FELA – Federal Employers’ Liability Act (Railroad Worker’s Injuries)
One hundred years ago Congress secured basic injury protection for railroad workers with passage of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act – FELA. For most of the century since enactment of this law, The Moody Law Firm, Inc. has successfully represented railroad workers throughout the United States. For more than fifty years, our lawyers have handled thousands of cases from the claim stage, to trial and on appeal all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Railroad claims can be tough. Cases are frequently complex, and they are always hard fought by today’s railroad companies. If you are a railroader who has been injured on the job, you need top flight lawyers who have specialized in railroad claims for decades. It’s the heart of our business and we are anxious to help you.
Railroad Crossing Accidents
The United States has more than 140,000 railroad highway crossings. Many of them are unprotected and provide inadequate warnings to drivers. Not surprisingly, when a train collides with a motor vehicle the train wins. According to statistics from the Federal Railroad Administration, 299 people were killed as the result of crossing accidents in 2007, and all of these accidents are preventable.
Whistle-Blower Protection
For decades railroad workers’ only protection against railroad harassment and discipline for reporting injuries and filing complaints about unsafe conditions was appeals to the Public Law Board. In many occasions this remedy was insufficient to protect railroad workers against the railroad’s harassing and retaliatory conduct when employees reported injuries or safety related matters.
Mass Torts and Pharmaceutical Drugs
Prescription drugs can have many serious side effects in addition to the medical benefits they provide. Most pharmaceutical companies are multi-national corporations that make billions of dollars per year on the sale of prescription drugs distributed worldwide. Some of the drugs they sell are placed on the market before all of the side effects of the drugs are fully understood or even when testing shows serious health risks associated with a particular drug.
Below is a list of just some of the products we are currently accepting cases for:
- Duragesic Pain Patch
- Bard Composix Kugel Mesh Patch
- Avandia
- Trasylol
- Digitek (Digoxin)
Essure Lawsuits
Essure is a permanent birth control method for women (female sterilization). Implantation of Essure does not require a surgical incision. In the procedure, a health care provider inserts flexible coils through the vagina and cervix and into the fallopian tubes – the tubes that carry the eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. Over a period of about three months, tissue forms around the inserts. The build-up of tissue creates a barrier that keeps sperm from reaching the eggs, thus preventing conception. Essure is considered a permanent form of birth control and therefore is not intended to be removed.
IVC Filters
Surgeons implant retrievable inferior vena cava filters (IVCs) in the veins of patients who are unable to take anticoagulants (blood thinners) in order to prevent blood clots from moving to the lungs. IVCs catch the clots in the blood stream and, over time, the clots dissipate. But the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) received hundreds of adverse reports about the retrievable filters. Reported complications included punctured organs, blood vessels and filter migration to different parts of the body.
Hip Implant
You must first determine if you have a recalled Depuy ASR hip implant. Many people have already received a letter from their surgeon advising them that they have one of the recalled hip implants. Some individuals have a card which shows which implant they have. If you do not know which implant you have, call your orthopedic surgeons office and request a copy of your surgery report which will show the name of the manufacturer and the model of your hip implant. We will be glad to review those records for you to confirm that you have the recalled hip implant and may have a potential claim.
Vaginal Mesh
We are actively pursuing cases against the manufacturers of vaginal mesh products. Vaginal mesh or transvaginal mesh (mesh placed vaginally) is used to treat women’s health issues such as stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. In July 2011, the FDA issued heightened warnings regarding mesh used in pelvic organ prolapse, and in September 2011 the FDA special panel recommended to regulators that pelvic organ prolapse devices be reclassified. These products cause serious complications such as mesh erosion, mesh-related infections, chronic inflammation and bleeding. These products destroy women’s intimate lives and cause severe and permanent injury, often requiring numerous surgical interventions. We are actively pursuing these cases and have begun filing cases against the manufactures of these products.
3M Earplugs
3M’s Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2), which are now no longer in production, were given to thousands of servicemen and servicewomen from 2003 to 2015 – putting them at risk for serious and permanent effects, including partial or total hearing loss and tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears.
Surgical Staplers
Surgicalstaples are specialized staples used in surgery in place of sutures to close skin wounds, connect or remove parts of the bowels or lungs. The use of staples over sutures reduces the local inflammatory response, width of the wound, and the time it takes to close.
Personal Injury
At The Moody Law Firm, Inc. , we take great pride and responsibility in representing personal injury victims. A personal injury victim is anyone who has sustained bodily injury and associated damages solely due to the carelessness of others, and a personal injury can occur in any number of ways…..
Trucking Accidents
If you have been injured in a truck accident due to the carelessness of others, The Moody Law Firm, Inc.can help you obtain the compensation you deserve for your injuries. We have significant experience in taking on trucking companies whose careless drivers or poorly conditioned equipment have caused life-altering injuries to others. Our considerable knowledge of Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations and other applicable laws will help you receive the compensation you deserve.
Nursing Home Negligence and Elder Abuse
Many elderly or other patients often go to a nursing home for long-term care or rehabilitation. A nursing home can also become a patient’s permanent home when medical conditions are such that returning to an independent lifestyle is not possible. Experience has shown that nursing home residents are especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Various state and federal laws protect these elderly and infirmed citizens and ensure that their care in a nursing home meets accepted standards. The Moody Law Firm, Inc. is dedicated to protecting these rights on behalf of elderly and infirmed nursing home residents.
Motorcycle Accidents
For many of you, there is nothing that can take the place of the freedom and exhilaration you experience on your motorcycle. We know all too well, however, that even a brief, careless act by another driver can cause you to suffer a terrible tragedy. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident due to the carelessness of others, The Moody Law Firm, Inc. can help you obtain the compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Medical Malpractice
Medically negligent mistakes by doctors, nurses and hospital personnel can be devastating, often resulting in permanent injury or death. The legal team at The Moody Law Firm, Inc. has obtained successful verdicts and settlements in cases involving physician malpractice, and the negligence of nurses and other medical providers.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death was a claim started under the common law where a person or entity could be held liable for a death. The claim is a civil action, usually brought by a spouse or children of a dead person which alleges that a victim died due to negligence on the part of the defendant. Surviving dependents or beneficiaries of the decedent can be entitled to monetary compensation for damages caused due to the death of the victim. Wrongful death can arise from a number of circumstances, including automobile or airplane accidents, occupational accidents or exposure to hazardous substances; criminal behavior; and other instances by a third party.
Traumatic Brain Injury
The Moody Law Firm, Inc. has successfully represented many victims and families who have been forced to deal with the impact of a traumatic head or brain injury. The Firm’s attorneys are familiar with the special issues and complexities that are involved in this area of the law, and draw on their extensive experience to represent their clients in and out of the courtroom. If you or a loved one has suffered a head or brain injury, The Moody Law Firm, Inc.will provide you skilled legal representation in a caring, supportive environment.
Product Liability
A defective product can cause some injury to a person because of a defect in the product itself. The manufacturer and some vendors involving the defective product can be liable for injuries caused by the product. Generally, these cases deal with design defects, manufacturing defects, or defects in marketing.
Occupational Disease
Each year American workers by the thousands are exposed to environmental conditions on the job that result in the development of varying occupational diseases. With the industrialization of America and the use of new chemical agents, these types of injuries have increased especially in the railroad industry. Most, if not all of these injuries, can be prevented by use of proper care by the railroad companies by warning employees, providing proper working conditions, providing proper protection, and the use of proper methods. Despite many years of knowledge on behalf of the railroad companies that the conditions they were exposing their workers to had the potential to cause serious and disabling occupational diseases, they have done nothing until recent years. As a result, workers have developed varying diseases and conditions from occupational exposure to these chemicals and conditions. Some of these diseases do not manifest themselves until many years after the original exposure. The railroads are responsible under the FELA for occupational diseases.
Asbestos Litigation
Asbestos is a mineral capable of causing lung disease and many forms of cancer. Railroads used asbestos products heavily during the steam era on steam locomotives. Even with the advent of diesel locomotives, the newer engines still contained many asbestos products in various forms on those locomotives as well.
Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which is mainly associated with asbestos exposure. The cancer itself normally forms in the lining covering the lung called the pleura (pleural mesothelioma) or in the diaphragm (peritoneal mesothelioma). When it comes to mesothelioma there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos that will prevent a risk of this disease. Railroad workers of all crafts are at risk for developing mesothelioma. The Moody Law Firm, Inc. has represented mesothelioma victims across this country in the railroad industry from all crafts and all of the major railroads in the United States. We have also handled claims on behalf of individuals in other industries who developed mesothelioma as well. Successful handling of a mesothelioma claim requires special knowledge, experience and understanding of this disease.