North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina continues to make headlines, following the arrest of two of its workers on Friday for allegedly beating a patient.

Health care technicians William Kenneth Johnson and Taniko Dominique Upton face charges of assault and battery of a handicapped person. Uton allegedly struck a male patient in the stomach, head, and side, as well as knocked him to the ground. Johnson is accused of holding down the patient during Upton’s assault before joining in the beating, which took place at the mental hospital.

Three other Cherry Hospital workers have recently been arrested. In March, Vincent Morton was charged with felony assault and battery of a handicapped person after he allegedly put his hands around a patient’s neck before hitting him on the head.

Richard John Percival II was arrested on a misdemeanor charge after hitting a patient’s head and body. The charge was dropped when the patient refused to testify against Percival.

Tonivia Bryant was charged with felony assault of a handicapped person after she allegedly hit a patient, who was strapped down, 11 times. The charges against her were also dropped.

Cherry Hospital has come under close scrutiny following video footage showing workers at the mental hospital ignoring a patient seated on a chair for over 22 hours. The patient, 50-year-old Steven Sabock, died soon after.

If you or your loved one was the victim of abuse at a nursing home, a mental hospital, or another care or medical facility in North Carolina, you may be entitled to receive compensation from the facility and/or the abusers. Hospitals and residential care facilities are supposed to make sure that their employees are properly trained to care for their patients or residents and that staff members will not likely harm or neglect the people placed in their care. An experienced North Carolina personal injury law firm can investigate your case for you and determine whether you have grounds to file a nursing home abuse, medical malpractice, or another kind of injury case.

Two workers accused of beating mental patient, Charlotte.com, August 23, 2008

Cherry Hospital workers accused of beating patient, WRAL.com, August 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Cherry Hospital

Patient Bill of RIghts, DukeHealth.org

Continue reading "Cherry Hospital Employees Arrested for Allegedly Beating a Patient in Goldsboro, North Carolina" »

In Northern Wake County, four people were transported to hospitals on August 14 after the vehicles they were riding in became involved in a head-on car accident on Highway 98 between Ghoston Road and Marsh Field Road.

North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers said the accident happened when a Mustang crossed over the center lane and struck a sport utility vehicle. The SUV spun to the other side of the road. A pickup truck riding behind the SUV swerved to avoid the crash and landed in a ditch.

EMS workers spent almost two hours extricating one of the victims from the Mustang. The jaws of life had to be used to get him out. He was given pain relief shots while the EMS team worked and before he was transported to the hospital. The driver of the SUV and the pickup truck driver and his son were also taken to hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

2007 Traffic Accident Statistics
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 2,491,000 motor vehicle injuries that occurred in the United States in 2007 and 41,059 fatalities. The NHTSA says that of those deaths 1,675 took place in North Carolina.

Head-on collisions can result in serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, massive internal injuries, and wrongful death. If you or someone you love was injured in a motor vehicle crash in Raleigh, Charlotte, or another city in North Carolina, our personal injury law firm would like to talk to you. Our North Carolina car crash lawyers are dedicated to helping our motor vehicle accident clients recover the maximum compensation they are owed for their injuries.

Three vehicles involved in accident on Hwy. 98, ABClocalgo.com, August 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Head-On Collisions, Safety.Transportation.org

Continue reading "Several People in North Carolina are Injured in Head-On Collision on Highway 98 in Wake County" »

An investigative report found that the nurses at Cherry Hospital, a mental hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina, failed to feed or help patient Steven H. Sabock, 50, while he sat in a chair for over 22 hours last April. He died the next day of a heart ailment.

Security footage of the hospital shows a nurse standing nearby and not doing anything to help Sabock, while he choked on his medicine. The footage also shows health care technicians playing cards, watching TV, and talking on the cell phone in the same room where Sabock was sitting. He reportedly sat in a chair located in the day room through four work shifts.

Throughout that time, no one gave Sabock food or helped him to the bathroom. Instructions by a doctor to give him fluids every two hours and monitor his vitals every six hours also appear to have been ignored.

Eventually, technicians stood Sabock up, pushed a chair under him, and took him to his bedroom. The footage shows emergency equipment being carted down the hall five minutes later.

Investigators say that Sabock did not eat anything on the day that he died and even though he was eating very little on the three days leading up to his death, a nutritional consult or physician exam did not take place.

Sabock’s father, Nicholas, says that during an attempted visit to see his son at Cherry Hospital, staffers turned him away. Sabock’s wife also says that the state of North Carolina sent her a letter reporting “major negligence” in the care the hospital provided to him.

Medical Malpractice
Patients are admitted to mental hospitals because they require specialized attention and care. When failure to provide that care results in injury or death, the hospital, doctors, nurses, or other staffers can be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death.

Our North Carolina medical malpractice lawyers represent clients whose loved ones were injured or killed because of the negligent actions of a doctor, a nurse, a hospital, or another medical provider.

In North Carolina, you have three years from the date of when the medical malpractice action caused injury or death, or one year from when the injury was (or should have been) found out to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Patient dies after waiting 22 hours at hospital, Chicago Sun-Times, August 20, 2008

Nurses ignored patient as he died, CharlotteObserver.com, August 20, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Cherry Hospital, Goldsboro

Types of Medical Malpractice, WrongDiagnosis.com

Continue reading "North Carolina Nurses at Goldsboro Mental Hospital Hugged and Danced While Patient Sat in Chair for Over 22 Hours Before Dying, Says Report" »

Beginning Friday, state and local police officers in North Carolina will intensify their patrol for drunk drivers using patrols and checkpoints. The statewide campaign, coordinated by the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, is called “Booze It & Loose It” and will run until September 1.

Last year, over 500 alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents happened in North Carolina for the period beginning August 17 through September 3, 2007. 27 people died and 400 others sustained injuries.

The total number of drunk driving-related deaths in North Carolina for 2007 was 488 victims, while over 9,000 people sustained serious injuries. For the entire year of 2007, 488 people died in North Carolina in drunk-driving related accidents and over 9,000 people suffered serious injuries.

On August 8, 2008, North Carolina conducted a one-day statewide “Booze it and Lose It” anti-drunk driving blitz. 454 people were cited for DWI. State and local police also filed 2,047 speeding charges and 190 drug charges. Seatbelt violations numbered 808, and 185 citations for safety violations related to child passengers were issued.

Drunk Driving
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is against the law. In North Carolina, getting caught drunk driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or greater can be grounds for criminal charges. A drunk driver that injures or kills a pedestrian or another motorist can be sued for personal injury or wrongful death.

General drunk driving statistics (from MADD Web site):

• 17,602 people in the US died in auto crashes involving drunk drivers in 2006.
• Close to 50 people a day are killed in drunk-driving related accidents.
• 275,000 people are injured in this country every year in collisions involving alcohol.

State to check for drunken drivers, The News & Observer.com, August 13, 2008

North Carolina Runs Special 'Booze it & Lose it' Blitz, Insurance Journal, August 8, 2008

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Related Web Resources:

North Carolina Department of Transportation

Labor Day Campaign: "Booze It and Lose It," August 15 - September 1, 2008, NCDOT.org (PDF)

Continue reading "North Carolina's Latest Drunk Driver Crackdown Begins on Friday " »

Drug maker Allergan is being sued for failing to warn users of the dangerous side effects that can result when using Botox. The products liability lawsuit was filed on behalf of over a dozen Botox users and family members that have lost loved ones from Botox use.

Some of the plaintiffs claim that receiving Botox injections left them with certain disabilities, such as numbness, vision problems, flu-like symptoms, allergic reactions, breathing problems, and muscle weakness. Deaths allegedly caused by Botox use involved a 7-year-old girl that was given Botox injections to control limb spasticity, a 69-year-old nurse that used Botox for shoulder and neck pains, and a 71-year-old woman that was administered Botox for wrinkles around her mouth. All three alleged wrongful deaths involved use of Botox in ways that federal regulators had not approved.

The lawsuit claims that injuries occurred from both non-approved and approved uses of Botox and is calling the drug “a highly legal toxin with serious and life-threatening side effects." It question’s Allergan’s promotion that Botox is a miracle drug.

While refusing to comment on the details of the dangerous drug lawsuit, an Allergan spokesperson claims that Botox has a remarkable safety record and that serious side effects are rarely reported.

Botox
Originally intended to treat people with crossed eyes, Botox is most often used for treating frown lines between the eyebrows. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Botox for treating migraines.

Drug manufacturers are supposed to warn users of all potentially adverse side effects from using a particular medication or drug. When failure to provide proper warning results in injury or death, victims may be able to recover damages for personal injury or wrongful death.

Allergan failed to warn of dangerous Botox side effects, lawsuit claims, Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2008

Botox Lawsuit Claims Drug Has Fatal Flaws, WebMD.com, July 11, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Allergan

Botox

A tragic North Carolina accident involving an overloaded tractor-trailer and a Nissan pickup on NC 89 last January has resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit against a Maine trucking company. 68-year-old Glenn Shumate died last January after the Nissan pickup he was riding up Lowgap Mountain was struck by an out-of-control truck loaded with potatoes.

The North Carolina wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Winston-Salem’s Forsyth County Superior Court, accuses B & J Transportation Inc. and trucker Marvin Patton of negligence. The plaintiffs are accusing Patton of not driving the truck safely.

They also claim that the trucking company had told the 53-year-old trucker to drive down the dangerous NC 89 because the route was faster. The lawsuit includes documents alleging that the company purposely directed Patton on this particular route toward Charlotte to avoid a truck weighing station on Interstate 77. Commercial vehicle operator Gale A. Gunders is also named as a defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit.

Loading Trucks
Any time that a commercial driver has cargo in his or her truck, the load must be distributed and secured properly. If the distance that the trucker must drive is over a certain number of miles, then he or she is responsible for rechecking the loads at designated distances. It is also the truck driver’s job to add any safety measures to secure the truck’s load if it appears necessary.

In the event that failure to properly load or secure a large truck results in a motor vehicle accident where others are injured or killed, the trucker, his or her trucking company, and other parties can be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death.

If you have been injured in a truck crash in North Carolina or South Carolina, it is important that you speak with an experienced truck crash lawyer before talking to the trucking company or its representatives.

Lawsuit filed against trucking firm over death, Mount Airy News, August 1, 2008

Part 658: Truck Size and Weight, Route Designations — Length, Width and Weight Limitations, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Related Web Resource:

North Carolina Department of Transportation