It was announced in New Orleans, Louisiana, Monday that a settlement has been reached between a worker who was injured in the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion that occurred in 2010 and the companies that operated the rig. According to reports from Business Week, the worker reached an amicable settlement for an undisclosed amount with BP Plc., Transocean Ltd., and other companies that were involved in the operation of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

After two previous settlements with other companies involved in the spill, the worker was originally seeking $5.5 million in damages for negligence and the rig being unseaworthy.

The companies have come under heavy judicial fire since the explosion killed 11 men, injured numerous others, and ruined the livelihoods of thousands of coastal residents. The immense pressure has forced the companies to settle many of the claims.

Injured workers and the families of the deceased have filed roughly 40 personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Residents who claim their property, businesses, and lives were destroyed by the spill have filed hundreds of other lawsuits against BP.

Possible criminal violations by the companies continue to be examined by the courts and the Justice Department.

The Louisiana Maritime Accident Attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers specialize in the laws that govern the aspects of business and safety on the water. They may be able to help you if you’ve suffered an injury on the ocean.

The parents of a young boy from Coushatta, Louisiana, who was left paralyzed after a tragic accident on a ride at the Louisiana State Fair, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the child. According to reports from WAFB 9 News, the accident happened on November 2, 2011, while the child was on a class field trip to the fairgrounds.

When the ride operator of the Twin-Ring Demolition Derby Ride stepped away for a moment, an unsupervised child was able to reach the controls and start the ride while the four-year-old boy stood on the loading platform. As the floor began to move, the child fell and was trapped in a six inch space between the ride and the floor. It took nearly twenty minutes for rescuers to cut the child free from the ride. During that time, the child stopped breathing and suffered brain damage.

The lawsuit claims that the child’s school, the ride’s operator, the ride’s owner, and the state of Louisiana acted negligently and allowed the accident to happen.

The family is seeking unspecified damages in the case for medical bills, pain and suffering, and loss of quality of life.

The Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyers with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers hope that the family is able to receive the compensation they need in order to get back on their feet and continue to give the child the quality of life he deserves.

While walking to get where you need to go may be a green and healthy mode of transportation, it can be dangerous. Reports coming from WAFB 9 News say that three pedestrians have been hit in killed over the last several days in the greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area.

Last Thursday morning, a 2005 Toyota Camry struck a 90-year-old man as he tried to cross East Boulevard just before noon. He died at a local hospital the next day. Hours later, a 56-year-old man was hit and killed by a Dodge pickup truck as he tried to cross Greenwell Springs Road.

Then, on Monday afternoon, a 55-year-old man from Walker, Louisiana, died after a hit-and-run accident. Reports from the Louisiana state police show that the man was strolling along Walker North Road near a Ford Expedition that had stopped in the southbound lanes. A pickup truck approaching from behind did not have time to stop and rear-ended the Expedition, sending the pickup towards the pedestrian. The large truck plowed over him and through an embankment before striking a house and coming to rest. The Expedition fled the scene after the collision, leaving the pedestrian to die and the pickup truck driver injured.

The Louisiana pedestrian accident attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers often handle cases for pedestrians who were hurt at no fault of their own. If you have been injured, contact an experienced attorney today.

A Louisiana teenager was killed and two others injured they crashed on I-12 Monday evening. Reports from WAFB 9 News say that the accident happened at about 8:00 PM near the St. Tammany parish border.

Louisiana state police say that the 17-year-old driver of a yellow 2003 Ford Focus, along with her 16 and 18-year-old passengers, were heading west along the highway when the vehicle veered off of the shoulder of the highway. The young, inexperienced driver then over-corrected, causing the vehicle to spin wildly out of control. The driver was killed instantly when the vehicle traveled across both lanes of the highway and slammed into a tree on the driver’s side.

The two passengers survived and were taken to local hospitals for treatment of moderate injuries.

Although investigators are still examining the crash, they have determined that all passengers were properly restrained, and no kind of impairment seems to be a factor. This leads investigators to believe that a distraction of some kind may have been at fault for the crash.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that passengers riding in the vehicle with teen drivers make the risk of a fatal accident skyrocket. Their numbers show that the risk doubles with one passenger in the vehicle, and can be as much as five times higher with two or more passengers.

The Louisiana Car Accident Attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers may be able to help you if you have been injured in a crash caused by a distracted driver.

The man responsible for running over two cyclists, killing one, and critically injuring the other, is behind bars today in lieu of more than $90,000 in bail on charges of second offense DWI and vehicular homicide. According to reports from WAFB 9 News, the 28-year-old drunk driver responsible for causing the accident hit the men at around 8:45 PM near the intersection of Quail Run and Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Both cyclists had helmets on and lights mounted to their bikes, but it wasn’t enough to keep them safe when the man with a blood alcohol level of nearly four times the legal limit rammed them from behind. The cyclists fell to the asphalt where they were then run over by the vehicle. One cyclist, a 30-year-old father, was declared dead at the scene. The other cyclist was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remains in critical condition and faces numerous surgeries to repair the injuries to his legs and ankles.

Baton Rouge City Court records show he was booked for his first DWI on August 3, 2006, when his blood-alcohol level was .241, or more than three times the state’s legal driving limit.

The Louisiana DUI accident attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers are an experienced and compassionate team of attorneys here to help if you have been injured because of another person’s negligence. Complete a free initial consultation now.

One Metairie, Louisiana, couple is using the loss of their son to hopefully save the lives of countless others. WWLTV News reported late last week that the parents and family of a De La Salle High School football player, who dropped dead on the field because of an undiagnosed heart condition, have donated more than 60 Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to area schools.

AEDs are medical devices that send an electric impulse to the heart of a patient suffering from cardiac arrest. Roger Mattei, a cardiac science corporation AED specialist, says that if the device is used on a patient going into cardiac arrest within three minutes of the heart stopping, the use of an AED can increase survival rates by as much as 70 percent.

The device is cost effective at less than $2,000 per unit, and is designed for use by anyone. The AED has voice-guided instructions that will not continue until every aspect of the current step is completed. Some units will not even work if something other than cardiac arrest is wrong with the patient.

Are you still not sure if you would want to be the person to use one on somebody else if needed? Good Samaritan Laws protect those who use them and the companies and schools that buy them from being held liable if the person dies. On the contrary, companies can be found negligent in court if they do not supply the units to employees.

The Louisiana personal injury lawyers with Dudley DeBosier see nothing but benefits to having these devices being readily available for the public and hope to help bring awareness to the availability of these life-saving medical devices.

The cloud of mystery surrounding an SUV found abandoned and partially submerged this morning in Lake Pontchartrain at the Twin Spans is beginning to lift. According to reports from WWLTV 4 News, the vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run accident with a tractor-trailer late Tuesday night.

A spokesman for the New Orleans police department said that the driver of the black SUV was heading eastbound along I-10 at around 10:00 PM Tuesday night, when a tractor-trailer with a purple cab moved into the SUV’s lane and clipped the vehicle. This caused the SUV to spin out of control and into the lake.

The driver was able to escape through a sunroof and swam to shore. There, investigators said a witness stopped and helped the victim. The male driver of the SUV was extremely shaken up by the incident, but he was otherwise uninjured.

Police are searching for a tractor-trailer with a purple cab that possibly says “Raynor” on the side.

Although no one was injured in this crash, more times than not, truck accidents are deadly. The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) estimates that roughly 5,000 people are killed per year in tractor-trailer related accidents.

Due to guidelines that regulate the trucking industry, truck accidents involving injuries or death can quickly become tied up in bureaucratic red tape. The Louisiana truck accident attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers specialize in helping cut through that mess. Call us today if you have been injured in a tractor-trailer accident and have any questions regarding your case.

Over the last several weeks, a combination of smoke and fog has been blamed for numerous accidents along a stretch of I-10 outside New Orleans, Louisiana. According to WWLTV News, a three-vehicle crash occurred due to weather conditions this morning. They also reported that weather conditions are also being considered as a partial cause to a 40-car pile up that occurred in the same area last Thursday. Two people died and dozens were injured as a result of the crash.

The low lying marsh area around the highway is prone to fog and is only compounded by a marsh fire that has burned in the area for more than a year. Local agencies have tried to extinguish the blaze several times to no avail.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance says the best thing to do if you are driving in low visibility areas is to:

• Slow down
• Turn on your lights (Not High Beams)
• Use windshield wipers
• Try not to switch lanes unless necessary
• Use the right side of the road as a guide, not the center lines
• If you don’t feel safe, pull over at the next location off the highway

They also advised against using caution blinkers in bad visibility conditions, as other drivers are attracted to lights and tend to follow them even if they are off the road.

The Louisiana auto accident attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers ask that motorists be safe during their morning commutes when the likelihood of these low visibility conditions are at their highest.

The Louisiana Department of Health issued a warning to hospitals and state residents not to use tap water in neti pots to rinse your nasal passages out. According to CBS 6 News, the warning comes after a 51-year-old woman died in the state earlier in the month after becoming infected with a deadly, brain-eating amoeba.

Neti pots are devices that look like small tea posts that are inserted into the nose and then used to flush the sinuses with warm water. Doctors say the woman contracted the amoeba through plain tap water she used with the pot to rinse out her sinuses.

The Naegleria fowleri amoeba is commonly found in waters of the southeastern United States. The amoeba feeds on the brain of its host once it has made its way past the plates of the skull. The most common way for this to occur is through the nasal cavity. People are rarely infected, but the most common way it occurs is when water goes up the nose while swimming in rivers and lakes.

Dr. Otto Yang, associate chief of the division of infectious diseases at UCLA‘s Geffen School of Medicine, says the best way to prevent being infected is to use boiled or distilled water in neti pots.

The Louisiana defective product attorneys with Dudley Debosier Injury Lawyers believe that manufacturers and suppliers of products have a duty to warn users of dangers associated with their products. If you have been injured by a defective product, contact an experienced lawyer today for a free initial consultation.

You never know how your body is going to react to the medications you consume. We are each different, and while something may have a certain effect on one person, another person could have a completely different reaction. That is why WWLTV News says one Baton Rouge, Louisiana, family is telling their story. They are warning others about some uncommon reactions that can occur from common medications.

In May of this year, a 16-year-old girl in the family developed what she thought, at first, to be a rash. Before she knew it, the painful, irritating rash had spread to cover her entire body and left her skin covered in what appeared to be third degree burns. She lost her hair and fingernails, her body swelled, and she eventually required a ventilator to breathe.

After four months in Intensive care, the girl was allowed to go home. Doctors determined that the girl suffered from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a condition where the body fights and destroys the outer layer of the patient’s skin.

Doctors say that the condition can be a reaction to many common antibiotics, such as amoxicillin and ampicillin. Reactions can range from mild skin irritation and sensitivity to sunlight to extreme irritation such as this young woman’s case.

This is why the Louisiana Drug Injury Attorneys with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers say it is so important to consult your doctor immediately if you have any kind of negative reaction to a medication you’re taking.