Louisiana Injury Lawyer Blog

On June 27, 2011, the United States Supreme Court in Philip Morris v. Jackson, 10-735, denied a request from Big Tobacco to overturn a 2004 Louisiana judgment totaling $270 million to fund a ten-year smoking cessation program that will include medications, telephone quit lines, health intervention systems, and intensive cessation programs for Louisiana residents within the defined class. The Louisiana jury found that cigarette makers hid the health risks of smoking and committed fraud. Big Tobacco argued that the Louisiana judgment violated the due process clause of the United Constitution because it does not require proof of individualized reliance on the misrepresentations by Big Tobacco.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana injury attorney, Scott Andrews, with the law office of Due', Price, Guidry, Piedrahita & Andrews, served on the Trial Team in the Scott v. American Tobacco Co., Inc. litigation. In 2004, a New Orleans, Louisiana jury awarded $591 million. The amount was reduced on appeal to $242 million. Together with post-judgment interest, the total award is approximately $270 million. The judgment in the lawsuit first filed in 1996 is now final. Scott Andrews hopes that every Louisiana smoker within the class finally gets the help and assistance they need to combat their tobacco addiction.

A husband and wife were killed in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, after being rear- ended by an 18-wheeler. The couple was traveling in the right lane when the 18-wheeler changed lanes and rear ended them. The collision caused the couple's vehicle to rotate and leave the roadway and impact trees. The collision and subsequent impact were fatal to the couple. The driver of the big rig is believed to have been distracted and was arrested on two counts of negligent homicide and careless operation.

Driver distraction is quickly becoming a rising cause of fatal accidents in the United States. In 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as many as 5,474 people were killed in car wrecks where at least one driver was distracted. According to data collected from the Fatality Accident Reporting System (FARS), traffic deaths caused by distracted drivers rose from 11% in 1999 to 16% in 2008.

Continue reading "Driver Distraction Cited in Louisiana 18 Wheeler Accident" »

Given the inherently dangerous nature of gas, gas companies are required to exercise the utmost care to reduce hazards to life as far as is practicable. A gas company is under a duty to safeguard against occurrences that can be reasonably expected or contemplated. When an accident or occurrence can be reasonably anticipated, it is within the scope of the duty owed by the electric company to the injured party because there is an ease of association between the risk presented by the gas company's conduct under the overall circumstances and the resulting injury. An electric company is held to the standard of a reasonable person with superior attributes, and is required to recognize that there will be a certain amount of negligence that must be anticipated.

Foley v. Entergy Louisiana, Inc., 2006-0983 (La. 11/29/06), 946 So.2d 144, 154.

Continue reading "Louisiana Jury Instructions - Burn Injuries - Utility has Duty of Utmost Care to Reduce Hazards" »

A thirteen year-old girl who suffered extensive burn injuries over 84% of her body and blindness in one eye was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages by a Philadelphia state court from a drug manufacturer who failed to warn of the risk of contracting Stevens Johnson Syndrome when taking certain fever medications. The young girl contracted Stevens Johnson Syndrome after taking Children's Motrin in 2000. The drug manufacturer claimed that no causal link was shown in the case and that only 1 out of 25 million people taking the drug contract Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

When Stevens Johnson Syndrome caused by severe drug reactions are preventable, monetary compensation may be available from the drug manufacturer or from a healthcare provider who prescribed the medication or who failed to timely diagnose and treat the condition. Recently, Donald W. Price with the Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury law firm of Due', Price, Guidry, Piedrahita & Andrews, obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict against a deceased Baton Rouge pediatrician who allegedly prescribed an inappropriate sulfa-drug to his minor patient for a sinus infection who soon developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and was left permanently scarred and disfigured. Even though the Louisiana Medical Review Panel that reviewed the case unanimously ruled that the pediatrician did not commit medical negligence, the Baton Rouge jury found that the evidence supported a finding that the pediatrician deviated below the applicable standard of care and that the deviation caused the child's severe burn injuries.