Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog

March 26, 2014

Appeals Court Upholds Judgment Against Pediatrician, But Tosses Case Against Hospital in Infant Malpractice Case

A family who lost their infant child at only nine days of age received a partial legal victory recently in the Louisiana Court of Appeal pertaining to their medical malpractice case against a Slidell hospital and a pediatrician. The appeals court decided that a lower court judgment against the doctor could stand, but that the hospital was not liable in the child’s death because the family’s expert witness failed to testify regarding how the hospital staff’s missteps caused the child’s fatal injury.

The case regarded the treatment of Alex Ducre Jr. at Slidell Memorial Hospital. The child was born at the hospital roughly four weeks prematurely. Although the child initially appeared healthy, he began showing signs of mild jaundice around 36 hours after birth. The child’s pediatrician, Phyllis Waring, nevertheless discharged him the following morning. Three days later, the mother telephoned the hospital because the child showed worsening signs of jaundice. The nurse on the phone told the mother simply to bring the child to the hospital the next day for a regularly scheduled lactation appointment.

By the time the child arrived at the hospital, he was lethargic, and had poor muscle tone with yellow skin and yellowing in the whites of his eyes. The hospital admitted the baby to the pediatric intensive care unit. The child’s condition deteriorated and he died three days later.

March 13, 2014

Baton Rouge’s DWI Checkpoints Violated State Law, District Court Rules

by Cardone Law Firm

A state District Court judge recently agreed with a lower court in tossing evidence against an allegedly drunk driver arrested in Baton Rouge due to the improper conduct of a sobriety checkpoint, The Advocate reported. The court determined that the Baton Rouge Police Department violated guidelines established by the Louisiana Supreme Court for the proper implementation and conduct of checkpoints created to ensure compliance with the state and federal constitutions. The ruling carried wide implications as the procedural defect impacted not just one, but several drivers, arrested by the Baton Rouge police.

The ruling stems from a case involving Brian Parks, a driver whom Baton Rouge police arrested for DWI in Dec. 2010. Parks was driving through Baton Rouge when he encountered a sobriety checkpoint near the 100 block of Government Street. Parks’ attorney asserted that the way police carried out the sobriety checkpoint that ensnared the driver violated Louisiana law regarding the proper procedure for conducting DWI checkpoints.

Read more about Louisiana’s DWI law.

In 2000, the state Supreme Court ruled that DWI checkpoints do not necessarily violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures, provided that law enforcement follow certain guidelines that the court laid out. These guidelines, among other things, require law enforcement to establish, in writing, several parameters regarding the checkpoint, including its location, time and duration. Supervisors or administrative personnel must carry out the task of establishing these parameters; it cannot be done by the officers in the field who directly conduct the checkpoint.

February 19, 2014

Dealing with DWI/DUI in Louisiana During Mardi Gras

by Cardone Law Firm

It is already that time of year again. Time for the purple, green and gold. Time for king cakes, krewes, beads and parades. Mardi Gras season brings great joy and revelry to the New Orleans area. However, your feelings of excitement and good cheer can turn sour if you find yourself facing a DWI charge. Should you find yourself in such a predicament, it is vitally important to know what to do in order to prevent a bad situation from becoming even worse, especially if you’re visiting from another state.

Learn more about Louisiana’s DWI law.

During Mardi Gras, the population of New Orleans roughly doubles. Both locals and visitors alike who choose to consume alcohol or other controlled substances as part of their Mardi Gras experience should be keenly aware that area law enforcement agencies ramp up to enforce a “crackdown” on drunk drivers during this time of year. Law enforcement officers have powerful tools at their disposal, too, including a $350,000 mobile unit that can perform DWI breath analyses in the field, the Times-Picayune reported.

This emphasis exists because Mardi Gras typically is the most dangerous time of year on area roads. According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission statistics from 2010, the period from Friday evening through midnight on Fat Tuesday saw 509 crashes involving injuries or fatalities. That number was higher than any other holiday during the year. Six people died in drunk driving-related accidents, tying Mardi Gras with Christmas for the most DWI-related fatalities.

February 5, 2014

Refusing an Officer’s Request to Submit to a DWI/DUI Test in Louisiana

by Cardone Law Firm

If you find yourself pulled over by a law enforcement officer who suspects you of driving drunk, you have many choices available to you and several decisions you must make. One of the first of these is to submit to, or refuse, a blood, breath or urine test. Refusing to undergo such a test can trigger a number of possible ramifications of which you should be aware.

The law in Louisiana contains a provision known as “implied consent.” Implied consent means that, if an officer makes a legal stop with probable cause to suspect that you were driving drunk, then you must consent to taking a test to determine your blood-alcohol content. The law requires the officer to read you an “Implied Consent Warning,” which states all the possible consequences to you if you refuse to submit to a test. If the officer fails to warn you about the ramifications of refusing, you may later be able to persuade a judge to throw out your refusal and decline to punish you for it.

Learn more about Louisiana’s DWI law.

If the officer gave you with a proper warning, and you still refused, then several things may happen. Refusal to submit triggers an automatic suspension of your driver’s license unless you petition the Office of Motor Vehicles for a hearing, and do so within 15 days of your arrest. Your automatic suspension will last 180 days if this is your first refusal, otherwise the suspension will run 545 days. If it is your first refusal, you may apply for a hardship license after three months. If it is not your first refusal, you are ineligible for a hardship license.

January 21, 2014

Ignition Interlock Devices and Louisiana DWI/DUI Law

by Cardone Law Firm

Some states require special aggravating circumstances or multiple convictions before they impose an ignition interlock device requirement. Louisiana is not one of them. Louisiana law regarding DWI/DUI contains many strict provisions in the state’s effort to curtail or stamp out drinking and driving. The state is one of only eight that requires even first-time offenders to attach an ignition interlock device to their vehicles. It is extremely important to understand what this process entails and what it means to your ability to continue driving if you’re convicted of drinking and driving. Sometimes, this provision can be waived and not imposed on a first-time offender.

Read more about Louisiana’s DWI law.

Ignition interlock devices, also known as IIDs or BAIIDs, are mechanisms that attach to vehicles’ dashboards and connect to the ignition system. The device requires the operator to blow a breath sample, which it then analyzes to determine the operator’s blood alcohol content. If the sample indicates that the driver is sober, the ignition system will work. If not, the vehicle will not start.

Be aware that ignition interlock devices are often quite expensive. The ignition interlock device on your car must come from a manufacturer approved by State Police Applied Technology. Currently, the state has seven approved vendors for ignition interlock devices. The driver must pay for the installation of the device and also pay a monthly lease fee. Given that installation may cost as much as $100 or more, along with a monthly fee of $50-100, the total cost of your ignition interlock device can set you back several hundred dollars, even for a duration as short as just six months.

January 7, 2014

Errantly Performed Biopsy Leads to Complications, Mastectomy, Cancer Patient Claims

by Cardone Law Firm

For many women, little is worse than receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer. For one Jefferson Parish woman, as reported by the Louisiana Record, her pain was allegedly worsened by an incorrectly performed biopsy. The woman claimed in a recent medical malpractice lawsuit that the error delayed her cancer diagnosis by several months, leading her to endure a series of invasive treatments and procedures that she claims she would not have needed if her medical care providers made the correct diagnosis after the initial biopsy.

Tamberly Gray’s health concerns emerged after her gynecologist discovered a lump in her right breast in 2008. The doctor referred the patient for a biopsy to discover if the mass was cancerous. The gynecologist, Dr. Penelope Treece, performed a vacuum-assisted biopsy of the patient’s right breast and told the patient she did not have cancer. Vacuum-assisted biopsies are minimally invasive procedures in which a probe is inserted into a small incision and, using ultrasound image guidance, extracts suspicious tissue for analysis.

The alleged failure in Gray’s case was not with the doctor’s failure to identify the tissue as cancerous; the tissue she removed was cancer-free. The problem was, according to the patient, the doctor inserted the probe in the wrong place and the tissue she removed was not from the mass.

December 20, 2013

What to Do If You’re Injured By a Drunk Driver

by Cardone Law Firm

The holidays are a wonderful time of year for gathering with family and friends. The holidays are also, regrettably, a time of increased incidences of people drinking and driving. If you or a loved one is injured by a drunk driver, it is important to understand what the law allows you to do, and what steps you should take.

Recent accidents in Calcasieu and Washington parishes highlight the risks, and potentially tragic consequences, of driving while intoxicated. When someone is injured in Louisiana as a result of another’s drunk driving, that person is entitled to recover for the damages caused by the drunk driver. Article 2315 of the Louisiana Civil Code generally provides a right to sue for damages, and Article 2315.4 specifically adds a right to seek exemplary damages in cases where the injured person proves that the driver acted with “wanton or reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others.”

You may be unfamiliar with the term “exemplary damages,” but may recognize them as “punitive” damages. Injured persons rarely recover exemplary damages in auto accident actions, except in cases involving drunk drivers. To succeed in receiving exemplary damages, you must show that the driver, in deciding to get behind the wheel in an impaired state, acted with conscious indifference to the consequences of his or her actions. This means that he or she knew or should have known that getting behind the wheel would likely lead to harm, but proceeded to drive anyway.

December 6, 2013

Family of Slain Louisiana Woman Settles With Restaurant Chain for Over-serving Intoxicated Man

by Cardone Law Firm

The family of an Ascension Parish woman tragically killed along Interstate 10 successfully settled a civil suit against the restaurant that served alcohol to a man who they claimed caused the fatal accident by driving drunk. The family’s suit alleged that the restaurant served the man more than a gallon of beer, even after the man became “obviously intoxicated,” according to a Southeast Texas Record report. Because the crash occurred just outside Louisiana, in Texas, the family was permitted to seek compensation from the restaurant, in addition to the driver.

Amber Roussel and her husband were traveling from their home near Gonzales along westbound I-10 on July 30, 2012. As the couple drove, Caleb Harley and Derek McBride were drag racing along eastbound I-10. McBride lost control of his truck and crashed. The crash separated the brush guard from his truck, which launched into the windshield of the Roussel car, killing the wife.

The family’s action, which sought $32 million in damages, sued both McBride and Hooters Restaurant, where McBride and Harley had been drinking prior to the crash. According to the family, the restaurant served McBride 144 ounces of beer, along with two shots of liquor. Even a 220-pound man, who waited 30 minutes before driving after consuming that quantity of alcohol, would have a blood alcohol level of .250, according to Bloodalcoholcalculator.org. .250 is more than three times the legal limit in each of Texas and Louisiana.

November 24, 2013

New Orleans Visitors: Know How to Deal With an Injury or Accident Far From Home

by Cardone Law Firm

Greater New Orleans provides a wealth of amazing tourist attractions. The area also boasts several outstanding institutions of higher learning, including Tulane University, Loyola University and Xavier University. The area’s attractions offer artistic, cultural and historical enrichment, but they also present, like any other location, the risk of injury. Whether you’re a student from out of state, or a visiting tourist or business convention attendee, knowing the proper steps to take if you’re injured here is essential to minimizing your stress and maximizing the protection of your rights.

Certainly, one of the most popular destinations for tourists and college students is Canal Street and the French Quarter. Recent events, though, have shown the potential for harm in this area. This past summer, a woman sued over injuries she suffered as a result of stepping into an uncovered water meter hole on Canal Street. A man also filed a negligence suit against a French Quarter bar in January as a result of a severe beating he received in the bar’s parking lot.

While neither the woman not the man may have been students or tourists, their injuries nevertheless spotlight the potential misfortunes that can befall students or tourists visiting New Orleans. Regrettably, injured students and tourists do not know how to handle this situation. Even if they recognize their injuries right away, they may not know where to turn. Others might not discover their injuries until they have returned home, and may feel at a loss regarding how to find an attorney now that they have left the state.

November 9, 2013

Failure to Diagnose Pregnancy Leads to Invasive Emergency Surgery, According to Patient’s Lawsuit

by Cardone Law Firm

Experiencing the kind of pain or illness that is bad enough to lead you to the emergency room is bad enough. When the medical providers whose assistance you seek fail to run the necessary tests to determine an accurate diagnosis, and you require invasive, emergency surgery two months later, that is certainly far worse. But that is exactly what happened to a woman when she visited a Jefferson Parish hospital recently, according to a medical lawsuit she filed in state court in Gretna.

Delores Penman-Sisson’s medical odyssey started with a bout of extreme nausea, vomiting and lower abdominal pain. She traveled to the East Jefferson General Hospital’s emergency room for assistance. While there, the staff allegedly administered several pregnancy tests that involved analyzing a sample of urine. However, because the woman had an ovarian cyst, she could not provide an adequate urine sample to yield a conclusive test. In addition to urine-based pregnancy tests, another type of pregnancy test analyzed the woman’s blood.

Two months later, medical professionals determined that the woman actually was pregnant. She had an ectopic pregnancy. In a normal pregnancy, a fertilized egg attaches itself to the lining of the mother’s uterus. In an ectopic pregnancy, the fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. The most common type of ectopic pregnancy occurs in the fallopian tubes (known as a “tubal pregnancy,”) but ectopic pregnancies may also occur in the abdominal cavity, ovary or cervix.