Kentucky Injury Attorney Blog

Each year hundreds of children are injured or die because of negligent safety measures in and around swimming pools and spas. This year alone, more than 210 children have died in the United States since Memorial Day in pool related accidents. A 2008 report by the Commission stated that the "average number of drowning deaths involving children younger than 5 in pools and spas has increased from a yearly average of 267 (for 2002-2004) to 283 (for 2003-2005)." Further, "the average number of emergency room treated pool and spa submersion injuries decreased from an annual average of 2,800 (for 2004-2006) to 2,700 (for 2005-2007)."

In response, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has introduced a kids education program which includes a video series featured on the Safe Kids website and the NDPA website. The videos feature Ming-Na, the voice of Mulan in the Disney film.

Many pool accidents are preventable and a result of negligence. Drowning accidents can occur at public pools, rivers and lakes, in the backyard, and even in the bathtub. These accidents happen quickly; in fact, a short submersion of four or five minutes can cause lasting brain damage.

Continue reading "U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Issues Kids Safety Education Effort" »

Investigators from the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 released a report which states that a mechanical failure on an elevator at a hospital in Elizabethtown, Kentucky is to blame for causing the elevator to stop between floors and an accident injuring an employee to occur.

The state report details that a restictor was out of adjustment and this caused the elevator to stop between floors. The doors to the elevator were able to be opened and an employee of Hardin Memorial Hospital who was trying to get out of the elevator, slipped and fell approximately 25 feet to the floor of the elevator shaft early Monday. The employee was said to be critically injured as a result of the accident.

Unfortunately, accidents involving elevators are not uncommon. Just this summer, on June 13, 2009, an 8-year-old was killed in an accident involving an elevator in western Kentucky.

Yesterday, June 1, 2009, a train at the Louisville Zoo derailed injuring over 20 of the 30 passengers aboard, many of them children. Several of those injured were transported to area hospitals. Ride inspectors from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture have already begun investigating the incident to try and determine what caused the train to derail. The train, which allows visitors to ride a loop around the zoo, will be shut down until further notice. A Louisville Zoo spokesperson told the Courier-Journal that the train is driven by zoo employees who are certified by the zoo and are at least 18 years old. The train does not have safety belts. When asked about safety belts, the Louisville Zoo spokesperson stated that the train did not have safety belts because they are not required by the manufacturer. The procedures the Louisville Zoo follows for inspecting the trains and the tracks have not been made available as of yet by the Louisville Zoo

If you or your loved one was injured as a result of this accident at the Louisville Zoo or any other automobile or trucking accident, call the personal injury attorneys at Miller and Falkner to protect your rights.

Read more about the accident at the Louisville Zoo.

Whether you have been injured in a car accident or at work, if you have made a claim for benefits (whether or not your claim has resulted in suit being filed) you might be subject to an Independent Medical Exam (IME).  An IME is designed by insurance companies and employers to reexamine an injured person to see if the doctor performing the IME agrees with the diagnosis and recommended treatment which was given by the injured individual's doctor.  However, as discussed below, many problems arise from these IMEs.   

The title of Independent Medical Exam can be very misleading as they are not really independent.  As a New York Times article explains, their review of case files, medical records and patient interviews in New York worker compensation claims indicated that exam reports that results from these Independent Medical Exams are routinely bias towards and benefit insurers and employers over the injured individual by minimizing or dismissing altogether the injuries sustained. 

The main reason for this bias is that employers and insurance companies are the companies that pay for these IMEs and therefore, if a physician starts producing reports that do not benefit the company's position on the injuries, that physician will likely not receive further IMEs from that company. 

Many injured individuals have been able to contest the findings of these IMEs and prevailed, however resolution can take many months or years and many people simply give up.  A personal injury attorney can assist an injured individual not only after a biased IME has been given, but before any IME has been conducted. 

If you have been injured in an automobile/trucking accident or at work and your employer or an insurance company is requiring an IME for your claim, conduct the the personal injury attorneys are Miller & Falkner to help protect your rights against unfair IMEs.

For many parents, the bright and colorful playground at many fast food restaurants all over Kentucky and Indiana can be as alluring if not more alluring than the fast food itself.  However, as an article from MSN points out, there are many potential dangers in these fast food playgrounds that result in serious injury to a child. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that emergency rooms treat more than 200,000 children every year for playground-related injuries. These playgrounds found at fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King are referred to as "soft-contained playgrounds."  While the restaurants are the ones that will profit from the playgrounds as they attract customers, restaurants argue that since they hire independent contractors to build the play structures, they are not responsible for their customers' safety.    

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) sets the national standard for soft-contained playgrounds.  However, even if a restaurant complies with these standards, each chain is responsible for self-policing its playground for safety compliance.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sets guidelines and regulations but does not have the staff to enforce its rules.  They have created a Soft-Contained Play Equipment Safety Checklist which parents can use to help determine if playgrounds are safe for their children's use. 

In some cases action has been taken by CPSC against fast food restaurants for safety code violations.  The agency fined McDonald's $4 million in 1999 regarding its soft playgrounds. 

Continue reading "Kentucky and Indiana Restaurant Playgrounds Create Hidden Dangers" »