Law Office of Kenneth Margolin P.C., Newton, Massachusetts, Catastrophic Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury Attorney

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CATASTROPHIC INJURIES

Dropped Stretcher - Paralysis

As my client was being transferred on a stretcher from an ambulance to a hospital emergency room, the two ambulance attendants allowed the stretcher she was on to collapse to the concrete. The client weighed 400+ pounds and had severe osteoporosis. The impact caused a burst compression fracture of the third thoracic vertebra, leaving her permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Discovery revealed that the ambulance company had never trained the attendants in the proper handling of especially large patients, specifically obtaining extra help while handling the stretcher. Moreover, the stretcher had not received maintenance for 19 months, during which time its condition deteriorated from excellent to unacceptable. The defense claimed that the client had a prior condition which caused the paralysis. Medical records showed, however, that the client had full motion in her legs at all times until she was dropped, after which time, she lost all sensation in her legs, as well as the ability to move them. Our preparation included testing the involved stretcher to rule out all non-operator error causes of the collapse. Attention was focused not on the conduct of the EMTs who dropped the stretcher, but on the shoddy training and maintenance practices of the ambulance company that employed them.

$1,030,000 Recovered

Falling Merchandise Head Injury

My client was purchasing supplies in a well-known hardware chain store. While he was searching the shelves, a heavy shop vacuum cleaner that had been piled too high, fell on his head, knocking him unconscious. He suffered a closed head injury which has left him with memory and cognitive loss as well as struggles with occasional disorientation and depression. Investigation has disclosed that the hardware chain in question is known to have problems with falling merchandise due to their careless stocking practices which place space-saving economy over customer safety.

Case Ongoing

Burn Injury - Illegal Fuel Oil Receptacle

My client delivered home heating oil for a local oil company. The tanker he drove was used to hold and deliver both gasoline and home heating oil. While the home heating oil is relatively stable and non-combustible, the gasoline is highly volatile. Unless gasoline vapors are fully flushed out of the system, they can ignite even if the truck is carrying the home heating oil. Whenever fuel is delivered from a truck used to haul gasoline, even if the gasoline has been emptied, the truck must be grounded to prevent static electrical sparks. The company to which the client was delivering the home heating oil, used a receptacle that lacked proper grounding attachments, and adequate warnings, as required by law. When the client began to deliver the heating oil, a static electric spark, possibly from keys hanging from his uniform, ignited gasoline vapors that had been left in his truck. The resulting flash of superheated gasoline vapors, left my client with raised keloid scars throughout his upper body. The case had to be tried against the company using the illegal fuel receptacle, as any claim against the employer was covered by workers compensation. Our experts included a retired president of a fuel oil delivery company, and a former Fire Commissioner for the City of Boston.

$390,000 Recovered, Including Release of Workers' Compensation Lien

"Federal Tort Claims Action - Collision with Army Truck

Two soldiers stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, became lost returning from maneuvers in the western part of the state. They attempted a U-turn on Route 2 in Lincoln, Massachusetts, a road which at the time, was only two lanes in each direction, with no divider in the middle of the road. The truck was too large for a U-turn, so the soldiers attempted a three-point turn, their truck fully across all four lanes of the highway. As my client came over the crest of a hill in his station wagon, he saw the truck and attempted to swerve, only to be run off the road by an oncoming car also trying to avoid the army vehicle. My client's car ended up underneath the truck. He suffered permanent leg injuries. The government initially claimed that my client had been speeding and driving inattentively, a claim that was rebutted by several eyewitness statements obtained by our investigator.

$400,000 Recovered

Dangerous Premises - Career Ending Shoulder Injury

The building in which my client, a 62 year old HMO executive worked, had an oddly designed foyer that included a sloped area, over which numerous people had tripped, though none had suffered serious injury. My client ordinarily entered and exited the building from a different side, but on the day in question, came in through the main foyer, after a fire drill called by building management in cooperation with the fire department. As the view of the sloped area was blocked by the crowd surging back into the building, my client tripped on the slope and suffered a severely torn rotator cuff that did not respond well to surgery. We contended that the usual duty to cordon off or place conspicuous warnings by the hazardous area, was heightened as a result of the fire drill which caused approximately 100 people to crowd back into the building through the entrance containing the sloped area. Although my client was an executive, she spent considerable time on her computer, a task which was impossible after the injury. The case was taken seriously by the defendant's insurer and resolved, because amongst other factors, our client was a hard-working woman who had missed barely a day of work in thirty years before the incident. The defense appreciated that the usual effort to portray the plaintiff as a malingerer or complainer, would backfire in this instance. While I review "fall down" cases very carefully before accepting them, this case illustrates that the right such case can be handled successfully.

$450,000 Recovered

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