Personal Injury Law

Texas Tort Reform: A Good National Model?

Posted on November 16, 2009
In 2003, the Texas Legislature passed medical liability reforms that capped non-economic damages for injured patients at $250,000, and brought the number of malpractice lawsuits down dramatically. The conservative position on health care reform is that medical malpractice claims drive up health care costs and require doctors to practice 'defensive medicine' which is costly and wasteful...

Power Windows: Risk for Children?

Posted on November 09, 2009
Since the introduction of power windows in the late 1950's and early 1960's, injuries and deaths have occurred due to safety hazards related to strangulation. The consumer group KidsandCars.org in Leawood, Kansas said in a press conference on November 2, 2009, that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is greatly underestimating the number of people injured or killed by power windows...

Hospital Fined for Wrong-Site Surgery

Posted on November 06, 2009
The Health Department has fined Rhode Island Hospital for $150,000, after a surgical team violated safety policies when it operated on the wrong finger of a patient. This October incident was the fifth-wrong site surgery at this hospital since January 2007...

Death at Calaveras Lake

Posted on November 02, 2009
For the second time this year, someone working on the new CPS Energy coal plant on Calaveras Lake fell to their death. In January, a scaffolding builder with Calaveras Power Partners, died in an accident while working at the construction site. He was working early in the morning so his fall wasn't seen or heard by other employees...

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Medical Malpractice Insurers? Profits Higher than 99% of All Fortune 500 Companies

Posted on October 31, 2009
The American Association for Justice (AAJ) recently released a statistic claiming that medical malpractice insurance companies' average profits are higher than 99 percent of all Fortune 500 companies. AAJ points out that medical malpractice lawsuits only account for a small percentage of unnecessary costs...

Feds to Conduct an Intensive Study on Motorcycle Deaths

Posted on October 15, 2009
The Federal Highway Administration and Oklahoma State University will conduct an intensive study into the cause of the growing number of motorcycle crashes and deaths on America's roads. The study will be the first of its kind in nearly 30 years, and was required by a 2005 federal law, the 'Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act...

Meeting Tonight in San Antonio for Cyclists to Voice Their Concerns

Posted on October 14, 2009
After three people were struck and killed within a week of each other while cycling legally, cyclists and pedestrians are asking what can be done to improve safety. Tonight, a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) meeting will be held so people can come and voice their concerns...

Elderly women choked at San Antonio Nursing Home

Posted on October 13, 2009
Janice Maier, 77, was a sleep in her bed at a senior care facility when she was awaken early Saturday morning when a man entered her room, climbed into her bed and began to choke her and repeatedly hit her in the face. The attack occurred at Clare Bridge Specialized Memory Care, a Brookdale Senior Living facility on the Northeast side...

Honda Expands Driver?s Air Bag Recall

Posted on October 12, 2009
The safety recall of the driver's air bag in certain Honda vehicles is being expanded to include certain 2001-2002 Honda Accords, 2001 Civics, and 2002-2003 Acura TL's. The recall is due to a potential deficiency in the airbag's inflation system. According to the American Honda Motor Co...

Texas Helmet Laws

Posted on October 08, 2009
I recently blogged on motorcycle accidents and helmet laws and I wanted to go a little more in detail about how the laws apply in Texas. Research has shown that states that either reinstate or enact universal motorcycle helmet laws showed an increase in helmet use and a decrease in motorcyclist deaths and injuries...

Motorcycle Accidents and Helmet Laws

Posted on September 29, 2009
Just this morning while looking through the news, I found three articles relating to motorcycle accident deaths in central Texas. The first was a U.S. Army soldier, Luke D. Yustin, 25, from Killeen, Texas who died on Friday in a motorcycle crash in Gillespie County...

Student killed while jogging

Posted on September 28, 2009
A University of the Incarnate Word student was killed while jogging in San Antonio. The student was training for the Rock ‘n' Roll San Antonio Marathon, when he was accidentally struck from behind by an SUV. He later died at Brooke Army Medical Center...

Your negligence in a car accident may affect the jury award

Posted on September 24, 2009
One of the biggest issues arising after a car accident is determining who is to blame. Sometimes it is obvious who was at fault, i.e. another driver runs a red-light and hits your car. While in other cases it can be hard to determine who is to blame...

$12 Million Verdict in Raymondville Tire Maker Court Case

Posted on September 15, 2009
A Willacy County jury returned an $11.96 million judgment against Michelin North America on Thursday, after finding defective tires caused a wreck that killed six people and left a 12-year-old boy paralyzed. A manufacturing flaw in a Goodrich tire, made by Michelin North America, substantially contributed to a New Year's Eve 2006 crash just outside of Matamoros...

Geriatric Specialists

Posted on August 27, 2009
Geriatric specialist plays important role in aiding the aging population who need specialized medical care. America needs to work to expand people coming into this field especially with our growing elderly population. According to the New York Times, a new program is allowing medical students to experience life as a nursing home patient by living in a nursing home for two weeks...

Older drivers unaware of risks from drug side effects

Posted on August 19, 2009
According to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in USA Today, many older drivers who take prescribed medication are unaware of the side effects that can affect their performance behind the wheel. The study conducted detailed interviews of 630 people between the ages of 59 and 63 and found: People with one or more medical conditions – 95% People using one or more potentially driver-impairing prescription medications – 69% People who have received warnings about such medications from health care professional – 18% People using five or more prescriptions that are potentially driver-impairing – 10% What is most unsettling about this study is that researchers found that the drivers' awareness of potential side effects decreased with age just as the number of prescription medications people take increased...

Medical Errors

Posted on August 12, 2009
Ten years ago, "To Err is Human" the highly publicized federal report called for a mandatory nationwide reporting system for medical errors, which the AMA and the American Hospital Association strongly opposed. The groups believe that mandatory reporting would only drive medical errors underground...

Leading Cause of Accidental Death in America is Mistakes in Medical Care

Posted on August 10, 2009
There was an excellent article about medical mistakes on the front page of the San Antonio Express News this Sunday. The article states that the leading cause of accidental death in America is mistakes made in medical care. According to the Hearst report, 'The Texas discharge records showed there were at least 29 deaths at 15 San Antonio hospitals in 2007 resulting from low-risk procedures...

Update on La Salle County Nursing Home Sex Abuse Investigation

Posted on August 07, 2009
Recently I blogged about a La Salle County Nursing Home under investigation due to a male resident molesting 10 female residents. The nursing home now faces monetary damages from federal and possibly state health authorities. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has since sent a recommendation to U...

Charging Texas Nurses Sends a Bad Signal to All Whistleblowers

Posted on July 27, 2009
The indictment of two registered nurses in West Texas that I recently blogged about, has set a bad precedent and could have a negative effect on all whistleblowers in the medical profession. The two registered nurses were charged with misuse of official information for including patient's medical record numbers in their anonymous complaint to the Texas Medical Board...

Texas nurses facing third-degree felony charges after filing complaint

Posted on July 24, 2009
Two West Texas nurses, 53-year-old- Vickie Galle and 51-year-old Anne Mitchell, have been indicted after filing an anonymous complaint about a local doctor's practices with the Texas Medical Board. The nurses have been fired and charged with misuse of official information, a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years behind bars, and a $10,000 fine...

Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to All-time Low

Posted on July 23, 2009
The watchdog group Public Citizen has reported that medical malpractice payments continued to fall across the country last year and only account for a minuscule portion of health-care costs. According to data from the federal government's national Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), the number of payouts declined for the third straight year...

MRI Dye Linked to Disease

Posted on July 14, 2009
Another person has joined the 516 other plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies that make certain dyes used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The dye is used during an MRI to help technicians examine the tissue. Patients with healthy kidneys can simply flush the gadolinium out of their system, but people with renal impairment can be diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) after being injected with the contrast agent...

Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes

Posted on July 11, 2009
A male resident at La Salle County Nursing Home who molested 10 female residents earlier this year has been moved from the nursing home to an unidentified psychiatric facility. Incidents, such as this one, have led to the questions: Can sex offenders live in county homes? What has the county done to protect women at nursing homes? The La Salle County Nursing Home has taken more than a dozen steps after the Illinois Department of Public Health said that administrators failed to protect female residents from the molestations of a male resident...

Swimming Pools Still Non Compliant with Pool Drains

Posted on July 10, 2009
Back in January I blogged on this very subject wherein 80% of public swimming pools were in violation of a federal safety rule preventing people becoming trapped in pool drains. It is now July, the middle of the summer and swimming is in full force exposing adults and children to this deadly hazard of unsafe pool drains...

Jury Awards 10 million in Heparin Case

Posted on July 04, 2009
In Houston, Texas, a jury recently awarded 10 million in a medical malpractice case against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated John German. He sustained an amputation of his left leg above the knee, all the toes on his right foot and all of his fingers following heart surgery...

DUI or Texting while driving which is worse?

Posted on July 02, 2009
Though most people have accepted that texting while driving is dangerous, a quick trip around your local city will provide you with more than enough evidence that it is still rampant. If you're still a skeptic, take a look first-hand look at the possibilities of texting while driving...

Pharmaceutical company claims controversial laxatives are safe

Posted on July 01, 2009
Six months ago, the pharmaceutical company C.B. Fleet pulled two laxative drugs from store shelves. Now, according to the Lynchburg (VA) News and Advance, the company is seeking to reintroduce thousands of cases of the recalled drugs onto the market...

Nestle Withholds Information from FDA

Posted on June 30, 2009
Recently released inspection reports from a Nestle USA cookie dough factory show that the company repeatedly withheld information from Food and Drug Administration inspectors USAToday.com. The inspection records were made public after Nestle's Toll House refrigerated, prepackaged cookie dough was pinpointed as the likely source of an E...

Bill to make road safer for Cyclist is vetoed

Posted on June 24, 2009
Four million bicyclists in Texas have to be a bit more careful after a bill ensuring safe passing was vetoed by Governor Rick Perry. Texas, a state with a reputation as one of the most unfriendly places to ride a bike, was set to gain a little breathing room on their roads, creating safer streets for not only bicycles, but also pedestrians, highway construction and maintenance workers, people on horseback, motorcyclists, and moped riders, to name a few...

Boaters Beware!

Posted on June 12, 2009
With Memorial Day behind us and the Texas heat in full force, more and more people will be found out on the lake. Once summer hits, I personally hit the lake almost every weekend and I am aware of the boating laws and responsibilities but was totally naive to something called 'boaters hypnosis...

O'Connor Senior Killed in Rollover Accident

Posted on June 03, 2009
James Peterson, an 18 year old senior at O'Connor High School, was killed after losing control of his truck on Loop 1604, flipping his truck several times, and hitting a guardrail near Hausman Road. Petersen was partly ejected and crushed in the accident that killed him instantly...

Wrong-way Drivers

Posted on June 02, 2009
Around 3:15 a.m. on the morning of May 28th, a man driving the wrong way on Interstate 10 at Boerne Stage Road collided with a tractor-trailer. The impact caused the vehicles to burst into flames. Fortunately both drivers got out of their vehicles in time to escape the flames...

Nursing Home in Oklahoma Lost its Certification Due to Violations

Posted on May 28, 2009
Care Living Center in Edmond, Oklahoma is having its certification pulled because of deficiencies found by state health inspectors, resulting in more than two dozen Medicare and Medicaid residents being forced to move. Officials said that the deficiencies centered on medical and nursing neglect...

FDA Only Conducted Half of Food Safety Audits

Posted on May 27, 2009
According to new documents sent to Congress, the Food and Drug Administration only conducted about half of the state food safety audits it promised to do in the two years before the recent peanut salmonella outbreak. The documents show that the agency did not do any of the required audits of the state-run food inspections in five states during 2007-2008...

Small Gifts Found to Influence Doctors

Posted on May 26, 2009
According to a study in The Archives of Internal Medicine, little promotional gifts such as pens or coffee mugs inscribed with a drug's name can really make a difference in the doctor's prescription patterns. The study reports that students from a medical school which allowed gifts had a more favorable attitude toward a certain drug than did students from a school that bans promotional gifts...

Stabilizing the CNA Workforce

Posted on May 25, 2009
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) handle the direct care of 1.5 million nursing home residents in the United States, providing about 8 out of every 10 hours of resident care. According to the study 'The National Nursing Assistant Survey: Improving the Evidence Base for Policy Initiatives to Strengthen the Certified Nursing Assistant Workforce' current demographic, economic, and policy trends suggest that the supply of CNAs could significantly worsen in the coming decades...

Bill Would Allow Military Personnel to Sue for Medical Malpractice

Posted on May 20, 2009
Legislation that would enable military service members to sue the government for medical malpractice is moving closer to becoming law. The House Judiciary Subcommittee approved Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act. The legal precedence barring negligence lawsuits for military service members goes back to a 1950 Supreme Court ruling known as the Feres Doctrine...

The Safe Passing Bill: An Update

Posted on May 18, 2009
I recently wrote Motorists: Share the Road and Give Clearance to Cyclists about The Safe Passing Bill, which as a cyclist I personally believe is of great importance. I thought I would give an update on the bill and present some of the regulations associated with the bill...

Two Die at Delaware Hospital After Taking Heparin

Posted on May 15, 2009
Medical care providers at a Delaware Hospital and U.S. health officials are investigating the deaths of two patients that may have been related to a brand of heparin blood thinner Baxter Internal Inc. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that the situation 'appears to be an isolated incident...

Motorists: Share the Road and Give Clearance to Cyclists

Posted on May 11, 2009
An article in the San Antonio Express News caught my eye this weekend regarding Senate Bill 488 – the Safe Passing Bill. As a cyclist and runner, I am a proponent of the bill which heads to the House after a recent Senate victory. The bill requires commercial vehicles and large trucks at least six feet clearance to groups including bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, motorcyclists and construction workers...

Hydroxycut Recall

Posted on May 07, 2009
One death has been linked to Hydroxycut and other cases have involved serious liver injuries, including jaundice and liver failure. Body builders and/or dieters have been warned – the FDA has issued a recall and have urged Americans to stop taking the dietary supplement...

Ambulance Chasers

Posted on May 06, 2009
In the San Antonio Express News, John MacCormack wrote about barratry by trial lawyers. Barratry is the unlawful solicitation of clients by lawyers. Lawyers are not allowed to contact a potential client and seek to represent them in a case. There are several bills before the Texas Legislature which support further penalty and restrictions to prevent trial lawyers from soliciting cases...

VIA Bus Drivers Texting While Driving?

Posted on April 29, 2009
Everyone's done it, but it doesn't make it right. Especially for VIA bus driver's on our city streets endangering our safety. About a year ago, VIA put surveillance cameras on every bus. VIA has a strict policy of no cell phones while operating your VIA bus...

41 Cases of Surgeons Operating on the Wrong Body Part

Posted on April 28, 2009
A consumer and patient advocacy group, OKWatchdog said Friday that is has found at least 41 instances between 1988 and 2003 in which Oklahoma physicians operated on the wrong body part. These cases were found by analyzing a federal database of medical malpractice insurance payments...

Funeral Home Company Accused of Abusing Corpses

Posted on April 27, 2009
A Virginia funeral home is being sued by the family of a deceased Army veteran for mishandling the man's body. The family claims that the body was left in an unrefrigerated garage for over two months while awaiting burial at Arlington National Cemetery...

Food Safety

Posted on April 18, 2009
As President, Barack Obama has a lot of challenging issues to deal with – I am sure he never thought peanut butter would be one of the issues. "When I heard peanut products were being contaminated earlier this year, I immediately thought of my seven-year-old daughter Sasha, who has peanut butter sandwiches for lunch probably three times a week," he told the nation in one of his weekly addresses from the White House...

25,000 Travel Tender Playpens Recalled

Posted on April 09, 2009
About 25,000 Travel Tender playpens made in China and imported by Simplicity Inc. and SFCA Inc. have been recalled because one or mare rails can unexpectedly collapse posing a possible hazard to children. At least five cases of the rails collapsing have been reported by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)...

Defibrillator Blamed in Deaths

Posted on April 08, 2009
Zoll Medical Corp. said recently that some of its defibrillators have defective batteries and software. The AED Plus external defibrillator, which is used in public settings such as airports, schools, and health clubs, failed to deliver a shock to two patients, leading to their deaths...

Kraft Sparks Pistachio Recall

Posted on April 07, 2009
Kraft Foods Inc. received notice that its trail mix products were tainted with salmonella in 2007. Recently, Kraft has been able to trace the source of that salmonella to Setton Pistachios of Terra Bella, Inc, a California company, leading to a nationwide recall of pistachios...

Solutions to Preventable Medical Errors

Posted on April 05, 2009
The real problem, says Tom Baker, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is "not too much litigation, but too much malpractice...

$11 Million Verdict in Assisted Living Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
An Arizona jury awarded $11 million, the largest verdict ever awarded against an assisted living facility in the United States, to the widow of a 36-year-old man with a traumatic brain injury who died after ingesting foreign objects while in the care of Liberty Manor Residency...

Proposed Ban on Drop-Side Cribs

Posted on March 20, 2009
Over the past two years there have been several infant deaths and injuries linked to drop-side cribs, which has lead a group of crib makers to propose an effective ban. Cribs with drop sides can derail from their tracks due to faulty hardware, poor design or improper assembly...

Car Crashes are Not "Accidents"

Posted on March 19, 2009
I recently read an article in the San Antonio Express News by Robert Ferrer M.D., M.P.H. The article was a commentary on the word 'accidents.' He stated that the word 'accident' is very misleading, and is a half-truth that gets in the way of making our roads safer...

Life Care Center Faces Manslaughter Charges

Posted on March 18, 2009
On the morning of Aug. 17, 2004, Julia McCauley, 74, rolled her wheelchair out the front doors of the Life Care Center of Acton, and tumbled down a flight of stairs. She died a short time later. McCauley was not wearing a doctor-prescribed WanderGuard bracelet designed to set off an alarm and lock the doors if she got too close to the exit...

Massachusetts Bans Drug Firm Gifts to Doctors

Posted on March 17, 2009
In the past I have blogged about the potential banning of pharmaceutical and medical device companies from providing gifts to physicians, and yesterday Massachusetts state officials gave the final approval to begin regulating this common trend. The regulations include banning gifts to physicians, limiting when companies can pay for doctors' meals, and requiring companies to publicly disclose payments to doctors over $50 for certain types of consulting and speaking engagements...

3 Jailed, 3 More Wanted in "Fight Club" Case

Posted on March 16, 2009
There have been some new developments in the 'fight club' case in the Corpus Christi State School. As of Friday, Corpus Christi Police have arrested three of the six state workers accused of forcing mentally disabled residents into 'fight-club' style brawls...

"Fight club" Investigated at Home For the Disabled

Posted on March 12, 2009
Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled in Corpus Christi have been suspended for staging a "fight club" where disabled residents were forced to shove, punch, and strike each other. Corpus Christi Police Captain Tim Wilson said that the fight club was uncovered when someone gave a cell phone containing videos of the fights to an off-duty police officer...

89 Year Old Alzheimer's Patient Freezes to Death

Posted on March 05, 2009

Drug Maker Illegally Markets Antidepressant to Kids

Posted on March 04, 2009

Cell Phones Targeted by Legislators

Posted on February 28, 2009

Alzheimer's-Ridden Pro-wrestling Legend Kills Fellow Nursing Home Resident

Posted on February 27, 2009

San Antonio Has A Busy Day with Car Accidents

Posted on February 18, 2009
San Antonio had a little rain yesterday and a whole lot a car wrecks. Police recorded 433 minor accidents and 73 major wrecks. This is a major increase from the week before when it recorded 282 minor accidents and 45 major wrecks. “For a half-day, we had almost double the accidents than we see on a full day,” said Officer Joe Rios, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman...

Snakebite at Wal-Mart

Posted on February 17, 2009
In Florida, a lawsuit was recently filed regarding a snakebite a man received while shopping at Wal-Mart. The attorney for the man said that they should have taken steps to prevent these attacks since there were two previous snake attacks at another store...

Texas Peanut Plant Update

Posted on February 14, 2009
I posted a blog, Peanut Plant in Texas Closes, about the ongoing investigation at the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) processing plant in Plainview, Texas. I have since learned new information, and wanted to post an update on new reports. On Thursday Texas health officials ordered the mandatory recall of all products ever shipped from its plant in Plainview after the Texas Department of State Health Services found dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in a crawl space above a production area...

Peanut Plant in Texas Closes

Posted on February 13, 2009
The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) closed its processing plant in Plainview, TX., after laboratory tests indicated a possible salmonella contamination. Fortunately, potentially tainted products were not believed to be sent to consumers. It is not yet known if the salmonella possibly found in the product is the same strain of the bacterium in the 43-state recall...

Peanut Recall Triggers Criminal Investigation and Civil Lawsuits

Posted on February 09, 2009
On January 30, 2009 the FDA confirmed that the government has opened a criminal investigation into Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) in Blakely, Georgia, the processing plant that has been linked to the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella Typhimurium...

Recall of Peanut Containing Products

Posted on February 07, 2009
The FDA has confirmed that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella Typhimurium are peanut butter and peanut butter paste produced by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant. During the course of the investigation, the FDA determined the PCA distributed potentially contaminated product to more than 100 consignee firms...

Controversy Surrounds Inspection of Peanut Plants

Posted on February 06, 2009
Peanut Corporation of America, the company at the center of the recent salmonella outbreak, claimed on Wednesday that its plant in Blakely, GA had been regularly inspected in 2008. The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that the Georgia plant is the source of the tainted peanut butter which has caused the multi-state spread of salmonella...

Auto Fraud Database Online

Posted on February 05, 2009
The US Department of Justice has made available on the Internet a database which will help consumers check to see if the vehicle they are considering purchasing is safe. The database includes information regarding whether the vehicle had previously been determined to be “salvage”...

Topical Anesthetic Kills Two Women

Posted on February 02, 2009
Two young women were killed after using topical anesthetic to prepare for laser hair removal. The two women applied the topical anesthetic then wrapped their legs in plastic wrap to increase the cream’s numbing effect. Both women had seizures, fell into comas, and died from toxic effects of the anesthetic drugs...

A Louisiana Crane Company Fined Over Safety Violations After Four Employee Deaths

Posted on January 28, 2009
The U.S. government wants to fine Deep South Crane and Rigging due to a crane accident that killed four employees in Houston, Texas. After an investigation that began July 18, OSHA announced that it has issued citations alleging eight violations, six of which are considered serious...

Eighty Percent of Pools Not in Compliance with New Safety Law

Posted on January 27, 2009
The majority of all public swimming pools are in violation of a new federal safety rule aimed at preventing people from becoming trapped in underwater drains. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act set new standards for drain covers for public pools, spas, and hot tubs...

FDA Warns About Diet Pills

Posted on January 23, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded its nationwide alert to consumers about tainted weight loss pills that contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients. On December 22, 2008, the FDA warned consumers not to purchase 28 different products marketed for weight loss...

Lillian's Law on Dog Attacks

Posted on January 22, 2009
After blogging on dog attacks, I realized the extent of this controversial topic. I found another sad article on Tanner Monk, a 7-year old mauled to death last May near his home in Breckenridge by four pit bulls owned by Crystal Watson and Jack Smith...

Rottweiler Kills Three Year Old

Posted on January 19, 2009
I was deeply saddened when I read this weekend of a three year old that was killed by a Rottweiler in Fort Worth. I have handled cases in the past when people have been bitten by a Rottweiller, on the other hand I have friends who have Rottweiler’s as pets and are quick to defend any accusations that their pet would harm a sole...

Top Ten Driving Distractions

Posted on January 17, 2009
I have been blogging lately on the correlation between car wrecks and cell phone use. Undeniably cell phones are the most common distraction for drivers. In a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the top ten distractions while driving are: 1...

Tragic Accident Kills San Antonio Doctor - Is Cell Phone At Fault?

Posted on January 16, 2009
Tragedy is common in the emergency room of the University Hospital. On Sunday, a different type of tragedy struck the ER of the University Hospital. Dr. Michael Sanchez, a doctor who transformed the ER at the University Hospital, died while jogging on Bandera Rd...

Texas Rates 4 in Overall Staffing in Nursing Homes

Posted on January 16, 2009
As the population ages the quality of care in nursing homes has become a mounting concern at the state and national level. The Federal Government has recently changed its approach of evaluating nursing homes. Much like the system used for rating Medicare health and drug plans, the Nursing Home Compare Site rates nursing homes on a five-star quality rating...

Jury Awards $1.25 Million to Family of Nursing Home Resident Who Dies Due to Bedsores

Posted on January 13, 2009
Melvin Raybon died four years ago after suffering a great deal of pain. A DeKalb County jury determined that the suffering was caused by neglect at the Tucker nursing home where he lived for nine months. Raybon was admitted in 2002 at the age of 67...

FDA Adds Warning of Celgene's Risks for Elderly

Posted on January 12, 2009
Celgene Corp. added an additional warning to its blood-clot drug Innohep stating that it could increase the risk of death in elderly patients with kidney problems. Innohep (tinzaparin) is a low-molecular weight heparin used as a blood thinner or anti-coagulant approved in 2000 by the FDA to treat blood clots in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT)...

Pharmaceutical Industry Agrees to Voluntary Moratorium on Drug Company Giveaways

Posted on January 08, 2009
Starting January 1st, the pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium which restricts drug company giveaways- such as Viagra pens and Lipitor coffee mugs. These “branded goodies” were meant to foster good will, but some say they may “subliminally” encourage doctors to prescribe more of the drugs...

Lawsuits Consolidated against Manufacturer of Defective Urinary Device

Posted on January 07, 2009
I wrote a blog last month about the FDA’s quick review of certain medical devices and I referenced a “fast-track” approved device meant to help women with urinary issues but the device ended up being recalled. Similar urinary devices have made the news again due to recent lawsuits against a device manufacturer...

Rep. Barton Questions FDA Investigation of Heparin

Posted on January 06, 2009
The controversy surrounding the drug Heparin has been unfolding over the past year with reports of drug recalls and deaths and injuries as a result of contaminated Heparin. It appears, however, that some of the reports the public has been receiving contains conflicting information...

Defensive Medicine

Posted on December 31, 2008
An editorial by USA Today states that physicians practice “defensive medicine” in order to protect themselves from lawsuits rather than serve their patients best interests. The editorial claims that even with healthcare costs being out of control, physicians have began “shunning the sickest patients or ordering needless hospitalizations, drugs, tests, and invasive procedures” because of the threat of being sued...

Family Sues Insurance Company over Daughters Death

Posted on December 30, 2008
The family of 17-year-old leukemia patient, Nataline Sarkisyan has sued Cigna Insurance Company for her death in 2007. The company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant arguing that the procedure was experimental, regardless of the fact that four doctors from Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA Medical Center appealed to the insurer to reconsider and "said that patients in similar situations who undergo transplants have a six-month survival rate of about 65 percent...

Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints

Posted on December 30, 2008
There was a memorandum sent to the Acting Administrator for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from the Inspector General for the Department of Health & Human Services regarding “Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints...

Texas Nursing Homes Get Low Rankings from Federal Government

Posted on December 24, 2008
Making the decision to put a loved one in a nursing home can be extremely difficult and sometimes even more difficult is trying to choose the right nursing home. In a previous post about nursing home abuse, I talked about tools for researching nursing homes such as, looking up state-specific inspections, checking the sex offenders’ registry, and talking to current residents and their families...

Pedestrian Bridge Collapse in Atlanta

Posted on December 23, 2008
The Atlanta Botanical Garden was closed last Friday because of construction that was intended to improve the park for visitors. Unfortunately, the renovations went horribly wrong when an elevated pedestrian bridge collapsed killing one construction worker and injuring at least 18 others...

Toy Companies Settle Case with 38 States

Posted on December 18, 2008
pI a href="http://sanantonio.injuryboard.com/toxic-substances/made-in-the-usa.aspx?googleid=253000 "recently wrote/a about toxic levels of lead in childrenrsquo;s toys, and it is important to note that the potential dangers to children from too much lead exposure are hearing loss, headaches, delayed growth, and brain and nerve damage if the problem goes undetected and untreated...

Summertime Swimming

Posted on December 17, 2008
pIt is a classic pastime for much of the country but what most people don't realize is some of the inherent dangers built into the actual swimming pools./p pAlan Korn, public policy director of the Washington-based nonprofit group a href="http://www.safekids...

Lack of State Investigations into Nursing Homes

Posted on December 11, 2008
I am continually amazed when I read the TDADS investigations into nursing home complaints. TDADS is the regulatory agency that regulates nursing homes. I have been handling cases against nursing homes for many years and have been reviewing these investigations...

Made in the USA

Posted on December 10, 2008
The news may focus on toxic toys from China, but that does not mean they are the only country manufacturing toys containing dangerous chemicals and toxins. In fact one of the highest lead-containing items of children’s products tested was a Halloween pumpkin pin made right here in the United States...

New Sleep Recommendations for Doctors in Training

Posted on December 09, 2008
The Institute of Medicine released a report recommending doctors-in-training to work no more than 16-hours per shift without taking a sleep break for at least five hours. The institute found clear evidence tying doctor mistakes to the lack of sleep...

Toxic Toys Still on Shelves

Posted on December 05, 2008
In August a safety law was passed as part of the Consumer Protection Product Safety Improvement Act but does not take effect until February 10th, therefore, leaving the shelves with dangerous toys. Buyers beware and shop smart. The “Trouble in Toyland” reported in 2007, more than 80,000 children under the age of 5 ended up in the emergency room due to injuries from toys and 18 died...

Abuse at Nursing Home by Teens

Posted on December 05, 2008
In a horribly shocking story reported yesterday, two teen-age girls are accused of abusing nursing home residents, with four other girls accused of failure to report the abuse. The girls worked as nursing aids in the afternoons and were hired to perform tasks such as brushing the residents’ hair and teeth or helping the residents who suffer from Alzheimer and dementia with other daily tasks...

Cop Dies After Car Wreck

Posted on December 03, 2008
An unfortunate car wreck on Saturday night involving two police officers and another vehicle have prompted the department to investigate their “lights and siren policy”. Officer David Seaton was responding to a robbery call when he proceeded through the intersection of Potranco and Hunt crashing into another vehicle causing Seaton's patrol car to ricochet and hit Officer Robert Davis as he was investigating another accident...

Horrific Wreck Being Disputed - Texas Supreme Court to Decide

Posted on December 02, 2008
The Austin American Statesman reported that while Richard Gibbons was fleeing San Marcos police, he smashed into Greg and Maribel Tanner's car which left 7-year-old Roney Tanner comatose for a week, in the hospital for a month, and years of physical therapy...

Off-label Drugs Not Researched for Safety

Posted on November 27, 2008
There is a recent study which has identified 14 drugs which needed the most pressing research into off-label use. The study says that physicians and patients should be most concerned about the antidepressants and the antipsychotic drugs on the list. The FDA only requires that the drug companies test the drugs for the use that they are seeking approval...

Heart Pump Mortality Too High

Posted on November 26, 2008
The FDA describes a heart pump as: “A heart pump or ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical pump that helps a heart that is too weak to pump blood through the body. It is sometimes referred to as “a bridge to transplant” since it can help a patient survive until a heart transplant can be performed...

Texas Water Safety

Posted on November 21, 2008
In Marshall, Texas, residents recently received notices that there were high levels of organic compounds in the water supply. However, city officials insist the water is safe to drink. There have also been water safety issues in the Texas Panhandle area...

GE Recalls Ovens

Posted on November 21, 2008
General Electric Co. is recalling approximately 244,000 wall ovens because of a potential fire and burn hazard. The ovens affected were sold under then the GE, GE Profile, Monogram and Kenmore brands. So far no injuries have been reported, but there has been some property damage related to heat escaping from the oven door...

Mandatory Arbitration May Get Shelved

Posted on November 19, 2008
Mandatory Arbitration Clause’s in my opinion bars your right to justice. Binding Mandatory Arbitration (BMA) as defined by the Give Me Back My Rights Coalition is when a corporation includes a BMA requirement in its contracts; it means your dispute must be decided by a private legal system...

FDA's Quick Review of Medical Devices

Posted on November 17, 2008
The New York Times recently reported on a way medical device manufactures can get their products on the market quickly, even without proving the effectiveness of the product. When the FDA began regulating medical devices in 1976, they created a type of review process known as a 510(k) review...

Hospital Employee Settles Whistleblower Lawsuit

Posted on November 14, 2008
A couple of months ago I blogged about whistleblower claims, and how the law protects nurses and other employees if they report illegal behavior or turn in owners or upper management. Today, the Pittsburg Tribune-Review reported on a whistleblower lawsuit which settled before the terminated employee could tell the jury her side of the story...

Falls and the Elderly

Posted on November 10, 2008
The New York Times has an interesting article regarding falls and the elderly. The article discusses how devastating a fall can be for an elderly person but also how important it is for the medical providers to look at all the medical aspects when an elderly person falls...

Tainted Heparin Seized by Federal Marshals

Posted on November 07, 2008
I have blogged in the past on contaminated heparin and found this recent article very interesting as a follow up to the contaminated heparin issue. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent federal marshals into a Cincinnati based manufacturer, Celsus Laboratories, to seize 11 lots of heparin, a blood-thinning drug...

Avandia - Too Toxic to Be On The Market

Posted on November 06, 2008
Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) prescribed to diabetics helps improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes. On October 30th, Public Citizen petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately ban the drug. Avandia causes liver failure, including 12 deaths and has been linked to other serious problems including heart attacks, heart failure, bone fractures, anemia and macular (retinal) edema...

String of Accidents for Off Road Vehicles

Posted on November 04, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports that the federal safety regulators have started investigating the Yamaha Rhino following the report of some 30 deaths involving it. The Consumer Product Safety Commission began investing UTVs, or utility terrain vehicles...

Food and Drug Administration Preemption Rules Based on False Assumptions

Posted on October 31, 2008
On Monday the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case of a Vermont woman who sued Wyeth after she lost her right arm below the elbow following a high-volume injection of the drug Phenergan. The injection accidentally punctured an artery, prompting gangrene to set in...

Firestone Recalls Defective Tires

Posted on October 29, 2008
There has been another recall of the Bridgestone/Firestone tires similar to the recall of the Wilderness AT and ATX that killed so many people years ago. The Bridgestone/Firestone FR 380 Champion tires have been recalled due to a tread separation risk...

Crib Recall

Posted on October 23, 2008
After two infants died, Delta Enterprise Corp., a maker of children’s products, has voluntarily recalled 1.6 million baby-beds. Delta, working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, officially began the massive recall yesterday. As a part of the official announcement, Delta put up a website for parents and caregivers to get more information on the recall...

18-wheeler Accident in San Antonio Closes I-10

Posted on October 13, 2008
I blogged last week on Texas having the most 18-wheeler traffic fatalities and reading the local newspaper this weekend further confirms the subject. A tractor trailer carrying recyclable cardboard swerved across a median killing one person instantly and seriously injuring the occupants of two other vehicles...

Texas Has the Most 18-wheeler Traffic Fatalities

Posted on October 09, 2008
If you commute to work, especially on I-35 or I-10, you probably see many 18-wheeler trucks traveling in both directions. In traffic or out of traffic, fast or slow; big rigs can be intimidating, and if an accident does occur, most passenger cars are not equipped to take on one of these rigs...

Doctors Prescribing Medical Devices for Uanpproved Uses?

Posted on October 07, 2008
Pharmaceutical and medical device companies should develop high-quality, innovative products which assist Doctors in providing the best possible care for their patients. Instead it seems there are some companies using kickbacks such as money and trips to entice Doctors to prescribe their products—even if the product is not approved for a particular use...

A Follow Up On Nursing Homes Making Money While Providing Less Care

Posted on October 06, 2008
Last week I blogged on Nursing Homes Making Money While Providing Less Care. I am following up today with a Memorandum Report: 'Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints" which describes the nature and extent of the deficiencies and complaints in 2007 and identifies trends from 2005 to 2007...

Medicare Stops Paying for Medical Errors

Posted on October 02, 2008
In August our topic was on surgeries and I posted on Medical Errors that should not happen but unfortunately still do. Medicare has now implemented a list of “never events” they will no longer pay hospitals for when patients are injured in their care...

Nursing Homes Making Money while Providing Less Care

Posted on September 30, 2008
A recent New York Times article exposes some scary numbers regarding nursing home care. They report 94 percent of for-profit nursing homes were cited for deficiencies of care last year. This raises the question: how are these nursing homes making their profit? Are they charging more because they give better care or are they making a profit because they are skimping and cutting corners on the quality of care they provide? Daniel R...

Retaliation Claims or Whistleblower Claims for Nurses

Posted on September 26, 2008
In handling cases against nursing homes and hospitals, I have deposed some incompetent nurses but I have also deposed some very knowledgeable and skilled nurses. I have nurses in my family who I know care very much about their patients and are dedicated to an often physically and mentally challenging job...

Elder Abuse: "Everyone's Business"

Posted on September 23, 2008
Most people are aware of Child Protective Services and the duty of doctors, caregivers and others to report suspected child abuse and/or neglect. It is unlikely, however, that the same people know about Adult Protective Services or that the same duty exists to report suspected elder abuse and neglect...

First Federal Crane Regulations In Over 30 Years

Posted on September 19, 2008
A couple of weeks ago I discussed a few of the OSHA requirements for crane operations. Now it is being reported that the U.S. Department of Labor will release the first crane regulations since 1971. For example, these regulations will require certification tests for crane operators...

Texas Medical Board Disciplines Physicians

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Texas Medical Board has disciplined 48 physicians. This was a lot less then in 2006 when Texas reported the most in history which was 99 physicians was disciplined. With caps limiting lawsuits to correct the behavior of physicians, it becomes imperative for the Texas Medical Board to be active in its pursuit of disciplining physicians who have unsafe behavior...

Caps in Medical Malpractice

Posted on September 13, 2008
A recent article in Forbes magazine by David Hyman provides a good explanation as to what is wrong with having caps on noneconomic damages in Texas. He and three other law professors did a study on the effects of 2003 noneconomic caps in Texas. The study concluded: "overall payouts in tried cases will decline by 27% and payouts to employed living plaintiffs will decline by 15%...

State Regulatory Agencies Should Be Held Accountable

Posted on September 12, 2008
Two sisters suspected their aunt was being abused by staff at Emily P. Bissell Hospital, a state-run nursing home in Wilmington, DE, and installed a concealed camera, also know as a "Nanny Cam". What they learned confirmed their worst fears of physical and mental abuse...

Never Say Never: Medical Errors That Should Never Happen, But Still Do

Posted on September 05, 2008
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about a San Antonio woman whose doctors performed knee surgery on her good knee. Needless to say this unfortunate event is a very serious medical error, so much so it is a type of medical error also known as a "never event...

More On Cranes

Posted on September 04, 2008
Due to the exorbitant amount of crane accidents, with Texas leading the nation in crane fatalities, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation is stressing safety precautions to all employees and employers. They also recommend employers to be proactive regarding more frequent crane inspections...

MEDICATIONS YOUR OWN DOCTOR WON'T TAKE

Posted on August 26, 2008
I found an interesting article from MSN Health & Fitness regarding Eight Drugs Doctors Would Never Take. Most interesting to me was that two of the drugs listed were drugs I've taken in the past and never had any idea I shouldn't have taken them. More importantly -- they are still on the market and you may also be taking them...

Work Related Deaths Rise in Texas in 2007

Posted on August 22, 2008
In Texas for 2007 there were 527 work-related deaths, increasing from 489 deaths in 2006. Transportation incidents which involve cars, trucks, trains, boats and airplanes and other airborne vehicles are the majority of the work related deaths at 192...

Pilot Program to Ban Cell Phones in Certain School Zones

Posted on August 13, 2008
With back to school starting in less than two weeks, council members are trying to get a pilot program banning cell phone use in school zones passed. The pilot program has been scaled back from it's initial proposal. San Antonio Council Member, Justin Rodriguez, originally proposed a cell phone ban in all school zones in San Antonio...

Surgery Gone Wrong

Posted on August 13, 2008
In a blog last week, I discussed Medical Errors. I discussed operating on the wrong body part or the wrong side of the body. Below is a part of my blog: Organs can be punctured and surgeries can be performed on the wrong body part or wrong side of the body...

Understaffing in Nursing Homes

Posted on August 08, 2008
The Long Term Care Community has issued a very informative health care policy brief which is full of well reasoned arguments for passing legislation to require nursing homes to mandate minimum staffing levels. Texas does not have legislation which mandates the minimum staffing levels and legislation is needed to protect these vunerable people...

Medical Errors

Posted on August 07, 2008
Since Injury Board is dedicating the month of August to surgeries I thought medical errors would be a good topic. Medical errors should not happen but occasionally they do and the injured should be compensated. There are several reasons medical malpractice lawsuits are filed...

The Dirty Dozen Traps in Tort Law

Posted on August 06, 2008
As I was going through my mail today I came across our Subpoena Newsletter generated from the local San Antonio Bar Association. I found some interesting facts and reminders to share regarding "the dirty dozen traps in tort law": 1. Do not settle with a third party defendant without prior written consent from the UIM carrier: 2...

Text Messaging Concerns

Posted on August 01, 2008
Texting while driving - I'm guilty of it. Furthermore, I am more guilty of talking on my cell phone while driving. This morning on the way to work, talking on my cell phone, not paying attention, changing lanes on the highway and almost side swiping another vehicle...

Uninsured Motorists - Get Them Off The Road

Posted on July 31, 2008
This summer in Austin, Texas, one of four drivers stopped for traffic violations have been uninsured. I am an insured driver, so, of course, I find this amazing that individuals will travel on our busy highways uninsured. The minimum amount of insurance required for Texas drivers went up this spring for the first time in 22 years...

Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes

Posted on July 28, 2008
In USA Today, there is an article discussing the movement to require nursing homes to notify residents if there is a sex offender living in the nursing home. This is legislation that Texas needs to pass requiring notification of sex offenders that are living in nursing homes...

Digitek (Digoxin) -- Treatment for Congestive Heart Failure and Abnormal Heart Rhythms Voluntarily Recalled

Posted on July 24, 2008
Congestive heart failure (CHF), or heart failure, is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's other organs. Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are sequences of heartbeats that are irregular, too fast, too slow, or conducted via an abnormal electrical pathway through the heart...

DON'T BECOME A VICTIM OF A SURGICAL ERROR

Posted on July 21, 2008
You can have the best surgeon in the world and mistakes still happen. Check out these headlines: · Minnesota doctors remove the healthy kidney of a cancer patient while leaving the diseased one behind; · California doctors remove the appendix of the wrong patient; and · One of the most experienced surgeons in a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital operates on the wrong side of a patient...

Heparin Overdose

Posted on July 11, 2008
At least 17 babies were given an overdose of the pediatric version of Heparin in Corpus Christi . An autopsy is planned on a newborn to determine whether an overdose of the blood thinner heparin may have been a factor in the baby's death. Additionally, two members of the Christus Spohn Hospital South's pharmacy staff have taken voluntary leave, pending an investigation...

Allstate Worst Insurer

Posted on July 10, 2008
Allstate ranks as the worst insurer for consumers. Surprise, Surprise! "While Allstate publicly touts its 'good hands' approach, it has instead privately instructed its agents to employ a 'boxing gloves' strategy against its policyholders," said American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber...

What Cities Are the Safest to Drive this Fourth of July Weekend?

Posted on July 03, 2008
Car Accidents and July Fourth weekend go hand and hand. It is known as one of the deadliest in terms of car accidents. Some cities fare better than others in terms of collisions and how often they happen. Allstate has ranked car safety to national accident rates...

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Posted on July 01, 2008
Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Employees Watch Mental Patient Die and Do Nothing

Posted on July 01, 2008
A 49-year old psychiatric patient waits for over 24 hours to get treated at the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn , New York and dies in the waiting room. She was put in a chair, waiting for a bed to become available, when she fell to the floor. Patients were sitting in the same waiting room and did nothing to come to her aid...

HEPARIN, CONTAMINATED HEPARIN and HEPARIN-INDUCED THROMBOCYTOPENIA

Posted on June 26, 2008
I have been discussing in my recent blogs Heparin, Heparin contaminated products and HIT. The FDA has come up with the following helpful Q & A to help educate the public. The following are some important questions posted by the FDA: 1...

Medication Abuse in the Elderly by Nursing Homes

Posted on June 25, 2008
A recent New York Times article is criticizing the use of antipsychotic drugs for patients with dementia. The drugs have not been approved by the FDA to treat dementia but are often prescribed for "off label" use by physicians. The use of antipsychotic drugs to control agitation and combative behavior of dementia patients has in the increased in the elderly...

HEPARIN SODIUM INJECTION MANUFACTURED BY BAXTER

Posted on June 24, 2008
I have recently made several posts regarding Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT and/or HITT). As I am handling several cases related to HIT and/or HITT, in my research I have found several informative articles related to Heparin and it's uses in medical treatment...

Construction Accident and Death at New Dallas County Stadium Site

Posted on June 17, 2008
A second construction related accident at the Dallas Cowboy stadium in less than a week ended in a fatality. Timothy Mackinnon, 45 years old, of Arlington, Texas died on Saturday when he touched a high-voltage line. He was performing an electrical test when he touched the power line and became wedged between the ladder and a wall...

Contractor Sued After Daughter's Death

Posted on June 16, 2008
A 12 year old Shasta County resident died in a subdivision construction site incident last summer. Tess Marie Stevens jumped to grab a metal bar which hooks onto front-end loaders and are used to pick up equipment. When she grabbed the bar, it toppled back on her, crushing her skull...

Assisted Living Facilities

Posted on June 10, 2008
Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) are a welcomed alternative to nursing homes for many families. However, there are issues which arise with these facilities and expose their owners to liability. The most common problem, I have seen in the cases I have handled, are that the needs change for the resident and the ALF is no longer able to adequately provide for the needs of the individual yet the ALF continues to allow the resident at the facility and the ALF continues to receive a large monthly check...

Deadly Intersections

Posted on June 09, 2008
Three major accidents have happened in the last week at the intersection of Vance Jackson and Border Mill. The city is taking action and putting a 4-way stop to hopefully decrease these deadly accidents in this area. A woman was killed crossing the street and the latest accident took a homeowner's fence down...

FIRMS TO PAY $3M IN CAR WRECK DEATHS

Posted on June 04, 2008
In Robertson County, the families of four victims killed in a construction related car wreck were awarded a multimillion dollar judgment. T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc. out of Fort Worth, Young Contractors, Inc. out of Bryan and W.W. Webber, LLC out of Houston were ordered to pay $3,036,800...

HEPARIN-INDUCED THROMBOCYTOPENIA (HIT)

Posted on May 30, 2008
Wikipedia defines Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) as: "Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) with or without thrombosis (HITT) is thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) due to the administration of heparin. While it is mainly associated with unfractionated heparin (UFH), it can also occur with exposure to low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH), but at significantly lower rates...

Elderly Dementia Patients Given Antipsychotic Drugs

Posted on May 29, 2008
Canadian researchers said on Monday that elderly patients with dementia that were prescribed antipsychotic drugs are three times more at risk for serious health problems or dying within a month of treatment.  Some of the health issues include infections and heart problems prompting the U...

End for Anti Bleeding Drug, Trasylol

Posted on May 28, 2008
In November of 2007, after initial reports were given to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Bayer AG, the maker of the drug Trasylol (also know as aprotinin), agreed to temporarily suspend sales and marketing of Trasylol.  The New England Journal of Medicine released the results from the Blood Conservation Using Antifibrinolytics in a Randomized Trial (BART) study...

Motorcycle Deaths Increase

Posted on May 27, 2008
Already this year the deaths from motorcycle accidents have almost doubled the amount from last year in San Antonio.  Police have tallied 13 deaths this year compared to 8 for entire year of 2007.  Although statewide statistics are not immediately available, Texas Department of Public Safety's Motorcycle Safety coordinator John Young reports that he has heard of an increase throughout the state...

Top Ten Accident Locations in San Antonio

Posted on May 23, 2008
A report was recently released by the San Antonio Police Department regarding crashes and fatalities in San Antonio in 2006.  The following is a list of the top 10 locations with the most accidents:   1st:       U...

Rise in Construction Accidents Prompts OSHA Investigation

Posted on May 21, 2008
OSHA, a federal or state agency under the Department of Labor that publishes and enforces workplace safety, is under review due to recent construction accident deaths in Las Vegas and other cities.  A workforce protection subcommittee will review whether the safety standards of OSHA are acceptable and being followed...

Construction Accident Crushes Worker

Posted on May 20, 2008
Juan Manuel Barron of Tyler was working on a scissor lift installing drywall at the Lane's Chapel United Methodist Church when he was crushed against a ceiling beam.  A scissor lift is a type of platform which usually only moves in a vertical plane...

Tort Reform Benefits Insurance in Texas

Posted on May 19, 2008
Conservative Fox News investigated the benefits of Tort Reform in Texas and finds it was not needed, hasn't worked but has sure made a lot of money for the insurance companies.   According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, companies selling medical malpractice insurance in Texas made $807,325,106 profit in the first three years following tort reform...

Construction Accident Kills an Austin Man

Posted on May 16, 2008
A 40 year-old man who worked for L&O Electric, Inc. was killed this morning at the Chatsworth Products plant.  He was crushed between a wall and a metal cage on the front of a fork lift.  Employees administered CPR until Georgetown firefighters and Williamson County EMS arrived...

Squeaking Hips - Is It Grandpa's Ceramic Hip?

Posted on May 15, 2008
Artificial hips have a basic design:  a socket implanted in the pelvis, into which a spherical head is fitted. A spike is attached to the head which his driven into the femur, or thigh bone for anchorage.  Hip replacements are very common and more than 250,000 Americans get hip implants each year...

Accountability for Trooper in Daughters' Death

Posted on May 14, 2008
A mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an Illinois State Trooper who was involved in a car wreck during a police pursuit that killed her daughters.  She is seeking $24 million in damages and hopes to hold law enforcers accountable.  The lawsuit is about justice...

Class Action Lawsuit on Kitchen Stoves

Posted on May 13, 2008
A huge class action lawsuit was settled by Sears involving as many as 4 million customers and costing the retailer $546 million.  Most customers are not aware that stoves without safety brackets are dangerous.             The facts are as follows: 1...

Nurses with Criminal Records

Posted on May 12, 2008
A television station research licensed nurses in Texas and found that more than one in 20 had a criminal record.  The station compared the records with the licensing board and Texas Department of Public Safety criminal database.  Such offenses included murder, kidnapping, and arson...

Dangerous Contraceptive Patch

Posted on May 09, 2008
Public Citizen has filed a petition with the FDA requesting that the Ortho-Evra patch be removed from the shelf within six months.  The patch has been found to release dangerously high levels of estrogen which pose an increase risk of blood clots...

Border Patrol's Family Sues GM and Tire Company

Posted on May 08, 2008
In November 2006, Agent David Webb was killed in a rollover accident while driving a border patrol vehicle.  There were no other vehicles involved and Agent Webb was wearing his seat belt.  He was driving a 1997 Tahoe when the tread separated from the right rear tire...

More Suits Filed in Heparin Case

Posted on May 07, 2008
Lawsuits are being filed every day regarding the tainted doses of the blood thinner Heparin.  Another fatality involved a Missouri retiree who died as a result of an allergic reaction to the tainted drug Heparin on the day the company Covidien, Inc...

Public Alert for the Mentally Ill

Posted on May 06, 2008
After a month of anguish, a San Antonio family has found their mentally ill mother in Dallas.   Marguerite "Margie" Hockley, age 48, was reported to be schizophrenic. The missing person alert was cancelled April 8th after Hockley was located and interviewed by San Antonio police who concluded she was not a threat to herself or others and did not exhibit mental problems warranting taking her in for a competency exam...

Patient Dies at Nursing Home

Posted on May 05, 2008
Felicia Ann Engle of Boaz, 20 years old, was placed in Golden Living Center due to terminal kidney disease.  Her elderly father was unable to take care of her needs.  On April 3, 2008 at approximately 3:00 p.m. she began yelling for the nurses to come help her as she was in excruciating pain...

Four Dead After Head-On Collision

Posted on May 02, 2008
Darrel Avery, a 38-year old driver of an SUV, was driving erratically and killed 3 innocent victims in Bastrop, Texas prompting an investigation into this tragic fatal collision. Cara Crisler, age 27 and her two daughters, Kelsey Harris and Talena Harris ages 8 and 4 respectively, died as a result of Avery's negligence...

Texas Supreme Court Ruling Involving The Injured Worker

Posted on May 01, 2008
BP families and Citgo blast survivors visited the Capitol to encourage lawmakers to undo the Texas Supreme Court's misguided decision in a high-profile workplace injury case, Entergy v. Summers.  The Texas Supreme Court decision last year ruled that an injured contract worker could not sue the company because he was covered under their workers' compensation policy...

Study of Blood Product Should Not Have Gone Forward

Posted on April 30, 2008
A new report is critical of a national study of an experimental blood substitute, PolyHeme, in critically injured patients never should have been allowed to take place due to the fact that earlier studies of similar products had shown them to be dangerous...

Workers' Compensation vs. Non-Subscriber

Posted on April 28, 2008
Texas employers can opt out of workers' compensation and become a non-subscriber.  A non-subscriber is a Texas employer who does not purchase workers' compensation insurance for their employees.  Some employers opt out of workers' compensation due to high premiums...

How can I find out if my physician has been sued for medical malpractice?

Posted on April 23, 2008
There are several resources to research whether your physician has been sued.  They all have weaknesses and it is also important to remember that most all medical malpractice settlements are confidential.  One avenue to research is looking online at the county where the physician practices to see if there are any lawsuits listed...

School Bus Hits Young Girl

Posted on April 21, 2008
A 6 year old girl was running late for school when tragedy struck.  Her school bus was pulling out of her apartment complex when she tried to run after the bus hoping the bus driver would see her.  The bus driver did not see her and ran her over...

Subrogation in Personal Injury Claims

Posted on April 18, 2008
Subrogation is a difficult concept for most people to understand.  Essentially, it allows for the health insurance company to recoup funds they have paid when the person is injured by a third party.  In my office, we work diligently for our clients on this issue...

Injuries Soar

Posted on April 16, 2008
Nail gun injuries take off during the building boom of the 2000's.  Air powered nail guns equipped with a mechanism that allows automatic firing known as "contact trip" have been in controversy surrounding warnings from researchers and doctors.  Some nail guns can blast 30 nails a minute that travel up to 490 feet per second, qualifying the nails as low-velocity missiles...

Falls in Nursing Homes

Posted on April 14, 2008
Falls in Nursing Homes are a serious problem.  The statistics are staggering.  Each year nursing homes of 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls and many falls go unreported. Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths...

Fairness is Nursing Home Arbitration Act

Posted on April 11, 2008
Senators Martinez and Kohl have recently introduced the "Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act".  The bill provides that arbitration agreements signed between the nursing homes and residents or their responsible third parties during the admission process are unenforceable...

Medical Errors Cause Hundreds of Preventable Deaths

Posted on April 09, 2008
According tot the Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, patient safety errors resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths of U.S Medicare patients from 2004 to 2006.  Additionally, the medical errors cost the Medicare program $8.8 billion...

Head On Crash Involves Two Motorcycles

Posted on April 08, 2008
On April 6, 2008, two men died when their motorcycles crashed head-on on FM 471.  "Department of Public Safety Trooper David Pinedo said Brigman, who was traveling southbound on a 2006 Kawasaki, failed to negotiate a curve and drifted into the lane of oncoming traffic where it hit the northbound 2007 Suzuki driven by Saldivar...

Preemption-"Silent Tort Reform"

Posted on April 04, 2008
There is a developing body of judicial opinion that will place new limits on the rights of those who buy or use products, consumer advocates say. It greatly benefits big companies as it insulates them from lawsuits.  Article 6 of the Constitution requires the federal law to control when it clashed with State law...

Kindred Healthcare Spent Over $1 million Lobbying

Posted on April 03, 2008
Forbes magazine reported that reports from the lobbyist show that Kindred Healthcare spent over one million in lobbying the federal government last year.  Kindred Healthcare operates hospitals, rehabilitation centers and imaging centers.  The group lobbied the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, the Health and Human Services Department (this federal department oversees nursing homes) and the Office of Management & Budget...

Arbitration Agreements Increasing

Posted on April 01, 2008
Binding arbitration agreements are increasing between physicians, nursing homes and healthcare institutions. Some states have started taking legislative action to limit the agreements. An American Medical Association official said that the organization did not have a policy on the issue, and that the only information it had was a 2003 report discussing arbitration as one method of medical liability reform...

German Shepherd Attacks Nine Year Old

Posted on March 28, 2008
Jakob Kelso of Columbus, Indiana was attacked by a friend's dog. The dog attacked his face, puncturing his cheek and nose and knocking out a tooth. Jakob Kelso needed over 100 stitches on the outside of his face and more inside his mouth. The owner has quarantined the dog and plans to destroy it...

Lung Cancer Study Financed by Cigarette Company

Posted on March 27, 2008
Dr. Claudia Henschke published a study showing 80% of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans. "She's the biggest advocate for widespread spiral CT screening," said Dr. Paul Bunn, a lung cancer expert and executive director of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer...

Imperial Sugar Company Plant Cited for Safety Violations

Posted on March 25, 2008
The Imperial Sugar Company in Gramercy Louisiana was cited for several violations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited violations that could total $36,000 in penalties. Some of the violations were the dust collectors were not correctly equipped with explosion protection systems...

Death Toll Rises in Crane Collapse

Posted on March 20, 2008
A 5 ½ ton steel collar being installed around a 20 story crane broke loose from a building on East 51st St. and as the collar fell it struck another collar, knocking it loose rendering the crane unstable. The unsupported crane tumbled, crashing into the building and leveling a town house...

ARTHRITIS DRUG ADDS WARNING

Posted on March 20, 2008
Amgen and Wyeth adds strongest U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning to the prescribing information for the arthritis drug Enbrel. Amgen who manufactures the drug has now highlighted the risk of infections, including tuberculosis. The warning, already in boldface, must now be highlighted inside a boxed border, the so- called "black box" warning...

Contaminated Heparin Linked to Sickness and Deaths

Posted on March 19, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration, FDA, is facing another crisis. Heparin, a blood thinner that is manufactured in China, was contaminated. The contaminated Heparin has been linked to 19 deaths and made hundreds of people sick. The last big drug crisis from China was in 1999...

Two Men Hurt When Intoxicated Driver Hits Parked Car

Posted on March 18, 2008
Two men were stopped on the shoulder of I-37 early Sunday morning to change a flat tire. Jonathon Gutierrez struck the men's parked vehicle injuring them. Jeremy Sanchez was thrown over the guardrail and broke his right thigh bone and Andrew Borego broke his left leg...

Dennis Quaid Twins' Victims of Medical Malpractice

Posted on March 17, 2008
Dennis and Kimberly Quaid speak out about the medical mistakes at Cedars-Sinai hospital that almost cost them their children's lives. Their twins were supposed to be given two doses of Hep-lock which is the children's version of Heparin. Hep-lock and Heparin are blood thinners...

70 Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Settled Against Putnam General Hospital

Posted on March 14, 2008
Putnam General Hospital has agreed to settle 70 medical malpractice cases involving John Anderson King who they employed for six months between November 2002 and June 2003. King, so far, has not agreed to settle any lawsuits filed against him. King had medical licenses in approximately 15 states, but 10 of those licenses have been surrendered, suspended or revoked due to the lawsuits and stealing medical records from a hospital in Florida...

Caretaker Guilty Of Elderly Abuse

Posted on March 12, 2008
On March 10, 2008, Alma Berlanga was found guilty of elderly abuse. Ms. Berlanga was the caregiver to Ofelia Escobar who is a bedridden 83 year old woman with Alzheimer's. The family had concerns about Ms. Berlanga's treatment to their mother and installed a hidden camera...

Overuse of Antipsychotics in the Nursing Homes

Posted on March 11, 2008
Antipsychotic drugs are over prescribed to all the elderly including those in the nursing homes. Medicaid sent out a mandate last year to nursing home inspectors to crack down on the over prescribing of the antipsychotic drugs. Of the state's 398 nursing homes, 38 percent were cited last year for using such medications inappropriately, up from 27 percent in 2006...

Construction Worker Killed from Cave-in

Posted on March 06, 2008
Yesterday, around 3:30 p.m. a construction site trench caved in burying Luis Garcia. Luis Garcia was dead when they were finally able to find him at 10 p.m. His brother, Robert Gomez was also in the trench when the cave in occurred, but only suffered minor injuries...

Study Shows Children between 12 and 16 Increase Deaths in Car Crashes

Posted on March 05, 2008
A study from the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows children ages 12-16 are more likely to die in a car crash than children younger than 12. Of the nearly 10,000 passenger deaths studied by the CHOP researchers, more than half (54.4 percent) were riding with a driver under age 20; nearly two-thirds were unrestrained; and more than three-quarters of the crashes occurred on roads with posted speed limits above 45-miles- per-hour...

Police Car Hit By Drunk Driver

Posted on March 04, 2008
A drunk driver slammed his Dodge Ram into a police car on Sunday morning. Officer Matthew Belver was driving the police car when he was struck the by the truck and spun out and hit another vehicle. There were only minor injuries. The driver of the Dodge Ram was over the legal limit of alcohol and was arrested...

Study Finds Staffing Effects Survival Rate

Posted on February 28, 2008
A recent study released in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that survival rate was better for hospital patients who suffered cardiac arrest during the day as compared to the patients who suffered the cardiac arrest at night. "It may be that patients aren't checked as often or that there aren't as many staffers in the hospital to respond quickly to emergencies...

Former Dallas Cowboy Challenges Texas Medical Malpractice Caps

Posted on February 27, 2008
Ron Springs, a former Dallas Cowboy player, is one of eleven plaintiffs challenging Texas' medical malpractice caps. The lawsuit challenges if the limits awarded to Plaintiffs of medical malpractices are unconstitutional. The 2003 Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform Act limited awards for pain and suffering to $250,000...

Motorcyclist killed by Hit and Run Driver

Posted on February 25, 2008
On Friday night, a motorcyclist died after being hit by a PT Cruiser. The driver of the PT Cruiser jumped out of the car and ran from the scene of the accident. The driver of the motorcycle was killed and the police are still searching for the hit and run driver...

Three Construction Workers Injured

Posted on February 22, 2008
This morning, three construction workers were injured while working at a site at The Shops at La Cantera. One of the corners collapsed and the workers slid 28 feet. They were not critically hurt.

School Bus Crash Kills 4

Posted on February 20, 2008
A school bus crashed with several other vehicles Tuesday in Cottonwood, Minnesota killing four students. The first arriving motorists on the scene had to rush injured students to the hospital. The school bus was lying on it's side and kids were screaming on the bus...

Deadly Car Accident Kills 3 Teens

Posted on February 19, 2008
In Austin on Texas 71, three teens and five other people were injured when a Ford pickup truck hydroplaned into oncoming traffic and hit slammed into an Acura. Audrey Ducote, 17, Randall H. Hibler,17, and Lauren Hoffman, 16 were killed. Amy Wright, 43, Kathryn Powers, 17, Katherine Singleton, 17, Tammy Goodman, and Stephen Goodman, 7, were all injured...

Nursing Homes Bad List

Posted on February 15, 2008
Centers of Medicare Services published its nursing home bad list. The list includes bad nursing homes from all over the nation and including eight nursing homes in Bexar County. The following are on the list; Buena Vida Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of San Antonio; Leon Valley Care Center; Mayfield Care Center; Meridian Care; Princeton Place Rehabilitation & Healthcare Bander; Regent Care Center of San Antonio; Texas Specialty Nursing and Rehab Center; and The Chandler Estate in Laurel Heights...

Centers of Medicare Name Worst Nursing Homes

Posted on February 14, 2008
Here is the list of the worst nursing homes.

Pharmacy Gives Wrong Prescription for Child

Posted on February 13, 2008
Jennifer Barragan took her 1 year old son to the hospital because he had a cold and cough. The doctor prescribed Motrin and saline. Ms. Barragan's fiance went to pick up the prescriptions a Walgreens and was not only given the Motrin and saline but was also given a bottle of cough medicine and pills...

Sugar Refinery Explosion

Posted on February 08, 2008
On Thursday, February 7th, the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth, GA exploded. The explosion was so big it sent 62 people to the hospital. Nine people were severely burned and six are still missing. Some of the people had burns on 80 to 90 percent of their bodies...

Stopping Plavix May Cause More Blood Clots

Posted on February 07, 2008
A study was done on patients that were given Plavix (a blood clot preventer) after a heart attack or receiving a stent. The study showed that these patients are at a higher risk of heart attack or death within the three months after stopping the medication...

1 in 10 Hospital Deaths are Preventable

Posted on February 04, 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22940079/A study in London shows that 1 in 10 hospital patients can be precented. More than half of patients in the hospital are at risk for blood clots. Surgery patients are at most risk, but also patients with fractures, cancer, poor circulation, family history or obesity are at risk...

Nursing Home Abuse

Posted on February 01, 2008
A nurse is accused of raping and assaulting a paralyzed patient at a nursing home. John Riems, an Ohio nurse, has admitted to over 100 cases of abuse but claims to be able to remember the details on a couple dozen. "Police say Riems sexually assaulted a 55-year-old man as he lay partially paralyzed in his bed at Concord Care and Rehabilitation Home" Reims worked at over 10 different nursing homes...

Kerrville Woman Accuses Care Center Employee of Sexual Assault

Posted on January 31, 2008
A 52 year old mentally disabled woman claims to have been sexually assaulted by a male caregiver at her adult day care center. She was living at The Special Opportunity Center in Kerrville, Texas. The Police are investigating this claim, but have not made any arrests...

Autistic Boy Wanders Off From Facility and Dies

Posted on January 29, 2008
A 10-year old autistic boy who was cared for at Howell Care Centers-Clear Creek facility wandered off on Sunday morning. The boy was able to just walk away from the facility. Searchers were found him about an hour later in a pond about a quarter mile away...

Woman Killed by Drunk Driver

Posted on January 28, 2008
Early Saturday morning a drunk driver crashed into a car stopped on San Pedro Ave. The driver, Joseph Cortez, was intoxicated and witnesses reported seeing him racing on San Pedro. The crash killed Ana Ramirez, who was the passenger of the vehicle that was hit...

Patients Sickened By Bacteria Contaminated Shots

Posted on January 25, 2008
In Chicago, five people have filed lawsuits against Sierra Pre-Filled. The company makes pre-filled syringes. The syringes are made to flush catheters and IV lines. The plaintiffs all had to be hospitalized for several days because of the bacteria...

Antidepressant Drug Trials

Posted on January 22, 2008
Drug trials which were never published regarding antidepressants like Paxil and Prozac have misled consumers regarding their effectiveness. A recent article from The New England Journal of Medicine found in published trials about 60 percent of people taking the antidepressents report significant relief from depression, compared with roughly 40 percent of those on placebo pills...

Deadly School Bus Crash

Posted on January 18, 2008
A Somerset school bus rolled over on Tuesday and hit a car killing the driver. The bus crash happened around 3:00 in the afternoon while taking the children home. There was fourteen children on the bus and five were taken to area hospitals. News 4 has learned that the accident happened after the school bus slowed to avoid hitting an 18-wheeler making a turn...

Insurance Industry Overcharging Consumers

Posted on January 14, 2008
According to the Consumer Federation of America's report, the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry systematically overcharges policy holders and underpays on claims. The Consumer Federation of America is a composed of consumer activists. In 2006, The insurance industry reported $63...

Paramedic Negligent in Checking Vital Signs

Posted on January 10, 2008
The San Antonio Fire Chief admitted in an interview on Tuesday that paramedic did not check for vital signs on Erica Nicole Smith. Ms. Smith was deemed dead by a paramedic that responded to a head-on collision in December, 2007. She had severe head injuries and remained inside her Honda for over an hour before the medical examiner came to the scene and discovered her breathing...

Deadly Bus Crash in Victoria

Posted on January 03, 2008
On Wednesday morning, a charter bus crashed injuring over forty people passangers and killing one. The charter bus was coming from Monterrey, Mexico when the crash occurred. Four passengers were air lifted to San Antonio hospitals and others were treated at near by hospitals...

Brush Truck Kills Woman in Wheelchair

Posted on January 02, 2008
Diane Rosenbaum was on her way home when she was killed by a San Antonio Fire Department brush truck. It was about 6:45 p.m. when the truck had pulled into a Wells Fargo parking lot. When the truck began to leave, the driver did not see Ms. Rosenbaum and hit her...

Alcohol Related Fatalities In San Antonio

Posted on December 31, 2007
Although fewer people were killed this year in alcohol-related car wrecks in San Antonio, the police arrested more drivers on charges of drunken driving according to information provided by the San Antonio Police Department. In 2007, there have been 50 deaths related to drunken driving and 4,359 arrested for drunken driving...