Massachusetts Injury Lawyer Blog

Many of the over 9 million trucks on the roads in this country are operating with serious safety problems, according to a recent study performed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Twenty-eight motor carrier companies, representing more than 200,000 trucks, were found to have trucks in violation of federal safety laws. These violations include defective brakes, overly worn tires, excessive loads, and undertrained or impaired drivers. All of these factors contribute to the likelihood of a serious truck accident.

While the public is largely unaware of the problems with the nation's large truck fleet, it is at significant risk due to these safety violations. Although trucks make up fewer than 4 percent of vehicles on the road, they are involved in 12 percent of motor vehicles fatalities, with over 4,000 deaths and 80,000 serious injuries occurring every year. Government data shows that many trucking accidents are not reported, suggesting the numbers above are underestimates. Citizens of Massachusetts, with its older highway system, are left at risk.

Many of these deaths and injuries are preventable, and would be avoided if trucking companies fully complied with safety laws. Unfortunately, many companies fail to perform critical maintenance and repairs in order to save money. As the government's inspection and enforcement resources are limited, the chances of being caught are small, and the companies that are forced to take its trucks off the road simply change their name and continue operations as before.

Compounding this unsafe situation is the fact that many trucking companies carry insurance in amounts that are inadequate to compensate the victims of trucking accidents, especially when someone is seriously injured or there are multiple victims. Congress set the minimum level of insurance for tractor trailers at $750,000 in 1980, and has not changed it since. Although many companies carry higher amounts, carrying the minimum insurance is common in small trucking companies, which is of great concern, as 87 percent of the companies in violation of safety standards had fleets of ten trucks or fewer.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of over one million stroller manufactured by Maclaren. The concern: The defective product may cause personal injury to the child riding in the stroller. At least 15 serious injuries have been reported, and 12 of these have been fingertip amputations.

The recall affects all Maclaren strollers manufactured since 1999, including all single and double strollers. They popular baby strollers have been sold at Target, Babies "R" Us and other mass merchandisers.

Parents should immediately stop using the strollers and obtain a free repair kit from the manufacturer.

For additional information, contact Maclaren USA toll-free at (877) 688-2326 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's Web site at www.maclaren.us/recall.

There is additional information at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as well. Visit the government website.

David White, a product liability attorney at the Boston firm Breakstone, White & Gluck, PC, said, "Unfortunately, we are familiar with this type of product defect. Obviously a manufacturer of baby products must anticipate injuries that can come from pinch points from hinges and other moving parts. They must be extraordinarily careful to prevent injuries from their products."

As reported in Time Magazine: "This is a very serious hazard," says Scott Wilson, spokesperson for the CPSC. "We know child behavior, we know kids like to explore and sometimes put their fingers in places where they shouldn't be. But finger amputations that result from using a product that parents expect to be safe is unacceptable."

Continue reading "Maclaren Recalls One Million Strollers--Defective Product May Cause Amputation Injuries" »

In a recent article in the medical journal Radiology, a study of several hundred radiologists reveals that mammographers may be reluctant to reveal medical mistakes, even if the mistakes relate to potential risk of breast cancer.

In the study the radiologists were given a hypothetical question. They were asked to assume that films were read out of order; that the calcifications in the films were actually increasing and not decreasing, and that they discovered the mistake after initially reading and reporting the results to their patients. Calcifications may be associated with the growth of breast tumors.

Only 14% of the physicians said they would definitely disclose the error. Twenty-six percent said they would probably report the error. The rest would either disclosed the error only if asked by the patient, or not at all.

In the hypothetical conversations with the patients after the mistake was revealed, only 15% of the doctors polled would admit that they made a mistake during the reading of the films.

Failure to diagnose breast cancer due to mammography errors is a common cause of medical malpractice claims, and almost half of the doctors in the study had been party to a suit alleging negligence.

The authors concluded that even though there is a trend towards more physician openness regarding mistakes, disclosure is "the exception, not the rule."

More Information 

Radiology: Radiologists reluctant to disclose mammo errors to patients. www.healthimaging.com. October 30, 2009.

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