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.
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boy using cell phoneBig Wireless companies were told 20 years ago by scientists that cell phone usage could lead to cancer. The wireless industry didn’t listen to them and used the same tactics as the Tobacco and Oil industry to hide dangers from consumers. The Nation just released the results of an investigation that found that the top wireless companies have spent millions convincing people that their products were safe.

At the begining of the nineties, when only a minority of people owned a cell phone, some consumers and industry workers complained that they may have developed cancer caused by their cell phone. At the time Tom Wheeler president of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) was the wireless industry’s point man in Washington. To shut down the complaints and calm down consumer concerns Wheeler hired George Carlo, a pro-industry scientist to run a comprehensive research on cell phones. George Carlo had previously conducted controversial studies helping the breast implant industry and the chemical industry. He seemed to be the perfect man to support the cell phone industry’s claims that their products were safe for consumers.

George Carlo was allocated $28.5 million for his investigation which is the highest funded cell phone study to date. Critics of the study complained that such a big amount of money could easily guarantee silent obedience of the scientific community. George Carlo denied these allegations.

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Distracted driving by locationApril is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. A national study published last month shows that distracted driving is at its highest in the State of New Jersey. New York State ranks number four of the most distracted driving Sates. Florida and Missouri are second and third.  The report entitled “Heads Up, Phone Down: Distracted Driving Intervention” also found that Wyoming drivers are the least distracted. Distracted driving is a bigger problem on the East Coast than on the West Coast. The states with the worst distracted driving problem are mostly located in the East and the South East while the less distracted drivers are mostly located in the North West.

While looking at cities, Miami has the worst problems with distracted diving while Denver has the most disciplined drivers. The report found that drivers look at their phone every four miles in Miami but only every 6.25 miles in Denver. New York City comes right behind Miami.  Globally, distracted driving kills 3,000 people every year in the US, that’s 9 people every day.

Distracted drivers are often more reckless than non distracted drivers. The study indicates that distracted drivers are four times more likely to speed and 40% more likely to brake hard than those who are not distracted.

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location of the fatal pedestrian accident BK NYCThe investigation is still ongoing in the NYC car accident during which Dorothy Burns drove into a group of pedestrians and killed two young children on March 5th. According to a new article in the NY Daily News, a medical crew was dispatched to Burns’ apartment on March 2nd after receiving a call about a cardiac condition. It wasn’t the first time that emergency responders showed up at this address. Investigators found that they were previously called to the rescue for cardiac condition on December 22nd and November 19th.  The health of Dorothy Burns had deteriorated so much at the beginning of the year that she had to ask for a medical leave from her job in January. She didn’t return until February after she received a medical clearance. The investigators are now trying to find out if the doctors told Burns she had to stop driving because of her condition. The woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis had a seizure before crashing into a group of pedestrians who were crossing the road in Park Slope. Two young children died and three other people were injured in the accident (see previous blog

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New York Construction Site SafetyUnfortunately too many construction workers are injured on the job in New York City. In order to reduce these accidents and make construction the safest possible in the city, the Department of Buildings is organizing an annual conference on Construction Safety. The 2018 Build Safe│Live Safe Conference will take place Thursday May 10th at 117 West 46th Street in Manhattan. During this one day conference, the DOB invites experts to present the most recent trends in construction and discuss safe construction operations.

NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION SAFETY WEEK

This conference is one of the many activities that will take place in New York City during Construction Safety Week (May 7-11). During this week, staff from the DOB will visit NYC construction sites to promote workers and public safety. They will promote a multilingual campaign entitled Experience is Not Enough. This campaign is stressing the importance for every construction worker independently of his experience to use safety equipment especially fall protection such as harnesses, guardrails and netting.  The DOB staff plans to distribute flyers in various languages such as Arabic, Chinese, English, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

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More than twenty years ago, a medication was developed that can save lives and reduce the disabling impacts of a stroke. Known as tissue plasminogen activator (or “T.P.A.”), this medication is now considered the gold standard for the treatment of ischemic strokes by the American Stroke Association.

Generally speaking, there are two types of strokes that can occur—ischemic stroke or hemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke occurs when there is an obstruction to one of the vessels that supplies blood to the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the area surrounding the brain. T.P.A. can only be used to treat ischemic strokes. When timely used to treat an ischemic stroke, it can be a brain-saving treatment.

RECENT STUDIES SHOW TPA CAN PREVENT BRAIN INJURY AFTER A STROKE BUT SKEPTICS SAY TPA IS DANGEROUS

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New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Jeffrey BloomNew York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Ben RubinowitzOur partner,  New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Jeffrey Bloom will be chairing the “Anatomy & Medicine for Lawyers” program offered by the New York State Bar Association Thursday March 29th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at the CFA Society, 1540 Broadway #1010 in New York City. The program will also be webcasted live.

During the program Jeffrey will talk about preparing a medical malpractice case. He will discuss cases from both the plaintiff and defense perspectives. Our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz will also attend the program as a speaker. He will lecture, about orthopedic and spinal injuries. He will be joined by Dr James Naidich, a radiologist in discussing these types of injuries.

This unique program will familiarize medical malpractice attorneys and personal injury attorneys (both plaintiff and defense) as well as workers’ compensation attorneys with the medical concepts and terminology necessary to

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New York Personal Injury Attorneys Rubinowitz and TorganIn their latest Trial Advocacy column in the New York Law Journal, NYC Personal Injury Attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Evan Torgan write: Concurrent or overlapping surgeries are becoming more common in major teaching hospitals. Although studies have suggested that the practice can be performed without endangering patient safety, the attorney prosecuting such a case should focus on the motives behind the practice. Developing “case frames” such as profit over safety will certainly answer questions in the minds of jurors as to who benefits from double booking.

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Personal Injury Attorney Ben RubinowitzOur personal injury law firm is proud to announce that our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz, was invited to be one of the 5 distinguished faculty members of “CLE with the Stars”, a seminar organized by the Connecticut Trial Lawyer Association.

The 4 other distinguished faculty members will travel from all over the country. They are Mark Davis from the Honolulu firm Davis Levin Livongston, Randy L. Kinard from the Nashville firm Kinnard, Clayton & Beveridge, Zoe Littlepage from the Houston law firm Littlepage Booth and Tyler Thompson from Dole, Thompson, Shepherd & Conway, PSC in Louisville, KY. The program will be chaired by Connecticut attorneys Kathleen Nastri and Michael Koskoff both from the firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, PC.

The seminar will take place Friday April 6th 2008 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at The Trumbull Marriott, 180 Hawley Lane, Trumbull CT 06611.

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New York Personal Injury Attorney Christopher DonadioOur NY Construction Accident law firm is proud to announce that our attorneys Anthony H. Gair and Christopher J. Donadio obtained a $1 million settlement in a construction accident that occurred in New York. The case involved an incident that occurred on a construction site in Manhattan. The plaintiff, who was a worker on the job site, suffered a crush injury to his thumb when a small crane (known as a “gin pole”) failed, and caused a several hundred pound motor to fall on to the plaintiff’s hand.

Due to the incident, the plaintiff was taken by ambulance to the hospital. At the hospital, the plaintiff was diagnosed with a crushed thumb on his non-dominant hand. As a result of the injury, the plaintiff required three surgical procedures to his thumb, including a revascularization procedure and a skin graft.

An action was brought in New York County, Supreme Court, against the general contractor of the construction project, and the owner of the construction site. The action was brought under New York Labor Law §240(1). The Labor Law of New York §240(1) provides that:

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Construction_AccidentAmong the 350,000 construction sites who were required by OSHA to electronically file their annual injury and illnesses log summary by December 31st only 153,653 complied.  61,000 construction sites that were not required to provide electronic records did it anyway. Almost 200,000 work sites  didn’t comply with OSHA’s new electronic record keeping rule. It is not exactly clear why so many companies didn’t comply with the new rule. Some companies may have believed they were exempted, some thought that the deadline would be extended one more time. Other employers didn’t want their data to be published online as the new rule requires it.

Technically OSHA now has  until June 15 to visit the 200,000 locations that violated the rule. Companies who didn’t file may risk up to $12,934  in penalties. Companies who can demonstrate they had difficulty filing electronically as well as companies who can provide a paper copy of their report may be exempted from a fine.

According to Construction Dive, some experts believe that OSHA wasn’t aggressive enough in its compliance effort.