Indiana Injury Law Blog

Whenever there is a truck accident, people tend to assume that the accident or injuries are the fault of the trucker. As Indiana truck accident attorneys, we often represent truckers who have been injured due to others’ negligence.

This week, a truck driver was electrocuted when his trailer rig came in contact with high voltage power lines at a demolition site in Indiana. The truck driver was a resident of Ohio. Apparently, his semi trailer came into contact with power lines while it was off-loading metal. The trucker sustained fatal electrocution injuries, and died soon after.

Electrocution accidents that involve high voltage underground and overhead power lines, kill hundreds of people every year. Victims are often workers in the construction industry and crane operators, who sustain severe or fatal injuries when their machinery comes into contact with power lines. Truckers may also be at risk from such electrical injuries.

In the accident here, an Indiana truck accident lawyer would have a few questions:

Why were no efforts made to secure the premises?
Was the driver trained to perform his job well?

This was an accident that could have been easily prevented by unloading the metal on a part of the site that was safe from electrical hazards.

Injured truck drivers may be eligible for compensation from a number of sources. The trucker may be covered under Indiana’s Workers’ Compensation laws, although this may depend on whether he is a contractor or employee of the company. Truckers who are injured because of the negligence of a third party may also be able to file claims against the responsible parties. Claims may also be filed against manufacturers of defective power tools, maintenance companies and repair companies in case of defective truck components, malfunctioning machinery etc. Families of truckers who have been killed in accidents may also be able to claim compensation for their losses.

A judge in Terre Haute has declared a mistrial in a civil jury trial involving a fatal log truck accident in 2007.

In November 2007, Max and Joyce Strain were traveling in a car on Indiana 63, just behind a log truck driven by Richard Fulk. The truck flipped as it negotiated a curve, and the logs scattered on to the road. Several logs landed on the Strain’s vehicle. The couple was killed instantly. In 2008, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the trucking company that had been contracted to transport the logs, the logging company and Fulk. According to police, Fulk admitted to them soon after the accident that he had been driving between 50 and 55mph on the sharp curve, when the suggested speed at the site was 35mph. The load of logs shifted when Fulk negotiated the curve, causing the driver to lose control and the truck to overturn.

Now, a mistrial has been declared in the civil trial, because Fulk is also facing criminal charges in connection with the fatal accident. The trial will now resume only after the criminal case goes to trail in December.

Speeding is undesirable behavior for any motorist, but when you’re talking about an 18-wheeler driver who is in control of tens of thousands of pounds of cargo and a large delicately balanced trailer, such behavior can be dangerous. Often as Indiana truck accident lawyers, we notice that an accident can be the result of a combination of factors.

Log trucks are at special danger of causing injuries to other motorists when logs slip off the trailer. These logs can weigh tons, and even a single log crashing into a smaller passenger vehicle, can have a strong enough impact to crush the vehicle. The devastating power of an 18-wheeler during an accident is one of the reasons why the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration lays down such strict guidelines for cargo loads, securing of cargo, hiring of drivers, testing for drug and alcohol use, and maintenance of trucks.

The Indiana wrongful death lawyers at Theodoros and Rooth represent families of victims who have been killed by others’ negligence, and help them recover the compensation they deserve.

Maclaren is a name that’s probably more familiar to Indiana parents than product liability lawyers. These expensive, sturdy-looking strollers have been the preferred choice for millions of parents around the country, who have depended on these to cart their little bundles of joy everywhere. This week however, there was major cause for concern after Maclaren USA announced that it was recalling about a million baby strollers because of the risk of finger amputations.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Maclaren USA has received at least 15 reports of children placing their fingers in the stroller hinge mechanism. In at least 12 those cases, the children got their finger tips amputated or suffered other finger injuries when the stroller was folded or opened up. The CPSC has asked consumers to stop using these strollers immediately, and contact the company for a free repair kit that will fix the hinge problem.

As Indiana product liability lawyers, we would like to ask the one burning question that parents around the country want to know from the stroller manufacturer - Why did the company wait until it found out about 12 injured children to get its strollers of the market?

We may not get any answers from Maclaren anytime soon. The company seems to have its hands full dealing with frantic parents who have crashed the company’s website and overloaded its toll free number, seeking answers to their stroller queries. The company is also dealing with an international backslash from customers in the UK, Canada and Australia who want to know why the strollers are not being recalled in their countries too.

It seems negligent that the company waited for 12 children to have their fingertips sliced off before taking any action. Even if Maclaren assumed that parents were not likely to allow their children to place their fingers in the hinge mechanism, they should have allowed for the exuberance of kids, and children being taken out by older siblings or grandparents, who might not be able to keep a firm hand on the child.

The Indiana product liability attorneys at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured by the use of defective products in Merrillville, and around the state of Indiana.

It’s the kind of medical error that Indiana medical malpractice lawyers frequently come across. However, even we have to admit that this particular hospital has taken its fondness for wrong site injuries, a tad far. The Associated Press is reporting that a hospital in Rhode Island has been fined $150,000, and been ordered to install video cameras in all its operating rooms, after the 5th wrong site surgery in its facility since 2007.

Rhode Island Hospital is the largest hospital in the state, and is the teaching hospital for Brown University’s Alpert Medical School. The latest incident at the facility involved a patient who was scheduled for surgery on two fingers last month. However, both the surgeries were performed on the same finger. When the team discovered the error, they asked the patient’s family if they could perform surgery again, this time on the correct finger. However, when the team did perform the surgery a second time, they didn’t bother to take a time out to ensure that they were operating on the right site, even after they had made such a serious surgical error the first time. In 2008, three patients who underwent brain injury had their surgeries performed in the wrong site.

The state health director has been galvanized into action by these errors. It has ordered the hospital to assign an independent clinical employee, who is not part of the surgical team, to be present in operating rooms and observe surgeries at least for 1 year. The hospital has also been ordered to have surgeons mark the surgical site. The hospital will also install video and audio recorders in all its operating rooms to record surgeries. Hospitals will require permission from patient and families before they record surgical procedures.

Wrong Site Surgeries are Entirely Preventable
As Indiana medical malpractice lawyers, we know that wrong site surgeries are the most preventable kind of errors. These surgeries are called “never events,” meaning that they are so preventable, they should never occur in a hospital. When these kinds of errors occur again and again, it is a sign of a deep-rooted malaise in the system, one that we hope the hospital authorities here will be able to correct as quickly as possible.

As Indiana product liability lawyers, we have been concerned about the uncontrolled acceleration defect in Toyota vehicles that has already led to the death of 4 people in a Lexus crash, and the recall of 3.5 million vehicles. The automaker this week issued a statement that sought to suggest that the NHTSA had found no defect relating to the accelerator in some of its cars, and was almost immediately rebuked by the NHTSA for suggesting that the agency had given it a clean chit over the defect.

The agency has at least eight times investigated Toyota over complaints that the cars were prone to sudden and unintended acceleration. In at least two of those investigations, the agency announced recall of several Toyota models. In the remaining investigations, the agency cited insufficient evidence to show that the vehicles were prone to unintended acceleration. But it did conclude that there were design problems including throttle control issues, in several models that could contribute to unintended acceleration.

All these concerns were amplified in August of this year, when four members of the same California family died when their Lexus accelerated to excessive speeds and crashed. 911 calls made from the car showed that the gas pedal had jammed in the minuets before the crash. Then followed a massive recall of 3.5 million vehicles for, what Toyota called, floor mat compatibility issues. Toyota blamed the accident on the use of floor mats that were not compatible with the Lexus. It this week released a statement saying the agency had confirmed that there were no defects in the recalled vehicles. The agency has rapped Toyota saying that the automaker needs to figure out the cause of the problem, and devise solutions for this.

Millions of people in Indiana drive Toyota's vehicles. The automaker needs to figure out where the problem lies - floor mat incompatibility, push button ignition, or electronic throttle – and come clean about these. There are far too many incidents of uncontrolled acceleration for Toyota to dismiss these anymore.

The Indiana product liability attorneys at Theodoros & Rooth represent victims injured fro defective products in Merrillville and around the state of Indiana.

Every year, approximately 2 million people contract an infection in a hospital. These infections are the cause of approximately 100,000 deaths every year. There’s one fact that Indiana medical malpractice lawyers know when they come across cases of hospital infections - these are all preventable.

The Wall Street Journal has compiled a list of ten steps to prevent hospital infections. The list includes inputs from doctors, nurses, their health care providers, administrators, the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The list contains two parts - one for new technologies that promise great success in preventing infections, and the second part comprising basic simple tasks that don’t take much effort, but can dramatically cut down the risk of infection.

New Technologies
• An epidemiologist in Massachusetts has developed a florescent solution that can be sprayed in patients’ rooms after hospital cleaning crews have done their work, to check how many spots were missed. The fluorescent solution has helped increase cleanliness compliance rates from 44 percent to 77 percent.

• A John Hopkins team has developed a shower-like cubicle, containing a fogging mechanism that can be used to disinfect hospital equipment, including electro cardiogram wires.

• Computer software that can catch a sudden spike in a particular infection on one floor, can allow hospital authorities to zoom in on a potential source of infection. Staff can then take precautions to avoid a spread of the infection.

• Studies indicate that a mild antibacterial soap used for washing, can cut the risk of blood infections.

• Currently, 25 states require hospitals to report infection rates. That is a huge incentive for hospitals to take steps to cut down on their infection rates.

Basic Steps
• Hospital and staff must wash hands using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and these must be available easily and readily.
• Checklists can be used to ensure that hygiene procedures are followed strictly.
• Hospitals have begun to develop portable kits that contain all equipment needed for simple procedures, like changing a dressing. This minimizes the possibility of errors.
• Cleaning patient mouths can prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia which often occurs in the ICU.
• Quick diagnostic testing allows hospitals to identify infections within hours, instead of waiting for days to see the results.

As Indiana truck accident lawyers, we have strongly opposed the rule allowing truckers to drive for up to 11 consecutive hours, increased from the earlier 10 hours. Now, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has agreed to revise the 11-hour trucking rule, and has promised to come up with a new rule for trucking hours within the next nine months.

There is no indication yet about what those new working hours will be, but as Indiana truck accident lawyers, we hope that the agency reverts back to the old 10-hour rules that were in place for 60 years before the former administration decided that truckers can do with one additional hour of pressure everyday.

Every year, thousands of truck accidents can be traced to tired, drowsy truckers, fatigued from too many hours spent on the job. Last week, we discussed how the NTSB is recommending sleep apnea screenings to reduce the risk of accidents. Dealing with trucker fatigue is an important part of reducing accident fatality rates, and setting lower maximum working hours for truckers is an important part of those efforts.

For the trucking industry, a rule that allows drivers to drive for one more hour makes strong economic sense. However, for the trucker himself, who is already under strong pressure to make more trips and deliveries in a 24-hour period, the strain can be enough to cause serious accidents. Profits for the trucking industry must not be allowed to take precedence over the safety of motorists and truck drivers.

We hope that the FMCSA will do the right thing here, and eliminate the additional one hour. Thousands of lives may depend on it.

A fiery truck accident last week ended in a massive explosion on the ramp from I-69 to I-456, leading to most lanes of I-465 being closed down. On Monday morning, most ramps were opened for traffic for the first time since the tanker explosion.

The accident occurred on Thursday at about 10:30 in the morning. A semi tanker loaded with liquid propane flipped over on the ramp, after the driver lost control of his rig. The tanker immediately caught fire. Fortunately, for the driver, witnesses at the scene were able to rush to the burning tanker, and pull him out through the windshield. The driver made it out of the tanker just seconds before the tanker exploded.

The explosion resulted in a massive fireball. Several vehicles nearby were damaged, and motorists were injured. Drivers in the vicinity were able to put their vehicles in reverse to avoid the spreading flames. At least one driver suffered second and third degree burns. The damage from the explosion was severe, and several billboards and even a cell phone tower, caught fire.

Meanwhile, Indiana Department of Transportation officials are still working on the strengthening the bridge, which sustained damage in the explosion. One of the support pillars of the bridge was knocked out, and has since been reconstructed.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities in this accident, but several people sustained serious burns, not to mention, survived a nightmarish experience. This accident is just one example of the huge dangers that can result when a commercial truck meets with an accident. Anytime an 18 wheeler or a semi truck crashes, the impact can be severe enough to send other drivers around the semi into a panic, often leading to multi vehicle crashes. As Indiana truck accident lawyers, we know that often, a tractor trailer may not even make contact with another vehicle, but still cause serious injuries. The impact of a tractor trailer tip over or a rig suddenly jackknifing on a busy highway, can be as devastating as a head-on collision.

The National Transportation Safety Board is finally making the kinds of recommendations that Indiana truck accident lawyers have been looking forward to.

The agency has sent letters to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, recommending screenings for sleep apnea in commercial truck drivers. The NTSB has also sent similar letters to the Coast Guard advising screenings for the disorder in merchant ship pilots, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration, and transit system agencies around the US.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person suffers from periods of breathing difficulties during sleep. These episodes of respiratory difficulties may occur just a few times in an hour, or as many as 30 times in 60 minutes. A person suffering from sleep apnea suffers from interrupted sleep, and as a consequence, feels listless and drowsy the next day.

A condition like this would be dangerous in any motorist, but is especially dangerous in commercial truck and bus drivers, who operate large and heavy vehicles. Fatigued drivers in fact, are linked to some of the deadliest truck accidents in the country every year. Sleep experts and Indiana truck accident attorneys have been aware that that sleep apnea is a major factor in driver fatigue, but we have been disappointed at the lack of serious attention paid to this problem. Now, the NTSB recommendation gives us hope that mandatory sleep apnea screenings for commercial truck drivers will soon be a reality.

Every year, more than 5,000 people are killed in truck accidents across the country. Last year, 136 people died in tractor trailer accidents in Indiana, many of these caused by drivers too tired and drowsy to focus on the road.

As Indiana truck accident lawyers, we believe that mandatory screenings for sleep apnea, combined with stricter enforcement of medical certification rules for truck drivers, can help lower those rates.

As Indiana nursing home abuse lawyers, we are concerned about the risk to residents of nursing homes because of impending cuts in Medicare funding to these facilities. In Indiana and elsewhere in the country, several nursing homes could stand to lose millions of dollars as Medicare payments continue to be slashed. Cuts of up to $1 billion to skilled nursing care facilities have already been implemented. Federal authorities are now considering more drastic cuts to the tune of $1.5 billion.

Funding Cuts will Impact Nursing Home Care, Could Subject Residents to Abuse Risk

According to representatives at the American Healthcare Association, there is definitely a possibility that these funding cuts could force many nursing homes in Indiana to shut down. At the very least, nursing homes may be forced to cut down staffing to deal with the new decreased resources. This could have a detrimental effect on the quality of care residents at these facilities receive.

Indiana has already taken massive Medicare cuts, and ranks at number 11 among US states that have lost huge amounts in nursing home funding.

The funding crisis is not restricted to Indiana alone. Across the country, nursing home facilities are suffering as Congress considers increased healthcare cuts as part of reforms.

There is enough evidence to indicate that the problem will get worse before it gets better. The baby boomer population is aging rapidly, and millions of baby boomers are expected to get to the age where they require nursing home care, over the next few years. Last year, 16,000 nursing homes in the country cared for 1.95 million people. That was an increase from 1.7 million people in 2007.

In Indiana, programs like the Natural Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) have traditionally provided elderly residents with essentials, like handrails and wheelchair ramps, to encourage them to stay in their homes and relieve congestion in nursing homes. All five NORC programs in Indiana have lost funding. That means that these citizens will have to move out of their homes and into nursing facilities, which will now have to deal with a severe funding crunch and fewer staff. These facilities will hardly be in a position to provide elderly patients with the kind of care they need. Studies show, and Indiana nursing home abuse lawyers will tell you, that when there are funding shortages and staffing crunches, it’s patients who stand to suffer.

Unfortunately, as Indiana continues to reel under funding cuts, it’s the most vulnerable members of our society who will stand to suffer the most.

As Indiana trucking accident lawyers, we regularly follow developments in the trucking industry. It's encouraging to see that the American Trucking Association has thrown its weight behind a new bill that will ban texting for all drivers, including commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers.

The texting bill is called the Avoiding Life Endangering and Reckless Texting By Drivers Act, has been introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and will require that states ban texting within the next two years, or risk losing 25 percent of their annual highway funding. The texting ban is especially important in the light of the recent Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, that focused on motorist distractions, including texting and cell phone use.

While the support for Senator Schumer's bill has been good to note, we wish the trucking industry would also recognize the dangers that arise when truckers use computers in their cabs. Trucking groups have been quick to support a texting ban, but not as keen on banning the use of these computerized devices. More and more companies are investing in computers in truck cabs that allow them to send out new orders and messages to truckers around the country. These computers can be a serious distraction to truckers. Studies have shown that truck drivers don’t always pull over when they need to use their computer. This means that the operator of a 57-foot long, 80,000 pound truck could be distracted by the computer in his cab, endangering the safety of motorists nearby.

The American Trucking Association has also adopted policy statements that have the potential to impact truck safety in Indiana and around the country. It has expressed support for the use of onboard safety systems on trucks. These safety systems like brake monitoring systems, automated transmissions and vehicle stability control systems can minimize the risk of accidents. However, the ATA insists that trucking companies be offered financial incentives to adopt these systems.

The ATA is also calling for promoting driving education among new motorists to include awareness of driving safely around 18 wheelers. As Indiana truck accident lawyers, it's a matter of concern to us that motorists may be unaware of basic trucking safety facts, like the fact that an 18-wheeler takes a much longer time to come to a complete stop after the brakes are applied. Besides, truck drivers may not be able to see a motorist if he falls in the trucker's blind spot. New motorists can benefit from learning how to drive safely around a tractor trailer.

A new report shows that the country's largest malpractice insurers, far from bending under the strain of malpractice payouts, are actually earning profits that are higher than those of most Fortune 500 companies.

The report analyzes the annual financial statements of 10 of the largest insurers, and the results show that:

The average profits of these companies are higher than 99 percent of all Fortune 500 companies.
The average profit of these insurers is 35 times higher than the average for Fortune 500 companies in the same time period
The profit margins of these insurers range between 5.9 percent to a maximum of 74.8 percent with an average profit margin of 31.2 percent

That’s not all. The report also indicates that insurers have been showing lower profits than they actually earned, and higher losses than they actually incurred, in order to create a sense of anxiety about the health of the insurance industry, and to support restrictions of patients' rights to justice. According to the report, insurance companies, over the last five years, have incurred losses that are actually 13.5 percent lower than they first reported. They have also enjoyed 5.1 percent higher profits last year on an average, and 12.4 percent higher profits two years ago.

These figures show how hollow insurers' arguments that high medical malpractice payouts are contributing to high costs of health care, really are. They also underscore what Indiana medical malpractice lawyers have been saying all along - insurers seem to be having the last laugh as they enjoy their hefty bottom-lines, while patients have their rights to justice restricted severely in the form of damage caps.