Texas Personal Injury Lawyers – Jim Adler & Associates – Blog

The statistics are shocking. In 2006, 555 people lost their lives on these recreational vehicles. More than 100 were children. Manufacturers say ATVS are safe. But the growing number of deaths has authorities worried. Read the story: on MSNBC

A quick click here will update you on the latest recalled peanut products and keep you updated. It takes you to the Food and Drug Administration’s “peanut page.” That page and all of its links will serve you in good stead as you try to avoid the salmonella outbreak that’s killed 9 people in the United States at last count and sickened hundreds of others who ate products made from peanuts. A daily check could keep you out of the doctor’s office if not the hospital while the FBI, congressional hearings and other federal agencies try to get to the bottom of salmonella poisoning that apparently could have been avoided.

And a quick click on the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall list for dangerous household items is definitely worth the trip to avoid 12 items with serious defects. The list includes clamps for halogen lamps from Staples, explosive aromatherapy kits, lead contaminated necklaces, recliners that tip over backwards and Cost Plus and World Market Stores blinds that can strangle children. Other common household items on the list may surprise you, including defective products that can burn your house down.

In 2003, USA TODAY carried a story about an 86-year-old driver who killed 10 people when his car veered into a crowded farmer’s market in Santa Monica, CA. In 2004, the Chicago Sun Times ran a story about an elderly driver whose car plowed into a Chicago Subway sandwich shop killing one patron and injuring two others. In 2005, FOX NEWS reported that a 93-year-old driver in Florida hit a pedestrian and kept on driving with the victim stuck on his windshield.

Authorities fear these stories will become commonplace as more Baby Boomers – 79 million people born between 1946 and 1964 – reach age 65 and their physical abilities begin to decline. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety warns that by 2025, “people aged 65 and older will account for 25 percent of U.S. drivers…” It says state licensing systems are ill prepared to weed out unfit drivers. (more…)

Yes, they are…if they talk on a cell phone, even a hands-free phone, while they are driving. New research debunks the idea that talking on a “hands-free” phone while driving a car is safe. In a breakthrough brain imaging study last spring, scientists at the Carnegie Mellon Institute showed for the first time “that listening alone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving. This can cause drivers to weave out of their lane, based on the performance of subjects using a driving simulator.”

Teen drivers (and others) often head down the road with a host of distractions diverting their attention from driving: music, listening to the radio, texting, eating, talking to passengers. But scientists at the prestigious engineering college in Pittsburg think that cell phones “may be especially distracting” because of the social demands they impose, like not ignoring the party on the other end in heavy traffic. (more…)

Beware of people who show up after a car accident saying they represent lawyers and medical clinics. These predators not only are breaking the law but their greed could keep you from getting good medical care and expert legal representation.

Attorney Mitch Ginsburg knows their scams by heart since these con artists have been operating in San Antonio, where he heads a Jim Adler office. Ginsburg says the most common scam involves a “solicitor” who contacts the person involved in the accident saying he’s from an insurance company, a doctor’s office or the police. He then directs the injured person to a specific clinic using several ploys: “We will pay (insurance) or “I recommend this doctor” or “We will file your claim for you.” When the victim goes to the clinic, he or she is ushered into a room where a representative persuades them to hire a specific lawyer. After that, Ginsburg says, the victim almost always has trouble getting in touch with the lawyer and the doctor is usually affiliated with a clinic that provides substandard care and is under investigation by the insurance industry. These scams are apparently on the rise elsewhere. (more…)

Believe it or not, a law governing rights of sailors to recover damages if they’re hurt could come into play if relatives of six offshore oil rig workers killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 4 can file suit against the company that owned the copter. The deadly crash happened about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. The off-shore oil rig workers who lost their lives may be protected under The Jones Act, a federal law that says an injured worker only has to show that “employer negligence played any part, even in the slightest, in producing the injury…” Offshore oil workers may recover damages if they are hurt in accidents traveling from one company location to another. (more…)

Sure, you’ve seen us at Jim Adler.com. But how about checking out our latest website, El Martillo Tejano.com? For those who are Spanish-speaking or bilingual, you now have the choice of accessing an all-Spanish Adler website created specifically for you and your legal needs. El Martillo Tejano.com is believed to be one of the first such all-Spanish legal websites in the nation.

Named after Jim Adler’s nickname, “the Texas Hammer,” the new website includes a personal homepage introduction in Spanish by Jim Adler and by website spokeswoman Minerva Perez, an honored and longtime Houston broadcaster. From car accidents to defective products, the website provides information on many case types impacting consumers, and it provides a free case review form for contacting us. Additional interactive features are coming soon.

Donde esta El Martillo Tejano.com? Look no further than http://www.elmartillotejano.com — and get the information you need entirely in Spanish. ¡Gracias!

Victims and lawyers alike are watching a case set for November before the U.S. Supreme Court. Critics, including the AARP, say it could unjustly deprive victims all over the United States of their day in court if they or their loved ones die or suffer devastating consequences after taking prescribed drugs that are okayed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The case under scrutiny is called Wyeth v Levine. Those favoring victims say that a Supreme Court decision for the drug company could eliminate most of pharmaceutical liability under state tort law in one fell swoop. That’s a fancy way of saying victims won’t be able to use state law to sue drug companies if the companies put FDA approved warning labels on their drugs.

Wyeth v Levine started in Vermont. Diana Levine, a guitar player in her 50s, went to a local hospital with a severe migraine headache. She was given an intravenous injection of Phenergan, an anti-nausea drug. The FDA label on the drug warned that an intravenous injection could result in leakage of the drug into an artery, causing gangrene. The label said a “dilute IV drip” was preferable. Levine was given the “IV push.” Her right arm was subsequently amputated at the elbow when Phenergan leaked into an artery. In her lawsuit against Wyeth, she contends that the FDA label on the drug did not prohibit an intravenous injection despite its risk and that the warning on the label should have been stronger. Wyeth contends that Levine’s claim is “preempted” since it used the FDA warning label (even though there is apparently evidence that she was never told of the risks.)

And do it unexpectedly, thanks to a narrow wheel base and a high center of gravity that makes the ATV top heavy with a tendency to roll even on flat surfaces. ATVs are advertised as oodles of fun and a great way for hunters to get to and from hunting grounds in all kinds of backwoods areas. But some models, like the Yamaha Rhino introduced to the public in September 2003, had no doors, handle bars and other safety equipment. When they roll, as they frequently have, riders tend to stick a limb out as a natural reaction to brake the fall. The end result? Crushed limbs or worse. But any ATV can result in a serious injury given this vehicle’s basic design flaws. Unsafe at any speed? It’s a definite possibility.