Consider the hypothetical case of a 19-year-old high school senior who was killed on Valentine’s Day 2008. His passenger and girlfriend was also severely injured; injuries that completely altered her life from the day of the impact. She remains in a wheelchair and is hoping to recover enough mobility to attend a university. Three other people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time were also victims of this tragic accident; an accident that should never have happened.

“The young man and his girlfriend were on their way to a Valentine’s party at a friend’s place that ill-fated evening. They were minding their own business and discussing the party, when out of the blue a 22-year-old man driving a smaller car, crossed the double yellow line, pulled next to the young man’s vehicle, and swerved in the direction of the driver’s door,” explained Charlie Donahue, a New Hampshire personal injury attorney.

This action caused the young man to boot his vehicle into high drive to get away from the second vehicle. Unfortunately, he lost control of his car, hit another vehicle and was ejected through the windshield. He was pronounced dead at the scene by attending paramedics.

“Aside from the criminal charges laid in this case (vehicular homicide and 5 counts of reckless conduct), the wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the driver who swerved into the young man’s vehicle was driving his auto in a careless and negligent manner. The criminal matter will proceed later this year. The civil lawsuit was tried first. Often, it is easier to prove a case in civil court because the burden of proof is different,” outlined Donahue.

Under circumstances like this particular hypothetical case or in other instances where someone has lost their life as the result of the negligence of another, they may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. “Don’t wait to speak to a highly skilled personal injury attorney, as the statute of limitations needs to be strictly observed in order to even be able to file a lawsuit. Nothing is more important to the family who lost a relative than being able to find ‘justice’ for the wrongful death of a family member,” added Donahue.

To learn more, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.

It’s hard to make blanket statements about child sexual abuse when it comes to the actual statistics. This is largely because the government lumps physical and sexual abuse together and survivors who blissfully “forgot” their abuse, tended to not report it until much later in life; meaning they were not counted in the final numbers evaluation.

Nonetheless, what those statistics show is that almost 62% of girls and 31% of boys are sexually abused by the age of 18 years old. Those figures are frightening, despicable, shocking and evil. Sexual abuse of a child is not acceptable – period.

Sometimes parents are not sure what sexual abuse is and may not understand what is going on in their homes and/or family. They may not know that child sexual abuse is both an abuse of the child sexually and about the abuse of power. It is considered by some to be violence that isn’t always accompanied by force.
Sexual abuse is a myriad of things and that includes words, sounds and exposing a child to sexual acts or sights but not directly involving the child. Sexual abuse may be overt and covert at the same time, or put another way, it may be blatant and/or hidden; a cauldron of unacceptable and immoral behavior.

Behavior of this nature needs to be stopped, and often the best place to stop it is before it happens. Oddly enough, most of the prevention that society talks about today is “not” before the deed is done, but “after” it has been found out. While it may be dealt with after the fact, this does not deal with the fact that it should never have happened in the first place.

“In the many years of practice I’ve had in this area, I’ve found that a great many parents override their child’s natural instincts when it comes to people. For instance, making the child ‘like’ Uncle Mike and not listening or paying attention when the child doesn’t want to spend time with him,” indicated Charlie Donahue, a New Hampshire personal injury attorney.

“Discounting the child’s sense of what is right for ‘them’ is asking for trouble. Hitting the child for ‘not’ liking uncle doesn’t work either. The reality is, the kid doesn’t like uncle for a really good reason and that is usually that they ‘feel’ uncle is bad. Kids have good inner radar, we ought to listen to them,” said Donahue.

The facts speak loudly and clearly; sexual abuse is not perpetrated by the stranger with a beard. The predator is usually someone related to the child or a friend of someone in the family or associated with the family. In any situation like this, it is critical to speak to a compassionate and skilled personal injury attorney.

“Sexual abuse ‘does’ happen at home. A good personal injury attorney knows this and can assist the victims in dealing with a court process. Don’t wait, don’t guess, don’t assume and most of all, listen to what the child is saying. They only tell what they feel. It is then our responsibility to protect them,” stated Donahue.

To learn more, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.

When you make the decision to place a relative in a nursing home, you don’t do it just because you “can.” You do it because they need care you can’t provide. You trust the nursing home management and staff will treat your relative with the same care and dignity that you would. In many instances, you would be right; in others, you would be in for the shock of your life.

Consider the case of Betsy Penny(names have been changed to protect the victims), so doped with pain medications she didn’t need and that her family didn’t want give to her, that she could no longer recognize her sister or other family members that came to visit her. Penny herself barely recalls the ugly details of the nursing home she lived in for a year, but she does remember how frightened she was all the time.

When Penny entered the home in 2006 at the age of 73, she was able to walk and talk. Eleven months later her family took her out because by then she was strapped into a wheelchair and wasn’t aware of anything going on around her. Her family is positive she would be dead today if they had not removed her. It took Penny over four months to recover from the effects of all the unnecessary drugs she was given daily to make her compliant and complacent.

There were other signals that all was not well at the nursing home in which Penny lived. Residents were so heavily drugged their heads were planted in the middle of their meals and Penny’s room smelled strongly of urine. Respect and dignity were totally absent.

Penny recalls the time she broke her hip and instead of getting protective bracing for the bed, they told her to sleep on the floor. The final straw was when a nurse gave Penny an insulin dose that just about put her in a coma. Penny is and was not diabetic, and had no need to use or any reason to be given insulin. Her family had enough and took her home.

Not only had the family had it with the nursing home, they were angry that other seniors were being treated the same way Penny was handled. They filed a nursing home malpractice lawsuit, yet to be resolved, but they are determined to stick to their guns and put an end to nursing home abuse. This may be a tough case, as the owner of the nursing home at the time Penny was a resident there was charged with felony health care fraud.

It also looks like the new owners have a string of charges and fines totaling $900,000 filed against them for Medicare and Medicaid fraud – specifically failing to provide proper/adequate care for residents of “their” nursing homes. Kind of makes one wonder about how the residents will be treated by the new owners.

Let’s be perfectly clear about something here; nursing home abuse is “not” acceptable in any way, shape or form. It is ugly, destructive, treats valuable human beings like garbage and needs to stop – right now. If you have suspicions about a nursing home your relative may be in, have proof abuse is stalking the hallways of the home, call a dedicated and skilled nursing home abuse lawyer. These cases are critically important for more than one reason. They are about making a nursing home environment safer for seniors and about putting a stop to this violence and abuse for the next generation to follow; and that generation would be us.

Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.

When growing up, there was a whole lot of time spent in the kitchen gathered around the oven, waiting for those hot chocolate chip cookies to come out. Impatience defined that brief 15 minute period while the cookies spread with the heat and went golden brown. There was nothing better than homemade cookies.

Along comes the 21st century and time is in short supply, so short we have taken to cutting corners when it comes to baking at home. For example, Nestlé’s refrigerated cookie dough that lets anyone cut off cookie sized chunks, slap them on a cookie sheet and when the timer dings, they’re done. Nice and crumbly and delicious. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

It’s no longer applicable with refrigerated cookie dough, since a lot of people are eating the dough rather than baking the cookies. While that might save time, it evidently may also cause them to be severely ill with E. coli 0157:H7. This strain of E. coli has some particularly nasty symptoms and has, over the last year, laid at least 72 people in 30 states flat out. What a world. We can’t even trust the cookie dough in the fridge. What’s worse is that Nestlé’s still hasn’t figured out “why” their dough is contaminated. Hardly a statement to instill consumer confidence.

Nestlé’s has cried “Mea culpa” and yanked its most recent batch of cookie dough out of circulation. Meaning, when they were doing routine testing at their main plant in early January 2010, they found two samples testing positive for E. coli. Dough produced before and after the contaminated cookie run was destroyed. Luckily, none of “that” batch was shipped. However, this recent move didn’t do much for the 72 folks who became deathly ill after eating “other” batches of tainted cookie dough. The company needs to be held accountable for their dangerous product and its affect on unsuspecting consumers.

While their proactive move in January to using heat-treated flour in their dough should make the product safer, the question is, what about the people who got sick earlier? Using the heat-treated flour will also mean a shortage of cookie dough on the market until March, when the new formulation hits the shelves.

So, why didn’t Nestlé’s do something about this earlier? Looks like the bottom line is that they had to reformulate their cookie recipes to make them still taste homemade and have the same cookie crumble texture. By all reports, they succeeded, and the new dough should be just dandy fine. The people who were violently ill will likely not be buying anymore refrigerated cookie dough; heat-treated flour or not. Consumers who have lived through wave after wave of dangerous product recalls, including Tylenol twice, are also jaded enough to revert to home cooking once more. It’s safer.

Right now, the company suggests that consumers don’t eat raw cookie dough and that they bake the cookies first. While the warning is welcome, it’s too late, and not everyone will be aware of the dangers even with the product warning. If you’ve eaten raw cookie dough and paid the price of becoming severely ill, or have a dangerous product horror story, you need to speak to a dangerous products lawyer who knows how to hold the culprits accountable. Find a people lawyer who will tell it like it is, not tell you what you want to hear.

Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.

The election is to fill the seat held by Ted Kennedy for so many years.

As you probably know, the victor will be the crucial 60th vote– with the power to implement or destroy the Obama agenda. The stakes could not be higher.

Brown was never given a shot, and hardly registered on early polls. By all reports he is likely to pull off one of the greatest political upsets in the history of US politics.

No matter what your political perspective, it seems to be an American trait to pull for the underdog, as so much excitement mounts for the upstart challenger, who is on the verge of an historic upset.

As both sides know, anything can happen; nobody is backing down. It will be a fight to the finish.

Many folks look at this race as an indicator of where the country is going. It is not an understatement. The entire nation, as well, has its eyes on the race.

Will the nation take a left-hand turn, or will it put on the brakes?

Our nation is sharply divided on what is the best course.

I’m asking all my friends in Massachusetts ( I was born in Lowell) to make sure to vote. In most elections the turn-out is pretty pathetic, but this election promises to break records– and be the kind of turn-out we should have in all our elections.

It is wrong to take freedom for granted, lest we lose it.

Keep your strength, and tell your Mass friends to get out the vote!

Charlie Donahue
Injury Lawyer
Keene, N.H.

Inn recent days there has been a resurgence of talk about steroid use in professional baseball, especially with Mark McGuire’ disclosure, as if anybody is taken by surprise.

There are strong feelings on the topic.

One of my friends takes the view steroid users are cheaters, poor role models, and should not be permitted to hold any records or go to the Hall of Fame.

Many others agree.

The other position is steroids, initially, were not illegal, and that, although they help built strength, were not the cause of enhanced performance. The hitters still have to have great hand to eye coordination, and the pitchers still have to know how to throw strikes. In other words, the steroids didn’t do it.

Whatever your viewpoint, I’d like to look at the controversy from a different perspective:

A) The hypocrites in Congress who had the nerve to waste tax-payer money investigating the issue of steroid use in professional baseball.

First, I wonder how many of them were on something?

Second, If the fans don’t like the way baseball handles the issue, let them boycott games.

It’s between baseball, its management, players and the fans.

The taxpayers have more compelling national issues.

B) How easily folks over-look the historical use of amphetamines by professional baseball players.

It is well-known that the use of this drug, called “greenies” or “speed” has gone hand-in-hand with professional sports forever.

Surely not every athlete used them, but enough of them were abusers.

That drug is a major performance enhancer, causing increased alertness, intensity, energy and adrenaline.

Arguably those features are far more valuable to the athlete in terms of enhanced performance than more strength.

Many in baseball’s Hall of Fame were abusers of amphetamines.

The players on speed were said to be “launching,” yet even today its usage is treated far less severely than steroids, which seems a bit hypocritical.

As is true in the injury law field, there are two sides ( at least!) to every argument.

Keep your strength.

Charlie Donahue
Injury Lawyer
Keene,N.H.

Hope you like them.

My cousin, John Paul, out of Merrimack, N.H., a very talented and creative musician put together a great country western radio ad for me.

It’s upbeat, catchy, and to the point. It has a Johnie Cash sound, with good lyrics.

I have not been doing as much advertising these days, but it’s always good to remind folks I’m still kickin, and always looking to help as many injury victims as I can.

I’m sure there is no injury lawyer radio ad in the country that takes my approach. I think it’s a refreshing ad.

I refuse to be boring.

Funny thing. I heard from a good source that my ad wasn’t on for one full day when one of my local competitors went to the radio station to do some ads, too.

I swear that if I stopped real fast I’d have to pull some of these guys out of my back pocket.

They say imitation’s the most sincere form of flattery.

Any way, I’ll try not to overdo it with the advertising. Almost all my clients come to see me by word-of-mouth. There is no better ad than a satisfied client.

In the business of injury law, it is sad, but true, that some of the most unsavory and crooked lawyers are drawn to it. They give every lawyer a bad name. But that gives injury lawyers who are honest and straight-shooting a chance to shine.

Have a good weekend.

Keep your strength.
Charlie Donahue
Injury lawyer
Keene, N.H.

Love is not one of them.

Trust is not either, although once lost it is very difficult to get back.

The same with lost opportunities and respect.

Hard to regain, but not impossible.

No, I’m talking about a few things that are, indeed, lost forever.

You can never get them back– period.

The two things that come to mind are: 1) time and 2) the spoken word.

Think about it.

Lost time can never be recaptured. It is gone for good.

Therefore, it is good for us to use our time wisely, and not waste it as life is too precious.

Second is the spoken word.

In my business as an injury lawyer dealing with all kinds of folks with all kinds of interests and ulterior motives, I really need to pay attention to this one, and don’t we all.

Our tongues can be a terrible weapon. We are all capable of saying atrocious and hurtful things.

Those words, once spoken, can never, ever be taken back– no matter how much we would like to take them back.

Many are the times I’d like to tell someone off. Some insurance adjusters and lawyers come to mind.

Hopefully we can exercise the virtues of prudence and wisdom by tempering what we say.

I know it isn’t easy, but it is worth it.

Keep your strength.

Charlie Donahue
Injury Lawyer
Keene, New Hampshire

It was quite a battle, but we were victorious.

The defendant was a big corporation, and was represented by a powerful law firm out of Manchester, N.H.

She had a question on another legal matter, and, because it was not injury law, I recommended her to a specialist in the field of employment law.

This happens a lot to me, and I’m really glad it does.

I want folks to think of me as their go-to lawyer on any kind of legal question.

Even though I only practice injury law, personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death, I know many lawyers in New Hampshire and across the country who can help with other kinds of cases.

It was great to hear how well her children turned out– one lives on the west coast, and the other is about to graduate from college after taking a class at Harvard. During the case, they were both young guys, and now they are young men out on their own.

This lady is a terrific person. The financial arrangement / settlement will protect her for life. She deserves every bit of it because her case was a life-changing event.

In the injury law business it is rewarding to see old clients, to see how their lives have turned out, and to see all the good that was done through the civil justice system.

The money does not ever really amount to compensation. I think that idea is a myth. There is really no amount of money that makes the suffering worthwhile. But it does make live easier, and gives the injured person the help, comfort, and protection s/he needs and truly deserves.

Being set- for- life is far better than having nowhere to turn all the time!

Think of me as your go-to guy.

I’d be honored to help any way I can.

Keep your strength.

Charlie Donahue
Injury Lawyer
Keene,N.H.

He was victorious, handling his ordeal with great dignity and class. He fought the good fight, lived a good life, and, as it is said, ran the race to the finish. God bless Ian and his clan.

Today I attended a very nice memorial service for Ian. Those who eulogized him hit it out of the park. His wife, Marjorie, and daughter, Darlene– her husband, Andy, and their daughters will surely miss the leader of Smith clan.

Ian was born in Scotland, but lived most of his life in the USA. He would have enjoyed ( and no doubt did) the prelude of “Scotland the Brave” performed by bagpiper Daryl Madden, a local Keene police office, as well as some special music ( “Wild Mountain Side”) performed by his friends Teresa Winter and Fred Moriaty.

He died at 71. Ian was known far and wide in the paper industry, and in the world of golf.

I met Ian when he was my age, and I was about 30 without gray hair. We met on the golf course and the Old Scot was my team’s captain. We won the tournament and became good friends. Ian was the best captain one could have– a fierce and accomplished competitor, but always an encouraging, upbeat and positive partner.

I’ll always remember Ian’s good nature, his thick Scottish accent, the twinkle in his eye, and his warm smile. I am blessed to have known him.

While some other “big shots” looked down their noses at me because I was not a corporate lawyer, but an injury lawyer, Ian was always supportive of me. Although Ian made it to the top of his profession, he never lost his common touch and remained down-to-earth.

I, too, will miss Ian Smith.

As the evening passes, I wish my friend peace on the rest of his journey into eternity.

Times like these are a constant reminder of what counts most in life, because none of us– no matter how long we might live — are on this earth for very long.

Farewell good Scot.

Keep your strength.

Charlie Donahue
Injury Lawyer
Keene, N.H.