Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Andrew Prine, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Family dogs are members of the family. Unfortunately, the family dog / family pet can sometimes be a very dangerous animal. In Eastpointe, Michigan, a Pit Bull Terrier mauled and killed a 1 year old boy. The father then killed the dog. The dog was shot with a handgun. The boy was taken to St. John Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Lt. Darrell Corsi stated that the incident would be investigated further.
Bullying is a problem that is present in day care centers, elementary and middle schools, and high schools and beyond. To better deal with bullying issues, it is often helpful to study and better understand the psychology and interactions involved with bullying. A University of Florida study indicated that girls were more likely to defend bullying victims than boys. Of course, this does not mean that girls do not bully. Some of the most brutal bullying incidents both psychological and physical have been committed by girls. As noted by University of Florida researchers, there has been a lack of recognition and study of kids who try to defend victims of bullying or stop the bullying incidents from taking place or continuing. The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Centers estimate that over 5.7 million children are involved in bullying incidents as either the bully or the victim.
Text messaging is in full force in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States. Unless you have been locked in your house and have not been around any teenagers or adults for that matter, you should know about text messages. It is a tool. It is a game / toy. It can also be dangerous. Like anything else in life, moderation is important unless, of course, you are attempting to break some kind of record and want notoriety. The maxim should still apply “as long as nobody gets hurt”. Anyway, in Pennsylvania, two mean (Nick Andes, age 30, and Doug Klinger, age 30) spent the hours upon hours upon hours text messaging each other to try to break some kind of record. To Nick’s dismay, he received a bill of $26,000 for his excessive text messaging acts. Nick did have unlimited texting under his plan so the bill is being investigated and should be resolved in Nick’s favor. To me, Unlimited means Unlimited so Nick’s carrier should not be charging him any more than the fixed charges.
USA Today reported on school killings in schools since 1983. A map published by USA Today illustrated school killings in elementary, secondary and post secondary schools across the nation. The map is interactive in that a reader can click on a geographic area or incident to find out more details on the school killings.
In Redding, California, a woman thought it would be a good idea to text message and drive at the time time. In fact, the woman was electronically paying her bills online while driving. Due to her inattention and the distraction as a result of texting while driving, Deborah Matis-Engle crashed into a line of stopped vehicles. As a result of the automobile accident, one woman died and was the unfortunate wrongful death victim of this avoidable crash. The victim, Petra Winn, was 46 years old and died as a result of personal injuries suffered when her vehicle bursted into flames after impact.
Internet chat rooms serve as playgrounds for child predators looking to take advantage of children. In many instances, a child predator is able to lure the child not only out of the home but out of the child’s home state. William Joe Mitchell recently appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to the charge of the interstate transportation of a minor for sex. Mr. Mitchell met a 15 year old girl in a chat room online and knowingly transported a child that he knew was underaged from Bartow (Polk County) Florida to Anadulsia, Alabama. These acts were in violation of Title 18, United States Code 2423 (a) which makes it a crime to transport a child under the age of 18 with the intent of having sex. Mr. Mitchell also violated Alabama law which makes it a crime for a person over the age of 16 to have sex with a child under the age of 16 when there is more than a 2 year age difference between the defendant and the child. Mr. Mitchell was 46 years old at the time of the crime. For his crimes, Mr. Mitchell faces a prison term of at least 10 years.
Parents pay for and send their children to school to get an education. Most parents do not send their children to school to deal drugs or to hold up other students at gun point in the dorm room. At Hofstra University, students were recently arrested for drug dealing and weapons charges. Students held up another student at gun point and stole drugs out of the victim’s room. This incident came to light when the “victim” reported the hold up to campus police. The victim was robbed at gun point by a realistic looking gun (a pellet gun). The student thieves took drugs, jewelry and cash and then escaped in a getaway car. The victim made a big mistake in reporting the crime as he was arrested for dealing pills, marijuana and cocaine out of his Hofstra University dorm room. Further investigation led to the arrest of the students using the pellet guns and their accomplices.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology mistakes in medication given to cancer patients occurs all too frequently. The study found 22 errors among 117 visits (18.8% error rate) to a pediatric oncology clinic. The study found 90 errors among 1,262 visits (7.1% error rate) to three adult oncology clinics. Most errors involved incorrect doses of medication. Of the adult medication errors, 61% had the potential to cause injury and 12% in fact caused patient injury. Of the pediatric medication errors, 41% had the potential to cause injury and 18% did cause injury. You can read more about the study at