Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

According to recent reports, authorities in the state of Missouri are dealing with the breakup of a substantial dogfighting ring where law enforcement activity netted up to 350 dogs and 30 people across several states including Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee.

This Chicago Tribune story is just one of several reports originating online about the activity leading up to this series of raids, which has been called the largest in recent history.

As police and other law enforcement officers force the workers to deal with the aftermath of the situation and try to find homes for these dogs, a large question looms: what are the liabilities involved with handling all these animals, which have been bred or trained for ferocity? Concerns about the future handling of these animals include their passage through the law enforcement system, as well as any new homes they may find.

In any case dealing with dangerous dog breeds, there's always the concern of responsibility for any incidents where these conditioned animals injure their human handlers. Dogs confiscated from dogfights can tend to fall into a kind of “gray area”, making assessment all the more difficult. What's clear, though, is that certain dog breeds pose more of a general risk, and insurers, such as those providing homeowners insurance, reflect this in their policies.

Continue reading " Dogfighting Ring Busted: Animals Need Homes " »

A recent Missouri law adds to the already lengthy list of mandatory screenings for disease in newborns. KSMU News Radio reports in a story that a bill requiring checks for five “lysosomal” diseases was signed into law July 8.

The story also mentions a concrete example of a family ready to fight for the bill’s passage after losing an 11-month old son to what is called Krabbe disease, a lysosomal condition that can be prevented by an umbilical cord transfusion at birth. Child health advocates lead the charge in establishing checks for easily prevented illnesses that can prove fatal if undetected. As new parents are not medical experts, they depend on professional doctors to diagnose any specific conditions at birth so that they can be treated and prevented.

This recent bill offers a closer look at the general trend toward mandating checks for preventable disease in infants. Each state has its own requirements, with Missouri holding a leading position with mandatory screening for 67 diseases, according to an estimate from the KSMU story.

All of the differences in mandatory screening by state can lead to some complex cases where parents need to be able to find out exactly what the standards are for their situations according to the state of birth or the state of residence. When a family encounters a tragedy stemming from an undetected condition such as Krabbe or any other infant illness, the results can take a terrible emotional toll. Along with coping with bereavement, families are left to navigate an involved patchwork of state regulations on the behavior of medical networks facilitating births.

Continue reading " Missouri Adds Law Requiring Lysomal Disease Screening for Newborns " »

Motorcycle riders in Missouri now have a little more freedom. The Missouri Senate, in Jefferson City, recently voted to allow motorcycle riders over the age of 21 to ride without a helmet in some circumstances. The one caveat is that Missouri motorcyclists can’t be traveling on one of Missouri’s interstate highways.

Some Missouri residents view this as a huge victory, while others believe the interstate restriction is ridiculous. I am an avid motorcycle rider and enthusiast and I understand why some riders prefer no helmet. It certainly increases the feeling of freedom, but also increases the chance of injury.

Many Missouri residents argue that once someone turns a certain age, they should be able to make this decision by themselves, without government involvement. Motorcycle helmets have been mandatory in Missouri for many years.

People who support helmet laws often defend their belief by arguing Missouri has an obligation to keep people safe when they are involved in dangerous activities. Supporters of helmet laws also point to the many studies that have been done in regard to Missouri motorcycle accidents, helmets, and injuries.

About half the states require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Some states don’t require helmets, while others require helmets for younger riders.

Continue reading " New Missouri Motorcycle Helmet Law " »

An article reports that a Swansea man was killed and another man hospitalized for injuries he received when he was thrown from a vehicle in a car accident near Belleville recently. The man who was killed in the auto accident is reportedly a 79-year-old resident from Swansea who was driving a 2008 Buick LaCrosse when his car was struck head-on by a 1992 Dodge Ram conversion van. The van’s driver was taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville and later airlifted to a St. Louis Hospital shortly after 10 in the morning. At the time the article was published, the condition of the van’s driver was unknown.

According to law enforcement authorities investigating the accident, the auto accident occurred on Illinois 161 near Shiloh Road and east of Southwestern Illinois College. The impact threw the van’s driver onto the road and emergency response personnel say that the 79-year-old victim died on impact. The St. Clair County Coroner arrived about 9:45 a.m. to officially pronounce the Buick’s driver deceased.

Accident reconstruction indicates that the Dodge van was westbound when it crossed the center line and struck the LaCrosse, causing the fatal car accident which closed Illinois 161 in both directions for several hours. At the time the article was published, the results of routine blood tests from the drivers were not yet known, and it is also unknown whether or not law enforcement authorities plan to charge the van’s driver for causing the car accident that led to the other man’s death.

Sadly, car accidents claim many lives in the St. Louis area each year and many more people’s lives are changed forever from injuries they receive in car accidents caused by drivers who are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, driving recklessly, or operating their vehicles in a negligent manner. Beyond the injuries that St. Louis car accident victims suffer, they must often also contend with catastrophically high medical bills from hospital stays, rehabilitative regimens, prescription medication and loss of income.

Continue reading " Swansea Man Killed in Belleville Car Accident " »

Charges were filed recently by the Cole County Prosecutor’s Office against an Elston woman whose dog is believed to have bitten a 5-year-old boy. This article about a Missouri dog bite incident in the News Tribune claims that the 19-year-old Elston woman has been charged with one count of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of misdemeanor animal abuse in connection with an incident which occurred on May 19, 2009.

The Cole County Sheriff’s Department said that the 5-year-old boy was released from the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospital after receiving treatment for a dog bite to the right side of his face. The child’s injury was described as a large cut from the bottom of his chin to near his right ear that required over 100 stitches to close.

The dog bite incident occurred around 8 p.m. while the boy was playing in the back yard of his home on Old Stage Road. The dog bite victim’s father claims that the boy was playing when a large brown Mastiff dog appeared and bit the child on his head. The dog’s owner told Cole County deputies that she was aware that her dog was running loose and knew of another incident this spring where her dog had bitten someone but wondered whether or not it had actually happened. After conducting an investigation, the Cole County Sheriff’s Department said that the same dog had bitten a 5-year-old girl riding her bicycle in March. The girl suffered two puncture wounds and the Missouri dog bite incident was witnessed by a member of her family.

Due to a miscommunication between the girl’s mother and the doctor who treated her wounds, the dog bite incident was never reported to law enforcement officials and investigated. A few days later, the girl’s grandmother spoke with a Cole County Animal Control officer about the dog bite incident and the officer informed the dog’s owner about her responsibilities to maintain control over the dog. The dog is also believed to have bitten a motorcycle rider although neither the rider nor a witness reported the dog bite incident to law enforcement authorities.

Continue reading " Missouri Dog Bite Incident Injures 5 Year Old Boy " »

A Missouri motorcycle accident has resulted in injuries for a Columbia man hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. This recent article in the Columbia Tribune claims that the 25-year-old Columbia man was riding a 2007 Kawasaki which was westbound on Route F east of Route J when his motorcycle was struck by a vehicle which turned into the motorcycle’s path. According to law enforcement officials with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the motorcycle accident occurred around 6:30 in the evening when an eastbound 2008 Chevrolet driven by a 47-year-old Columbia woman turned directly in front of the motorcycle.

The impact with the car threw the motorcycle’s rider some distance and he was taken to University Hospital in an ambulance where he was listed in fair condition. The Missouri motorcycle accident report did not say whether or not the motorcycle rider was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. The Chevrolet’s driver was wearing a safety belt and was apparently unharmed in the accident.

A vehicle of some kind which crosses into the path of a motorcycle is a frequent cause of Missouri motorcycle accidents and the drivers of these vehicles often claim that they did not see the motorcycle in the moments before the accident occurred. Sadly, many motorcycle accidents in Missouri and other states across the country result in the motorcycle rider being seriously injured or killed. With the exception of a helmet, motorcycle riders simply have little to protect them from an impact with a vehicle which outweighs their motorcycle by thousands of pounds.

Continue reading " Missouri Motorcycle Accident Injures Columbia Man " »

This article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that two St. Louis men caused a St. Louis car accident that claimed the life of a 48-year-old Dittmer man.

The two men—a 28-year-old and 21-year-old—were allegedly chasing a vehicle sometime on May 5, 2009, after a reported drug deal went awry in High Ridge. The two men reportedly fired weapons at a Jeep driven by a woman who had an adult male passenger and a 2-year-old child in the Jeep with her. Law enforcement officials with the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office say that after the shots were fired at the Jeep, the female driver of the Jeep lost control of the vehicle and struck a truck. The driver of the truck suffered fatal injuries in the accident.

The victim’s mother said that her son had just dropped off his 11-year-old son nearby in Festus and was heading home after treating his son to an evening at the movies. She said that the man was only two miles from his home when the accident occurred.

Continue reading " St. Louis Car Crash Kills Man " »

A female worker was killed recently while working on a concrete placement which was part of the Taum Sauk reservoir rebuilding project. An article claims that the 48-year-old woman was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and died from the injuries she received in the Missouri workplace accident. At the time the article was published, law enforcement officials investigating the Missouri construction accident had not yet released the accident victim’s name, but said that she was employed by Ozark Constructors LLC at the time the accident occurred.

Ozark Constructors had been hired by the reservoir’s owner—AmerenUE—to rebuild the reservoir after a breach occurred in the reservoir, which released a wall of water down the side of a mountain and into Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park on December 14, 2005. St. Louis-based utility company AmerenUE prepared a written statement that said the safety of everyone at the Taum Sauk reservoir construction site was the company’s top concern. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and coworkers of the construction worker who died as a result of this morning’s tragic accident at the Taum Sauk upper reservoir rebuild site,” the utility said in its written statement.

Ozark Constructors said that its workers have logged over 2 million hours of work over 21 months at the construction site, but the company declined to provide additional information pending an investigation into the Missouri construction site accident conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Construction sites can be very dangerous workplaces with lots of heavy equipment being moved by large machinery, multistory scaffolding and other potentially hazardous conditions. The majority of construction companies make construction site safety a priority and spend a great deal of time and money ensuring that employees receive the training, safety measures, and qualified supervision to prevent Missouri wrongful death accidents and personal injury incidents. However, there are some construction companies that take shortcuts to save money and expose their workers to unnecessary risks, and far too many workers are killed and seriously injured each year in Missouri construction site accidents.

Continue reading " Missouri Construction Accident Kills Female Worker " »