New Mexico Injury Attorney Blog

KOAT News recently reported that teen suicide rates were rising in Rio Rancho. In 2008, Rio Rancho recorded 10 suicides, while in 2009, the rate jumped to 18. So far in 2010, there have been 5. The New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition claims that New Mexico steadily ranks in the top five states in the nation for suicides. Consequently, suicide is the number two killer of individuals aged 15-24 in New Mexico.

It is very important to know the risks and signs of suicide. It is not always easy to tell. Some categories are easier to detect than others. Those who exhibit or have been diagnosed with mental health disorders are at a high risk for suicidal behavior, as are those who have substance abuse problems. Family history may be a risk factor particularly cases involving a history of trauma or abuse. A lack of social support or feelings of isolation can spur relationship difficulties along with suicidal thinking.

One very important influence that seems to be at play with teen suicide is media coverage. Public attention, particularly media coverage, can and often does result in copycat behavior. In fact, there is a name for it, the Werther Effect, named for the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in which young Werther ultimately commits suicide. Following the release of the novel, there was a rash of copycat suicides, among the first documented instances of the phenomenon.

Studies show that public attention has a direct bearing on copycat suicides with greater numbers associated with greater attention. Thus significant media coverage can have tragic and unintended consequences. The effect seems to have an inordinate effect on teens as may be reflected in the Rio Rancho numbers, as well as the numbers that occur on the reservations and other communities that suffer sudden and unexplained rise in suicide rates. This is something that all parents should take extremely seriously where there has been a suicide in the community.

The following warning signs should raise concern for parents, particularly following another suicide in the community:

1) depression, including loss of interest in daily activities,
2) withdrawal from friends and/or family,
3) change in sleep, as well as anxiety or fatigue,
4) change in weight or appetite,
5) feelings of guilt, hopelessness or worthlessness,
6) thoughts of death or wishes to be dead,
7) looking for ways to kill oneself, including reckless or risky behavior,
8) increased substance use,
9) giving away treasured belongings, and
10) irritability, anger or rage

Yet, there are also factors that can help a person get past suicidal thoughts. These include the effective treatment of mental or substance abuse disorders, deep family and relational connections, skill building in conflict resolution and problem solving, cultural, community and religious ties, and counseling.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, please contact the New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition at 505-401-9382. Additional resources are available through The New Mexico Suicide & Crisis Hotline at 1-800-SUICIDE and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

The Tort Reform movement paints every personal injury claim as an assault on small business, doctors, health care, the public, the very American way of life. Every jury verdict is claimed as a victory of greedy trial lawyers and opportunistic plaintiffs who are just trying to profit at the expense of America. The tort reformers are not subtle in their claims. Unfortunately, their claims are completely false directed toward the protection of insurance industry profits.

This truth is born out in court every day, in every state, in every personal injury case. The mention of insurance coverage in personal injury actions is strictly prohibited. It is argued that jurors would unfairly factor the coverage into their decision-making. What escapes reason and discussion in the Tort Reform error is that jurors routinely and erroneously factor into their decisions the possibility that a large verdict would unduly harm the defendant whether it be a doctor, small business, large business, or individual.

In fact, this lie underlies the entire Tort Reform campaign which relies on the fact that the jury and the public are never told the truth behind each and every personal injury case. That truth is that personal injury cases are rarely filed at all unless there is insurance coverage. Insurance is called upon to reimburse plaintiffs for their injuries. In most cases, there is no point in filing against an uninsured defendant. Most uninsured individuals or businesses have no assets either. One of the first things anyone does upon the acquisition of wealth or assets is to obtain insurance to protect them. Where the defendant is uninsured, which is quite typical in auto accidents in New Mexico, the typical best case outcome is a large but uncollectable verdict. Few lawyers would put their clients or themselves through such a futile endeavor.

The truth is that the insurance industry, which records obscene earnings and profits each year, relies on the jury's lack of knowledge to protect not the doctor, the small business or the public but to protect its own profits. In the end, due to the huge success the lies of Tort Reform have in had on swaying juries against injured plaintiffs and effectively passing on the insurance industry's liability, it is both the public and the plaintiff who are harmed.

The Tort Reform movement in its successful campaigns for the protection of the insurance industry effectively shifts the costs of the insurance industry to the injured plaintiff and the public. After all, who pays when a plaintiff is horribly injured, forced to endure a lifetime of medical treatment and often unable to work? Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security then pick up the tab for what was contractually the responsibility of an insurance company. These costs are of course passed on to the public through taxes and debt.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear that personal injury suits harm the public. It is not the personal injury suit, the attorneys, or the plaintiff that hurt the public, it is the passing on of insurance coverage responsibilities from the ever successful and profitable insurance industry to the public health and welfare agencies that causes the true harm to the public.

Related Reading:
Personal Injury Judgments: Winning and Collecting Can be Two Very Different Things
 Scalding Coffee, Explosive Chicken Sandwiches? Solution Tort Reform!
Hot Coffee and the Medical Malpractice Myth

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

A recent incident in Albuquerque points out the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars. The incident involved a bus driver for a non-profit that provides low income child care to Albuquerque residents. The bus driver had made his rounds dropping off kids at their homes. He forgot about two toddlers, ages 7 months and 1 year old, who were lying quietly in their car seats. He finished his rounds, returned the van to Peanut Butter and Jelly Family Services, locked the doors and went home. Fortunately for all, the children suffered only dehydration and diaper rash. The outcome is often times far worse.

Anyone reading about the incident would be very unsympathetic to the bus driver. His negligence is unacceptable. Surprisingly, this behavior is not all that unusual. Many times, adults leave kids in vehicles for convenience. On occasion, as in this case, the behavior is accidental. About the same time the story arose in Albuquerque, several news outlets carried similar stories. CNN carried one that ended tragically. Basically, the mother and father of two young children changed their normal routine for dropping off the kids at daycare. A toddler was placed in the mom's car in the morning. The dad usually dropped the kids at daycare. As in the case of the Albuquerque bus driver, the toddler lied quietly in his cars seat. The mom in the trance of her daily routine went to work, worked all day, went to pick up her son at the daycare, only then to realize what had happened. The child died.

CNN reports during the same story that 37 children die each year as a result of being left in vehicles. There have already been 20 reported cases through June of this year. It is uncommon that a child would be left in a car all day as occurred in the CNN report. Instead, these tragedies typically happen very quickly. Hyperthermia (heat stroke) can occur rapidly in children in an unattended vehicle. An unattended car can have a temperature 40 degrees higher than the heat outside. In the intense sun of New Mexico, the variance can be much greater. Simple math says it all even in moderate weather. Children in particular are not equipped to endure such heat. Exposure to that kind of heat even briefly can be catastrophic.

Though, the incident with the Albuquerque bus driver ended far better than it might have, the driver is facing two counts of felony child abuse. He, the children, and their parents are lucky the charges are not more serious. More often than not, these incidents lead to death. There is simply no good reason for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle no matter what the circumstances.

Related Reading:
Court Protections for Minors in New Mexico Personal Injury Settlements
Warning Signs of Concussion Important to Watch in Children
Parent Liability for the Negligence of a Child in New Mexico

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

There are many reasons to wear a seatbelt other than the laws requiring it. The top ten reasons for proper seatbelt use are apparent from the following statistics from a study at James Mason University:

1. One in five drivers are involved in an auto accident each year.


2. Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for those under the age of 45.


3. Close to 35,000 people die each year in auto accidents, half of whom would have been saved by the use of seatbelts.


4. For every one percent increase in the use of seatbelts, 172 lives are saved.


5. Seatbelts reduce auto accident fatalities by 60-70 percent.


6. A person is 25 times more likely to die when thrown from a vehicle.


7. Children are often killed by being crushed by unrestrained adults.


8. The most common injuries to children in car accidents are head injuries resulting in brain damage, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy or death.


9. Over 80% of child fatalities in auto accidents would have been prevented by the proper use of seatbelts or car seats. Unfortunately, less than ten percent of children are properly restrained.


10. Seatbelts may provide the greatest and only protection against DWI drivers. This is very important in New Mexico which historically has among the worst DWI problems in the country.

A seatbelt may very well save your life in the case of a car accident. If that is not enough, it may save your child. Just as importantly, it could minimize physical injuries. In New Mexico where drivers are chronically uninsured or underinsured, minimization of physical injuries may very well save you and your family from financial disaster. There many more good reasons for wearing a seatbelt and none that would suggest otherwise.

Related Reading:
Hands-Free Mobile Creates Illusion of Safety
Teen Driver Safety
The Limits of Insurance Coverage in a New Mexico Auto Accident

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

Reports in the press show that BP immediately began preparing for litigation following the spill. The company did this as it touted its intention to take full responsibility for the spill. It seems its partners in the Deepwater Horizon well did the same. Unlike BP who downplayed the disaster in the early weeks in efforts to get waivers and settlements on the cheap, its partners have gone the other direction alleging "gross negligence" on the part of BP in the disaster.

Of course, BP's partners, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Company of Japan, share BP's motivations. They are attempting to evade their shared responsibility for the disaster as partners in the well. According to the New York Times, BP has made a demand of $272 million on Anadarko for its 25 percent share, and $111 million form Mitsui for its 10 percent share. These demands will clearly go much higher in the coming months and years as the damages and legal claims continue to mount.

The public position taken by Anadarko in claiming gross negligence in order to escape its contractual responsibility is remarkable for a number of reasons. The same is true of Mitsui who has reserved judgment in assessing its contractual responsibilities. First, in its early preparation for litigation, BP apparently snatched up many industry experts. This effectively conflicted many of the experts out of representing plaintiffs. BP will be unable to take the same tact with its own partners since it will be the partners' experts that assess BP's level of negligence. Second, and related to the first, it may be BP's own experts that provide much of the groundwork for the thousands of civil lawsuits that are already in the works, and the many more that are sure to come against BP.

Predictably, BP will fight any claims of gross negligence by both its partners and the many plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits. It is also predictable that Anadarko will reverse position on the issue of gross negligence to avoid punitive damages in the civil lawsuits. It is equally predictable that the Tort Reformers, the right and the oil industry will continue to push for caps on liability both for this disaster and others to come in the future.

Much like Transocean who has pushed for $25 million caps in liability while recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance for the destruction of its rig, BP, Anadarko and Mitsui will waste no time in making claims against one another for their business losses while one and all will join in the refrain to prevent full and fair recovery by the true victims of the BP disaster, the people and businesses along the Gulf Coast. It really its a race to bottom of business, social and community morality.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys