Alabama Injury Attorney Blog

In Williamson v. Mazda, the US Supreme Court has allowed the family of Than Williamson to pursue a products liability claim for wrongful death benefits against Mazda. An article by Fred Meier of USA Today, details that Williamson was a second row middle seat passenger in a 1993 Mazda MVP that was involved in a car accident. The plaintiff wants to hold Mazda liable for only having a lap belt in the middle seat and not a 3 point belt system. The plaintiff claims the lap belt caused the deceased's body to jackknife around the belt causing her death. However, they contend this would not have occurred if there had been a 3 point belt system.

Mazda claimed they were immune from suit because the federal regulations allowed them to choice between either a lap belt or a 3 point belt system in the middle seat. The court did not find merit in this argument. Thus, the case will be sent back to the state court system for trial.

Mazda was reliant upon the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and Regulations to which manufacturers of motor vehicle and equipment items must conform and certify compliance. The first FMVSS became effective on March 1, 1967. These regulations mandate guidelines for items such as seat belts, air bags and roofs in the vehicle. However, it is important to note that these are just minimum safety standards for vehicle manufacturers.

With the holiday season in full swing most of us will be out shopping for all types of new products from electronic devices to home improvement items. When your tearing through the wrapping paper and boxes before you throw away that Product Registration card STOP!! The process of filling out the registration card seems like a hassle when all you want to do is starting enjoying and using your new product; however, that little card can prevent a serious injury and/or save someone's life. I was just recently reminded of how important registering a product is.

I was recently retained by a client who was severely injured when a defective product exploded in his face causing him to lose an eye. The product had been recalled by the manufacturer for this exact problem; however, the product was never registered so my client did not have notice the product he was using was defective. If the product had only been registered when it was purchased a couple of years earlier, he would had be on notice of the recall and this horrific incident would not have occurred. As I was sitting down with my client after we resolved the case, he said, well I can tell you from now on, I'm going to register every product I buy. Sadly, the important lesson of registering products came at a very high expense for my client; however, we want everyone else to learn from this tragedy. Registering your new products will not only allow the company to send you notice of any recalls or safety issues it will also allow the company to inform you of software updates and new releases of the product.

So this holiday season, please save those product registration cards, fill them out and send them in.

A Laurel, Mississippi jury returned a verdict against Ford for a 2001 rollover accident according to a report by ESPN. Brian Cole a star prospect for the New York Mets franchise was killed when his Ford Explorer overturned in March of 2001. The family brought the products liability lawsuit against Ford claiming the SUV was defective and unreasonably dangerous. In addition to putting on evidence of the defectiveness of the vehicle, the family also offered testimony from the former general manager of the Mets to establish that Cole was a budding superstar. The case was settled before the punitive damage phase of the trial for a confidential amount. This was the third time the case was brought to trial. The first two trials ended in a hung jury.

One interesting aspect of this verdict is that it only takes 9 of 12 jurors to agree to return a verdict. In this instance, 11 of 12 jurors agreed to the verdict. In Alabama, a jury's verdict must be unanimous. Click here for more information on Alabama product liability law.

The first product liability jury trial in the Chinese Drywall litigation yields a giant victory for home owners. A Miami, Florida jury returned a $2.4 million dollar verdict for the plaintiffs whose home was ruined by the foul-smelling drywall. We first reported this problem in our previous post entitled: "Defective Chinese Drywall Leads to Corrosion and Health Concerns for Homeowners." This sulfur emitting drywall has been linked to health problems as well as problems with foul odors, corrosion of wiring, piping, computers and jewelry. The jury in this case not only returned a verdict for the cost of the repair, but also for loss of enjoyment of the house and for the likely reduction it in resale value. The outcome of this case, will surely impact the thousands of other Chinese drywall cases

The CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission) has just announced a "strong association" between Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires. In addition to complaints about damage to pipes and wires there have also been complaints about health problems associated from using this Chinese drywall. The CPSC has stated that there may also be a link between health problems reported by homeowners and hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the drywall along with formaldehyde, which is routinely found in new homes. The Chinese drywall was imported during the U.S. housing boom when building supplies were scarce. This Chinese drywall was heavily used in the southeastern United States following hurricane Katrina.

The problems associated with this Chinese drywall have led to hundreds of lawsuits against builders, contractors, installers, suppliers and manufacturers. Essentially, these lawsuits are products liability lawsuits claiming that this Chinese drywall is defective and unreasonably dangerous. For more information about Chinese drywall visit the CPSC Drywall Information Center.

The Yamaha Motor Corp. announced this week that it is offering free repairs on about 145,000 Rhino two-seat utility vehicles. This announcement follows an investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) into the high propensity of these ATV's to rollover at relatively low speeds and on level terrain. According to the CPSC, there have been at least 46 wrongful deaths in U.S. as a result of Yamaha Rhino accidents. Yamaha is also facing hundreds of products liability lawsuits from the personal injuries and wrongful deaths that have occurred as a result of the defects in these ATVs. According to reports, the repair installs a spacer on the rear wheels and removes the rear anti-sway bar to help reduce the chance of rollover. It also installs half-doors and more passenger handholds to help users' arms and legs stay inside the vehicle in a rollover. The CPSC said consumers should stop driving these vehicles until the repair is done.

Continue reading "46 Wrongful Deaths Leads to Yamaha Offering Free Repairs on Rhino ATV" »

A recent rash of fatal Alabama car wrecks on U.S. Highway 43 in the Florence Muscle Shoals area has again raised concerns over the safety of the highway. According to a recent report, there have been three wrongful deaths in two separate car accidents within a week on this stretch of U.S. Highway 43. The report cited local a mayor who noted that he knew of 15 people who have been killed on that 2-mile strech of Alabama highway. According to the mayor, there is a water drainage problem on this highway and every time it rains cars and trucks begin to hydroplane. In response to these accidents, the Alabama Department of Transportation is currently surveying the road and proposing to implement the installation of guardrails, a median divider and the resurfacing of the highway.

Hydroplaning accidents are caused when a driver loses steering control because a layer of water on the roadway prevents direct contact between the tires and the road surface. When a roadway is designed or resurfaced it is required to comply with federal and state specificaitons. For example, certain portions of a highway are typically required to have a 2% slope so that if a drop of rain lands in the center of the highway the rain will run off to the shoulder. Often Alabama car accidents such as the ones on U.S. Highway 43 could be avoided if road contractors simply complied federal and state guidelines.

A recent article reports one Alabama man's brush with death when the tree-stand he was using failed and left him hanging for his llfe. The accident occurred when Mike Dreadin, an experienced outdoorsman, was left hanging upside down by his feet more than 40 feet off the ground when the tree-stand he was using came loose from the tree. Dreadin was using a tubular steel tree-stand that attaches to the tree by wrapping around the tree. To climb the tree, the hunter stands up and sits down which allows the top and bottom portion of the tree-stand to bite into the tree. Dreadin failed to use his safety harness and when the stand failed he was left hanging by a 1 inch foot strap. Luckily, Dreadin was able to use his cell phone to call for help and three hours later Dreadin was lowered to safety.

Every year dozens of people are injured or killed in similar tree-stand accidents. While many of these accidents are the result of user error, many others are the result of a defective design in the tree-stand itself. Tree-stand manufacturers like other product manufacturers have a duty to safely design their products and warn against any known hazards or risks. When these manufacturers fail to safely design their products a products liability lawyer can bring a products liability lawsuit to recover damages and seek changes in the products design. The Alabama Products Liability Lawyers at Martinson & Beason have years of experience handling products liability lawsuits.

For more information on tree-stand safety visit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

  An Alabama jury returned a 78.4 million dollar verdict on Tuesday February 24, 2009, against the drug manufacturer Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis.  The Alabama lawsuit was one of more than 70 lawsuits that have been brought on behalf of the state of Alabama against various drug manufacturers.  The Alabama lawsuits center around Average Wholesale Prices (AVP) that drug manufacturers were posting that were much higher than the prices doctors and pharmacists were actually paying for the drugs.  Essentially, the state of Alabama is claiming that these drug manufacturers were committing a fraud upon Alabama's Medicaid program by having the state pay an average wholesale price for a drug that was actually being sold at a much cheaper rate. 

  This is the third large verdict the state of Alabama has obtained in these average wholesale price cases.  In 2008, a jury returned a $215 million dollar verdict against drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and a second jury returned a $114 million dollar verdict against drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline.  These were two of the 20 largest jury verdicts of 2008. 

As any Alabama lawyer can tell you, the real battle will now begin.  Novartis will surely appeal this verdict to the Alabama Supreme Court, which has a history of overturning and throwing out large jury verdicts.  This appeal will likely take a year to year and half, so whether the state of Alabama ever sees a penny out of this litigation is yet to be determined.  However, its comforting to know that in today's tough economic times that one corner stone of our society - our civil justice system - is still available to ensure a level playing field. 

A Collinsville, Alabama man is dead after a four-wheeler accident Monday morning.

The man, whose name was not released Monday, allegedly lost control of the four-wheeler on Ellis Street in Collinsville around 9:30 a.m.  "It flipped, left the highway, and landed in a ditch," said DeKalb Ambulance Service Director Mark Ford. "The man was thrown from the vehicle and suffered blunt-force trauma." 

Unfortunately, this tragic situation happens far too often.  According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission there were 467 related ATV deaths reported in 2005. Many four-wheeler and ATV driver's don't have the proper training and don't wear appropriate protective gear such as helments that can prevent and minimize many ATV accidents and injuries.  Often four-wheeler and ATV accidents are the result of some defect in the manufacturer's product design.  Over the years, thousands of product liability lawsuits have been brought against some the world's largest four-wheeler and ATV manufacturers in an effort to correct such design defects.  If such a design defect exists in the four-wheeler involved in this accident, a wrongful death and products liablity lawsuit could be brought under Alabama law.