Wrongful Death

Published on: September 9, 2014

After two children’s death from suffocating and choking, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Ace Bayou Corp. announce a voluntary recall of 2.2 million dangerous bean bag chairs

Two children died after they opened the zippers of an Ace Bayou bean bag chair , crawled inside the chair’s foam bed and got trapped. They suffocated from the lack of air and inhaled the foam beads.
The voluntary standard requires non-refillable bean bag chairs to have closed and permanently disabled zippers. The Ace Bayou Bean Bag Chairs don’t comply with this standard. The recalled products have two zippers, one on the exterior cover and one underneath on the bean bag itself. Both can be easily opened by children who can then crawl inside and get trapped.

The recalled products were manufactured in China and come in various shape colors and sizes. For more information click here

Published on: September 8, 2014

Brooklyn pedestrian died yesterday after being struck by a car driven by an elderly woman

By GGCRBHS&M

An 88 year old church deacon driving to mass ran over a homeless pedestrian pushing a shopping cart on the crosswalk as she was making a left turn from Bedford Ave. The elderly woman said she didn’t see the man. Left turns are more dangerous than right turns. Often drivers making a left turn concentrate on finding a momentary break in the traffic to rush through and don’t see pedestrians crossing at the same time. According to a previous article in the NY Post, left-turn crashes in which the pedestrians either suffer severe personal injury or die outnumber right-turn ones by 3 to 1 in New York.

Read more in the New York Post

Published on: September 8, 2014

A man died after he jumped in the Hudson River to try to save a child who fell in the river at JFK Marina in Yonkers NY

By GGCRBHS&M

After a young boy fell in the Hudson River near the JFK marina in Yonkers, several people jumped in the water to rescue him. The boy was safely brought out of the water but among the good Samaritans a 40 year old man didn’t make it. The man drowned and was found by NYPD divers assisted by the Yonkers police. The drowning occurred around 6:30 during a community cookout.

Published on: September 2, 2014

High school Football player dies during practice in Staten Island, New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A 16 year football player from Curtis High School in Long Island, NYC, died after he collapsed on the field during practice. Miles Kirkland-Thomas was a 6.2 feet and 321 pounds defensive tackle. He showed up late at practice and was ordered to do wind springs. He was stopped by coaches after completing two springs. Miles collapsed as he was talking to one of his coaches. The temperature was around 80 degrees with high humidity.

His father told the media that because Monday was a Holiday, there was no bus service to go to practice and because Miles was running late he probably ran up a steep hill that leads to the school. The Department of Education is investigating the death of the young man. More will be known after the autopsy Today.

Read more in the New York Daily News.

Published on: August 28, 2014

20 month old boy dies after being abused by child care provider who was recommended by the City of New York to the father even though she had 3 citations for lack of CPR and first-aid training

By GGCRBHS&M

A toddler died of his injury in a Bronx day care after 40 year old Athena Skeeter, a child care professional licensed by the state “wrestled” with the boy. The woman was recommended by the city to the father to take care of his baby boy even though she was cited 3 times for lack of CPR and first-aid training (read more in the New York Daily News). She was licensed to run a family based day care for up to 7 children in her Bronx home.

The woman explained to the police that she flipped the boy onto a bed, lifted him by an arm and a leg and threw him onto the floor. She then stepped on his stomach 3 times. She was charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Cardel Williamson, who suffered blunt force trauma to the head and torso, authorities said.

Read more on NBC News New York and see video below.

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Published on: August 26, 2014

The National Safety Council estimates that 400 people will die and 42,300 will suffer personal injury in a car accident during Labor Day week-end

By GGCRBHS&M

Based on previous statistics of car crashes, The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that car accidents will kill 400 people and injure 42,300 this Labor Day week-end in the US. Here are a few safety tips to make your ride safer this week-end:

Buckle up. The NSC estimates that out of the 400 fatalities estimated for this long week-end, 144 could be avoided by buckling up
Do not use your cell phone while driving
Set up your GPS, radio or any info in-vehicle infotainment systems before you start driving your car
Give yourself plenty of time to arrive at your destination so you don’t get frustrated while you are driving
If you are planning to drink make sure there is a non drinking designated driver or simply avoid taking your car and plan for a taxi
Be cautious and drive defensively especially if the weather is bad.

Read more here

Published on: August 25, 2014

Speed suspected to to be at the origin of a car accident on a Long Island Highway during which 5 members of a family died

By GGCRBHS&M

A woman driving back from a family gathering with her 3 children and her mother lost control of her car killing herself and all the other car passengers on the Southern State Parkway toward Brooklyn Saturday night around 11:00 pm. The car veered off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames killing all occupants of the vehicle. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.

StarNetworks USA recalls its Magnicubes products because they can cause serious personal injury or death if they are ingested by children or teenagers

By GGCRBHS&M

As part of a settlement of an administrative case based on product defect filed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in December 2012, the company Star Networks USA announced a voluntary recall of all Magnicubes Spheres sets and Magnicube Cubes sets. These sets contains high power rare earth magnets that create a substantial injury hazard. The CPSC received numerous reports describing teenagers or children who died or suffered serious personal injury requiring surgery after ingesting the small magnets.

To read more about this recall click here

To read more about product liability click here

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Published on: August 19, 2014

Brooklyn medical students design a simple new device to prevent a women’s death from bleeding during child birth

By GGCRBHS&M

Post-partum hemorraging is the medical term for excessive bleeding after childbirth. It is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the world and accounts for 30% of deaths in Africa and Asia.

Mikail Kalam from Brooklyn, a 25 year old medical student at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem , New York, and his research team discovered that a condom filled with saline can put pressure on the uterus and reduce or stop the bleeding until the woman is transferred to a hospital. This could be a life saver for millions of women in poor countries including Bangladesh where Mikail is from and where 70% of women give birth at home assisted by midwives.

The device called tampostat, costs only $1.50 to produce. It allows the condom to be securely introduced into the uterus and filled with an amount of saline appropriate to the size of the uterus.

Continue reading →

Published on: August 18, 2014

32 year old woman dies in Brooklyn car accident involving two drunk drivers

By GGCRBHS&M

A young woman was killed in a car accident between two drunk drivers on Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NYC Sunday around 4:00 am. Michelle Migmot was sitting in the back seat of a car driven by 32 year old Herbert Gerrard and another 32 year old woman who suffered minor injuries was sitting in the front passenger seat. As they were turning left onto Troye Ave another car driven by 32 year old Richard Roman Santos crashed into them. Both drivers were arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving. Additionally Gerrard was charged with driving with a suspended license. Michelle Migmot lived two streets away from the location of the crash. Read more in the New York Daily News.

Eastern Parkway is a dangerous corridor where many car crashes happened previously. It was recently turned into a “Slow Zone” and the authorized speed was reduced to 25 mph as part of the Zero Vision Initiative to reduce traffic fatalities and personal injuries in New York City.

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Picture source: NYC Crashmapper Car crashes statistics between August 2011 and February 2014