InjuryBoard Greensboro

When Debbie Shank began working as a stock clerk at Wal-Mart, she joined the company's health and benefits plan and paid her premiums as insurance against injury or illness.In 2000, Shank's car was rammed by a semi, and she suffered a traumatic brain injury that caused her to be permanently disabled. Her insurance kicked in and paid promptly for her medical bills -- for which Shank's family was...

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A jury this weekend ruled that two ER doctors who treated actor John Ritter after he collapsed on the set of his sitcom weren't at fault in his death.Ritter's family had filed a multimillion dollar wrongful death lawsuit against the physicians, who treated Ritter for a heart attack, not the torn aorta he had. The hospital where he was treated has already settled with the family of the Emmy...

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Just 12 hours before he died in a reckless, high-speed crash, an 18-year-old Florida man logged onto an online forum for BMW drivers and asked for tips on driving his faster.Later that same night, Joshua Ammirato raced his 2008 BMW M5 off an airstrip and into a tree. He and four other young men from Marion County in Florida were killed in the high-speed crash that clearly was the result of...

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I have to applaud fellow InjuryBoard member Jennifer Moore of Grossman & Moore in Louisville, Ky., for a great article on things patients can do to avoid hospital infections.She essentially provides a checklist for things you can ask and ask others to do if you must be hospitalized.I encourage you to read Jennifer's posting or the entire report from the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

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Construction work is one of the most dangerous jobs out there, accounting for more workplace injuries and fatalities than any other field.But there are simple things that construction workers and their employers can do to prevent injuries on the job.These tips are taken from a new 92-page guide from the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. It's a must-read for any...

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Distracted teenage drivers chatting away on the cell phone can have deadly consequences, as we've written about here before.But only 23 teens in North Carolina have been convicted so far under a state law that went into effect last year that bans teenage drivers from talking on cell phones. These stats make me wonder and ask two questions: Are cops too busy to stop and ticket teen drivers who...

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As a parent, it's frightening to hear just how many toys are contaminated with lead.A shocking new report issued today by the Ecology Center revealed that hundreds of toys still being sold are contaminated with lead, many with levels higher than the federal recall standard. Fueled by recent toy recalls (all involving toys manufactured in China), the Ecology Center tested more than 1,200...

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For many construction workers, job safety is truly a matter of life and death. It's hard to imagine putting your life on line everyday just by going to work. A startling number of construction workers are injured and die each year from falls, crushed by equipment, electrocutions and other causes. The number of construction-related injuries numbers more than 400,000 every year, according to OSHA...

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Need to text? Your cell phone could be taken awayTexting while driving can lead to deadly consequences, which is why states are taking a look at toughening laws to deter drivers from using their handheld electronics behind the wheel. Washington state has received a lot of attention lately after passing a ban on texting while driving that takes effect this January. Violaters will be charged $100...

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Many injured drivers in Washington state were getting shortchanged by their insurance company, resulting in paying medical expenses out of their own pockets when they should have had coverage, according to a class-action suit that Allstate is settling out of court. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports the tentative settlement of the class-action suit will affect Allstate car insurance policy...

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