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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A New York nursing home resident died after he was presumably abused by an aid at the beginning of this month. Franck Mercado, a visually impaired resident from University Nursing Home at 2505 Grand Ave. in the Bronx, was beaten by 41 year old Cherrylee Young and he fell on a table and broke it. A piece of the broken table pierced the nursing home resident’s rectum.He suffered from internal bleeding and after his condition deteriorated he was transported to Montefiore Medical Center where he died from his injury. The Nurse aid was charged with negligent homicide in the death of Franck Mercado.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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peter_saghir.gifThe Partners of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf are pleased to announce that Peter J. Saghir has been named a Partner of the firm.

Over the past 10 years, Peter has vigorously prosecuted all types of personal injury cases, in particular medical malpractice and motor vehicle cases. His skill and efforts have led to numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. This year, Peter was instrumental in obtaining two settlements over six million dollars. In April, he also served as co-counsel to lead trial attorney Ben B. Rubinowitz in obtaining a multi-million dollar verdict for a bicyclist who suffered degloving injuries to her leg after she was struck and dragged by a bus.

Peter joined the firm upon graduating cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2004. He has been selected to New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for 2013 and 2014.

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Daniel%2BPollack-1.jpgThere are no uniform data at the national level that provide us with a global picture of the prevalence and incidence of abuse and maltreatment of people who are severely disabled. We know these numbers are high. We also know that perpetrators are often the people closest to the disabled person such as guardians, caregivers, neighbors or acquaintances, family members, healthcare providers or other residents.
In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), JD and professor at the School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, examines the reasons why it is so difficult to quantify these abuses at a national level and what can be done to better protect people with profound disability.
Download a PDF of the complete article

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Truck inspections before and after a trip are an important step in preventing potential truck accidents linked to defective or not properly maintained trucks. However the truck industry has been complaining about the paperwork burden created by these reports. Therefore in response to the Obama Administration’s call for federal agencies to reduce bureaucratic red tape, truck drivers will no longer have to file a report if there are no defects found during the inspections. The new rule is expected to be published by the FMCSA on December 18th. Most trucking associations are in favor of the rule because it will save time and money but not everybody agrees with them. The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the National Transportation Safety Board believe that the no-defect report promotes good maintenance practices.

Read more in Truckinginfo

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In a city like New York where traffic is dense, using a cellphone while riding a bicycle can have catastrophic consequences. After witnessing a distracted cyclist almost causing a multi-car accident because he was texting while riding his bike, Councilman Mark Treyger did some legal research and was surprised to learn that in New York there is no law prohibiting cycling and texting or cycling and calling. Therefore he decided to introduce a new bill that would ban cellphone use while bicycling and punish first time offenders with a safety class.

The NYPD says that the law isn’t really necessary. They have already issued 423 tickets this year for distracted bicycling compared to 213 last year.Bike advocates are not in favor of the new bill either. They argue that it would take police resources away from fighting other more dangerous behavior in the streets of New York.

Read more in AM NY

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Tubing misconnections are medical errors that can lead to severe personal injury or death.These errors often happen when a doctor or a nurse mistakenly connect tubes for different functions together, for example connecting a feeding tube to a tracheostomy tube. To avoid these type of errors, new ISO standards have been developed for tubing connectors. The objective of these new connectors is to make it impossible to connect tubes used for different functions. The first ISO connector standard has already been adopted and others will gradually be introduced and adopted throughout 2014 and 2015. During the transition phase however new risks of tubing misconnections will arise and the Joint Commission is urging hospitals and healthcare providers to take all necessary measures to prepare for the new standards by building awareness and communicate across their facility, prepare and train the staff, adopt the new connectors and measure the accomplished progress.

Download the Powerpoint presentation of the Joint Commission webinar

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fall%20prevention%20in%20residential%20construction.pngFalls from heights are the most common cause of construction workers deaths and this number is especially concerning in the residential construction sector. To address this issue, OSHA is now enforcing similar safety standards in home building and in commercial construction. Despite this effort, falls in residential construction continues to kill thousands of construction workers every year.

Recently a group of researchers from the Washington University of St Louis joined forces with the Carpenters’union and residential contractors to launch 3 initiatives targeting apprentices, foremen and contractors as part of a research study. A revised apprenticeship training taught foremen and contractors how to choose fall prevention methods adapted to each specific situation and subsequently how to communicate these methods to their workers. As part of the study, contractors can also try new fall protection equipment on their construction site.

Participants not only increased their fall prevention knowledge but also communicated better between themselves about fall risks and how to prevent them. The study also led to a higher use of fall protection devices by workers.

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84 year old Ignascio Andal was crossing the street when he was struck by a car driven by a 17 year old driver. The accident happened on Wicklow Place in Jamaica Estates, Queens, NYC, yesterday afternoon. The elderly man who lived just a few blocks away died from his injuries at the hospital. The car driver wasn’t charged.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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police%20brutality.jpgPolice brutality and racial profiling continue to happen in New York City because cops can get away with it. Since 1999 when Amadou Diallo died after being shot at 41 times and hit 19 by the police, 179 additional people have been killed by on duty New York Police Officers but only 3 of them have been indicted and 1 of them was convicted but he never went to jail according to an investigation conducted by the NY Daily News. 27% of the victims were unarmed, 86% were black or Hispanic.

Most of the time police officers get away with their crime because the prosecutors and the police need each other to do their job. Advocacy groups have been asking the creation of a special prosecutor to handle such cases.

Our firm represented the mother of Amadou Diallo, in the video below, New York Police Brutality Lawyer Anthony Gair discusses police misconduct, stop and frisk and racial profiling in an interview with Court TV.