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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Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating disease that occurs in 1 out of 10 early preterm infants and the rate of death is close to 30%. Survivors are at risk for short-bowel syndrome (caused by surgical removal of the small intestine) and neurodevelopmental disability.
Researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have found a new biomarker with predictive value for NEC above 80%.
“Early microbial and metabolomic signatures predict later onset of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants”, Ardythe L Morrow, Anne J Lagomarcino, Kurt R Schibler, Diana H Taft, Zhuoteng Yu, Bo Wang, Mekibib Altaye, Michael Wagner, Dirk Gevers, Doyle V Ward, Michael A Kennedy, Curtis Huttenhower and David S Newburg is published in Microbiome Journal.

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BR.jpg Our partner Ben Rubinowitz, assisted by Peter Saghir, obtained a verdict of $7,125,000 against the City of New York and its construction company, Burtis Construction Co., Inc. following a 17 day trial.

The plaintiff, a 41-year-old man and father of three young children, was returning home from work in the early morning hours of May 20, 2006. Six weeks earlier his wife had given birth to a baby girl via C section. His other two children included a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old boy. He worked as a film editor and was self employed. On the night of the accident the plaintiff left his midtown Manhattan workplace at around 3 o’clock in the morning. Unbeknownst to the plaintiff, the City of New York and its construction company (Burtis Construction Co., Inc.) were performing road repair work on the West Side Highway. They were involved in a short term construction project to repair expansion joints along the West Side Highway in the vicinity of 72nd to 79th Streets. As part of its contract with the City, the construction company was required to properly notify drivers that the roadway was being shut down from three lanes to one lane of travel. This closure of the roadway was supposed to be performed in conformance with the dictates of the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices and with the Maintenance and Protection of Traffic Plan spelled out by the City of New York in the contract. Specifically, appropriate signs should have been placed along the highway south of the roadwork along with tapers and transitions of barrels fitted with lights to notify and warn drivers that the left two lanes were being shut down. When the plaintiff left his office to drive home he drove northbound on the Westside Highway. As he reached the area of 79th St. he was involved in a fender bender with another car. He got out to check to make sure that everyone was alright. He then returned to his car to put on his hazard lights on and to obtain his insurance information to exchange with the other driver. Shortly after getting his insurance information and while he was out of his car he was struck from behind by another driver, Abelardo Da-Silva.
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fatalities%20passenger%20vans.png15-passengers vans have a high risk of rollover accidents and this risk increases as the number of occupants increases. Overloaded vans, inexperienced drivers, improperly inflated tires are the main cause of van accidents. Passenger van crashes have a very high rate of fatal injuries as 88% of passengers don’t buckle up.

As the summer is coming and friends, groups and families are planning their road trips, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) just published a list of tips for safe travel in 15-passenger vans.

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Construction safety week starts on April 29th and the New York Department of Buildings will host the 2013 Build Safe | Live Safe Conference at the New York Marriott Downtown in Lower Manhattan.

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During this conference participants will get an overview of recent trends and future development in The New York City construction industry. They will also have the opportunity to attend construction safety courses for professional credit on the following subjects: BIM Site Safety Plans, Steel C-Joist Construction, Electric Cranes, Mast Climber, High Rises in Flood Zones and Elevator Maintenance and Repair.

New York Construction Accidents have been increasing by more than 30% between 2011 and 2012.

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A new study conducted by Dr. Srini Tridandapani, of Emory University and presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting found that adding a picture of the patient to every imaging study would decrease wrong patient error by five fold.

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Approximately half of the patients returning to the ER after being discharged will be rehospitalized. Congestive heart failure, is the primary diagnosis for return emergency department visits with subsequent discharge and subsequent readmission in 30 days. Frequent diagnosis for return to the ER and re-admission include problems with a device, sickle cell anemia and abdominal pain.

“Hospital readmissions within 30 days of inpatient discharge are frequent and costly,” according to Kristin Rising, MD, a fellow in the Center for Emergency Care Policy & Research in the department of Emergency Medicine in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine who is the lead author, of “Emergency Department Visits After Hospital Discharge: A Missing Part of the Equation” a new study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

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Car accidents as well as truck and bus accidents, are a common cause of cervical disc herniation especially those during which an abrupt change of speed ocurrs. Seat belts and airbags in cars are designed to prevent this type of personal injury. During a vehicle collision, the weight of the head being moved quickly or violently forward and/or backward produces tremendous pressure on the cervical vertebrae (neck) and can cause the disc to bulge or herniate.

Basically each intervertebral disc has two parts, the annulus fibrosus and the nucleus pulposus. The annulus fibrosus is made up of layers of fibrous tissue. It surrounds the nucleus pulposus and serves as a retaining sheath of dense fibrous tissue which keep the nucleus under pressure. The nucleus pulposus which is retained within the annulus fibrosus has a mucoid character and consistency similar to grissle and acts like a fluid. Herniation occurs when the nucleus pulposus protrudes or ruptures through the surrounding annulus fibrosus.

In this video, Dr Nabil Ebraheim, Professor and Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at The University of Toledo, explains what a disc herniation is and how it affects other parts of the upper body.

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Since 2008 construction workers at Bekset Mansonry (NJ) have been exposed to scaffolding hazards that could have lead to serious injuries and fatal accidents.

Cross%20braces%20prohibited.pngThe construction company was cited for 3 repeat violations (lack of fall protection, use of scaffold cross braces to access the scaffold’s walking and working area and missing toe boards) and 5 serious violations including hazardous scaffolding and lack of proper training on scaffold and portable extension ladder set up.

65 percent of the construction industry, work on scaffolds frequently. Protecting these workers from scaffold-related accidents would prevent 4,500 construction accident injuries and 50 deaths every year, at a saving for American employers of $90 million dollars in workdays not lost, according to OSHA.

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BR.jpgOur Partner, Ben Rubinowitz will chair the New York State Trial Lawyers Association Seminar Successful Examination of Expert Witnesses 2013 to be held on April 23, 2013, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The Seminar will be held at NYSTLA, 132 Nassau Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10038. Attendees will receive 3 CLE Credits in Skills. The Seminar will cover:

– Direct and Cross of an Orthopedist, Direct of a Radiologist, Cross Examination of the “Independent Medical Examiner”, Direct and Cross of an expert in a Medical Malpractice case,the effective use of Exhibits, How to deal with problem areas including the pre-existing injury, the professional testifier, the non-responsive expert witness, use of authoritative texts and the hypothetical question.

For more information and to register click here.

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Our Partner Richard Steigman was the chair for the annual New York State Trial Lawyers Association Seminar CPLR 2013 Update. Hon. Ariel E. Belen, Justice, Appellate Division, Second Department (retired) Mediator,JAMS was also on the faculty. This seminar provided an in depth review of new developments, including practice tips and pitfall warnings that are invaluable for the civil litigator.

In the video below you will find an extract from the seminar. The complete course can be found for CLE credit at the online store of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association