Archive for the ‘Products Liability’ Category

Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys at NST Law Warn Clients About Drug Zocor

Monday, June 13th, 2011

According to MSNBC, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently added warnings to the popular cholesterol drug Zocor, cautioning users of potentially harmful side effects.  After conducting a study, the FDA found that patients who take higher dosages of the drug are more likely to suffer muscle damage than those who take lower dosages.  The dosage levels of Zocor range from 5 to 80 milligrams.  Currently, 12% of the 2.1 million Americans who have a prescription for Zocor take the highest dosage. The FDA study, based on clinical trials, studies, reports of side effects by users and prescription data, revealed that when the victims suffer muscle damage, they can experience pain, tenderness, and weakness.  Severe forms of the injury cause kidney damage.

If you have suffered injury from a drug or medication in Memphis, call the Tennessee product liability lawyers at Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz (“NST Law”) today at (901) 683-7000 or 1-800-LAW-4004.  Federal and Tennessee laws require drug companies to properly label their products and disclose potential side effects.  If you suffer a serious side effect as a result of taking a prescribed dosage of a certain medication, you may be eligible to recover compensation for your injury.

At NST Law, we have the resources to thoroughly investigate a claim and stand up to the drug manufacturers.  Medication and drug cases require knowledgeable lawyers experienced with product liability cases, and at Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz we stay up to date with drug litigation issues by conducting research and attending seminars across the country.  NST has the resources and experience to help hold drug companies accountable for harmful medical conditions caused by their products.  In addition, drug and medication cases need to be investigated as quickly as possible. NST lawyers can retain medical experts to prove a drug caused a victim’s injuries, document medical bills, and project future medical expenses.  If injuries caused by a drug force a victim to miss work, NST lawyers can consult with vocational economists to compute lose wages or diminished future earning capacity.  NST Law utilizes these resources to pursue maximum damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and permanent disability.

Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz, also known as NST Law, is the largest plaintiff’s personal injury law firm in Tennessee that helps victims of unsafe drugs and medications recover damages.  NST Law has offices in Memphis, Jackson, and Knoxville.  Call NST at 901-683-7000 or 1-800-LAW-4004 for a free initial consultation on your case.  A Memphis products liability attorney at NST Law can answer your questions and tell you what your next step should be.  To let Team NST begin working to help you recover every dollar you are legally entitled to, call today or visit us at www.nstlaw.com.

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NST Lawyers Protect Victims Injured By Unsafe Drugs and Medications in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi

Monday, March 14th, 2011

The use of unsafe drugs and medication can result in serious side effects, including death.  It is important that pharmaceutical companies properly label drugs and medication so consumers know exactly what they are putting in their bodies.  Recently, four Tennessee organizations received monetary damages totaling approximately three million dollars ($3,000,000.00) as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company.  The lawsuit alleged the drug company falsely advertised a drug as FDA approved when it did not have FDA approval, allowing the company to sell the drug at a higher price.

If you have suffered injury from a drug or medication in Tennessee, call the product liability lawyers at Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz today at (901) 683-7000.

NST has offices  in Memphis, Jackson, and Knoxville Tennessee, Jonesboro, Arkansas and Jackson, Mississippi, NST has 28 lawyers and a support staff of over 100 dedicated to helping individuals who have been injured from falsely advertised or defective drugs in Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Medication and drug cases require knowledgeable lawyers experienced with product liability cases, and at Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz we stay up to date with drug litigation issues by conducting research and attending seminars across the country.  NST has the resources and experience to help hold drug companies accountable for injuries caused by their products.  Drug and medication cases need to be investigated as quickly as possible, and NST lawyers have the resources to retain experts to help document current and future medical expenses and develop life care plans.

Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz, also known as NST Law, is the largest plaintiff’s law firm in Tennessee that helps victims of unsafe drugs and medications recover damages, representing clients in Memphis, Jackson, Knoxville, and all surrounding counties in Tennessee, as well as Jonesboro and Pine Bluff in Arkansas, and Jackson, Batesville, Tupelo, and Grenada in Mississippi.  Let us use our experience and knowledge to fight for maximum compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other potential damages.

For a free consultation about your medication and drug injuries, call Nahon, Saharovich, and Trotz at (901) 683-7000.

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Tennessee Car Accidents: Defective Airbags Causing Serious Injuries

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Automobile transportation is in some ways a double-edged sword in that it is indispensable but poses a real risk of causing serious and even catastrophic injuries. There are about 6 million car accidents per year resulting in almost 3 million people suffering injuries and over 40,000 fatalities. Given the vital role of automobiles and the prevalence of auto accidents leading to serious injuries and death, airbags are one of the most significant safety innovations in recent years. Airbags are designed to protect occupants of an automobile from the impact of a collision. Unfortunately, airbags are sometimes defective and can themselves cause catastrophic injuries and fatalities. At the Tennessee law firm of Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, we understand that litigating a defective airbag case can be complex requiring expert testimony. Our firm prides itself on the use of cutting edge technology in the courtroom.

Airbags can be a vital safety device that prevents serious injury in the case of a moderate to high speed frontal collisions. It has been estimated that over a fifteen year period, airbags have saved the lives of over 5,000 people involved in auto accidents. Airbags have also resulted in serious injuries or fatalities in relatively low speed collisions. Tragically, almost 60% of the fatalities from defective airbags have involved children.

Airbag can malfunction in the event of a serious auto accident in a number of ways including deploying too aggressively, deploying at the wrong time or not deploying at all. Airbags were designed for high impact or high speed collisions and have saved many lives in such crashes. While airbags are effective at protecting car occupants in a high impact collision, airbags can become a source of serious injuries in relatively low speed collisions. Air bags inflate with incredible force and velocity that can exceed 150 miles per hour so airbags that deploy in relatively low speed accidents can create a far greater risk of injury than the auto collision itself. Defective airbags that deploy when they should not can cause serious injuries including traumatic brain injury, blindness, fractures, loss of hearing and even suffocation.

There are a number of scenarios that constitute the most common cause of airbag related auto accident injuries. One of the most common defective airbag scenarios involves overly aggressive airbags that deploy at low speeds when the airbag should not deploy at all. The shear force of the airbag deploying can cause serious injuries that do not justify the risk of deployment in low impact collisions. Sometimes variations in manufacturing and quality control result in airbags deploying when they should not have deployed.

Another common situation where people are injured by defective airbags is when the airbag do not deploy in time or at all. Because of the intense force and velocity when an airbag deploys, it is critical that an airbag be completely inflated before a person makes contact with it. If the airbag inflates into a person, the impact from the inflating airbag can pose a much greater risk of injury than the low impact collision. Other times an airbag may not deploy at all. Typically, an airbag will deploy late or not at all because sensors that trigger deployment are poorly located, insufficient in number or malfunction.

At NST Law, we understand that if you or your loved one is injured by an airbag in a car accident, you need a law firm that has the resources and experience to carefully investigate the accident and utilize experts to explain the technical aspects of a defective airbag case. We know how to use technology effectively in the courtroom to ensure that you and your loved ones receive the compensation you deserve. Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz is the largest plaintiff’s law firm in Tennessee that helps injured people recover compensation due to someone else’s negligence.

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Tennessee Seat Belt Failure in Serious Auto Accidents

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Seat belt are such an important safety device in an auto accident their use has been mandatory by 49 states and the District of Columbia. A police officer can give a ticket in 31 states even if the failure to wear a seat belt is the only violation committed by a driver. In the rest of the states, a ticket may be issued for failure to wear a seat belt if the driver has committed some other traffic offense. Despite the value of seat belts as a critical piece of safety equipment, many drivers and passengers have no idea that their seat belt can create a false sense of security. Defective seat belts can malfunction resulting in catastrophic injuries or fatalities in serious automobile accidents.

At Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, we have been handled hundreds of serious auto accidents throughout Tennessee including those involving seat belt malfunctions. The attorneys at NST Law know that the automobile industry has been aware that the focus on producing seat belts at the lowest cost has made them vulnerable to unlatching during serious traffic accidents. This emphasis on producing seat belts cheaply has exposed drivers and passengers throughout the State of Tennessee to catastrophic injuries and fatalities.

Despite significant advances in seat belt technology over the last two decades, the automobile injury has largely continued to rely on outdated technology that is largely unchanged. Thousands of cars and trucks traveling on the roads of Memphis, Jackson and Nashville and throughout the State of Tennessee have seat belts that can fail during a serious auto accident where drivers need the protection a seat belt offers. When a seat belt fails during an auto accident, car occupants can be ejected from the vehicle or suffer serious injuries as their body is slammed against the interior of the vehicle.

There are a number of specific seat belt defects or malfunctions that are common including the following:

False Latching: The design of many seat belt buckles can lead a user to believe the seat belt is buckled even when the buckle is not completely engaged. Sometimes the buckle will feel and sound like it is buckled properly. Because buckles have no eject feature when the tongue of the buckle is not fully engaged, the user believes the seat belt is safely fastened. In a car accident, the tongue of the occupant’s belt comes out of the buckle and the occupant is unprotected.

Defective Webbing: Sometimes the seat belt webbing can tear because of manufacturing defects.

Retractor Defects: Shoulder belts are supposed to retract so that there is not slack left in the belt. Defective retractors sometimes mean that the belt does not full retract leaving slack so that one’s body is not securely belted against the seat.

Intertial Unlatching: During a side impact collision or rollover auto accident, the body of the buckle moves in the opposite direction of the release button but the inertial forces acting on the release button tend to keep the button in place effectively pushing the button toward the unlatch position.

When a seat belt fails in an auto collision, there may be a dispute about whether the person was actually wearing a seat belt. At Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, we have the experience to investigate a serious auto accident to establish that a seat belt failed leading to unnecessary injuries to drivers or passengers. NST Law attorneys have been nationally recognized by Super Lawyers, which rates the top 5% of lawyers in the country. Call us today for your free initial consultation.

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China Made Tires Lead to Serious Auto Accidents in Tennessee and The U.S.

Monday, November 1st, 2010

The news has been dominated lately by injuries caused by products imported from China that pose serious health and safety risks. Millions of Americans have been placed at risk by the decision by automakers to outsource production of tire valve stems to China. This new defect has already led to a lawsuit resulting from a fatal car accident as well as widespread recalls and could cause numerous serious Tennessee auto accidents. The defective valve stems that have been fitted on millions of cars in the U.S. have been traced to Top Seal, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Baolong Industries. The tires are distributed by Dill Air Control in the U.S. to such major retailers as Discount Tire Stores.

Reports of toys contaminated with led paint and poison pet food have dominated the media, but these defective tires may pose the greatest risk so far by defective products imported from China. In the wake of the discovery of this new defect, one auto manufacturer has recalled the defective tire while the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) is investigating the tire defects.

It is estimated that 36 million defective tires could be fitted on cars currently traveling U.S. highways. The report by the NHSTA indicates that the defect is that the rubber compound in these tire valves may undergo cracking causing the tire to lose air quickly and result in a blow out. The defect was reportedly the result of improper mixing of the rubber compound during the production process.

Unfortunately, the NHTSA has not yet felt the need for a national alert despite a recent lawsuit resulting from a fatality auto accident caused by the defective tires in Orlando Florida. In that case, Robert Monk died when he was involved in a rollover accident after the defective tire valve on his vehicle failed. Tech International, a U.S. distributor issued a recall of nearly six million of the Chinese made stems in the wake of the Florida lawsuit.

The risk posed by these defective tire valve systems could be vast given the NHTSA estimate that almost 30 million defective valve systems have been distributed in North America. The experienced Tennessee auto accident attorneys at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz know defective tires can lead to tire blowouts which combined with highway speeds may lead to catastrophic auto accidents and result in serious injuries and fatalities. Accidents resulting from blowouts are even more concerning because the driver basically loses control of the vehicle. If you or someone in your family has been involved in a Tennessee auto accident resulting from a blowout, the lawyers at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz are ready to assist you. The lawyers of NST Law have been nationally recognized by Super Lawyers, which rates the top 5% of lawyers in the country.

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Product Liability Lawsuits Reduce the Danger of Tennessee Auto Accidents

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Automobiles have long been a fundamental part of our daily life providing the means to get to work, schools, stores and vacation destinations just to name a few daily uses. The average American take three car rides on any given day. Automobiles have become so prevalent that they currently exceed the U.S. population. While the experienced auto accident attorneys at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz know that safety requirements and standards imposed by the government have improved, those requirements sometimes fall short permitting automakers to put profit margin above public safety. Some recent examples of product defects in the auto industry putting consumers at risk include the following:

• SUV rollover accidents resulting because of a low center of gravity and weak roof structure

• Toyota acceleration accidents

• SUV accidents caused by blowouts from defective tires

While these are some of the most newsworthy product defect issues with automobiles recently, other dangers may be posed by defective door latches, windows, fuel systems, air bags, seat belts and tires. At NST Law, we recognize that sometimes a product liability lawsuit is the only way to ensure that automobile manufacturers correct dangerous defects that may lead to catastrophic Tennessee auto accidents.

The threat of punitive damages in a product liability lawsuit can be an effective supplement to government standards and regulations to discourage automobile manufacturers from treating the cost of providing compensation for serious injuries including spinal chord, head and neck, brain injuries and even death as simply the “cost of doing business.” While government regulations and standards can help, they tend to be reactive as opposed to proactive in nature. Government regulation frequently does not occur until after a problem has become public, and consumers have been injured or killed. The threat of punitive damages from potential product liability lawsuits provides an incentive to car manufacturers to take proactive remedial measures before anyone is hurt or killed.

The Ford Pinto case is the seminal example of an automobile manufacturer failing to provide safe vehicles because of a conscious choice to put profit margin above public safety. Ford designed the Pinto as a fuel-efficient alternative to Japanese vehicles and hastily rushed the Pinto to market. Engineers at Ford discovered during pre-production crash tests that Pinto gas tanks would rupture in relatively low impact collisions. Ford had finished tooling the machines for production before the test results so they decided to begin manufacturing the cars despite awareness of the serious defect.

A memorandum became public that showed Ford had made a conscious decision to allow consumers to be hurt or even killed based on an appalling cost-benefit analysis that would become symbolic of corporate irresponsibility. A company memorandum was exposed wherein the company estimated that the cost of fixing the defect would be $11 per car totaling $121 million dollars. According to the memorandum, the company estimated the cost of paying settlement for the cases where the defect led to serious injury or death would be only $50 million.

Based on this appalling cost-benefit analysis, Ford trudged ahead with production of the Pinto defective fuel tank and all without making any changes or warning consumers. The Pinto litigation led to a huge punitive damage award to punish Pinto and discourage such future economic analysis. The Pinto case provided a warning to companies that they could not simply ignore an obvious risk to consumers because it would be cheaper to pay compensatory damages to those who are injured.

Product liability law for defects that lead to Tennessee auto accidents combined with the court’s ability to award punitive damages to discourage such callous economic analysis is an important part of product liability cases. At NST Law, we understand that the purpose of a product liability claim in a car accident case is both to compensate you or your loved ones and to ensure obvious defects are not ignored or disregarded leading to Tennessee car accidents resulting in catastrophic injury or death.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Tennessee auto accident, the experienced auto accident lawyers at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz have the experience and skill to help you seek compensation for your injuries. The experienced Tennessee auto accident attorneys of NST Law have been nationally recognized by Super Lawyers, which rates the top 5% of lawyers in the country. Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz is the largest plaintiff’s law firm in Tennessee that helps injured people recover compensation due to someone else’s negligence.

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Toyota Litigation: The Black Box Smoking Gun

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Many people do not realize that automobiles including eight million Toyotas facing recall for product defects have black boxes called Event Data Recorders (EDRs) that may explain the cause of many Tennessee acceleration auto accidents.  Recent reports suggest that Toyota has taken affirmative steps to prevent the disclosure of this black box data.  The auto accident lawyers of Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, PLC (NST Law) recognize the importance of aggressively seeking EDR data to obtain fair compensation for serious injuries or death suffered by you or your loves ones caused by Toyota acceleration auto accidents or other serious auto accidents.

The majority of auto manufacturers routinely provide access to this black box data which can provide information including vehicle speed, accelerator angle, gear shift position, seatbelt use, driver’s seat angle, brake position and antilock brake system information.  However, recent AP reports indicate Toyota Corporation has frequently declined to provide this data to crash victims.  Toyota uses a propriety software program that reportedly was loaded on only a single laptop.  Toyota has a history of settling lawsuits when plaintiff’s attorneys pressure Toyota to provide discovery of the EDR data or providing a redacted version with key information blacked out.

The AP reports also suggest that Toyota may have misrepresented what information is even recorded by an EDR in a Toyota vehicle.  When the AP initially inquired about what information was recorded by the EDR, Toyota officials failed to include any mention of brake position or the antilock brake system.  When AP again contacted Toyota, the company admitted that brake position and antilock brake system information is recorded by the EDR.

Following an Indiana crash, Toyota representatives told the family of the victim that there was “no sensor that would have preserved information regarding the accelerator and brake position at the time of impact.”  The victim in the Indiana crash prior to her death had explained to relatives that she was pushing on the brake pedal with both feet but could not get the vehicle to stop.  A Toyota technician from California conveniently traveled to Indiana to download the EDR data before it was provided to the police.

It appears that Toyota may have to have covered up EDR information on brake position in other auto accident cases.  In a fatal Texas auto accident, the police were told that the EDR information on braking and acceleration were listed as “off.”  The attorney in the case believes that Toyota may have disabled the ability of the EDR to collect braking and acceleration information to avoid discovery by plaintiffs’ attorneys in court cases involving serious auto accidents including fatality accidents.  This would provide an explanation for the “off” message in the Texas case.  Toyota lawyers also have argued in litigation that the EDR is an experimental device and not reliable enough to be used for accident reconstruction in auto accident cases.  However, EDR devices have been used regularly in Toyota vehicles since 2001.  The experienced auto accident lawyers at NST Law will aggressively pursue admission of EDR data in Tennessee acceleration auto accident cases.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report earlier this month indicating that 52 people have been killed in auto accidents related to sudden unintended acceleration.  However, Toyota has engaged in discovery practices for years designed to prevent disclosure of EDT data that would establish the cause of the accidents.  If you are injured in Tennessee in a Toyota acceleration auto accident, it is imperative that the EDR data is preserved.  An experienced Tennessee auto accident lawyer will know how to take appropriate steps to obtain the EDR data and avoid destruction of this critical evidence.

At NST Law, we often employ experts and have experience in preserving and obtaining EDT data in Tennessee auto accidents as well as persuasively presenting this evidence to a jury.  Super Lawyers has recognized NST Law as one of the top 5% of law firms nationally.  If someone you love has been killed or seriously injured in a Toyota acceleration auto accident or any type of Tennessee auto accident, you should contact NST Law today.

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