Baton Rouge Louisiana Personal Injury Law Blog

Working through grief of losing someone to DUI driver

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in drunk driving accidents on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

If you have lost a loved one to DUI driver, you have the added anguish of knowing that the death was preventable. If only the other driver wasn’t drunk. The team at McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton understands your pain, anger and grief. We work with many clients who have suffered loss, and we know that everyone has their own type of grieving process.

According to Psychology Today, there are four main elements of grief, and they don’t show up in any set sequence or form.

Separation distress: You may feel like you’re on a roller coaster with a mixture of feelings that can include loneliness, anger, sadness, helplessness, pain, anxiety, shame and more.
Traumatic distress: You experience shock and disbelief and are overwhelmed with emotion. It is normal to try and avoid intrusions and the strong feelings they produce.
Remorse, guilt: You are likely to begin using that 20/20 hindsight to beat yourself up about the things that you should have done with or for the deceased.
Social withdrawal: You are sad, depressed and just want to be left alone in your grief.

Do surgeons really leave items inside patients?

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in medical malpractice on Friday, April 20, 2018.

Scissors, towels, clamps, tweezers, masks and gloves—what do all of these things have in common? They are among the objects that get left inside patients during surgery across Louisiana and the U.S., according to ThoughtCo. How often does this happen? Between 4,500 and 6,000 times a year.

This information is reported by ThoughtCo., who lists the most common objects as:

Sponges and towels
Scissors and scalpels
Towels, masks and gloves
Clamps and needles
Tubes and forceps

Truck drivers and drowsy driving

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in truck accidents on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

When Louisiana residents consider the factors behind a truck accident, they may not think about fatigue. However, a trucker's alertness plays a great role in determining whether he or she will be involved in a collision.

While fatigue can affect any driver on the road, people who drive professionally may be affected most strongly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are most likely to drive while they are tired if they do not have a regular sleep schedule or get fewer than seven hours of sleep. When truck drivers are tired, they may experience delayed reactions on the road, making it difficult for them to steer around hazards or brake quickly. Additionally, fatigue can keep truckers from making good decisions and make it more difficult for them to keep their minds on the road.

What should you do after a low insurance settlement offer?

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in Blog on Friday, April 13, 2018.

You pay your insurance premium in full and on time. You probably have done so for years without ever needing to make a claim. Then, one day, it happens. Someone else runs a red light, merges into a lane where you're driving other otherwise makes a bad decision that causes a crash.

Suddenly, you're facing massive medical expenses, days or weeks of missed work, and major expenses related to repairing or replacing your vehicle.

Do other cars pose a danger to motorcyclists?

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Louisiana motorcyclists understand that the road can be a dangerous place for them. Unfortunately, odds can be stacked against you when you get into an accident. McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton, injury attorneys, are here to help you obtain compensation if your right of way has been violated.

As a motorcyclist, other vehicles are one of the biggest dangers that you will face on the road. This is due in part to the fact that they're bigger, faster, and have more protection than you do. In a collision, the motorcycle almost always gets the short end of the stick. Even if you wear a helmet and all of the proper padding, you could still face some hefty injuries if you get into a crash with a truck or van. Even smaller cars can cause cause big damage.

Texting by commercial drivers is illegal, but they still do it

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in Blog on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

Awareness of the dangers of distracted driving has never been higher. National television advertising campaigns and increasingly strict laws have more drivers than ever before aware of the potential dangers of texting behind the wheel. This practice not just dangerous — it is sadly quite common as well. It is worrying enough when people in passenger vehicles text instead of focusing on the road. When commercial drivers in massive trucks text, however, they put everyone at even greater risk.

The massive size discrepancy between commercial and passenger vehicles puts those in the smaller vehicles at high risk of injury or death in the event of a crash. It only takes a few seconds of distraction for commercial drivers to cause collisions that can end in tragedy. That's one reason why distracted commercial driving is against the law.

Fourth drunk driving event for driver kills woman

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in drunk driving accidents on Sunday, April 8, 2018.

While people in Louisiana have for decades now heard about the dangers of drinking and driving, it seems that some people simply do not care about their lives or the lives of others. At least that is what one might be led to believe when learning about a person who repeatedly engages in this senseless and dangerous behavior. It can also be hard for people in the state to take seriously reports about legal and judicial crackdowns when they find out about a driver with multiple drunk driving convictions who is still allowed to drive.

Almost exactly one year ago, a 58-year-old woman died when a drunk driver hit her head-on after his vehicle went into her lane of travel. The man had been convicted of driving while under the influence offenses three previous times between 2001 and 2016. He was also convicted of another offense involving alcohol in 2014. His DWI convictions from 2001 and 2016 as well as the 2014 offense all happened in Texas, where he was from. The 2010 DWI occurred in Red River Parish.

Lawsuit against drug company to continue

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in medical malpractice on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

Louisiana residents who have to use prescription medications have reason to be concerned about the safety of these drugs. Certainly a defective drug, an incorrect dose or a negative drug interaction can cause serious injury or even death. However, these are not the only things about which people must be concerned these days it seems.

The cost of prescription drugs can not only make it difficult for people to afford proper health care coverage and treatment but can apparently be the subject of potentially unlawful actions. Two years ago, people in multiple states including Louisiana initiated a class action lawsuit against one health insurance provider and another company hired by that insurer to negotiate medicine pricing. The insurer, Cigna, has reportedly attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed.

What role does speeding play in car accidents?

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.

Louisiana residents all understand that speeding is illegal. However, it's almost considered normal to see other drivers speeding on the road every single day. Unfortunately, every person speeding is making the road more hazardous for the rest of you.

The United states Department of Transportation reminds drivers everywhere that speeding is a potentially fatal risky driving behavior. The rate of lethal accidents that involve speeding is actually quite high, with over 10,000 people dying in speed-related incidents in 2016 alone. Speeding was the root cause of over one quarter of all fatal driving accidents in that same year, and historically-speaking, the trend has been this way for a long time.

What should you know about anesthesia allergies?

On behalf of McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton posted in medical malpractice on Friday, March 23, 2018.

As you prepare for your surgery, you'll likely be reading all about anesthesia and how it's crucial to most operations. But what do you do if you have an allergy to anesthesia? How exactly does this manifest, and how do doctors handle the situation?

The World Allergy Organization shows that immediate sensitivity or even anaphylactic shock can occur during the administration of anesthesia. Since these symptoms have a very sudden onset and doctors don't have any preemptive means of tackling them, quick treatment once symptoms begin appearing is of utmost important. This is why vigilance during any operation involving anesthesia is so crucial.