Articles Posted in Court Decisions

In a June 19 decision, the Georgia Court of Appeals awarded summary judgment to the defendants in a personal injury lawsuit arising from serious burn injuries suffered by a 13-year-old child. The Court of Appeals, reversing a trial judge’s earlier decision, said the child had assumed the risk of standing too close to the fire that caused his injuries. Despite the child’s age, the court said he was old enough to understand the potential risks and consequences of his actions.

Taylor v. McGraw

The child and his grandfather were attending a backyard marshmallow roast at the defendants’ home. The defendants ignited a wood-burning fire in a metal barrel. One of the defendants instructed his children to take some sawdust from a nearby shed and throw it into the fire. This caused the fire to flare up. Shortly thereafter, the adults left the children alone with the fire. The victim and two of the defendants’ children then proceeded to get more sawdust and throw it into the fire. This “made the fire shoot up,” according to one of the defendant’s children and burned the victim.

In a June 11 decision, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s judgment in favor of an auto insurer that sought to deny uninsured motorist coverage to an insured accident victim. The appeals court addressed the conditions by which an insurer may apply a “named driver exclusion” clause. The trial court said such a clause could be enforced in this case, but the appeals court disagreed.

Roberson v. 21st Century National Insurance Company

The case arose from a 2009 automobile accident. The plaintiff was driving his police cruiser in Macon when another vehicle struck him. The plaintiff filed a personal injury lawsuit against the driver and owner of the other vehicle. He also served his wife’s insurance company because she had a personal automobile policy that included uninsured motorist coverage.

On June 5, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued an important decision in a dispute between an accident victim and his insurance company over whether his policy covered uninsured and underinsured motorist damage. The case centered on the victim’s allegation that the insurance agent that sold him the policy illegally forged his name on a waiver depriving him of such coverage. The insurance company argued that even if the victim’s name was forged, it relied in good faith on the waiver. The trial court sided with the insurance company and granted it summary judgment. The Court of Appeals reversed and returned the case for trial.

Assaf v. Cincinnati Insurance Company

While walking alongside a road, the victim was struck and injured by an automobile. The vehicle was not insured. Accordingly, the victim filed a claim with his own automobile insurance insurance company for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. The victim said his policy covered up to $1 million in coverage.

Prescription drugs often produce significant negative side effects in patients. But under Georgia law, the burden is generally on the prescribing physician, not the drug’s manufacturer, to warn patients of any risks. The Georgia courts refer to this as the “learned intermediary” rule. The manufacturer still has a duty to warn physicians of risks, but it is then up to the physician to serve as the “learned intermediary” between the drug company and the patient.

While a typical manufacturer has a duty not to market defective products, the learned intermediary rule often shields drug companies from the injuries its products may cause. A recent example comes from a federal appeals court which, applying Georgia’s learned intermediary rule, upheld a trial court’s dismissal of a woman’s lawsuit against the manufacturers of an antibiotic that produced a severe allergic reaction.

Brown v. Roche Laboratories, Inc.