Information to Families of those Hurt or Killed On The Metro Train Accident

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those injured and families of those killed in today's Metro Accident that occurred in Northwest Washington, D.C. between the Takoma Park station and the Fort Totten Station. If you need information about passengers on the train, you should call 202-727-9011 or, from the Washington, D.C. area, just dial "311." Metro has advised riders to avoid the red line until further notice. The train accident occurred at 4:59 pm today and news reports indicate that 6 people were killed and about 70 were injured. Mayor Fenty descibed the metro train crash as the worst in its 33 year history. Although WMATA (the owner/operator of Metro) has not indicated the cause of hte crash, it seems that one train was stopped and another struck the stopped train in the rear essentially ripping the METRO cars apart. The operator of one of the trains is reported to have been killed in the crash. One of the passengers on the train when it crashed, Jodie Wickett (a nurse), indicated that she felt a bump and then the train came to a halt. Then, a few seconds later there was an impact and everyone went flying. The NTSB will certainly investigate this crash and determine its cause. It has been reported that in the history of metro rail system, there have only been 3 major collisions between trains--in 1982, 2004 and the one today (June 22, 2009). If you or your loved ones are considering bringing a legal claim against Metro relating to this crash, you should know the following: (i) there are likely causes of action for negligence and product liability involved in this, and it will be important to make sure that all evidence is preserved properly, (ii) The statute of limitations for negligence claims in Washington, D.C. is generally 3 years from the date of the incident, (iii) WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) which owns and operates the metro rail system in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, has a staff council office in Washington, D.C. In or experience, they are difficult to deal with and often do not treat those injured as a result of their operators negligence fairly. IF YOUR LOVED ONE WAS KILLED IN THE ACCIDENT, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. IS ONE YEAR. Therefore it is crucial that you act quickly and hire a qualified lawyer to pursue your claims. When an indiviual dies as a result of a train accident in Washington, D.C. there are two claims that need to be considered: (i) Wrongful Death Claim, and the (ii) Survival Claim (brought by the estate of deceased). The damages available for each of these claims are quite different. For more information on wronful death and survival claims click here: http://www.gfmlawllc.com/wrongful-death.cfm
To see the Washington, D.C. law on wrongful death and survival click here: http://www.gfmlawllc.com/dc%20death%20law_20070516093826.pdf
For more information about your legal rights if you or someone you love was injured in this terrible metro bus crash call us at 301-589-2999 x102. We are located just a block from the Silver Spring Red Line Metro Station.

Florida Newspaper Finds that Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Further Injure Victims of Medical Negligence

You have seen it before: your doctor will not treat you unless you agree to sign a document that says if your doctor commits malpractice on you, you cannot sue her, but must use an arbiter picked by your doctor. There is nothing fair about it, but do you sign it? An article in the Tampa Tribune called this new tactic by the doctors in their continued fight for tort reform exactly what it is: blackmail.
An arbitration requirement requires you to give up your constitutional right to file a lawsuit and instead only allows you to pursue a claim with an arbiter, who is not a judge and is hired and/or chosen by the doctor who injured you. The article cited research that shows that these arbitration proceedings are not fair to the victim and, in fact, are skewed highly in favor of the doctor. “The outcomes are pre-cooked when you agree to a particular set of rules or arbiters.” The article concludes that big business and the medical profession are essentially growing a new system of justice and that the public deserves to know that arbitration is unfair and improper when used in this fashion.
Why are big business and the medical profession requiring mandatory arbitration? Simply, it is because of their continued tort reform efforts to take away your rights and to avoid responsibility for their actions. These entities and individuals will stop at nothing to maximize their profits and care nothing about stripping you of your rights. We at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC fight for you and for the rights of those injured by someone else’s negligence. We stand up for you and your family against those who stand in the way of justice and we never back down. Whether it is the newborn baby who would be normal except for the negligence of the hospital and doctors, and now has brain damage and cerebral palsy requiring a lifetime of care, or your loved one who was misdiagnosed because the radiologist did not read the film correctly and now it is too late to save him, we fight tirelessly for you.
The text of the article can be found at http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/01/bz-new-hello-in-health-care-sign-here-not-to-sue/

Christian Mester
Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC
(301) 589-2999 extension 125

If you or a loved one have been injured, make sure you are aware of your rights. Contact the lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC toll free at 1-888-213-8140 for a free initial consultation.

Another Legal Myth Debunked: Physicians Fleeing from Medicine is Untrue

You have heard these mistruths put out by the insurance industry and the medical associations time and time again: physicians are leaving the practice of medicine because of the increasing malpractice premiums due to frivolous lawsuits. A recent study, using the raw data from the American Medical Association (AMA) itself, actually confirms what has been known all along by protectors of the civil justice system: that physicians are not leaving the practice of medicine. This is just further confirmation that big business, the insurance industry and the medical profession want to take away your right to obtain fair and reasonable compensation in medical negligence claims by using scare tactics.

The analysis compared data for 2006 (the most recent year for which data is available). Some key findings:
* The number of doctors is increasing across the country and rose in every state except Louisiana (which had a total decrease of 7 doctors). There were 921,904 physicians in the United States in 2006, nearly 20,000 more than in 2005.
* The number of doctors is increasing faster than population growth.
* State doctors-per-capita rates outpace population growth.
* The number of physicians per 100,000 state residents is much higher in states without caps on non-economic damages.

(All figures were derived from the American Medical Association’s own numbers (Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the U.S., Various Editions)).

The main reason the insurance industry and medical profession use these scare tactics is because of their continued efforts to get unfair and unconstitutional tort reform measures passed. What all of this clearly shows, however, is that these entities and individuals will stop at nothing to maximize their profits and care nothing about stripping you of your rights. We at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC fight for you and for the rights of those injured by someone else’s negligence. We stand up for you and your family against those who stand in the way of justice and we never back down. Whether it is the newborn baby who would be normal except for the negligence of the hospital and doctors, and now has brain damage and cerebral palsy requiring a lifetime of care, or your loved one who was misdiagnosed because the radiologist did not read the film correctly and now it is too late to save him, we fight tirelessly for you.

Christian Mester
Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC
(301) 589-2999 extension 125

If you or a loved one have been injured, make sure you are aware of your rights. Contact the lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC toll free at 1-888-213-8140 for a free initial consultation.

Supreme Court Unfairly Favors Big Business Over Citizens

By Mark Schofield

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the American Gulf Coast. Over the days that followed, Americans viewed images of homes being destroyed, and lives being severely altered, as Mother Nature unleashed her wrath in Louisiana and Mississippi. As many as 1,836 people lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent floods, making that storm the deadliest United States hurricane since 1928. The storm also caused an estimated $81.2 billion dollars in damage.

In the months following Hurricane Katrina, residents of the Gulf Coast were subject to severe hardships. Many who had lost their homes in the disaster either relocated, or stayed behind to try and reassemble their homes, and their lives. However, many soon found that their own insurance companies would only add to their burdens, by denying claims made under homeowner’s insurance policies. According to these insurance companies, even if homeowners had purchased policies that included coverage for hurricanes, the damage to their homes was actually caused by flooding. Therefore, the insurance adjusters reasoned, unless a homeowner had purchased flood insurance, which is a separate insurance often not provided for in homeowner’s insurance policies, losses would not be covered.

Xavier University, along with a number of individual homeowners, challenged that line of thinking in a Louisiana State Court. Despite those exclusions in their policies regarding flooding, these individuals and Xavier University advanced the argument that the flooding was caused by the negligent design and maintenance of the levees in and around New Orleans.
Negligence that anyone who watched Hurricane Katrina unfold live on television could see. These Plaintiffs argued that their policies do not exclude coverage for an inundation of water caused by negligence.

Today, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case, effectively ending the chances these Plaintiffs will ever recover for their losses that resulted from Hurricane Katrina.

It is true that insurance companies are businesses, and that they are in the business of making profits. However, Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster unlike any this country had seen in almost 100 years. Thousands of individuals lost their lives, and billions of dollars in damage resulted. Yet in the end, individual homeowners are left holding the bag, as insurance companies walk away, leaving their policyholders behind.

Sadly, this is one of thousands of examples of insurance companies putting their profits over the interests of their policy holders. Every day in this country, an individual learns the hard way what the Plaintiffs in this case have learned: Insurance companies are looking out for their bottom line. State Farm is not often a good neighbor. You are not necessarily in good hands with Allstate.

It is stories like this that drive the attorneys at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester to stand up for those individuals in their fights against insurance companies, be it the insurance company that denies an automobile accident claim, the insurance company that denies medical coverage or coverage for medical negligence, or the insurance company that denies coverage for the loss of a home or business (homeowner's insurance claims). If you have been injured and are trying to fight an insurance company, don’t do so on your own. Contact one of the
attorneys here at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester for a free phone consultation.
information is intended to be for the sole use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail transmission in error, please notify us by telephone at (301) 589-2999 or by electronic mail to cmester@gfmlawllc.com immediately.

Insurance Companies Should Not Be Making Medical Decisions

By Mark Schofield, Attorney at Law


“To make health care more affordable and accessible, we must pass medical liability reform now. And in all we do to improve health care in America, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C”

-President George W. Bush, Acceptance Speech to the Republican National Convention, September 2, 2004.

Proponents of medical malpractice reform, or “tort reform” as it has become commonly known, argue that medical malpractice lawsuits, and “Plaintiff attorneys,” are to blame for the current state of disrepair in the American Health System. These proponents argue that by passing medical liability reform, they will create a system where doctors and patients make health decisions, not bureaucrats in Washington.
Everyone believes that medical decisions are best made by doctors and their patients, however, it isn’t “bureaucrats in Washington” that stand in the way, rather, it’s often the insurance company and their accountants. Consider the story of Natalee Sarkisian.

Ms. Sarkisian, a 17 year old California teenager battling leukemia. She had received a bone marrow transplant from her brother, however, she developed a complication which led to liver failure. Her doctors at the University of California – Los Angeles determined that she needed a liver transplant, and sent a letter to CIGNA Healthcare on December 11. CIGNA Healthcare provided health insurance for Ms. Sarkisian.

CIGNA denied payment for the procedure, terming it too “experimental.”
On Thursday, December 21, 2007, around 150 individuals, including members of Ms. Sarkisian’s family, friends and some nurses who attended to her, protested this decision at CIGNA’s Glendale office. Hours later, in an e-mail statement CIGNA reversed its decision. “CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant.”

Unfortunately, the decision was not made in time. Ms. Sarkisian passed away at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 21, 2007.

Medical decisions should be made by doctors and their patients. They should not be overruled by insurance companies more concerned about a bottom line. Our team of medical malpractice lawyers fight for patient rights and hold insurance companies accountable for the decisions that they make.

http://www.nbc10.com/health/14903904/detail.html?dl=mainclick

Medtronic Recall Costing Medtronic Millions

The recall of Medtronic's Sprint Fidelis leads is costing Medtronic millions of dollars already. The obvious and immediate cost to the company is due to the fact that medical professionals and the public will lose confidence in the company and stop using their products. It has been reported that the October 15 recall has already had a negative impact on sales of $130 Million Dollars. When heart patients and cardiologists lose confidence in the Medtronic product, they will look at competing products and/or consider foregoing getting a defibrillator.

There will also likely have to be payouts to the thousands of patients who have the defective leads implanted in their heart. We are representing these claimants in these claims against Medtronic. Although the payouts will not occur in 2007, Medtronic and its shareholders are well aware that these payouts will need to be made in the near future. Furthermore, legal fees and attorney fees are already being incurred by Medtronic. Individual Personal Injury Lawsuits have already been filed in Minneapolis and Puerto Rico. There will likely be class action consumer fraud lawsuits as well. A shareholder lawsuit has been filed against Medtronic for witholding information regarding the defects in the United States District Court for Minneapolis.

It seems that Medtronic may have known that the leads were defective well before the October 15, 2007 recall was announced. If this is true, then its deplorable that Medtronic continued to allow doctors to implant the device into patients. The good news is that the legal process will allow us to get to the bottom of what Medtronic knew and when they knew it. The civil justice system allows for discovery of this information through exchange of documents, interrogatories and depositions. The lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester will fight to make sure that patients injured as a result of having a defective defibrillator are treated fairly and are adequately compensated for their injuries.

$5.9 Million Dollar Verdict Upheld On Appeal for Client Suffering from Neurogenic Bowel and Bladder

I am happy to report that one of my medical negligence verdicts was upheld on appeal recently. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed my and my former partner Ken Suggs’s verdict of $5.9 million dollars that we obtained on behalf of a woman and her husband where the health care providers failed to treat a blood clot compressing her spinal cord until it was too late. Mrs. Ford now suffers from an inability to control her bowels and bladder, known as neurogenic bowel and bladder. On the first issue presented, the appellate court stated, “[t]hat Dr. Dennis too may have been negligent in failing to order prompt surgery even without confirmation of the CT scan by an MRI, as the jury found, did not nullify the Hospital’s fault in not timely conducting the test he had ordered.” On the second issue presented relating to the verdict in the amount of almost $1 million dollars for the husband’s loss of consortium claim, the appellate court stated “[t]he injuries to Mrs. Ford were well documented in the testimony, and it would have required little imagination for the jury to evaluate the effect of that condition upon her relations with her husband.”

I cannot be happier for my clients, who are now able to collect on this judgment, plus the interest from the time of the verdict to present. When Ken and I called them to let them know of the appellate decision, it was quite a joyous telephone call. We obtained this verdict in May 2005. The defendant first filed post-trial motions, which the trial court denied. The defendant then noted his appeal, and the trial court’s and jury’s decisions were affirmed. Our clients finally now have some closure of their medical malpractice legal battle, and can try to move on with their lives in the best way they can. The monetary verdict of this jury of their peers can go a long way in assisting Mrs. Ford with round-the-clock caretakers and other care needs that she so desperately requires.

Christian Mester
Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC
(301) 589-2999 extension 125

If you or a loved one have been injured, make sure you are aware of your rights. Contact the lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC toll free at 1-888-213-8140 for a free initial consultation.