• $10.8 Million resolution of a wrongful death professional negligence case.
  • $3,000,000 to the surviving spouse in a wrongful death / medical malpractice case
  • $1.75 Million for a 26 year old woman who was injured and the injury resulted in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in her foot.
  • $1,900,000 to a man run over by a bus who sustained serious crush injuries to his legs
  • $1,120,000 for death of 48 year old man in a three vehicle collision
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Injury accidents and death can happen at any time, when you least expect them.

While many people seem to understand the concept behind a personal injury lawsuit, they don’t always associate a death as a result of an accident, as being a personal injury as well. Typically, if someone dies as the result of a fall, they may choose to sue in several modalities, such as a wrongful death or personal injury or even product liability.

It depends on the details of the case, as to which route makes the most sense if it may be going to court. Most often, this decision is made by your Atlanta personal injury lawyer, as he assesses the details of your case during discussions with you.

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Modern medicine is not always as modern as one may think. These days, doctors may make use of an ancient healing method, not for the squeamish.

“When you land in hospital after a motorcycle accident, you may be very surprised to find that leeches could be used to help you heal. Yes, leeches, the things you typically recoil from when you see them on a swimmer coming out of the water. Call them blood suckers if you will, but their use in modern medicine is guaranteed thanks to their unique properties,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert, an injury lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who practices personal injury, accidents and malpractice law.

Consider the case of Jamie Doe, (not his real name), who had to lay his motorcycle down to avoid hitting a car that had abruptly turned in front of him. He had nowhere else to go to avoid the collision, but his quick thinking minimized what could have been an even worse accident. As it was, he sustained several broken ribs and severe road rash on his arms, and his right foot suffered serious damage from being dragged on the asphalt.

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No one ever said wrongful death lawsuits were straightforward and uncomplicated. Often, they have more twists and turns than the Grand Prix.

This particular case got a great deal of media attention, not only because of the circumstances of the case itself, but because of how complex the whole affair turned out to be. A 23-year-old man was out having a few drinks with friends one night and ended up being in a fight at the bar. The fight started inside the drinking establishment, prompting the manager to call the police.

When officers showed up, the young man ran away, with three policemen pointing Tasers at him. To avoid being zapped, he jumped into a river. Shortly after that, one of the officers on the banks of the river shot his Taser and hit the young man. Police would not help the man, nor would they let the man’s brother help him. His body was found in the water the next day.

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These days, many professionals do nOt retire at 65 years of age. Some practice longer, and perhaps perilously so when the results are death.

A 13-year-old girl is dead as the result of having two baby teeth removed and an impacted one uncovered by an 80-year-old dentist. The child’s death was attributed to lack of oxygen to the brain after the dentist had given her anesthesia.

In a further shocking development, it was discovered that the same dentist had also been involved in a wrongful death lawsuit about 12 years ago. That suit involved a 57-year-old woman who had six teeth removed. She reacted badly to the halothane and went into fatal cardiac arrhythmia. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed by her husband, stated the dentist did not have a defibrillator or continuous EKG; things that could have saved the woman’s life.

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Death happens in the blink of an eye. In this case, a cop was doing his job when an 18-wheeler rammed his cruiser.

Being in law enforcement is not an easy job to begin with and being out on patrol has its own special set of risks. That was never more clear than in this reported case, when a highway patrol officer was doing a traffic stop near an exit when a big rig rammed into the rear of his cruiser. The impact shoved the car into a box truck. The officer died a few hours later at a hospital. His wife and three children survived him.

The trucker was arrested on the spot and charged with several criminal offenses. The driver chose to plead not guilty, but that may be a difficult plea to maintain, as the prosecution has evident the trucker fell asleep at the wheel of his rig, losing control and drifting into the right lane where the officer was conducting the traffic stop.

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Big rigs tend to attract a lot of attention. Unfortunately, much of it is the result of them being in yet another horrendous wreck.

This wrongful death case captured the attention of a lot of people when it happened in 2006. Four were brutally killed on the highway after they had stopped to avoid another accident that had taken place. The driver of the big rig that was behind the woman never saw the line of other vehicles stopped to wait to get the all clear signal from the police before proceeding.

The result of this accident, when the rig plowed into the line of waiting cars, was the death of four people who never knew what hit them. The wrongful death lawsuit in that case ultimately settled for $35.25 million, including damages and compensation. And the driver? The driver was tried on four counts of second-degree manslaughter and found not guilty.

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Many people wonder if teens should be allowed to drive as early as they do in some states. They lack the experience to properly handle a vehicle.

Call this a “hot button issue.” At what age should teens be allowed to drive? There are so many answers out there, it would be hard to discuss them all and cover the reasons why some feel teens need more experience before getting a license to drive a potentially lethal weapon. This case is no exception to that rule and points out that when teens, hormones and inexperience behind the wheel are involved, the results may leave people dead. Those harmed or killed will need the services of a competent Atlanta personal injury lawyer.

Our office read about this case, a horrific wreck between a school bus and a pickup truck that snuffed out two promising young lives. The pickup truck driver was 18 years old. His passenger and girlfriend was only 17. Despite both the driver and front passenger being belted in, their multiple injuries spelled death. The other two passengers in the truck were listed in critical condition when they were taken to hospital by EMS crews.

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Big rigs virtually dominate American highways. Unfortunately, they also dominate in accident statistics.

Driving these days is not like it used to be. There are way more large trucks on the highways than there ever were. They are what keeps our nation moving by transporting goods that let us live the lives we have become accustomed to having. However, when one of those rigs goes haywire, the consequences are never pleasant.

Consider the case of a woman who met her death in a very bizarre fashion; in between two semis, like the filling in a macabre sandwich. She was stopped at a red light one cold and foggy morning. In front of her was one 18-wheeler and behind her was a second big rig making its way to the light. The woman expected that the second rig would stop. It did stop, but only after it plowed into the back end of her car, driving it under the truck in front of her. She was killed on impact, leaving behind six young children.

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Whether helmets prevent death in a motorcycle crash is an interesting question and one that, statistically speaking, is answered in the negative.

While numerous states have mandatory helmet laws and some do not, the whole argument about wearing or not wearing a noggin protector mostly boils down to whether they prevent death. The interesting answer is not likely. The helmets protect the skull from serious injury, but often the cause of death in a motorcycle versus car accident is due to other reasons. In fact, existing federal data shows that most bikers who die would have been killed even if they had been wearing helmets.

On the other side of the coin, if a biker lives to tell his Atlanta personal injury lawyer about the crash, you can assume they have sustained some fairly serious injuries that would lay them up long-term or permanently. This brings us back to the argument about wearing helmets to prevent death. In reality, the risk a rider takes, whether they wear a helmet or not, is crashing. If you get into a head-on collision while doing 80 mph, your head is not the only part of your body that will take a beating.

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Wrongful death lawsuits may be filed against a person or an entity, such as a city. They are not always filed against just another person.

Wrongful death lawsuits are not always filed against another person. They may be filed against a city, town or municipality or company. The best example of that is the fiasco that was the New York blizzard in December 2010. The city did not know what hit it and citizens in distress found out about that the hard way.

Unfortunately, there were at least two wrongful deaths as a result of that major storm. The second lawsuit was just brought recently by a family in Brooklyn who waited an hour and a half for an ambulance crew to come and help their mother. The woman had chest pains and before the EMS crews could get to her, she died.

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