Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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Wrongful deaths and serious personal injuries related to traffic accidents are epidemic in New York. The newly appointed NYPD commissioner, Bill Bratton, promised that this situation would change.

In a speech Thursday Bratton said “It is ironic that even as the death totals have declined dramatically with violent crime in this city, this year the number of people killed on our streets – pedestrian and traffic — will almost equal the homicide total”.

Bratton said his priorities are to make the streets and the subways safer.

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onfi.pngSerious skin reactions medically known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), can occur at any time during Onfi treatment warns the Food and Drug Administration. According to the FDA, 6 cases have been identified in the US and 14 out of the US. Out of the 6 cases identified in the US 5 were children. All the cases resulted in hospitalization with one case of blindness and two deaths.

Read the FDA Safety Alert

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Human error seems to be the cause of the Metro-North train accident that caused the death of 4 people and injured 63 others. According to sources, William Rockefeller, the train engineer was “in a daze” seconds before the train accident happened. The Bronx District Attorney’s office has launched its own probe to determine if there is evidence enough to file criminal charges. (see New York Daily News).

Steven Harrod, an expert in railroad safety said it “looked bad for the engineer” because a fail-safe design on this type of train would activate the brakes in case of a rupture in their air-pressure system. The evidence also suggests that Rockefeller didn’t downshift the throttle that controls the speed or activate the brakes until the train was right on the curve. (see New York Daily News)

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Our partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Chris Sallay, was on ABC news yesterday to comment on the deadly train accident that happened Sunday morning in New York. According to the most recent information the train was traveling at 82 miles per hour as it approached a sharp curb where the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. The National Transportation Safety Board said the train’s sudden power shift came “very late in the game”. The train engineer, William Rockefeller is at the center of the investigation. Rockefeller was a veteran of the line and knew the road well. The investigation will determine if the speed was the result of a human error or faulty equipment.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this horrible tragedy.

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An alleged drunk driver killed a man and injured another in a car accident that happened early Saturday morning in Queens New York. A 23 year old driver crashed his car into another car driven by 39 year old Jimmy Sinisi. The impact was so strong that Sinisi was crushed in his car and died at the hospital. The passenger was injured but in stable condition. The 23 year old driver appeared to be drunk but he refused a Breathalyzer test. He was taken to the Hospital in critical condition where his blood was being drawn to test for alcohol.

Read more in the New York Daily News

 

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A New York Metro-North train derailed this morning. 4 people died in the accident and 63 suffered personal injury including 11 critical injuries and 6 serious injuries.

The derailment happened in the Bronx where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet. It is a dangerous area as the rails make a sharp curve. A previous accident happened at this location when last July 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed.

“That is a dangerous area on the track just by design,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site. “The trains are going about 70 miles per hour coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour to make that sharp curve … where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River and that is a difficult area of the track.”

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The epidemic number of wrongful death related to pedestrians and bicyclists hit by vehicles reached a new high on Wednesday night as 4 people were killed in an half an hour time span in New York City. A man who was riding his bike in Queens died after being hit by a truck whose driver fled. A an 88-year-old woman crossing Ave. C in Manhattan was killed after being struck by a Con Ed truck and two women were killed when a car hit them as they crossed Forest Hill Road in Staten Island.

Read more in the New York Daily News

 

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In New York lately pedestrians have been killed in car accidents on an almost daily basis. Last week another 7 people were killed in traffic accidents, most of them because of driver error.

On Friday 66 year old Maria Montalvo was struck in a crosswalk by a reckless driver making a left turn. Maria is the 29th senior person killed by a car in 2013.

On Monday 3 other people were killed on New York sidewalks: in Queens a young driver jumped the curb and killed Man Chit Cheng, 59, and Muang Lin, 41 and in East Harlem a woman was killed by a cab driver who lost control of his vehicle after he struck a truck.

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An ambulette driver was charged with criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of an 86-year-old nursing home resident.

Juan Garcia who was transporting 86 year old Theresa Massagli in a wheelchair failed to buckle her seat belt. When he made a sudden stop, she flew out of her wheelchair and landed on her hip. Even though she was crying and moaning because of the pain, the driver dropped her back at the Goldcrest nursing home instead of bringing her to nearby Jacobi Hospital. She was then examine by a doctor and a nurse on duty at the nursing home and put to bed. After her children were informed of the incident they took their mother to the Westchester Square hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken left hip and pelvis. She died after few weeks of excruciating pain.

Read More in the New York Daily News

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Because Dietary supplements are available in health stores without prescriptions most consumers believe they are safe. But Some Body Building, Weight Loss and Sexual Enhancement dietary supplements contains hidden ingredients that can cause serious personal injury and sometimes lead to death.

Last week after 56 six cases of liver injuries and one death case were linked to the use of OxyElite Pro Dietary Supplements, the manufacturer USPlabs recalled all products containing Aegeline and VERSA -1, two illegal ingredients. (for more see USA Today)

The production of the sport supplement “Craze” was suspended by the manufacturer Driven Sports at the end of last month after tests conducted by the Harvard Medical School revealed the supplement contains potentially dangerous amounts of methamphetamine analog. The owner of Driven Sports, Matt Cahill was convicted in 2005 of felony charges for the sale of the weight-loss pills made from a highly toxic chemical pesticide banned from human consumption. He served two years in prison. (see Boston Globe)