Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

On the heels of Toyota's massive recall of 6.1 million vehicles due to accelerator defects, GM announced Monday that it is recalling 1.3 million cars due to problems with power steering.

According to NHTSA, complaints filed against GM assert that the loss of power steering assist in many GM vehicles has led to car accidents and injuries. Owners complain that power steering assist goes out without warning, requiring greater steering effort under 15 mph. The car has to be restarted for the power steering assist to work again.

The defects affect 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5s, Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada, and Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico. GM began the recall after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received more than 1,100 complaints.

According to NHTSA, about 10 percent of the complaints allege that the loss of the steering assist resulted in difficulty controlling the vehicle, such as leaving your lane of traffic. As a result, the failure of power steering assist may lead to head on collisions and intersection accidents, causing possible head, neck and back injuries.

Despite complaints of the steering defect for over a year, GM just notified NHTSA and issued its recall Monday night.

Continue reading "General Motors Recall Affects Thousand of Georgia Vehicles" »

No injury is more devastating to a Georgia truck accident victim, auto accident victim or premises liability victim than a spinal cord injury. Paralysis occurs if the spinal cord is severed. Depending on where it is severed, the paralysis can be defined as quadriplegia for paralysis of all four limbs, or paraplegia for paralysis of only the lower extremities. Whatever the result, the practical effect of a spinal cord injury is life-changing.

Gwinnet County spine injury cases are complicated and require expert testimony concerning the real-life impact of the injury and an economic quantification of all the damages. Issues like future medical treatment, future physical therapy treatment, future lost wages, future reduction and ability to earn a living are all relevant inquiries. All aspects of the life status pre-injury compared to post-injury must be fully explored to assure a fair settlement or verdict for the injured party. Many times discovering all available insurance is the most challenging aspect of a lawyer's role. Most liability insurance policies do not cover the extensive damages suffered by spinal cord injury victims. Consequently, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage needs to be claimed. Multiple UM policies in Georgia can often be stacked to maximize coverage.

Securing the evidence needed to prove liability is also key. If the accident involved a tractor trailer, they typically have already obtained a head start in the process. Knowing that the injuries are often catastrophic, these insurance companies and responsible parties go out of their way to reduce their chances of having to pay any large amounts. An accident attorney needs to act aggressively to make sure the accident victim is protected.

Continue reading "Georgia Spinal Cord Injuries" »

The most common serious injury suffered by the victim of an auto, truck, boat, motorcycle or other vehicle accident in Georgia is a back or spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injuries are extremely serious and require immediate medical attention. The symptoms depend on the severity and location of the trauma. A "complete spinal cord injury" is defined as an injury where the nerves are not functional at any point below the injury, where with a "partial spinal cord injury" there is some nerve function below the injury.

The human body has 24 movable vertebrae: 7 cervical, 12 thoracic and 5 lumbar. The spinal nerves wind through the spinal canal. The cervical vertebrae are in the area of the neck, the thoracic center around the upper back and the lumbar are associated with the lower back. The vertebrae are numbered in sequential order with #1 at the top, so C1 would be the top cervical vertebra and C7 the bottom cervical vertebra and the one above T1. An injury occurring higher up the spinal cord results in relatively more paralysis than one affecting the lower vertebrae.

A complete spinal cord injury in the C1 region is considered a catastrophic spinal injury and could affect a victim's breathing and result in quardraplegia, paralysis of all limbs. A compete injury of the thoracic or lumbar vertebrae might result in paraplegia, or paralysis of the arms or legs. Other symptoms of spinal cord injuries could include: stiffness or spasticity of the affected arms or legs, loss of bowel or bladder control and sexual dysfunction.

Treatment of the injury for spinal cord usually consists of 3 distinct phases:

1. Stabilization of the injury and minimization of further injury to the spinal cord;

2. Rehabilitation of the injury so that the patient can function at maximum mobility;

3. Coping with the injury and the life changes associated with any permanent impairments.

More than 10,000 American suffer serious spinal injuries each year. Most of these occur in automobile wrecks and trucking accidents. Motorcycle accidents and boating crashes are other common causes. If you are injured in an accident, even if you don't necessarily feel seriously hurt, seek medical attention immediately. If the injury is a complete spinal cord injury, you will likely have no choice. However, even with a partial spine injury, wait for the ambulance. Adrenaline may cause you to feel stronger and less injured than you really are. You can make the injury worse if you don't stop moving immediately.

I represented a man with a partial spinal injury who exacerbated the injury by his unrestrained movement after the fact. Not only was he more severely injured than he should have been, but he also could not seek damages for the exacerbation caused by his post-accident movement, as it was not caused directly by the wreck. Don't let this happen to you. And, by the way, wear your seatbelt in your vehicle and your helmet on your motorcycle because a severe head or brain injury is not just devastating, it's likely fatal.

Hire a lawyer who is experienced in cases involving spinal cord and head injuries. The medical details can be confusing, and you don't your lawyer to learn on the job when so much is at stake.

The most common serious injury in a vehicle accident is a back or neck injury. With so many cars in Atlanta, Gwinnett County and the surrounding areas, I have seen my share of clients with major back and neck pain. Everyone understands that back injuries are serious. Tragically, the effects of a spinal cord injury are immediate obvious. Spinal cord injuries that result in paralysis are catastrophic and devastating. But, what about serious back injuries that are not obvious at the time of an auto accident, truck wreck or motorcycle crash? Herniated discs, slipped discs, ruptured discs and bulging disks are just those types of injuries. These may not be catastrophic injuries, but they are often permanent injuries affecting the victim for the rest of his or her life.

Disc injuries are almost never diagnosed on a trip to an emergency room. In fact they cannot be detected with an X-ray, CT scan or the other types of diagnostic equipment typically at a hospital ER. Instead, if an accident victim complains about a back or neck injury, and there is no bone fracture, the ER doctor will typically advise a patient to follow up with an orthopedic doctor if the pain persists. If the patient does so, the orthopedic doctor will typically advise the patient to seek physical therapy or massage therapy. Only after all conservative measures are exhausted, will a doctor order a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the affected area. Sometimes, he will only do so at the insistence of the patient. MRIs can be expensive, and insurance companies do not want to pay for them.

The MRI will show the orthopedist the state of the cartilaginous discs in between the spinal vertebrae. These discs are filled with fluid and allow the spine to bend and twist, allowing normal torso movement. When a bulging disc is suffered, the disc has swelled or is otherwise "bulging" in one area relative to the rest of the disc. More seriously, a disc can become herniated or ruptured, and all that spinal fluid that keeps the disc hydrated can leak out. The disc can then become brittle and lose its elasticity. Unfortunately, this fluid cannot be put back in, and the disc cannot heal or become whole again.

Herniated discs are very serious injuries, and anyone who has suffered a herniated disc in an accident that was caused by someone else should seek the services of an excellent back and spine injury attorney. Surgical options are typically limited and imperfect for disc injuries. The doctor could perform a discectomy, where he or she removes the shredded disc. Alternatively, the doctor may "fuse" several vertebrae together. Obviously, fusing vertebrae together does not result in the type of mobility one enjoyed before this procedure. There is simply not a lot that can be done to make the patient the way they were before. After surgery, a victim of a herniated or ruptured disc may still suffer debilitating pain. This is one reason people get addicted to pain medications.

Perhaps medical science will advance to the point that herniated or ruptured discs can be made perfect by surgical procedure. Until that day comes, one needs to make sure that they are fully compensated for their future medical costs, pain and suffering.

As I have blogged about before, Atlanta truck accident victims suffer vertebral disc injuries which can go undiagnosed by their doctors. The reasons for this are twofold. First, ER doctors do not typically order MRIs (magnetic resonance images) of the neck or back, the diagnostic test used to show a disc injury. It simply is not an ER doctor's job. He is there to make sure that his patients do not die from an immediate injury, not to diagnose every single injury. Once he is convinced that someone is stabilized and not in mortal danger, the ER doctor either admits the patient to the hospital for further care or discharges him or her with instructions to follow up with another doctor. This is called triage. Second, MRIs are expensive, and insurance companies don't want to pay for them. Therefore, they insist that orthopedic doctors exhaust conservative measures before they order and MRI. Sometimes, orthopedic doctors don't even order them at all except for the insistence of the patient.

Sometimes, the patient, especially a man, wants to be tough and not admit to others he was hurt too badly. The adrenaline of the accident can convince someone he or she is fine. Dealing with an insurance company for a diagnostic is not fun either.

Whatever the reason, don't wait. Get the MRI. Back and spinal injuries, including disc injuries are very serious. If they are not diagnosed within a reasonable time, the insurance company of the at-fault driver may deny coverage. The later the diagnosis, the more these insurance companies argue that the injury was not suffered at the time of the collision. If the treating doctor cannot definitively say that the injury was caused by the accident, the victim may be out of luck. It's a vicious cycle.

You must recognize the symptoms of a herniated, bulging or ruptured disc injury.

Traumatic Structural Experience. A person who has experienced a disc injury may feel a "pop" sensation in his or her lower back or neck, followed by the onset of pain. The presence of such a sensation pop does not necessarily mean that the person has experienced a disc injury. In fact, the facet joints are capable of "popping." Moreover, if one is injured in a violent auto or truck accident, a small "pop" will probably not be audible.

Back Pain. Persistent back pain that endures beyond the first few days or weeks following the accident could be the sign of a disc injury. Spinal column discs are flexible and elastic, but the forces in an impact can push this cartilaginous tissue beyond its limits, causing a herniated or ruptured disc. The collapse of the disc can place great pressure upon the sciatic nerve. The pain can consist of numbness with bouts of sharp, stabbing pain, sometimes extending down to the feet and legs. If not treated, the pressure of the protruding or collapsed disc can cause chronic pain and numbness.

Back Spasms. The muscles in the back, like the spinal erector, upper rhomboids and trapezium, can become very tight and inflexible. This is the body's defense mechanism. The body will attempt to limit mobility by tightening muscles to limit further movement and injury. This muscle tightness can extend to areas far away from the injured disc like the neck, shoulders calves, toes and feet.

If you have been in a serious automobile accident, boat accident or motorcycle accident, and have experienced back pain, make sure you follow up with your orthopedic. Don't see a chiropractor. See a medical doctor only. If you experience the symptoms above for an extended period, insist on an MRI. Finally, see an experienced Atlanta back injury lawyer to make sure that the insurance company does not claim that the disc injury was caused by something other than the accident.