Over the past decade, more than 300 oil and gas workers were killed in highway crashes, the largest cause of fatalities in the industry. Many of these deaths were due in part to oil field exemptions from highway safety rules that allow truckers to work longer hours than drivers in most other industries, according to safety and health experts. Many oil field truckers say that while these exemptions help them earn more money, they are routinely used to pressure workers into driving after shifts that are 20 hours or longer.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told officials last year that it is "strongly opposed" to the oil field exemptions since they increase the risk of accidents. Safety advocates are concerned and warn that this threat will continue to grow in coming years. Close to 200,000 new oil and gas wells will be drilled throughout the nation over the next ten years, and as a result, more trucks will be on the road.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a truck accident, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

A wrongful death lawsuit over the deaths of two students in a 2010 Philadelphia Duck Boat crash was settled with an agreement to pay $17M in damages.

The July 2010 accident occurred on the Delaware River when a barge that was being pushed by a tugboat ran into the Duck Boat causing it to capsize and sink. Two Hungarian students, Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, drowned when the Duck Boat was hit.

The lawsuit alleged that the defendants, Ride the Ducks and K-Sea Transportation Partners, failed to have safety policies that were effective and that the accident was due to ineffective training and procedures.

The $17M settlement came as the victims' families were leaving the United States for Hungary, said their lawyer, Robert Mongeluzzi. "We tried to get them at the airport," he said, but that effort failed. "They had to get back to their jobs." Robert Mongeluzzi said he thinks a dramatic video showing the barge running over the stalled Duck Boat pushed the boat owners to settle.

A spokesman for Mongeluzzi's firm said $15 million of the settlement will go to the two Hungarian families and $2 million to injured passengers. Thirty-five passengers and crew survived. "There was a lot of evidence that was going to be produced that shows the Duck Boat was run over and should not have been run over," said Jack Snyder, an attorney representing Ride the Ducks.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a boat accident, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a patient, even though the trial court's instructions to the jury may have been in error. The case is Venkateswarlu Thota, M.D. v. Young, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. 2012)(5/11/12).

In Young, the patient sought care from Dr. Thota, a cardiologist. Dr. Thota performed a cardiac catheterization in the hospital one morning, and the patient was released later that day. That evening, he suffered from abdominal pain, and he fell from his chair. He was rushed by ambulance back to the hospital where it was discovered that he had bleeding from the site of the cardiac catheterization and a large hematoma. Soon afterwards, emergency surgery was performed to repair a tear in one of the patient's arteries that was asserted to have resulted from the cardiac catheterization. Following that, the patient was put on a ventilator. Severe complications thereafter included several strokes, acute renal failure that required dialysis, and the loss of vision in one eye. Three years later, he died of leukemia at age 57.

In the trial of the case, the patient's family offered expert testimony indicating that Dr. Thota punctured the wrong artery during the catheterization. In response, the doctor partly blamed the patient for not returning to the hospital sooner.

The legal issue for appeal focused upon the trial judge's instructions to the jury. The gist was whether the court gave the jury an improper instruction called a "new and independent cause," and whether the court improperly submitted the patient's conduct as "contributory negligence." Generally, conduct of a patient that occurs after the negligence of a doctor is not considered to be contributory negligence, although it might be construed as a "failure to mitigate damages."

Using the trial court's instructions, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the doctor. The court of appeals ruled that the trial judge's instructions to the jury were both erroneous and presumptively harmful, and determined that there should be a new trial. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the court of appeals. It ruled that the harm could not be presumed. Accordingly, the Court itself considered the evidence and then determined that - even if the instructions were wrong - the patient should not get a trial with correct instructions because the errors did not, in the Court's opinion, cause any harm. Thus, the Court ruled that giving erroneous instructions to the jury in this case was "harmless."

If you or someone you know has suffered from medical malpractice, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

Fox 4 in Dallas/Forth Worth has conducted a recent investigation into the Texas Board of Medical Examiners. Fox reported that the state board that is supposed to be policing doctors and protecting the public has its critics.

In 2003 Texas lawmakers put caps on medical malpractice lawsuits but Fox reports those lawmakers promised to keep a tight rein on doctors by strengthening the board. As part of Fox's investigation, it detailed the stories of two women who will be forever changed as a result of one doctor's negligence and their secret complaints to the Board of Medical Examiners.

Just opening a door is a now a struggle for Irma Carbajal LeCroy, once a successful Realtor who now has trouble making her rent. Her life changed a year ago when she ended up in the emergency room following a cosmetic procedure.

Lecroy had gone to the Molina Medical Clinic for an elective procedure called a Brazilian butt lift. Dr. Hector Oscar Molina removed fat from her abdomen and re-injected it into her buttocks. Lecroy's attorney says that fat was injected into her muscle.

Her friend called 911 when LeCroy woke up in a recovery room in a panic. LeCroy was not feeling good and she could not feel the bottom of her feet. Ultimately, doctors at Baylor Hospital operated on LeCroy 27 times.

After months of surgery and rehab, LeCroy is now permanently disabled. She has scars that run almost a foot long up both legs. She wears braces to hold her feet in place. LeCroy filed a medical malpractice lawsuit, but Molina has no medical malpractice insurance for plastic surgery.

LeCroy's family filed complaints with the Texas Medical Board but those complaints were not shared with the public.

Seven months later another of Molina's patients was rushed to Baylor's emergency room. Monica Moreno went to Dr. Molina for an arm lift and breast implants. Nine days after surgery her wounds were severely infected, and she could not breathe. Moreno spent two months at Baylor and in rehab.

Her family says had they known about LeCroy's complaint, they never would have allowed Dr. Molina to perform the surgery.

The public does not learn about complaints. It only gets to see disciplinary action when it is final.

Since 2003 the number of patient complaints to the board has increased from 4,900 to more than 8,000 last year. But investigations are down to only 25 percent. Fox reported that doctors now review complaints instead of nurses, and they are finding 75 percent do not require investigating.

This is Dr. Molina's second round with the state board. In 2004 he was disciplined and ordered to pay $25,000 for prescribing controlled substances and dangerous drugs over the Internet.

Neither woman had health insurance, so all of the surgeries and months of hospitalization were paid for by charity and Medicaid, which means taxpayers helped pay the costs.

Fox reported on others that feel the medical board let them down. To read and see the full story, please go to http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/18169259/news-station-investigation-medical-board?clienttype=printable.

If you or someone you know has suffered from medical malpractice, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

The timesunion.com is reporting that the parents of a Boston College honors student who drowned last year after binge drinking at Skidmore College have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against nine Saratoga County men for allegedly supplying or buying alcohol for their underage son. The suit was filed earlier this week by Kenneth and Deanna Grant of Westchester County on behalf of their son's estate.

At the time of his death, Alexander Grant was 19 years old and was visiting at Skidmore during spring break. Four Skidmore students, Jonathan Hoeg, Bryan Connolly, Matthew Diaco, and Nicholas Yedibalian, have been named in the suit along with Seth Berger, who is accused of buying the alcohol for the first Skidmore party that Grant attended. The civil action contends Grant and a friend continued drinking at another party on Church Street in Saratoga Springs. The hosts of that gathering, Brendan Flynn, Ian Bain, Charles Sullivan, and Brian Milazzo, have also been named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The suit alleges the nine defendants, all of whom are Saratoga Springs residents, supplied Grant with alcohol even though they knew he was not of legal drinking age.

Police were able to retrace some of Grant's final movements through video surveillance that captured him staggering outside the Saratoga Springs train station off West Avenue after he left the Church Street party by himself.

The timesunion.com reports that he later stripped down to one sock, a shirt, and shorts in frigid weather, broke into a medical office building on Care Lane, where he remained for about 35 minutes, before drowning in about 4 feet of water in Putnam Creek.

The police probe revealed Grant had a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent and low levels of marijuana in his system. His cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning with contributing factors of intoxication and probable hypothermia.

"By reason of the intoxication or impairment of Michael Perlow, Alexander Grant was placed in an unsafe and dangerous situation in that he was left alone and disoriented in an unfamiliar city, resulting in his tragic and horrifying death," the suit states.

No criminal charges were filed in the case by police or the Saratoga County District Attorney. This case serves to highlight the dangers of binge drinking on college campuses. For more information on the tragic impacts of binge drinking and college hazing, please visit www.inmemoryofjack.com.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of hazing, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

Aliskiren-containing medications-including Amturnide, Tekturna, Tektuma HCT, Teamlo, and Valturna-are direct renin inhibiters used to treat hypertension. These drugs work by decreasing chemicals that cause the blood vessels to tighten. Often these drugs are used in combination with angiostensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). Recently, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that these drug combinations can cause problems and should not be used in patients with diabetes or moderate to severe renal impairments.

The warnings came from preliminary data from the ALTITUDE (Aliskiren Trial in Type 2 Diabetes Using Cardio-Renal Endpoints) clinical trial. ALTITUDE was terminated in December 2011 after it was found that certain patients had an increased risk for non-fatal stroke, renal complications, hyperkalemia, and hypotension. These complications arose in patients who also had diabetes or renal disease. In a letter to healthcare professionals, Novartis released the FDA warnings about aliskiren and the ALTITUDE clinical trial.

Novartis, a pharmaceutical company that makes aliskiren-based products, has voluntarily recalled ValturnaR, which is a single pill combination of aliskiren and ARB valsartan and only available in the United States. Novartis similarly decided to withdraw the same combination pill in Switzerland, which was marketed under the brand name RasivalR. Other Aliskiren-contaning pharmaceuticals remain on the market. In fact, Novartis announced on April 19 that it would continue to market such products.

Patients who have either diabetes or moderate to severe renal failure have been advised by Novartis to seek guidance from their healthcare professional. The FDA cautions that stopping aliskiren suddenly can cause problems if the patient's high blood pressure is not otherwise treated.

If you or someone you know has been harmed by a medication, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.

A Texas couple who filed a defamation lawsuit over three years ago against anonymous posters on the Internet forum Topix.com won a $13.78 million judgment from a jury.

The lawsuit stemmed from a woman's allegations that Mark and Rhonda Lesher had sexually assaulted her. A jury had acquitted the Lesher's of all allegations on January 15, 2009. Meanwhile, the same woman took to the internet to begin a smear campaign designed to ruin the Leshers' reputations, according to the jury. The Leshers' attorney compiled more than 25,000 instances of libelous online posts on Topix.com, however they only introduced 800 of the worst in court.

According to the lawsuit, the comments included one about Mrs. Lesher's beauty salon. Mrs. Lesher testified as to how these offensive comments had affected her daily life in the small community of Clarksville, Texas. The abuse got so bad that the Leshers decided to move from Clarksville, where they had lived for more than 20 years.

The case serves to illustrate that one's identity online is not so anonymous and that Internet comment posts do not protect one from civil liability for libel and slander.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of libel or slander, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or 1-800-870-9584.