Massachusetts Injury Lawyer Blog

There are about 6.5 million residents of Massachusetts, and about 4.6 million drivers. The number of miles driven each year for the last three years has been in the range of roughly 55 million miles per year. And despite efforts to improve vehicle safety, enforce traffic laws, and improve highway design, death rates have dropped only slightly, primarily as a result of fewer pedestrian accidents.

Here is a summary of some of the statistics. The statistics for 2007 are not yet available.

Statistics for the same period are not completely available concerning disabling injuries. However, for 2004 and 2005 the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security reports over 5,000 people suffered incapacitating injuries from some sort of motor vehicle crash. In the same two years, 138,465 and 158,802 motor vehicle crashes were reported.

Drunk driving continues to play a major role in fatal car accidents, though the last three years have seen a slight drop in the role of alcohol in fatal accidents.

These data include not just deaths to the drunk drivers, but to passengers, other motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. It also includes deaths related to alcohol consumed by pedestrians and bicyclists.

In addition to the wrongful deaths of so many individuals caused by drunk drivers, there are also thousands of personal injuries caused by drunk driving accidents.

If you or a loved one has suffered personal injury or if a loved one has suffered wrongful death as a result of a drunk driving accident or other motor vehicle accident, please contact the lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck today for a free consultation. Our toll free number is 800-379-1244. Learn more about Hiring an Attorney for a Car Accident Case.

More Information: Massachusetts Drunk Driving Statistics Center for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Center-Impaired Driving

Improperly designed nail guns and negligently operated nail guns are leading to tens of thousands of accidents, injuries, and wrongful death claims among construction workers and consumers. Each day over 100 injuries occure, and roughly two-thirds of those injuries were construction site accidents. In addition to injuries caused to workers, bystanders, people working nearby, and people passing worksites have often been injured.

The number of injuries as well as a number of wrongful death claims have led to calls to make nail guns safer. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recommended in May, 2003 that "manufacturers install sequential-trip triggers on certain types of nail guns before distribution."  This is a voluntary standard.

What Should You Do If You Suffer a Nail Gun Injury?

First, preserve the evidence; do not adjust or take apart the nail gun or its attachments. Secure the evidence where it cannot be tampered with or lost so the product liability case can be properly investigated.

Contact an experienced product liability and construction site accident lawyer immediately.  It is critical for you to preserve your rights by being represented by the best attorneys at all times.

The lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck have decades of experience with product liability and construction site accidents, and are prepared to get the best results if you or a loved one has suffered a nail gun accident or wrongful death.

Read More About Massachusetts Nail Gun Accident Cases. 

Other Resources
Nail gun injuries under fire as injuries soar, Sacramento Bee, 4/13/08
Decades of research and calls for more nail gun safety, Sacramento Bee
Nail Gun Injuries are Increasing, Revolution Health Orthopedic Blog, 6/5/07

When you go the hospital, you hope to get qualified medical treatment and to leave the hospital feeling better. Unfortunately for thousands of Massachusetts residents each year, the trip to the hospital can be complicated by hospital acquired infection, often with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These infections are expensive to treat, life-threatening, and sometimes fatal. The cost in human life and dollars is staggering. Worse, inattention to basic hygiene by hospital staff is often the cause.

Now Massachusetts is starting to do something about these deadly complications. The state Public Health Council voted in February to increase inspections and to publish hospital complication rates from infections. Recognizing that healthcare related infections may be costing up to $473 million per year, the Public Health Council is demanding that hospitals put far greater emphasis on reducing their infection rates. Hospital infection rates from all hospitals will soon be available to the public.

Massachusetts is not the first state to focus on this problem. Roughly a dozen other states have already put in place similar measures to fight the national problem of hospital acquired infections, which may be killing up to 90,000 people per year around the country.

The infections result from a combination of problems. Many bacterial organisms have grown resistant to antibiotics, so fighting these infections is expensive and difficult. Failing to isolate infected individuals, and failure to maintain strict hygiene in the hospital cause the bacteria to be spread with the hospital facilities. Hospital treatments can introduce the bacteria deep in the body through catheters which are placed into blood vessels, and often threaded to organs. The result is often extended hospital stays, further surgery, expensive treatment, and sometimes wrongful death.

Consumers have the right to know about hospital infection rates, and the crackdown on hospital infections is overdue. It is a sad fact that attention to this serious problem has not come earlier; thousands of lives and millions of dollars could have been saved.

If you feel you or a loved one has suffered a preventable hospital acquired infection, and suffered personal injury or wrongful death as a result of the negligence of a medical provider, you should contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney immediately.

Additional Resources

Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Expert Panel, Links to Reports
State to launch crackdown on hospital infection rates, Boston Globe, 2/14/08
Hospital infection may cost $473 million, Boston Globe, 8/9/07
State seeks to reduce hospital acquired infection rates, Boston Globe, 1/11/07
Management of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Healthcare Settings, CDC