 14th, 2009. By AbiK

A lot of the news lately on the Chinese drywall situation is unfortunately inextricably entangled with the economic downturn. The problem? Foreclosures. Unfortunately for those who’ve found themselves underwater on the value (or lack thereof) of their home, the addition of a Chinese drywall problem only exacerbates things-not only can they no longer afford their homes, but they can’t unload them either given the defective drywall. 

The situation reminded me of an article I had read back in March in National Geographic. The article, “Mosquito Hosts”, focused on some homes in foreclosure in Maricopa County, Arizona—homes that had been vacated and have pools in their yards. 

At issue was that in the absence of being able to afford their homes, the homes had been left unoccupied and the last thing on homeowners’ minds was pool maintenance. So, of course, the resulting green, algae-filled pools sat there effectively putting out an “Open House!” sign for mosquitoes to come on in.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall
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Nursing Home Care: You don’t get what you pay for

August 14th, 2009. By AbiK

Nursing home horror stories seem to be as common as mosquitoes at a swamp—and as annoying. So it’s no wonder that so many follow the old adage “you get what you pay for” when looking for elder care facilities for their loved ones. 

But just last week, Health Day News reported the findings of an interesting study on nursing homes. Seems non-profit nursing homes provide better-quality care than for-profit homes.

A Canadian team of researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, reviewed the results of 82 studies from 1965 to 2003, and concluded that the non-profits came out better in regard to four specific quality measures. The measures were more or higher quality staffing; lower rates of pressure ulcers; less use of physical restraints; and fewer deficiencies cited by regulatory agencies. 

And here’s another little tidbit from the study: researchers concluded, based on the findings, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: elder care, nursing homes
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Toxic Mold – the Home Wrecker

August 12th, 2009. By LucyC

If you had a friend who suddenly began complaining of migraine headaches and dizziness, you might say go see the doctor, maybe it’s stress-related. What if your friend’s daughter suddenly started experiencing nosebleeds, and developed asthma?  Would you think that the symptoms both mother and daughter were experiencing were connected? It’s unlikely, right? Well, this is exactly what the Meng family experienced. The cause of all their medical problems, some of which will not go away, is toxic mold. 

It took some detective work to discover the cause—a process of elimination which included testing for cancer—before the doctors were able to determine that the family had been poisoned by mold. 

The mold had developed behind the walls their brand new, million dollar dream home. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Toxic Mold
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Foodborne Illness: The Proof is in the Poo

August 7th, 2009. By janem

If you have contracted a foodborne illness, the last thing on your mind is getting a stool sample—you just want to stop the nausea and diarrhea and all the other nasty symptoms that are associated with food poisoning. And chances are, your doctor may not ask for one; he is focusing on getting you better. But if you are contemplating a lawsuit, insist on getting a stool sample, before taking any antibiotics.

If you want to pursue a foodborne illness lawsuit you must prove that (1) the food product you ate was contaminated and that (2) the contamination was the cause of your illness.

Determining the specific food culprit sometimes isn’t so easy, particularly if there is a time delay between eating the food that made you sick and developing the food Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: foodborne illness
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What is Statute of Limitations?

July 30th, 2009. By AbiK

Recently one of Lucy’s blog posts mentioned the statute of limitations for Avandia. “Statute of limitations” is a phrase that’s thrown around a lot—and it can be confusing. So that’s what we’re talking about in Pleading Ignorance today.

What does Statute of Limitations mean?

To put it in the simplest terms, it’s an expiration date that you have on the time allowed for filing a lawsuit. After that date, you generally can’t file the lawsuit anymore.

But here’s what the handy-dandy Barron’s Law Dictionary says: it’s any law which fixes the time within which parties must take judicial action to enforce rights or else be thereafter barred from enforcing them.

Ok—so basically get filing before the timer bell goes off.

Being mindful of the statute of limitations is important because it varies by state and by type of legal claim. For example, many states have a one year statute of limitations for personal injury cases—but some have a two year limit. NJ is a perfect example: the statute of limitations for a personal injury case is 2 years; the statute of limitations for damage to personal property is 6 years. That’s why attorneys will typically tell you to see a lawyer sooner than later if you think you might have a case—or even question whether you might. Also, keep in mind, it takes time to collect all the relevant evidence and supporting documents in a personal injury case—and time is of the essence. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Pleading Ignorance, Statute of Limitations
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