• 865-522-4191
  • 625 S. Gay Street, Suite 600 Knoxville, TN
Free Consultation

Author: Anthony Proffitt

Categories
Injuries

Understanding dangerous drugs

Prescription drugs marketed to patients should be safe. These medications undergo an extensive research and testing period known as a clinical trial, and the FDA approves pharmaceutical drugs prescribed to patients. Each state also regulates which drugs doctors can prescribe.

What happens when a drug is not safe?

What are dangerous drugs?

In Tennessee, the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services must consider several factors to determine whether a drug is safe. These factors include the potential for abuse, scientific knowledge about the drug, and public health risk, among others. Rushing this evaluation process for new drugs can lead to doctors inadvertently prescribing dangerous drugs. Some of these new drugs may present significant health risks to patients, even if the side effects are not known right away. If taking a dangerous drug causes negative health consequences, you should consider filing a personal injury lawsuit to seek compensation for your injuries.

Prescription drug interactions

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than half of overdose deaths in the US occur because of prescription drug misuse. This includes mixing prescription drugs. If your doctor prescribes you a drug that you should not combine with other medications you take, you can experience serious side effects. This negligence may give you grounds to pursue a personal injury or medical malpractice claim.

Prescription drugs are powerful substances that can cause immense harm when they are not formulated and prescribed properly. Government officials and doctors who take these side effects lightly should be held accountable.

Categories
motor vehicle accidents

Tennessee semi-truck accidents: calculating damages

Life may never be the same for Tennessee residents involved in a collision with a semi-truck. The size and weight difference often result in catastrophic injuries and permanent disabilities. If you sustained injuries in a crash that prevent you from living the life you had before the accident, you might have grounds for a claim.

According to the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, more than 2,200 accidents occurred locally between 2016 and 2019, resulting in fatalities or life-altering injuries.

Catastrophic injuries

Severe injuries that result in functional disability typically require extensive, long-term medical treatment. Some of the most common semi-truck accident injuries include the following:

  • Severe burns
  • Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
  • Disfigurement
  • Crushed limbs resulting in amputation
  • Traumatic brain injuries

Medical expenses begin building immediately after the crash with emergency and trauma care. After the initial treatment, your injuries may need many surgical procedures and teams of medical specialists. In addition, prescription medications and pain management techniques can become costly over time. Ongoing pain and frustration with your new circumstances might affect your mental health.

Calculating damages

Physical limitations may prevent you from working at the job you had before the crash. They might also prevent you from living independently or enjoying life as you once did. Disabling injuries result in both economic and noneconomic losses. The value of a claim depends on various factors. Calculations often include past and future medical expenses, emotional trauma, loss of your enjoyment of life, pain and suffering.

Understanding your options for pursuing a claim is critical for its success. A settlement may help you pay for home health care, rehabilitative therapy, and necessary medical devices.

Categories
Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

Family involved in fatal accident in Frayser

Most people understand that (as is the case with almost any daily activity) there is an inherent risk involved with driving. That said, few in Tennessee likely give the task of taking to the state’s roads and highways a second thought. This is probably due to them assuming that the other motorists around them practice responsible driving in the same manner they do.

Sadly, that assumption does not always prove to be correct. There will inevitably be people who drive recklessly or while impaired, putting both themselves and others at risk. However, in many cases, it is the “others” who suffer the direst consequences of their actions.

Catastrophic accident occurs in Frayser

Such an outcome occurred in a recent accident in Frayser. According to the local CBS News affiliate, local law enforcement authorities have a man in custody after he allegedly caused a catastrophic collision at a local intersection. Per reports, the man drove his Nissan Altima into a Hyundai Accent carrying a couple and their two young children. First responders pronounced both parents dead at the scene; a local hospital received both children for treatment of serious injuries (one later died). The driver responsible (for whom reports did not indicate whether he sustained any injuries) reportedly had an expired license.

Civil action alongside a potential criminal case

One might reasonably assume that in cases such as this, criminal charges await those responsible for causing them. This may give pause to accident victims (who might assume that they need to wait until a criminal case concludes before they can seek compensation). However, that is not the case; lawmakers allow civil and criminal cases, in the same manner, to occur concurrently.

Categories
catastrophic injuries

What do you know about burn surgery?

After a serious personal injury, you suffered severe burns. Your doctor shared that you may need burn surgery, and you want to educate yourself on what to expect.

The University of Michigan Health explains the fundamentals of burn surgery. To build your personal injury case, understand your treatment options and how they work.

Categories of burn surgery

If you need surgery to treat a burn, you undergo either reconstructive surgery or acute surgery. Trauma surgeons perform acute burn care as quickly as possible after the injury. Depending on the severity of the burn, the patient and medical team may need to consult with a plastic surgeon.

After healing from the initial damage, a burn victim may need reconstructive surgery. Performed by plastic surgeons, reconstructive surgery addresses burn scars and improves functionality. The patient may undergo operative or non-operative treatment.

Reconstructive burn treatment options

With non-operative burn treatments, the person may receive pressure garments, scar massages or alternate topical treatments. Most surgical procedures involve scar release treatments. A surgeon releases tight scar tissue and closes the open area with skin rearrangement, skin grafts or skin donor flaps. A doctor may recommend tissue expansion instead of skin grafting.

If a person wants or needs reconstructive burn treatment, she or he works with a plastic surgeon to discuss desired results. The surgeon helps the person understand what to expect from the procedure and its advantages.

Burn treatments may help you on the road to recovery. By knowing how treatments work, you better understand how to protect your legal rights and get the compensation you deserve.

Categories
Uncategorized

The basics of wrongful death lawsuits in Tennessee

When your loved one passes away because of someone else’s careless or illegal activity, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit to hold the responsible party accountable for their actions. Doing so can help to ensure that the negligent party does not hurt or kill anyone else.

There are key factors that will affect if you can pursue a wrongful death case in Tennessee.

Who can file a wrongful death suit?

You may have a wrongful death claim if the circumstances of your loved one’s death meet two criteria. The death must be a result of injuries caused by someone else or because of the wrongful acts of another person, and the deceased would have had the right to file a personal injury case if he or she had survived.

You can file this type of lawsuit if you are the deceased’s spouse or when there is no surviving spouse if you are the child or next of kin of the deceased person. In some limited circumstances, you can also file a suit as a parent. A representative of the decedent’s estate also has the right to a claim.

What type of damages are possible?

You can pursue compensation for the following:

  • Medical expenses
  • Funeral and burial fees
  • Loss of income or financial support
  • Noneconomic damages, like mental anguish and loss of companionship

The statute of limitations for wrongful death cases in Tennessee is typically one year from the date of your loved one’s death. You will need to act quickly to ensure your receive the compensation you deserve to help you through this difficult time.

Categories
motor vehicle accidents

Looking at statistics on bike accidents

Whether you ride your bike every day because it is a convenient method of transportation or you occasionally ride for fun or to get exercise, you need to understand the risks you could encounter near traffic. Every year, bicycle accidents claim many lives and far more bicyclists suffer devastating injuries that shatter their lives.

It is helpful to take a look at statistics on bike accidents in order to understand the scope of this problem. Moreover, drivers should review this data to understand how many of these accidents occur.

Bicycle accident injuries and deaths

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 467,000 people suffered injuries from bicycle accidents during 2015, and more than 1,000 people lost their lives. When someone dies in a bike accident, they often leave behind loved ones who struggle with immense emotional trauma and financial challenges. Moreover, bike accident injuries can lead to lost wages, intense physical pain, mental challenges and other hardships.

Other statistics on bicycle accidents

According to the CDC, bicyclists have a higher chance of sustaining injuries and losing their lives than those riding in motor vehicles, even though bicyclists’ trips only make up 1% of all trips on the road in the U.S. Furthermore, 2010 data shows that bicycle accident injuries (fatal and nonfatal) led to $10 billion worth of lost productivity and medical expenses.

If a negligent driver caused you to suffer injuries while you were riding your bike, you need to take a firm stand for your rights and go over options that could help you piece your life back together.

Categories
nursing home abuse and neglect

Elder financial abuse in nursing homes

Physical and emotional abuse are tragedies that occur far too often, but what happens when the harm is monetary?

Here are some ways that nursing home staff may commit financial abuse of their elderly patients.

Theft

Nursing homes are not usually equipped with high-security locks or alarms on individual rooms, as these features would make it difficult for nurses and doctors to reach residents quickly. Because of this, general theft is difficult to thwart. A purse left hanging in a closet or a wallet lying on a table can become easy targets.

Fraud

Nursing homes and staff have ample opportunity to trick elderly residents into paying for services or items that they are not actually receiving. For example, facilities may charge name-brand medication prices but issue cheaper generic options or add fees for equipment and activities that were never provided. Tacking additional costs onto a resident’s bill is relatively easy for dishonest caregivers to do, especially when there are cognitive issues involved.

Undue influence

People in positions of authority sometimes take advantage of their power. This can happen in caregiver and elder relationships, especially in nursing homes when the aging individual relies completely on the nursing staff. Elderly people are often considered vulnerable, which makes them at higher risk for succumbing to the influence of others. A manipulative individual may convince a facility resident to make changes to their will or sign a power of attorney.

Keep a close watch out for any signs of elder abuse, which means monitoring financial statements, as well.

Categories
catastrophic injuries

Understanding the Glasgow Coma Scale

A traumatic brain injury may cause a person to lose consciousness. A coma is a profound state of unconsciousness. External forces are not sufficient to rouse a person from a coma.

Different coma patients may display varying levels of consciousness. According to Brainline, the Glasgow Coma Scale is a tool that measures brain functions to determine what a person’s level of consciousness is.

What does the Glasgow Coma Scale measure?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Glasgow Coma Scale measures three different functions: eye opening, motor function and verbal response. Different responses within each of these categories have numerical values from one to five assigned to them. The greater the patient’s level of consciousness, the greater the number of points he or she gains.

Upon assessing the patient, the person administering the test adds up the values. A higher GCS score indicates a mild head injury at worst, while a lower score indicates a severe head injury resulting in a profound coma.

What are the limitations of the GCS?

Only someone who has received proper training can test someone according to the GCS. The GCS cannot reliably assess head injury in children because they do not have consistent language skills. However, there is a modification called the Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale that accounts for this discrepancy. There are factors unrelated to brain function that may alter consciousness level and affect GCS accuracy.

For all its limitations, the GCS is a useful tool for assessing the severity of a brain injury. One particular advantage is that it is possible to perform it in the field because it does not require special medical equipment.

Categories
motor vehicle accidents

Tennessee traffic deaths up 30% since first half of 2020

Traffic fatalities are on the rise across the nation, and Tennessee is among the states seeing especially high jumps. Studies show that Tennessee is one of eight states that saw its traffic deaths increase by at least 30% since the first half of 2021, raising questions about what transportation officials might do to help protect citizens traveling state roadways.

According to CBS News, Tennessee’s traffic fatalities increased by 30% between the first half of 2020 and 2021, with 682 traffic deaths taking place within this span.

National statistics

On the national level, there were 21,450 road deaths that occurred on the nation’s roads between the first half of 2020 and 2021. This is a notable increase over both of the two years prior. During the first half of 2020, there were 18,480 traffic deaths nationwide. In 2019, there were 18,384 such deaths that took place from coast to coast.

Contributing factors

Many of the factors contributing to rising traffic fatality rates may come as no surprise. Driver distraction is a major contributing factor, and it often involves motorists texting and driving or using handheld phones while driving, regardless of state laws. Reckless driving, aggressive driving and drowsy driving are also common factors in fatal car wrecks. So, too, are alcohol abuse, road rage and speed.

Some fatal car wrecks happen because of inclement weather, such as rain or ice storms. Others have no identifiable cause at all. In some cases, this may be because motorists are hesitant to admit to law enforcement that they were using their phones or otherwise exercising negligence before their crashes occurred.

Categories
catastrophic injuries Injuries

What do you know about common eye injuries?

After a serious accident, you suffered catastrophic injuries. You suspect you sustained an eye injury, but do not know for sure.

All About Vision explores common eye injuries. If anything below sounds like symptoms you experienced, use the information to build your legal case.

Caustic substance in the eye

Depending on the accident, harmful chemicals may splash in the eye. Alkali chemicals and substances may not cause immediate redness or pain in the affected eye, but they may lead to serious harm. If you experience immediate burning and redness after acid splashes in your eye, wash your eyes as quickly as possible.

Scratched eye

If something pokes you in the eye, or if you rubbed a foreign object against your eye, you may suffer a corneal abrasion. Symptoms of a scratched eye include light sensitivity and eye redness. Let an eye doctor examine you if a foreign object got into your eye during the accident. Get treatment sooner rather than later, as an untreated scratch could become infected. In the meantime, try not to scratch your eye.

Swollen eyes

Do you remember an object striking your eye during the accident? Such trauma may cause eye swelling or a black eye. Use an ice pack to treat inflammation, and let an eye doctor check out the injury for internal damage.

Eye bleeding

If the accident broke blood vessels in your eye, you could experience bleeding eyes. This eye injury looks worse than it is, and it may only indicate a minor injury.

You deserve a full inventory of catastrophic injuries you suffered at the hands of another. Understand how to treat eye injuries, so you know how much to seek in compensation.