Protecting Your Rights in an Auto Accident

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Advice From Phillips Law Firm

Find an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

It’s a good idea to try to find a law firm that has over 15 years experience in dealing with personal injury cases. Fifteen years is plenty of time for a law firm to develop a positive reputation. If you are not impressed with their settlement amounts or their reputation you should probably move on to a more reliable firm. Chances are the longer a firm has been around, the better they are at what they do.

Seek Medical Attention Immediately

If you have been injured in an accident it is important to seek immediate medical attention, taking care of your health is the most important thing you should do. The last thing you want is for an insurance adjuster to lower the value of your case because they don’t take your accident seriously. If you don’t seek medical attention you will not be taken seriously because your injuries will look disputable. Reasonable and necessary medical attention is crucial in documenting your claim. Be open and honest with your health care provider so that a clear record is established about your injuries and how it affected your life.

Be Prompt and Make All Your Appointments on Time

Your medical records will be reviewed by everyone involved in and evaluating your accident. If you miss medical appoints you are bound to look flaky. When you look flaky to a jury they are less likely to sympathize with you and sympathy is what you want. You want other individuals to understand the suffering you went through and the serious impact your injuries have had on your life. If you go missing appointments it will be difficult in getting others to care about your case, because it looks like you don’t care about your case.

Wait in Settling

You want to make sure that you finish all possible treatment your health care provides for your injuries before you agree on a settlement amount for your case. Insurance adjusters value your case based on the severity and length of your treatment. The diagnosis and prognosis at the end of your treatment is crucial to your case. It is important to follow directions from your health care provider regarding the duration, scope and necessity of your treatment. Your health care provider will need to determine that you have either recovered or that you will never fully recover before we can fully evaluate the value of your case.

Have Friends, Family, Coworkers and Witnesses Testify

You will want to make it clear that you have a strong support system. If you have suffered traumatic injuries and you rely on help from your loved ones or friends for the necessities of daily functioning this is crucial to document. Having to rely on others in a common occurrence in accident cases and may not only inconvenience you but friends and family as well. If you need assistance in daily care it is important to show document these events.

Keep Written Documentation of Your Injuries

How do you feel as a result of your injuries? Make sure to record the severity and location of pain on a daily basis. Write down any emotions you are feeling as well. Are you frustrated, angry or sad in your necessity to rely on others for help? Are you having trouble connecting with loved ones because you cannot sit or stand for long periods of time? Did you miss church or other events because you simply cannot get there because of doctor appointments? Record all these details for your attorney. It is easier to sympathize with someone when their thoughts are made available for review. If you do not record the feelings you are suffering you may not recall the level of suffering you endured 12-14 months later when your case is presented. It is your job document what’s happening to you emotionally, physically and socially.

Be Patient in Waiting for a Settlement

Your injuries need to fully heal before you can get the justice are entitled to. You will want to be compensated for the full extent of your medical expenses, wage loss, loss of enjoyment of life, and any future losses. Sometimes this takes time. It is important to be patient, finish your treatment protocol and attempt to manage your affairs to the best of your abilities. As always the attorneys and staff at Phillips Law Firm are here to provide advice, direction and empathy. Have you been the unfortunate victim of an auto accident? At Phillips Law Firm our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-JUSTICE, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

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Daniel Chong gets Official Apology from DEA

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Allegedly tortured while in custody with the DEA

Daniel Chong has received an official apology from the Drug Enforcement Agency for the neglect he suffered over the course of five days, but it somehow just doesn’t seem like enough. Chong was under investigation for involvement with illegal drugs and after being locked in a cell for five days without food or water had to resort to drinking his own urine in order to survive.

Handcuffed the entire four days, Chong began to suffer from hallucinations. According to the San Diego Associated Press Chong urinated on a metal bench in order to drink his own urine with limited mobility.

With the realization that he was trapped in a windowless room with muffled sound he began to panic and act with means of getting DEA officials to notice him as he was sure he was forgotten. According official reports he stacked a blanket along with his pants and shoes on the facility bench in his cell in an attempt to set the fire sprinkler off with his cuffed hands by standing on the items. He had no luck.

After four days with no food, water or toilet Chong had accepted death at the young age of 23 and decided to bite into his eyeglasses to use the glass shards to carve “Sorry Mom” into his arm as his final message to the outside world.

Later that same day a DEA agent found Chong covered in his own fecal matter with a wound on his arm. Chong was then immediately taken to a hospital where he spent five days recovering from dehydration, kidney failure, cramps and a perforated esophagus. Reports conclude he also lost fifteen pounds over the course of his facility stay.

Law enforcement officials have been closed-mouthed about the situation because of the ongoing investigation but one comment was made that Chong was not going to be charged with a crime and he should have been released. Chong claims to have no criminal record.

According a federal law enforcement official Chong’s holding was never intended for overnight stay as there was no toilet in his cell.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer writes:

“Please provide me with the results and the actions the department will take to make sure those responsible are held accountable and that no one in DEA custody will ever again be forced to endure such treatment.”

According to reports Chong said he ingested a white powder found in his cell which agents later identified as methamphetamine. Chong claims he ingested the powder to survive because there was no food in his cell.

UCLA Medical Center’s Dr. Wally Ghurabi commented that people can die from dehydration in as little as three to seven days, and commended Chong for drinking his own urine.

Chong’s attorney filed a $20 million claim on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 against the federal agency with allegations that Chong’s treatment while at the San Diego facility constitutes torture under U.S. and international law.

Interview with Daniel Chong 

Have you been a victim of misconduct?

At Phillips Law Firm our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-JUSTICE, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

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Using Social Media To Assist Your Contraception Choice

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Phillips Law Firm can help with your Defective Drug Claim

Which birth control is right for you?

Women of all ages take birth control pills to take charge of their reproductive lives. Research from the FDA concludes that many popular birth control pills including Yaz, Yasmin, Safyral, Ocella and Loryna have the potential to fatally harm you. There has even been alarming new research showing that women have up to a 75% higher risk for blood clots while taking one of the more popular birth control pills Yaz or Yasmin. With all the risks how can you know which products are safe?

Ladies (and men who want to help keep their friends or loved ones informed), it’s time to whip out your social media applications meaning Facebook, Twitter and Google+. While doctors do their best to protect you it is important to complete some independent research. Check out this informative and opinionated blog Sweetening the Pill written by a British journalist living in Los Angeles, dedicated to discussing different birth control pill options.

As companies spend millions of dollars in advertising it is all too easy to make a mistake in choosing a popular birth control pill over a safer birth control pill. Many times when we see repetitive commercials we end up subconsciously ignoring warnings because we have already heard them so many times the “shock factor” no longer exists. As a result of this dangers are ignored. Women often times choose a popular birth control pill with the idea that it safe because of high popularity levels. This assumption could not be further from the truth. The popularity of advertising practices may even leave your doctor in the habit of prescribing or recommending the most popular birth control pills instead of the safest pill for you.

You may have heard advertisements that Yaz helps treat PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) and acne via television commercials in 2008. It turns out that the FDA had not actually approved Yaz for these purposes and then fined the manufacturer, Bayer for advertisement claims. Bayer tried to downplay the serious side effects by making positive claims and in result they tricked many women into thinking they are receiving positive benefits from their birth control products. This is a perfect example that you cannot always trust what you see on television in advertisements.

 

Remember that while the FDA exists to protect you, drug testing takes time. Bayer made claims of positive benefits from Yaz in 2008 and it has taken four years for a complete investigation of these claims from FDA. In result, the FDA found Bayer’s claims to be untrue and then required Bayer to promote awareness of blood clot risks to consumers. During these four years while the FDA conclusions were in limbo some women have experienced strokes, heart attacks, blood clots and some have died as a result of taking Yaz or Yasmin.

As social media sites are advancing there has never been a better time to connect with internet users. Empower yourself and use technology to benefit your health by learning of potential risks before the FDA releases an official ruling. Now is the time to like, tweet, and +1 your way to awareness.

Have you been a victim of Yaz or Yasmin side effects?

At Phillips Law Firm our defective drug attorneys are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-JUSTICE, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

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Actos Bladder Cancer Lawsuits Heat Up

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Actos bladder cancer lawsuits are a massive concern for hundreds of Washington diabetes patients and thousands more around the country. Actos (pioglitazone), one of the few prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat type 2 diabetes, has now been proven to be far more detrimental than the FDA had previously suggested.

The FDA last summer made the attempt to switch millions of diabetes patients from the deadly defective drug Avandia to Actos, however, the move has proven to be fatal in some cases due to the risk of bladder cancer. Takeda, Asia’s biggest drugmaker and producer of Actos, is now facing as many as 10,000 Actos bladder cancer claims after U.S. regulators found last year the drug was linked to the disease.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty in Lafayette, Louisiana, was appointed by a judges panel as the presiding judge in December, has taken the first steps in resolving the cases by appointing 19 plaintiffs’ lawyers to manage litigation involving U.S. claims. This is an important move since the first hearing on the cases is set for March 22, according to court filings.

In the court filings, beyond the allegations of the drug causing bladder cancer, the plaintiffs also claim that Takeda (and co-defendant Eli Lilly & Co.) withheld information about the risk and failed to provide adequate warnings. Due to these allegations around the world, the Japanese drug company pulled Actos off the market in Germany and France last year after it was linked to an increased cancer risk in those countries. However, regardless of the FDA’s findings of the drug’s connection to bladder cancer, the company has yet to pull the drug off of the market in the US.

Most likely because Actos is the company’s top-seller with sales of 387.9 billion yen ($4.8 billion) last fiscal year, covering 27% of the Takeda’s revenue. With those kinds of numbers, it’s hard for a company to pass up putting a few people’s lives at risk. The victims, on the other hand, disagree with that business model.

Phillips Law Firm can help you with your Defective Drug claim.

At Phillips Law Firm our lawyers are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-708-6000, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

It is important to act immediately. Do not let the window of opportunity for your case close as all cases have statues of limitations. You deserve justice and we are here to help.

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Two Tragic Transit Bus Accidents Highlight King County Metro Safety Concerns

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Two tragic transit bus accidents in one week, one resulting in serious personal injuries and the other in potentially wrongful death, has left a lot of people in the Puget Sound area scratching their heads. Those with long and not-so-long memories may be wondering whether some of the safety issues that had plagued the organization in the past once again rearing their ugly heads.

In the first incident this week, a 51-year-old woman stepped off the curb on Third Avenue at Pine Street in Downtown Seattle at around 8:30 am yesterday morning and was struck by a northbound bus. She remains in the intensive care unit with potentially life threatening personal injuries.

The second victim, a 48-year-old Bellevue woman, died after she was struck by the bus. She apparently had just stepped off the bus at her usual stop in East Bellevue at Northeast 10th Street and Northup Way after saying good-bye to the driver and several other passengers, when the bus left and the driver said he heard a “Thump, thump.” He stopped and found her under the bus. She died at the scene.

These two horrible incidents highlights the need for a safety review. In the past King County Metro has had some issues with training, particularly with its handicapped shuttle service, which employs a private contract driver service with different training and background standards and has had some serious incidents. It wasn’t until recently that regular transit buses have begun to eliminate dangerous lift ramps for buses without the steep stairs and safer ramps that merely extend to the sidewalk.

This King County Metro blurs the lines between private and public. It’s funding woes have been highly publicized, with cuts in essential routes that spurred on embarrassing rider uprisings that resulted in public protests last year.

Phillips Law Firm hopes that these serious incidents are not the result of Metro’s attempts to shore up budgeting shortfalls through cutting public safety.

Phillips Law Firm can help with your injury or accident case. Fill out the FREE case review.

When you properly prepare your vehicle and use extra caution, your chances of avoiding an accident are much better. Unfortunately accidents occur at the negligence of other people, causing devastation to you and your loved ones. If you have been injured in a car accident call our personal injury attorneys at Phillips Law Firm at (800) 708-6000. We offer a FREE case consultation 24/7 and offer a no fee promise. Our no free promise means that you do not have to pay an attorney fee if we do not recover compensation for you.

Visit our Vehicle Accident main page to learn more…

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How Does A Concussion In A Car Accident Effect My Child?

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Don’t get us wrong, protecting people for open head injuries is fantastic. An open head wound can result in a skull fracture resulting in fragments entering the brain. If that doesn’t happen, draining blood and brain fluid (cerebrospinal fluid, which creates a buffer between the skull and the brain) can kill the victim within minutes.

Even though concussions are closed head injuries, they can be also be very dangerous and potentially deadly. They can result in a break in the tissue surrounding the brain known as a brain hemorrhage. This is very hard to detect up front and can trickle blood into the skull causing a build up of pressure that eventually can kill the victim.

Concussions can also cause problems with:

  • Headache
  • Concentration
  • Memory
  • Judgment
  • Balance
  • Coordination

These symptoms are both in adults and children, but some studies have shown that the long term effects on concussions suffered by children in car accidents can have a profound effect on their brain development in the future.

Concussions and Children

The study, conducted by a team headed by Keith Owen Yeates, a neuropsychologist at Ohio State University’s Center for Biobehaviorial Health, was published online Monday in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers aimed to identify which kids may be most at risk for lingering symptoms.

The study consisted of 186 subjects aged 8 to 15 who had suffered mild concussions and other mild brain injuries and had been treated hospitals in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. The published results were based on parents’ reports of symptoms up to 12 months after the injuries.

The researchers specifically chose brain injuries that are considered “mild” (no more than half an hour of unconsciousness). Out of the test subjects 60% of kids with concussions or other brain trauma (74 children) had no loss of consciousness.

“In most kids with these injuries, symptoms resolve within a few months but the study results suggest that problems may linger for up to about 20 percent,” said Yeates, the study’s author.

After all of the response data was tallied, researchers found that children with even relatively mild concussions can have persistent attention and memory problems a year after their injuries. They found that 20% (15 children) who lost consciousness had lingering forgetfulness or other non-physical problems a year after their injury.

Problems like forgetfulness were more likely to linger than fatigue, dizziness and other physical complaints.

The study showed that losing consciousness seemed to be a much more telling sign of future complications. Children who lost consciousness or who had other mild head trauma that caused brain abnormalities on imaging tests, compared with kids who didn’t get knocked out or who had normal imaging test results.such as:

  • Forgetfulness
  • Difficulty paying attention
  • Headaches
  • Fatigue

Furthermore, they found 6 of the test subjects who had shown abnormal brain scans had lingering headaches or other physical problems three months after being injured.

“What parents want to know is if my kid is going to do OK. Most do OK, but we have to get better at predicting which kids are going to have problems,” Yeates said. “[Some children] may need temporary accommodations, including extra time taking school tests, or wearing sunglasses if bright light gives them headaches.”

Post Car Accident Treatment

When emergency medical staff, both at the scene and in the emergency room, examine the child, they must be vigilant. Just because it is a closed head injury doesn’t mean it isn’t a very serious situation that could have lasting effects on the child.

“[Concussions] should not necessarily be treated as minor injuries,” Dr. Frederick Rivara, Archives’ editor, said in a journal editorial.

Rivara, a pediatrician and University of Washington researcher has conducted similar showing that mild traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, in children should be properly prioritized and require far more study in order to determine the real effect, what type of treatment and activity restriction is needed on children in order to curb the number of head injuries resulting in future developmental consequences of head trauma.

It is imperative that parents, after a serious car accident, make sure that their children’s head injuries are properly examined, addressed, and monitored. Also, following the accident, they need to monitor their children’s brain function, memory, behavior, and keep a close eye on grades. They should also have regular candid conversations with teachers and care givers in order to determine if they have observed changes.

Seattle Car Accident Lawyers

The violent impact of a rear-end or front end crash can have a severe effect on children. In the case of spinal cord injuries or brain injuries, the child’s development can get severely hampered, affecting their physical and cognitive abilities throughout their lives. No parent wants to see his or her child grow up with a disability because of a car accident that may have been avoidable by displaying just a little bit more caution.

Phillips Law Firm can help you with your Vehicle Accident claim.

At Phillips Law Firm our lawyers are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-708-6000, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

It is important to act immediately. Do not let the window of opportunity for your case close as all cases have statues of limitations. You deserve justice and we are here to help.

Visit our Vehicle Accident main page for more information.
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Are The Devices In My New Car Increasing My Chances For A Car Accident?

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Distracted driving has been a big concern for Washington State as well as across the country. In 2010, Washington legislators passed a law that issued $124 tickets to people seen driving while on a cell phone without using a hands free device. Unfortunately, studies have shown that just because someone doesn’t have a phone glued to their face obstructing 50% of their peripheral vision doesn’t mean that they aren’t distracted and just as much of a danger on the road.

Drivers who use handheld devices are four times more likely to get into a serious crash, and engaging in a phone conversation even using a hands-free device reduces the focus on driving by 37%. This much of a distraction is tantamount to drunk diving. According to NHTSA statistics, 5,474 people were killed and about 448,000 were personally injured in distracted driving accidents in 2009.

So, is that flashy new device glowing on your dashboard making you safer? Ray LaHood says no.

NHTSA Hearings With Car Manufacturers

New federal guidelines laid out by LaHood and published in February in the Federal Register recommend that manufacturers make it impossible for drivers to perform many functions while a vehicle is in motion. These functions include:

  • Ability to send or look at text messages
  • Browse the Internet
  • Tweet or use social media such as Facebook
  • Enter information in navigation systems
  • Enter 10-digit phone numbers
  • Receive any type of text information of more than 30 characters unrelated to driving

Over the past two years there have been several summits hosted by both the congress and senate to highlight the dangers of distracted driving. This push towards awareness of the real dangers have resulted in a series of 3 hearings–the first of which was yesterday—in which automakers laid out their commitment to safety by stating that they can make up fleets lines of vehicles safer as they continue to install electronic products that car buyers want to use while behind the wheel.

“When a device or feature is integrated into an automobile’s driver-vehicle interfaces, it is designed to be used in a way that helps the driver keep their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel,” Rob Strassburger, vice president for safety at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told the NHTSA committee in prepared testimony.

The idea of not installing features that consumers want is a tough call for manufacturers who know that features could be the make or break point in the decision making process when the customer is standing in the showroom ready to buy a new car. Even though safety is a major selling point for vehicles over the last two decades, features are the “wow-factor” that manufacturers may be reluctant to budge on.

“Our first goal is to reduce the complexity and the amount of time required to use electronic devices,”Strickland said. “Our second goal is to disable operations of various in-vehicle electronic devices while driving, unless the devices are intended for passenger use and cannot be reasonably accessed or seen by the driver.”

How Effective Will The Guidelines Be?

These guidelines wouldn’t restrict the use of other electronic alternatives used by the driver if they choose to drive distracted. This is an unfortunate reality surrounding these new policies, however, the main point is to keep driver’s eyes on the road and away from the display unless absolutely necessary.

One of the ways of doing this is to utilize voice command as much as possible for virtually every aspect of the operation of the car from the radio to the temperature of the car. The technology already exists, and though generally only available in higher end vehicle, it is destined to be added to all vehicles as competition and development costs dictate.

Another suggestion forwarded by Strassburger to the committee was to raise the display slightly in the configuration of the dash in order to allow the driver to gain information at a glance.

He urged NHTSA to finalize a single package of guidelines so that manufacturers can create systems for integrating portable devices into the overall on-board electronics scheme safely.

NHTSA plans to hold additional hearings on the proposed guidelines Thursday in Chicago and Friday in Los Angeles.

Let Phillips Law Firm help you with your injury accident or defective device claim.

The new features in cars are generally as dangerous as people utilize them. Yes, web browsing and live streaming are a little ridiculous and shouldn’t really be allowed in a car, but drivers have been punching away at radio dials in cars for decades now. Has that activity resulted in accidents? Yes. Does the fact that the radio and other features will be voice actived help? Without research, we can’t say, but we can hope, because all of those new features are admittedly pretty neat.

If you or someone you know has suffered a serious personal injury after getting into a car accident with a distracted driver, then you need skilled legal council to represent you to assure that you get the compensation you deserve. Call the Seattle car accident lawyers at Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation.

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What Is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)?

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There are some victims who seem to never lose the pain. The area of the injury has persistent and ongoing pain that doesn’t cease regardless of different treatments. This is known as Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Though not full understood by the medical community, this is a very real condition whose consequences can be life changing.

CRPS is best characterized as soft tissue and nerve damage that, for some reason, does not heal correctly or totally. Depending on the nerve and tissue effected, the severity and results of the CRPS changes for each patient.

How Do I Know If I Have CRPS?

If you have it, there’s no doubt, you’ll know. After a auto accident or work related injury, this condition usually manifests itself in an extremity, however, not in all cases. And regardless of where the victim is effected, muscles or joints, the pain is consistent and persistent, and in some cases unbearable.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “The key symptom of CRPS is continuous, intense pain out of proportion to the severity of the injury, which gets worse rather than better over time.”

Some of the symptoms are:

  • Excessive sweating
  • Extreme sensitivity to touch
  • Pathological changes in bone and skin
  • Severe burning pain
  • Tissue swelling

Please keep in mind that currently there is no cure for CRPS, which means that the ailment is still highly misunderstood and treatment is all over the board. Medical researchers and others in the medical community have tried a variety different treatment methods including pharmaceuticals, holistic treatments such as acupuncture, and even medical marijuana, however, consensus has not arrived at a single treatment.

What the medical community has come to consensus on is that there are two types of CRPS and they come in stages.

Stages of CRPS

According to the Center for Advanced Orthopedics and Pain Management, there are there are usually three stages associated with the syndrome. Each stage is marked by progressive changes in the skin, nails, muscles, joints, ligaments and bones.

Stage 1 – This generally lasts from 1 to 3 months and is represented by severe pain at the site of the injury. Stage one is characterized by:

  • Muscle spasm
  • Joint stiffness
  • Restricted mobility
  • Rapid hair and nail growth
  • Vasospasm or changes in color and temperature of the skin

Stage 2 – This typically lasts from 3 to 6 months. In stage two, the pain intensifies and can begin to effect the patient’s quality of life. Stage two is characterized by:

  • Swelling increases
  • Hair growth diminishes
  • Nails become cracked, brittle, grooved, and spotty
  • Osteoporosis becomes severe and diffuse
  • Joints thicken
  • Muscles atrophy

Stage 3 – As stage three approaches, changes in the skin and bones become irreversible. Pain becomes persistent and may spread to the entire limb. Occasionally the limb is crooked or twisted and bone softening is more dispersed. Stage three is characterized by:

  • Marked muscle atrophy
  • Severely limited mobility of the affected area
  • Contractions of the muscles and tendons that flex the joints

Types of CRPS

As stated above, there is now cure for CRPS and treatment is still in its discovery phase, but the medical community has concluded that there are two types of CRPS. These are different from the stages.

Type I – Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)

  • Type one is the injury event itself where the healing process does not involve characteristic relief in pain.
  • Increase in pain.
  • Allodynia, a condition in which pain results from a non-injurious stimulus to the skin.
  • Hyperalgesia where the pain is disproportionate to any inciting event.
  • Changes in skin blood flow, color changes, and temperature changes more than 1.1°C difference from the homologous body part.
  • This diagnosis is excluded by the existence of conditions that would otherwise account for the degree of pain and dysfunction.

Type II – Causalgia

  • Allodynia, or hyperalgesia not necessarily limited to the distribution of the injured nerve.
  • Limited movement in the limb regardless of pain.
  • Changes in bone or blood flow that effects the position of the extremity.

Washington Personal Injury Attorney

CRPS is a serious problem that can have very real consequences on a victim of personal injury. Not only does it increase the severity of the injury, it may require further legal action in order beyond the initial personal injury lawsuit in order to address the increased expense and ingoing need for treatment. It also may require further compensation for increased pain and suffering and quality of life.

Phillips Law Firm can help you with your Personal Injury claim.

At Phillips Law Firm our lawyers are dedicated to getting you justice and compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Law Firm at 1-800-708-6000, we are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee

It is important to act immediately. Do not let the window of opportunity for your case close as all cases have statues of limitations. You deserve justice and we are here to help.

Visit our Personal Injury main page for more information.
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FDA Expands Safety Probe As Propecia Class Action Lawsuit Looms

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Propecia side effects rumors surrounding erectile dysfunction started almost immediately after it was introduced to the market in 1998. It’s no wonder, that’s also one of the side effects of its active ingredient, finasteride, originally a treatment for prostate cancer. Now it is one of the most popular hair loss treatment pills on the market, touting the ability to not only stop hair loss, but in some cases reverse it.

Since its introduction, Propecia has made its manufacturer, Merck, billions of dollars. All the while Merck was failing to mention what it already knew, that the drug could potentially cause serious erectile dysfunction problems. Now, new studies suggest that condition could be permanent in some men.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeled the drug with the erectile dysfunction side effect in 2006 and has just recently found that Propecia may increase the male patient’s chances of contracting prostate cancer. This is bad since the vast majority of the clients are men. This is also surprising, since finasteride is a prostate cancer treatment.

FDA Safety Probe

The FDA has begun contacting the thousands of men who have complained through official and unofficial channels about being effected by the side effects. However, both FDA and Merck spokespersons maintain a policy of silence to much of the media.

According to John Peige, columnist for the Baltimore Sun, the FDA emails sent out to the victims of Propecia say, in part, “We are sorry to learn about your experience with the drug Propecia (finasteride) and the difficulties that you are now enduring. As you may already know, sometimes, additional side effects and safety issues that were not identified in clinical studies may occur after a drug is marketed.”

The FDA urges anyone affected by Propecia to “formally document your case via the MedWatch reporting system. The information you provide will be added to FDA’s post-marketing safety database and reviewed by the post marketing safety staff.”

Though many men have contacted the FDA, there are hundreds who have decided to engage attorneys instead and are now in the throws of starting a class action lawsuit.

Propecia Class Action Lawsuit

At the end of this month on March 29th, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, will begin their hearing session in San Diego, will consider the legal petition for the centralization of dangerous drug lawsuits against Propecia.

The petition regarding Propecia was filed by plaintiff Christopher Masefield and asks for the centralization of almost a dozen federal lawsuits involving the hair loss drug. Merck, the maker of the drug, has been the subject of lawsuits in various federal districts that allege the drug failed to adequately warn of possibly irreversible male sexual dysfunction, clinical depression, and male breast cancer.

Many men filing lawsuits have experienced:

  • Erectile Dysfunction – Impotency or inability to create or retain an erection in order to engage in sexual activity. This can seriously effect quality of life and ability to procreate.
  • Male Breast Cancer – This is particularly dangerous because men are neither trained nor informed that they need to check for this very deadly disease.
  • Prostate Cancer – This is one of the most prevalent diseases to strike men and kills thousands of men every year nationally.
  • Lowered sexual desire – This is sort of counter productive to stopping hair loss since many men do it to retain and youthful and attractive look to attract women.
  • Lowered amount of semen – This can directly effect ability to procreate and may inhibit a man from starting or further grow their family.
  • Lowered quality of life – An active sex life has been shown to lead to stress relief, lowered instance of depression, heart health, and lowered chance of stroke.
  • Anxiety – This can effect relationships at home and at work. Anxiety has also been shown to lead to insomnia, weight gain, and substance abuse.
  • Depression – Depression is a serious problem that can lead to professional and personal consequences. This can also lead to suicide ideation.

Phillips Law Firm can help with your defective drug. Fill out the FREE case review.

By filing a Propecia lawsuit you can receive the compensation you deserve. Depending on your situation, you will either have an individual lawsuit or be added to the MDL already in progress. After a quick interview, the experienced Phillips Law Firm attorneys will be able to tell you your options and help you seek justice.

If you or a loved one are taking Propecia or any other derivative of Finasteride it is important that you contact legal council that has experience in protecting patients from giant pharmaceutical companies. Call Phillips Law Firm for a consultation on your legal options.

Contact Phillips Law Firm at (800) 708-6000. We offer a FREE case consultation 24/7 and offer a no fee promise. Our no free promise means that you do not have to pay an attorney fee if we do not recover compensation for you.

 

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Are New Seattle Greenways Going To Reduce Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents?

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Portland has been experimenting with Greenways and get ready, because they’re about to come to Seattle. A lot of people in Seattle make fun of Portland for being a little too “granola.” Yet, the similarities between the inhabitants of Seattle and Portland are far more distinct than perhaps both cities would like to admit. One of those glaring similarities is the activity levels of the inhabitants.

Both Seattleites and Portlanders love to be outside walking, running, biking, hiking and doing pretty much anything that gets them exposed to nature. That’s why many people move here. This means that both cities also enjoy a robust biking and pedestrian community. Unfortunately, this also means that bicycle and pedestrian safety becomes a major concern for city leaders and civic planners.

Greenways and Safety

For the past 5 years the Greenway plan has been underway in Portland and according to many planners and advocates, including Portland Mayor Sam Adams, they have been very successful in keeping bicyclists and pedestrians safe.

What is a Greenway?

A Greenway is not just about bikes and pedestrians. It also includes structural, environmental, and attitude changes. They are designated routes that are well marked through low traffic residential street to divert bike and foot traffic away from busy arterials and towards commercial destinations through parks and other green spaces. This is intended to lower accidents and increase use of parks and paths.

  • Structural changes – Curbs are extended in order to make green natural drainage points, widened access points, and forced slowing when taking curves. Speed bumps are added to slow traffic. Though-ways are cut off along routes to discourage speeding through residential areas. Speed limits are lowered to 20 mph.
  • Environmental changes – Drainage points are made into gravel, sand, and dirt green spaces with low ground plants in order to not obstruct view. This cleans the water before it goes into the city drainage system because currently, thousands of gallons of untreated chemicals and oil are spilling into Puget Sound on a daily basis.
  • Attitude changes – This will take bike lanes off of main arterials and set them into safer side streets, thus lessening the amount of bike traffic and changing attitudes and awareness amongst drivers.

According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the goal of Greenways is to:

  • Reduce auto cut-through – Taking residential streets in order to avoid traffic will be harder along designated Greenways.
  • Provide safer bicycling and pedestrian connections – Pavement markings and signage are a big part of the program in order to alert drivers that they are on a Greenway.
  • Improved crossings and curb ramps- These make bicycle and pedestrian mobility easier and safer.
  • Reduce auto speeds – Speed bumps and amended speed limits in certain residential streets.
  • Improved signals – Improved crossings at main streets, longer crossing, clearer crosswalks.
  • Provide more “eyes on the street” – They also speculate that more people out on the street bicycling and walking leads to safer streets!

Effects On Traffic and Safety

City officials are going to run into some automatic objections due to some bad blood over past projects. Some bike lanes in the city have garnered some objections as some drivers have complained that they obstruct or slow the flow of traffic. Officials say Greenways directly address this issue by taking bikes off of the road.

“Well, they’re non-arterial streets with low traffic volume and low speeds that we improve for bicycle and pedestrian travel,” said Sandra Woods of the Bike Master Plan told KOMO news.

The first Greenway is expected to start on 43rd and Stone Way. Other projects are expected to start later this year in the Central District to the University District. These will connect on and off with the Burke Gilman Trail already there. However, many people will notice some changes and increased foot and bike traffic on their street with a bill of $150,000 per mile, money already earmarked in 2006 from the “bridge the gap” fund.

Seattle Bicycle Accident Lawyer

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured in a bicycle accident anywhere in Washington State then it is important that they find an experienced personal injury lawyer. Call the Bicycle Accident Attorneys at Phillips Law for a free consultation.

Phillips Law Firm can help with your injury or accident case. Fill out the FREE case review.

When you properly prepare your vehicle and use extra caution, your chances of avoiding an accident are much better. Unfortunately accidents occur at the negligence of other people, causing devastation to you and your loved ones. If you have been injured in a car accident call our personal injury attorneys at Phillips Law Firm at (800) 708-6000. We offer a FREE case consultation 24/7 and offer a no fee promise. Our no free promise means that you do not have to pay an attorney fee if we do not recover compensation for you.

Visit our Vehicle Accident main page to learn more…

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