Blog

Dec 5, 2013 - Birmingham by Cross & Smith

The Alabama Supreme Court recently sided with a plaintiff seeking damages against a grocery store pharmacy for injuries she suffered after she was given the wrong prescription. Defense counsel in Morgan v. Publix Super Markets Inc. argued in their motion for summary judgment before the Jefferson Circuit Court that the plaintiff failed to make her case because she hadn’t produced an expert witness that would have established a breach of the applicable standard of care under the Alabama Medical Liability Act. However, in reversing the trial court’s earlier decision to grant that motion, the Alabama Supreme Court found that a pharmacy’s negligence in dispensing the wrong medication is so straightforward that the plaintiff didn’t need the testimony of an expert witness to prove it.

Dec 4, 2013 - Personal Injury by Cross & Smith

It was supposed to be one of those weekend that the four young teen boys would have looked back on for years to come with fond memories. It was the Fourth of July. Their families were preparing for a large reunion at a lake house in Huntsville. The adults busied themselves with barbecue preparations. The boys gathered down by the dock to “hang out.” What happened next has become an indelible memory for all, though one they likely wish they could forget. It ultimately resulted in one of those boys suffering a serious firework injury, resulting in an Alabama personal injury lawsuit alleging negligence, wanton supervision and assault. The case of Beddingfield v. Linam was recently heard by the Alabama Supreme Court, which affirmed most of the trial court’s findings of negligence on behalf of the adults who owned the lake house. However, the court did reverse part of the earlier verdict alleging negligent entrustment.

Dec 3, 2013 - Dangerous Products/Liability by Cross & Smith

For anyone who has suffered an injury due to product liability in Alabama, it’s important to understand that state and federal laws are very specific regarding whom you can sue and for what. In the recent case of Alabama Powersport Auction, LLC v. Wiese, the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed a plaintiff’s right to seek damages for liability from an auctioneer as a merchant-seller for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, per 7-2-314, Ala. code 1975. Here, a father sued the seller of a go-cart upon which his minor son crashed, suffering severe head injuries that ultimately killed him. The high court’s dismissal of a request from the defendant for a summary judgment of the claim has implications not only for those who purchase goods at in-person auction, but also potentially for those who purchase goods online from retailers on sites like eBay or Craigslist.

Dec 1, 2013 - Premises Liability by Cross & Smith

The Alabama Supreme Court recently granted state immunity to a middle school that had been named as a defendant in a civil case alleging negligence against a student who had been a victim of an alleged sexual assault on school grounds. The plaintiff had claimed the school and principal’s negligence in providing adequate supervision created an opportunity for the assault to occur. Our Tuscaloosa personal injury lawyers know that immunity laws are nothing new, dating back to English common law, which included the legal doctrine that “the king can do no wrong.” Statutes like these are commonplace throughout the country, and most hold that the state can’t be sued for negligence. The general idea is that individuals, not taxpayers, should be responsible when negligence occurs. However, there is a procedure in Alabama whereby a person can file a claim for injury or death against a city, though the maximum award is capped at $100,000 per plaintiff and $300,000 per incident. In some of these cases, a government employee can’t be sued for negligence in his or her official capacity, but can be sued in his or her individual capacity.

Nov 21, 2013 - Car Accidents by Cross & Smith

The Thanksgiving holidays traditionally mean heavy traffic on Alabama’s roadways, and all available state troopers will be on duty to promote safe travel during the period. Through the holiday weekend, all available state troopers will be on duty to help ensure the safety of motorists. Enforcement activity will include driver license checkpoints, line patrols and saturation patrols in selected areas. This is a heads up to be on your best driving behavior not only to avoid a costly citation, but to avoid a potentially serious traffic accident. Our Tuscaloosa car accident lawyers understand that there are supposed to be close to 450 traffic accident fatalities and another 47,000 injuries over this year’s Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). This is typically because it’s one of the most-traveled holiday weekends of the year.

Nov 19, 2013 - Birmingham by Cross & Smith

Recently, an article in the Huffington Post talked about the myth that medical malpractice claims are a primary contributor to high medical bills. This article aimed to shoot down that common misconception by pointing to data that illustrated the cost of medical malpractice in Birmingham and elsewhere has been dropping across the nation for the last 10 years. In 2003, there were close to 17,00 paid medical malpractice claims in the U.S., totaling close to $5 billion. By 2011, the number of paid claims had dropped to less than 10,000 and the total payout was less than $3.5 billion. That’s about a 40 percent drop in the number of paid claims and a near 30 percent drop in the amount paid out. The cost of medical malpractice insurance began to rise in the early 2000s after a period of essentially flat prices. Rate increases were precipitated in part by the growing size of claims, particularly in urban areas. Among the other factors driving up prices was a reduced supply of available coverage as several major insurers exited the medical malpractice business because of difficulty in making a profit.

Nov 12, 2013 - Personal Injury by Cross & Smith

Officials with the Tuscaloosa Fire Department’s Haz Mat team recently responded to a train fire in Pickensville. Emergency response teams worked to disconnect the train cars that were on fire. According to ABC33, there were at least five or six cars involved in the blaze. The train was carrying crude oil and officials reported at least two explosions. A dozen cars were derailed in the accident. Officials let those cars burn out, instead of trying to put them out. While train accidents can be devastating when trains derail or collide with one another, they can be even more devastating when they collide with passenger vehicles or even pedestrians and bicyclists. Our Tuscaloosa personal injury lawyers understand that railroad crossing safety rarely gets the attention it deserves. And unfortunately, they’re alarmingly common. In many cases, these crossings do not have adequate warnings. In other cases, the equipment may be dated or even inoperative. Operation Lifesaver reports that there were close to 2,000 railroad crossing accidents reported in the U.S. in 2012. There were nearly 300 people killed and another 950 who were seriously injured. In all, there are over 210,000 railroad crossings currently in the U.S. and more than 129,000 intersect with public roads.

Nov 8, 2013 - Drunk Driving Accidents by Cross & Smith

A new survey of high school students indicated that roughly 75 percent don’t drink alcohol. But who’s expecting teens to be honest in these surveys? According to Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD), nearly 700 students across the nation were surveyed during Red Ribbon Week. The reasoning for not drinking varied from it being illegal, the effects it has on their health, the effects is has on their grades and the disapproval from their parents. The truth of the matter here is that there were close to 10,000 traffic accident fatalities in 2011 in the U.S. involving a driver with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these accident fatalities accounted for more than 30 percent of all traffic deaths recorded that year year. Drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 accounted for close to 1,000 of the drivers involved in these accidents. That’s 20 percent of all drunk drivers involved drunk driving accidents in Tuscaloosa and elsewhere.

Nov 7, 2013 - Car Accidents by Cross & Smith

Safe sidewalks and road crossings are a concern for us all. Unfortunately, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has announced at the end of FY13, the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program will be eliminated. That means no more safe walking projects under this program. If any city in the state wishes to launch a new project, leaders are first going to have to apply under the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) and compete with various other applicants to get the proper funding. These projects, if approved, will result in 80 percent federal funding with a 20 percent local match. With no sidewalks and no safety projects in the works, our risks for pedestrian accidents in Tuscaloosa and elsewhere — particularly among our youngest walkers — will only increase. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that there were close to 100 pedestrians killed in the state of Alabama in 2011. These fatalities accounted for nearly 10 percent of all traffic accident fatalities throughout the year.

Nov 6, 2013 - Pharmaceutical Litigation/Dangerous Drugs by Cross & Smith

Our Tuscaloosa defective medical device lawyers know transvaginal mesh products were sold by manufacturers with lots of promises to doctors and patients that the surgical mesh would make it easier to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). For thousands of women who began to experience complications after their TVM surgeries, however, the surgical mesh turned out not to live up to its promises. Now, a new study has demonstrated that transvaginal mesh is not only unsafe but also that it is ineffective. The study was conducted by Georgetown University and published in the September issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The results are alarming and every patient who has had a mesh procedure or who is considering one should be aware of what the research showed.