http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Headline Personal Injury Legal News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/images/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Copyright 2020 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MCALESTER, Okla. - An Oklahoma jury awarded a total of $20 million on Jan. 28 to the families of two oil rig workers who died in an oil rig explosion. However the jury held the only remaining defendant at trial, a company that monitored the drilling fluid pressure, 10 percent liable for the accident, reducing the award to $1 million for each family (Charles Levi Brite, et al. v. National Oilwell Varco L.P., et al., No. CJ-18-90 and Sarah Ray, et al. v. National Oilwell Varco L.P., et al., No. CJ-18-91, Okla. Dist., Pittsburg Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Following a bench trial, a Tennessee federal judge awarded $15.1 million on Jan. 28 to a 15-year-old boy who suffered severe oxygen deprivation during his birth, citing the failure of health care providers at a military base hospital to appropriately counsel his mother about the risk of attempting to have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) (A.J.J.T., et al. v. United States, No. 3:15-01073, M.D. Tenn., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13903). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - The widow of a union laborer who drowned after falling through an uncovered hole into Philadelphia's Delaware River reached a $10.5 million settlement with the general contractor of a pier renovation project, her attorneys announced Jan. 9 (Kimberly Bolden-Johnson v. Agate Construction Co. Inc., No. 1066, Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MOUNT VERNON, Ill. - A truck stop owner was not responsible for injuries a waitress who worked at a restaurant onsite received when she was hit in the head by an industrial-sized roll of toilet paper while entering a public restroom stall at the property, an Illinois appeals court held Jan. 27. Accordingly, it vacated a more than $560,000 jury award against the defendant (Reona Pearson v. Pilot Travel Centers LLC, No. 5-18-0505, Ill. App., 5th Dist., 2020 Ill. App. LEXIS 37). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SANTA ANA, Calif. - The entry of a defense judgment following a jury award to the family of a skier who died after colliding with a snowboarder was "unconventional," a California appeals court said; however, it affirmed the ruling on Feb. 5, citing the decedent's signed liability release and the absence of a finding of gross negligence by the ski resort (Grant Tuttle, et al. v. Heavenly Valley L.P., No. G05642, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 3, 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 814). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LAFAYETTE, La. - A Louisiana jury awarded $4.37 million on Jan. 28 to a man who was seriously injured when a tractor-trailer truck rear-ended his vehicle while he was stopped in traffic on an interstate highway (James Michael Hall v. Landstar Ranger Inc., et al., No. 6:18-00410, W.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A New York federal jury awarded a railroad conductor $1.9 million on Feb. 3 for injuries he sustained to his elbow while trying to open a locomotive cab door, which ended his ability to work as a conductor (Kenneth Grosso v. Long Island Rail Road Co., No. 13-03545, E.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' DENVER - A railway worker who was injured while checking the contents of railcars failed to show that the workplace provided by his employer violated the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Feb. 5, rejecting the worker's claim that his employer was required to provide the safest possible workplace (George M. Ezell v. BNSF Railway Company, No. 19-6018, 10th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 3472). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CINCINNATI - An Ohio federal jury awarded $1,621,500 on Jan. 29 to a patient who alleged that a spine surgeon performed unnecessary surgery on her without informed consent while his surgical privileges were suspended. It awarded the estate of a second patient $150,000 for similar claims against the surgeon, who fled the United States in 2013 (Christopher Atwood, et al. v. Abubakar Atiq Durrani, M.D., et al., 1:16-00593, S.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A mother who had her son's remains cremated without informing health care providers whom she later sued for medical malpractice did not engage in spoliation of evidence, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals concluded Jan. 29. It affirmed a jury award of $740,000 to the mother of the man, who died after surgery to reverse his colostomy (Adventist Healthcare Inc., et al. v. Susan M. Mattingly, No. 2104, Md. Spec. App., 2020 Md. App. LEXIS 70). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 31 reinstated summary judgment on all claims to the owner of a bull that got loose and was hit by a pickup truck, injuring the driver. The state high court concluded that an appeals court erred in applying conflicting standards for livestock owner liability (Shary Pruski v. Joshua Garcia, No. 18-0953, Texas Sup., 2020 Tex. LEXIS 50). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Eighty-three former members of NXIVM, a purported self-help organization, sued the leaders of the organization on Jan. 28 in a New York federal court, alleging that they were sexually, physically, psychologically and financially abused for years. A federal investigation led to the conviction of the group's leader in 2019 (Sarah Edmondson, et al. v. Keith Raniere, et al., No. 20-CV-485, E.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHOENIX - An Arizona panel in a Jan. 28 unpublished opinion affirmed a lower court's denial of a motion to compel arbitration in a negligence case against a nursing home, finding that claims related to a resident's death after falling out of her wheelchair while being transported back to her room did not a constitute a "medical malpractice" dispute that would fall under the arbitration clause in the admissions agreement her son signed (Leonard Bernardo v. Windsor Palm Valley LLC, No. 19-0197, Ariz. App., Div. 1, 2020 Ariz. App. Unpub. LEXIS 86). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-15%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' RICHMOND, Va. - A trial court properly struck affidavit statements by an expert as contradictory in a medical malpractice case against a nursing home and correctly awarded the home summary judgment for lack of evidence that the death of a woman with Alzheimer's disease was caused by poor care at the home, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Jan. 15 (John Walter Riggins v. SSC Yanceyville Operating Company, LLC, et al., No. 18-2191, 4th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1367). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - An Illinois jury awarded $8.1 million on Dec. 18 to the estate of a woman who died from Stage III lung cancer after a radiologist's failure to spot a mass in her lung led to a 13-month delay in diagnosis (Linda Wright v. Stephanie Sexauer, et al., No. 16 L 009693, Ill. Cir., Cook Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - A Maryland jury awarded $5.87 million in economic and noneconomic damages on Jan. 14 to the children of a woman who died after she had a cardiac arrest following surgery to replace a heart valve. The $5.8 million noneconomic damage portion of the award will be subject to the state's statutory cap of $962,500, according to the plaintiffs' counsel, reducing the award to $1.03 million (Stephanie Hill, et al. v. University of Maryland Medical System Corp., et al., No. 24-C-18-005209, Md. Cir., Baltimore City). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ROCKFORD, Ill. - An Illinois jury awarded $1.5 million on Dec. 17 to the guardian and mother of a man with Down syndrome who sued his pediatrician for failing to diagnose her son's years of severe constipation as Hirschsprung's disease (Deanna D. Williams v. Rockford Health Physicians, et al., No. 2016 L 162, Ill. Cir., Winnebago Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' VAN NUYS, Calif. - A California jury awarded an elderly woman $5.5 million on Jan. 15 for injuries she sustained while living at an elder care facility, which included fracturing her neck in a fall. It is the largest verdict of its kind in Van Nuys, Calif., history, according to the plaintiff's attorney (M. Sherril Phillips, et al. v. AvantGarde Senior Living LLC, No. 19STCV11501, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A plaintiff who sued a hospital for his wife's death after she jumped off the top of its parking deck is not entitled to discovery about two previous suicides at the same location, the Alabama Supreme Court held Jan. 24. The high court directed the trial court to vacate its discovery order, noting that the requested documents did not relate to the decedent's treatment (Ex parte BBH BMC, LLC, d/b/a Brookwood Baptist Medical Center, No. 1180961, Ala. Sup., 2020 Ala. LEXIS 13). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HARTFORD, Conn. - The Connecticut Appellate Court concluded on Jan. 14 that the law does not impose a duty of care on a patient to avoid negligent conduct that would injure a health care provider while the patient is receiving medical care from that provider in a suit brought by a nurse who alleged that a patient injured her while she was helping him sit up (Kateri Streifel v. William R. Bulkley, No. AC 41239, Conn. App., 195 Conn. App. 294). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A Delta Airlines pilot negligently dumped a large amount of toxic jet fuel on students and teachers on an elementary school playground, four teachers allege in a complaint filed Jan. 17 in a California state court (Lisette Barajas, et al. v. Delta Airlines Inc., et al., No. 20STCV02116, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to a tire repair business on the grounds that a plaintiff provided insufficient details about the store and the employee who fixed his tire that later blew out and caused an accident that rendered the plaintiff quadriplegic, a Florida appeals court held Jan. 22 (Jerry Desvarieux v. Bridgestone Retail Operations LLC, No. 3D17-2109, Fla. App., 3rd Dist., 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 615). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' DETROIT - A Michigan Court of Appeals panel in a Jan. 14 unpublished opinion affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the operators of an unlicensed senior living facility in a negligence case, finding that they did not owe a duty of care to a resident to monitor the side exits of the facility, through which the woman exited in her nightgown, locking herself out in frigid temperatures (Estate of Virginia Kermath v. Independence Oxford, LLC, et al., No. 345640, Mich. App., 2020 Mich. App. LEXIS 245). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SANTA ANA, Calif. - A California appeals court on Jan. 13 affirmed a $6.06 million arbitration award to a child who sustained brain damage as a newborn after a nurse failed to timely insert a tracheotomy tube to help her breathe properly. The appeals court rejected arguments that challenged the life expectancy estimates, alleged arbitrator misconduct and the periodic payments of the future earnings award (Emma Borges, et al. v. Advanced Specialty Care LLC, et al., No. G056386, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 3, 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 239). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHOENIX - A trial court correctly held that a bicyclist who was injured when he rode into a cable fence on private property was trespassing because no public easement existed, an Arizona appeals court affirmed Jan. 23 in an action against the property owners (Seth A. Else, et al. v. Anthony La Russa, et al., No. 18-0764, Ariz. App., Div. 1, 2020 Ariz. App. Unpub. LEXIS 67). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A Florida federal judge granted a cruise ship operator summary judgment on Jan. 18 in a suit brought by families who took a cruise with their special-needs children that ran into a storm with hurricane-force winds. However, the judge allowed claims that the plaintiffs suffered physical manifestations of their emotional distress from the trip to proceed (Donna Incardone, et al. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., No. 16-20924, S.D. Fla., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10000). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' RENO, Nev. - A Nevada federal judge on Jan. 21 excluded testimony from a medical expert for the defendant in a personal injury action stemming from a car crash after finding that the expert's methodology lacked reliability (Urszula Brumer, et al. v. Laurie Ann Gray, No. 3:17-cv-00576, D. Nev., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9649). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-14%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A medical expert cannot testify on the standard of care in a malpractice case because his res ipsa loquitur opinion is neither reliable nor helpful, a Puerto Rico federal judge decided Jan. 22 (Eulalia Lopez Ramirez, et al. v. Grupo HIMA San Pablo, Inc., et al., No. 16-3192, D. Puerto Rico, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12340). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A New York jury awarded $101 million on Dec. 9 to a man who was severely injured when a forklift collided with the booth he was setting up at an event, causing him to fall 10 feet to the ground (Mark Perez v. Live Nation Worldwide Inc., No. 158373/2013, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A mother and her two children were awarded more than $70.5 million for physical and emotional injuries they sustained when a commercial hauler ran a red light and hit their SUV. A California judge finalized what a plaintiffs' attorney called a record personal injury award for Kern County on Jan. 7 (Tomasa Cuevas, et al. v. Rai Transport Inc., et al., No. BCV-18-100615, Calif. Super., Kern Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PORTLAND, Ore. - A jury in an Oregon federal court awarded $9.25 million on Dec. 13 to a man who was injured when a tractor-trailer struck him while he was bicycling in a highway's bike lane and $400,000 to his bicycling companion, who was also hurt (Eric Moutal, et al. v. Exel Inc., No. 3:17-cv-01444, D. Ore.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea agreed to pay $46 million to the parents of a 2-year-old who died after a dresser fell on him, a plaintiff's firm announced Jan. 6. The settlement ends litigation filed in a Pennsylvania state court and is believed to be the largest recovery for wrongful death of a child in U.S. history, according to the firm (Joleen Dudek, et al. v. Ikea U.S. Retail LLC, et al., No. 171204131, Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PORT ORCHARD, Wash. - A Washington judge entered judgment Dec. 20 on a $23.9 million jury award to a girl born with significant brain damage as a result of a lack of oxygen during her birth, who will require care for the rest of her life, and her parents (Bruce A. Wolf, et al. v. GE Healthcare, et al., No. 19-2-01745-18, Wash. Super., Kitsap Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A Georgia judge finalized an $8.08 million jury award on Jan. 7 to the parents of a stuntman who died in a fall during filming of the television show "The Walking Dead" that apportioned most of the liability to a production company and its employees (Susan Bernecker, et al. v. Stalwart Films LLC, et al., No. 18-00435-S1, Ga. State, Gwinnett Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' TITUSVILLE, Fla. - A cruise ship server who was hit by a vehicle while on shore leave and continued working after the ship's physicians failed to diagnose her fractured ribs was awarded $4 million by a Florida jury on Dec. 19. However, the jury held the plaintiff 30 percent at fault for her injuries, which reduced her award to $2.8 million (Maria Ana Reis Martins v. Magical Cruise Co. Ltd., No. 05-2015-CA-051858, Fla. Cir., Brevard Co., 18th Jud. Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN DIEGO - An asylum seeker from El Salvador sued the federal government and a detention center operator on Jan. 10 in a California federal court, alleging that she suffered a miscarriage after repeatedly being refused medical care while in civil custody, in violation of her constitutional rights (Rubia Mabel Morales-Alfaro v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., No. 3:20-cv-00082, S.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - A McDonald's customer sued the restaurant's corporate and Pittsburgh franchise owners on Dec. 11, alleging in a Pennsylvania state court that an employee's assault left him paralyzed after a fight broke out between his wife and several McDonald's employees (Mark Conn v. McDonald's Corp., et al., No. 19-017863, Pa. Comm. Pls., Allegheny Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ATLANTA - A trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow a decedent's children to add his widow to their wrongful death complaint, a Georgia appeals court held Jan. 3. It explained that the plaintiffs' proposed amendment related back to the timely filed original complaint over the kidney dialysis patient's death (Roy Seay v. Valdosta Kidney Clinic LLC, et al., No. A19A1992, Total Renal Care Inc., et al. v. Roy Seay, No. A19A1993, Ga. App., 1st Div., 2020 Ga. App. LEXIS 3). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A woman who alleges that proton therapy rendered her blind failed to show that the two physicians who treated her in New Jersey had sufficient connections to New York to establish personal jurisdiction over them, a New York appellate court concluded Jan. 2, reversing a trial court ruling (Barbara Robins v. Procure Treatment Centers, Inc., et al., No. 805644/15, N.Y. Sup., App. Div., 1st Dept., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - Citing recent statutory amendments that allow childhood sexual abuse claims to be brought against third-party nonperpetrators until the alleged victim's 40th birthday, a California appeals court on Jan. 3 reinstated two men's claims against companies formed by the late pop superstar Michael Jackson (James Safechuck v. MJJ Productions Inc., et al., No. B284613, Wade Robson v. MJJ Productions Inc., et al., No. B288036, Calif. App., 2nd Dist., Div. 8, 2020 Cal. App. LEXIS 3). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the widow of a worker who was killed as a result of an accident that occurred while driving to work (Rita Guerrero v. BNSF Railway Co., No. 19-625, U.S. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - An orthopedic surgeon can testify as an expert about the standard of care a woman received following knee surgery but cannot opine that she will need cosmetic surgery because that is not his area of expertise, a New Mexico federal magistrate judge said Dec. 30 in mostly denying a motion to strike in a medical malpractice case (Holly Salzman v. United States, No. 1:18-cv-779, D. N.M., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 222381). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Not every opinion by an expert for a plaintiff in a trip-and-fall case against a department store is admissible, but enough are to help defeat the store's bid for summary judgment, a Missouri federal judge held Dec. 23 (Randy Lee Bailey v. Menard, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-00065, E.D. Mo., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219841). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=16-13%20Mealey%27s%20Pers.%20Inj.%20Rep.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - A Maryland federal judge on Jan. 3 allowed one of two opinions by an expert for a couple suing a beauty products store in a personal injury action and then denied summary judgment to the store, finding that the question of whether the store breached its duty to inspect the premises must be answered at trial (Penny S. Rice, et al. v. SalonCentric Inc., No. 1:18-cv-1980, D. Md., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1014).