St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) October 21, 2014

In a weekly update provided on the program’s official website* Kenneth Feinberg’s GM ignition recall compensation fund announced the death toll has risen to 27. The number of death and injury claims has been rising incrementally each week. Attorneys handling GM ignition lawsuits for The Onder Law Firm provide timely GM injury lawsuit news updates at GMInjuryLawsuitCenter.com.

For months prior to accepting injury and death claims, GM officials publicly acknowledged only 13 deaths associated with the faulty ignition switch system, according to an October 14, 2014 article in the New York Times.** The total of approved death claims is already more than double the original count – and the program has only been in operation for 10 weeks. To date, according to the weekly report, a total of 178 death claims have been received. Claims may be filed to the compensation fund through the remainder of 2014.

Persons injured in vehicles recalled for the defective GM ignition switch may also file claims through the compensation fund, according to the fund’s official website. Injury claims are classified as either Category 1 or Category 2 Injury Claims. Category 1 Physical Injury Claims including severe injuries, including “quadriplegic injury, paraplegic injury, double amputation, permanent brain damage requiring continuous home medical assistance, and pervasive burns encompassing a substantial part of the body.” Category Two Physical Injury Claims are for less severe injuries, “that required hospitalization within 48 hours after the accident, or in extraordinary circumstances as determined on a case by case basis by the Administrator, outpatient medical treatment within 48 hours after the accident,” according to the website.

Overall, the compensation fund has received a total of 1,371 ignition injury and death claims, accounting for 241 new claims in the past week. The week prior, the compensation fund had accepted 263 new claims, when the total rose from 867 to 1130, according to the previous weekly reports. Of the claims that have not been approved, some have been denied and others have not yet been processed, according to this week’s report.

Filing a claim through the ignition injury compensation fund is just one method persons harmed in a GM vehicle that was recalled have for seeking justice. Around the country, many families are choosing to file GM lawsuits for death and injury claims. For example, a group of fifteen plaintiffs has filed a lawsuit in the City of St. Louis.*** The plaintiffs include persons who were injured in GM vehicles and families whose loved one died in a GM accident. Each of these accidents occurred in a vehicle that was recalled for the defective ignition switch. Should these plaintiffs choose to also file claims through GM’s compensation fund, they will ultimately have to choose between accepting the compensation offer or pursuing their GM lawsuit.

Attorneys representing families in national GM injury claims believe that persons harmed in a GM vehicle later recalled for a faulty ignition switch may be entitled to real compensation by filing a GM injury lawsuit. Lawyers handling GM lawsuits provide no-obligation case reviews to individuals and families. The GM Injury Lawsuit Center website provides timely ignition lawsuit news updates and information at GMInjuryLawsuitCenter.com.

The Onder Law Firm welcomes GM ignition injury lawsuit inquiries from law firms in regards to handling them or working as co-counsel.

About The Onder Law Firm

Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, LLC is a St. Louis based personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The consumer and family litigators at The Onder Law Firm have represented thousands of Americans in lawsuits against multinational conglomerates from products liability for manufacture of defective or dangerous products to deceptive advertising practices. Other firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation. It is also a recognized leader in products liability cases such as window blind cord strangulation. The Onder Law Firm offers information from lawyers handling GM injury lawsuits at http://www.gminjurylawsuitcenter.com.

*gmignitioncompensation.com/reports

**nytimes.com/2014/10/14/business/death-toll-linked-to-gm-defect-reaches-27.html?_r=0

***Skyesha Felix et al v. General Motors, LLC, Case No. 1422-CC09472 in St. Louis City Circuit Court, August 20, 2014