Tennessee Law Blog

Each week it seems that I read about a person being shot or injured at their apartment. In addition to this, I have several cases where a person was victimized by a criminal and their apartment had done little or nothing to provide a safe complex. I think we all know that there are certain areas of town that are more dangerous than others. Unfortunately, in litigating inadequate security cases what I have come to realize is that some apartment complexes take extra precautions to protect their residents and some seem to focus more on profits.

If you are looking for an apartment in the Nashville, or any area, I would recommend that you check crime statistics in the area. Ask other residents if criminal activity is common in the complex. Don't be afraid to ask the manager if they have security on site or security that patrols on a regular basis. How did they chose the security company?

Although we can never predict when a criminal may act we can take precautions to deter any criminal activity. I honestly believe that it is not too much to ask to have an apartment complex take a small portion of their profits to ensure their residents are safe. If they fail to do so, then the should expect to be responsible for any damages sustained.

Thirty-nine-year-old William Hamilton Jr. was crossing Broadway at Third Avenue In Nashville, Tennessee on his way home from work Monday evening when he was struck by a Metro Transit Authority bus. The collision left Hamilton with broken ribs, a deflated lung, and several other injuries. The bus driver, Dujuan Thompson, who was turning left onto Broadway when he hit Hamilton, was cited for his failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. He will continue driving city buses for the MTA while the accident is reviewed and William Hamilton Jr. heals from his injuries.

Automobiles are so commonplace in our culture that we take them and the dangers they pose to us for granted. Most of us simply accept the six-million US car accidents per year as a part of our lives, and only truly grasp how great that number is when we or someone we love becomes one of the three-million people injured or killed by those accidents.

This past Monday, the true dangers of automobiles became quite real to William Hamilton, Jr. and his family. While his injuries were not maliciously inflicted, he would be able to walk home from work today if only the bus driver had been more attentive. Hamilton, like all other individuals injured as a result of another’s negligence, deserves to be provided with the best medical attention possible and enough money to make up for his lost wages and recovery. If you or a loved one has a story like Hamilton’s, make sure you were properly compensated. If you suspect that you weren’t, we are here to help.

A woman in Indiana claims that her second stroke and the bedsores she acquired while recuperating was a result of nursing home neglect. The death of an elderly man in Chicago is suspected by the police to be a product of nursing home abuse. These are just two of the many news headlines this week highlighting the insidious problems of abuse and neglect in nursing home and elderly care facilities across the county.

Every year, over 500,000 reports of nursing home abuse and neglect are reported to the Adult Protective Services, and it is estimated that this staggering number represents only a quarter of the incidences that actually occur in caregiving facilities for elders. While much still needs to be done on personal, institutional, local, and federal levels to address this problem, the Tennessee-based organization, Senior Crimestoppers, has played a starring role in dramatically decreasing neglect, abuse, and other crimes in nursing homes in Tennessee and across the country.

Senior Crimestoppers is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping elders in nursing homes safe from theft, neglect, and abuse, and has reported a 94% decreases in crime volume in participating homes. Senior Crimestoppers’ method is simple, proactive, and effective. Staff and residents are trained to recognize the signs of abuse and other crimes and are empowered to report suspected cases via an anonymous helpline call to the Memphis-based organization. Individuals are financially compensated for their honest reporting of harmful incidences—these have included everything from stolen dolls to sexual abuse by caregivers—and the evidence strongly suggests that it works.

Tennesseans should be proud to provide a home base for this organization that puts into practice many of the safety measures that the law, alone, can’t. If you have a loved one in need of, or living in, a nursing home, find out if it is a participant in Senior Crimestoppers. As this week’s national news headlines show, nursing home abuse and neglect are real problems and organizations like Senior Crimestoppers should be utilized to their fullest. However, if the preventative measures of thorough research, regular visits to your beloved elders, and participation in Senior Crimestoppers have not been enough to prevent the neglect or abuse of an elder you know, we can help you with our compassionate legal expertise.

After years of heated debate, the Tennessee Home Loan Protection Act has become law. This law protects consumers against some high-cost mortgage loans and the brokers and lenders who make them.

Most traditional mortgage loans have fees of 1 to 2 percent. If fees total more than 5 percent, the new law will trigger stricter regulations and certain fees are capped. The law also protects home owners against some mortgage “flipping,” and high cost loans cannot increase the principle over the course of the loan. Also, payments that are twice as large as regular payments, or balloon payments, are restricted. One of the biggest changes the law introduced is the requirement that high-cost mortgage loans must now include a notice to borrower.

Although many feel the law did not go far enough to protect consumers, it does provide reasonable steps to protect homeowners while limiting restrictions that threaten to curtail subprime lending, the business of making loans available to people with low incomes and spotty credit. If you believe you have been the victim of a predatory lender, please feel free to contact our office.

John Eric Kauffman was recently found dead in his apartment near Atlanta, Georgia. The 41-year-old man had struggled with severe bipolar disorder and its accompanying psychotic episodes for most of his adult life, and at the time of his death was taking Zyprexa for his condition. At the time of his death, he also had severe heart disease and was eighty pounds heavier than he had been just five years earlier when he began taking the medication.

Kaufman’s story of sudden weight gain and deadly heart disease is not an unusual one for a shockingly high percentage of people who take Zyprexa to help them manage bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Indeed, clinical trials suggest that at least 16 percent of the two million people who took Zyprexa in the last year will have gained at least 66 pounds within a year. While a bit of weight gain may be a more-than-welcome price to pay for mental health, Zyprexa’s side effects cost far more than a new self image. The drug has long been known by its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, to increase cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well—factors known to contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and possibly death.

Over the past decade, Eli Lilly is believed by many to suppress what it has known about the dangers of its best-selling product. Recently exposed company e-mails, marketing materials, sales projections, and scientific reports all reveal the lengths to which Eli Lilly has gone to prevent information about Zyprexa’s connection to diabetes and obesity from hurting sales. But the problems associated with this drug, which representatives have been told to promote as a “safe, gentle psychotropic,” have become too pervasive to ignore any longer. The $700 million Eli Lilly spent last year to settle 8,000 lawsuits for people like Kauffman who had developed diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa. is beginning to take its toll on the company and tarnish the reputation of the drug.

Kauffman’s early death is a reminder of the importance of discussing with our doctors the risks associated with prescription medications. It also reminds us that, if a drug manufacturer is determined enough to hide the truth, doctors may not even be aware of the dangers associated with particular prescriptions. In those cases, it is up to us to uncover the truth and hold companies responsible for their deception. We will continue to make that possible for you and your loved ones.