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Governor Paterson Signs Child Passenger Protection Act Making It a Felony for First-Time DWI With Children in the Vehicle
Posted on November 20, 2009The Child Passenger Protection Act, now known as Leandra?s Law, discussed in our recent blog entry of November 9, was signed into law by Governor David A. Paterson on November 18, 2009. The legislation makes it a felony for individuals to drive while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs (DWI) with children in the [...
?Son of Sam? 10% Exemption Applies to Inmate’s Medical Malpractice Settlement
Posted on November 16, 2009Under New York?s ?Son of Sam? law, a crime victim has the right to bring a civil action to recover money damages from a person convicted of perpetrating that crime within 3 years of the discovery of any profits from the crime or funds of the convicted person...
Nursing Home, Even Though an LLC, is Criminally Liable for Its Employees? Failure to Provide Required Care to Patient
Posted on November 12, 2009Highgate LTC Management, LLC, a limited liability company, operated Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility (?Northwoods?) in Cortland County. Following a 2005 investigation into the care of a patient at Northwoods who was in a persistent vegetative condition, five of its employees were convicted of various crimes relating to their failure to provide required care [...
The Child Passenger Protection Act Should Become Law
Posted on November 09, 2009Governor David A. Paterson has submitted legislation, known as The Child Passenger Protection Act, to increase penalties on those who drive while intoxicated (DWI) with children in the car. The Act would make it a felony for individuals to drive while drunk or under the influence of drugs with passengers under the age of 16...
Is It Fair to Even Threaten Eduardo Henriquez With Prosecution Over Fatal Drunk Driving Accident?
Posted on November 06, 2009Eduardo Henriquez is the father of an infant who he removed from the car of Carmen Huertas when he learned that she was about to drive drunk with the infant in the vehicle. He did not remove any of the other 7 children in the car. Ms. Huertas then allegedly drove off quickly, bragged to [...
Taser International Says It Changed Preferred Target Area Not for Safety But To Avoid Giving Plaintiff?s Lawyers a Chance to Sue
Posted on November 03, 2009TASER Training Bulletin 15.0 Regarding Medical Research Update and Revised Warnings, released on October 12, 2009, removed a person?s chest from the preferred target area for the 50,000-volt weapon. The bulletin said that hitting a suspect in the chest from the stun guns could cause an “adverse cardiac event...
Do You (as opposed to the Supreme Court) Believe That a Drunk Driver Should Be Able to be Pulled Over Based Solely Upon an Anonymous Tip?
Posted on October 31, 2009There is no doubt that the defendant Joseph A. Moses Harris, Jr. was driving drunk when the police pulled him over. Police had received an anonymous tip, including a partial license plate as well as his name, but the arresting officer did not see Harris break any traffic laws...
Convicted Sex Offender Can Be Required to Submit to Computerized Voice Stress Analysis To Detect Lying
Posted on October 30, 2009Gjurovich v. U.S., Slip Copy, 2009 WL 3232139 (N.D.N.Y. 2009) involved a petitioner who pled guilty to a two count indictment charging him with transporting child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1) and possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U...
Pretrial Detainee Alleging Deliberate Indifference to His Medical Needs Must Show Defendant Was Actually Aware of Risk of Harm
Posted on October 26, 2009In Caiozzo v. Koreman, 581 F.3d 63 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)), the plaintiff?s decedent died while in custody as a pretrial detainee at Albany County Correctional Facility (?ACCF?). The cause of death was ascribed to seizure due to acute and chronic alcoholism. It was alleged that the defendants failed to provide him with alcohol withdrawal treatment that [...
Since the FDA Requires Corrective Language in TV Ad for Birth Control MedicationYaz, Why Not for Chantix as Well?
Posted on October 23, 2009In a recent blog, we wondered why a television advertisement for the stop-smoking drug Chantix contained an exhaustive list of side-effects yet did not disclose that the drug was subject to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) ?black box? warning...
?There Has To Be A Counterweight To The Malevolence Of The Insurance Industry.? – Sen. Jay Rockefeller
Posted on October 19, 2009Well there?s a mouthful. The quote, from Senator Rockefeller in the context of the health care reform debate, was said in an interview on Bloomberg Television?s ?Political Capital with Al Hunt,? airing this weekend. He is not only critical of the insurance industry, but he intends to do something about it...
Suffolk County Again Ahead of the Curve When It Comes to Consumer Safety, This Time Regarding Cribs
Posted on October 17, 2009The Suffolk Legislature voted on October 13, 2009, to ban the sale of drop-side cribs, potentially virtual death traps to infants. Drop-side cribs have caused many deaths and injuries, and prompted massive recalls. It is the first such restriction in the nation...
Will New FTC Guidelines Governing Endorsements and Testimonials Affect Lawyer Advertising?
Posted on October 12, 2009For the first time since 1980, the Federal Trade Commission (?FTC?) has revised the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads compliant with the FTC Act. The revisions of the FTC?s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising addresses endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and [...
Building Owner Charged with Manslaughter in Death of Construction Worker Loses Bid to Suppress Incriminating Statements
Posted on October 11, 2009On March 12, 2008, the basement foundation wall of a two-story wood-frame residential building located at 795 Glenmore Avenue in Brooklyn collapsed into the construction site on the adjoining parcel at 793 and 791 Glenmore Avenue, causing the death of a construction worker who was working in the excavation site at the time of the [...
Federal Court Upholds NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission Policy of Suspending Arrested Taxi Drivers Before Hearing
Posted on October 07, 2009The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (?TLC?) has a policy of suspending a taxi driver upon notification of the driver’s arrest, without providing either a pre-deprivation hearing or a post-deprivation hearing that does more than confirm the fact of the driver’s arrest ? that is no attempt is made to verify the propriety [...
Indictment Accuses Mob of Infiltrating NYC Building Department, Taking Bribes To Grant Building Permits, Expedite Inspections And Overlook Building Violations
Posted on October 03, 2009The Manhattan District Attorney on October 1, 2009 announced the indictment and arrest of 29 people and four corporations for enterprise corruption, bribery, bribe receiving, extortion, narcotics and firearms trafficking, and illegal gambling. Among the individual defendants are members and associates of the Cosa Nostra Lucchese Organized Crime Family (?Lucchese Crime Family?), including three inspectors [...
Michael Moore?s CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY in Action: The FDA’s Approval of Menaflex
Posted on October 01, 2009Last week, just one week before the opening of Michael Moore?s new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admitted what has been known for a while ? that its approval of the Menaflex device in December, 2008, came after intense political pressure from politicians made just months after they [...
Parents Matter When It Comes to Teen Driving
Posted on September 29, 2009Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, killing more than 5,000 each year. More than 7,000 people nationwide were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in 2007, government data show. More than 3,000 of these deaths were teen drivers, and more than 250,000 teen drivers were injured...
Village Denied Summary Judgment in Domestic Violence Suit Alleging Violation of Due Process Rights by Police Department
Posted on September 25, 2009Holding a municipality liable in negligence for personal injuries sustained as a result of a third-party is often a difficult task because the plaintiff must show a ?special relationship? between the plaintiff and the police department – a multi-prong test that is difficult to satisfy...
Federal Government Studying Harm Restraints and Seclusion in Schools and School Buses Cause Children and Teens
Posted on September 22, 2009A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report this past spring, concerned about childrens’ safety and welfare, highlighted allegations of abuse and the potentially deadly consequences of using certain forms of behavior management, often times for special education students...
More Support for Federal Law to Reduce Highway Funding Available to States That Do Not Prohibit Text Messaging While Driving
Posted on September 20, 2009This past summer a bill was introduced in the United States Senate to require states to adopt federally set minimum penalties for writing, sending, or reading text messages while driving. The bill requires states to pass laws prohibiting text messaging or forfeit 25 percent of highway financing, which would amount to losing hundreds of millions [...
First Department Debates How Much Effort Court of Appeals Requires a Worker To Make To Search For Safety Devices At The Construction Work Site
Posted on September 14, 2009In Cherry v. Time Warner, Inc., — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 2497974 (1 Dept. August 18, 2009), the plaintiff was securing sheet rock to the ceiling on the third floor when he fell off a baker’s scaffold onto the concrete floor eight feet below...
Should Television Ads for Chantix Be Required to State That Its Side Effects are the Subject of an FDA ?Black Box??
Posted on September 11, 2009Yesterday morning an advertisement for smoking cessation drug Chantix came on my television. The ad featured a man extolling how much better his life is now that Chantix (and support, slips in the ad) has helped him kick his smoking habit. Then an announcer came on and read, for what seemed like an extraordinary time [...
Nassau County?s Red-Light Cameras Catch Red Light and Right on Red Violators: Will They Really Improve Traffic Safety or Mostly Generate Revenue for the County?
Posted on September 09, 2009Beginning on Thursday, August 6, 2009, Nassau County on Long Island initiated a red-light camera program, with cameras placed above two intersections to videotape motor vehicles running red lights and send tickets to the vehicles? owners. It has now come to light that the cameras are not just catching red light violators ? they are [...
Personal Injury Lawsuits in Dallas Cowboy Roof Collapse; Low Scoreboard OK for this Season
Posted on September 06, 2009A Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant paralyzed and a special teams coach whose neck was broken in the May 2, 2009, collapse of the team?s practice facility due to high winds filed separate lawsuits against the Pennsylvania-based company that built the structure and several other companies involved in the construction and maintenance...
New York City Launches International Design Competition For A Safer, More Appealing Sidewalk Shed of the Future
Posted on September 02, 2009Sidewalk sheds are typically wooden structures (nowadays usually painted blue) built over public space to protect pedestrians during construction activity. Walking around Manhattan while trying to avoid walking under a sidewalk shed can be a true challenge...
Suffolk County Nation?s First County to Ban Electronic Cigarettes from Minors and From Public Indoor Spaces
Posted on August 31, 2009On August 18, 2009, the Sullolk County Legislature voted to ban electronic cigarettes from public indoor spaces where ‘traditional forms of smoking are already disallowed,’ but allows adults to use the devices anywhere cigarette smoking is permitted...
Four New York Juvenile Detention Centers Use Excessive Force and Restraints, Concludes U.S. Department of Justice
Posted on August 29, 2009A report of the Civil Rights Division of the Civil Rights Division?s investigation of conditions at four Office of Children and Family Services (?OCFS?) facilities found conditions violate constitutional standards in the areas of protection from harm and mental health care...
N.Y.C. Departmentof Buildings? Special Enforcement Team Does Its Job - Prevents Potentially Disastrous Hotel Fires
Posted on August 26, 2009The N.Y.C. Department of Buildings has suspended the license of Master Electrician Robert Spallino?s and fined him $100,000 after determining he installed cheap, illegal wooden parts, instead of the metal, insulated collars required by the Electrical Code, inside the electrical systems of five high-rise hotels in midtown Manhattan...
Comprehensive Set of Regulations For The Pedicab Industry Signed Into Law
Posted on August 22, 2009Pedicabs, the three-wheel pedaled vehicles with a carriage in the back have gone unregulated for years in New York City. They are increasingly popular among tourists and New Yorkers ? in fact, our office has recently been contacted via the internet from Australia on behalf of a visitor who sustained injuries, including a broken collar [...
Continuing Violation Doctrine Can Extend Prisoner?s Time to Bring Claim Alleging Medical Indifference to His ?Paralyzed Hands? That He Had Used to Discharge Murder Weapon
Posted on August 20, 2009Jose J. Shomo was convicted in New York State court, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentenced as a persistent violent felony offender to concurrent terms of 25 years to life...
District Attorney Unsuccessfully Attempts to Prosecute Charges Carrying Maximum Penalty Against Taxi Driver for Fatal Accident
Posted on August 17, 2009In 2006, Hassan Afzal, was involved in an accident while driving a taxicab on West Street (a/k/a the West Side Highway) in the vicinity of West Houston Street in Manhattan. Mr. Afzal had a history of seizures that he failed to disclose in applications that he filed for a taxi license...
Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Take Me Out to the Crowd, Buy Me Some Peanuts and a Helmet
Posted on August 12, 2009Two stories recently in the news raise questions about what risks are assumed by baseball fans attending games. One story involves a minor-league game last year, at which pitcher Julio Castillo threw a baseball that went into the stands during an on-field melee in Ohio, striking a fan who suffered a concussion...
A 100th Birthday and Lessons Learned
Posted on August 09, 2009Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of our founder, Louis H. Levine. It?s hard to imagine that on this day 100 years ago he was just starting out, and how different the world was in 1909 and all the things that have happened since then...
Court of Appeals Reverses: No Liability Where Violation of Leash Law Without Pet Owner’s Prior Notice of Pet’s Vicious Propensity
Posted on August 07, 2009Last year we wrote a blog about the case of Petrone v. Fernandez, 53 A.D.3d 221, 862 N.Y.S.2d 522 (2009), an Appellate Division, Second Department decision that held that liability can be imposed when the leash law violation is coupled with affirmative canine behavior such as a dog bite, or an attack upon the plaintiff, [...
How Distracting is a Cell Phone Really to a Driver? Naturalistic Driving Studies and Driving Simulator Tests Don’t Agree
Posted on August 03, 2009Naturalistic driving studies that record drivers (through continuous video and kinematic sensors in participants? personal vehicles) in actual driving situations are a scientific method to study driver behavior in real-world driving conditions in the presence of real-world daily pressures...
Transportation Alternatives, Advocate for Bicycling, Walking and Public Transit, Releases Report Decrying Gaps in Deterrence of Dangerous Driving and Makes Sensible Recommendations
Posted on July 30, 2009Earlier this month, Transportation Alternatives (TA) released Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety, which TA says shows startling gaps in the way NYC deters the most dangerous driving behaviors. TA?s stated mission is to reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the [...
New York?s Statutes Aimed at Protecting Construction Workers Held to Apply to Accident on Indian Reservation
Posted on July 26, 2009In Alexander v. Hart, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 1955556, 2009 N.Y. Slip Op. 05716 (N.Y.A.D. 3 Dept., 2009) the plaintiff, a service technician, fell while working on a rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit at defendants’ fitness center on the St...
The Government?s Deadly Secret: Hands-Free Cell Phones No Less Distracting Than Handheld Devices
Posted on July 23, 2009While driving on the highways in the New York metropolitan area, have you noticed that when the overhead highway electronic traffic signs have no traffic jams to report, they warn that only hands-free devices can legally be used? While happy to not have to deal with a traffic jam, who knew that this seemingly friendly [...
Report Debunks the Myths of Medical Malpractice Litigation and Health Care Costs and Shows that Most Compensated Injuries are Extremely Serious
Posted on July 20, 2009?If you spend an hour reading this report, chances are that five to 11 Americans will die from preventable medical errors by the time you finish. Chances also are better than 50-50 that not a single malpractice payment will be made as a result of any of these avoidable deaths...
Gas Buyers, Ever Wonder Who Checks the Pumps For Accuracy? (Who Checks the High Price, You Ask? Fuggedaboudit!)
Posted on July 16, 2009Under New York City?s Weights and Measures law, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) tests all gas pumps for accuracy. In the past year, DCA has performed more than 1,800 gas station inspections, checking more than 12,000 individual gas pumps throughout the five boroughs...
Brain-Computer Interface Research Used for Speech Prosthesis to Assist ?Locked-In? Motor Vehicle Accident Victim
Posted on July 13, 2009Around midnight on November 5, 1999, Erik Ramsey was a passenger in a friend?s Camaro that was in an accident with another vehicle and flipped and landed on an embankment. His injuries were devastating - a collapsed lung, a lacerated spleen, a ruptured diaphragm, ripped tendons in his hand, and a femur that was broken [...
Jaloma Pacifiers Sold in New York and New Jersey Recalled Due to Choking Hazard; One Million Play Yards Recalled Nationwide Due to Fall Hazard
Posted on July 10, 2009It?s been a tough couple of days for the safety of infants and toddlers. On July 7, 2009, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (?CPSC?), in cooperation with Gromex Inc., of Passaic, N.J., announced a voluntary recall of about 700 Jaloma Pacifiers...
Is Nothing Sacred Anymore? FDA Warns Bar-B-Q and Dessert Lovers to Guard Against E. coli
Posted on July 07, 2009On June 19, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (?FDA?) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E...
FDA Requires Boxed Warning on Serious Neuropsychiatric Events for Chantix and Zyban. Is a Ban Next?
Posted on July 04, 2009The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 1, 2009, that it is requiring manufacturers to put a Boxed Warning on the prescribing information for the smoking cessation drugs Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion) and to update the Medication Guides for patients that further discuss the risk of mental health events when using [...
Suit for Injury During Insurance Company Doctor’s Medical Examination Subject to Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations, Holds Court of Appeals
Posted on July 01, 2009Part and parcel of many types of claims for bodily injuries is the medical examination conducted by a physician designated by an insurance company. This can occur in contexts including a personal injury lawsuit, a claim for motor vehicle no-fault benefits, a disability claim or a workers compensation claim...
NYC Department of Buildings to Share Information About Tower Cranes With Other Cities to Prevent Crane Accidents
Posted on June 28, 2009Last year, there were two fatal in New York City, as well as dozens of others throughout the country, including Houston, Las Vegas and MiamiIn an effort to track equipment failures, manufacturers? recalls, accidents and industry trends, the New York City Buildings Department recently announced an unprecedented partnership with the cities of Chicago and Philadelphia [...
FDA Advises Consumers to Stop Using Zicam; Active Ingredient Can Cause Loss of Smell
Posted on June 25, 2009In a press release dated June 16, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised consumers to stop use of three over-the-counter Zicam Cold Remedy products: nasal gel, nasal swabs and the discontinued “kids size” swabs. The FDA?s advisory stated that the products are associated with the loss of sense of smell, called anosmia...
New York City Council to Consider Licensing Procedure for Pedicabs
Posted on June 23, 2009Anyone walking the streets of Manhattan is aware of the prevalence of pedicabs, pedal-powered tourist-friendly tricycles. Pedicab owners estimate that there were about 1,000 pedicabs in the city. But what if someone suffers personal injuries while a passenger in one or is involved in an accident with one? Who will pay for the injuries and [...
Schoolchildren Face Traffic Dangers When School Lets Out
Posted on June 20, 2009A recent article by Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times discusses the dangers middle school students face when they become pedestrians when the school bell rings. The number of serious traffic incidents involving schoolchildren across the 900 Los Angeles public schools has significantly increased, particularly around middle schools...
Bill Creating the Offense ?Careless Driving? Introduced in New York to Protect Pedestrians, Bicyclists and Other Vulnerable Road Users
Posted on June 17, 2009Known as ?The Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez Law?, bills have been introduced in the Assembly (A.7917) and the Senate (S.5292) establishing the offense of careless driving under a new section 1146-b to the Vehicle and Traffic Law (?VTL?), and imposing penalties when a violation results in the serious injury or death of a vulnerable user [...
New LIRR Public Awareness Campaign Aimed At Golf Fans Headed to U.S. Open
Posted on June 14, 2009The U.S. Open golf tournament is scheduled to be played on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on June 15-21, 2009. The LIRR is posting ads at stations and in newspapers, making extra announcements and distributing fliers telling riders to ?watch the gap? between train doors and the station platform...
Pedestrians Killed in Accidents to be Memorialized by Hell?s Kitchen Neighborhood Organizations This Saturday
Posted on June 11, 2009Year ago our office represented the estate of Randolph Walker, who was run over and killed by a New York City Apple Tours bus in an accident that received much coverage in the press at the time. The circumstances were abhorrent and the company was effectively put out of business by the city after this accident...
Bill Seeks to Improve Safety By Requiring Safety Device on New York City Housing Authority Elevators
Posted on June 08, 2009Identical bills have been introduced in the New York State Senate (S04603) and Assembly (A8154) that would require the New York City Housing Authority (?NYCHA?) to place door or zone restrictors on its nearly 3,340 elevators. The devices prevent people trapped inside stalled elevators from opening the cab doors by locking the cab door when [...
Can One Appellate Department Be Right and Three Be Wrong? Yes, Says the Court of Appeals When It Comes to Power-Operated Heavy Equipment or Machinery and the Labor Law
Posted on June 05, 2009An employee who claims to have suffered injuries proximately caused by a previously identified and unremedied structural defect or unsafe condition affecting an item of power-operated heavy equipment or machinery has stated a cause of action under Labor Law §241(6) based on an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-9...
It Doesn?t Take Much of a Gift to Influence Doctors? Prescription Choices
Posted on June 02, 2009A principal underlying assumption regarding limits on and ethics guidelines addressing pharmaceutical promotion is that smaller gifts are unlikely to exert influence on prescribing decisions. Nonetheless, a substantial body of marketing and psychology literature suggests that even trivial items can exert influence irrespective of economic value...
Tough Start to 2009 for Garbage Truck Fatalities
Posted on May 30, 2009The first three months of 2009 saw 12 solid waste collection workers killed while on their routes, and 9 died during a 15-day period in March. This followed a substantial decrease in solid waste collection fatalities in 2007, during which there were 18 worker fatalities...
Microcars and Minicars: Crash Tests Show Occupant Safety Unduly Compromised
Posted on May 28, 2009Occupants of smaller cars are at increased risk in all kinds of crashes, not just ones with heavier vehicles, according to The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety. Almost half of all crash deaths in minicars occur in single-vehicle crashes. Even if all cars became smaller and lighter, the result would be to afford less occupant [...
New York Plans Permanent Task Force on Wrongful Convictions
Posted on May 25, 2009The Chief Judge of New York?s Court of Appeals, Hon. Jonathan Lippman, said on Law Day, May 1, 2009, that he would create a Justice Task Force to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and develop systemic remedies to minimize them and to make the state?s criminal justice system more effective...
?Black Box? Warning Label Suggested For Flomax Due to Complications From Cataract Surgery
Posted on May 22, 2009Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed operation in the United States today, with nearly 2 million cataract operations performed in the United States each year. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an enlarged prostate, is common in older men, affecting nearly 3 out of 4 men by the age of 70 years...
Don?t Drink and Ride (a Bicycle), And Make Sure To Wear a Helmet
Posted on May 19, 200921 percent of autopsies of New York City bicyclists who died within three hours of their accidents detected alcohol in the body, according to a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study that examined fatal bicycling accidents in New York City from 1996 to 2005, as reported in The New York Times...
Time Running Out on this Year?s No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program
Posted on May 16, 2009Homeowners have until June 1, 2009 to call 3-1-1 to request an inspection of their retaining walls by a Buildings Inspector without penalty of violation under the New York City Department of Buildings’ annual No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program...
511NY: New York State’s New Official Traffic and Travel Information Source
Posted on May 13, 2009Dial ?511? or visit www.511NY.org to find the most efficient route to take, avoiding accidents and congestion. 511 New York is a new travel-information service from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The 511 New York service incorporates real-time traffic alerts from the NYSDOT?s TransAlert program, and the MTA, Thruway Authority and Port [...
Correlation Between Player Position and The Type of Injury Sustained Affects National Football League Careers
Posted on May 10, 2009The annual ritual of the NFL draft was held a few weeks ago and teams are now holding their rookie minicamps to get a better look at the players they selected. Whether a player?s college career was affected by injury was a often a major factor in the evaluation of the player...
Enough is Enough: Federal Suit Demands New York City Housing Authority Fix Its Elevators
Posted on May 07, 2009A lawsuit was filed in the United States Court for the Eastern District of New York on April 21, 2009 to force the New York City Housing Authority to repair and maintain its more than 3,300 elevators. The lawsuit cites numerous occasions when NYCHA buildings are completely without elevator service...
April Brought Us Not Just Showers But Also NYC Buildings Department?s Construction Safety Week and the High Risk Construction Oversight Study
Posted on May 04, 2009Last week was the annual construction safety week. The week?s schedule of events included seminars and events that were free of charge and open to the public. The seminars included: Safety Harness Giveaway & Worker Safety Training; How to Identify and Hire a Licensed Contractor; Homeowners’ Night: Resolving ECB Violations & Illegal Conversions; [...
May is ?Bike Month? in New York and Nationwide
Posted on May 01, 2009This year?s Bike Month NYC is the eighteenth annual celebration of bicycling in metropolitan New York. People can choose from over 200 rides, classes, races, movies, culinary events and art exhibits. Bike Month draws popular support and press coverage in metropolitan New York City...
Police Assertion of ?Qualified Immunity? Insufficient to Gain Dismissal of Civil Rights Claim For Death Resulting from Use of Excessive Force
Posted on April 27, 2009Plaintiff Leroy Rasanen, in Rasanen v. Brown, — F.Supp.2d —-, 2009 WL 766205 (E.D.N.Y.,2009.) (decided March 25, 2009) brought this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.1983 (”Section 1983″), alleging that New York State Troopers used excessive force in fatally shooting his son John Rasanen (”Rasanen”) during a search of Rasanen’s home...
Operation Safe Stop Day Highlights School Bus Safety
Posted on April 24, 2009Yesterday, April 23, 2009, was this year?s Operation Safe Stop Day, a day when law police officers ride on board school buses and in marked and unmarked patrol units on selected bus routes that have a history of illegal passing complaints. Police will issue tickets to drivers who pass stopped school buses...
?Scaffold Law? (Labor Law §240(1)) Held Not Applicable to Lessee Where Window Washer is Injured
Posted on April 21, 2009In Ferluckaj v. Goldman Sachs & Co., — N.E.2d —-, 2009 WL 856304, 2009 N.Y. Slip Op. 02483 (decided April 02, 2009), the Court of Appeals declined to apply New York?s ?Scaffold Law? (Labor Law §240(1)) to a worker who was injured while cleaning an interior window as part of the preparation of new office space [...
Whopping Damage Award Against Private Prison Company for Inmate?s Death Affirmed by an Angry Court
Posted on April 17, 2009By August of 1997 Texas had about 5,500 prisoners from other states housed in 22 facilities, generating revenues of more than $1,000,000 for private prison corporations. With such a strong profit motive, is it any wonder that cost-cutting measures such as hiring unqualified prison guards and failing to provide necessary medical care will be undertaken [...
NYC Not Liable to Mother of Brain-Injured Infant for Not Following the Law and for Giving False Information About Day Care Home
Posted on April 14, 2009When Charlene McLean was searching for a safe day care provider for her soon-to-be-born daughter she called the New York City Administration for Children?s Services (ACS) which sent her a list of registered providers taken from the New York City Department of Health (DOH)?s database of registered providers...
Traffic Deaths On U.S. Roads in 2008 Reached A Record Low While Seat Belt Use Continued To Climb
Posted on April 12, 2009The number of traffic deaths on U.S. roads last year reached a record low, while seat belt use continued to climb, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced April 6, 2009. Based on a statistical projection, in 2008 fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes are estimated to have dropped to 37,313 ? a 9...
Inadequate Patient Discharge Instructions and Intervention Resulting in Rehospitalization: Prevalent, Costly and Sometimes Malpractice
Posted on April 10, 2009Studies have found that when patients leave the hospital without clear understanding of their diagnoses, medication instructions, or need for primary care follow-up, chances are that they will wind up back in the emergency department, and many will be readmitted...
Ever Improving Safety Rules from the NYC Department of Buildings
Posted on April 06, 2009The New York City Buildings Department and Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri recently announced a series of changes in the way high-risk construction will be regulated and carried out in New York City. These changes are based on 41 recommendations developed during the unprecedented $4 million study of crane, hoist, excavation, and concrete operations launched last [...
NFL?s New Rules for 2009 Season Hope to Reduce Injuries, Especially Head and Neck Injuries
Posted on April 03, 2009Last week saw the National Football League make eleven (11) rule changes including issues involving replays, kickoffs, onsides kicks, and hits to the quarterback. Viewed as a whole, the rule changes reveal a concerted effort to reduce injuries to players...
It All Comes Out in the Wash
Posted on April 02, 2009Oftentimes it seems that when the dust settles, accidents that appeared to come out of the blue were in fact wholly predictable because someone tried to cut a corner or save money in the face of a known danger. Such may have been the case in a construction accident when a crane collapsed last May [...
Tragic Pedestrian Accident: Mechanical Difficulty or Drunk, Leering Driver?
Posted on March 29, 2009There are all too many news stories of motor vehicles mounting curbs and striking pedestrians with tragic results. Two incidents like this occurred in Manhattan just this past Friday afternoon. But one of these incidents has an unusual element: according to witnesses, rather than an apparently random occurrence, the driver of the vehicle and his passenger [...
Unwanted Prolongation of Life Held Not Actionable Without Separate Injury
Posted on March 24, 2009The plaintiff alleged, in Cronin v. Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 711761 (March 17, 2009), that the defendant wrongfully prolonged the decedent’s life by resuscitating him on two occasions against the express instructions of the decedent and his family as contained in two Do-Not-Resuscitate orders issued by the hospital and executed [...
Tragic Day Care Toddler Death Highlights Children?s? Food-Related Choking Hazards
Posted on March 22, 2009In 2000, 160 children age 14 and younger died from obstruction - 41 percent caused by food items and 59 percent by nonfood items. In part due to concerns about children choking, New York State regulation (18 NYCRR 418-1.5) requires handbags, backpacks or briefcases belonging to adults; plastic bags; and toys and objects small [...
Fallout from Salmonella in Tainted Peanuts Continues Unabated as President Obama Announces Creation of Food Safety Working Group
Posted on March 18, 2009Recall after recall has resulted from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (?FDA?) expansion of the Peanut Corporation of America’s (PCA) Salmonella related recall to include all peanut ingredient products produced in PCA’s Plainview, Texas facility since January 1, 2007...
FDA Launches SAFEKIDS Initiative to Assess Safety of Anesthetics And Sedatives In Young Children
Posted on March 15, 2009The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on March 13, 2009, agreements with five partners to study the effects of anesthetics and sedatives on the neurocognitive development of infants and young children. Exposure to some anesthetics and sedatives is associated with memory and learning deficits and other neurodegenerative changes in the central nervous system, [...
Don?t Be So Sure That Dietary Supplements Are Safe, The F.D.A. Isn?t
Posted on March 10, 2009In the first 10 months of 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) received 948 reports of health problems associated with dietary supplements, but not necessarily directly caused by them, according to a report from the federal Government Accountability Office (G...
Study Finds Cell Phones Distract Preadolescent Children While Crossing Streets
Posted on March 05, 2009Protect Your Children from Exposure to Lead Resulting From Home Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities
Posted on March 03, 2009Family Member a Victim of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse? Bush Administration Rule Makes It Harder to Get the Information
Posted on February 28, 2009Fatal Fire Brings to Light Deficiencies in Fire Hydrant Inspection Requirements
Posted on February 26, 20091789 Law and Nuremburg Code Intersect to Permit Claims To Proceed Against Pfizer For Conducting Medical Experimentation Without Consent
Posted on February 23, 2009The Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. §1350, a 1789 law, gives foreigners the right to raise tort claims in federal court to vindicate violations of ‘the laws of nations.’ The 10-principle Nuremberg Code was formulated as part of a war crimes trial conducted after World War II in which 15 doctors were convicted of crimes [...
Greener Traffic Management (In Theory)
Posted on February 20, 2009Congress’ boosting in 2007 of fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 should not be the only way the government can improve fuel economy, cut greenhouse gases and boost safety. So contends Joseph D. Younger in an article “5 Ways to Turn Traffic Greener” published in AAA’s Car & Travel magazine...
Using Hands-Free Cell Phone While Driving No Less a Danger Than Using Hand-Held Phone
Posted on February 17, 2009The congressionally chartered National Safety Council is advocating for the first time a total ban on cell phone use while driving, including hands-free use, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities. States should ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones, and businesses should prohibit employees from using cell phones while [...
Court Rebukes Attempt to Dilute New Childrens? Products Safety Law
Posted on February 13, 2009Last year was a record-setter when it came to recalls and warnings about dangerous children?s toys, especially lead paint laden toys imported from China. In response to the much-publicized controversy, Congress strengthened the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 (?CPSA?) to prohibit the sale and distribution of children?s toy or child care articles containing excessive [...
State Senate Responds Swiftly to the Striking Down of a Local Law Intended to Protect Children from Sex Offenders
Posted on February 10, 2009A Rockland County law barring where sex offenders can reside was struck down late last month by New York State Supreme Court Justice William A. Kelly because it conflicted with existing state regulations. In an immediate and strong response last week to eliminate the pre-emption, Senate majority leader Malcolm A...
“Key in the Ignition Statute” Will Hold Vehicle Owner Liable for Deaths of Pedestrians Struck by Drunk Driver Who Had Stolen the Vehicle
Posted on February 08, 2009When Joe Guerrero left his keys in the ignition of his car with the engine running while he went into a deli last weekend, a drunken man stole his vehicle and then ran down 2 pedestrians. Even though Mr. Guerrero was not driving or occupying the vehicle and had not given the drunk driver, a [...
Should Penalty Flag Be Thrown For Charging Football Coach With Reckless Homicide?
Posted on February 04, 2009Heat exposure deaths happen occasionally in all levels of football. The cases have led to numerous lawsuits, however, no evidence can be found that a coach has ever been charged in the deaths. Until now. A Kentucky high school football coach was indicted by a grand jury last month with reckless homicide in the death [...
Even With All the Attention on Bruce Springsteen?s Concert Later Today (A Football Game Is Sandwiched Around It), The NFL Still Can?t Avoid a Concussion Discussion
Posted on February 01, 2009Super Bowl hoopla did not prevent a meeting this week in Tampa with the attendees urging the NFL to join them in researching the connection between football and progressive brain damage and declaring that a concussion crisis exists in football. Among those at the hotel meeting were former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, eight-year NFL special [...
Allstate Runs Ad Touting a New Year?s Resolution That Can Keep You From Losing Your Teenager
Posted on January 29, 2009A print advertisement placed by Allstate in newspapers takes information from The Allstate Foundation Report on Teen Driving, 2005, and puts it in a form called “Parent-Teen Driving Contract”. The contract lists several topics with corresponding statistics from the Report...
Boxer Knocks Out State’s “Special Relationship” Defense In His Negligence Claim Against New York State Athletic Commission
Posted on January 27, 2009“In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade” - Paul Simon, 1968. In Gamache v. State Of New York, 106968, decided 11/26/08, Joey Gamache, a professional boxer, alleged that the State Athletic Commission (”Athletic Commission”) improperly conducted the weigh-in for a professional boxing match which permitted his opponent to be 19 pounds [...
Attorney Who Advises Client To Take An Action Believing It, In Good Faith, To Be Legal Does Not Lose First Amendment Protection If The Advice Is Later Determined To Be Incorrect
Posted on January 24, 2009It may be hard to find a more eloquent and impassioned defense of the rights of an attorney to give, and a client to receive, advice of counsel than in the decision in Vinluan v. Doyle, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 93065 (Appellate Division, 2nd Department, January 13, 2009)...
Recall of 31,392 Britax Frontier? Child Restraints Highlights Importance of Signing-up for Automatic Updates
Posted on January 20, 2009The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a recall involving 31,392 Britax Frontier? child restraints that could fail to properly secure young passengers in the event of a vehicle crash. Britax is recalling these child seats because the harness straps may detach from the metal yoke on the back of the [...
Combat Veterans Garner Special Efforts to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes
Posted on January 18, 2009Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of deaths among combat veterans during the first years after their return home. Several studies have reported an increase in post-deployment deaths among military personnel who served in a combat zone compared to their non-deployed counterparts, who are in the military but not deployed to a war, after [...
Court Finds Child Neglect Where Parents Refuse to Consent to Life-Saving Surgery “because it stops the heart.”
Posted on January 13, 2009Matter of Eli H. v. Barbara H., nn-01297-08, decided on November 28, 2008 by Judge Barbara R. Potter of St. Lawrence County Family Court, required the court to balance the religious beliefs of “loving, caring parents” of an infant born on April 1, 2007 with life-threatening congenital heart defects with the court’s duty as “parens [...
Indictments in Fatal New York City Crane Collapse and Deutsche Bank Fire
Posted on January 10, 2009On January 5, 2009, the master rigger involved in the 200-ft-high tower crane that collapsed at a Midtown high-rise site March 15, 2008, killing six workers and a civilian, was indicted on multiple charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and reckless endangerment...
Consumers Can Sign Up for Free Electronic Recall Alerts From NHTSA
Posted on January 09, 2009Vehicle owners across the nation can be instantly informed of a safety recall under a new automated alert system announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. The recall alerts can be received via e-mail or RSS-feeds on personal computers, cell phones or PDA devices-automatically and free-of-charge...
Concussions and the NFL: Legal Liability for Rushing a Player Back to Play Too Soon?
Posted on January 05, 2009It is indisputable that cerebral concussions are commonly sustained by football players, professional or amateur. As time has gone by, concussions have gone from being considered relatively minor injuries to becoming a cause of deep concern for long-term cognitive problems that often result therefrom...
Nassau County Police Release Recommendations to Avoid Repeating Wal-Mart Black Friday Stampede
Posted on January 02, 2009On the Friday following Thanksgiving last year a pre-dawn mob of approximately 2,000 shoppers broke down the doors to a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, and rushed past and trampled to death Jdimytai Damour, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound Wal-Mart worker who was stationed near the entrance to assist with crowd control...
New Federal Rule to Make School Buses Safer
Posted on December 29, 2008New federal rules will make the nation?s 474,000 school buses safer by requiring higher seat backs, mandating lap and shoulder belts on small school buses and setting safety standards for seat belts on large school buses, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E...
Injuries from Laser Hair Removal: There Ought to Be a Law
Posted on December 25, 2008Our office is currently representing a client who sustained what appears to be permanent scarring as a result of undergoing laser hair removal. However, the laser hair removal center involved has gone out of business to the chagrin of, as readily apparent from the internet, many former customers of the facility...
Death and Injuries Prompt Major League Baseball To Require That Each New Bat Be Examined and Certified For Safety
Posted on December 21, 2008A major issue of concern that arose during this past baseball season was the frequent incidence of shattering baseball bats, particularly maple bats. In fact, the issue was of such concern that baseball’s Safety and Health Advisory Committee was convened to study the problem and issue recommendations, including, if deemed appropriate, banning the use of [...
Older Pedestrians More at Risk to be Killed in an Accident, Especially In New York City and Nearby Counties
Posted on December 17, 2008Older pedestrians, those over 65 years of age, are far more likely to be killed in motor vehicle accidents while walking than younger ones, according to a new study by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The study analyzed accidents occurring between 2005 and 2007 in New York City and five nearby counties: Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and [...
One in Three Children’s Toys Tested Found to have Significant Levels of Toxic Chemicals Including Lead, Flame Retardants, and Arsenic
Posted on December 14, 2008The Ecology Center, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization, and partners across the country on December 3, 2008, released the 2nd annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in toys at www.HealthyToys.org. Researchers tested over 1,500 popular children’s toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals in time for this year’s holiday shopping season...
Doctor May be Liable to Infant Strangled by His Mother
Posted on December 11, 2008In Lizardi v. Westchester County Health Care Corp, 1990/03, a father is seeking to recover damages for the wrongful death of his 7-month infant son Marc Ryan Lizardi who was strangled by his mother, Susan Moody, on February 25th, 2001. The infant’s father is suing Dr...
New Data Show Drinking Age Laws, Motorcycle Helmets, Frontal Air Bags, Child Safety Seats and Seat Belts Saved 30,235 Lives Over 5 Years
Posted on December 07, 2008Minimum 21-year-old drinking age laws prevented an estimated 4,441 drunken driving deaths in the last five years alone, according to a new report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to estimating lives saved due to 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws, the new NHTSA study shows the number of lives saved [...
Slavery Lesson Goes Awry: Was It Educator Misconduct?
Posted on December 05, 2008A white seventh-grade social studies teacher teaching a lesson about slavery attempted to simulate the conditions by which African natives were transported in slave ships by binding the hands and feet of two black girls with tape and having them crawl under a desk...
How Will “Doorbuster Bill” Proposed In Wake of Trampling Death of Wal-Mart Worker Effect Stores’ Civil Liability in the Future?
Posted on December 04, 2008This past Black Friday bore witness to the inherent dangers in failing to properly control a crowd that could and did turn into a stampeding mob oblivious to the fact that a man was being asphyxiated beneath them. Two days after stampeding shoppers trampled a Wal-Mart worker to death at a Valley Stream, New York [...
FDA Approves Tapentadol Hydrochloride, The First New Drug In Its Class In More Than 25 Years for the Relief of Moderate to Severe Acute Pain
Posted on December 01, 2008According to the American Pain Foundation, more than 25 million Americans experience acute pain each year as a result of injuries or surgeries, and a recent study estimated that 42 percent of U.S. hospital emergency department visits were due to pain-related problems...
Woman Convicted of Computer Fraud After MySpace Taunts Leads to Young Girl’s Suicide
Posted on November 28, 2008The woman accused of using MySpace to bully a vulnerable teenage girl who subsequently killed herself has been found guilty of three misdemeanor charges. Lori Drew created a fake MySpace profile in the name of Josh Evans and used the persona to flirt with a thirteen year old girl named Megan Meier, who her daughter [...
3 LIRR Train Accidents So Far This Year ? Isolated Incidents or a Pattern to Beware?
Posted on November 26, 2008There have been three accidents thus far in 2008 at Jamaica Station, the Long Island Rail Road?s busiest station. Two of the train accidents have occurred within the last week, including one on November 23, 2008 that is being considered the worst accident in 15 years...
Metrocard To The Rescue
Posted on November 22, 2008We have written about how the New York City Transit Authority has taken to request claimants in personal injury suits produce the Metrocard that they used to board a bus or enter the subway system at the time that their accident occurred. It just happened in one of our cases yesterday morning...
CPSC Releases Its Toy Safety Tips For Holiday Shopping
Posted on November 17, 2008The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has its list for the holidays, that is its annual holiday safety messages. Parents and gift buyers are encouraged to check it twice. Released on November 12, 2008, CPSC, joined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Safe Kids Worldwide, reminded parents to be diligent when making [...
Recalls of Children’s Toys for Lead Paint Issues Fly Under the Radar In This Last Holiday Shopping Season Before Tough New Safety Standards for Toys Take Effect
Posted on November 15, 2008Although the publicity was much greater last year, 45 children’s toys have been recalled due to lead paint issues so far this year. The toys include Casper the Friendly Ghost Halloween Figurines, xylophones, jewelry and classroom reading and math aids...
Falls: A Common Occurrence with Wildly Different Outcomes
Posted on November 12, 2008Common falls can have an unpredictable impact on the bodies of older people. Falls are now recognized as complex, often preventable events with multiple causes and consequences, calling for a wide range of interventions, both psychological and physiological, that many patients never receive...
Proof of Dangers of Plastic Chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) Gets Stronger
Posted on November 07, 2008In an earlier blog, we wrote about conflicting conclusions being drawn concerning the safety of bisphenol A, or BPA. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that BPA is of “some concern” - the midpoint of a five-level scale - for effects on development of the [...
Death of New York Rangers Star Prospect Sparks Attention to Adequacy of Emergency Medical Presence at Sporting Events
Posted on November 03, 2008When New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov suddenly collapsed on the bench during a Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) hockey game at a Moscow region arena on October 13, 2008, the lack of preparedness for such an occurrence was startling. The player was carried from the bench area without a stretcher, and no ambulance or working [...
The Tri-State Region’s Most Dangerous Roads for Pedestrians
Posted on October 31, 2008The tri-state region?s most dangerous road for pedestrians is Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County, according to a new analysis by Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a policy watchdog organization. Between 2005 and 2007, 15 pedestrians were killed along the 15-mile stretch of roadway, with most of those fatalities occurring as the road passes through Elmont, Franklin Square [...
Court Rejects Medical Malpractice Defendants’ Attempt to Allow Jury to Find Plaintiff’s Father and Cousin, Both Physicians, Liable for Plaintiff’s Injuries
Posted on October 29, 2008The plaintiff in Antaki v. Lerman sued North Shore University Hospital Plainview and Craig C. Lerman, MD alleging that he was the victim of medical malpractice in the hospital’s emergency room for failure to diagnose the presence of the bacteria C-difficile in his colon, which failure ultimately led to undergo surgery including a subtotal colonoscopy [...
Relatively Simple and Quick Exercise Program Found to Help Prevent Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Female Collegiate Soccer Players
Posted on October 24, 2008Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) often require surgery and months of rehabilitation. Such injuries have been a particular concern for female soccer players. Strengthening and flexibility programs that have been found to reduce injuries to the ligament often require special equipment...
OSHA Random Inspections Reveal That Fall Hazards Are The Biggest Safety Problem at New York City Construction Sites
Posted on October 21, 2008The federal government says that the hazards of falling are the biggest safety problem at New York City construction sites after random inspections during a two-week enhanced enforcement effort this past summer. As part of its New York City construction safety task force, OSHA detailed 12 inspectors to conduct 96 safety inspections at 46 construction [...
New Medicare/Medicaid Guidelines for Nursing Home Nutrition and Sanitary Conditions
Posted on October 19, 2008The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released new Interpretive Guidelines for nutrition and sanitary conditions in nursing homes effective September1, 2008. The changes clarify areas such as assessment, care planning, and interventions for LTC residents...
Indictments and Repercussions Flowing From the Two Fatal Crane Collapses In New York City Earlier This Year
Posted on October 13, 2008The safety of New Yorkers working at or living near construction sites has remained paramount following the crane collapses this past March and May that killed a total of 9 people. Stemming partly from corruption allegations that were first disclosed in the summer when the city?s acting chief crane inspector was arrested on charges of [...
Ovarian Cancer Test OvaSure Being Marketed Without Necessary FDA Approval
Posted on October 10, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned clinical test giant Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings that it was marketing OvaSure, an ovarian cancer test, in violation of the law in that it did not have marketing clearance or approval from the FDA. OvaSure measures six proteins in blood samples and calculates the chances that the [...
Danger: Unapproved Ophthalmic Balanced Salt Solution Drug Products and Topical Drug Products Containing Papain
Posted on October 06, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that companies marketing unapproved ophthalmic balanced salt solutions (BSS) and unapproved topical drug products containing papain must stop manufacturing these products on or before November 24, 2008, and must stop shipping such unapproved products on or before January 21, 2009, or risk enforcement action...
Texting While Driving Is More Dangerous Than Drunk-Driving; Is Jail-Time Warranted?
Posted on October 02, 2008A study by the Transport Research Laboratory, a British center for transport research, has suggested that texting while driving is riskier than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Texting adversely effects drivers’ reaction times, steering control (ie...
New Law Makes It Harder to Introduce Evidence of Prior Incarceration or Conviction in Negligent Hiring Claims
Posted on September 29, 2008Under a negligent hiring theory, an employer’s liability arises from its failure to take reasonable care in making hiring decisions, thereby placing the newly hired employee in a position to cause foreseeable harm to others. The negligent hiring theory creates an incentive for employers to avoid hiring previously incarcerated individuals...
Sixteen Athletes, Including Six Former NFL Players, Agree To Donate Their Brains To a Study of the Long-Term Effects of Concussions
Posted on September 27, 2008Sixteen athletes, including six former NFL players, have agreed to donate their brains to a program that will study the long-term effects of concussions. Of particular interest is a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), which has been likened to pugilistica dementia seen in boxers...
“Google Transit” To Help Customers Navigate New York City Transit System, But At What Cost to the Privacy of Its Customers?
Posted on September 24, 2008This is cool! Google Transit, a feature of the Google Maps online mapping service, provides point-to-point public transit trip planning. Google Transit will now allow travelers to access streamlined, regional trip-planning based on up-to-date schedule data across the subway, bus and rail systems, including walking directions for the beginning or end of the trip...
Yo-Yo Waterball, Bearing Risk Of Strangulation, Target of Legislation in New York; Children?s Product Safety and Recall Effectiveness Act of 2008 Also Signed Into Law
Posted on September 21, 2008New York Governor David A. Patterson signed into law a bill prohibiting the importation, manufacturing, distribution, or sale of dangerous yo-yo waterball toys, and providing for enforcement by the attorney general. The New York State Consumer Protection Board has issued two warnings calling yo-yo waterballs a serious hazard to children...
New Suffolk County Law Sets $150 Fine for Texting While Driving
Posted on September 19, 2008Starting September 21, 2008, Suffolk County drivers caught driving while text messenging will face a $150.00 fine under a new county law that is the first of its kind in New York State. Westchester and Nassau recently approved similar laws, but those measures have not taken effect...
Talcum Powder: Not as Fresh and Innocent as You Might Think (Asbestos, Ovarian Cancer)
Posted on September 16, 2008For many years, doctors have been discouraging the use of baby powder for infants. Though it works well as a drying agent and fights against rashes, ointments are now the preferred remedy for diaper-related rashes. Have you wondered why? Talcum powder, which contains the mineral talc, is potentially harmful to infants, and it should never [...
Increasing the Driving Age Requirement = Increased Safety
Posted on September 12, 2008The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit, scientific and educational organization aimed at reducing loss on the nation’s highways, including deaths, personal injuries and property damage. Its research has divulged that in the year 2006 alone, 42,642 people died in motor vehicle crashes...
Are Those Plastic Baby Bottles Safe? Some Findings and Advice
Posted on September 09, 2008What parent could not be concerned upon hearing worrisome reports that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in many polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins such as plastic baby bottles, is dangerous to their newborns. The federal government and others are now studying this issue, but are not reaching the same conclusions as each other...
Enjoy A Relaxing Lunch as Traffic Whiz’s By Just Inches Away
Posted on September 05, 2008Recently, on August 27, 2008, two cabs collided sending one of them onto a Times Square sidewalk. Shortly before that accident, on August 15, 2008, New York City carved a new public esplanade on the roadway of Broadway from 42nd to 35th Streets for people to sit, eat lunch, and to just enjoy being outdoors...
Few Doctors Report Abuse of Elderly Patients
Posted on September 02, 2008A recent article in The Providence Journal notes that although doctors in almost every state are required by law to report suspected elder abuse of their patients, hardly any of them do, even if they fear that their silence may subject an elderly person to continued abuse at the hands of a caregiver or in [...
An Analysis of Crane-Related Deaths at Construction Sites and Recommendations for Their Prevention
Posted on August 30, 2008The New York City crane collapses of March 15, 2008, and May 30, 2008, and the collapse of a 20-foot crane section in Miami that fell 30 stories, killing two construction workers and injuring five, set off an alarm within the construction community and city dwellers...
They’re Marketing Prescription Medications to Our Children in Our Schools
Posted on August 27, 2008Advocates for children are upset that Alloy Media and Marketing has run ads for prescription drugs from its Channel One website. Channel One provides free news and original programming to about 10,000 middle and high schools. Channel One is, in the opinion of many, a controversial in-school news program that makes viewing ads a compulsory [...
Fire Department Report of Fatal Deutsche Bank Fire Blames NYC Fire and Buildings Departments and the Building?s Contractor
Posted on August 25, 2008Two firefighters, Robert Beddia, 53, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, died in the fire that broke out from a discarded cigarette butt in the former Deutsche Bank building fire of August 18th, 2007 during the demolition of the building. After the death of a firefighter, the Fire Department always empanels a team to study any problems [...
MTA’s Own Study Confirms Decrepit Conditions of NYC’s Subway Stations
Posted on August 21, 2008A study conducted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority?s own advocacy organization for transit riders, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, found that nearly half of the subway stations examined (23 out of 50) need more attention, and that the worst stations had decrepit conditions, including water damage, exposed wires, rodents, foul odors, clogged track drains and [...
Injury Estimates for the Top 25 Product Groupings in 2007 from the Consumer Product Safety Commission
Posted on August 17, 2008The Consumer Product Safety Commission?s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) provides the agency and other federal agencies with critically important incident and injury information. More than 34 million consumer product-related injuries were medically treated annually from 2004 through 2006...
Dog Owner Can Be Liable for Injuries Caused by Violation of “Leash Law”
Posted on August 14, 2008In last month’s decision by the in Petrone v. Fernandez, 2008 WL 2669298, a Queens mail carrier injured her finger while jumping feet-first into her vehicle to avoid a rampaging Rottweiler. Plaintiff Melanie Petrone was making her rounds on the morning of May 9, 2005, when she observed an unleashed dog on the defendants’ lawn [...
Do You Think The Food and Beverage Industry Can Self-Regulate Its $1.6 Billion Marketing Towards Children and Adolescents?
Posted on August 11, 2008A report of the Federal Trade Commission, Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation, finds that 44 major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion to promote their products to children under 12 and adolescents ages 12 to 17 in the United States in 2006...
Add Laser Beams to List of Potential Injury Hazards at Concerts
Posted on August 08, 2008People go to hear live music for a good time, but it’s not unheard of for disaster in the form of personal injury or death to strike. For example, on February 20. 2003, fire erupted at a Great White concert fire killing 100 and injuring 180. The fire started when a spark from the band’s [...
What to Do About Suffolk County’s New York Route 347
Posted on August 06, 2008The tortuous history of New York Route 347 in Suffolk County and its troubles with the traffic impacts of low?density strip mall development has again come to the public fore due to some recent accidents. On July 30, 2008, a Lake Grove woman, Effatolsadat Ghozati, 66, was struck by car and killed while crossing westbound [...
?Safer Subways? Report Finds Severe Maintenance Flaws In NYC?s Subway System
Posted on August 03, 2008A 14-year-old fell off the platform after the rotted wooden rubbing board at the edge of the platform gave way beneath him, launching him into the path of an incoming train. Fortunately, he pulled himself to safety just in time. A senior citizen was sitting in her vehicle when a piece of the rail from [...
Rise In Construction Fatalities In New York City Prompts Aggressive Action by OSHA
Posted on July 31, 2008Beginning June 23, 2008, OSHA brought a dozen additional inspectors into New York City to conduct proactive inspections of high-rise construction sites, cranes, and other places, where fatalities and serious accidents have been occurring. In January through June of this year, 20 employees died in construction-related accidents...
Trends in Pedestrian Fatalities
Posted on July 27, 2008After hearing about Robert Novak’s accident this past week when his Corvette (with the top down) struck a pedestrian, we thought that it would be interesting to note some of the statistics contained in last month’s National Pedestrian Crash Report released by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...
Robert Novak’s Corvette - More Proof of The Importance of Having a Witness When You?re Injured in an Accident
Posted on July 24, 2008Syndicated columnist Robert Novak was involved in a motor vehicle accident yesterday when his black Chevrolet Corvette struck a pedestrian who was crossing a street while crossing with a ?Walk? signal within a crosswalk. Novak did not stop at the scene of accident but continued driving...
Do You You Know What “Hash Value” Is? New York State Uses It to Combat Child Pornography on the Internet
Posted on July 21, 2008Every online picture has a unique “Hash Value” that, once identified and collected, can be used to digitally match the same image anywhere else it is distributed. It is analagous to a fingerprint. As part of an undercover investigation, the New York State Attorney General’s office built a library of the Hash Values for images [...
New Federal and State Laws Attempt to Reduce Swimming Pool Drownings
Posted on July 17, 2008Summer always seems to fill newspapers and news reports with heart wrenching stories of young children drowning in their family?s or a neighbor?s swimming pool. On Long Island through July 14 of this year there have been six residential swimming pool drownings, including three children younger than 4...
NHTSA Special Crash Investigations: Protecting Children In and Around Cars; Backover and Non-Crash Events
Posted on July 14, 2008The Special Crash Investigations unit of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has, since October 2006, been collecting detailed data on backover and non-crash events to support the agency’s efforts to mitigate these kinds of incidents...
Deaths on Dangerous Jericho Turnpike in Suffolk County Prompt Changes in Road Configuration and Speed Limit
Posted on July 09, 2008The state Department of Transportation yesterday unveiled changes to a stretch of Jericho Turnpike, from Old Willets Path to Meadow Road, in Smithtown where three teenagers were killed last year in a car accident on their lunch break from school. A primary purpose of the changes is to slow drivers down by reconfiguring the roadway [...
Think Hospital Records Don?t Lie? Let?s Go to the Videotape
Posted on July 06, 2008According to the medical records of the psychiatric emergency room at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York, a patient named Esmin Elizabeth Green, who had been brought to the hospital almost 24 hours earlier but had not yet been seen by a doctor, was sitting quietly in a chair...
Gentlemen Start Your Engines: Faster Golf Carts = More Injuries
Posted on July 03, 2008Golf carts have become much faster and more powerful - some can reach 25 mph and travel over 40 miles on a single battery charge. Golf carts are now routinely used for transportation purposes at sporting events, hospitals, airports, national parks, college campuses, businesses and military bases...
2008 City Analysis of Child Deaths in Motor Vehicle Accidents and in Fires
Posted on July 01, 2008The 2008 report of the New York City Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT) looks retrospectively at injury deaths for the years 2001 through 2006 for New York City children aged 1 to 12 years. The single largest contributor to child injury deaths overall and to unintentional deaths are motor vehicle accidents, especially those involving child [...
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Tests Vehicle Passenger Safety in Rollover and Rear-End Accidents
Posted on June 29, 2008Rollover crashes constitute 3 percent of passenger vehicle crashes, but about one third of the fatalities. Injuries can occur even if there is minimal roof deformation after a crash. At other times vehicle occupants are unharmed even if there is significant roof deformation...
A New Fire Code and an Improved Building Code For New York City Effective July 1, 2008
Posted on June 27, 2008Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has signed legislation establishing a new Fire Code for the City of New York, effective July 1, 2008. It is the first comprehensive revision since the City’s Fire Code was adopted in 1913. The Fire Code, enforced by the Fire Department, governs emergency preparedness and planning and more specifically the permit [...
Major League Baseball?s Liability for Injuries Resulting from Shattering Maple Bats
Posted on June 25, 2008When players or spectators are injured at sporting events, a common and often successful defense alleged by the team or stadium owner is that the person injured assumed the risk of injury; in other words that the injury is considered to be an acceptable risk understood and known to the injured person...
Protest and Crane Dismantling Latest Developments Highlight Critical Importance of NYC’s Proposed Legislation To Increase Construction Site Safety
Posted on June 22, 2008Families of the firefighters who died in last summer’s fire at the former Deutsche Bank building held a demonstration at the Manhattan site yesterday morning to call for construction site safety and reform throughout New York City. Meanwhile, a Kodiak crane owned by New York Crane at a Washington Street construction site is being dismantled [...
New York State Bar Association Creates Task Force To Study Proliferation Of Wrongful Convictions
Posted on June 19, 2008The new President of the New York State Bar Association Bernice Leber, noting that the number of criminal convictions overturned in New York State is undermining public confidence in the justice system, recently announced the creation of a Task Force on Wrongful Convictions...
June Through August is the Deadliest Time of Year for 15-Passenger Van Occupants
Posted on June 17, 2008New research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found June through August to be the deadliest time of year for 15-passenger van occupants, due to rollover crashes. Statistics show that 31 percent of fatal rollovers involving 15-passenger vans occur during the busy summer travel months...
From Cranes to Window Washers to Trenches, Construction Accidents Roil New York City
Posted on June 15, 2008It seems that troubling news regarding the construction industry and construction accidents in New York City are heard on a daily basis. 15 people in construction-related accidents have been killed in the city so far this year, compared with 12 in all of 2007...
Medtronic Recalls Selected Heparin-Coated Products
Posted on June 12, 2008Medtronic, Inc., in what is termed a precautionary measure, has voluntary recalled selected products featuring its Carmeda BioActive surface, a coating applied to some devices used in heart bypass surgery and dialysis, because the coating includes contaminated heparin, a blood thinner that has been linked to 81 deaths...
Court Victories Last Week for Fantasy Baseball and Mayor Bloomberg
Posted on June 09, 2008Last week, the United States Supreme Court declined to accept an appeal of an 8th Circuit decision that upheld a fantasy baseball company?s right to use, without license, the names of, statistics and information about major league baseball players in connection with its fantasy baseball products...
Litigation Again Reveals What Big Pharma Wants Kept Secret
Posted on June 05, 2008Recent federal court filings in the Ortho Evra products liability litigation disclosed that Johnson & Johnson hid data from the FDA about their birth control patch?s side effects and failed to address flaws in the manufacturing process which could increase the risk of serious and potentially fatal problems...
Toughen the Federal Worker-Safety Law: Make It a Crime
Posted on June 02, 2008Although it is certainly too early to cast blame, if any, for this past Friday’s fatal crane collapse on the East Side, with the Manhattan district attorney?s office having opened a criminal investigation into the collapse, the death and injuries sustained in the accident is perhaps just the lastest example of why the Occupational Safety [...
The Crane Brethren
Posted on May 31, 2008Yesterday our office received a call from a client involved in the March 15, 2008, collapse of a crane at a construction project on East 51st Street in Manhattan. The news that another crane had collapsed when the top of the crane on an East 91st Street construction site had snapped off, crashed into a [...
Direct to Consumer Advertising of Cypher Stent Draws Heavy Criticism and Points to Need for Legislation
Posted on May 28, 2008For several years the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been reviewing a set of guidelines proposed in 2004 for advertising medical devices. Now, a television advertisement for a heart stent, metal mesh devices that are used to prop open arteries after they have been cleared of blockages, has been scrutinized and attacked in an [...
The Dangers of ACL Tears to Female Athletes and to Children
Posted on May 26, 2008There are an increasing number of girls playing sports, such as soccer and basketball, but with this growing statistic comes an increase in the number of girls and young women sustaining sports related injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee tears...
Governor Paterson Busy Protecting Citizens from Harmful Doctors, Drugs, Toys and Sexual Predators - Part 2
Posted on May 22, 2008Part 2 of this topic discusses new legislation regarding dangerous drugs, defective toys and sexual predators using the internet to prowl and prey. The information herein is set forth in press releases issued by the governor’s office. Proposed legislation designed to protect patients from medical malpractice was discussed in Part 1 of this blog.
Governor Paterson Busy Protecting Citizens from Harmful Doctors, Drugs, Toys and Sexual Predators - Part 1
Posted on May 20, 2008Last week was a busy week for New York’s Governor David A. Paterson on issues often written about in this blog - medical malpractice, dangerous drugs, defective toys and sexual predators using the internet. Some bills were signed, others introduced...
Encouraging News? Congress Prepares to Undo Anticipated Supreme Court Decision Precluding Lawsuits Over Dangerous Drugs
Posted on May 16, 2008In the event that the Supreme Court applies the federal doctrine of preemption to permit the pharmaceutical industry to avoid accountability for the harm dangerous drugs cause, the only remedy would be for Congress to pass a law expressly stating that preemption does not preclude state court lawsuits for compensation...
Seemingly Never-Ending String of High School Lunch-Time Car Accidents Fuels Debate Over Open Campuses
Posted on May 14, 2008A fatal car accident involving students driving off of school grounds during lunch period has again focused attention on whether ?open campuses? are a concept that should be ended. Following a crash on April 10, 2008 in which two West Hempstead High School students were killed and another seriously injured, New York State Assemblyman Michael [...
Toy Industry Announces ?Safety Coordination Initiative? in Response to Unprecedented Recalls of Dangerous Products
Posted on May 11, 2008In response to toy safety concerns raised during the summer of 2007 and the record number of unsafe toys recalled last year (and doubtlessly a number of product liability lawsuits), the U.S. Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have formed the Toy Safety Coordination Initiative, a developing program that is [...
Propaganda in ?Health News?: An Epidemic of Fake Health Stories
Posted on May 08, 2008A feature article in the March/April 2007 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review discusses and labels as an ?epidemic? the pervasive role hospitals play in producing and feeding stories that are essentially advertisements for themselves to television stations that run the stories as purported ?health news? on their local TV news programs...
New York City Holds 4th Annual Construction Safety Week
Posted on May 05, 2008Last week, April 28 - May 2, 2008, was New York City?s 4th annual Construction Safety Week, the purpose of which is to “advance safe construction practices?. Seminars were offered in topics such as ?Scaffold Safety: Keeping Workers Safe on the Job?, (held by the NYC Department of Buildings in conjunction with the Latin American [...
Possible Medical Malpractice LASIK Cases? FDA Advisers Recommend Clearer Warnings of Risks and Contraindications For Would-Be Patients
Posted on May 01, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Ophthalmic Devices Panel convened last Friday to discuss post-LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) quality-of-life issues. Of the 7.6 million people who have undergone the procedure in the United States since the mid-1990s, 140 have written letters of complaint to the FDA...
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Seeks to Increase Dealer Compliance with Required Tire Registration
Posted on April 28, 2008It has been the law for years that when a purchaser/lessor of a vehicle with new tires takes possession of the vehicle that the dealer must provide a tire registration card to the purchaser/lessor and instruct the purchaser/lessor to mail the registration card to the tire manufacturer...
Now You Can Receive Alerts of Recalls of Tires and Child Car Seats By E-mail or On Your Personalized Homepage
Posted on April 24, 2008Consumers can now sign up with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to receive automatic e-mail alerts when there is a government recall of defective tires or child restraint safety seats. Before this alert system, consumers had to rely on press reports or, if they filled in and then mailed the registration card when [...
Exposure of Vioxx “Ghostwriting” Another Example of How Litigation Can Benefit Society (and Why Big Business/Pharma Fears It)
Posted on April 21, 2008Product liability litigation involving rofecoxib (Vioxx) has led to the disclosure of materials that has provided direct evidence of something that has long been suspected but well-hidden by industry; the manipulation by for-profit manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices of study results, using authors, editors, and reviewers to misrepresent research data and manipulate clinical research [...
Medicare Proposes Adding to Its List of Hospital-Acquired Conditions For Which It Will Not Pay the Extra Costs
Posted on April 17, 2008The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to add an additional nine categories to its initial list of 8 ?conditions that could reasonably have been prevented.? that Medicare will no longer pay the extra costs of treating when acquired in the hospital ...
Construction Accidents: What’s Up With the Cranes?
Posted on April 14, 2008Apparently it’s not sufficient that an inspector makes a phantom inspection of a Manhattan construction site crane that subsequently collapses, killing 7 people, injuring another 24 people, destroying a building, and causing untold other horrors...
First Nationwide Hospital-By-Hospital Survey Of Patient Satisfaction Released: Results Not Flattering for Long Island Hospitals
Posted on April 13, 2008For the first time, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted consumer survey information on its Hospital Compare Web site (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) that attempts to capture the experiences of a patients in a hospital. It is a unique attempt by the government to evaluate hospital care from the perspective of the patient...
FDA Triples The Number Of Deaths It Attributes To Side Effects Of Heparin
Posted on April 09, 2008The Food and Drug Administration yesterday raised from 19 to 62 its estimate of the number of people who may have died after suffering allergic reactions or hypotension to contaminated Chinese-produced batches of the blood thinner heparin. Last month the FDA determined that Baxter Healthcare Corporation’s drug was contaminated with an unnatural chemical during production [...
Taking Mirapex or Requip for Restless Leg Syndrome? Beware of “Disease Mongering”
Posted on April 07, 2008“Disease mongering” is a term coined by some drug-marketing critics to describe what they view as an effort by pharmaceutical companies to enlarge the market for a drug by convincing people that they are suffering from something that can be medically treated and encouraging them to ask their doctor to prescribe the drug in order [...
NYC Construction Site Crane Accident Puts Increased Attention on the City’s Buiding Department Inspection System
Posted on April 04, 2008In developments related to the March 16, 2008, crane collapse in New York City, a city inspector has been charged with lying that he had checked on the construction crane when in fact he had not. The inspection was purportedly made in response to a complaint made by a retired contractor on March 4 because [...
Concerns Over Danger to Children and Others From Synthetic Turf Fields Escalate
Posted on April 01, 2008This year’s LandTek FieldTurf convention, held last month at a hotel in Huntington, Long Island, New York, was dedicated to addressing recent worries that the filling material, composed of ground up tires, could eventually expose athletes to life-threatening illness...
New York “Passenger Bill of Rights” Struck Down by Federal Appeals Court
Posted on March 29, 2008A federal appeals court this past Tuesday struck down New York’s so-called ?Passenger Bill of Rights,? which requires airlines to provide food, water, working toilet facilities and fresh air to passengers stuck on the ground for more than three hours...
Jane Jarvis, Former Mets Organist, Displaced by NYC Crane Accident; She Had Seen Crane Swaying in the Wind (and other Mets nostalgia)
Posted on March 27, 2008The 146-ton crane that collapsed in New York City this past March 15, forced 300 apartments to be evacuated. One of the people displaced by the collapse is Jane Jarvis, who played the organ for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium from 1964 through 1979...
Doctors Successfully Repel Aetna?s Unwarranted Intrusion Into How They Perform Colonoscopies
Posted on March 24, 2008After coming under attack from doctors, Aetna has withdrawn its intention, announced late last year, that in New Jersey, effective April 1, 2008, it would drop its coverage of propofol, the anesthesia typically used during colonoscopies, calling the same ?medically unnecessary...
Ensuring Every American Access to Broadband Is Essential For the Nation’s Health Care, Says Congress
Posted on March 21, 2008Ensuring that every American has access to broadband throughout the country has been declared to be an essential health care imperative by the Joint Advisory Committee on Communications Capabilities of Emergency Medical and Public Health Care Facilities in a recently released report...
Will Congress Pass First Major Consumer Product Legislation in 18 Years?
Posted on March 19, 2008Recent U.S. Senate approval, by a vote of 79 to 13, of a measure to overhaul the country?s consumer product laws and strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission that oversees the marketplace, moved Congress closer to passing the first major legislation in 18 years regulating dangerous products...
More Details Emerge About Crane Accident at Construction Site
Posted on March 17, 2008With the recovery of three more bodies, seven people - six construction workers and a woman visiting for St. Patrick’s Day - were killed in Saturday’s crane collapse on East 51st Street in Manhattan. A preliminary city investigation found that the crane toppled after a steel collar used to tie it to the side of [...
Construction Safety at Issue: Crane Accident Yesterday Kills 4 and Injures over 12; Deutsche Bank Tower Contractors Fined $464K and Issued 44 Citations for Fatal Fire
Posted on March 16, 2008Just weeks after federal safety regulators proposed fining two contractors hired to demolish the condemned ground zero skyscraper Deutsche Bank tower $464,500 and accused them of a total of 44 safety hazards at the building in connection with a fire at the building on August 18, 2007, in which two firefighters died , yesterday at [...
Import Surveillance Division Established to Inspect Toys and Other Products for Potential Safety Hazards and Liabilities
Posted on March 12, 200829 million toys were recalled in 2007. This unfortunate and scary trend has continued in 2008. Since the beginning of this year, at least 19 products manufactured overseas have been voluntarily recalled by manufacturers in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) due to high lead levels, choking and aspiration problems in infants and [...
Bill Introduced in Senate Requires Nursing Homes to Provide Clearer Information About Their Ownership and Accountability
Posted on March 10, 2008Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl have introduced the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008 which seeks to force nursing homes to provide clearer information about ownership and accountability. Confusion regarding ownership has made it difficult for regulators to identify parties responsible for poor care and shields owners from potential [...
Amid Privacy Concerns, Google Announces “Google Health”, an On-Line Health-Records Management System
Posted on March 06, 2008Google has announced a pilot project called Google Health in which it will begin storing the medical records of 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who agreed to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google’s service, which will not be open to the general public...
NYC Expands Pilot Pedestrian “Countdown Signals” Program to Try to Reduce Auto Accidents
Posted on March 03, 2008The New York City Department of Transportation has announced an expansion of the pilot program which analyzes the impacts on motorist and pedestrian behavior of “countdown signals,” which display the number of seconds pedestrians have to cross the street before the opposing vehicle traffic is given the right of way...
17 More Deaths and More Recalls Associated with Heparin
Posted on February 29, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the number of deaths possibly associated with the drug heparin, made from pig intestines, had risen to 21 from 4. The reported number of those suffering adverse reactions increased from approximately 350 to 455...
Study of Artificial Spinal Disk “Prodisc” - Guided by Physicians’ Finances or Concern for Patients?
Posted on February 28, 2008When patients are considering treatment options, there is often”blind faith” in the doctor’s recommendations, as he is viewed as a concerned, educated and neutral provider. Perhaps, this view is naïve. In reality, doctors are often financially motivated in the varying courses of treatment offered...
Report Reveals Dramatic Increase in Medication Errors Involving Drugs with Names that Look or Sound Alike
Posted on February 25, 2008The 8th annual national MEDMARX(R) Data Report released last month by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) revealed that more than 1,400 commonly used drugs are involved in errors linked to drug names that look alike or sound alike. USP’s review revealed a near doubling since 2004 of the pairs of drug names that look or sound [...
Victim of Predatory Mortgage Company Fights Back and Wins; Recoverable Damages Includes Attorney’s Fees
Posted on February 23, 2008In what appears to be the first reported New York decision enforcing anti-predatory lending provisions of section 6-L of the New York Banking Law, a Supreme Court Justice in Staten Island has ordered a hearing to assess damages against a bank following a series of violations of the law...
Urgent Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Icy Hot® Heat Therapy? Products For Causing First, Second and Third Degree Burns
Posted on February 20, 2008Chattem, Inc. announced February 8, 2008, that it is initiating a voluntary nationwide recall of its Icy Hot Heat Therapy products, including consumer “samples” that were included on a limited promotional basis in cartons of its 3 oz. Aspercreme® product...
Suspension of Heparin Sales More than a Matter of Products Liability; Described as “a National Security Issue.”
Posted on February 17, 2008Since Baxter International announced recently that it was suspending sales of its multidose vials of heparin after four patients died and 350 suffered complications including allergic reactions, many of them serious and potentially life-threatening, significant concerns have arisen as to the effectiveness of the U...
FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Chantix, Which May Become the Subject of Product Liability Suits
Posted on February 14, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 1, 2008, issued a Public Health Advisory to alert health care providers, patients, and caregivers to new safety warnings concerning Chantix (varenicline), a prescription medication used to help patients stop smoking...
Fatalities From Car/Auto Accidents In New York City Dropped To Lowest Level Since Records Started Being Kept In 1910
Posted on February 12, 2008New York City?s final 2007 traffic fatality data, released on January 28, 2008, shows that fatalities from motor vehicle accidents in New York City dropped to the lowest level since records started being kept in 1910: 271 traffic fatalities citywide, down more than 30% since 2001...
Bill Introduced To Protect New Yorkers, Especially Children, From Sex Predators On The Internet
Posted on February 09, 2008New York’s legislative leaders, at the request of Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, have introduced a new and comprehensive bill known as the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) that establishes vital protections against sexual predators so that users of the Internet can more safely surf the Web...
Subpoenas Issued in MySpace Fake Identity Case Linked to Suicide of 13-Year Old Missouri Girl
Posted on February 07, 2008Subpoenas were issued to Myspace by a federal grand jury last month. The subpoenas issued are connected to the suicide of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl from Missouri. Megan?s suicide is linked to Lori Drew, Drew?s teenage daughter and Ashley Grills, Drew?s former employee who set up a fake online account under the social networking [...
Jury Duty Scam
Posted on February 04, 2008We have learned that the Nassau County, New York jury clerk is warning citizens reporting for jury duty of a scam being perpetrated to improperly learn personal information, including dates of birth and social security numbers, for apparent use in identity theft...
FDA Warns Public of Contaminated Syringes Manufactured by AM2 PAT, Inc. Containing Heparin and Saline Pre-filled Flush Syringes
Posted on February 02, 2008The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on January 25, 2008, a nationwide recall of all lots of heparin and saline pre-filled flush syringes manufactured by AM2 PAT, Inc., of Angier, N.C. Two lots have been found to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, a bacterium that can cause serious injury or death, and have [...
National Transportation Safety Board Finds that Faulty Design Led to Minnesota Bridge Collapse; Dozens of Claims Filed
Posted on January 30, 2008The National Transportation Safety Board said earlier this month that undersized gusset plates in the Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis were “the critical factor” in the bridge collapse of August 1, 2007, that killed 13 people and injured 100...
Study Finds that Waiting Time in the ER More than Doubled; Possible Violations of Federal Law (EMTALA)
Posted on January 27, 2008An analysis by researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School found that the median waiting time to see a physician in hospital emergency departments jumped from 22 minutes in 1997 to 30 minutes in 2004, a 36% increase. Ominously, according to results published in the journal Health Affairs, wait times more than [...
Medical Device Manufacturer’s Settlement of Kickback Charges Shows That Even Criminal Fines Can Be “Privatized”
Posted on January 25, 2008The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey directed that a no-bid 18-month contract worth $28 million to $52 million contract be awarded to The Ashcroft Group, the consulting firm of former Attorney General John Ashcroft, to monitor a large settlement of criminal accusations against medical device manufacturer Zimmer Holdings and four smaller companies accused of paying [...
MySpace Agrees to Take New Steps to Protect Children from Sexual Predators and Bullies
Posted on January 23, 2008MySpace, the country’s largest social-networking Web site, has agreed with attorneys general of 49 states to take new steps to protect children from sexual predators and bullies on its site. MySpace also agreed to lead a nationwide effort to develop technology to verify the ages and identities of Internet users.
Drug Makers Release Test Results That Shows That Their Cholesterol Drug Zetia Has No Benefits
Posted on January 21, 2008Merck and Schering- Plough, the makers of the popular cholesterol drug, Zetia, announced that Zetia and Vytorin, a pill containing Zetia and Zocor, had failed to benefit patients of a two-year trial which was completed in April of 2006. Merck and Schering-Plough?s press release stated that Zetia not only failed to slow down the accumulation [...
New NY Public Health Law Tightens Oversight Over Office-Based Surgeries
Posted on January 19, 2008A new public health law that took effect on January 14, 2008, is tightening oversight over outpatient medical facilities that provide office-based surgeries. Office-based surgery refers to any invasive process outside of a hospital where moderate or severe sedation or general anesthesia is used...
Construction Worker?s Fatal 42 Story Fall Latest Problem for Bovis Lend Lease
Posted on January 16, 2008A construction worker who was pouring concrete at Trump SoHo, a condominium hotel in SoHo, fell 42 floors to his death on the afternoon of January 14, 2008, when a wooden mold used to set the concrete collapsed. Another worker was thrown from the 42nd floor, but was caught in a safety net that extends [...
Report on Medicare/Medicaid Overbilling and Fraud in 2007 Focuses on Nursing Homes/Rehab Centers, Pharmaceuticals and Boutique Hospitals
Posted on January 15, 2008Americas Watchdog and its Corporate Whistleblower Center have just released the results of its third annual study focused on Medicare & Medicaid fraud. The report continues to show widespread Medicare/Medicaid billing abuse and fraud involving all aspects of health care...
Technology Being Introduced to Cut Risk of Surgical Sponges Being Left in Patients
Posted on January 13, 2008Last month’s $10 million settlement of a suit brought by a woman who underwent surgery for diverticulitis of the colon wherin a surgical sponge was left behind is a reminder of how frequent this complication occurs and of how potentially dangerous it can be...
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Motions Challenging Vioxx Settlement Cloud Issues as January 15, 2008 Deadline to Register Approaches
Posted on January 11, 2008Pursuant to the terms of the $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement, January 15, 2008 is the deadline for all plaintiffs with a Vioxx-related case to register — whether or not their injuries would necessarily qualify for the settlement payout. This preliminary step will establish how many cases Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, faces...
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Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
How to evict a roommate?
First, in most jurisdictions "self-help" is not a remedy available to any party ...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
How do you recover money from a stop payment placed on a personal check given to you?
you can always take them to small claims court and sure them for 3 times the amo...
The company I worked for forced me to quit instead of dealing with someone harassing me, what can I do?
Look up CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE...................this looks like what happened t...
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