Pets Deserve Legal Protection Too

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) more than 60% of Americans have a pet and more than 35% of pet owners consider their pet to be a member of their family. Despite these statistics, Maryland has done little to enact and enforce laws designed to protect pets.

As in other states, it is a crime in Maryland to abuse or neglect an animal. Maryland is lenient on animal abusers though, with a maximum sentence for animal neglect or animal cruelty of 90-days versus six months to one year in many other states.

This year, the Maryland Legislature is considering several laws aimed at protecting animals, including:

  • A law that would require veterinarians to report suspected cases of animal cruelty;
  • A law that would require licensing of commercial breeders;
  • A law that would require animals no longer needed for research purposes to be made available for adoption; and
  • A law that would give judges the ability to order defendants in animal abuse cases to pay for the cost animal shelters incur caring for animals seized.

Additionally, if a pet is injured in Maryland as a result of someone else’s negligence, § 11-110 of the Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article caps the recovery at $7,500. This means that if you successfully sue the person who hurt your pet you cannot get more than $7500, regardless of the severity of the injury or the amount of your vet bills or other expenses. The cap on damages for cases involving injured pets fails to recognize that many pet owners consider their pet to be a part of their family.

Deterrence is one of the goals of both the criminal and civil justice systems. Maryland’s leniency towards people who hurt animals fails to properly deter people from abusing or neglecting animals and must be rectified.

If you or a loved one of any species is seriously injured and it was not your fault, call The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529). When you call, you will speak with an experienced, compassionate Maryland lawyer absolutely FREE.

We will investigate every detail of your case and fight hard to ensure that your rights are protected. At The Yost Legal Group, you will never pay an attorney’s free up front and we don’t get paid until you do.

The Yost Legal Group – Experienced Attorneys Dedicated to Protecting Your Rights

 

Tragedy Linked to Young Boy Suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury at School

On September 24, 2015 a third grade student at Gwynns Falls Elementary School in Baltimore was fatally injured after sustaining a severe head injury while at school. Details about the case are still emerging. Attorney Tom Yost, of The Yost Legal Group is investigating the case on behalf of the family. It is still unclear as to how a child who fell in a hallway could sustain a skull fracture. The timeline from when the trauma occurred and when the school assistant principal called the ambulance has not been explained. More details will become clear in the coming days and weeks. Click the link below to read the Baltimore Sun article.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Head Injuries From Athletics is a Serious Matter

The Fall is here, which means so is football season. Recently, the Baltimore Ravens played the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately, the Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown left the game briefly during the first quarter due to a head injury he sustained when tackled by Ravens player Darian Stewart.

While Brown was able to return to the game after passing concussion protocol, it is important to note that he is one of the lucky ones. Sometimes, head injuries are life threatening, and often times, severe symptoms do not progress until a lot of time has passed after the injury occurred.

The experienced traumatic brain injury attorneys at The Yost Legal Group have represented too many people affected by similar injuries at no fault of their own.

The leading cause of traumatic brain injuries are falls; however, they can be caused by a multitude of factors, including car accidents, sports injuries, defective products and medical malpractice.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired injury occurring when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can be the outcome when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the scull and enters brain tissue.

Symptoms of TBI can be mild, moderate or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain.

Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury can include but are not limited to the following:

–          Headache
–          Confusion
–          Dizziness
–          Blurred vision
–          Ringing in ears
–          Bad taste in mouth
–          Fatigue
–          Memory loss
–          Nausea
–          Convulsions
–          Slurred speech
–          Loss of coordination
–          Confusion

Little can be done to reverse the initial brain damage caused by a trauma. Medical personnel will try to stabilize TBI victims and focus on preventing further injury. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, approximately half of traumatic brain injury victims will need surgery to repair hematomas (ruptured blood vessels) or contusions (bruised brain tissue). Often times this will leave patients and their families ill-equipped to cope with the medical, financial and legal issues stemming from such serious injuries.

The dedicated traumatic brain injury lawyers at The Yost Legal Group work closely with victims to help them get a proper diagnosis and pursue the full amount of compensation for their financial needs. If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury, The Yost Legal Group can help.

Have you or a family member suffered a traumatic brain injury? TBI victims and their families may be entitled to pursue a claim to recover out-of-pocket medical expenses, loss of earnings, pain and suffering, punitive damages and long-term care.

The Yost Legal Group is experienced in helping individuals and families who are victims of traumatic brain injury and medical malpractice. The Yost Legal Group has the experience to investigate your case, determine what negligence was involved and fight to protect your right to full and fair compensation.

If you or a family member has suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident, contact the experienced, caring attorneys at The Yost Legal Group. The experienced Baltimore Maryland traumatic brain injury lawyers, will work hard to investigate the facts surrounding your situation, get to the truth and see that justice is served.

We are here solely to help you and your family seek the justice and the compensation you need to help care for the needs of your family member with a traumatic brain injury.

Contact The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-Yost-Law (1-800-967-8529) to speak with an experienced Traumatic Brain Injury attorney for free. One of our experienced lawyers will work hard to protect your rights and handle all of the details surrounding your case. If someone was at fault, we will fight to get you the compensation and the justice you deserve.

To find out more about your rights, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable traumatic brain injury attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.

Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Claim

Cerebral palsy is one of the most traumatic birth injuries a newborn can experience. While there are several causes of this severe diagnosis, sometimes cerebral palsy can be a result of medical mistake by a healthcare provider who was responsible for assisting in your child’s birth.

The birth injury lawyers at The Yost Legal Group have the experience and resources to assist families in need of representation as a result of the negligent acts of others who contribute to a child’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is the medical term used to describe chronic disorders that impair control of movement due to damage to a baby’s developing brain. Roughly 20% of babies diagnosed with congenital cerebral palsy are a result of brain injury during the birthing process. The most common reason is due to the lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain during labor and birth.

About 10,000 infants are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year and The United Cerebral Palsy Association estimates that more than 764,000 Americans are living with cerebral palsy.

When medical malpractice is linked to a child’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy, the most common reasons are:

–          Failure to recognize signs of fetal distress
–          Failure to order a timely C-section
–          Failure to act on dangerous fetal heart rate fluctuations
–          Failure of timely treatment for meningitis or jaundice
–          Failure to treat a prolapsed cord
–          Remaining in the birth canal for too long
–          Excessive use of vacuum extraction
–          Improper use of forceps
–          Improperly administered medications
–          Negligence in monitoring and/or treating the newborn

Birth injury lawsuits begin with a medical professional’s opinion that supports your case and the facts showing the negligent healthcare provider failed to treat the infant within established standards of care.

If you have questions about your child’s birth injury or cerebral palsy diagnosis, call The Yost Legal Group for help at 1-800-Yost-Law.

An experienced birth injury attorney will investigate the circumstances of the injury, identify the facts surrounding your child’s birth injury or birth trauma and gather information necessary to support understand what happened.

The Yost Legal Group is experienced in helping individuals and their families who are victims of birth injury and medical malpractice. The Yost Legal Group has the experience to investigate your case, determine what negligence was involved and fight to protect your right to full and fair compensation.

If you or a family member has been the victim of the negligent acts of others, experienced a birth injury such as cerebral palsy, or are the victims of medical malpractice, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer. Do not try to handle your claim on your own.

Contact The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-Yost-Law (1-800-967-8529) to speak with an experienced Baltimore birth injury attorney for free. One of our experienced lawyers will work hard to protect your rights and handle of the details surrounding your case. If someone was at fault, we will fight to get you the compensation and the justice you deserve.

To find out more about your rights, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable birth injury attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

Call 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529) to speak with one of our experienced birth injury attorneys today.

The Yost Legal Group will help you find answers. If you have questions, call to speak with an experienced Baltimore personal injury lawyer for help.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.

McCormick’s Ground Oregano Recalled Due To Salmonella

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the popular spice producer McCormick has voluntarily recalled its McCormick Ground Oregano due to a possible salmonella contamination. Check your spice racks and be sure to remove the following product:

McCormick Ground Oregano, 0.75oz bottle
UPC 0-523561-6 with code dates BEST BY AUG 21 16 H and AUG 22 16 H

The bottles being recalled were shipped to 41 different states, including the Baltimore, Maryland area, between April 4th and August 5, 2014

The FDA discovered the contamination during routine testing. McCormick has contacted grocery stores and notified them of the recall and requested that McCormick Ground Oregano with the above UPC codes and dates be removed from the shelves and destroyed.

The recall does not impact any other McCormick Ground Oregano, Whole Oregano or Oregano Leaves.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious illness and possibly fatal infections in otherwise healthy people. It is especially dangerous for younger children, the elderly and those with weekend immune systems.

There have been no illnesses due to the contamination reported as of yet.

It is all too common for major companies to recall particular goods due to defect. Manufacturers and sellers of products must be held accountable for placing safe products into the marketplace.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury from a recalled or defective product, contact The Yost Legal Group to discuss a potential Product Liability case.

Product Liability cases can be founded on one or more of the following examples:

Defective Design:  A design defect is frequently the result of poor engineering or considerations in the development of how to build the product.

Manufacturing Defects: Sometimes a product is designed properly, but it was not made correctly to its specifications. Sometimes incorrect materials are used when producing a product.

Failure to Warn:  Certain side effects can be the result of using a product and it is the company’s duty to list such things as adverse effects. Warnings are particularly important when it comes to specific drugs and over the counter medicines.

The attorneys as The Yost Legal Group are very active in pursing product liability claims for those who have suffered injury or death from a defective product.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury from a product that you believe to have been unreasonably defective for any of the reasons listed above, please contact The Yost Legal Group and speak to one of our defective product lawyers about a potential product liability case.

The Yost Legal Group is experienced in helping individuals and their families who are victims of defective products. The Yost Legal Group has the experience to investigate your case, determine what negligence was involved and fight to protect your right to full and fair compensation.

If you or a family member is ever injured due to a defective product, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer. Do not try to handle your claim on your own.

Contact The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-Yost-Law  (1-800-967-8529) to speak with an experienced Baltimore defective product lawyer for free. One of our experienced Personal Injury lawyers will work hard to protect your rights and handle the details surrounding your case. If someone was at fault, we will fight to get you the compensation and the justice you deserve.

To find out more about your rights, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

Call 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529) to speak with one of our experienced defective product attorneys today.

The Yost Legal Group will help you find answers. If you have questions, call to speak with an experienced Baltimore personal injury lawyer for help.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.

Use Child Safety Seats, Protect Your Children

According to statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among children in the United States.

Often, these injuries are avoidable, specifically if child safety seat laws are followed. The Yost Legal Group promotes child safety initiatives across the state of Maryland.

Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Laws

  • Maryland’s current law required children under age 8 to ride in an appropriate child restraint, unless the child is 4’9” or taller.
  • Child restraints include car seats and booster seats. Be sure to use federally approved child restraints.
  • The laws applies to in-state and out-of-state vehicles.
  • It is the driver’s responsibility for making sure all children are correctly buckled up.
  • Children under the age of 16 are not allowed to ride in the bed of an unenclosed pick-up truck. Some counties outlaw the act for all passengers.
  • It is illegal to place a rear-facing child seat on the front seat if there is an active air bag.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration makes the following suggestions when it comes to child safety seats:

  • Check the seats labels to make sure it is appropriate for your child’s age, height and weight.
  • Keep your child in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible, usually until the age of 2.
  • Harness straps should be at or below your child’s shoulders when rear-facing. When facing forward, the straps should be above the child’s shoulders.
  • Make sure the child safety seat is tightly installed. You should not be able to move the seat base more than 1 inch on either side.
  • Booster seats should be used with shoulder belts, not lap belts.

The Yost Legal Group is experienced in helping individuals and their families who are victims of car accidents. The Yost Legal Group has the experience to investigate your accident, determine what negligence was involved and fight to protect your right to full and fair compensation.

If you or a family member is ever injured in an accident that was not your fault, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer. Do not try to handle your claim on your own.

Contact The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-Yost-Law  (1-800-967-8529) to speak with an experienced Baltimore car accident lawyer for free. One of our experienced Maryland Accident lawyers will work hard to protect your rights and handle of the details surrounding your case. If someone was at fault, we will fight to get you the compensation and the justice you deserve.

To find out more about your rights, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable car accident attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

Call 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529) to speak with one of our experienced car accident attorneys today.

The Yost Legal Group will help you find answers. If you have questions, call to speak with an experienced Baltimore personal injury lawyer for help.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.

 

Labor Drug Pitocin Can Cause Birth Injury

It should be the happiest day in an expectant mother’s life. She has waited nine months and now it is time to meet her new baby boy or girl. However, sometimes, labor can be difficult and doctors choose to use labor enhancing drugs in order to hurry the delivery. The next thing you know, the mother sees her newborn rushed to the nurses so they can perform life saving measures on the infant. All of this due to the doctor’s choice to use a labor inducing drug called Pitocin.

Unfortunately, the situation just described occurs all too often. The caring and dedicated attorneys at The Yost Legal Group are educated in the controversial use of Pitocin and have represented mothers and children who suffer birth injury directly caused by the use of Pitocin during the delivery process.

Pitocin has been used for years to assist mothers during the labor process. And most times, Pitocin has no adverse reactions, but sometimes it does, and can cause serious birth injury.

Pitocin is the synthetic version of oxytocin, a naturally produced hormone a woman’s body releases to cause uterine contractions. Pitocin is used to induce or to speed up labor. There are times when the use of Pitocin is necessary in order to preserve the health of the baby and mother, however, it is never appropriate for a physician to induce labor for personal reasons, such as wanting to leave the hospital earlier.

It is important to understand that the effect of using Pitocin is not the same as the naturally occurring oxytocin hormone produced by laboring woman. The uterine contractions produced by Pitocin are different because Pitocin is administered via an IV drip, when the natural oxytocin is released in pulses.

Contractions induced by Pitocin will be longer and more forceful than a woman’s natural contractions, which can cause substantial stress to the baby possibly depriving the baby of oxygen and causing severe birth injury.

One study shows that babies born after the use of Pitocin are at three times greater risk of asphyxia, otherwise known as oxygen deprivation. Another study shows that babies born after the use of Pitocin were five times more likely to have brain damage.

Pitocin also has adverse effects on the mother as well. Pitocin can cause postpartum hemorrhaging and disrupt the process of naturally released hormones. Hormone disruption can lead to a diminished rate of breastfeeding.

The Yost legal Group is experienced in helping mothers and families deal with a birth injury. The Yost Legal Group have the experience to investigate your situation and find out if negligence was involved.

Contact Tom Yost at The Yost legal Group at 1-800-Yost-Law  (1-800-967-8529) for a free, confidential consultation. If someone was at fault, we will fight to get you a lifetime of care for your child.

To find out more about your rights, and how you can obtain the compensation you deserve to help care for your child, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable birth injury attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

If your child has suffered a birth defect, birth injury or wrongful death, and you think someone was at fault in Baltimore MD or Northern Virginia, call 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529) to speak with one of our experienced attorneys today.

The Yost Legal Group Birth Injury attorneys will help you find answers. If you have questions, call to speak with an experienced birth injury lawyer for help.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.