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.

Articles Tagged with personal injury

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cme-concussion-2015-std-canonicalEvery day students from elementary school to college are sustaining concussions during sport or playground activities.  A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can affect the student’s cognitive, physical emotional and sleep functions.  Recent research has shown that knowledge of a concussion’s potential effects on a student and appropriate management of the return-to-school process is critical for helping students recover from a concussion.  Clinicians and school personnel who are  are involved in the management of care for students with concussion can attend a one day conference on this subject organized on May 9th by the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. Click here for more info and to register. For detailed information on Traumatic Brain Injury see the CDC related web page.

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NSC35,400 people died and 4.3 million people suffered personal injury that required medical attention last year on American roads according to preliminary statistics from the National Safety Council (NSC). The number of crash fatalities is 0.5% higher than in 2013 however because 2014 was a year of economical expansion during which the estimated mileage on US roads increased 1.4%, the estimated annual mileage death rate was 1.18 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a decrease of 1% from the 2013 rate. It is also the lowest NSC preliminary estimate ever recorded. The number of personal injuries that occurred during a crash in 2014 was unchanged.  Read more in Automotive Fleeet

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Reports of  medical staff suffering personal injury after being attacked by patients or patient’s visitors are on the rise.  Recent cases of extreme violence such as one involving a 68 year old patient attacking nurses with a metallic bar that he pulled from a bed (see video) or the death of a prominent cardiologist at a Boston Hospital who was shot by a gunman last month have led hospitals to revisit their security policy.

Shootings in hospitals are not that common but violence against hospital staff is happening daily. Workers are being kicked, scratched, punched beaten and even sexually assaulted by patients. Emergency room and psychiatric nurses and other workers dealing with elderly patients are the most at risk of being assaulted and injured by a patient. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics hospital workers are five time more likely to be assaulted on their jobs than workers in other industries.  Last year a study entitled “Incidence and Cost of Nurse Workplace Violence Perpetrated by Hospital Patients or Patient Visitors” and published by  the Journal of Emergency Nursing indicates that in the last year 76% of nurses experienced violence  (verbal abuse by patients, 54.2%; physical abuse by patients, 29.9%; verbal abuse by visitors, 32.9%; and physical abuse by visitors, 3.5%). Perpetrators were primarily white male patients, aged 26 to 35 years, who were confused or influenced by alcohol or drugs.

Hospitals have started to initiate various programs to train their staff on how to recognize and deescalate potentially violent situations but too little is being done to stop the assaults. According to a recent article, Epidemic of Violence against Health Care Workers Plagues Hospitals  published in Scientific American,  hospital administrators and the judicial system do little to prevent assaults by patients. The cost of violence prevention is small, however, when compared to the amount that hospitals lose in worker-compensation claims every year and in time off due to injury—roughly a third of which is patient-inflicted, according to OSHA statistics.

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When a car accident occurs, some cars are safer than others and will  protect occupants from severe personal injury or death more effectively. The Buick encore and its cheaper version, the Chevrolet Trax just earned the Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To qualify for Top Safety Pick a car  must earn a “good” or “acceptable” rating for small overlap protection and a “good” rating in the institute’s moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint crash tests. The 2015 Encore received the highest score (“good”) in the small overlap crash test compared to the 2014 model which was rated “poor” in the same test a year before. The small overlap test replicates a collision during which the front corner of a car hits another car or an object such as a light pole or a tree. Read more in the IIHS press release

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AED.jpgWhen a person is injured or dies because of an automated external defibrillator failure, it is often the result of a defective design or a manufacturing flaw such as the inadequate quality control of outsourced components. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are usually stored in public places and ready for use if someone suddenly suffers from a life threatening cardiac arrhythmia. Unfortunately these medical devices have a history of malfunctions. In the last 10 years the FDA received more than 72,000 medical reports associated with defective AEDs. During the same period of time, 111 recalls were conducted affecting more than two million defective products.

Therefore the FDA decided to take additional steps to improve the quality of these products. The agency issued a final order that will require AED manufacturers to submit premarket approval applications (PMAs), which undergo a more rigorous review than what was required to market these products in the past.

Read the FDA press release here

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Failure to manage diabetes can be medical malpractice that can result in serious personal injury such as loss of a limb, an eye or a kidney. A new medical App that was just approved by the FDA may help improve monitoring patients with diabetes. The Dexcom Share Direct Secondary Displays system’s data-sharing capability allows caregivers to a person with diabetes to monitor that individual’s blood sugar levels remotely through a legally marketed device that is available on mobile devices.The patient wears a small sensor inserted under the skin that constantly monitors the patient’s glucose level. The sensor is linked to an app installed on the patient’s mobile device while another app is installed on the caregiver’s mobile device or another person’s mobile device with whom the patient wants to share the data.

Read the press release from the FDA here

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most%20wanted.jpgTransportation accidents are killing and injuring thousands of people every year. Many of these accidents are preventable.

To support and increased awareness of the most critical changes needed to reduce these accidents the NTSB is releasing every year its most wanted list.

This year, distracted driving caused by portable electronic devices (PEDs) is at the top of this list, followed by substance impairment while operating a vehicle and helicopter safety. Implementation of train control, improvement of rail tank car safety, increased safety in mass transportation, prevention of loss of control in non-airline flights, medical fitness for duty, strengthening of commercial trucking safety and strengthening procedural compliance among airlines are the other priorities on the NTSB Most Wanted List.

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After a child’s injury, both the child and the family may experience traumatic stress reactions that can interfere with the recovery of the child. Pediatric trauma nurses have an important role to play in helping the family and the child to recover physically and emotionally. A recent study led by researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hershey Medical Center surveyed more than 200 nurses in pediatric trauma centers. The researchers found that 90 % of nurses understand post traumatic stress disorder and recognize the importance of responding to the psychological needs of the child and the family. Additionally, 75% to 80% of the nurses are helping the child and the family to cope with pain and anxiety during procedures and encourage parents to turn to family and friends for support. However most nurses do not provide a direct assessment of the child or the parents distress and do not provide specific instructions on how to cope with the trauma.

Read more about this subject here

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Winter%20Weather%20Driving.jpgWinter weather conditions make the roads more dangerous and increase the risk of a car accident that could result in severe personal injury or death. Before you take a trip make sure to check the weather forecast and the road conditions and also verify if you need tire chains. Safe driving is key to prevent car accidents during the winter. Here are a few basic safety tips that can make a big difference when driving on wintry roads:

– Brush the snow and the ice from your car before driving – Buckle up. Seat belts are the most effective way to prevent death or severe injuries in a crash – Check the weather forecast and plan ahead what you will do if conditions are getting worse – Allow yourself a lot of extra time to your destination – Keep your headlights on all the time so you are more visible to others
– Drive smoothly, abrupt driving maneuvers such as sudden braking can be fatal – Lower your speed and allow extra space between you and the car in front of you

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Drowsy%20driving.jpgDrowsy driving plays a role in 21 % of fatal car accidents, in 13% of the crashes resulting in hospitalization and in 7% of the accidents requiring treatment for personal injuries according to a new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The report based on a representative sample of 14,268 crashes demonstrate that drowsy driving is a serious traffic safety issue and that official statistics from the NHTSA do not provide an accurate picture of the prevalence of the probleme

Download the complete Prevalence of Motor Vehicle Crashes Involving Drowsy Drivers report