Recently in Premises Liability Category
Reglan is a powerful drug used for a variety of purposes. The active generic name for Reglan is metoclopramide, which prescribed in both pill and liquid form. An influx of Reglan drug defect claims have recently been filed in mulit-state litigation due to a very serious side effect causing Tardive Dyskinesia (TD). TD is a complex and potentially permanent disorder that is directly linked to excessive Reglan use. Symptoms of TD include abmnormal facial movements, lip smacking, facial twitching and other involuntary body movements. Tardive Dyskinesia is an especially sad disorder that effects the victim in every aspect of their life. What is adding fuel to the fire is that reports have surfaced indicating that Reglan manufacturers knowingly mislead doctors when pushing Reglan prescriptions. Drug manufacturers purposely concealed studies that disclosed the direct link between Reglan use and TD. Drug manufacturers have a duty to the public to manufacture safe products. When the product is potentially dangerous, these companies have a duty to warn of the dangerous side effects associated with its use. In the Reglan claim, these manufacturers just plain failed to warn of known serious, life-threatening side effects. Contact a Reglan injury lawyer today to discuss your Reglan injury claim. There are specific time limitations for filing a Reglan drug defect claim, so if you have experienced symptoms consistent with Tardive Dyskinesia, it is critical to contact an drug defect lawyer immediately. Call (866) 840-3636 to speak with a Reglan injury lawyer who knows how to make drug companies compensate those who are victimized by dangerous drugs.
St. Louis firefighters could not do anything to rescue three children killed in a apartment fire over the weekend in St. Louis Missouri. The fire apparently started in the kitchen of the two bedroom apartment and then quickly spread throughout, engulfing the entire premises in flames. When St. Louis City firefighters arrived on the scene, there was just nothing they could do. Two young children were found dead in their bedroom and a third was found deceased in the kitchen, very badly burned. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire. This particular apartment had two smoke detectors located within the apartment itself, but no built-in sprinkler system. There were no reports that the smoke detectors ever went off, failing to warn the occupants of a fire brewing inside the building. Smoke detectors can be especially critical at night, when occupants are sleeping and can be quickly overtaken by smoke from a smoldering fire. Were these defective smoke detectors? Did the apartment management company know that they were inoperable? These are questions that a St. Louis Defective Product Injury Lawyer will be looking into from the start. It is critical for the lawyer and his investigation team to secure evidence, including the smoke detectors themselves, before such evidence is tampered with or destroyed. This is a horrific set of circumstances, for the families and friends of these three children that lost their lives. Our Missouri injury lawyers are finding more often that multiple-family apartment buildings and their management fail to keep smoke detectors in in good working order. Liability can potentially lie with the apartment management company, maintenance company, and the manufacturer of the smoke detector itself. Don't be victimized twice. Contact a St. Louis Defective Product Injury Lawyer today to discuss your case.
St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz is contacted daily with questions from injury victims. Persons injured in accidents and crashes are vulnerable. Often times they are dependent upon doctors, family members, and claims adjusters to lead them through the process of handling their personal injury claim. The problem is none of these persons understands or appreciates what the injury victim is entitled to receive as compensation for his or her injuries. Doctors are doctors. Family members, while they offer invaluable personal support, are not lawyers. Claims adjusters represent the LAST person to seek advice or guidance from, as they certainly do NOT have your interests first. Here are a few of the common questions St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz fields on a daily basis: Question: Someone told me that I should get 3X my medical bills as a settlement for my injury claim. Is that accurate? Answer: No. There are no two injury claims that are alike and thus to make such a general assumption can create confusion and disappointment. I have cases that I have obtained settlements for 2X medical bills, and I have other cases where I have obtained settlements and verdicts that are 20X medical bills. There is no exact formula. More often than not, I obtain well over 3X what my client's medical bills are as recompense for their serious personal injuries. Question: Do I have to pay back my health insurance if I get a settlement? Answer: It depends. Some health insurance policies are governed by ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), which often times does entitle that insurer to reimbursement for benefits paid to treat injury victims. MediCare and MedicAid generally have to be reimbursed as well. As your injury lawyer, I must request a copy of the health insurance company "Plan" to determine what language governs reimbursent in your particular injury case. Question: Will my case go to trial? Answer: Probably not, but it depends. Statistically speaking, most personal injury cases are settled before trial. The Missouri personal injury lawyers at Schultz Legal Group make a good effort to settle cases before filing a lawsuit. After all, if fair compensation can be obtained without the expense and delay of extended litigation, then it makes sense to settle. However, the client is the ultimate decisionmaker when it comes to accepting or rejecting a settlement offer. If the client and attorney decide together that a settlement offer is too low, then our lawyers file a lawsuit and prosecute the case thru the courts. Even when a lawsuit is filed, the case often times will settle before it matures to a trial. If you have been injured in a MIssouri car accident, tractor-trailer crash, bus crash, or by the use of a defective product, contact St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz for a case consultation and evaulation. Mr. Schultz can be reached at (314) 448-0934 or toll free at (866) 840-3636. Don't be victimized twice. Claim your fee consultation with one of Missouri's top 100 personal injury lawyers today!
First, what is a "soft tissue" injury. Simply put, soft tissue can be any tissue that is not a bone. So muscle tissue, connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments, and discs in the spine are all considered soft tissue. When you are injured in a serious Missouri automobile crash, tractor-trailer crash, or other type of injury-causing event, you are most likely to sustain a soft-tissue injury. Bones usually are not broken unless then make contact with another object. Due to today's protective technology in our automobiles, drivers and passengers are typically restrained from coming into contact with hard objects in the event of a car accident. Soft tissue injuries can be very serious. Don't let the name fool you. Common soft tissue injuries include sprains, strains and contusions. More serious injuries can include spinal disc herniations, bulges, protrusions, and annular tears. Soft tissue injuries can be both permanent and disabling, and can require future surgeries to correct. For example, a disc bulge can become so disabling that epidural injections, a spinal discectomy, or spine disc fusion may be the only thing that alleviates pain. Victims of these types of personal injuries should seek medical care from a qualified orthopedist. If you have sustained soft tissue injuries in a Missouri car accident, 18-wheeler accident, motorcycle crash, or slip & fall should contact St. Louis Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz and get the experienced injury attorneys at Schultz legal Group on your side. Insurance claims adjusters rarely give appropriate value to claims involving soft tissue injuries. Don't be victimized twice!
This is a question most Missouri injury victims face when they are involved in several types of potentially actionable claims, such as: The situation is often times stressful. You have the incident itself that caused the personal injuries, and then you have the insurance adjuster that typically calls a few days later and begins his/her goal of minimizing your injury claim. Essentially, you are set up to victimized twice. Statistics provide that those who retain the legal services of a Missouri Accident & Injury Lawyer received 3x-5x more compensation that those victims who choose to deal with the defendant's insurance company directly. So what types of claims can you handle without the services of a personal injury lawyer? Very minimal claims involving very little property damage and no personal injuries can usually be handled by the victim on his/her own. When you add personal injuries to the equation, it is always beneficial to, at the very least, consult the legal advice from a Missouri personal injury attorney. Understand that insurance adjusters are highly trained and skilled at dealing with both injury and property damage claims. Ask yourself this question: Does the insurance adjuster really have MY best interests in mind, or that of his managers and stockholders? The answer is obvious. I encourage any injury victim to visit the Schultz Legal Group article on How Insurance Companies Adjust Claims. Contact St. Louis Accident and Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz at (866) 840-3636, (314) 448-0934, or by email to discuss your injury claim.
15-year old McKenzie Shelton was seriously injured when the Polaris ATV (all-terrian vehicle) he was operating struck a tree in the woods. The crash happened in Camden County Missouri at approximately 1:00 pm on October 12t. Shelton was wearing a safety device (helmet) at the time of the crash, however he still sustained catastrophic injury. He was transported to University Hospital ER by helicopter. The 2000 Polaris ATV Shelton was operating sustained extensive damage. ATVs are inherently dangerous, especially when operated by young children. This particular personal injury case reportedly involved a 15 year-old driver. The problem is that ATV's are extremely powerful and becoming more popular with Missourians. For example, a 2007 TRX 400EX is capable ot reaching speeds of 60-70 mph. Couple that with the inexperience of younger drivers WHO DON'T EVEN HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE YET and it results in a recipe for disaster. ATV injury claims can implicated various theories of tort law, including: negligence, negligence per se, negligent supervion, negligent entrustment. Negligent supervision and negligent entrustment are triggered when the registered owner of the ATV "entrusts" it to another person, one who may have little to no experience in the operation of such a machine. In such a case, the entrustor's homeowners' insurance policy may have an interest in the outcome of the claim. St. Louis ATV Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz and his colleagues are experienced in the handling of ATV injury claims. Contact us anytime at (314) 448-0934, by email, or complete the online case evaluation form for an immediate response.
This perplexing question is seldomly answered until its too late. There you are, seriously injured in a car accident, truck crash, or motorcycle crash. Adding fuel to the fire, the negligent party that caused the crash only had Missouri minimum liability coverage. With the exception of commercial tractor-trailer owners and operators, Missouri vehicle owners are only required to carry $25,000/$50,000 in liability coverage. The problem is that a just a couple of days in the hospital results in medical bills exceeding $25,000, leaving you (the victim), in a serious financial predicament. Even those with health insurance are at risk because often times co-insurance, deductibles, and other remaining charges mount quickly. I can't tell you how important it is to research automobile insurance carriers and evaluate your personal insurance needs. UNinsured Motorist Coverage (UM) and UNDERinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) are critical forms of coverage that are triggered when you are injured by either 1) an uninsured motorist, or 2) a motorist that doesn't have enough liability coverage to adequately compensate you for your injuries. UNDERinsured Motorist Coverage may be the most crucial form of additional protection one can purchase on an automobile insurance policy. As a St. Louis Injury Lawyer committed to protecting the legal rights of injury victims, I often find that most Missouri motorists fail to carry adequate lines of insurance coverage on their automobiles. Unfortunately, this is only learned when I am unable to recover adequate compensation for clients despite obtaining the full policy limit of coverage available to the negligent driver who was at fault for the crash. Most of my clients end up adding coverage to their automobile policies after our firm resolves their injury claim. Doing this may not help in the current claim, but it will eliminate the risk of being underinsured in the event of a subsequent injury. I can tell you that a few of my clients have called upon this additional coverage upon a future injury claim and expressed extreme gratitude for my recommendation of adding the appropriate coverages. I urge anyone interesting in learning more about the differences between 'minimal' vs 'adequate' insurance coverage to contact me, Missouri Injury Attorney Stephen Schultz, personally at (314) 448-0934 or by email. You may also visit my informative Missouri Injury Website for helpful questions and answers to common insurance questions. I will go through each line of coverage and which ones are critical and which ones can be discarded in order to prevent you from being victimized twice in the future.
MSN Money recently discussed the various forms of exposure to risk associated with owning a dog with dangerous propensities. The discussion was triggered following a dog bite case involving a woman who had her nose bitten off by a neighbor's American Bulldog. The owner of the Bulldog was sentenced to 4 months in jail and was served with a civil lawsuit by the victim. The case eventually settled for $1 million dollars. What everyday person has $1 million dollars in cash to pay a settlement like that? Good question! Depending upon the facts of the case, an owner's homeowners insurance policy may be implicated when a dog bite occurs on the property. However, many insurers are excluding certain breeds from coverage, including Pit Bulls, Akitas, Dobermans, and Chows. Dog bite claims are some of the most graphic cases personal injury lawyers are faced with. Often times there is permanent disfigurement and the victim may even be exposed to rabies. Many people may recall the tragic San Francisco case where a young woman was attacked near the front door of her apartment by two dogs. A wrongful death claim was filed against the two attorneys who owned the dogs.  Dog bite laws in Missouri implicate Negligence, Negligence Per Se, Premises Liability, and Strict Liability legal principles. Its is important to contact an experienced St. Louis Dog Bite Lawyer who understands how each legal principle applies to your case. If you have been injured by a dog bite, contact our lawyers immediately at (314) 448-0934 or by completing the online case contact form. The original MSN Money article can be found by visiting MSN.com.
A young Seymour Missouri boy was injured this past weekend in a Pit Bull dog attack. The boy's father claims that his son was playing in front of the family's home when he was called next door to visit a neighbor. Upon entering the neighbor's property the boy was attacked by a pit bull. The boy was rushed to Cox hospital in Springfield Missouri where trauma surgeons stitched up the deep lacerations in the boy's face with over 15 sutures. Doctor's claim that the injuries to the boy's face will result in permanent scaring. Animal attacks involving the Pit Bull breed are a growing problem in the State of Missouri. The laws in Missouri that provide for recovery to those injured in animal attacks involve negligence, negligence per se, premises liability, and strict liability legal principles, as well as local leash law ordinances. The standard in Missouri is 'whether the owner knew, or should have known, of the animal's dangerous propensities." It is important to note that despite common belief, the animal laws in Missouri do NOT allow for "one free bite" before an owner is held liable for the personal injuries its animal causes to third persons. Dangerous propensities can be proven with evidence of:
- lunging at humans
- growling
- nipping
- previous attacks on other animals
- aggressive disposition when humans are within close proximity
- aggressive barking
Given the interplay between several Missouri legal principals invoked by this type of personal injury, it is important for anyone injured in an animal attack to contact St. Louis Injury Attorney Stephen Schultz for a free consultation. He understands what it takes to beat the standard in Missouri and obtain fair compensation for his clients who are injured by a dog bite. Stephen Schultz and his Missouri injury lawyers can be reached at (314) 448-0934 or toll-free at (866) 840-3636, by email at stephen@schultzlegalgroup.com, or by the completion of our online case contact form.
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