New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

Published on: December 2, 2013

Community Board #5 Transportation Committee unanimously votes for a street study to prevent car accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists on Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown New York

In busy Midtown Manhattan, car accidents especially sidewalk jumping crashes have caused serious injuries and sometimes the death of innocent pedestrians and bicyclists. Last summer a British tourist lost a leg when a cab jumped the curb on 49th street and six ave. (see previous post).
A campaign led by “Transportation Alternatives” to improve walking and biking on Fifth and Sixth Ave has reached its first milestone with Community Board 5′s transportation committee advancing a resolution asking DOT for a complete streets study. The full board is expected to vote on December 12th.

4 people died and 63 suffered personal injury in a train accident that happened this morning in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A New York Metro-North train derailed this morning. 4 people died in the accident and 63 suffered personal injury including 11 critical injuries and 6 serious injuries.

The derailment happened in the Bronx where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet. It is a dangerous area as the rails make a sharp curve. A previous accident happened at this location when last July 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed.

“That is a dangerous area on the track just by design,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site. “The trains are going about 70 miles per hour coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour to make that sharp curve … where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River and that is a difficult area of the track.”

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Published on: November 29, 2013

The new seat belt rule for new motorcoaches and large buses will increase passengers safety, sadly it doesn’t apply to school buses

By GGCRBHS&M

Rollovers account for 60% of all fatal large bus accidents. When a large bus or a motorcoach rolls over, passengers have a high risk to die or to be severely injured after being ejected from their seat (see graph). Since 1968, the National Transportation Safety Board has been advocating for motorcoaches to be equipped with seat belts to reduce the number of wrongful deaths and personal injuries but the bus manufacturers have been effectively lobbying against it all these years because of the additional cost involved.

Last week this debate was partially resolved when the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a new regulation requiring new motorcoaches and large buses to be equipped with lap and shoulder seat belts for each passenger and driver seat starting November 2016.

Unfortunately, the regulation doesn’t apply to school buses, existing commercial buses and the majority of public transit buses in cities.

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Published on: November 29, 2013

4 people died in 3 accidents after being struck by vehicles between 5pm and 5:30pm the night before Thaksgiving in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

The epidemic number of wrongful death related to pedestrians and bicyclists hit by vehicles reached a new high on Wednesday night as 4 people were killed in an half an hour time span in New York City. A man who was riding his bike in Queens died after being hit by a truck whose driver fled. A an 88-year-old woman crossing Ave. C in Manhattan was killed after being struck by a Con Ed truck and two women were killed when a car hit them as they crossed Forest Hill Road in Staten Island.

Two people suffered severe personal injury after the explosion of an air compressor caused a building to collapse in the Bronx New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A father and his son were seriously injured after an auto body shop completely collapsed in the Bronx.The explosion of an air compressor inside the body shop was mentioned by the FDNY as the probable cause of the collapse.

Medical Malpractice – Diagnostic Errors and Strategies to minimize them

By GGCRBHS&M

Diagnostic errors are among the most significant medical malpractice areas in the United States. In the current issue of “Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care” entitled “Diagnostic Errors and Strategies to Minimize Them”, Satid Thammasitboon, William Cutrer, Supat Thammasitboon, Amy Flemming, William Sullivan, and Geeta Singhal provide a detailed overview of one of the most important patient safety problems in medicine Today.

More specifically the authors look at

the most recent cognitive theories related to how doctors think
how to teach diagnostic acumen
Contribution of diagnostic testing to the problem of diagnostic errors

Published on: November 26, 2013

Product Liability – Defective Medical Device : the FDA just announced a class I recall for the Hospira’s GemStar Infusion because of a pressure sensor calibration drift

By GGCRBHS&M

All GemStar Infusion Pumps that were either manufactured or had a pressure sensor replaced during servicing of the pump since January 1, 2009 are being subjected to a FDA Class I recall because of a potential pressure sensor calibration drift.

A calibration drift is a gradual degradation of the sensor and other components that can make readings offset from the original calibrated state. A pump with this issue may, instead of reporting an error, not detect occlusions or issue false occlusion alarms, which will stop the infusion and invoke visual and audible warnings to the user. This issue may also result in the pump shutting down.

As a consequence the patient therapy may be delayed or interrupted which may result in significant injury or death.

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Published on: November 26, 2013

Product Liability: the FDA just released a class I recall for some Anesthesia Workstations and Service Kits manufactured by Spacelabs Healthcare

By GGCRBHS&M

Some potentially defective Anesthesia workstations and service kits manufactured by Spacelabs Helathcare are subject to a class I recall by the FDA. The recalled models are the BleaseSirius Anesthesia Workstation, the BleaseFocus Anesthesia Workstation, and Service Kits Part Number 050-0659-00 and 050-0901-00.

These products are used in hospitals. They provide respiratory support to deliver oxygen, air, and nitrous oxide in a controlled manner to various patient-breathing circuits with or without the use of a mechanical ventilator, and may be used to deliver anesthetic vapor.

The defective products may cause serious adverse health consequences, including death.

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Published on: November 25, 2013

Medication errors by hospital pharmacy are often caused by interruptions and distractions

By GGCRBHS&M

Hospital pharmacists often commit medication errors or miss doses because they are constantly interrupted or distracted. Recent studies show that interruptions, especially phone calls are increasing the risk of medication error. A recent article By Anthony J. Melanson, BS; and Marc R. Summerfield, RPh, MS published on The “Patient Safety and Quality Helthcare” website compiles the findings from recent studies covering this issue and provides recommendations to improve it.

Published on: November 25, 2013

The Emergency Doctrine:A case against a young New York woman whose bikini top was untied by a prankster passenger was dismissed by the New York Appellate Division, 2nd Department in a fatal car accident that followed the incident

By GGCRBHS&M

Brittany Lahm was held not liable for a car accident that killed one teen and injured several others in July 2008 while she was driving back from the beach with other teenager friends in the car. Brandon Berman, a 19 year old passenger, playfully untied her bikini top. She lost the control of the vehicle as she took her hands off the wheels to cover up. The car hit a guard rail and flipped killing Berman and injuring other passengers.

The Appellate Division citing The Emergency Doctrine held “that Brittany did not anticipate that Berman would suddenly pull the strings on her bikini top, thereby causing the top to fall and her breasts to be exposed” and that it constituted “a sudden and unforeseen emergency not of her own making.”