New Mexico Legal Issues Blog

Albuquerque a safer place to drive this year

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents on Friday, September 21, 2018.

The Allstate Insurance Company compiles its claims each year and then ranks metro areas around the country. It now has released its new list based on numbers from 2017. As it turns out, Brownsville, Texas was the safest place to drive, while Baltimore, Maryland was the most dangerous. The statistics are based on the number of crashes that involved a property damage claim with the carrier.

Albuquerque ranked right in the middle this year at number 87 (number 1 is safest), but the good news is that this is actually 30 places higher than last year. While the national average is reporting an accident once every 10 years, our metro area drivers report a claim every 8.5 years in the city proper, while experiencing 20.7 hard-braking events every 1,000 miles. The suburban driver reports a claim every 10.8 years and experiences 17.5 hard-braking events every 1,000 miles.

CDC announces new guidelines for treating head trauma

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Medical Malpractice on Friday, September 14, 2018.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced guidelines for improving how medical staff and parents each recognize and deal with concussions (also known as mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI)). Often involving student athletics, these injury symptoms usually are temporary, and 90 percent of the time go undetected and do not involve loss of consciousness. Nevertheless, they could affect the injured later in life.

Common symptoms

Company recalls weightlifting equipment after severe injuries

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Product Liability on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.

Paralysis and other injuries resulting from using weightlifting equipment from Cybex Smith Press has triggered the recall of 15,000 units manufactured between 1989 and 2009. The news of the recall was officially announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on August 29, 2018.

Recall details

Why organizations' first impulse is to cover up

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Civil Rights on Friday, August 31, 2018.

The Catholic Church is once again making news. There are the tragic findings of a Pennsylvania Grand Jury, which recently announced it had evidence of 300 priests molesting 1,000 children in their care. This was followed by accusations by a top Vatican diplomat who, among other things, alleged that the Pope and other top Vatican officials covered up accusations that American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had sexually abused seminarians.

The athletic world has similarly been shook by revelations of Michigan doctor Larry Nassar abusing hundreds of gymnasts while supposedly providing medical treatment. Ohio State's sports has suffered a variety of scandals including the recent three-game suspension of acclaimed football coach Urban Meyer for allowing his assistant coach to continue to work even after it came to light that the man abused his wife.

Albuquerque named most dangerous city for cyclists

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA on Wednesday, August 22, 2018.

When it comes to getting from one place to another, Americans still seem to prefer driving a car. Biking in the U.S. still seems to be a leisure activity and occasionally taking short trips. One of the reasons more people are not jumping on their bikes may be due to the lack of bike friendly infrastructure in cities around the country. American cities are certainly lagging European cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam where bikes can easily outnumber cars.

This may be the reason riding a bike can still be dangerous in American cities. Another piece of bad news if you prefer two wheels over four, Albuquerque was recently cited in a report to be the most dangerous city for cyclists.

EPA announces policy changes asbestos and hazardous materials

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Product Liability on Friday, August 17, 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics recently announced a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) change in policies regarding asbestos. A mineral once widely used in building materials because of its flame-retardant properties, it has since been deemed a dangerous carcinogen.

The EPA says it plans to first evaluate new uses for the mineral using risk evaluation, select studies and the best available science. An area of concern is the EPA's approach based on a document titled "Problem Formulation of the Risk Evaluation for Asbestos." Critics point out that this approach does not consider "legacy" uses of asbestos and other current information about the health risks. Therefore, the revised SNUR will severely limit the scope of measuring the danger to using the mineral as well as several other similarly dangerous chemicals, materials and minerals.

Report: Albuquerque one of the least safe large cities for drivers

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.

A recent report from WalletHub points to Albuquerque being a rather dangerous place to drive.

The report compared America's 100 largest cities in four different categories related to driving. These categories are: safety, traffic & infrastructure, access to vehicles & maintenance and cost of ownership & maintenance.

A potent reminder of the danger of some medical devices

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Medical Malpractice on Monday, August 6, 2018.

"The Bleeding Edge" is a new documentary out on Netflix that examines the potential dangers of different medical devices and treatments. We are all aware of the dangers of human error as well as the failure of products to work as designed. This film, however, graphically details how medical devices in particular can be dangerous and yet less regulated than pharmaceuticals. The strength of the documentary message is getting coverage in the media.

Metal implants could lead to neurological problems

Food contamination causing deaths, sickness and lots of recalls

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA on Friday, August 3, 2018.

In the spring of 2018, romaine lettuce grown in a region near Yuma, Arizona, was abruptly pulled from store shelves due to E. coli contamination. The final toll of the outbreak looked like this: 210 people from 36 states were affected, 96 people were hospitalized and 5 were killed.

If you haven't already been cautious about the foods you eat, now is a good time to start. The amount of contaminated food continues to grow. Food recalls have risen dramatically in recent years. Ritz crackers, Goldfish, Swiss rolls and Kellogg's Honey Smacks have been removed from shelves just this summer. Salmonella was the culprit for each of those foods.

Mandalay Bay owners suing shooting victims

On behalf of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, PA posted in Wrongful Death on Monday, July 30, 2018.

The tragedy of October 1 killings and injuries during a concert at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The final toll was 58 people killed and more than 500 injured by shooter Stephen Paddock, who had barricaded himself in his 32nd floor room with high-powered rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Now several months later, the New York Times reports that parent company MGM Resorts International has taken the unprecedented step of filing lawsuits against the victims and their families. All told, there are more than 1,000 people named in the suits, which lists anyone attempting to sue the company or have given notice that they intend to. Instead of seeking money, the company is taking this untested approach to shield itself from liability to pay damages to victims and their families.