Bronx wrongful death

Published on: February 17, 2016

Chemical poisoning suspected in the sudden death of a New York car wash worker

A veteran car wash worker died two weeks ago in the Bronx, NYC, and “The Car Wash Campaign” is asking for a full investigation into the death of the worker to see if the chemicals that he used may have been the cause of his death. 36 year old William Alberto Castellano Gomez who had been working for the last nine years at C&P Car Wash in the Bronx, NYC started to vomit after work and told his family he suffered from general pain while at work. Two days later he was hospitalized for one night and then released. He died at his home several hours after he was released from the hospital.

On August 21, 2015 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report on Hydrofluoric Acid Injury from Car and Truck Washing. Hydrofluoric Acid is contained in many car and truck wash products. The report points out that, “Exposure to hydrofluoric acid (HF) causes corrosive chemical burns and potentially fatal systemic toxicity”. Read the full report here.

According to activists who are pushing for reform in the industry, car wash workers are using unlabeled chemicals that they are constantly inhaling while they are at work. Even though no proven connections have been established yet in this case, car wash workers have often been complaining about health issues that they believe are related to the inhaling of dangerous chemicals.

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Published on: November 4, 2015

Halloween horror story: car crashes into two groups of trick-or-treaters killing a child and two adults and injuring 3 other people

By GGCRBHS&M

3 pedestrians died and 3 others suffered personal injury in a car accident in New York City last Saturday during Halloween celebrations. 10 year old Nyanna Aquil and her 65 year old grandfather Louis Perez as well as 24 year old Christian Leka died after 52 year old Howard Hunger lost control of his vehicle, jumped the curb and slammed into trick-or-treaters walking along Morris Park Ave near Bogart Ave. According to the preliminary police investigation, the car driver appeared to have suffered a seizure while he was driving. As he was driving west on Morris Park Ave he struck a car in front of him twice before driving into oncoming traffic and jumping the curb. He is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries.

Louis Perez was walking with her granddaughter Nyanna and her two young sisters and Christian Leka in the company of her fiancee was holding his 9 year old sister’s hand when the car crashed into the two groups of trick-or-treaters. Leka shoved her fiancee to the ground and pushed his sister away saving their lives. One of Nyanna sisters as well as Christian Leka’s sister and his fiancee were injured and hospitalized.

So far this year 13 pedestrians were killed by a car jumping a curb in New York City.

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Published on: October 13, 2015

A mother of five died and 6 other people were injured in a Coca-Cola truck accident in New York City

By GGCRBHS&M

A pedestrian was fatally struck by a truck and several other people suffered personal injury yesterday near the intersection of Bruckner Blvd and 138th street in the Bronx, NYC.

37 year old Cheniqua Silva, a mother of 5 teenagers was on the phone with her husband while waiting for the bus on the sidewalk when a Coca-Cola truck jump the curb and slammed into her. The woman was trapped beneath the truck and died at the scene of the accident.

According to a witness a car that was trying to avoid motorcycles hit the truck causing it to jump the curb.

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Published on: October 6, 2015

A New York City hospital worker who checked in at the Emergency Room of the facility he was working for was found dead in the bathroom several days later

By GGCRBHS&M

The family of a hospital worker is angry and wants to know how such gross hospital negligence may have been committed by the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NYC. Anthony Luso, a worker at the Montefiore Medical Center suffered a finger injury while he was working at the hospital and went to the Emergency Room to be treated on Friday. He checked in and then went to the bathroom. He never got out. He was found dead in the locked bathroom on Monday after his family questioned the hospital and insisted on looking at video surveillance. Read more on CBS New York

Published on: September 14, 2015

A 27-year-old bicyclist died in a hit-and-run accident on City Island

By GGCRBHS&M

A 27 year old woman was killed in a bicycle accident on the City Island bridge in the Bronx, NYC. The police are looking for the driver of a 2015 White Hyundai who struck 27 year old Gabriella Aguilar and sped away, leaving her to die on the road. See video below

Published on: September 14, 2015

Two people died this weekend in two separate New York motorcycle accidents

By GGCRBHS&M

A 29 year old man and a 27 year old woman died in two separate motorcycle crashes early Saturday night in New York City. The first motorcycle accident occurred in Brooklyn around 1:15 AM. The driver of the motorcycle tried to pass a van by squeezing between the parked cars and the van on Parkside Avenue near Park Circle. He lost control of his motorcycle and died in the hospital a few hours after the crash.

The second accident happened 40 minutes later in the Bronx. A 27 year old woman who was riding as a passenger on a bike driven by a 30 year old man was ejected from it after the driver lost control of the vehicle on Commerce Avenue near Newbold Avenue. The woman died and the driver suffered a broken jaw. Having ridden motorcycles for over 50 years the lack of foresight never ceases to amaze me. We all know riding bikes carries a multitude of risks from other drivers. Why compound it by riding foolishly.

Read more in the New York Daily News

Published on: July 7, 2015

A MTA report that just came out indicates that the bus accident that killed a 64 pedestrian in the Bronx last october was preventable

By GGCRBHS&M

A MTA report on a NYC fatal bus accident that happened last October indicates that the accident was preventable and that the actions of the bus driver were the most probable cause of the accident. The report indicates that the bus driver, 64 year old Theresa Gallager, was driving North on Willis Avenue in the Bronx at 1:40 am and turning left with a green light onto E. 147th Street when she hit 64 year old John Lavery who was crossing 147th Street in the crosswalk with the right of way. MTA drivers are supposed to take turns at a speed of 5 mph. Gallager was driving at a speed of 11 to 15 miles-per-hour when she turned. If she had followed MTA guidelines and driven slower, the death of John Lavery may have been prevented. Many of the frequent accidents involving pedestrians being hit by buses are the result of drivers who work long hours, are frustrated by the NYC traffic congestion and drive aggressively feeling they always have the right of way and it is the pedestrian’s obligation to get out of the way.

Gallager was the first of six bus drivers that have been arrested under the city’s Right of Way law, which makes it a misdemeanor to fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. In an article in the Post Theresa Gallager’s lawyer and the bus driver’s union blame a broken street lamp for the accident but according to the Gothamist, the report clearly indicates that the bus driver was responsible for the accident.

Published on: May 14, 2015

Construction worker dies from head trauma after falling from scaffolding in the Bronx, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Domikick Deluca, a 25 year old construction worker, died after falling from scaffolding yesterday. The young worker was doing facade work at the Butler Houses on Webster Ave in Claremont in the Bronx when he lost his footing and fell 15 feet . He landed on his head and was transported to the hospital unresponsive and with severe trauma. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital. This construction worker is the 8th person to die in a construction accident in New York City since the beginning of the year (see previous blog) .

Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on: May 4, 2015

To reduce overdose deaths, a new campaign by the New York State Department of Health seeks to educate Bronx doctors about safe and judicious opioid prescriptions

By GGCRBHS&M

A doctor who prescribes opioids to a patient with a history of abuse, fails to closely follow up with a patient who exhibits addictive behavior or disregards family concerns or warnings from other professionals such as pharmacists or primary physicians could face medical malpractice and/or wrongful death litigation, criminal prosecution, and a disciplinary proceeding by the State Medical Board.

In New York City, deaths related to opioid analgesics have increased 256% from 2000 to 2013 in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx are the most affected of the 5 Boroughs. To fight this epidemic, the New York Sate Department of Health is launching a Bronx detailing campaign during which representatives will visit more than 1000 doctors to educate them about about safe and judicious opioid analgesic prescribing. A similar campaign in Saten Island in 2013 lead to a reduction of 29% of overdose deaths from opioid analgesics.

Read the press release from the New York Health Department

Published on: March 4, 2015

20 year old pedestrian dies in a truck accident in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A tractor trailer fatally hit a young man who was crossing a street in the Bronx, NYC, Tuesday night. The truck accident happened around 10.20 pm. 20 year old Kenny Valette was crossing Webster Ave near E. 174 Street when he was struck by a large truck that was making a right turn from the Cross Bronx Expressway exit ramp. The drivers remained at the scene while Valette was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Read more in the NY Daily News.

According to NYCcrashmapper.com, 1 pedestrian, 11 passengers and 3 vehicle drivers suffered personal injury in 29 collisions that took place at the intersection of East 174 street and Webster Ave between August 2011 and February 2014. As shown in the Heat map this intersection is very dangerous.