Mississippi Injury Lawyer Blog

Accelerator length, not floor mat, is key problem in Toyota recall

In September, I reported about Toyota's largest recall of over 4 million vehicles. At that time, Toyota reported the problem as a faulty floor mat. Now, Toyota has decided to replace the gas pedals in those vehicles as the gas pedal could get stuck in the floor mat, causing serious injury or death.

If you own one of the covered vehicles (see previous post listing the recalled vehicles), contact your local dealer to schedule an appointment to have the repairs made. However, it appears the fix will be a two-step process as Toyota still has to produce a shortened accelerator pedal and dealers will shorten the length of the gas pedal by three-fourths of an inch until the replacement pedals are available sometime in April, 2010. Do not put off having these repairs made. Your life could depend on it.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm is a Mississippi product liability and accident injury law firm which handles all types of cases involving serious injury or death. If you or a loved one has been injured, please call us now for a free consultation at 601.936.4040 or contact us online.

Cement truck kills Sumrall, Mississippi man

A 24-year-old Sumrall, Mississippi man was killed when a cement truck rear-ended the tractor he was driving. According to the Clarion Ledger, McKenzie C. Beilmann died when he was rear-ended on U.S. 98 about 8 miles from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Beilmann was listed as a student at the University of Southern Mississippi. The driver of the cement truck was not injured.

Source: Clarion Ledger

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Lawyer

Attorneys beware--watch out for those subrogation liens.

Two days ago, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment where a plaintiff's attorney was found liable to the ERISA health plan for settlement funds he disbursed. A fellow blogger, Health Plan Law, has a great discussion of the case here.

For those with personal injury lawsuits, if your health insurance company pays for your medical and you ultimately recover money from the person who caused those injuries, your health insurance company has a subrogation lien for the amount of medical paid. That means you could possibly have to pay the insurance company for the amount it paid for medical expenses you ultimately recovered from the liable party.

In the case above, the client did recover monies and the attorney disbursed the settlement funds without paying the insurance company back for the medical it paid on behalf of the client. The plan ultimately sued the client and attorney for the money. Lesson to all parties. Prior to settling a personal injury case or disbursing funds from a personal injury settlement, make sure you have paid all liens.

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Lawyer

Motorcycle crash kills Seminary, Mississippi man

On Saturday night, Shawn Jesse Bullock of Seminary, Mississippi, died when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Mississippi 598 and Old U.S. 49. According to Jefferson Davis County Coroner, Bullock died on the scene. The accident is under investigation by the Covington County Sheriff's Department

Source: Clarion-Ledger

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Attorney

Drug company paid doctor almost a half a million dollars to promote Seroquel

When is a doctor's independent medical judgment jeopardized? When the drug company pays him almost $500,000.00 to promote their drug? Most would probably think so. As reported by the Chicago Tribute in a recent article, the manufacturer of Seroquel, AstraZenca, paid a Chicago psychiatrist $496,000 over a ten year period to promote its leading antipsychotic drug, Seroquel. During that time, Dr. Reinstien did research and promotional work for the company in addition to providing the drug manufacturer a vast customer base--thousand of mentally ill residents of Chicago-area nursing homes.

Interviewed for the story, Dr. Reinstien said he does not "accept any money from corporations to study their medications. This eliminates any possible conflicts of interest." But wait. How did Dr. Reinstien get his money from the drug manufacturer for his research? Through a different company, Uptown Reseach Institute. It was paid to do research by the drug manufactuer and in turn paid Dr. Reinstien a monthly consulting fee. Further, AstraZenaca paid Dr. Reinstien for promotional work on the drug. All of this evidence came to light in a recent lawsuit.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm is a Mississippi drug injury law firm which handles all types of cases involving serious injury or death including injuries from prescription drugs, car accidents, tractor-trailer accidents, motorcycle accidents, drunk driving accidents, and injuries from defective products. If you have questions, call us at 601.936.4040 or contact us online.

Popular strollers may cause fingertip amputation

Approximately one million Maclaren strollers, sold in Target and Babies "R" Us, were recalled on Monday due to an amputation risk for children. When unfolding the stroller, 12 children had their fingertips amputated when the child's finger got caught in the hinge mechanism as the stroller was unfolded.

The recall includes the following models: Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno, and Easy Traveller. These strollers have been sold since 1999. According to the article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesperson said, "Our message to parents, grandparents, and all caregivers is to make sure that you stop using these stroller until you get the repair kit, which zips the covers in place."

Source: Chicago Tribune

Reported by Robert M. Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Attorney

NHTSA appears to have dismissed previous claims of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles

Previously, I wrote about Toyota's record recall of a number of vehicles due to unexpected acceleration. At first, the acceleration was attributed to the floor mat. However, it appears something more serious is causing the problem and investigators are finally looking into the cause.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a federal agency whose mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes, is charged with protecting the public, not the auto manufacturers. But according to a recent L.A. Times article, since 2001 more than 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners reported their vehicles suddenly accelerated, many times resulting in injury. However, NHTSA dismissed many of those complaints for a variety of reasons. Even though NHTSA recently changed its course and is calling the Toyota issue a "very dangerous problem", the Times article paints a different NHTSA under the previous administration.

Hopefully NHTSA will be more vigilant in living up to its mission statement in the future. With the recent turn of events, it appears headed in the right direction. Read other articles about this issue below.

Runaway Toyota cases ignored
Toyota Acceleration Problem Still Unresolved
Safety Agency Rebukes Toyota Over Floor-Mat Issue

If you have been injured as a result of a defect in your car or truck, contact an experienced Mississippi product defect lawyer. At the Kisselburgh Law Firm, we have years of experience in successfully prosecuting product defect cases. Contact us at 877-601-4040 or contact us online.

Tort reform myths debunked

Anthony Tarricone, president of the American Association of Justice, wrote a good article debunking the top 5 myths regarding medical negligence and the need for more tort reform. If we are going to debate the issue, then let's get the fact straight. The fact is that more tort reform will do nothing to protect those patients injured by a doctor nor reduce the costs of health care. Check out the previous post here to read a great article discussing the cause of increase medical costs.

Two Forrest County, Mississippi teenagers killed by oil tank explosion

Two Forrest County teenagers were killed early on Saturday morning when a oil holding tank exploded. The cause of the explosion is unknown and there are no known witnesses to the incident. The oil tank appears to be owned by Delphi Oil, Inc. The majority of the oil in the tank had been sold which made the tank extremely dangerous. With little oil in the tank, dangerous fumes probably filled the tank and could easily be ignited. Our hearts go out to the families of those killed.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm is a Mississippi accident injury law firm which handles all types of cases involving serious injury or death including car wrecks, truck accidents, wrecks involving motorcycles, drunk driving accidents, and injuries from dangerous products. If you have questions, call us at 601.936.4040 or contact us online.

Source: Clarion Ledger