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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The defective products are being recalled because they can overheat, smoke and melt, posing a fire hazard. The firm has received 700 reports of the surge protectors overheating and melting and 55 claims of property damage from smoke and fire, including $916,000 in fire damage to a home and $750,000 in fire damage to a medical facility. There are 13 reports of peronal injuries, including smoke inhalation and contact burns from touching the overheated surge protectors.

Products recalled are APC 7 and 8 series SurgeArrest surge protectors manufactured by American Power Conversion (APC), now known as Schneider Electric IT Corp., of West Kingston, R.I. and sold at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and other stores nationwide from January 1993 through December 2002 for between $13 and $50.

Consumers who bought this product should stop to use it immediately and contact the manufacturer for a free replacement.

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A pedestrian died after he was hit by a car driven by a drunk off duty cop last Friday early in the morning on Richmond Terrace near Simonson Ave. in Mariners Harbor in Staten Island, New York.

William Hemphill, 51, a union operating engineer was crossing the road to go to work at the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company shipping office, when the car driven by NYPD off duty cop Joseph McClean hit him so hard that he landed a block away. Paramedics rushed Hemphill to a Staten Island hospital, where he died.

NYPD cop Joseph McClean was charged with DWI.

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A 3 year old girl who broke free from her grandmother while crossing the street was struck by a car and died on her way to the hospital. The accident happened as they were crossing Main Street at Cherry Ave in Flushing, Queens, New York.

It is very difficult for motorists to see young children if they run in front of their car. Parents, grandparents and caregivers should always make sure to safely hold the hand of young children when crossing the street or walking near a road. They should not let them run ahead. Additionally if young children are not strapped in a pushchair, the use of a rein may be a good idea, especially in the city where there is so much traffic.

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At least 19 children under the watch of the ACS died because the agency ignored recommendations to improve its practices according to a report from an investigative grand jury impaneled in Brooklyn after 4-year-old Marchella Brett-Pierce’s 18-pound body was found beaten, drugged and starved to death by her mother in Sept. 2010.

Read more in the New York Daily News

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Fentanyl.jpgThe FDA has received several reports of wrongful death, including two children since April 2012 when it warned the public about the danger of accidental exposure to fentanyl patches. For this reason, manufacturers are now required to use a more visible ink to print the name and the strength of the drug on the patches.

Exposure to fentanyl patches can cause serious injury and death to children, pets and others.

Accidental exposure may happen if a used patch is not disposed of properly or if a patch accidentally falls from a patients skin.

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Car accidents are the leading cause of teens death. Every year more than 5000 of them die on the road. The risk of being involved in a deadly accident is four times higher for a teen than for an adult.

To create awareness on the risks of teen driving, the National Teen Driver Safety Week was created in October 2007. The NTDSW is a time designated by Congress annually to raise awareness of teen driver safety topics and to encourage safe teen driver and passenger behavior. It is well supported by state and local governments as well as the media and celebrities.

The subject this year “It Takes Two: Shared Expectations for Teens and Parents for Driving” looks at how parents and teens should interact to develop safe driving habits.

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FestoolTS55REQSaw.jpgFestool is recalling defective Plunge Cut Circular Saws. The recall affects 5200 models sold in the us and 500 modeles sold in Canada. The plunge lock can engage when not intended, causing the saw blade to remain exposed from the housing following completion of the plunge cut and posing a laceration hazard.
More info here.

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426 personal injury incidents including 132 wrongful deaths related to bassinets and cradles have been reported to the CPSC between November 2007 and March 2013. Therefore the CPSC has approved a new federal mandatory standard to improve the safety of bassinets and cradles.

To create the new mandatory standard, the CSPC incorporated 5 modifications to the actual voluntary standard (ASTM F2194-13) Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Bassinets and Cradles. These modification are:

1. a clarification of the scope of the bassinet/cradle standard

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free%20helmet.jpgIn order to prevent bicycle injury and make streets safer, the New York City Department of transportation has been distributing free helmets to New Yorkers for the last seven years. This Saturday the DOT will give its 100,000th helmet at at this weekend’s Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn.
Read more here .

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Dangerous%20Construction%20Site.jpg Among all construction accidents, falls are the leading cause of death. Contractors are required by law to protect their employees from falling by supplying and ensuring the use of legally required safeguards that can prevent personal injuries and save lives.

Flintlock Construction Services LLC, the Mamaroneck-based general contractor for the construction of a 23-story hotel in Midtown Manhattan at 325 W. 33rd St. (see picture) did not follow these rules and OSHA proposed a penalty of of $249,920 and cited for seven violations of OSHA‘s fall protection and scaffolding standards that involved workers exposed to scaffolding accidents and potential fatal falls of up to 26 feet. Flintlock failed to provide and ensure the use of fall protection for workers on the scaffold. The scaffold lacked a safe means of access, the work platforms were not fully planked and the scaffold was not tied off to restrain it from tipping. Flintock also failed to provide training on the hazards associated with erecting scaffolds and failed to have a competent person determine the feasibility of providing fall protection for workers erecting and dismantling the scaffolding. Additionally a scaffold walkway was found too narrow and an anchorage was found inadequate for the fall protection system.

3 other contractors were also cited. V&P Altitude Corp., a Brooklyn-based siding contractor was cited for lack of fall protection; no safe access to the scaffolding; not fully planking the scaffold platforms; failing to tie off the scaffolding; and not locking mobile scaffold wheels and casters. SMK Associates, a masonry contractor, was cited for electrical hazards and failing to provide eye and face protection and Maspeth Steel Fabricators Inc failed to provide training on the hazards of working on scaffolds.