In the US red blood cell units can be stored for up to 42 days after they are collected. Previous studies have questioned this medical practice and have implied that the storage duration may impact the quality of the blood cell units. These studies which were based on observations showed a correlation between the transfusion of…
April is distracted driving awareness month and the National Safety Council is running its annual campaign to prevent car accidents related to driver cell phone use. This year’s campaign’s focus is on the risks of hand free devices and new vehicle technologies that allow drivers not only to talk on the phone but…
Our Managing Partner Ben Rubinowitz was interviewed by Mario Diaz of PIX 11 as to the recent NYC East Village gas explosion. Mr. Diaz quoted Ben as follows, “It’s a rare thing to have one party to blame. Usually there is shared fault in these cases.” Ben went on to…
An explosion that injured 19 people, causing a massive a massive fire which caused three buildings to collapse, was caused when construction workers inside a sushi restaurant in the East Village accidentally hit a gas line. The explosion inside 121 Second Ave., between East 7th Street and St. Marks Place, caused the buildings at…
Construction workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica have a high risk of developing silicosis, a debilitating and sometimes fatal lung disease. Lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as renal disease are also common among workers who are exposed to silica dust. 0.05 mg/m3 is NIOSH’s respirable crystalline silica Recommended…
3449 people were injured and 13 people died in traffic accidents in New York City in January 2015 compared to respectively 3899 and 21 in January 2014 , 3993 and 28 in January 2013 and 4179 and 21 in January 2012. These numbers are encouraging and may indicate that the Vision Zero…
In their Trial Advocacy column in the New York Law Journal, Ben Rubinowitz and Evan Torgan write that one effective way of examining a potential juror is by calling for an answer on a spectrum. This technique helps to gain insight not only into reticent jurors, but also into those…
3000 pages of documents related to the investigation of the deadly gas explosion that destroyed two buildings in the East Harlem area of Manhattan, NYC have been released by the National Transportation Safety Board. The documents indicate that Con Edison replaced a section of the old iron pipe with a plastic pipe…
A 37 year old woman was killed in a construction accident in New York on Tuesday. Tina Nguyen was walking on a West Village sidewalk when a four foot-by-eight foot piece of plywood flew into her right side and slammed her against the wall of a building located at 175 West 12th…
Five years ago a woman suffered horrific injuries in an elevator accident in Brooklyn, NYC, after a negligent repairman bypassed a safety mechanism while he was fixing the elevator. The doors of the elevator caught the arm and the leg of 52 year old Debra Jordan and struck floor after floor,…