Motor Vehicle Accidents Send Millions of People to the Emergency Room Every Year

A new federal report has found that nearly 3.5 million people needed emergency room medical treatment due to a motor vehicle accident injury in 2006, and those auto accidents cost the lives of almost 44,000 people. Read more

Maryland Avandia Lawyers Continue to Review Lawsuits

A new Senate report suggests that GlaxoSmithKline PLC has been well aware of the Avandia heart attack risks, but fought to keep the drug on the market, causing hundreds of users to suffer a heart attack or congestive heart failure that may have been avoided by taking another diabetes drug. Read more

Study: Cell Phones and Texting Cause 28% of all Auto Accidents

A recent study by the National Safety Council estimates that more than a quarter of all auto accidents in the U.S. could be prevented if people did not talk on their cell phones or send text messages while driving. The study comes as the federal transportation administration enacted a ban this week for text messaging by truck drivers and bus drivers. Read more

Baltimore County Carbon Monoxide Law Expands Alarm Requirements

Landlords in Baltimore County have eight months to install carbon monoxide alarms in all units heated by fuel-burning equipment, according to a new law enacted last month. The law is designed to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in Baltimore-area apartments, which could result in severe and potentially life-threatening injuries for tenants. Read more

St. Joseph Hospital Stent Implant Lawsuits: Towson, Maryland

Many individuals who received a coronary artery stent implanted at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson Maryland by Dr. Mark Midei have recently been notified by the hospital about an investigation or clinical review, which noted differences or inaccuracies in the original report. This may have a substantial impact on patients’ care and long-term health. Read more

Maryland Hospital Infection Risk Will Be Reduced With Monitoring of Hand Washing

State health officials have unveiled a new program to lower the number of Maryland hospital infection cases through improved hand washing at hospitals across the state.

Teams of staff members at 45 of the state’s 47 hospitals will covertly monitor the hand washing practices of Maryland hospital staff in an effort to improve hand washing habits at hospitals statewide. The program, called the Maryland Hospital Hand Hygiene Collaborative, was made possible through $100,000 in federal stimulus money that was part of a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aimed at lowering the rate of Maryland hospital infections.

Hand washing has been repeatedly identified as an excellent tool in reducing the rate of hospital infections, which would result in a reduction in the number of Maryland hospital infection lawsuits. The CDC reports that there are more than 2 million U.S. hospital infections acquired each year, leading to more than 90,000 deaths annually.

State officials say the program is not designed to penalize hospital staff spotted not undertaking the best hand washing practices. Instead, the program will gather data on hygiene practices at facilities across the state to help determine where hospital staff needs the most improvement in hand washing hygiene practices. Officials also hope that the program will raise awareness for hospital hand washing hygiene.

A number of health care organizations representing doctors and patients have gotten behind the initiative. Supporters say that the program costs very little to implement, but is likely to provide excellent results in combating hospital infections.

Maryland Texting While Driving Ban: Designed to Prevent Maryland Accidents

A new Maryland traffic law will go into effect tomorrow, banning text messaging while driving in an effort to reduce the number of Maryland accidents caused by distracted drivers.

The new law will make it illegal to type or send text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Being caught texting while driving in Maryland will be a misdemeanor, subject to a fine of up to $500. It will also be a primary driving offense, meaning that police will be able to pull people over and fine them if they suspect them of sending text messages.

Going into effect October 1, 2009, the new Maryland law allows sending messages to contact 911, and does not ban talking on the phone while driving. Playing games and using applications are not banned by the law either, and the law does not explicitly address e-mail, using twitter or updating Facebook, but their legality is up for interpretation and engaging in such activities likely carries the same distractions as text messaging.

The law is seen as a victory for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which seeks to have texting-while-driving bans in all 50 states by 2013. The law goes into effect just before AAA’s “Heads Up Driving Week.” from October 5 through October 11, which is designed to bring attention to driving behavior and encouraging distraction-free driving.

A recent study by Virginia Tech has found that truck accidents are 23 times more likely when a commercial driver is sending text messages while driving. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute looked at a number of different potential distractions for drivers of cars and trucks by adding cameras and instruments to the vehicles of drivers. Above any other distraction, text messaging truck drivers were putting themselves and others at the most risk.

The results were compiled from several driving studies conducted by the institute, and the collected data equaled about six million miles of driving. Heavy vehicle and truck drivers were 23.2 times more likely than a non-distracted driver to have a truck accident if they were texting, 6.7 times as likely to crash while reaching for, or using, an electronic device, and 5.9 times as likely to have an accident while dialing on a cell phone.

Drivers of light vehicles and cars were at much less risk of having a car accident, but still faced a 2.8 times greater risk of crashing while dialing a cell phone than a non-distracted driver and were 1.4 times more likely to crash while reaching for an object and 1.3 times as likely to have an auto accident while talking on the cell phone.

Researchers from the institute said that it was the tasks that drew the drivers’ eyes away from the road ahead of them that were the activities with the highest risk. Sending a text message took a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds over a 6-second interval, which equates to driving the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the road. The study found that just talking on a cell phone, which does not distract a driver’s eyes from the road, made little difference in the likelihood of an accident.

National Labor Day Drunk Driving Crackdown August 21 to September 7

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be conducting a national Labor Day drunk driving enforcement crackdown from August 21 to September 7, in an attempt to curtail an expected increase in fatal drunk driving accidents that traditionally occurs during the Labor Day weekend. Read more

Washington DC Metro Train Accident Lawyers

Potential lawsuits are being reviewed by our personal injury lawyers on behalf of individuals impacted by Monday evening’s Washington DC Metro accident, which killed nine people and injured more than 70 others. Read more

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Accident Lawsuit Filed by Family of Trucker Killed in Fatal Crash Last Summer

A Maryland wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the family of John R. Short, Sr., a truck driver who was killed in an accident that occurred when an on-coming vehicle entered his lane on the Bay Bridge last August, causing his truck to plummet into the Chesapeake Bay.

The complaint was filed against Candy Lynn Baldwin, the 19-year old woman who was driving the 1997 Chevrolet Camaro that caused the accident. However, the Baltimore Sun also reports that the family has placed the Maryland Transportation Authority on notice of their intention to file a claim under the Maryland Tort Claims Act for the failure of the bridge to prevent the truck from falling off of the bridge, as an investigation found that the metal bars holding the concrete barriers had eroded prior to the crash.

The Maryland truck accident lawsuit was filed in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court. According to the Sun:

The suit states that Short swerved to avoid a head-on collision but was sideswiped by the Camaro and slid across the bridge and through the concrete barrier. The tractor trailer fell about 30 feet into the Chesapeake Bay, and Short drowned in the cab of his vehicle.

Short’s truck was the first vehicle to crash through one of the safety barriers in the 56-year history of the bridge.

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