Kingsport Personal Injury Law Blog

Secondary asbestos exposure could be the cause of your illness

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in asbestos on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

Many Tennessee residents who are sick with mesothelioma or asbestosis might not know how they became ill. Secondary exposure to asbestos fibers can cause people to become ill even though they might never have worked around this material. This is especially so in older citizens who suffered secondary exposure before the dangers of asbestos became well known.

Secondary exposure to asbestos can occur in several ways. For example, those who worked in or near shipyards, yet did not handle asbestos could suffer exposure indirectly. This exposure occurred because asbestos was used widely in the construction of marine vessels.

Some implant defects might not be enough for an FDA recall

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller on Tuesday, July 10, 2018.

Let us say that you had a recent hip or knee replacement. Everything went well for a year or so, but now some issues with the device have developed and you believe a component might be defective.

The FDA has three categories for device recalls, but not everything about an implantable device is covered and a manufacturer may face a lawsuit as a result.

How can patients learn about new medications they take?

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in defective drugs on Wednesday, July 4, 2018.

Consumers today are more informed than ever about the potential risks associated with a variety of products. Medication typically tops the list of products about which the public has expressed concern. While people understand that drugs are necessary to treat medical conditions, they worry about suffering harm caused by faulty medication.

Doctors often prescribe several different medications before zeroing in on the one that best benefits a patient. This means that a patient may be taking drugs they know very little about. In best-case scenarios, a doctor discloses everything he or she may know when prescribing a different drug. However, many Tennessee patients want to learn more to cut down the risk of injury caused by possibly defective drugs.

How do warming blowers used during surgery cause infection?

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in defective medical devices on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Surgical suites are designed to be clean rooms that minimize the risk of infections developing in a patient's surgery site. Builders create these rooms with a great deal of modern technology. Ventilation systems are an important part of this technology because they direct the flow of air and any bacteria it contains away from the patient's open surgical site.

Even though the members of a surgical team wear gowns, caps, masks and shoe covers, they still shed tiny bits of skin tissue, known as squames. Ventilation systems force the air in an operating room down and away from the patient. However, warming blowers can interfere with the ventilation and expose patients undergoing surgery to bacteria-laden squames, which the surgical team has shed.

Examples of technology that might reduce trucking accidents

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in trucking accidents on Thursday, June 21, 2018.

The trucking industry in America is already huge, and it continues to grow. The industry is so large that there is currently a shortage of qualified truck drivers, according to the Advanced Technology Institute. Because approximately 75 percent of the nation's communities rely solely on large trucks to deliver goods, this driver shortage is no real surprise.

Clearly, the ongoing demand for goods means that tractor-trailers will continue to use the roads and highways here in Tennessee. In turn, serious and catastrophic trucking accidents will remain a risk for all American residents. What can trucking companies do to reduce trucking accidents? Advanced safety technology might just be the answer. See the next section for examples of this tech.

Stay alert about the latest potentially defective drugs

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in defective drugs on Friday, June 15, 2018.

A large part of the way we serve residents of Kingsport involves staying up-to-date about any potential news that might affect our fellow Tennesseans. We use all of our resources to uncover this information so that we are already prepared to help those in need who make contact with our staff. One area we look at regularly is the latest information about defective drugs.

The demand for medication that improves and/or extends life for people suffering from illnesses and injuries may be higher than ever. Drug manufacturers respond to this demand as efficiently as possible. As such, most new and existing drugs are reasonably free from dangerous defects. However, some medicines slip through the cracks and may cause injury to patients.

Tennessee authorities concerned about fake Percocet pills

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller on Sunday, June 10, 2018.

There are frequent news reports about the opioid problem in this country and the ability of addicts to obtain drugs like heroin. There are also many kinds of fake drugs available on the street, and in Tennessee, one of those is the counterfeit version of Percocet.

About the real pill

Your loved one's nursing home injury might be medical malpractice

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in medical malpractice on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Indisputably, caring for patients in a nursing home or group home is challenging, demanding and exhausting. Those who choose this line of work -- from doctors to nurses to therapists to support personnel -- deserve praise. However, these facilities also contain many elements that can lead to wrongful or negligent caregiver practices. These include:

Overworked staff
Not enough caregivers
Chaotic environment

Unfortunately, elderly people in Tennessee and elsewhere in the nation are prone to accidents and injuries. The problem for family members is determining whether a loved one's mishaps and injuries were purely accidental or caused by medical malpractice. A good first step is learning about the most common nursing home injuries.

Are mesothelioma and asbestosis the same illness?

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in asbestos on Thursday, May 31, 2018.

Asbestosis and mesothelioma are two separate illnesses that occur because of asbestos exposure. In the 21st century, exposure to the substance remains a problem despite a widespread reduction of asbestos use. As such, many victims develop mesothelioma or asbestosis in the workplace, by living close to a location contaminated with the substance (e.g. Tennessee Eastman Chemical Company) or by coming into contact with another person exposed to asbestos.

Although they are not the same, the two conditions share many similarities, which can be confusing to victims. For example, the following symptoms occur in patients with either illness.

Weight loss
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Persistent cough

Defective medical devices: Stay hopeful in the face of adversity

On behalf of Hawkins Bingham & Miller posted in defective medical devices on Thursday, May 24, 2018.

The task feels enormous and overwhelming: Making large and successful medical device manufacturers pay for harm to patients. These companies have access to a well-padded budget and to big name attorneys. How could ordinary Tennessee residents beat these odds and emerge from a lawsuit successfully?

We understand these and other issues surrounding lawsuits centered on defective medical devices. Unfortunately, we also understand why victims give up on their hopes of holding responsible parties to account. When a loss occurs, such as the recent loss of a trial against DePuy hip replacements, it becomes even easier to abandon hope and accept the consequences.