Pain And Suffering Claims

July 18, 2016

Local Man’s Lawsuit Against Hammond Police Alleging Beating Is Dismissed After Two Day Trial

ready-to-roll-1315121-1024x768 When a person files a lawsuit, they generally have the right to be heard on their complaint. However, depending on when the lawsuit is brought, the action may be barred due to the lapse of time between the events leading to the lawsuit and the date the lawsuit is filed. This rule is known as prescription and the problems that can arise for plaintiffs from this rule can be seen in a lawsuit arising out of of Hammond, Louisiana.

The plaintiff, Robert DeVance, brought a lawsuit in April of 2007 alleging that he was falsely arrested and beaten while handcuffed by two Hammond police officers. Later, on March 5, 2009, Mr. DeVance filed an amended complaint naming three new Hammond police officers as defendants. In his amended complaint, Mr. DeVance alleged that he was “hogtied” by the three new defendants while being held at the local jail. This treatment, claims Mr. DeVance, caused him to receive severe injuries due to tightly placed handcuffs on his wrists.

The new defendants filed an exception of prescription, which may release a defendant from responsibility by a lapse of time between the action and the time a lawsuit may legally be brought. These periods are usually laid out in the text of the laws themselves. The rule of prescription has its origins in public policy. This policy is not to deny relief for those who have been harmed, but to provide the liable individual with some assurance that if a lawsuit is not filed against them in a timely manner they do not have to remain constantly worried that they will be sued at anytime in the future.

July 17, 2016

Ovarian Cancer and Baby Powder Lawsuits: 5 Things You Need to Know

by Berniard Law Firm

baby powder ovarian cancer Fortune 500 company, Johnson & Johnson is in hot water over recent lawsuits contending that the medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer goods manufacturer was aware of an increased risk of ovarian cancer in women who regularly used talcum powder on or near their genital region, but failed to disclose those dangers to its Baby Powder consumers. The company’s Baby Powder product is talcum powder, or talc, based. Amidst the potential and pending lawsuits, which now number over 1,000 and span across the nation, arising against Johnson & Johnson, we broke down five things you should know about the recent and potential claims.

1. The Potential Link Between Talcum Powder and Ovarian Cancer Was Published 45 Years Ago

In 1971, British researchers initially linked talcum powder to ovarian cancer when they published a study conducted on 13 tissue samples from ovarian tumors. Over 75 percent of the tumors tested contained talc particles. Since the initial finding, multiple published studies validated this association. Some existing research contradicts these findings, but the majority of studies corroborate these findings.

July 10, 2016

5 Things You Need to Know About Essure Birth Control Device Lawsuits

by Berniard Law Firm

1. What is Essure?

Essure Permanent Birth Control Device is a non-invasive permanent sterile alternative. Essure has been implanted in over half a million women. Essure is “nearly 100 percent” effective in preventing pregnancy. The 10 minute procedure consists of placing two four-centimeter, metal coils made of stainless steel in the inner coil, and a nickel Titanium (nitinol) expanding out coil. These metal coils are inserted in the woman’s fallopian tubes, causing scar tissue to obstruct the tubes and permanently prevent fertilization. It takes about 3 months for the scaring to fully develop.

2. When did the FDA approve Essure?

July 9, 2016

Everything you need to know About Taxotere Lawsuits

by Berniard Law Firm

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If you have been diagnosed with cancer or know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, chances are you have heard of the drug Taxotere. The drug is manufactured and marketed by the company Sanofi-Aventis was first approved by the FDA in 1996. Sanofi-Aventis is a major pharmaceutical company based out of France that does business all over the world. The drug that they manufacture, Taxotere, is a popular drug used in chemotherapy across the United States. Specifically, it is utilized in the majority of breast cancer treatments, as well as other forms of cancer. Taxotere is administered intravenously and is meant to slow the cancer cell growth in patients. When Taxotere first became available, it was the go to treatment for women with breast cancer. Approximately 75% of breast cancer patients were prescribed Taxotere to fight the growth of the cancer. Chemotherapy is never a fun thing for anyone, but Taxotere made chemotherapy even harder on hundreds of thousands of women.

As you also may be aware of, chemotherapy and Taxotere are accompanied by some pretty detrimental side effects. Some common side effects include your typical nausea, vomiting, fatigue, pain, etc. Also, one of the most common side effects that is associated with chemotherapy is hair loss. Many chemotherapy patients will experience some sort of hair loss while being administered Taxotere. Although this is common in chemotherapy, Taxotere is associated with the permanent loss of hair without the ability to grow back post-chemotherapy. Usually in chemotherapy hair loss is not permanent, but rather temporary during the chemo and radiation treatment. However, many patients using Taxotere experienced permanent hair loss after being administered the drug.

This permanent hair loss is a very serious and unexpected result of the drug Taxotere. The condition of permanent hair loss as a result of Taxotere is referred to “alopecia.” Alopecia can have a severely adverse impact on the morale of the patient, as well as the patient’s families. Although Sanofi is a multinational company and marketed Taxotere in other countries with the warning of potential permanent hair loss, customers in the United States were not given this important warning. As a result, many patients were being administered Taxotere without their knowledge that they could be at risk for permanent loss of hair. In 2015, the FDA issued a warning statement that “cases of permanent alopecia have been reported” after being administered Taxotere. Before this FDA warning, Sanofi’s label in the United States indicated that a patient’s hair will generally grow back after completing the treatment. However, a great number of women in the United States have already felt the negative impact as a result of Taxotere not giving a clear warning of alopecia to consumers.

July 5, 2016

New Orleans Freight Truck Causes Devastating Injuries That Leads to Interdiction and Res Judicata Issues

by Berniard Law Firm

i-haul-1450942-1024x642 When a person is injured and left in a condition where they cannot handle their legal claims, their family may act on the incapacitated person’s behalf. If a family member is handling claims on behalf of the incapacitated, it is very important for them to find a good lawyer to help navigate the legal processes. The following appeal of a lawsuit arising out of New Orleans discusses what can occur when multiple lawsuits are filed as a result of disastrous injuries caused by an eighteen wheeler.

Connie Marable was injured in an accident when her husband’s freight truck allegedly shifted into gear and dragged her underneath the vehicle. Connie was rendered comatose and she was subsequently interdicted. Her husband, Wayne, was appointed as her curator. Wayne filed a lawsuit against Empire Truck Sales and its general manager Curtis Hudspeth in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on behalf of his wife. Wayne alleged that Empire’s faulty work or failure to work on the truck is what caused the accident which injured Connie.

Connie’s adult children from a previous marriage, Bill and Engelique Jones, later filed a lawsuit on their own behalf in Orleans Parish District Court against not only Empire and Hudspeth, but also Wayne; Great West Casualty Company, Wayne’s insurer; and DTNA and KLLM. The petition claimed that DTNA was negligent in the defective design of the truck and that KLLM, as Wayne’s employer and lessor of the truck, was responsible for the defective condition of the truck. The Jones’ lawsuit was consolidated with the Marable’s suit at some later time.

July 3, 2016

IVC Filter Claims: 4 Things You Need to Know

by Berniard Law Firm

Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters were designed and sold as a supposedly secure fallback to help avert pulmonary embolism for patients who for various medical reasons could not take blood thinners. Unfortunately for over the last ten years these filters have continuously been alleged to have been at fault for adverse conditions due to breaking of the filter. The best IVC filter lawyers have been pursuing these claims on behalf of their clients for several years now. While you can get a full run down of this litigation from a Louisiana IVC filter claim lawyer here, IVC Filter Claims , the following are 4 things you need to know if you believe you or a family member have been injured by an one of these products.

Removal of the device is only the first step

Most importantly, if you or a loved one has a IVC filter, you need to seek medical advice. The FDA released a bulletin in 2010 advising that IVC filters should be removed as soon as the danger of embolism has passed. Despite this removal itself can be difficult or impossible. A study conducted at the Boston Medical Centre in March 2013 found that, of the IVC filters studied, only 8.5% were successfully removed.

July 2, 2016

How Much Do Juries Award in Mesothelioma Lawsuits in Louisiana?

by Berniard Law Firm

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Mesothelioma has been called “the working man’s disease” as it tends to effect a high percentage of blue collar workers who were exposed to asbestos in various construction trades decades ago. A diagnosis of mesothelioma can be devastating and often leads to many legal questions that the best mesothelioma lawyers in Louisiana can quickly answer. Those questions largely revolve around finding out who the responsible parties are who might owe compensation to the claimant and ultimately what financial award could be paid in mesothelioma cases. The following asbestos case out of Jefferson Parish Louisiana provides some insight into the what a mesothelioma claimant and his family might receive if the case goes to trial.

William Oddo jr. was a handyman of sorts for over 30 years working with automobiles ships, and appliances. He raised a family on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish and lived to be 81, until he passed away from mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral which used to be common in building materials and automobile brake pads due to its properties of heat resistance. Over the course of his lifetime Mr. Oddo worked and lived with and around asbestos which is said to have given rise to his death.

On June 3, 2011, just one month before his death, Mr. Oddo filed a lawsuit against multiple defendants who allegedly contributed to his contraction of mesothelioma due to his exposure to asbestos. After his passing Mr. Oddo’s wife and two sons, hereafter referred to as the “Oddo family,” converted his case to a survival/ wrongful death action focused on two defendants from the defendant pool; Ford and Sud- Chemie Inc., formally known as and hereafter referred to as “Southern Talc.” The Otto family argued that Ford significantly contributed to Mr. Otto’s contact with asbestos by producing asbestos brake pads that Mr. Otto regularly serviced when he worked for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, the Otto family contended that Southern Talc was also responsible for Mr. Oddo’s death due to mesothelioma because Southern Talc manufactured fill that was used for Mr. Oddo’s driveway that allegedly contained asbestos.

June 25, 2016

Defendant in Mandeville K-Mart Slip and Fall Lawsuit Has Case against it Dismissed

by Berniard Law Firm

kmart-s-giant-clown-balloon-1427236 In 2011 Peggy McCastle-Getwood was an employee at the K-Mart in Mandeville, Louisiana. On May 26, 2011 she arrived to work around 8:00 a.m. and went to the back of the store to place her belongings in the locker room. With a cup of coffee in her hand, Ms. McCastle headed back to the front of the store and slipped and fell.

In March of 2012, Ms. McCastle filed a petition for damages and named Professional Cleaning Control (Professional) as a defendant. Professional Cleaning Control was a company hired by K-Mart to clean the floors in the Mandeville store. She asserted that she sustained injuries caused by the negligence of a Professional Employee leaving a liquid substance where she fell. Subsequently, K-Mart filed a petition to intervene, setting forth that it had paid for medical expenses and workers’ compensation benefits for Ms. McCastle, as a result of her injury at work. See LA C.C.P. Art. 1091

In September of 2013, Professional filed a motion for summary judgment based on Ms. McCastle’s deposition. In her deposition Ms. McCastle testified that she did not how the liquid substance got on the floor, nor did she know how long the liquid substance was on the floor. Based on this testimony, Professional asserted that Ms. McCastle would not be able to meet her burden of proof that Professional owed a duty of care, or if a duty was owed, that the duty had been breached.

June 24, 2016

Are There Deadlines to Appeal a Medical Director’s Decision For Workers Compensation Claims in Louisiana?

by Berniard Law Firm

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In Louisiana if you are hurt at work there are workers’ compensation laws in place to make sure the injured employee gets the type of relief he or she needs and deserves. Within the Workers Compensation Statutes there are deadlines and time frames to which both sides must adhere and they are in place to streamline the process of efficiently getting relief for the injured employee. With a good workers compensation attorney those time frames can actually help the injured employee. But what about the decisions of a medical director to deny treatment, are there deadlines to appeal those decisions? The following case out of Monroe Louisiana discusses the time limits that apply in those circumstances.

On June 30, 2012 Calvin Arrant was on the job driving around the Parish of Ouachita, Louisiana when an 18-wheeler ran a red light and smashed into his car. Mr. Arrant was a surveyor for Wayne Acree PLS, Inc. His job included carrying heavy equipment oftentimes over rough terrain. He continued to work after the accident, but despite his attempts the pain became too unbearable to perform his job any longer. Two months after the accident, Mr. Arrant had lower back pain that radiated into his shoulder, legs, and feet. Furthermore, he needed the assistance of a cane to help him walk due to the numbness in his left leg.

Mr. Arrant eventually sued his employer and their workers compensation insurance provider alleging that they had refused to allow Mr. Arrant to see the physician of his choice and refused to provide tests and procedures recommended by his treating physician. The parties agreed that Mr. Arrant was hurt on the job, i.e., “he was involved in an accident within the course and scope of his employment.” However, at issue was whether Mr. Arrant’s appeal to the medical director’s decision to deny Mr. Arrant’s MRI requests was timely. A worker’s compensation judge found that it was not and the court of appeal agreed.

January 16, 2014

Prescription an Integral Element of Lawsuits After Wrongful Death

by Berniard Law Firm

A few months after being in a car wreck, the unthinkable happens, and as a result of the accident, your loved one passes away. As you are mourning the loss, you also have to start thinking about your legal options that stem from the crash and the possible avenues you have as a “survivor” of your loved one in order to receive some damages from the liable person. While this seems somewhat callous to talk about, especially in light of the pain you are already in from losing someone close to you, it is necessary to begin thinking about this somewhat quickly if you are going to actually be able to bring a survival action.

First, though, what exactly is a survival action? In simple terms, a survival action is an action for damages (an award of money) for injuries incurred by the deceased right before dying. You can think of a survival action as a lawsuit for injuries incurred that the actual deceased would have been able to bring had he or she not passed away. Since the decedent is not able to bring the suit himself or herself, the decedent’s estate has to bring the suit. This is typically a child or other close relative. (States will specify exactly which family members are allowed to bring a survival action in that state.)

Along with deeming who can bring a survival action, states also specify during what timeframe individuals are allowed to bring such a lawsuit. This is not because the state or the courts do not want individuals to be able to recover, but rather because a timeframe has to be set so that the liable individual does not have an indefinite period of time during which to worry about the possibility of a lawsuit.