Articles

Published on: July 1, 2009

The Blame Game

Proving who is at fault in a premises liability case is sometimes quite difficult.

At the very heart of the matter of premises liability law is the question “Who is to blame?” This isn’t the easiest thing to figure out, and that is why many premises liability lawyers will comment that each and every case is unique and has very little in common with any other case of the same nature. The circumstances of the case are what tend to make each one different.

“In a nutshell, the concept of premises liability boils down to this: a person who owns or occupies land (controls it) is responsible to make sure that the land is safe and hazard free for other people,” explained Georgia super lawyer Stephen M. Ozcomert of Atlanta.

Published on: July 1, 2009

Are Your Premises Safe?

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

If you have dangerous or hazardous conditions on your property, it would be wise to know the ins and outs of premises liability before someone injures themselves.

Basically the law of premises liability is a branch of personal injury law that covers injuries sustained as a result of dangerous or hazardous conditions on a piece of property. The major premise here is that a person who owns property – homeowner or commercial property – is (to a certain extent) responsible for what happens on that property. This means the owner is obligated to make sure the property and/or any buildings on that land are in safe condition for others.

The other name for cases in this area of law — perhaps you don’t recognize the term premises liability — is slip and fall cases. The bulk of cases in this area usually do deal with falls on slippery surfaces, trips over various hazards and other things, such as stairs in poor repair. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that this area of law is connected to several others as well.

Published on: April 28, 2009

The Seat Belt Controversy

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Are seat belts a dangerous product? This is a very interesting question and brings up the vigorous debate surrounding the mandated use of seat belts.

Most people have had the safety message drummed into their heads that wearing a seat belt saves lives. There are numerous commercials on TV, the radio, in magazines and newspapers that tout the effectiveness of using a seat belt. “Buckle Up” campaigns in some form or another have been launched in just about every state in effort to reduce the number of traffic fatalities. Every state, but New Hampshire, has laws mandating seat belt use in some form or another.

Traffic safety stats show that the lowly seat belt has been credited with saving at least 9,500 lives per year. These same statistics are also showing that virtually 60% of those who die in car crashes were not wearing seat belts. So what is going on here?

Published on: April 28, 2009

Grilling May Be Dangerous to Your Health

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Talk about dangerous products, a gas grill of all things, one of the staples of an American summer backyard dinner.

While they might look fairly harmless, all hunched over on the back porch waiting for the steak or corn on the cob, if the gas flame and tank are not handled properly, these gas grills are an accident looking for a place to happen.

Just taking a look at the media coverage for the last year is enough to give one pause for thought about using a gas grill without a pilot’s license. No, seriously, these grills have their pros and their cons, but it’s the cons that may result in an explosion or fire. Handle with care or be prepared to have the unexpected happen.

Published on: April 28, 2009

When Eating Out Becomes a Danger

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Eating out is a great thing to do now and then, or even on a regular basis. “However, sometimes what was eaten comes back to haunt the customer in the form of salmonella or other forms of food contamination,” said Georgia super lawyer Stephen M. Ozcomert of Atlanta.

Eating out these days is almost like playing a game of Russian Roulette, where no one really knows if what they eat will harm them or not. At one time fears like this were mostly limited to improper handling and preparation of a meal in restaurants, not at home. “Now, the CDC estimates there are roughly 76 million cases of food poisoning in the U.S. yearly, with about 5,000 ending in death,” outlined Ozcomert.

Lately there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of large-scale food poisoning events globally; e.g. salmonella tainted peanut butter, cold cuts harboring the deadly bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, and spinach contaminated with E Coli. It’s not just human food that has become a cause for concern; pet food has been under the microscope for containing deadly melamine.

Published on: March 22, 2009

Nursing Malpractice on the Rise

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Most people think medical malpractice is most commonly caused by doctor error. However, this isn’t always the case, as nurses are also responsible for medical mistakes.

Over the last decade or so, the media in the U.S. have had a field day when it comes to reports detailing the number of deaths each year attributed to medical errors. The numbers are in the millions for deaths and for medication mistakes. If that doesn’t throw up a few red flags, then I don’t know what will.

Medical malpractice or medication errors (med mal) isn’t within the exclusive domain of just doctors. Nurses have similar high standards to live up to when caring for patients, and for the most part they do their jobs with skill and precision. Unfortunately, things happen and a nurse may be negligent on the job causing an oversight that leads to an injury or death. This kind of a situation is usually referred to as nurse malpractice.

Published on: February 24, 2009

Defective Medical Devices Lurk in Waiting

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Modern medicine is a marvelous thing when it works without side effects. When those side effects happen, defective medical products become the focal point of litigation.

Across America, hundreds of people were having hernia surgery and being implanted with a hernia patch. Sounds fairly straightforward, but apparently something went terribly wrong with the Kugel mesh hernia patches. They had a nasty habit of rolling up and wrinkling after being inserted.

The problems with the Kugel mesh hernia patches didn’t start to come to light until 2001 when reports of its failure after implantation started appearing. Some of those noted side effects included bowel obstructions, because the memory coil ring broke, and fistula development. There were other complications as well, such as the patches were folded, shriveled, buckled and curled. Obviously this was not the optimal result hoped for after hernia surgery.

Published on: February 24, 2009

The Do No Harm Ethic

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

One of the first things a doctor learns when they go to medical school is their guiding ethic, “Do no harm.” When it comes to medical malpractice it is hard to understand how that ethic was violated.

It’s a given that in our health system the patients expect their doctor has certain obligations to them. They expect good service, good care and that the doctor knows what they are doing and will not harm them in any way. Unfortunately when a patient happens to fall victim to medical malpractice (med mal), those same patients who viewed their doctor as a hero may now take action to file a med mal lawsuit.

When patients have experienced a medical injury and feel that it is related to something that their doctor did or did not do, this is the time to immediately contact an experienced med mal lawyer like Georgia super lawyer, Stephen Ozcomert in Atlanta. Ozcomert knows his stuff and one of the first things he asks his clients is if they were given the wrong medication or an incorrect dose.

Published on: February 24, 2009

Deadly Jackknife Action

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Cars and big rigs just don’t mix all that well on the highways. Poor weather and road conditions added into the high speeds on the road also create situations where a big rig may jackknife.

Jackknife situations can have several outcomes, many of them resulting in injury to the driver, the rig and to other people who happened to be near the truck when things went awry. In situations like this it is very difficult to find out who is responsible for the accident. This is why anyone involved in a scenario like this needs to contact an experienced big rig attorney, like Georgia super lawyer, Stephen Ozcomert of Atlanta.

“A jackknife means the back end of the rig whips around towards the truck cab, and the driver has no control over it. It becomes a huge steel projectile traveling down the road at highway speeds,” explained Ozcomert. This means that anything in its path, from trees to guardrails and ramps to other vehicles, has the potential to suffer serious damages.

Published on: January 25, 2009

The High Cost of Auto Crashes

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States. This is a dismal observation when one considers the number of rules of the road and regulations that have been put into place in an attempt to reduce the number of traffic deaths. Nonetheless, accidents continue to happen and families continue to face the death of a loved one.

It’s thoroughly frightening to realize that each year over 40,000 people will die on the roads. That would work out to about 115 fatalities a day. Think about those numbers and then think about the high cost of auto crashes both in terms of lost lives and in damages.

Auto accidents, on average, cost Americans over $150 billion each and every year. Think of how that kind of money could be put to good use in the economy instead of cleaning up after accidents.