Rhode Island Injury Lawyer Blog

Lifespan, which manages several RI hospitals including: Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital, Newport Hospital and Hasbro Children's Hospital, has today announced that as many as 2,000 patients over the past year may have received an erroneous prescription at one of these Lifespan Hospitals. Lifespan is blaming this medical malpractice error on a computer, or software, malfunction. Their statement does not indicate whether anyone was harmed by this malpractice. It is understood that most affected patients have been contacted regarding this error or are in the process of being contacted.

Giving a patient the wrong medication, the wrong dose of a medication or unnecessary medications are all examples of medical malpractice. While the full extent of these errors by Lifespan are unknown, you may be entitled to collect personal injury damages if you were injured or harmed because of receiving incorrect medication. At the same time, not all victims of this mistake are entitled to compensation. If you discovered the error before ingesting the medication or if you ingested the medication but were not harmed, you may not be entitled to compensation. However, if the wrong medication caused you personal injury, even temporarily, you may be entitled to damages for pain and suffering, medical bills (if you were required to seek treatment) and lost wages if you were unable to work.

It is unclear if anyone was seriously injured by Lifespan's mistake but given the high risk of pharmaceutical medication, it is likely that someone was seriously injured. Patients may have been given medications to which they are allergic or may have been given medications that have harmful or potentially fatal interactions with other medications. Overdoses from receipt of the wrong amount of medication are also possible. Anyone seriously injured because they were prescribed the wrong medication should contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney right away.

Following the recent study of Rhode Island's worst intersections, comes another study identifying the most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians. The group, Transportation for America, determined Providence to be the fourth most dangerous metro area in the Northeast. According to their findings, 117 people were killed while walking in Rhode Island from 2000 to 2009. The study also accounted for population and the proportion of the population that walks to work.

Although, scoring poorly in the Northeast, Providence was relatively low compared to other areas across the Country. Rhode Island finished 31st of the 50 States with Florida apparently the deadliest State in the Country for pedestrians.

The overwhelming majority of pedestrian accidents and injuries arise from car accidents. Clearly, even the largest and strongest of us is no match for a car or truck travelling between 30-50 mph. Pedestrian accidents are always serious and require an experienced attorney ready to fight and go the distance, if necessary.

Continue reading "Providence is Apparently Very Dangerous for Pedestrians" »

With New Year's resolutions coming around the corner, a new study suggests that there may be another reason for the overweight to shed excess pounds. A recent study suggests that obese men and women are far more likely to die in serious auto accidents than are men and women of normal weight.

According to the study:

• A body mass index in the class II obesity range of 35 to less than 40 kg/m2 boosted risk of fatality in a severe crash by 21.2% compared with normal weight;
• And morbidly obese drivers with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or greater were 55.9% less likely to survive an accident than their normal weight counterparts.

The primary cause for these findings seems to be that obese people are closer to the steering wheel and windshield which may cause traumatic injury upon impact. In addition, there already poor health may make it even more difficult to survive serious injury. The study compared data of over 150,000 auto accident fatalities over the period of five years to arrive at their conclusions.

Interestingly, mildly overweight persons, may experience protection from injury due to their size.

Continue reading "Study Suggests Obese People More Likely to Die in Car Accidents" »

...and so it should. A suffolk county jury has awarded the family of Marie Evans an astonishing $71 million dollars in her wrongful death lawsuit against Lorillard tobacco, the makers of Newport cigarettes.

There have been many large awards against the tobacco companies in the past and by now the story is known to all. Tobacco companies knew for decades that their product was deadly but continued to hide and ignore evidence while promoting their product as safe. Years, and thousands of deaths later, the tobacco industry is the subject of thousands of lawsuits. But this case added another element that is quite interesting.

The estate of Marie Evans argued that Lorillard tobacco promoted and marketed Newport cigarettes to poor minority children. Ms. Evans was only 9 years old when first given a free pack of Newports while living in the Orchard Park housing projects as a child. Ms. Evans was hooked and smoked Newports until her death at the young age of 54. Attacking the cigarette companies for their predatory marketing practices of handing out free samples to poor and impressionable youth is a new tactic.

At this stage the case will surely be appealed, but there is also the chance that the jury could award punitive damages that excees the $71 million already awarded.

Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Steven Archambault, stated during a debate last night that he has a "four-point" plan for dealing with the drunk driving problem in Rhode Island. Archambault is calling for stiffer penalties particularly for second and third offenders or those whose blood alcohol level is very high. The increased penalties mean that those convicted of DUI in RI could face longer prison sentences or longer suspensions of their license.

Archambault, rightfully, commented that this State should not be at the top of the Country for alcohol related auto accident deaths. His statement led the Providence Journal to investigate the accuracy of the statement, and to his credit, Rhode Island ranks very high in drunk driving related auto fatalities. In fact, Rhode Island ranks fifth in the Nation for auto accident fatalities caused by a driver with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit of .08.

Rhode Island suffered 69 driving fatalities in 2008 (the year of the PROJO report) of which thirty-eight were caused by a legally drunk driver. That is nearly forty percent of all auto fatalities! While our rank has bounced around over the years, it is always quite high and in the top 10. For 2003 and 2004, Rhode Island had the worst record for alcohol related auto fatalities. A dubious distinction to be sure!

I will be curious to see if the other Attorney General candidates will take a similar tough stance against DUI given these statistics.

Continue reading "Is Rhode Island #1 for Drunk Driving Auto Accident Fatalities?" »

A bill introduced by Representatives Caprio, Petrarca, Silva, Edwards, and Lally has now become law. Rhode Island General Law, Chapter 10-7 "Death by Wrongful Act" now includes the following:

R.I.G.L. 10-7-7.1. Punitive Damages. In an action commenced under section 10-7-5, recovery may be had for punitive damages if such damages would have been recoverable had the decedent survived.

Punitive damages are damages in addition to compensatory damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc) that are intended to deter the defendant from acting in a certain way. Punitive damages are typically awarded in cases where the defendant's negligence was egregious or his behavior reckless. The most well-known examples have come from lawsuits against the tobacco industry.

Rhode Island joins the growing number of States (now the majority of States) to allow for punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit. I want to thank our State Representatives who fought diligently to pass this bill and who continue to look out for the well-being and civil rights of our State citizens.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Statute Now Allows for Recovery of Punitive Damages" »

I came across this story on CNN.com and found it fascinating. A widow is suing a debt collector for the wrongful death of her husband. The lawsuit alleges that the frequent harassing and threatening phone calls caused so much stress to her husband that it eventually led to his fatal heart attack.

I was unable to embed the video in this post, but it is truly worth watching. The widow saved several of the messages from the debt collector and the tactics used are disgusting and illegal. I hope that States follow through and prosecute debt collectors who use these "thuggish" methods of collection.

That said, I suspect this will be a nearly impossible case to win. The story reports that the deceased was already collecting disability for a prior heart attack. Therefore, it will be very difficult to causally relate a second fatal heart attack to the harassing phone calls. Defense will likely be successful in arguing that the second heart attack was inevitable.

Nevertheless, I give the widow credit and wish her the best of luck in her wrongful death lawsuit. It is embarrassing to think that a sick and dying man was treated with so much disrespect in the final months of his life.

I found an interesting story on the website TMZ which I am embarrassed to comment on or admit that I read. Nonetheless, it turns out that the family of DJ AM (aka Adam Goldstein) has filed a wrongful death suit against several defendants involved in his airplane crash in 2008. You may remember that DJ AM died in August of this year from a drug overdose. The family alleges in the lawsuit that DJ AM became addicted to painkillers following the serious injuries sustained in the airplane crash and ultimately died from this addiction.

Proximate cause is an essential topic in personal injury litigation. It asks if an event is sufficiently related to an injury to be determined as the cause of that injury. For example, we can easily link a broken wrist to a slip and fall. In more complicated scenarios, the classic test is often referred to as "but for". In this scenario, DJ AM would not have died of an accidental drug overdose but for the negligence of the airline that caused his prior injuries.

I think that it is a stretch to link an accidental overdose of prescription drugs to an accident that occurred almost a year earlier, and the attorneys will have a tough case to present, but kudos to them for thinking outside of the box.

The Rhode Island wrongful death statute, R.I.G.L. section 10-7-1, like that of all other states, allows a suit to be brought against a liable party who caused the death of another.  The reason such statutes are necessary is that according to old common law, a suit died with the person who had the right to bring the suit.  In other words, if the plaintiff was killed in the accident, there was no person to available to bring the lawsuit, and hence no lawsuit.

Today, when someone dies due to the fault of another person or entity (such as a car manufacturer), the survivors may be able to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.  This lawsuit seeks compensation for the loss suffered, including but not limited to, loss of wages and earning potential, companionship, and funeral expenses.

Wrongful death claims involve all types of fatal accidents from simple car accidents to complicated medical malpractice or product liability cases. Persons, companies, and governmental agencies can be legally at fault for acting negligently (failing to act as a reasonable person would have acted) or for acting intentionally.

Immediate family members, such as spouses and children, are entitled to bring a wrongful death lawsuit in Rhode Island.

 It is also VERY important to know that the House of Representatives in Rhode Island voted to approve a bill which amends the wrongful death statute to allow parents to make a claim for loss of parental society and companionship even if the child is over the age of 18 and no longer a minor.  (please see my previous post regarding this change.)

 The truth is no lawsuit will ever compensate for the loss of a family member and loved one.  It is, however, important to understand your rights and contact an attorney who can help the family get their feet back on the ground.

 Contact my office for a free consultation.

The House has voted to approve H5969 which amends the wrongful death statute to allow parents to make a claim for loss of parental society and companionship even if the child is over the age of 18 and no longer a minor.

The amendment comes in the wake of the tragic case of Francis J. Marx, who was only 21 at the time of his death as a result of an accident during a URI pub crawl.  I applaud this amendment for recognizing that no parent should ever have to bury their child and that the pain is not reduced because the child was an adult.