Dallas Car Accident Lawyers

2 children dead in car crash with an SUV
Two children were killed in a car wreck in South Dallas recently, after the family’s vehicle was hit by an SUV. Reports say that the SUV was traveling at approximately 100 mph on a rain soaked highway when the crash occurred. With inclement weather upon us, it is even more important to drive safe this holiday season.

Call Miller Weisbrod at 888.987.0005 for help after a motor vehicle accident injury. We work diligently to protect our clients' rights and advocate their interests in cases where serious or catastrophic injury or death has resulted from any kind of motor vehicle accident.

The Dangers of Speeding in Inclement Weather
Weather events like heavy precipitation can impact the capabilities of drivers as well as the performance of vehicles while on the road. According to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 480,000 people are injured and more than 6,000 are killed each year in traffic accidents that occur in adverse weather. A majority of weather-related crashes are said to occur during rainfall and on wet ground.

Even attempting to drive the posted speed limit on wet roads isn’t always a safe choice because the slick surface may pose problems in the event that a driver has to brake suddenly. The slower a vehicle is traveling, the easier it is for the driver to maintain control throughout their commute; therefore, it is important to drive at a controllable speed in rainy weather.

Drivers should take the following considerations when traveling in inclement weather:
•   It takes longer to brake when driving on roads that are slippery:
Tires perform differently on slippery road surfaces than dry ones because the wet road can affect their traction.

•   Not ensuring that one’s vehicle is prepared for driving in certain weather conditions is risky: Making sure tires are properly inflated, windshield wipers are functioning properly, and other vehicle components are in working order is important for reducing the risk of an accident in bad weather.

•   Unnecessary lane changes on slippery roads can be hazardous:
Changing lanes and trying to pass others must be done with extreme caution when driving in rainy weather because it can be difficult to see what’s ahead from certain distances to determine whether one is placing themselves in harm’s way.

•   Driving distractions are especially dangerous in inclement weather:
Cell phone use and other dangerous driving distractions are particularly risky when bad weather is present. Because factors such as rain can obstruct one’s view of what is ahead, not paying attention to the road for even a second can result in serious consequences.

•   There are steps that can be taken to prevent hydroplaning:
 Hydroplaning can happen when a vehicle is traveling on a slick surface. Drivers can reduce their chance of hydroplaning; however, by taking steps such as avoiding standing water puddles when possible, making sure tires are properly inflated, and ensuring that their speed matches the weather condition they are in.

•   Rules for commercial vehicles:
 The Texas Commercial Vehicle License Manual recommends that drivers of 18-wheelers reduce their speed by at least 1/3 in wet weather conditions.  This is due to the proclivity of tractor-trailers to jack knife (especially when lightly loaded or unloaded) as well as the increased stopping distance of these heavy duty trucks.

Those who are injured in a traffic accident caused by the negligent actions of another driver in bad weather conditions can contact the lawyers of Miller Weisbrod about their legal options. We offer sound legal advice, experienced representation and dedicated advocacy to victims of auto defects and their families.

For more information, we invite you to contact our offices in Dallas at 214.987.0005 to schedule a free initial consultation with our experienced personal injury trial lawyers. If you are calling from outside the DFW Metroplex, please call us toll free at 888.987.0005. You may also contact us by e-mail now for prompt attention or to request an appointment.

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Harbor Freight Recalls Drillmaster 18-volt Cordless Drills

Harbor Freight Tools, of Camarillo, California, is recalling 1.7 million Drill Master 18-Volt cordless drills because an internal switching mechanism can become stuck in the “ON” position and overheat, posing fire and burn hazards.

Harbor Freight Tools has received 25 reports of the drill switch overheating, including six reports of burns to the hands and fingers, and five reports of minor property damage. They were sold at Harbor Freight Tools stores nationwide, in the company catalog, and online at www.harborfreight.com between May 2011 and September 2015 for about $35 for item number 68239 and $46 for item number 68287.

68239	68287

The drills are black with a red switch and were sold with an 18 volt rechargeable battery pack. Item number 68239 was sold individually and item number 68287 was sold as part of a kit, which included a flashlight. The flashlight is not included in the recall.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled drills and return the unit to the nearest Harbor Freight Tools store to receive a replacement. Or contact Harbor Freight Tools at 800-444-3353 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or online at www.harborfreight.com. Consumers can also email Harbor Freight Tools at recalls@harborfreight.com.

As consumers in the United States, when we purchase a product and bring it home, it is reasonable to expect the product will perform as intended and do us no harm.

Due to less stringent trade policies, the safety of products in this country has been compromised in many cases. A defect in design or manufacturing or a lack of warning in regards to possible dangers can be viewed as product liability and brought to court.

Product liability laws vary from state to state but generally favor the consumer. Manufacturers place warning labels on packages in an attempt to reduce the amount of liability the company may assume.

Strict liability defects are categorized as three types:
Manufacturing Defect – This applies to a product that was well designed but manufactured in a way that makes it unsafe. It could be a result of using substandard material, faulty or unspecified parts.

Design Defect – The general overall design was unsafe leading to an entire line of unsafe products. This can be the product itself or the packaging. For example, a sharp blade not protected within the package causing injury when being opened.

Insufficient Warnings – The product may be free of any defects or design flaws but there were incomplete or nonexistent operating instructions or warnings to alert the consumer of possible hazards.

The courts have generally seen strict liability as something worked into the cost of a product, which is factored in by manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. All of these entities can be the responsible party in a product liability case.

The types of damages that may be awarded in product liability cases may include compensatory damages for:
Medical Bills – Medical bills both past and future including the emergency room, hospital stays, medical specialists, transportation to and from medical facilities, rehabilitation and physical therapy

Property Damage – Any damage caused by a product to personal property

Loss of Income – Lost time at work, inability to perform ones occupation, retraining for a new occupation, loss of lifetime income for being forced into a lower paying occupation

The Foundation for a Solid Product Liability Case
The manufacturer, supplier, and retailer may each be responsible for the injury caused by a particular product. If a manufacturer warns the supplier and, in turn, the supplier warns the retailer and the warnings are ignored, your product liability lawyer may decide to hold all three responsible for your injury or property damage.

To be successful in a product liability case you must present your attorney with the product, proof of where it was purchased and any instructions and directions that were included with the product.

In addition, you should have a record of all medical attention you received, property damage receipts as well as any details describing when, where, and how the accident occurred. Also the names and contact information of any witnesses.

Miller Weisbrod, LLP is a personal injury law firm with extensive experience in product liability. Call (214) 987-0005 today for a free case evaluation.

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Miller Weisbrod obtains $5,500,00.00 Settlement

Clay Miller, partner in Miller Weisbrod, obtained a $5,500,000 settlement for his client Jose Luna for injuries sustained in a construction accident. Mr. Luna was paralyzed when he fell in a hole that was concealed by an unmarked and unsecured cover while working on a roof of a day care that was being constructed in Plano, Texas.

	Miller brought suit against the General Contractor (Journeyman) and the subcontractor (Fox) that had initially created the hole and placed the cover. The hole was part of the original plans of the project and was intended to be a roof hatch once the building was complete. On December 18, 2013, Jose Luna was walking across the roof of the building to obtain some plywood for a wall he was building.

He felt his foot make contact with something and then the sensation of falling. Upon impact with the floor one story below, Luna’s spinal cord suffered a severe injury leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The General Contractor attempted to place blame on the subcontractor that had installed the hole cover. Through discovery it was determined that the hole cover had been installed and secured but not marked as required by OSHA.

OSHA safety regulations require that hole covers be both marked and secured. OSHA 1926.502(i)

Through progress photos it was determined that the hole cover had been unsecured approximately one month before Luna’s fall and after the area was released by the subcontractor to the General. Through deposition questioning, the job superintendent admitted that the hole cover had been unsecured under his orders to take measurements of the hatch hole. This was a different story than he had told his company safety director post-accident—he tried to blame the incident on the subcontractor and Luna’s employer. During a trial cross-examination (because he was out of trial subpoena range) weeks before the start of trial, the job superintendent admitted the following:

A settlement was reached with the subcontractor the Friday before trial for $500,000. The insurance carrier for the General Contractor was stuck at $3,000,000 up until the morning of trial. As the Court was beginning to hear Motions in Limine and just before jury selection, the carrier (facing a noon deadline) increased its offer by $2,000,000 allowing the entire case to settle for $5,500,000. With this settlement, Luna’s life care plan can be fully funded with a structured settlement and upfront cash payment.

Over the last twenty plus years, Clay Miller has partnered with law firms across the state of Texas on a referral and joint venture basis to pursue cases of catastrophic injury and wrongful death arising from construction and work site incidents. Miller Weisbrod would welcome the opportunity to work with you to obtain justice for your clients injured or killed on the job.
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Miller Weisbrod, LLP is a national law firm specializing in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Partners Clay Miller and Les Weisbrod have built the firm’s reputation with successful verdicts, settlements, appeals and favorable decisions across the country. With resources and finances available to take on the powerful interests that have caused harm, the firm is committed to providing quality representation for clients who are seriously injured and families of victims who are killed as a result of the negligence or misconduct of others. Miller Weisbrod has offices in Dallas and affiliate offices in Houston and Austin. For more information call (888) 987-0005 or visit www.millerweisbrod.com.

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Medical Diagnostic Errors are Harming Patients

Medical Diagnostic Errors are Harming Patients
Receiving the correct diagnosis is critical of any patient's medical care. When physicians and other health care providers fail to make accurate and timely diagnoses, they place their patients at risk of serious harm.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report identifying diagnostic errors as a persistent and pervasive problem.  The report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, characterized such errors as a decades-long "blind spot" within the U.S. health care system that "continues to harm an unacceptable number of patients." Each year one out of 20 adults receiving outpatient care in the U.S. experiences a diagnostic error.

Defining diagnostic errors
According to the IOM report, a diagnostic error involves any of the following three circumstances:

• An inaccurate diagnosis
• An untimely diagnosis
• A failure to communicate a diagnosis to the patient

An inaccurate diagnosis is the easiest type of diagnostic error. One example would be diagnosing a patient’s abdominal pain as a stomach ulcer when they actually have pancreatic cancer.

A diagnosis is untimely when it is meaningfully delayed. These errors can be difficult to identify because the definition of timeliness depends on context. For example, if a patient goes to the emergency room complaining of acute chest pain and shortness of breath, reaching an accurate diagnosis within minutes or hours would be considered timely. For other circumstances, making a diagnosis in weeks or months may be considered timely.

Finally, an accurate and timely diagnosis cannot benefit a patient unless it is effectively communicated to the patient. Without accurate, complete information, the patient is unable to consider and pursue appropriate treatment options.

Possible harms
The authors of the IOM report conducted a comprehensive review of the scientific literature in an attempt to understand the frequency, severity and impact of diagnostic errors. They found that the problem is both widespread and long-standing, as evidenced by the following statistics highlighted in the IOM report:

• 5% of U.S. adults who seek outpatient care each year experience a diagnostic error
• Diagnostic errors contribute to approximately 10% of patient deaths
• Diagnostic errors account for 6% to 17% of hospital adverse events
• Diagnostic errors are the leading type of paid medical malpractice claims, and are twice as likely to have resulted in the patient’s death

Diagnostic errors can cause serious physical harm, including death, through two basic pathways:

• A delay in appropriate treatment for a serious disease, or by provision of unnecessary, harmful treatments.

Example:
Consider a patient complaining of chest pain who is diagnosed with heartburn but actually is having a heart attack. The patient could die if he is sent home with antacids, instead of being given lifesaving treatments to open a blocked coronary artery.

Conversely, if a patient has chest pain due to heartburn, but is misdiagnosed with a heart attack, he may suffer complications while undergoing unnecessary invasive cardiac procedures.

• Diagnostic errors also may cause psychological harm.

Example:
A patient misdiagnosed with lung cancer when she actually has a benign lung problem could experience significant unnecessary anxiety about the serious side effects of proposed treatments, end-of-life care and her family's well-being in the face of her illness.

Diagnostic errors can lead to financial harm because of the costs resulting from unnecessary treatments and related complications.

If you or a loved one has suffered personal injury or death due to medical negligence, the attorneys of Miller Weisbrod are ready to assist you. We offer honest answers, straightforward legal advice, and caring support throughout the legal process, bringing our collective experience and in-depth medical knowledge to every case.

For an assessment of your case and your legal options in seeking financial compensation, we invite you to call Miller Weisbrod, LLP, in Dallas at 214.987.0005 or toll free at 888.987.0005 for a free consultation. You may also contact us by e-mail.

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Truck driver charged in fatal bus crash that killed 4 NCTC softball players

Drug use was the primary cause of crash
Semi truck driver, Russell Staley, charged with four counts of first-degree manslaughter in a bus crash that killed four NCTC (North Central Texas College) athletes was likely high on synthetic drugs.

North Central Texas College Softball Players
Meagan Richardson, 19 Wylie, Texas	Katelynn Woodlee, 18 Windom, Texas	Jaiden Pelton, 20 Telephone, Texas	Brooke Deckard, 20 Scurry, Texas

Russell Staley, a Saginaw resident, told investigators after the September 26, 2014 crash that he was distracted by something in the truck’s main cabin before he veered across the Interstate 35 median and slammed into the team’s bus.

The NTSB(National Transportation Safety Board) concluded Staley’s drug use was the primary cause of the crash after looking at toxicology reports, his history of drug use and his behavior at the time of the collision, the NTSB said in a final report released today.

“The truck-tractor continued through the median, traveling over 1,100 feet without evidence of braking or steering,” the NTSB’s report states.

The board’s recommendations include: research on the substances drivers can consume and how much they can consume to avoid impairment; mandatory seat belt laws to including all passengers in all vehicles; more barriers on state medians to prevent crossover crashes.

At Miller Weisbrod, our clients are not statistics — they are real people in need of proactive, aggressive representation to defend their rights. We represent victims of truck accident injuries and wrongful death nationwide. We welcome the opportunity to apply our years of experience, skill and demonstrated ability to produce real results in difficult and complex cases involving: Truck driver error & carelessness, Fraudulent Logbooks, Truck Underride Accidents, Driver Fatigue.

Our Dallas truck accident attorneys are absolutely prepared to take on even the biggest trucking companies and commercial transportation operations across the United States. For more information, contact our offices in Dallas at 214.987.0005 to schedule an appointment.

We also represent clients nationwide. If you need legal advice anywhere outside the DFW Metroplex, please call us toll free at 888.987.0005. You may also contact us by e-mail now for prompt attention or to request an appointment.

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Texas Oil Boom : Death Toll

Accidental deaths rising during Texas oil boom
Texas had half of the country's oil field deaths last year - 71 of the 142 workers who died in the hunt for hydrocarbons, new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Texas Department of Insurance indicate.

In the five years between 2010 and 2014, 615 U.S. oil field workers died. Of those, 270, or 44%, were in Texas.

In Texas, workers have been hit by falling equipment, thrown, crushed, burned, electrocuted. They fell. They were scalded. They were run over. They were victims of human error and equipment failures.

Most of the accidents occurred in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale, the 400-mile-long formation discovered in 2008. La Salle County had the most deaths - eight, including three workers in a single explosion last year, the region's most deadly catastrophe.

In San Antonio, north of the Eagle Ford, a worker was crushed when 3,500 pounds of sand for hydraulic fracturing, held in a super sack (a giant duffle bag used for transportation) toppled onto him.

Deaths rise
The region's actual death toll is higher than 34. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) open investigations for recent accidents aren't available yet to the public.

The number of deaths rose alongside the sheer volume of activity in Texas. The worst accident this year killed three members of the same family in Upton County in West Texas.

They died in an inferno while working to install a blowout preventer, which seals, controls, and monitors a well.

OSHA recently proposed $50,400 in penalties and cited their employer, Mason Well Service, for several violations, including allowing smoking near the well.

Federal investigators often find safety violations at the site of a worker death, but there's only so much OSHA can do to penalize a company.

In 1991, Congress set the cap at $7,000 for a serious violation and $70,000 for a willful violation. It is a rare citation when it can be proved that a company intentionally disregarded safety requirements. The violation cap amounts have not been increased.

Penalties often get whittled down. OSHA may agree to settlements after companies protest, or mitigating factors are taken into account.

For Legal Help Call 888.987.0005

Our experienced oil field accident attorneys have handled all types of cases, involving:
• Refinery fires and explosions
• Electrocutions from faulty equipment or installation
• Drilling rig failures and collapse
• Valve and other equipment failures
• Pipeline explosions
• Violations of safety policies and procedures

We know oil field jobs are in high demand and companies are sometimes quick to fill them without providing proper training or oversight. You should not have to suffer because your employer was finding ways to maximize their profits. Instead, we are here to help you hold them accountable for their actions.

If you have suffered an oil field injury, or a loved one died in an oil field accident, please contact our offices online today at 214.987.0005 or toll free at 888.987.0005 for a free consultation. You may also contact us by e-mail today for answers to your important questions or to schedule an appointment.

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Medical Negligence Strategies: Overcoming Defense

Defendants in medical malpractice litigations will employ a number of strategies to try to ensure that our clients are denied a just recovery.

These strategies include the following:

• Making up the medicine
• Hiring experts that are less than honest
• Attempting to overly narrow the issues
• Delaying and Playing into Jury bias

Each of these strategies can be overcome.

I. Defendants Making Up Medicine

Some defendants will make up medicine in an effort to defend their case. Unfortunately, they are often aided by their professional associations and dishonest literature.

Solution:
We make every effort to understand the medical literature in your case before the first deposition is taken. In that way, we can often get helpful admissions from the doctors and nurses that advance our clients’ cases.

II. Experts That Are Less Than Honest

Oftentimes defendants hire experts that are less than honest.

Solution:
We find and develop information about the defense experts from a variety of sources. These efforts include getting pleadings and other materials from lawsuits in which the expert was a party, using the internet or even an investigator. We feel that depositions of parties and depositions of experts are not simply times to find out what the defendants and their experts are going to say. These are times to attempt to materially advance your case. The only way that you can do this is by being prepared.

III. Overly Narrow the Issues

Typically defendants will try to overly narrow the issues. They want to claim that the issue in the case is whether the doctor was negligent or the nurse was negligent. In most cases, not only are the doctors and nurses negligent, but also there were systemic failures throughout the organization that led to your client’s injury or death.

Solution:
We understand that 400,000 people die every year in hospitals as a result of preventable medical mistakes. That is roughly equivalent to two jumbo jets full of passengers colliding in midair each day of the year. In the last 4 years, approximately 20% more people have died in hospitals from preventable medical errors than the total of all US battle deaths from all wars in the history of the United States. These are typically the result of a system failure in the hospital; not just the negligence of one doctor or nurse.

Solution:
Before filing suit, we collect the literature, with respect to the medical and institutional issues involved in the case. In addition, we collect the standards applicable to all issues.

For example, we often consult:
 • jointcommission.org (The Joint Commission) 
 • ismp.org (Institute for Safe Medical Practices) 
 • fda.gov (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) 
 • qualityforum.gov (National Quality Forum)  
 • ihi.org (Institute for Healthcare Improvement)

IV. Delay – Justice Delayed is Justice Denied & Play to Jury Bias

Defendant will typically invoke ever delay strategy they can. They will object to interrogations, they will object to requests for production. They will not respond to requests for depositions.

Solution:
To counter these delay strategies, we prepare in advance. Often times we get the hospital’s policies and procedures prior to filing suit. We tailor the discovery to your case and carefully draft it so that it is not subject to easy objections. The discovery is often served with the petition, together with notices for depositions and a motion for a scheduling or docket control order.

The defendants will often try to portray the institution as being there only to provide help and take care of people. Whether the hospital is a non-profit or a for-profit institution, we feel in many cases their care is all about the money. Unfortunately, the motivation for the institutional failures that had to occur at many levels in order to allow your client to be injured or killed is money. We keep that in mind as we aggressively pursue our client’s rights.

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Oxytocin (Pitocin) and Birth Injuries

Oxytocin’s misuse in the United States causes thousands injuries of babies. Oxytocin is the drug most commonly associated with preventable adverse perinatal outcomes.

The package insert lists permanent CNS or brain damage and fetal death as adverse reactions to a baby whose mom receives Oxytocin during labor.

Overdosage of Oxytocin (Pitocin) depends on uterine hyperactivity. Hyperstimulation with strong or prolonged contractions can lead to uterine rupture, utero-placental hypoperfusion, and variable deceleration of fetal heart, fetal hypoxia, hypercapnea, or death.

Excessive uterine activity can manifest in many ways: 

• Contractions that are too long
• Contractions that are too strong 
• Insufficient resting tone 
• Insufficient resting time

Excessive uterine activity from the use of Oxytocin can cause permanent neurologic injury to a child by three separate mechanisms, or a combination of the three. 

• Insufficient resting tone
  Uterus does not relax enough between contractions
• Excessive uterine activity
  The use of Oxytocin can cause trauma and excessive molding to the child 
• Intra-Uterine pressure
  Causes a corresponding increase in intra-cranial pressure

If nurses wait until there are changes in the fetal heart rate pattern to turn off the Oxytocin, it might be too late to avoid injury.

Hypoxic Ischemic Injury

If there is not sufficient resting tone between contractions to allow for re-oxygenation of the baby, the cumulative effect is hypoxia, and ultimately acidosis.

Trauma & Excessive Head Molding

Premature birth, difficult labors, and mechanical injuries to the head and neck are succeeded by an effect on the limbs of the child, which is spastic rigidity of the limbs.

Forces of labor are potentially dangerous to the fetus.

Trauma, uterine hyperstimulation, and compressive forces on the fetal skull have great possibility to injure the baby during labor and delivery.

One of the mechanisms by which abnormal forces of labor impact traumatic physical damage to the neonatal brain is through excessive head molding. Head molding during labor and delivery refers to the changes in the cranial bone relationships that occur in response to the comprehensive forces or uterine contractions.

Cranial molding can produce lesions on the fetal brain. Displacement of cranial bones is an obvious cause of subdural hemorrhage. Molding increases intracranial pressure. This decreases blood flow to the brain. Molding also depresses the venous sinus return and, decreases the blood flow to the brain. Excessive head molding from excessive forces of labor causes a decrease in blood flow to the fetal brain and also traumatic injury.

Fetal head molding is a phenomenon which may contribute to satisfactory progress during delivery as it allows the fetal head to accommodate to the geometry of the passage. In contrast, excessive head molding can result in cranial birth injuries.

Excessive molding can occur from the following:

• Labor is prolonged
• When contractions are too forceful
• When there is a malposition of the fetal head
• Inept instrumental interference

As the mother dilates, the pressure on the fetal head increases dramatically; as does the potential for excessive molding and injury.

More than 5 contractions in a 10-minute period are considered hyperstimulation.

The compression of the fetal skull can produce brain damage by one of three mechanics: 

• Increased pressure
  The ensuing development of anoxia and asphyxia may damage the brain as well as the blood vessel walls, making them liable to rupture when exposed to hypertension 
• Severe compression
  Can cause fracturing of the skull bone or laceration of underlying brain tissue 
• Stretching
  The pulling and stretching of the tentorium may cause the falx to tear.

Hyperstimulation and Decreased in Cerebral Perfusion- Ischemia

Abnormal strength and/or frequency of contractions may cause devastating injury to a baby’s brain even absent excessive molding and apart from the effect upon the placenta. An increase in intracranial pressure above the mean-arterial pressure results in a decrease in perfusion to the brain.

Compression of the fetal head by an externally applied force caused severe cerebral ischemia due to a marked reduction in cerebral blood flow. The obstruction to flow prevents well-oxygenated blood in the carotid artery from reaching the fetal brain.

Maternal pushing during the second stage of labor is associated with a significant decrease in fetal cerebral oxygenation. The concept of resting time between contractions is critical to keep a baby out of harm’s way during paturation. If there are too many contractions, there will not be enough time for the baby to catch up on the oxygen necessary for the brain to survive.

Oxytocin is listed as a “High Alert” medication with potentially serious consequences if misused.

Miller Weisbrod is recognized nationwide for our effective counsel and aggressive personal injury representation. We invite you to contact our main offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex today at 214.987.0005 or toll free at 888.987.0005 for a free consultation with a compassionate personal injury trial lawyer. You may also contact us by e-mail today to get honest answers to your legal questions about birth injury claims and lawsuits.

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