William D. Kickham
William D. Kickham
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Move over, Big Tobacco. You may be soon joined by Big Football in being named defendants in personal injury lawsuits, as more victims of traumatic brain injuries realize where their injuires came from, and hold the responsible parties legally accountable.

That’s right. There has recently been a new spate of concussion lawsuits filed on behalf of retired National Football League players. Inevitable comparisons are now being made, comparing these concussion lawsuits to those filed by smokers who sued tobacco companies many years ago. An Associated Press review found that more than 2,400 retired football players are now plaintiffs in concussion-related lawsuits filed against the NFL. It includes players, spouses and other relatives or representatives as plaintiffs in the suits. They hope to win settlements that would approach the landmark, $206 Billion settlement that Big Tobacco shared among 46 states almost 15 years ago.

The plaintiffs are saying that the NFL knew that there were correlations between player head injuries and permanent brain injuries, and that the NFL was guilty of negligence and failed to take appropriate action — that they knew that concussions could lead to brain damage, yet hid that information. The plaintiffs are accusing the NFL of negligence and intentional misconduct in its response to the dizziness, headaches and dementia that the plaintiffs suffered. The NFL, of course, denies this, citing as evidence of their “concern”, a “committee” that they formed in 1994 to “study” the issue. Thisi group, the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee , was, in my opinion as a Boston-Dedham brain injury lawyer, a classic public relations distraction strategy: When an organization knows they’ve done something wrong in some serious manner, they immediately follow the standard public relations playbook strategy: Form a “committee” to “study” the issue, which is designed to make observers and the public think that something serious is being done to effectively address the issue, when in fact nothing of any substance is being done, and nor is anything going to be done. It’s a standard “Smoke and Mirrors” evasion & distraction strategy. The proof in this example? I’m aware of no aggressive, responsive, corrective measures taken by either the NFL, or this “Committee,” since 1994. If such aggressive, responsive, or corrective measures were ever taken by the NFL in the last 18 years, I’d be open to hearing about them.

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As a Westwood and Boston Massachusetts injury lawyer, I see an ongoing business practice occur time and time again, and it annoys, frustrates and angers me. What is that? It’s big pharmaceutical companies – which now market themselves directly to the consumer in ads on TV and in print – putting patient safety on the bottom of their list. In other words, they look for profits, profits and more profits, more than anything else, when patient safety should be Priority One. But patient safety is rarely Big Pharma’s Number One Priority. Profit – enormous profit – is. I’ve blogged about pharmaceutical marketing practices before, and I haven’t spared my thoughts.

This past week GlaxoSmithKline agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges brought by the U.S. Government. The pharmaceutical giant will wind up paying $3 Billion to settle what may be described as the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history. Let me say that again – this may be the LARGEST case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history. This settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines. Generally, the money goes to the U.S. Treasury, and some state treasuries, and would be spent accordingly. The state of Massachusetts Medicaid program is slated to receive approximately $35 million in the settlement.

Allegedly, in committing this fraud, the British drugmaker broke all kinds of United States laws in the marketing and development of its pharmaceuticals. First among those violations, the company targeted its antidepressant Paxil to patients who were under age 18 – when in fact, the drug was approved for adults only.

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In my previous post on this subject, I wrote about how many people who suffer an injury or accident due to someone else’s negligence, often don’t seek the advice of an attorney experienced in this area of law, because they think their cause “doesn’t qualify.” That’s unfortunate, because the law provides such people with legal rights to in many circumstances seek compensation for their injuries under the Massachusetts laws of negligence.

Another frequently overlooked type of accident, in which people simply “stick it out” without talking to a lawyer – is Massachusetts slip and fall accident. This is one of the most common accidents that people can suffer, and they can occur on someone’s private property (say, at someone’s home) or, more frequently, at a store or a business. There is absolutely no reason that you should suffer often serious injuries from a slip and fall accident, and not try to secure financial damages to compensate you. Broken wrists, fractured ankles, back spasms, nerve damage – these and other kinds of serious injuries can last for years if not a lifetime, and should be viewed lightly.

Many people (of course) also simply do not understand product liability law. This area of law covers almost every product marketed in the United States, whether it’s an automobile (remember the Ford Pinto?), a defective pool slide, or a children’s toy that has dangerous manufacturer’s defects. A skilled Massachusetts product liability attorney will make sure that you receive financial damages you deserve for any injuries you suffer due to the negligence of a person or a business.

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As a Boston-Dedham injury attorney, I am always shocked when I talk to people who have suffered a Massachusetts personal injury – and learn that they never brought their case to a Massachusetts injury lawyer. I find the reasons to be sometimes shocking. Most either minimze the importance of their injury or they mistakenly believe that they have to pay exorbitant legal fees, when the fact is that in all injury cases, lawyers are paid on a contingent-fee basis. Thisi means that an attorney is paid only AFTER the attorney wins the case and the client receives compensation for his or her injuries. The contingent legal fee system isn’t “jackpot justice,” as critics of our civil justice system like to call it. Quite the opposite, the contingent legal fee system provides the “Keys to the courthouse” for average Americans who could otherwise never afford to take on large corporate defendants and their liability insurance companies.

I’m here to tell you now about some of the Massachusetts injury cases that can often cause life-long injuries and are important to seek qualified plaintiffs’ legal counsel about.

For example, many people don’t follow up with a lawyer after a Massachusetts car accident, because they erroneously believe that their injury “doesn’t qualify” for a lawsuit. I can assure you that even if you suffer minor soft-tissue damage, it is important to speak with an experienced Massachusetts car accident lawyer, because this is a complicated area of law, and the vast amjority of people wouldn’t know what their auto insurance policy says, or what their rights were. The fact is, the majority of soft-tissue type injuries that occur in a car accident, don’t fully develop symptoms for days and perhaps weeks later. Even if you did not suffer broken bones or scarring, you can still seek legal compensation for your damages, after your medical bills exceed $2,000. This $2,000 figure is a “tort threshold” that must be met first before an auto accident victim can file suit for damages in Massachusetts. Even a minor soft-tissue damage injury may involve multiple visits to a doctor, chiropractor, orthopedist, licensed physical therapist, and even muscular massage treatments. All these therapies can qualify in reaching the $2,000 medical expense threshold, and there’s no reason that an auto accident victim should be denied the legal right to seek compensation in court, if necessary. And when a catastrophic injury results in someone being maimed, or when a car accident results in a fatality, the compensation can amount to extremely large sums of money.

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If you’re a pedestrian, remember – in general, you typically have the right of way. And yet, many drivers don’t understand or know this principle, and last night in Westwood, a 26-year-old pedestrian crossing the street was seriously injured by a driver.

Jillian Belanger was struck by a car Monday night, June 18th, in Westwood, in front of Roche Brothers Supermarkets, as she walked her dog across the road near 400 Washington Street in the Islington section of Westwood. As a Westwood resident, I drive this road every day. It’s normally considered relatively safe.

The vehicle that struck Ms. Belanger has not been located, although surveillance cameras on Washington Street show a small white sedan driving down Washington Street towards Norwood, shortly after the incident that occurred around 8:52PM. The vehicle fled the scene without stopping, Westwood Police said Tuesday morning. Based on what I’ve been told about this accident by people in a position to know, the impact of the collision was severe, and the victim’s dog was killed in the accident. Further, the area is well-lit. The point: The driver who hit this woman would all but certainly had to have been aware of it. To hit a person with your car and leave them near death in the street, is pretty much beyond comprehension. I hope this driver is either found, or turns him or herself in, and fast.

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I’d like to remind everyone out there to always wear your seat belt. As a Norfolk County car accident lawyer, I know that seat belts save lives, and it’s just plain foolish not to buckle up. Think about it – what is so awful about being held snug and tight by a seat belt, which you can always unbuckle if needed? And yet, too many people out there drive their motor vehicles and don’t do the smartest thing they can do to protect themselves against Massachusetts car accidents.

It’s unfortunate that two specific people could have heard these words, because there was a Wareham car accident homicide on Saturday night, in which one man was killed, another required the Jaws of Life, and Massachusetts State Police reported that neither driver was wearing his seatbelt.

Christopher Elicier, 43, was enroute to his night job at Taunton State Hospital when his car was allegedly hit head-on by another man, Phendy Pamphile, 26. For some reason, Mr. Pamphile was allegedly driving the wrong way on the northbound side of Interstate 495 in Wareham. Police said that Mr. Pamphile’s car crashed into Mr. Elicier’s around 10:20PM on Saturday night. As a result of the Wareham car accident, Mr. Elicier was ejected from his Hyundai and pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Mr. Pamphile was trapped inside his Lexus and needed the Jaws of Life to be removed. As of Sunday afternoon, he was listed in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital.

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There was a recent case settlement involving Massachusetts nursing home neglect and abuse, which should serve as a cautionary warning to anyone who has a loved one living in a nursing home anywhere. It isn’t a pretty story.

A woman was admitted to a Massachusetts nursing home in August of 2004. Two months later, she was found in bed with a spiral fracture of the left tibia and a fracture of the left fibula. Since she was found in her own bed, how this injury could have happened was a mystery, to say the least. An inquiry determined the already obvious conclusion that the patient could not have produced these injuries herself. Despite the inquiry, no definitive alternate explanation could be produced. File that under “Stinks to the high heavens, but we can’t prove who did it.”

The fractures required hospitalization and casting of the woman’s leg. When she was returned to the nursing home, she very predictably became immobilized due to her leg being in a cast. As a result of this immobility, she developed a pressure ulcer on her lower back, and also very predictably, a urinary tract infection. She also suffered from dehydration. If the average person knew how common and predictable this downward series of events is in a nursing home environment, they’d become quite upset. It’s how 95% of nursing home patients eventually die. It’s awful – both to see and to describe. I can only shudder to think of what it would be like to actually suffer through this kind of experience. I can’t imagine that most people would not prefer death long before that happens.

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Whenever I’m in my car, and I see bicyclists on the road, I shudder. They invariably share the roadway with we drivers, and it’s always scary to pass them, because you never know when they might lose control of their bike and suffer a serious personal injury. Cyclists just seem so vulnerable out there, in the middle of the street.

This is exactly what happened this past week on the Bourne Bridge, where everyone should practice the utmost safety, both drivers and cyclists alike. Early Monday morning, a 56-year-old man was riding his bike on the bridge, when apparently, at the crown of the bridge, wind gusts are thought to have forced him to lose control of his bicycle. He fell into the path of a tractor trailer coming from the opposite direction, and was hit by the truck. Lucky for him, he did not die, because the majority of truck-bike accidents produce often fatal injuries. The cyclist did, however, suffer a serious injury from the Massachusetts bicycle-truck accident.

As a Boston motor vehicle accident attorney, I urge all cyclists and all drivers to always proceed with caution, lest you suffer an extremely serious injury. Cyclists should always wear bright, reflective clothing. At night, easily visible lights and flashers should be both on the bike and the rider.

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One thing I can’t stand these days, is the growing proliferation of pharmaceutical advertising. Whether on TV, radio, or in print, it seems one can’t go anywhere or listen to anything without being bombarded by some usually laughable or ridiculous ad, (not uncommonly depicted with cartoon-like drawings,) pushing the latest offering by some pharmaceutical company. And with each and every one, comes the push “Ask your doctor about ___________.” Worse, recently, pharmaceutical companies have adopted the “Coupon Approach”: “Yes, you, too, can get a FREE sample of _________ if you present this coupon to your doctor!”

Years ago, it used to be that the pharmaceutical industry marketed their prescription drug products solely to the dispensing/prescribing end of the sales process: Doctors. That all ended about 15 or so years ago. The drug companies finally got wise to the gullibility of the average American, and saw the light: “Hey, instead of just hawking our products to doctors, who may or may not end up prescribing them to their patients, why don’t we just create demand at the patient level by marketing prescription drugs directly to consumers?” So now, taking advantage of the dumbing down of America, you can watch commercials depicting walking stick figures made of plumbing pipes for bladder control, amorous couples exchanging “that” look for Viagra tablets, and wind-up dolls for depression. In each and every one of these commercials and print ads, is buried some nonchalant “warnings” about “possible side effects,” that are communicated with an insouciant whisper of (“But this would never happen to you“).

Amidst the stampede of this new marketing world for the drug companies, has come a lot of results that should have been expected: Serious prescription drug injuries, including death. One drug in particular took the prize for being the most litigated for prescription drug product liability: Reglan. Reglan is a drug made by Schwarz Pharma and is generically known as metoclopramide. It is used to relieve symptoms caused by slow stomach emptying in people who have diabetes — (and, of course, the number of people who have diabetes has exploded in recent years, due to the nauseating obesity epidemic in this country, but that’s another subject.) The drug was first approved for use in the U.S. in 1985 and comes in the form of injections, tablets, and syrup. Class action lawsuits against the manufacturers of Reglan have been brought due to the very serious side effects caused by the medication, many of them fatal. These side effects have included agranulocytosis, which causes low levels of white blood cells, which can be fatal if left untreated. Aldosteronism is a condition causing excessive production of hormones and low blood potassium levels. Other side effects of Reglan include depression, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, seizures, jaundice, severe allergic reactions, tachycardia, and tardive dyskinesia. Reglan can also result in NMS, or neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which causes muscle rigidity, fever, and delirium. Like so many other Reglan side effects, this can be life threatening.

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Here’s yet another example of how a product snuck through the system, and has caused so much damage in women that there now exist hundreds of medical product liability lawsuits aimed at its manufacturer.

Surgical mesh has been used in surgery for awhile. So when a new type of plastic mesh needed to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it apparently got fast-track approval, without the tests that the FDA typically requires for first-of-its-kind devices. The upshot? Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of the plastic surgical mesh, now plans to stop selling its surgical mesh implants that are used to treat women, because the mesh implants have been linked not only to injuries, but hundreds of lawsuits. So, this past Monday, J&J said that it plans to phase out four mesh products over the course of the next three to nine months.

The plastic mesh implants were used to strengthen a woman’s pelvic wall in cases of pelvic organ prolapse – a condition that happens when the bladder or other reproductive organs slip down into the vagina. Last year, it is estimated that about 75,000 women had received the mesh implants, although there is another type of surgery that can correct this problem, using a simple incision in the abdomen. Last year the FDA reported that these mesh implants were associated with higher rates of pain, bleeding, and infection than the traditional surgery that simply used stitches. One Miami woman, Lana Keeton, who had the plastic mesh implanted back in 2001, has undergone 17 – that’s correct – 17 surgeries to remove the implanted mesh. She even founded a group called Truth in Medicine, which has lobbied the FDA about the harmfulness of mesh. She has described the synthetic mesh as resembling “the cut edges of a window screen,” to show how harmful and sharp the mesh is, and to demonstrate how painful it makes sexual intercourse.

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