New York Personal Injury Attorneys BlogTwo people were badly injured this morning in a bus accident in New York. The bus was about to enter a ramp connecting the Henry Hudson Parkway to the George Washington Bridge when it slid down the embankment north of Fort Washington Park. The two victims who were the only two people in the bus were rescued by the FDNY and taken to the hospital. The police are still investigating the cause of the crash. Read more on the NBC New York website
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Patient Safety Awareness Week: how to improve communication between patients and health care providers to mitigate harm?
Medical errors and adverse events are among the leading causes of death and personal injury in the U.S. According to a recent study in the Journal of Patient Safety the number of premature deaths associated with preventable harm to patients is estimated at more than 400,000 per year. Serious harm seems to be 10- to 20-fold more common than lethal harm.
The patient safety awareness week is an annual campaign led by the National Patient Safety Foundation to create awareness about patient safety among healthcare providers and their patients. The campaign is running this week and the subject is “United in safety” . The emphasis is on better communication between healthcare providers and patients to reduce adverse events or medical errors.
Tomorrow Wednesday March 11th at 8:30 pm ET anyone interested can join a twitter chat on patient and family engagement using #PSAWunited to participate. People interested can also join a free webcast on patient safety on Thursday March 12th.
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New York patient suffers critical personal injury in ambulance accident after the driver allegedly failed to properly strap her to stretcher
Janet Hickey, a resident of City Island in the Bronx, NYC, was recovering from brain surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was transferred by ambulance to Phelps Memorial Hospital, for rehabilitation. During the trip between the two facilities, the ambulance that was transporting her crashed into a pole in Westchester County. During the accident, the 60 year old woman suffered serious head and neck injuries that left her brain dead. According to doctors who tried to save her after the accident, the woman wasn’t proprely strapped to her stretcher by the Senior Care Emergency Services ambulance staff. Read more in the New York Daily News
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Increase in manhole explosions due to extreme temperature put New Yorkers at risk of personal injury
The risk of being injured in a manhole explosion will be at its highest this week for New Yorkers as salty melted ice and snow will pour into the city manholes after a sudden increase in temperature. Hundreds of manhole explosions have sent several people to the hospital this winter in New York City. The heavy use of salt in the streets of New York during the wintry weather is to blame for these explosions. The salty melting ice gets through the street cracks and erodes the underground electrical wires and cables causing dangerous manhole explosions that can injure passers by.There were well over a thousand of them so far this winter according to Con Ed. 600 explosions were reported in New York City in the first week of February alone. To prevent these explosions Con Ed started to install manhole covers with grates. These covers don’t prevent fire but at least in case of a fire they allow smoke to escape thus preventing an explosion.
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To prevent medical malpractice and address the risk of spreading CRE infections in hospitals, ECRI institute recommends culturing duodenoscopes
After two patients died and many other suffered personal injury from a recent “superbug”outbreak involving duodenoscopes, the safety of these medical devices (see previous blog) and the method used by hospitals to reprocess them are being questioned. In a recent Hazard Report, the ECRI Institute is recommending culturing Duodenoscopes as a key step to reducing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). The Institute believes that duodenoscope procedures are vital when treating and diagnosing conditions of the gall bladder and pancreas with Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures and the risk of infection can be mitigated if hospitals upgrade their reprocessing methods by also scope culturing.The Institute recommemds that hospitals not only check with the duodenoscope manufacturer as to whether they are using the appropriate reprocessing method but also add a baseline culture of all duodenoscpoes. Read the complete ECRI High Priority Hazard Report
Picture Duodenoscopy image of two pigment stones extracted from common bile duct courtesy of Wikipedia
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Mother and 2 children injured after being viciously attacked by stray Rottweiler in Queens, NYC
A New York mother and her two children suffered serious personal injury after being bitten by a dog Saturday morning. The mother was taking a stroll with her two kids on the Rockaway Boardwalk in Queens when a stray Rottweiler attacked them and viciously bit them. Neighbors and the police rushed to the scene of the attack, alerted by the scream of the 31 year old mom. When the police arrived she was lying face down on the ground in the snow with a Rottweiler on her back. The two children, 4 and 10 years old, were nearby, bloody and terrorized, helplessly looking at the scene. According to neighbors, the police had no other choice but to shoot and kill the dog. Police said that the mother suffered deep wounds on her face and hands and the children suffered bites on their hands and arms. They were all transported to the hospital.
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Several people suffered personal injury in a multicar accident in Brooklyn, New York
Several people were taken to the hospital after being badly injured in a car pile-up. The accident happened Sunday around 5:00 am in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens section of Brooklyn, NYC. According to witnesses, a car tried to pass another car by using the left lane to allegedly beat a red light when the driver lost control of his vehicle and hit another car triggering a chain reaction between five vehicles. Some of the vehicles occupants who were injured were stuck in the crashed cars and had to wait for the NYC Fire Department to cut through the cars to extricate them and transport them to hospitals.
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Our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz, will be speaking at the New York City Bar Program “Anatomy of a Trial: Tips & Strategies to Win Your Case”
New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz will be a speaking on “Openings and Closings: Advocacy and Argument” at the New York City Bar program “Anatomy of a Trial: Tips & Strategies to Win Your Case”. This seminar will take place Monday, April 27th 2015 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the New York City Bar, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY.
Hon. Sarah Netburn , United States Magistrate Judge United States District Court, SDNY and Philip R. Schatz from Wrobel Schatz & Fox LLP will co chair the seminar. The other faculty members are Sheila S. Boston, Kaye Scholer LLP, Rosemary M. Nidiry, Assistant United States Attorney, Complex Frauds Unit, SDNY, David E. Patton, Executive Director, Federal Defenders of New York, Southern & Eastern Districts Hon. Herbert J. Stern, Stern & Kilcullen LLC, Former Assistant District Attorney, New York County and Richard A. Williamson, Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer LLP.
As Judge Herbert Stern notes in his classic Trying Cases to Win, most of us stumble out of schools of law and into courts of law, with little knowledge of how actually to try a case. And few tasks are as intimidating as presenting a case to a jury. But trial practice can be learned and mastered. In this program, leading trial advocates and experienced judges will teach the basics of a federal trial, from voir dire to verdict, and share their “how-to” tips and tricks for victory in the courtroom.
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How to protect children from personal injuries and death related to abuse and neglect in rural areas?
Rural America may seem idyllic but children living in these areas have a higher risk of being maltreated and are more vulnerable to death from injuries then children living in urban settings. According to recent data, rural children have twice the rate of overall maltreatment as the general population. The risk of sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect as well as physical abuse is much higher for those living in rural area than in urban areas.
These children need to be protected and represented by experienced lawyers who can can communicate with children in order to proprely assess their well-being, are technology savvy, develop relationship with community organizations to access their resources, exercise care if any conflict of interest arises and are knowledgeable about states mandatory reporting requirements.
In a recent study that was published in the March edition of the ABA Child Law Practice, Cameron R. Getto and Daniel Pollack, a professor at the School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in New York look at the most recent child maltreatment trends in rural areas and offer advice on how to address challenges when representing these children. For a copy of the article contact Professor Pollack.
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With the first product liability lawsuits being filed against duodenoscope manufacturers, it was diclosed today that the devices that led to the CRE outbreak at UCLA where not FDA approved
Patients and family of patients that have been infected by contaminated duodenoscopes at UCLA Hospital started to file product liability lawsuits against Olympus, the manufacturer of the medical devices. 18 year old Aaron Young was the first one to file his lawsuit. The high school student is still hospitalized and receiving treatment for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a bacteria highly resistant to antibiotics that can kill up to 50% of patients infected. The family of Antonia Cerda who died in the same hospital after contracting the “superbug” also filed a lawsuit against Olympus for wrongful death, alleged negligence and fraud. Antnonia Cerda was 48 year old and the mother of 4 children. Both lawsuits have not yet named UCLA as the hospital said the cleaning protocol provided by Olympus was applied.
Today CNN announced that the duodenoscopes used in the procedures that spread the superbug were indeed not approved by the FDA. Olympus started to sell the TJF-Q180V duodenoscope in 2010 without asking for clearance and the FDA did not become aware until the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014. Olympus said it didn’t think it needed the FDA’s permission to sell the device, but now at the request of the agency, it has applied for that permission. That application is still pending. Read more on the CNN website
