Lansing Personal Injury Lawyer - Car Crash

Spinal Cord Injuries Require Skilled and Experienced Assistance

David Mittleman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:59:44 GMT

A spinal cord injury is a serious and potentially debilitating injury that cause damage to the white matter of the spinal cord that carries signals to and from the brain. Spinal cord injuries can result from traumatic events (car crashes and falls) or one of many different types of biological origins. The vast majority of spinal cord injuries occur from some type of accident. The leading cause of spinal cord injuries are automobile accidents.

Approximately 12,000 people experience spinal cord injuries a year in the United States. Approximately 250,000 people live with a spinal cord injury. An overwhelming number of new injuries occur to people under the age of 30.

Symptoms of a spinal cord injury range from paralysis to loss of sensation at the level and below. These injuries can be located even without a complete cut off the spinal cord. Spinal cord injuries can often be a cause of death, due to respiratory failure. Survival within the first 24 hours as well as the first year after the injury greatly increase the chances of long-term survival.

If you or someone you know has suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of an accident or medical error do not hesitate to contact us. Our office has successfully managed cases involving spinal cord injuries. You can reach our office, ChurchWyble, at (888) 227-4770.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Another MSU Student Dies in Car Crash

Devon Glass — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:29:09 GMT

Michigan State University students are mourning the loss of another classmate after she was involved in a fatal car accident on October 20, 2009. Felisa Estella Rosa Barnes, 19, a communications sophomore, was traveling southbound on US-23 on her way home to Erie, Michigan, when at about 7:30 p.m. she lost control over her 1999 Grand Prix after sideswiping a semi-tractor trailer. The Grand Prix crossed the median, overturned airborne several times, entered the northbound lanes, and finally landed on top of a 1995 Chrysler Concord seriously injuring the19 year old driver from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Both drivers were trapped in their vehicles and had to be extricated by firefighters - Barnes was pronunced dead at the scene and the male driver of the Concord was airlifted to the University of Michigan Hospital where he is expected to survive. The driver of the semi-truck was not injured.

According to the Monroe News and the State News, Barnes was a 2008 Erie-Mason High School graduate and 2007 homecoming queen. She was involved in numerous activities including cheerleading, volunteering, student council, volleyball, track, and cross country. She also had hopes of participating in MSU’s Alternative Spring Break program, a service opportunity for students to use their breaks volunteering. Friends and family members are shocked and devastated over their loss and invite people who knew Felisa in any way to attend her funeral. Arrangements have been made and her showing is at Pawlak Funeral Home, 1620 Smith Road, Temperance, MI 48182 this Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 2-9pm. The service will be in the Erie-Mason High School Gymnasium this Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 3pm.

An investigation as to what caused the crash is still ongoing. The accident occurred in Green Oak, between Silver Road and Lee Road - a stretch of the road where there are no barriers protecting cars from crossing the median. One can’t help but wonder whether a median barrier would have saved Felisa’s life and prevented the driver of the Concord from being involved. Although it remains yet to be seen exactly why Felisa lost control over her car, some people believe she may have been texting and driving. Regardless, this is just another tragic reminder of the dangers associated with driving and just how valuable life can be.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Elderly Driver Dies In Fatal Mid-Day Collision Near Frandor Shopping Center

Devon Glass — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:20:21 GMT

A fatal accident can occur at any time of the day, not just during rush hour or in the still of the night. 82-year-old Calvin Drake from Morrice, died last week from injuries sustained during an accident that took place around 1:30 p.m., Monday, October 5, near the Frandor Shopping Center.

Mr. Drake was transporting two passengers when he was traveling west on H.A. Sellers Avenue when his vehicle collided with another vehicle traveling north on North Homer Street. Lansing Police were still investigating the crash as of late last week, but alcohol was not a factor in this mid-day crash.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Las Vegas Lawyers and Doctors Go All In For Fraud

Devon Glass — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:44:06 GMT

Beginning in 1999, a few doctors and lawyers in the Las Vegas area decided it would be a great idea to trump up accident related injuries to increase the damages awarded to people injured in automobile accidents or bring false medical malpractice claims against innocent doctors. According to an indictment issued through the FBI and US Attorney Gregory Brower, Dr. Mark Kabins, Noel Gage, Howard Awand, and Dr. John Thalgott, all conspired to falsify medical records, improperly refer an person to a personal injury attorney, and sue an innocent doctor in order to cover up the improper treatment by Drs. Kabins and Thalgott. If this is starting to sound like a John Grisham novel, things are just getting started. But before we get too far into the details of this case, I would like to make it clear the lawyers and doctors involved in this are awful people who have no business practicing law or medicine. The lawyers involved certainly acted unethically and did things I personally would never even think about, but they also do not represent the vast majority of lawyers who represent injured people. Those attorneys make it easier for people to stereotype attorneys as sleazy so I want to make it clear those attorneys are despicable and unprofessional and I want to do what I can to help keep that stereotype from spreading since it's false.

An article on CNNMoney sums up how the scheme worked for the Las Vegas "medical mafia".

Prosecutors charge that a group of top Las Vegas plaintiffs lawyers and doctors, with the 64-year-old Awand at its center, conspired in an audacious fraud. The participants appeared to act independently but instead colluded. Unwitting accident victims were recruited as plaintiffs and then persuaded to undergo serious, sometimes needless, surgeries. The procedures, in turn, helped inflate the size of personal-injury claims. The result was multimillion-dollar insurance settlements, even for dubious cases, and lucrative fees for the doctors, the lawyers, and, of course, Howard Awand.

The alleged scheme began in 1999 and lasted for at least six years, prosecutors charge. Business and court records and local press reports suggest that the group -- which numbered about 30 -- colluded in hundreds of suits that yielded hundreds of millions in settlements. According to government evidence, the group coordinated their testimony as expert witnesses, lied under oath, protected one another from malpractice lawsuits -- even after the surgeries left a few patients paralyzed -- and ate away at the plaintiffs' settlement money with kickbacks disguised as contingency fees.

The case that finally got them caught involved Cynthia Johnson and her relatively minor auto accident.

Cynthia Johnson, an office manager for a real estate company, was driving to work on Interstate 15 near the Las Vegas strip when a fellow commuter clipped the rear bumper of her Toyota Avalon, propelling it into the truck in front. No one seemed hurt, and the drivers exchanged information.

The accident, on June 12, 2002, might have been forgotten. But Johnson woke up the next day with back pain. She went to her regular doctor but was told that she'd have to pay all her treatment costs upfront, since a car accident could result in lawsuits and her health insurance might not cover her. Worried about the costs, she consulted a physician friend, who pledged to find someone to help her.

No more than 30 minutes later she got a call from a man named Howard Awand, who said he was in the business of handling such cases. Awand (pronounced AY-wand) managed to get her an appointment that night with one of the busiest spine surgeons in the country, Mark Kabins. After examining her, the surgeon referred her to several other doctors and said that Awand had also arranged for her to see one of the town's most prominent plaintiffs attorneys, Robert Vannah. All for a routine accident on the way to work. Johnson couldn't believe her luck.

Better still, she didn't have to pay any money upfront. On her first visit to Vannah's office, she signed a medical lien. Such agreements mean injured parties pay nothing unless they collect a settlement; if that happens, the person holding the lien (which could be a plaintiffs lawyer, a doctor, or a hospital) is then paid from the settlement. "Over the next six weeks, I had so many doctor's appointments that I couldn't keep up," recalls Johnson, who was grateful for the attention but also confused by a directive from Vannah's office: Don't mention Howard Awand's name to anybody.

Awand is the thread that ties all of the players together. He was the one at the center of the alleged conspiracy, getting injured people doctor appointments and an attorney. In the end, the lawyer would pay back the doctors who helped provide falsified medical records or who helped pin the blame on the wrong doctor. This unethical behavior between the doctors and lawyers eventually got so big that the federal government took notice. It's not hard to believe that would happen when you are talking about hundreds of cases and millions of dollars, with all of the cases working out just right for the plaintiff.

The scheme began to unravel when Dr. Thalgott decided he wanted out. Melodie Simon, 41, had vertebrae fusion surgery performed by Dr. Thalgott in August 2000, afterwords he went on a preplanned vacation. Ms. Simon developed numbness and tingling related to a blood clot in her spine. Dr. Kabins, the surgeon who was supposed to be covering Dr. Thalgott's patients while he was on vacation, allegedly ignored the complaints until it was too late, Ms. Simon would be paralyzed from the chest down for the rest of her life.

Ms. Simon hired Noel Gage to represent her, and Mr. Gage then worked with Dr. Thalgott, Mr. Awand, and Dr. Kabins to pin the blame on the anesthesiologist who had drained Ms. Simon's spine during the surgery. As a result of the coordinated effort, Mr. Gage settled the case for 2 million. While that is a huge amount by most standards, had Ms. Simon been able to sue Dr. Thalgott or Dr. Kabins, it would likely have settled for closer to 10 million. That is a significant difference to someone who is paralyzed for the rest of their life due to a doctors medical malpractice.

After Dr. Thalgott had a change of heart on his unethical practices, he agreed to pay Ms. Simon 1.5 million for the trouble he caused. He is still being investigated by the county and state medical boards for the problems he helped create by falsifying records and providing questionable treatments. Although Dr. Thalgott was provided immunity for his testimony, there has yet to be a conviction against Gage, Awand or Kabins at this time. The legal proceedings continue at this time against all of them, and it's best to read the litany of articles that exist if you want a more detailed picture of what is exactly happening currently.

This is an unfortunate situation that ended up harming the people the lawyers and doctors were supposed to be helping. They all claim innocence on the allegations, but I am hopeful they will get what's coming to them. It is deplorable for people to prey on the innocent and weak at their most vulnerable, and to so completely and utterly exploit them for sinister motives and financial gain. I have nothing but contempt for the so-called professionals caught in this situation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Drunk Driver Faces Felony Charges After Killing 80-year-old retired Postal Worker

Devon Glass — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:54:00 GMT

32-year-old Efrain Garcia-Miron faces charges of operating while intoxicated causing death, as a result of driving his vehicle head-on into a Ford Taurus driven by 80-year-old Leonard Dykstra, a retired U.S. Postal Service worker.

Mr. Dykstra subsequently died from his injuries at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. The crash took place on Friday, July 24, 2009, just before 10:00 p.m. Mr. Dykstra had been driving north on Wilson Avenue in Walker, when Mr. Garcia-Miron, from Wyoming, MI, crossed the center-line of Wilson Avenue as he was traveling south and struck Mr. Dykstra's vehicle head-on.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Rockford Woman Dies After Rollover Crash on Sunday

David Mittleman — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:16:22 GMT

Rockford, MI—58-year-old Alice Brownswell Phillips died on Sunday after her vehicle collided with another vehicle that was pulling out of a driveway on Alpine Avenue NW. Phillips, who was driving north on Alpine, lost control of her Chevy Cavalier after the impact, causing it to hit a curb. The vehicle subsequently rolled over, pinning Phillips inside. Phillip’s mother, a passenger, was not seriously injured. The other driver was a 19-year-old Grand Rapids woman, who may face charges.

Phillip’s mother, Elizabeth Key, recently recounted the horrific final moments of her daughter’s life. Key remembers her daughter telling her “Mom, I can’t breathe” before she was removed from the car by rescuers. Phillips was eventually taken to the hospital, where she died from head injuries and bleeding in her abdomen.

Phillips helped take care of Key, whose health had declined in recent years because of her diabetes. In fact, Phillips moved several years ago from California to Michigan to be there for her mother. She was also a mother of four children, a grandmother to five grandchildren, and a great-grandmother to two great-grandchildren. She doted on all of the kids, according to Key, and was coming back from purchasing shoes at Target for one of her grandsons, when the crash occurred. Police plan to forward a report to Kent County prosecutors for possible charges against the 19-year-old who caused the crash, whose name has not been released.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Family and Friends Mourn Loss of Teenager Who Was Killed by Drunk Driver

Devon Glass — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:37:49 GMT

Holland—Kevin Babcock, a 44-year-old man, hit and killed Curtis Jacobs, a 19-year-old bicyclist, and seriously injured Christian Van Wyngarden, also 19, on Saturday on U.S. 31 near Holland. The two teens were part of a group of bicyclists. Mr. Babcock is now in jail on charges for second-degree murder and driving while intoxicated. When interrogated, the motorist admitted to consuming as many as twenty drinks before the 8:30 a.m. crash. Moreover, police reports showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .16 percent, which is twice the legal limit.

Police reported that Babcock was speeding and driving erratically, and that he drove through a red light and struck the two boys on their bicycles, as they were attempting to cross the highway with a larger group of bicyclists. After the collision, he backed the car up and attempted to drive away. However, police were able to stop him three miles north of the accident site.

Babcock’s license has been suspended since 1993, and his girlfriend is now being questioned because he was driving her car. If police find that she “knowingly permitted” him to drive her vehicle with a suspended license, she could face up to five years in prison. Berry alleges she did not know that Babcock had a suspended license, but was aware of his previous legal problems, including four alcohol-related driving convictions.

Curtis's visitation will be today at Ridge Point Community Church with his funeral services to be held tomorrow, Friday July 3, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. at the same location.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Put the Brakes on Driving While Texting

David Mittleman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:10:57 GMT

You're driving on the highway. You are going past, or being passed, by another vehicle. It's your natural reaction to glance over to look at the driver. That's when you see it: a teenager’s fingers flying over a miniature keyboard as they text their friends with their eyes facing down rather than on the road. That’s right, I’m referring to “driving while texting”. As a parent, it’s very difficult to read the statistics: each year 21% of all fatal car crashes involve teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 who were using their cell phone at the time of impact, either while talking to a friend or more frequently while sending text messages. Even more alarming, researchers estimate this number to grow by as much as 4% each year.

Safe Driving Systems announced a technology back in May that will remedy this dangerous problem: Key2SafeDriving. This product is the first of its kind and will essentially eliminate distracted driving by rerouting calls and text messages when the user is driving. Specifically, the device’s features include:

The Key2SafeDriving is a Bluetooth device that is fitted onto the ignition key and wirelessly jams the driver’s cell phone.
So long as the key is in the ignition the cell phone cannot be used. The device also sends a text message to parents alerting them when their teen attempts to use the cell phone while it is in driving mode.
Safe Driving Mode: when the user is driving, the cell phone immediately goes into safe driving mode by sending calls directly to voicemail and sending an automated text message to incoming texts to indicate that the user is driving.
Emergency use enabled: when the phone is in Safe Driving Mode, it is still able to call 911 and other numbers by the administrator managed personal profile.

The version I of the device will retail for $49.99 plus a $10 monthly service charge. This device can ease parents’ minds as they send their teens out on the roads, and most importantly, save young lives and the lives of other motorists. These are returns that are well worth the out-of-pocket cost.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

56-year-old St. Johns Man Dies in Two-Car Crash

Devon Glass — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:26:27 GMT

A 56-year-old St. Johns man was killed after he was involved in a two-car accident that occurred on Saturday morning at the intersection of Francis and Parks roads in Bengal Township.

According to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, the man was a passenger in a car driven by his wife. A 17-year-old girl, traveling westbound on Parks Road, struck the couple at approximately 8:30 on Saturday night.

The two survivors of the accident were taken to Sparrow Hospital on Sunday with no life-threatening injuries. The crash is still under investigation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Grand Rapids Car Crash Leaves Teen with Broken Pelvis

Devon Glass — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:15:31 GMT

A 16-year-old boy from Kentwood suffered a broken pelvis as a result of a two-vehicle car crash on June 18, 2009, in Grand Rapids. Another driver ran a red light, according to police, and collided with the teen’s vehicle. The accident occurred just after midnight at 44^th Street and Breton Avenue SE.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass