Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog

As Bike-Sharing Catches on in DC, the Instance s of Head Injuries Increase

June 19, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The recent phenomenon of bike-sharing has caught many of the nation’s largest cities by storm. Rather than purchase a bike to travel around the city, bike sharers opt to pay a fee to use bikes at stations around the city. In most cases, riders can pick up a bike at one location and drop it off at another, making the system very convenient for commuters, shoppers, or those just looking to see the sights.

However, a recent article explains that the convenience may come at a cost. As bike shares pop up around the country, the instances of bike-related head injuries are increasing as well. The most cited reason is that, while the bike shares offer bikes, riders must bring their own helmets, something many riders are not doing.

The Study

An NPR article cites a study that looked at Montreal as well as four U.S cities, including Washington DC, both before and after the bike-share program was implemented. The result was a 14% increase in the proportion of head injuries compared to the total number of serious biking injuries. The bottom line is that a larger percentage of bike-related accidents are involving head injuries than before.

Nap Nanny Responsible for Another Infant Death

June 12, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A few years back, a product that seemed like a godsend for parents with children who could not fall asleep in cribs was released to the market. It was called the “Nap Nanny,” and it was a kind of seat that an infant could sit in to help it fall asleep. It mimicked the cozy, cradling position of a mother’s arms. However, reports began to come in that the Nap Nanny was not as safe as originally thought. One by one, reports of infant deaths came in. Evidently, due to a design flaw, infants could fall off the side of the Nap Nanny and get stuck between the seat and the side of the crib.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Nap Nanny is responsible for more than 90 incidents and five deaths. In 2012, the agency instituted a mandatory product recall, pulling the unit from all primary markets. However, the product has still been available at secondary markets, such as garage sales, online marketplaces, and thrift stores.

Yet Another Death Due to the Nap Nanny

According to an article by the Daily Record, just a few months ago in March, the Nap Nanny claimed its latest victim, an eight-month-old baby. The child’s parents set the baby down for bed and came back to check on him a few hours later. They found their child dead, stuck between the Nap Nanny and the side of the crib.

Pennsylvania Construction Workers Injured When Trench Collapses on Them

June 5, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Just a few weeks ago in May, two construction workers were trapped in a trench when the trench collapses around 1 p.m. in the afternoon. According to a report by the Times Herald, the men were working on a project at the Valley Forge Sewer Authority when the dirt wall of the trench just gave way, trapping the two men under a pile of dirt.

After emergency responders pulled both men from the trench, they noticed that the men had both been injured in the collapse. They were each taken to local hospitals; one man was suffering breathing problems, and the other from injuries to his leg.

One trench worker told reporters that there had been other collapses since he had been assigned to work on the trench a few months ago. At the time the article was published, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was on the way to determine if the workplace was indeed safe at the time of the accident and to conduct an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Popular Office Toy, Buckyballs, Voluntarily Recalled Facing Lawsuit

May 27, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the president and creator of the of the popular desk toy, Buckyballs, recalled the product after facing a lawsuit from a federal agency that threatened to hold him personally liable for the damages caused by the product.

What Are Buckyballs?

Buckyballs are high-powered magnetic balls that can be stacked into almost any shape. Once they are placed together, they are difficult to separate due to the extremely high-powered magnets used in the balls.

The Danger of Buckyballs

According to a report by the Washington Post, the danger of the product was that children could ingest several of the high-powered magnets and then suffer internal organ damage when the magnets “connected” with each other in the child’s body.

DC Court of Appeals Dismisses Slip-and-Fall Plaintiff’s Suit Because the Defect in the Pavement Was “De Minimis”

May 20, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Due to a city’s relationship with its citizens, and the fact that the city’s taxpayers pay for the sidewalks and roads, cities have a duty to ensure that they are maintained in a reasonably safe manner. Thus, when a person falls while walking on the sidewalk, and that fall was due to a defect in the pavement (such as a hole in the sidewalk or missing bricks), that person may seek recovery for their injuries from the municipality in which the injury occurred.

However, courts have routinely held that when a defect in pavement is so small that the city could have no way of knowing that there was a problem, and thus having no way to fix it, the city cannot be held liable. That is exactly what happened in a recent case in front of the DC Court of Appeals.

Briscoe v. District of Columbia

In the recent case, Briscoe v. District of Columbia, the plaintiff tripped and fell on the sidewalk outside her home. Before trial, the District of Columbia moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that the crack in the pavement was so small that they could have had no way of knowing it even existed. The trial court viewed pictures of the defect and agreed, dismissing the suit against the District of Columbia.

Recently Filed Lawsuit Likely to Address the Effects of ADHD Drugs and the Wisdom of Their Use

May 13, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a lawsuit that was filed earlier this month in Virginia, a family is suing several doctors for the misdiagnosis of their son, who eventually killed himself several years after being given—and becoming addicted to—various ADHD medications by a number of doctors. The case involved the Fees, the Virginia family who lost their 24-year-old son, and two doctors who repeatedly prescribed dangerous stimulants to their son despite knowing that he had other mental issues.

The Fees allege that the doctors misdiagnosed their son with ADHD years ago and sent him down a path of unnecessary and harmful drug use—and eventually drug abuse—for a condition for which he never exhibited symptoms. They also claim that the two doctors failed to communicate with each other, and that their failure allowed their son to continue to abuse the medication even after one of the doctors stopped prescribing the drug to their son due to his other mental health issues.

Back in November of 2011, the Fees tried to contact their son, who was living in an apartment they were paying for, with no luck. When they showed up at his home, they found that he had hung himself from his closet. Although the family did not initially bring a suit against the doctors, they reconsidered that decision after an article was published in the New York Times detailing their story. Evidently, many people reached out to the family to share similar stories. After that communication, the Fees wanted to enact some sort of change in the way that doctors go about diagnosing ADHD, as well as how they readily prescribe dangerous and addictive medication to treat the disorder.

D.C. Court Finds Improper Negligence Per Se Jury Instruction Harmless, Affirms Verdict

May 6, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Generally, a personal injury plaintiff must prove four elements to prevail in a negligence claim: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. However, in some cases, plaintiffs can take a “short cut” under the legal theory of “negligence per se.” Negligence per se is a Latin term that means negligence in and of itself. Under Washington D.C. law, negligence per se is applicable “where a particular statutory or regulatory standard is enacted to … prevent the type of accident that occurred.” Further, an “unexplained violation of that standard renders the defendant negligent as a matter of law.”

This means that the plaintiff must prove only that the statute was designed to protect against the type of harm caused in the accident, and that the defendant was the person or entity that engaged in the conduct. Therefore, when the facts of the case allow it, a plaintiff will almost always want to instruct the jury on negligence per se because it makes the plaintiff’s burden that much easier to meet.

For that reason, when a court erroneous instructs a jury on negligence per se, the defendant may have an issue on appeal because of the harm caused by the instruction. However, a recent D.C. Court of Appeals case held that an improper negligence per se instruction can be “redundant” rather than harmful in some cases, and does not always require reversal.

GM Recalls Allegedly Defective Cars, Faces Tough Questions of Liability

April 30, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A defective ignition switch in cars manufactured by General Motors (GM) has been linked to at least thirteen deaths over the past decade, and the company has recalled millions of vehicles during the first few months of 2014. The CEO of GM has been called to testify before Congress, and various public figures have called for investigations and prosecutions. Several lawsuits have been filed, including an emergency motion seeking to speed up the recall process. Individuals who have already settled with GM are reportedly considering seeking to overturn their settlement agreements.

A component of the ignition switch in many GM cars is at the center of the problem. The defective part, called a switch indent plunger, keeps pressure of the ignition switch to keep it from turning off while the car is in motion. Shutting off the ignition disables anti-lock brakes, airbags, power steering, and all other electrical components, which can be disastrous while a car is in motion. The part was not able to apply enough torque to keep the ignition from turning off if the ignition key had too much weight on it, such as if the driver had numerous other keys on a keychain. Ignition shut-offs because of this defect have resulted in multiple crashes and at least thirteen fatalities.

GM began recalling Cobalts, Ions, and other small-model cars in February 2014. The company reportedly notified its dealers about the defect in 2005. The recall affects more than 2.5 million vehicles. The company maintains that recalled vehicles are safe if the driver removes everything else from the keyring with the ignition key, minimizing the pressure on the ignition switch.

Investigations, Lawsuits Target Alleged Abuse by Border Patrol Agents

April 23, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A series of investigations and lawsuits seek to shed light on shootings by agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency which includes the U.S. Border Patrol (BP), involving Mexican nationals located across the border on Mexican territory. Asserting civil claims over these incidents has proven difficult, both practically and legally. The CBP and related agencies suffer from a lack of transparency, which makes the discovery process difficult. Courts have been reluctant to exercise jurisdiction over claims by foreign nationals, raising questions about jurisdiction and rights when an agent fires a gun on one side of an international border, and the injury occurs on the other side.

According to the Arizona Republic, BP and CBP agents have been involved in at least forty-two fatal uses of force since 2005. Thirty-eight of those deaths occurred near the U.S.-Mexico border. The Republic describes them as varying from “strongly justifiable to highly questionable.” Four BP agents have died in “direct conflicts with aggressors” in roughly the same timeframe.

Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, age sixteen, was shot and killed by BP agents on October 10, 2012. The agents were located in Nogales, Arizona, while Rodriguez was in the Mexican town of the same name. The agents claimed that Rodriguez was throwing rocks at them. Agents are permitted to use deadly force in response to threats, and they treat rocks as a deadly weapon as a matter of policy.

Family of Woman Found Dead in Hospital Stairwell Files Notice of Legal Claim with City

April 16, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The family of a woman whose body was found in the stairwell of a San Francisco hospital weeks after she went missing from her hospital bed has filed a legal claim with the city, indicating their intention to file a lawsuit. The claim is a mandatory prerequisite to a lawsuit against city and county agencies. The family’s claim alleges medical malpractice, negligence, dangerous property conditions, and violations of the state elder abuse and adult dependency statute. Hospital workers have accused the hospital of serious understaffing, to the point that it compromises patient safety. The hospital has announced two rounds of changes to its security procedures as a result of the incident, including access controls, patient checks, and a missing patient policy.

The decedent, 57 year-old Lynn Spalding Ford, checked into San Francisco General Hospital on September 19, 2013. On September 21, a hospital worker reported her missing. The worker allegedly described Spalding, who is white, as a black woman, and some hospital paperwork described her as Asian. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department (SFSD), which handles hospital security, searched the hospital perimeter but did not classify Spalding as missing. Surveillance footage was not available to authorities until October 4. The hospital did not ask SFSD to search the entire 24-acre hospital campus until September 30, after Spalding had been missing for nine days. The search did not include all of the stairwells.

On October 4, a hospital employee reported a person lying on the 3rd- or 4th-floor stairwell of Stairwell 8. A fifth-floor employee reported hearing banging from Stairwell 8 the same day. There is no indication that anyone searched that stairwell in response to these reports. An employee with the hospital’s engineering department finally found Spalding’s body during a routine check of an exterior stairwell on October 8. Spalding had been missing for seventeen days. Both the hospital and SFSD said that the stairwell is alarmed, only exits to the first floor, and is only used as a fire exit. The medical examiner listed her cause of death as dehydration and alcoholism complications, but could not say for certain when she died.