Child Injuries

April 17, 2018

Woburn Child Dies in Family Pool

This evening, a 3-year-old Woburn boy was submerged underwater in a swimming pool and lost his life. Woburn law enforcement officials were dispatched to the boy’s home on Marlbourough Road close to 5:00 p.m. in response to a 911 report about a child that could not be located.

When the officers arrived at the home, they learned the boy had been missing for over an hour. When the police entered the property, the boy’s body was located in the swimming pool behind the house. There was nothing on top of the pool, and it contained foliage but was not full to the top with water.

The toddler was not conscious when retrieved from the pool. He was immediately transported to Burlington’s Lahey Hospital where he was officially declared dead at 9 p.m due to drowning.

According to the Massachusetts State Police and Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the boy was likely in the pool for quite some time. Due to the toddler’s age, his identity will remain private. There is an ongoing investigation.

October 22, 2017

Failure to Respond Appropriately to Boston Daycare Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There are many ways a child can get injured at even the most well staffed daycare facility in Boston. Even with proper supervision and the best safety protection, children tend to run and trip and that can result in a serious personal injury. While your child can fall and become injured without any negligence whatsoever, the daycare employees are sometimes very careless in what they do after the accident and it is often this response, or lack thereof, that can lead to aggravation of the injury, and that is where negligence comes into play.

Daycare Workers Responsibilities in Boston Child Injury Cases

Under the law in Massachusetts, the daycare workers have a duty of due care to prevent foreseeable harm to foreseeable plaintiffs, and in the case of daycare injuries, we are talking about the children enrolled in the program. This includes acting as reasonable and prudent daycare provider in preventing injury to the children, but in responding properly if a child is injured. Continue reading

May 24, 2017

Corporal Punishment and Child Injuries in Mass Schools

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Massachusetts, corporal punishment is illegal. This means that a teacher, coach or anyone else at your child’s school cannot use spanking, paddling or any other type of physical force as a means of discipline.

This has not always been the case and is still not the rule in some other states. We have recently seen a rash of articles about bills being proposed in other states to ban corporal punishment in schools as the legislature in Massachusetts has already done. Continue reading

May 15, 2017

College Rugby Player Paralyzed During Championship

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While you or you child can get injured during most sports, some are more dangerous than others. When we think of head injuries, football is often at the top at list. This is to the point where many parents, even former athletes, will not let their kids play the game at a competitive level. While football may be first, lacrosse and ice hockey are not far behind. Rugby is often considered the most dangerous, but until recently it was not that popular in the U.S., so we don’t hear about it often, but that is starting to change.

According to a recent news story from The Mercury News, a college athlete was left paralyzed following a championship win for his team. The 20-year-old athlete is now paralyzed from his chest down. He already had one major surgery, but he now only has limited movement of his arms and nothing below that. His family said they know it will be a long road ahead for this young victim, but they hope and pray he will regain his mobility. He was able to sit up in a chair while in the hospital a day after the surgery, and this is a very encouraging sign. Continue reading

February 13, 2017

One Child Killed, Another Injured by Pit Bull Attack

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Animal attacks happen a lot more often than people realize in cities such as Boston and across the nation. In most cases, we are talking about cases that involve dogs and other common household pets, though some instances do involve exotic animals people choose to keeps pets, such as chimpanzees.

While many people have dogs as pets, and the vast majority of them are friendly, when a dog attacks a child, it can be the scariest thing imaginable for everyone involved. In some cases, these dog attacks can result in serious injury or even death. According to a recent news article from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, one man’s dogs allegedly killed a young boy and seriously injured another young girl on their way to school. He has been arrested and charged with two counts of reckless conduct, which are both misdemeanors, but prosecutors indicated they may be filing additional charges. Continue reading

January 24, 2017

10-Year-Old Girl Dies During Ski Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Skiing and snowboarding are very popular in Massachusetts and throughout the greater New England area. There will be many people hitting the slopes each weekend until there is no snow left on the ground. While this can be a great deal of fun, it can also be dangerous. In some cases, the ski area will be liable for any injuries or deaths that occur on the mountain.

According to a recent news article from People, a 10-year-old girl was killed while she was in the middle of taking a ski lesson. Her mother said that while her child was skiing in the lesson, she lost control and crashed into a tree on New Year’s Day. This crash resulted in severe head injury that soon proved fatal. Following the accident, she was rushed to a local level-one trauma center where she was treated for what doctors described as a closed head wound. Continue reading

September 16, 2016

Benda v. Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City: Personal Injury Litigation

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Benda v. Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, a case from the Supreme Court of Utah, involves a 14-year-old student who was injured while working as part of the set crew on a play performed by the school’s drama department. The drama teacher told the student to climb a lift so that a light bulb could be changed.

Once the student was in the lift, the teacher raised to into position, which was about 30 feet in the air. After the first bulb was changed, the teacher instructed other students on the ground to move the lift so the student on top could change another light bulb. At this point, the lift fell over and the student suffered serious and life-threatening injuries as a result of the fall from a serious height. Continue reading

September 13, 2016

Mom Blames Daycare After 2-Year-Old Injured in Fall

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

No matter how well the visit to a prospective daycare facility goes, or how well trained the staff members seem to be, there is still some degree of anxiety experienced by most parents when they drop their child those first few times.

According to a recent news feature from NBC, a mother is questioning how her 2-year-old child was injured after an alleged fall accident at his daycare facility. She is claiming that her child suffered a serous personal injury to his mouth as a result as result of this fall.
Continue reading

August 10, 2016

Glassman Lawyer Wins Biggest Massachusetts Child Injury Settlement All Year

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers was recognized recently by the esteemed Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly after having secured the largest injury settlement in the Commonwealth for a full year.

A child injury lawsuit filed on behalf of the parents of a Boston baby who due to a medical mistake now suffers cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia and legal blindness, was settled for $9.02 million. This damage award was the highest in the state from July 2015 through July 2016.

This settlement is significant. We know that 95 percent of all personal injury lawsuits in Massachusetts end in pre-trial settlements. That means the case never actually goes to trial. Some cases get dismissed by a court for lack of evidence. Others may be settled for less than they are worth by attorneys who more concerned with quantity rather than quality. Continue reading

July 16, 2016

IKEA recalls 29 Million Dressers After Child Injuries, Deaths

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In the largest furniture recall in American history, Swedish company IKEA has recalled more than 29 million chests and drawers following the third child death and dozens of child injuries in three years.

Based on data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), not only is this furniture recall the largest that has ever been issued, the second-largest furniture recall wasn’t even close. In that case, 10 million beanbag chairs sold by nine separate companies between 1971 and 1995. In that case, at least five children had died after reportedly unzipping those beanbag chairs and swallowing the small pellets inside, choking to death. Then there was the recall of some 2.1 million folding child folding chairs after the locks kept failing and little fingers were getting pinched in the hinges.

This recall was three times bigger than the beanbag recall. Part of the problem is the way Ikea furniture is designed. It’s lightweight and has low stability ratings. These dressers have reportedly killed at least six children since 1989, beginning with a 20-month-old girl who was killed when an un-anchored, four-drawer dresser tipped over and pinned her against the floor. The cases just kept adding up from there. Continue reading