Interstates make traveling easier. There’s a steady flow of traffic and people can get where they need to go in a timely manner. However, interstates have an accident risk because so many people use them. It only takes one moment of negligence from a driver to cause a potentially fatal accident.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, your injuries may be keeping you from work, giving you chronic pain, and causing emotional stress. You don’t have to go through this alone. Get in touch with a West Virginia car accident lawyer from DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC so you can start your path to recovery.

On May 24, 2014, 15-year-old Leland Brown II passed away when emergency personnel from Kanawha County, West Virginia took an hour to get the teenager to the hospital from his family’s home in St. Albans after his mother called 911. Leland collapsed in front of his mother, and she made the call immediately. By the time the response team made it to the family home and transported Leland to the hospital, it was too late.

He was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital. The cause of death was determined to be cardiac arrest. According to the Kanawha Ambulance Authority and Kanawha Metro 911, the first delay of 19 minutes—the time it took the ambulance to get to the teen’s home—was a result of a funeral that was held the same day for a former ambulance authority board member. The county’s ambulance units were rotated to attend the funeral services, but one of the rotations was improperly performed.

Losing a job is a scary prospect for nearly everyone. You’re worrying about your source of income, finding a new job, and the time it’s going to take to have everything settled again. There are some situations where you may understand why you lost your job, but this isn’t always true. You may wonder what led to your termination, and if it was a legal termination.

If you’re thinking your employer fired you illegally in West Virginia, a Charleston wrongful termination lawyer from DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC may be able to help. We understand this situation is difficult and want to make your voice heard. Employers cannot wrongfully terminate their employees and not be held accountable for their actions.

West Virginia has faced the brunt of the opioid epidemic with 261 tri-county overdoses in 2016, and the highest overdose rate in the nation. You may wonder why this particular state was struggling the most with opioid addiction and overdose problems. Recently, a congressional committee found that drug companies have shipped 20.8 million prescription painkillers to two pharmacies to a town in West Virginia with 2,900 people over the past ten years. The pharmacies are a mere four blocks apart.

Williamson in Mingo County received the mass amounts of hydrocodone and oxycodone, far exceeding the amount of people living there and the shipments were never flagged or scrutinized by the drug companies. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking at this shipment and past ones to see how many pills were coming in to West Virginia over the past decade. They’re also looking for any correlation to how drug companies may have played a role in the current opioid epidemic.

Recently, nine West Virginia drug treatment programs were set to get $20.8 million that will go to additional treatment beds. State lawmakers set aside this money from lawsuit settlements that stated drug companies influenced the opioid epidemic.

Places receiving funding include Living Free Ohio Valley, Mountaineer Behavioral Health, St. Joseph Recovery Center, Westbrook Health Services, Valley HealthCare System, West Virginia University Research Corp., Marshall University Physicians and Surgeons, WestCare West Virginia, and Southern West Virginia Treatment Through Recovery Continuum.

Since the rise of people taking prescribed opioids, addiction has increased in the U.S. In 2012, it was estimated that 2.1 million people in the country abuse opioids. West Virginia is one of the states the epidemic has hit the hardest.

The opioid epidemic continues to hurt Americans through addiction and overdoses. Drug manufacturing companies are facing scrutiny about withholding information about how opioids work and how easy it is for people to become addicted. As more people are questioning drug companies and thinking they could have provided more information that could have prevented addictions and overdoses, more legal options are opening up and becoming available. If your health has suffered due to a prescription opioid dependence you feel could have been prevented, our Charleston opioid litigation lawyers may be able to help.

When you send your loved one to a nursing home, you want them to have a life where they’ll receive good care that promotes a better well-being. Good homes have attentive and skilled staff, a clean environment, and plenty of activities to keep your loved one engaged mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Sometimes, a nursing home isn’t the place it’s supposed to be. When nursing homes are understaffed, there might not be enough people to care for your loved one. This can lead to abuse because your loved one might try to do something without assistance.

The country is facing a serious opioid epidemic, and West Virginia is suffering the most. These drugs include heroin, oxycodone, codeine and morphine. West Virginia had the highest overdose death rate in the nation at 880 people. Anyone can get addicted to opioids, but West Virginia is losing a disproportionate amount of people, especially young ones.

Funeral directors report normally seeing two to three bodies a day, or usually about seven bodies in one week. They’re saddened at the amount of young people coming through their doors.

As opioid addiction is on the rise, so is the amount of people driving under the influence. Car accidents are sudden and take a huge emotional and physical toll on everyone involved. If you’ve lost a loved one in a car accident where opioids were involved, you have a right to seek legal action.

A woman who claims she was injured in a Tractor Supply store is currently suing the company for their part in the accident. The manager of the store where the incident occurred is also named as a defendant in the suit.

The woman was attempting to get a container of dog food from one of the store shelves when both of her feet became trapped in an empty pallet that was concealed under some cardboard. She fell over and severely injured her neck, back, knees, and feet as a result.