On Wednesday, June 25, 2008, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling in Franco v Willamette Dental — basically upholding the verdict. The trial was two years ago during the summer of 2006 and involved damage to our client’s lingual nerve from wisdom tooth extraction. The court did not issue an opinion but issued an “AWOP” — affirmed without opinion. The insurance company for the defendant is Fortress Insurance, the dental branch of OMSNIC (the oral surgeon branch).  After the verdict the highest offer made from Fortress to our client (over a year and a half after the verdict which runs at 9% interest) was less than half of the jury verdict.  Fortunately, our client had the courage to stand up to the company and let the court decide.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Finn Terry. Tragically, Finn, an 11 year old Portland boy, died this weekend when a canoe he was riding in flipped over in the Clackamas River. Finn attended da Vinci Arts Middle School in Portland and he received a standing ovation at the school’s talent show on Friday when he read his poem about love.

My neighbors’ and friends’ children played baseball and attended school with Finn. How do you explain such a loss to a child? How do families deal with the loss? My cousin died in a car accident during my first year of law school and a classmate died when I was in 7th grade — loss is hard to understand at any age but especially hard for children to understand. I encourage anyone who is seeking answers or interested in help in this area to seek the help of the Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon.

The Dougy Center provides support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a death can share their experiences. It is a wonderful resource in Portland for families dealing with loss. The Dougy Center is supported through generous private donations from individuals, companies and foundations and it does not receive federal or state funds. Because of the generous donations, the Dougy Center is able to provide its services free of charge.

Here are two of Finn’s poems:

At first he loved it he loved the great sensation it brought but as he grew he realized what it did and hated everything about it but was still addicted he could barely talk by age 29 but the drug still called out and he still answered and it was always calling louder and faster until it was silent its purpose had been fulfilled and he slept silently, stilly, the path was finally clear when it used to be covered with the vile black cloud of smoke, and all he saw was a bright light walking to it he thought that he was free from the pain that felt so good, free to explore all he missed in another world, free to finally rest without the eternal cries from the box of evil, his curse had been lifted. Now joyful for the first time since childhood he looked at the world he parted from and saw many people following the same path and felt a new type of pain, a worse type of pain he now knew as sorrow and he could bear it no longer, he visited dreams and entered minds and pleaded them to stop but they didn’t listen to him or anything else, except the great sensation it brought and it always ended in silence.

———-

As he stood in the batter’s box again realizing it’s a full count and two outs and last inning, he needs a miracle to win this game, he looks confidently at the pitcher even though he’s has an extremely nervous look and by the time the pitcher started his pitch his knees were wobbling and when he threw the last ball of the game you could hear the ball screaming it was going so fast we all knew it was game over but what’s this he’s swinging without hesitation! The last three seconds seemed to be in slow motion the crowd leaned in the players pushed themselves against the fence the umpire yells STRIKE THREE BATTER OUT his team disappointed left grumbling the other left cheering, he was all alone, if you want to see him he’s still there helmet on bat in hand waiting for the next game.

Both by

Finn Terry

Today was the oral argument in Franco v Willamette Dental before the Oregon Court of Appeals.  The lingual nerve injury case was originally tried to a Multnomah County jury in Portland, Oregon in June 2005 by Jane Paulson and her co-counsel.  The jury awarded the full amount sought, $600,000.  After nearly two years, the appellate argument was heard in Salem, Oregon.  We will now wait for the Court of Appeals decision.  Due to other matters being held at the same time, the argument was heard in the Tax Court in Salem, Oregon.  Maureen Leonard of Portland, Oregon briefed and argued the case for us on appeal.  Our client attended the hearing with Jane.

As an attorney representing people injured in automobile accidents, it is important to collect as much information regarding the facts of the accident in addition to the names of witnesses as soon as possible. Frequently, attorneys are not contacted by accident victims for quite some time following the collision and much of the valuable information surrounding the accident has been lost. Good accident attorneys, including the attorneys at Paulson Coletti, retain investigators as soon possible to obtain and preserve important evidence.

If you are involved in an automobile accident, even if you choose not to consult an accident, attorney you should do the following:

a.    Notify your insurance carrier and file the appropriate documentation with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

b.    Notify the police while at the scene.

c.    Obtain the names, phone numbers and addresses of everyone who witnessed any aspect of the collision.

d.    Photograph any skid marks and document the final resting positions of vehicles and debris.

While it is important to cooperate with your own insurance carrier following the collision, you are not required to provide the responsible driver’s insurance carrier with a recorded statement. If in doubt, contact an attorney before speaking with the other driver’s insurance carrier to ensure that you understand your rights.

If you have any questions, please contact the attorneys at Paulson Coletti. We are experienced at representing people injured in automobile collisions.

Jane Paulson, of Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys in Portland, Oregon, will be speaking tomorrow at a Civil Trial Practice CLE in Bend, Oregon. Jane Paulson will be speaking on “Courtroom Technology” with Eli Hart a trial consultant with Rose City Media in Portland, Oregon.

The seminar is for members of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association.

For over 50 years, the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) and its member attorneys have advocated for the rights of consumers by promoting safer products, workers’ rights, access to quality health care, safeguarding the environment and eliminating discrimination in the workplace.

Through education and training, OTLA attorneys subscribe to the highest standards of quality legal representation and ethical conduct. As attorneys who represent the interests of consumers, OTLA is a powerful voice for Oregonians’ rights and equal access to justice.

    Unfortunately, despite the use of seat belts and airbags, people involved in automobile accidents frequently experience head injuries and post-concussive symptoms. Head injuries can come in many forms beginning with severe traumatic skull fractures with traumatic brain injury and ending with mild post-concussive symptoms without a recognizable concussion following the collision. People suffering from post-concussive symptoms frequently do not receive appropriate treatment because their symptoms were subtle in comparison to other injuries they may have suffered during the collision. For many, it takes months for them to recognize that they are experience symptoms such as forgetfulness, irritability, difficulty concentrating or vestibular problems which are related to the motor vehicle accident.

If you have been involved in an automobile collision and question whether you suffer cognitive problems which may be the result of head injury, it is important to seek treatment. Neuro-psychological testing can assist your doctors in determining the nature and extent  of your condition and also determine the appropriate course of treatment.

    All too often, people who are badly injured in automobile accidents are injured by uninsured drivers or drivers with limited insurance coverage. In Oregon, accident victims are surprised to learn that their medical bills and lost wages  may far exceed the available insurance limits and find that they have no method of paying for out of pocket expenses even though the automobile collision was not their fault. Worse yet, some accident victims learn that the other driver was not insured and has no method of compensating the injured person.

In Oregon, if you are injured by a driver with no insurance, or with liability limits which are lower than your liability limits, you have the right to pursue a claim against your own insurance carrier for uninsured motorist benefits and/or underinsured motorist benefits. As attorneys who regularly represent Oregon accident victims, we encourage our clients to contact their insurance carriers in order to increase their uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage so that they are protected in the event a collision involving an uninsured or underinsured driver. This is the best method of protecting yourself from dire financial consequences in the event of a serious automobile collision.

At Paulson Coletti, we are experienced at representing people injured in automobile accidents. If you have a case you would like to discuss, please contact us.

Sixty two people are now suspected of dying from use of Heparin. The Food and Drug Administration is analyzing the heparin deaths.

It has not been established how the additive, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, ended up in heparin. The material is less expensive to produce than the actual drug which raises concerns of involvement of counterfeiters.

Due to the deaths lawsuits will likely be filed against Baxter and the other manufacturers involved.

* FDA on expanded recall

The FDA reported that additional patient deaths may be linked to Heparin, the blood thinner, so Baxter International Inc. is recalling the drug (the remaining lots of single and multi-dose injection and it will recall HEP-LOCK products).

In February, Baxter recalled nine lots of heparin multi-dose after the drug’s use was linked to four deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions.

Now 17 other deaths are being investigated because of a link to heparin. The FDA is cautioning against immediately linking the deaths to Heparin since many of the patients were already sick so a definitive cause of death has not been established.

The active ingredient in Heparin is made from membranes of pig intestines. The pig membranes were supplied by a Chinese plant,Changzhou SPL, co-owned by a Wisconsin company, Scientific Protein Laboratories of Waunakee.

Heparin is frequently used as a blood thinner to avoid clots.

Baxter is the largest maker of Heparin.

Baxter had approximately $30 million in sales of Heparin in 2007.

 A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (January 14, 2008) found that many doctors are aware of medical errors but are not reporting the medical errors.   The study was of 338 doctors from teaching hospitals across the US.

 ”The most important message seems to be that there is a gap between physicians’ desire to report errors to improve performance over time and reporting of errors,” said study author Dr. Lauris Kaldjian, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

The study also found that doctors who reported minor medical errors in the past said they were more likely to report any new errors.