Attorney Blog

Mayor Bloomberg Pulls Prius Cars Off NYC Streets Following Recall

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)27080 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

Following a global recall of 437,000 Prius model cars, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered that they city’s 2010 Prius vehicles all stay off of the city streets in order to prevent possible NYC car accidents.

The 181 cars had recently been ordered by the city to join an estimated 23,000 NYC government vehicles. At the time of Bloomberg’s announcement, 16 of the cars had arrived for use and six cars were already in use in the New York area by various departments.

The 2010 hybrid cars, which have excellent as mileage and are environmentally friendly, were to be used by a number of government agencies, including environmental agencies and health agencies. However, large-scale Toyota recalls involving faulty floor mats, gas pedals, and accelerators has many worried about the safety of the vehicle.

The city does not own any other recalled Toyota models and won’t be pulling any other type of car from its fleet.

Study: New York Cell Phone Ban Could Help Reduce Urban Car Accidents

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)26711 — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

A new study released by Sheldon H. Jacobson has revealed that handheld cell phones are more effective in high-density urban areas like New York City. The study, which studied data from 62 countries involved in cell phone bans found that although all drivers are equally distracted while driving and talking on a cell phone, those in high-traffic and high-pedestrian areas are more likely to become involved in an accident while multi-tasking behind the wheel.

Specifically, the study found that since lawmakers banned talking on the cell phone in New York, urban counties such as Queens, the Bronx, and New York County, saw a significant reduction in fatal car accidents and car accident injuries, especially when compared to the reduction in car accidents in more rural upstate counties.

Generally, researchers found that the cell phone ban reduced the number of fatal car accidents in 46 of the 62 countries that have enacted a handheld cell phone ban.

Brooklyn Worker Yuquan Chen Crushed By Granite Slabs

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)25131 — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the New York Police Department are investigating an on-the-job accident in Brooklyn that left one man dead. According to the New York Daily News, 47-year-old Yuquan Chen of Gravesend died when a number of granite slabs fell onto his head and crushed him. The man died instantly at the time of the worker accident, around 9:30 am on Monday, December 7.

The fatal worker accident took place at 1339 61st St., the site of First Choice Supply located in Borough Park. Although his coworkers lifted the granite countertops with a forklift, the man was pronounced dead at the scene of the on-the-job accident.

The OSHA will explore whether any workplace safety violations that could have contributed to the accident, though no prior safety violations or injury incidents have ever before been reported from the First Choice Supply address.

Woman Sues Buffalo Bills Player Marshawn Lynch After Hit-And-Run

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)25104 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

In Buffalo, New York, an injured woman is suing after she was struck by a vehicle driven by Buffalo Bills NFL football player Marshawn Lynch in May of last year. Kimberly Shpeley was crossing the street in downtown Buffalo when Lynch struck her with his Porsche and then left the scene of the accident while driving under the influence.

Lynch reached a plea deal with prosecutors that allowed the athlete to avoid jail time for the pedestrian accident, but now he is facing a lawsuit involving Shpeley’s personal injuries. The New York personal injury lawsuit filed with the Erie County Supreme Court, though no specified amount for damages was listed. For the initial accident, Lynch paid a $100 fine for not taking due care toward a pedestrian.

It is unclear what injuries Shpeley suffered from, though she is no longer in the hospital and can walk.

A Patient Dies, and Then the Anguish of Litigation

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)24109 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

In an article in today's New York Times, Dr. Joan Savitsky writes about her personal ordeal in being named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit. I thought the article was excellent because it attempts to examine the emotional issues that arise out of the personal lawsuit context. Although the article mostly discusses the emotional toll the lawsuit may have on a defendant, take it from me, the same type of soul searching happens on the plaintiff's side. Dr. Savitsky briefly mentions in her article that the plaintiffs, the children of the doctor's patient who passed away from cancer, must have felt anger when their mother died. The doctor asserts that this anger may have been innapropriately directed to the doctor. Now, I am not aware of this case, so I do not know if that is true. However, I have represented clients who were injured by real, undeniable medical malpractice. In those cases, just like Dr. Savitsky felt likely she was unjustly accussed, the plaintiffs who I represented feel the same way when the doctors and insurance companies repeatedly claim that my clients were "fine", that they were lieing, malingering and just out to get money. These plaintiff's of mine felt the same way as Dr. Savitsky when they both questioned the value of our legal system. In any event, whether you are a plaintiff, wrongly injured, or a doctor wrongly accused, the truth of the matter is that neither party is ever ready to deal with the emotional rollercoasters that this lawsuits create. I am glad that Dr. Savitsky had the honesty and courage to give us a sense of what it is like.

Recession Means Cases Flooding Courts

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)24057 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The NY Times wrote today that the Recession is having an impact on New York's Court system. As the article goes, the recession is causing those not normally involved in the Courts into the Courts. The article notes that credit card companies and mortgage companies are suing more than usual to recover for sums loaned out but not paid. Obviously, because of the recession, people are losing jobs (or their net worth is shrinking), making them unable to repay. In addition, in the criminal context, petty criminal offenders are increasing, like those who jump turnstyles in the City's transit systems. The overall affect is that there will be more delays in the Courts. Delays means it will take you longer to resolve your lawsuit. Notable in the lawsuit, at least to me, is the fact that the article made no mention that personal injury cases are increasing. This is interesting since defendants generally take the posistion that people only sue because they need the money and not because they are hurt. But, if this were true, then shouldn't there have been a major increase in personal injury cases in the last year?

Weezer Band Member Injured In NY Bus Crash Involving Black Ice

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)23447 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo was injured in a New York bus accident this week, leading to a decision by the band to cancel the remainder of the indie rockers’ tour. The accident occurred on Sunday evening in the eastbound lanes of the New York State Thruway when the bus slid on ice, jumped a guardrail, and turned over in a ditch.

Cuomo suffered significant internal injuries, including cracked ribs. One other person on the bus was injured, though Cuomo’s wife and daughter were not injured in the bus accident. Cuomo has come out to thank his tour bus driver, who acted quickly and correctly when the bus hit ice. New York Police say that the area had seen roughly two inches of snow that day but that there was not significant snow on the roadway at the time of the bus accident.

Weezer has not announced whether they will refund ticket-holders or reschedule their tour.

When Are We Going To Fix the Children's Juvenile System?

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)23386 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The article publsihed in the New York Times today was really schocking. I wrote on this issue before. Basically, a new report, written for the Governor, says the juvenile detention system is in shambles. The children are not getting the help they need. Worse, they are often subjected to brutal violance. And, to make matters worse, the children are often sent away from their families to upstate facilities (most of the children are from New York City), which creates a further barrier in attemtping to get them better, which, after all, is the whole point of the system. Anyway, the system is broken and it is encumbant on the State to fix it and fix it now.

Don't Facebook The Judges Who Are Deciding Your Client's Case

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)23335 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The New York Times recently wrote about a ruling by a Florida lawyers disciplinary ruling that forbids lawyers from friending on Facebook the judges before whom they appear. I think the ruling makes sense. I am surprised that a ruling even had to be made. I mean, what do you do when the Judge throws your client's case out of Court? Do you post something on the Judge's page that says he or she is a moron? There are just a bunch of problems with it. On the other hand, Judges do often belong to the same organizations as lawyers. For instance, in New York, Judges belong to the local bar organizations and it is not rare that you get the chance to talk to a judge over a couple of drinks at the bar association's holiday party. The rule is however that you cant "talk" about any pending cases. So, in short, while there are situations that just smack of impropiety, there are occassions where it is just a fact of life. By the way, if you want to be my facebook friend, check me out here and send me a request.

Staten Island Construction Worker Crushed By Dump Truck

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)23215 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

On November 20, a Staten Island construction worker was killed by a dump truck while building a new section of Richmond Ave. in New Springville that will connect to Rivington Ave.

Staten Island Police say that 53-year-old Jody Reese of Tottenville was out of view of his coworker who was driving the dump truck in reverse. The driver backed over Reese with both his back and front wheels. Although EMS preformed CPR on Reese at the scene of the accident and then rushed Reese to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, doctors pronounced him dead soon after arrival.

Workers continued to lay down the street after the construction accident though the southbound lanes of Richmond Ave. were closed to vehicles during the afternoon’s police investigation.

Police say that the NY construction site death was a tragic accident and that there would not be any criminal charges.

Taconic Parkway Disaster -- Family Starts Lawsuit -- Truth Finally to be Revealed

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)23202 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Journal News reported today that the family of two of the drivers killed when that crazy, drunken or whatever women drove the wrong way on the Taconic started a personal injury lawsuit. At the press conference, they said it was not about money or revenge. It was about awareness to drunk driving. They pointed out that victims of drunk drivers come in all ages and sizes. Of course, in this case, several children were killed. I think the best that could happen in this case is that we can finally learn what really was wrong with Dianne Schuler -- was she drunk, high or something else. Hopefully, by fleshing out the facts of this case, we can prevent a similiar accident in the future.

Two New York Construction Workers Injured When School Roof Collapses

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)21472 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

One of the four elementary schools in Pelham, New York, was undergoing a two-story addition this week when the building's roof collapse. Two New York construction workers were injured in the accident.

Pelham Police Chief Joseph Benefico reported that workers were working on the first floor at the time of the accident, which happened around noon on Saturday. Although the condition of the two construction workers is not known, witnesses say that the two employees were carried out on stretchers and taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct an investigation into why the roof collapsed and how the workers were injured. The school would be closed to students for at least the beginning of the week, according to Pelham Union Free School District officials. The renovation will add a library and two classrooms to the Pelham school.

Yankee's Manager Joe Girardi Helps Car Accident Victim

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)21395 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Just hours after his baseball team clinched the World Series, Yankee's Manager Joe Girardi was driving home with his wife on Cross County Parkway at the Hutchinson River Parkway, after celebrating his team's big win. When he saw that a car had crashed onto a wall on a curvy section on a New Rochelle road on the outskirts of New York City, he stopped to help the accident victim out of her car.

Although the car was still partially on the road and in danger of getting struck again, Girardi helped a woman out of her crushed car and to safety. Police arrived minutes later. The woman, 27-year-old Marie Henry, said that the man sprinted across three lanes of traffic in order to help her. She was not seriously injured in the New York car accident.

"The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help," Officer Kathleen Cristiano told the media.

New York Dog Bite Attorney

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)19580 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

An animal like an aggressive dog cannot be held responsible for a dog attack or dog bite incident - very simply, dangerous dogs are animals with no understanding of right and wrong. However, an aggressive dog's owner is responsible for his or her pet's behavior. If you have been bitten or attacked by an aggressive dog, the owner of the dog in question may be responsible for your medical bills and other damages.

Here are a few questions to ask if you have been bitten by someone else's dangerous dog:

· Was the dog fenced or leashed at the time of the attack, or was it roaming free?

· Had the dog in question been aggressive before?

· Was the owner aware of this aggressive behavior?

· Had the dog in question bitten a human or attacked another animal in the past?

To better understand your New York dog bite incident, it is best to consult with an experienced NYC dog bite and premises liability attorney. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

New York City Construction Site Accidents Injuries On The Rise

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)19547 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Are construction workers safer in New York City than they were last year? New reports show that although fewer NYC construction workers were killed so far in 2009, many more injuries were reported across the city.

Compared to the same time last year, construction site accidents are up over 40 percent and construction site injuries were up by over 30 percent. However, deaths are on the downswing. There were 2 deaths reported in 2009 from January to June, compared to 19 on-the-job construction deaths in 2008 and 12 construction worker deaths in 2007 in New York City.

Why are there more injuries and accidents this year? Some think that more New York construction accidents and injuries are being reported because of a trend to report more minor accidents in the construction industry at large. Others think that construction site may be paying less attention to safety and safety training during hard times.

DOT Truck And Honda Have Deadly Crash On Brooklyn Bridge

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)18656 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Tragedy struck the historic Brooklyn Bridge last week when a man from East New York, Brooklyn lost control of his Honda Accord. On Wednesday morning around 4 a.m. 36-year-old Andre Donald drifted out of his lane and slammed into the back of a New York Department of Transportation dump truck even though the dump truck was equipped with a flashing yellow arrow.

Donald, who police say might have been drinking in the hours before the crash or who might have fallen asleep at the wheel, was rushed by the EMS to New York Downtown Hospital where he died just after arrival. The dump truck on the bridge was no occupied at the time of the accident. It is not known if Donald was wearing a seatbelt.

Due to the fatal Brooklyn car accident, the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down for a number of hours during the morning commute. No other people were injured in the deadly NYC car crash.

Product Recall: Simplicity Close Sleeper, Bedside Sleeper

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)18655 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has once again recalled a bedside crib -- the Simplicity Close-Sleeper/Bedside Sleeper - after two more infant deaths have drawn attention to the dangerous and deadly product. Last August the product was recalled after two other infant deaths had been reported. Another two infants have been left with serious injuries from the close sleeper.

Some of the infants have been entrapped in a metal bar on the bassinet, while others have suffocated in the folds of the crib's fabric.

The company who made the sleeper, SFCA, Inc., has not been cooperative with either recall and may no longer exist. The extremely dangerous infant cribs were sold nationwide at a variety of stores, including Amazon.com, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Big Lots, WalMart, Target, Kohls, JC Penney, Kmart, and Toys R Us. Those who are using the defective product should immediately stop use and return it to the store where it was purchased.

Do We Need Tort Reform In Medical Malpractice Context?

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)17878 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

In recent years, New York’s medical community has decried hikes in
medical malpractice insurance premiums. Describing the premium
increases as “devastating,” the medical lobby has claimed that the costs of
liability coverage are driving doctors out of New York State. At least one
doctor group has also charged that “a wildly unpredictable medical liability
adjudication system” is the driving force in increasing premiums. The
result, they say, is that New Yorkers have increasing difficulty in accessing
care from the so-called “high risk” specialists, such as obstetricians and
neurosurgeons.
But are these claims true? According to the federal governmental data
reviewed for a mind shattering recent report, the answer is a resounding “NO.”
This report’s overall finding is that, based on the actual litigation payments
made by the state’s doctors over a number of years, New York’s
malpractice system appears to be remarkably consistent, stable and fair.
In fact, NPDB data shows that payouts have been reducing since 2006.
Federal law requires that all medical malpractice payment information be
reported to the government’s National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB).
The NPDB’s Public Use Data File is the only publicly-available,
comprehensive malpractice database in the nation.
While the NPDB is prohibited by law from releasing the names of
individual doctors who have paid malpractice payments, it does release
aggregated information about those payments.

Health care reform silent on malpractice

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)17877 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

To the Editor:

The News’s recent story on medical malpractice missed the point. While it correctly cited data that medical malpractice claims make up only one-fifth of one percent of all health care costs in this country, it failed to discuss the role medical errors play in our health care system.

According to a landmark study by the National Academy of Sciences, mistakes by doctors and other health care providers take the lives of as many as 98,000 Americans every year – and cause hugely expensive complications in hundreds of thousands of other cases. Any serious discussion of medical malpractice must begin with reducing its frequency, not denying compensation to its victims.

If any subject is given too little attention in the health care reform debate, it is patient safety. There are simple, proven ways to prevent medical errors. The challenge is persuading health care providers to adopt them. Many new protocols and safety measures resulted from the National Academy of Sciences report. But health care experts agree that we are nowhere near the report's goal of reducing medical errors by half in 10 years. Curtailing patients' rights to seek redress for negligence would only remove an established incentive for improvement.

8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)17861 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

People getting by on low wages also tend to lose out on overtime they've earned, and they're more likely to get paid less than the minimum wage. Those are the findings in "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," a new study by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations.

The New York Times runs the numbers:

In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay.
The Times calls the study "the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade." Of the workers interviewed, 68 percent had been through at least one violation of their pay rights in the past work week. Female illegal immigrants were most likely to report they'd earned less than the minimum wage -- in industries ranging from garment work to childcare.

The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries.

Its amazing how this can still happen in this day and age. The workers compensation system was set-up to help these people. But, obviously, the system is broken.

We need to get the Labor Dept on Board to make sure they do a better job of protecting our workers -- after all, as John D. Rockefeller said, U.S. workers are the drivers of our economy, if they are not happy, we will be going nowhere fast.

Where Have the Trial Lawyers Gone?

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)17263 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

What Have Personal Injury Trial Lawyers Done?
By: Terrence James Cortelli, Personal Injury Trial Attorney

Big business and the media have conspired to attempt to destroy the image of the American trial lawyer. They have “sold” to the public the image of the trial lawyer as a greedy hustler whose primary goal is to fill his own pocket with money. The “marketing” of this message has been very effective. There is power in the billions of dollars that have been spent in the last decade to defame trial lawyers, their clients, and their cases. The “McDonald’s hot coffee case” is a prime example of the power of money over the truth.

It is no wonder that big business hate lawyers who represent individuals. Trial lawyers have forced manufacturers to put safety before profits.

What have personal injury trial lawyers done?

1. Made almost non-existent death and scarring from flammable children’s pajamas

2. Reduced dramatically the death of infants from choking on small toys

3. Made it much more likely that you will survive an automobile crash (Read SUV roll overs, seat belt laws, all of which were precipitated by personal injury lawyers and their courage in taking on big business)

4. Forced helmet manufacturers to build better football and motorcycle headgear

5. Saved the lives of women who were at risk from defective tampons and contraceptive devices

6. Caused the installation of backup beepers on trucks

7. Have eliminated “killer” swimming pool drains whose suction was so powerful that it drowned children

8. Forced the tobacco industry to surrender

9. And for New Yorkers, put the onus on employers and big time property developers for ensuring that construction workers are provided with a safe work environment.

Study Results Raise Questions About Vertebroplasty For Patients With Osteoporotic Spinal Compression Fractures; Is it Malpractice?

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)16800 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Have You Had Surgery Using Spinal Cement?

Each year, as many as 250,000 people in the United States suffer vertebral fractures, which are small breaks or cracks in the bones of the spine. Even minor falls, missteps, bumps into countertops or other hard surfaces, and other every day accidents can cause these types of painful injuries. Most victims of spinal fractures are elderly and have been diagnosed with the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.

In many cases, surgeries to repair spinal fractures use products called spinal cement to fill in the cracks until the broken bone can regenerate on its own. However, the use of these products has been associated with several deaths and severe injuries in patients. Also, recent medical research has found that patients who had a specific type of spinal fracture surgery fared no better afterwards than patients who received a placebo surgery.

Therefore, there are serious questions about whether vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and other types of spinal fracture surgery that use spinal cement are necessary and effective in relieving back pain cause by vertebral fractures.

While it may be difficult to prove in court that merely performing vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and other types of spinal fracture surgery alone constitutes malpractice, even in light of the recent publications indicating that the procedures are no more effective than placebos, the same cannot be said for those patients who suffered serious injury and even death after undergoing such operations.

We are actually representing one client who suffered severe cardiac arrest, resulting in major open heart surgery, after undergoing this purportedly "minimally invasive" surgery. It appears that in these cases where patients are significantly injured after undergoing these procedures the injury occurs because the cement is allowed (negligently) to enter the blood stream. The use of spinal cement has been shown to cause heart and lung damage, fatal drops in blood pressure, and other problems.

If you or a loved one has undergone back surgery using spinal cement to repair a vertebral fracture, you may be at risk of suffering life-threatening injuries and complications. If a loved one has died as the result of surgery using spinal cement, you and your family may qualify for damages to compensate you for the wrongful death.

At Lever & Stolzenberg LLP our experienced personal injury attorneys are dedicated to helping people who are injured by spinal cement and other dangerous medical products. To schedule a free, confidential legal consultation, contact us today by calling 914.288.9191 or completing the case inquiry form on this page.

Asphalt Roller Operator Dies At New York Road Construction Site

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)16501 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

According to WCAX, a road construction accident in Amenia, New York, left one worker dead on Wednesday, July 29. The man, a New York resident, was operating an Ingersoll-Rand asphalt roller when he fell off of the piece of heavy machinery and was then hit by the construction equipment.

New York State Troopers identified the New York construction accident victim as 23-year-old Donald Flood III of Wassaic, New York. The accident took place early on Wednesday afternoon in Dutchess County, about 60 miles from Albany, New York, near 41 Benson Road.

The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, the county Office of the Medical Examiner, the Wassaic Fire Department and Northern Dutchess Paramedics assisted state police at the scene.

The NY on-the-job accident took place as workers were laying down asphalt on a road construction site. New York officials told reporters that the investigation into this NY construction site accident is continuing. Police are still unsure of why Flood may have fallen off the asphalt machine.

NY Driver Who Killed 8 On Taconic State Parkway Was Drunk And High

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)16404 — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Last week we reported on the mysterious and tragic wrong-way accident that killed eight people, including four young children on the Taconic State Parkway in New York. At the time, authorities were unsure of why the 36-year-old New York mother, Diane Schuler, had become so disoriented and confused that she drove the wrong way down the interstate.

After New York officials ruled out a stoke or other medical problem during an autopsy of the NY mom, blood tests revealed that the story was not what it seemed: Diane Schuler was drunk and high at the time of the NYC minivan accident - with a blood alcohol level of 0.19 (more than twice the legal limit) and 6 more grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to enter her blood stream. Authorities also revealed that a broken vodka bottle was found at the scene of the horrific head-on car accident.

Diane Schuler's minivan was carrying two of her own children and three of her sister's children. All but Shuler's son were killed in the Taconic State Parkway wrong way accident. Two men in another car were killed and three people in a third car were injured.

Deadly Wrong Way Crash on the Taconic: Could the State of New York be at Fault

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)16380 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

As you may have heard already, Diane Schuler, was reportedly severely drunk and had smoked marijuana within an hour of the deadly Taconic State Parkway crash that left eight people dead, including four young children, when she crashed on the Taconic. In light of this recent accident, I wondered whether any litigant had ever been successful in bringing an action against the State of New York for failing to erect proper signs that would warn unknowing travelers that they were traveling on a roadway in the wrong direction. Interestingly, in the case Mickle v. New York State Thruway Authority (701 N.Y.S.2d 782), the claimant sued the Thruway Authority after he crashed his car heading in the wrong direction on Rte 787, which is an extension of the New York State Thruway, north of Albany. The claimant alleged that he did not realize that he was traveling in the wrong direction and that the entrance to the highway from the toll plaza where he entered was confusing. He pointed to proof from a civil engineer that indicated that the roadway where the accident happened was particularly confusing because there was almost 15 signs present at the location, only one of which was a "Do Not Enter" sign, coupled with the fact that the unmarked lane of traffic he was supposed to be following veered sharply to the right and there was no jersey barrier separating the northbound and southbound traffic. Thus, the engineer opined that traveling in the wrong direction was a strong possibility and likely under the circumstances. The Court found that the State was 60% at fault for the accident.

After Rescue, New Weakness Seen at A.I.G.

tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)16230 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

If AIG is truly in trouble, this will be very problematic for persons with personal injury cases. As has been well documented, AIG insures a large number of the insurance policies in place in New York. Thus, if one gest into an accident and brings a lawsuit, the chances are that the person being sued, if he or she has insurnace, will most likely be insured by AIG. Now, however, if AIG is indeed in trouble, it might mean that AIG will have to go into bankruptcy. When this happens, all of the lawsuits brought against parties insured by AIG will be stayed -- or stopped -- until the bankruptcy proceedings are resolved. This can take years. Thus, these underlying lawsuits may be paused for years, keeping parties from ever timely settling or resolving their cases. More troubling, however, is the more omnimous option of waiting years for the bankruptcy proceeding to resolve and then finding out that AIG has no money left to settle the case. This would be a truly nightmare situation. Indeed, considering how large AIG is, this could have a major impact on most cases in New York.

NYC Husband and Wife Killed In Bronx Car Accident

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)15384 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Associated Press reports that a middle-aged coupled was killed at the intersection of Laconia Avenue and Waring Avenue very early in the morning on Wednesday, July 15 in the Bronx, New York.

The couple's car was hit by an SUV, ejecting the woman from the car and killing the man, a 41-year-old who was driving the car at the time of the accident. The man was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital while his wife was pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal New York car accident. The couple leaves behind two children.

The driver of the SUV was rushed to the hospital by emergency workers, where he remains in critical condition.

New York City police are investigating the case. There are rumors that the SUV that struck the car was being chased by the police at the time of the accident.

Irish Citizen Dies In Building Site Fall In New York City

dlever@lsinjurylaw.com (Blog Author)15147 — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

A workplace accident at a construction site in New York took the life of an Irish citizen on Friday. Brain Forde, an Irishman in his twenties, fell at a construction site to his death on Friday, June 10. The man was originally from originally from Athenry in Co Galway, Ireland.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is providing consular assistance to the man's family. Arrangements are being made to repatriate the man's body to his homeland following the deadly fall accident. The details of the construction site fall accident are unknown at this time.

The death marks the third accidental death of Irish Citizen in the United States in recent weeks -- Ann Coleman, of Abbeyknockmoy near Tuam and her husband, Joe O'Connell, originally from north Kerry, were killed in a car accident in Iowa in June.

Lawsuit Against NYPD Over Excessive Force in New York City Schools

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST

NYPD personnel assigned to New York City’s public schools have repeatedly violated students’ civil rights through wrongful arrests and the excessive use of force.

We have been representing clients and allegeing these very same claims for years. And, now, the ACLU has started a class action, alleging the same claims that our firm has brought against the City.

The landmark lawsuit challenges the conduct and behavior of police officers and school safety officers (SSOs) serving in the NYPD’s School Safety Division. It was filed on behalf of students who were physically abused and wrongfully arrested at school by NYPD personnel.

The lawsuit maintains that inadequately trained and poorly supervised police personnel engage in aggressive behavior toward students when no criminal activity is taking place and when there is no threat to health and safety. The police confront and arrest students over minor disciplinary infractions such as talking back, being late for class or having a cell phone in school. The lawsuit documents numerous incidents in which students engaged in non-criminal conduct were handcuffed, arrested and physically assaulted by police personnel at school.

In one case that we are pursuing, an officer who was more than 6 feet tall and, by some estimates, weighed in excess of 300 pounds, tackled and repeatedly punched our client, who was only 5'4" and about 150 pounds. Why? We still don't know. We have learned, however, that the defendant police officer resigned from his posistion under pressure from his superiors. He apparently had been involved in several excessive false alteracations before he abused our client.

Since the NYPD took control of public school safety in New York City in 1998, more than 5,000 SSOs, civilian NYPD employees assigned to the schools, and nearly 200 armed police officers have been assigned to the city’s public schools. This massive presence makes the NYPD’s School Safety Division the nation’s fifth largest police force – larger than the police forces in Washington D.C., Detroit, Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego or Las Vegas. The number of police personnel assigned to patrol New York City public schools has grown by 73 percent since the transfer of school safety to the NYPD, even though school crime was declining prior to the 1998 transfer and even though student enrollment is at its lowest point in more than a decade.

SSOs wear NYPD uniforms and possess the authority to stop, frisk, question, search and arrest students. While NYPD police officers must complete a six-month training course before being deployed, SSOs receive only 14 weeks of training before being assigned to schools. School administrators have no supervisory authority over the SSOs who patrol their schools.

From 2002 to June 2007, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau received 2,670 complaints against members of NYPD’s School Safety Division – about 500 complaints annually – even though no effective or publicized mechanism exists for lodging complaints against school safety officers. Families that have lodged complaints against SSOs have reported that, in response, the NYPD simply transfers those SSOs to different public schools. Additionally, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates allegations of police misconduct, has reported that the NYPD receives about 1,200 complaints a year about SSOs.

Famed Documentary Film Editor Killed In NYC Hit-And-Run

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

A woman was killed while crossing the street while carrying groceries to her home on the Upper West Side this week. The NYPD says that the 39-year-old woman was plowed down by a robber who was fleeing police.

Karen Schmerr, an acclaimed documentary film editor who worked on such files as “The Fog of War,” “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control,” “Sketches of Frank Gehry,” and “Sergio,” was struck while crossing Broadway St. near West 90th Ave. in Manhattan.

Police say that they have arrested 25-year-old David McKie of Brooklyn, who was driving a Dodge away from a drugstore when he and friends had stolen roughly $1000 worth of prescription drugs. He drove through several red lights without his lights on and while weaving dangerously in and out of traffic before striking and killing the woman.

Police say that after hitting and killing the woman, two men abandoned their vehicle and ran on foot. NYC police captured McKie, who they say got out of the drivers’ side door of the SUV. Another man who exited from the passenger’s side door is still being pursued. A third man who ran from the drugstore on foot is also being sought by police. Police officer Michael Monteverde first noticed the get away.

McKie has been charged with murder, though his accomplices remain on the run. He could face 25 years in prison to life in prison for his deadly New York City hit-and-run pedestrian accident.

Boy Killed In Unusual MRI Accident At Westchester Medical Center

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

Nine years ago, a small boy was killed in a freak accident during an MRI medical procedure at Westchester Medical Center in New York. Today, his parents are still battling for justice through a $20 million medical malpractice lawsuit regarding their son’s untimely death.

According to court records, the deadly medical error occurred on July 26, 2001, when six-year-old Michael Colombini was at WMC to receive a follow-up MRI after he underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor. When medical professionals determined that the young boy needed more oxygen, they brought more into the room but neglected to remove the oxygen canister before the procedure began. Because of the magnetism of the MRI, the canister flew toward the patient and the machine, striking the boy on the head and killing him.

Following the hospital error, the boy’s parents brought a New York medical malpractice lawsuit against Westchester County Health Care Corporation, Jian Hou M.D., University Imaging Medical Corporation (UIMC) and Medical Associates, P.C., Valhalla Anesthesia Associates, P.C., New York Medical College, Mary Nadler, R.N., Patricia Lauria, Paul Daniels, General Electric Company (GE), and Terence Matalon, M.D.

WMC was fined $22,000 for the medical mistake by the New York Department of Health, who said that the hospital violated 11 different safety regulations during the procedure. The fine was the maximum amount possible. The violations included the failure to keep magnetic equipment out of an MRI room, failure to keep a patient in a safe environment, and failure to ensure adequate oxygen to a patient.

New York Construction Worker Deaths Fall 84 Percent, Injuries Rise

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

While the number of New York City construction accident deaths fell significantly in 2009 worker injuries in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx are up. Only three men died in construction accidents in 2009, compared with 19 worker deaths in 2008. Many believe there are concrete reasons for the two trends in NYC construction accidents.

First, many construction is down generally due to the recent economic recession. Since fewer construction workers are employed and fewer construction sites are active, fewer construction workers are getting killed while on the job.

Secondly, the two widely-reported crane accidents and injuries in 2008 drew attention to the construction industry in New York and to construction safety measures and regulations. Although seven people died in just one crane accident in 2008, the repercussions of this tragic construction accident have led to safer construction sites overall.

Despite the drop in NYC construction worker fatalities, injuries were up, from 178 to 246. This number is somewhat boggling considering the limited amount of construction work and the lower number of deaths. Some believe that the higher injury number is due to more construction companies and more workers reporting all types of injuries due to the heightened safety concerns of the last two years.

Two of the deaths were fall injuries in which workers were not wearing mandatory safety harnesses. Construction site falls continue to be one of the leading causes of injury and death in New York.

New York City Toyota Dealers Hit By Worldwide Gas Pedal Recall

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

Toyota dealerships in New York City and the surrounding area are struggling with 2010 model sales after the behemoth car company announced a series of recalls over the past two months regarding faulty gas pedals, unexpected acceleration, and defective floor mats. While some New Yorkers say that they are now unable to sell their used Toyotas, others are suing the company for past car accidents and car accident injuries.

The most recent recall involves the popular Prius model, an environmentally-friendly hybrid gas-electric car that is the car company’s best seller after the traditional sedans, the Camry and Corolla. Almost half a million Prius models were recalled worldwide after a number of car owner reported problems with the floor mats and gas pedals. The company believes that the issue occurs when the car’s antilock brake system is triggered.

Not only are dealers suffering – Toyota is already facing 30 different lawsuits regarding car accidents and the faulty gas pedal issue. Experts believe that these product liability lawsuits for defective auto part could cost the company $2 billion, counting the other costs of the international recall.

Toyota has a fix for the defective gas pedals and has already started repairs in the United Kingdom. The company plans on fixing 6,000 cars per day until the problem is solved. In the meantime, they will begin facing class action lawsuits from product liability law firms across the country as those who have been in car accidents seek damages for their injuries.

New York Truck Driver Kills Woman While Distracted By Porn

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

National attention has been given to distracted truck drivers on our roads – but how distracted are truckers? A shocking fatal big rig accident in Buffalo, New York, has many people wondering about current trucking regulations and distracted driving safety issues.

Buffalo Police say that 45-year-old Thomas Wallace was watching pornographic movies on a laptop computer as he drove his tractor-trailer down the New York State Thruway. While distracted, he struck a disabled car on the shoulder, killing the driver. A mother of two, 33-year-old Julie Stratton, of Snyder, had hit a deer just prior to the NY truck accident and called 911 for emergency help.

The truck accident, which occurred on Interstate 90 outside of Pembroke, New York, totaled Stratton's car. The truck driver has been charged with second-degree manslaughter by New York State Police.

Further investigation revealed that not only was Wallace operating a laptop and watching porn while driving, but that he was also driving without enough hours of sleep logged. He had only slept for four hours out of the last 27 hours logged.

It is unclear how common truckers watch movies or use laptops while driving their 80,000 pound commercial vehicles, though many claim that they can multi-task while keeping their eyes on the road. However, recent studies have shown that texting truckers are 23 times more likely to cause a big rig accident. Just this month, federal lawmakers made it illegal for truckers to text or use mobile devices to surf the internet while driving.

Grand Island Mother And Daughter Killed On Slick NY Road

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Buffalo Police say that weather was the main factor in a deadly New York crash that killed a young mother and her baby daughter on January 6. The police and fire department reported that 22-year-old Stephanie Ali and her 9-month-old daughter were driving along Grand Island Boulevard when Ali lost control of her Toyota Prius and slid out of her lane and into oncoming traffic. She was traveling northbound at around 6:30 pm at the time of the fatal car accident.

Her car was struck on the passenger’s side by 43-year-old Michael Szmanski and his son 17-year-old Mark Szmanski. They were towing a trailer with snowmobiles when the cars collided. Neither father or son were injured seriously in the NY car accident, which took place east of Bedell Road in Grand Island. Mother and baby, who were both from Grand Island, were pronounced dead at Kenmore Mercy Hospital in Tonawanda, New York.

Rescue workers, police, and local meteorologists agree that the roads were dangerous at the time of the accident. The weather was below freezing and the snow falling from the sky was granular and slick – akin to an icy drizzle covering the roads. Police say that no charges will be filed in this weather-related car accident.

Grand Island Boulevard was closed for several hours as workers cleaned up the accident and as investigators examined the scene of the car crash.

Former NBA Player Jayson Williams Crashes Car In NYC DUI Accident

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Former Nets basketball star Jayson Williams added to his legal woes this month when he was involved in a car accident in New York City. NYC Police say that the often-troubled former NBA player crashed his black Mercedes after leaving FDR Drive and crossing four lanes of traffic just after 3 am on Tuesday morning. The vehicle hit a tree and Williams suffered a broken neck and cervical. Emergency responders transferred the car accident victim to Bellevue Hospital Center.

Although witnesses say Williams was behind the wheel when the vehicle crashed, he was sitting in the passenger seat when police arrived and told police that the driver of the car had fled the scene of the accident. Witnesses also say that the Mercedes SUV was driving recklessly and erratically. The NYPD charged him with a misdemeanor DUI and noted that the arresting officer smelled alcohol on his breath immediately following the NYC car accident.

The basketball start played in the NBA from 1989 to 1999. Since then, he has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly shooting his limo driver in 2002. He has also faced charges in relation to a bar fight and a New York Hotel. All three events involved alcohol. He will have a retrial regarding the limo driver murder in New Jersey later this year.

Williams was arraigned on Jan 7 – he attended his court date through video conferencing since he was still hospitalized. He was wearing a neck brace and had a laceration over his eye at the time of the hearing.

New Study: Stressed And Depressed Doctors Make More Surgical Errors

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

When we go to a hospital for an operation, we like to think that our surgeon is skilled, educated, and alert. However, although your surgeon may have a stellar education and years of experience, a new study shows that if he is depressed, stressed, or burnt out, he is more likely to make a serious medical error during your operation. While many studies have recently named fatigue as a common cause of surgical errors, this newest reports says that emotional well-being is also a factor in medical malpractice instances. In fact, researchers concluded from this study that the number of hours per week worked and the number of nights on call per week did not effect the number of medical errors made by individual surgeons.

The results of the recent survey issued by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic showed that 40 percent of the almost 8,000 doctors who responded said that they were burned out – and nine percent of them admitted to making a major surgical error in the last three months. The survey also found that surgeons who were emotionally exhausted made five percent more surgical errors while those who felt withdrawn from their patients made 11 percent more medical mistakes.

The study, which will be published in the Annals of Surgery’s next issue, was able to correlate depression, burnout, and surgical errors, but was not able to say definitively which triggered which. That is to say, making serious surgical errors could also cause physician burnout and depression as well.

NYC Construction Worker Breaks Ribs In 8-Story Fall From Scaffolding

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Scaffolding safety is a major concern for construction workers – especially for those who work on the upper floors of some of Manhattan’s tall buildings and sky scrappers. If scaffolding is not safe, a routine construction job can end in a serious construction site accident and construction site injury – and this was certainly the case in the Garment District in New York City on Christmas Eve.

On December 24, construction worker 29-year-old Jose Paulino of the Bronx fell eight stories after the building scaffolding he was working from broke under his feet. The man was seriously injured but will survive the 80-foot fall, according to St. Vincent Hospital where the young man is recovering from broken ribs, a neck injury, a leg injury, and a shoulder injury.

The construction accident took place at 580 Eighth Ave and 38th St., where Paulino was taking apart scaffolding after repairing the side of a 20 story building. The scaffolding plank he was standing on at the 16th story snapped underneath him and he fell to another piece of scaffolding 8 stories below. His brother, 26-year-old Juan Paulino, also of the Bronx, witnessed the fall.

Paulino’s mother, wife, and children comforted him at the hospital and shared their thanks for his survival. The New York City Building Department has ordered work to stop at the construction site until the NYC construction accident is fully investigated. The construction company employing Paulino, Dry New York, is also looking into the accident.

Toymaker to Pay $1.25 Million For Lead Paint Tank Engine Toys

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Two years after a frightening recall of children’s toys that contained dangerous amounts of lead, the company responsible for importing the defective products has been fined $1.25 million. RC2 Corporation will pay the civil penalty after settling an agreement with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). RC2 imported an estimated 1.5 million toys from abroad that were not safe and them sold them to consumers in 2005 and then imported a further 200,000 toys in 2007.

In 2007, a countrywide recall took place involving Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas & Friends toys. The collection of wooden and metal trains and train accessories had paints and other surface coverings high in lead, which could potentially lead to lead poisoning. The US CPSC argued that RC2 knowingly purchased and sold dangerous products in the Untied States, though the toy companies denies this claim.

The company stated that currently its children’s products and toys meet national and international toy safety standards and that safety is their top priority in the wake of the lead pain toy recall.

Federal laws at the time of the Thomas and friends recall limited lead content in toys to 600 parts per million of lead by weight. New safety standards set by the CPSC in 2008 limit the lead content in toys to 90 parts per million.

The largest civil penalty for lead in toys was paid by Mattel Inc.’s Fisher-Price – a $2.3 million fine for dangerous lead paints and coatings on children’s products.

Over Half Of All Americans Want Medical Malpractice Limits?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

According to the Associated Press and Standford University, just over half of the Americans polled said that they believe in medical malpractice caps in injury lawsuits involving surgical errors, medication errors, and other hospital mistakes. While 53 percent of those who were involved in the study were for medical malpractice lawsuit limits, about 33 percent were against putting caps on medical malpractice.

This could be a troubling sign that most Americans do not fully understand the link between health care costs, medical malpractice lawsuits, and their own protection against surgical errors and other mistakes. Many worry that the outcry against large medical malpractice settlements will prevent some from pursing valid medical malpractice cases and receiving just settlements that will pay for their medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The truth is that a medical mistake can cost families millions of dollars. Some suffering form medical mistakes will require 24-hour care, surgeries, chronic pain, disability, and expensive prescriptions for the rest of their lives. Other will lose the ability to work, while some will lose the ability to enjoy their hobbies. Some will die due to medical malpractice, leaving behind families without support.

In addition, medical errors and medical malpractice are extremely expensive – and those expenses can affect health care costs. Estimates say that 1.5 million people every year suffer some kind of medical error at costs of $3.5 billion a year.

Perhaps focusing on improving medical care and health care is more important than focusing on medical malpractice limits.

H1N1 Vaccine Recalled Because Of Lost Potency

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Is your swine flu vaccine potent enough to actually ward off the dangerous virus? After two different and large recalls by pharmaceutical companies, some are worried that their vaccine may not protect against disease as it should.

On December 15, Sanofi-Aventis SA recalled 800,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine after discovering that the vaccine lost potency over time. Then, this week, AstraZeneca's MedInnume unit recalled 4.7 million doses of the same H1N1 vaccine also saying that their medicine had lost potency over time.

The latter recall, which was done with help from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) only affects about 3,000 doses still left in warehouses – all other doses have already been given to the population. However, the FDA was certain that anyone who has already received the vaccine should have no issues and should be protected against swine flu. Most of the recalled doses were sprayed into people’s noses in October and November of 2009.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoed the idea that those who have received the vaccine have no reason for health concerns and that they do not need to be vaccinated again.

The loss in potency was discovered in thirteen different lots of the vaccine which were tested by the biotech company. Scientists say the decrease in potency is very slight.

Efforts Lag at Making Highway Work Zones Safer

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Accidents involving dangerous drop-offs kill about 160 people and injure 11,000 each year. Numerous studies have shown that the steeper the drop-off, the greater the danger.

In Texas in 2002, seven people were killed when a car slipped off a sharp edge of roadway and onto the shoulder, causing the driver to overcorrect into the path of a minivan. Four years before, six people died in a succession of accidents in another Texas work zone, where contractors had failed to smooth out the edge of a newly paved lane.

Yet when the contractors repaving Highway 51 west of Fort Worth discovered that they lacked sufficient equipment, they decided to pave only part of the roadway and finish the rest days later, leaving a sharp drop-off that ran for miles within the travel lane. A state inspector warned that it was dangerous, but no one — not his superiors, not the contractor — listened.

Two days after that warning, Mr. Lee, a 26-year-old oil field worker with a wife and two young sons, rounded a curve in the early-morning darkness, and the wheels of his Suzuki motorcycle slid off the asphalt edge. He tumbled from the bike and was run over by a pickup truck.

The deadly accident was one of thousands in highway work zones across the country that have killed at least 4,700 people — more than two a day — and injured 200,000 in the last five years alone. Ubiquitous annoyances of on-the-go American life, work zones are sometimes death traps, too.

Behind this human toll is a litany of mundane hazards: concrete barriers in the wrong position, obsolete lane markings left in place, warning signs never deployed.

Yet there are virtually no laws or regulations mandating safety measures in work zones. There are standards, but they are loosely enforced and differ from state to state. As a result, there are few penalties levied against contractors when, because of ignorance, carelessness or a desire to save money, guidelines are violated. Problem contractors often just keep on getting hired, and dangerous practices remain uncorrected, sometimes for years.

Ultimately, the hazards persist through a kind of collective indifference, a presumption that, given the crush of traffic and the vagaries of driver behavior, accidents happen.

But interviews and internal government documents, along with a review of more than 100 legal cases involving work zone crashes around the country, illuminate a more complex calculus of blame — one that often encompasses the actions of the construction industry and its regulators as well.

“A lot of work-zone crashes are entirely preventable,” said David Holstein, Ohio’s chief traffic engineer. “It’s not explainable by just driver error or inattention. We can intervene to keep them from happening.”

After transportation officials in Ohio created a system to monitor work-zone crashes in real time, they were startled to discover that the presence of construction caused accident rates to jump as much as 70 percent, Mr. Holstein said.

“We were seeing that crashes were happening day after day after day, and nothing was being done about it,” he said. “Sometimes there were hundreds of crashes over the life of a project.”

Now the stakes are increasing, as $27 billion from President Obama’s economic stimulus package is prompting a nationwide boom in highway construction. Federal transportation officials are concerned that work-zone fatalities, after declining in recent years along with traffic deaths in general, could rise again.

“The number of people killed as a result of crashes in work zones remains significant,” the Federal Highway Administration says on its Web site. “Safety and mobility impacts from work zones will likely be magnified with the infusion of a large number of new projects.”

Transportation officials are responding pretty much as they always have: by focusing primarily on drivers. States have raised fines for speeding in work zones, cracked down on drunken or distracted drivers and stiffened penalties for killing or injuring highway workers, even though roughly 85 percent of those killed in work zones are motorists.

If you have been involved in a car accident near a construction area, please call us today. We can help. 1.877.288.9191

Report: State Tort Reforms Don't Lower Premiums For Doctors or Patients

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Report: State Tort Reforms Don't Lower Premiums For Doctors or Patients
Insurance company profits 24% higher in states with severe restrictions on patients' rights

Washington, DC—State tort reforms have provided a boon to insurance companies, leading to record profits while physician and patient premiums continue to skyrocket.

An analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and company annual statements shows malpractice insurer profits are 24 percent higher in states with caps. In these cap states, insurers took in 3.5 times more in premiums than they paid out in 2008. In contrast, insurers in states without caps took in just over twice what they paid in claims.

The findings also show absolutely no correlation between the cost of malpractice premiums and health insurance premiums. For example, Maine has the ninth lowest malpractice premiums but the fourth highest health insurance premiums. Conversely, Nevada has the third lowest health insurance premiums nationally, but malpractice premiums are the country's ninth highest, despite having a cap in place for eight years.

"The data are clear: tort reform is just another insurance company handout," said American Association for Justice President Anthony Tarricone. "Insurers cried wolf and demanded tort reform, only to pocket the profits and never pass savings onto physicians or patients. While 98,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors, it's nonsensical to limit patients' rights simply to fill insurance company coffers."

The report also shows how medical negligence laws were passed under false pretenses. The medical malpractice insurance industry has seen a 47 percent increase in profitability in the last 10 years. Overblown "reported" losses were used by the insurance industry to justify new measures restricting the rights of those injured by medical negligence.

Now that over 30 states have malpractice caps, insurance companies are enjoying extremely high levels of profit. In 2008, the average profit of the 10 largest medical malpractice insurers was higher than 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies and 35 times higher than the Fortune 500 average.

Finally, the report explains the dynamics of the insurance cycle and trends in premium pricing, which are well-known by analysts within the insurance industry. Remarkably, the industry’s leaders are already positioning to claim another “tort crisis” and to lobby for even more severe restrictions on patients’ rights in 2012.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Woman Told She Had HIV At Harlem Hospital

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

A woman is suing the city after a hospital told her that she was terminally ill with HIV, herpes, and hepatitis. The medical malpractice claim was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan last week. The New York Post reports that 54-year-old Maria Osorio went to Harlem Hospital for a $15 mammogram and was asked if she also wanted a free blood test to check for other problems. Osorio was told soon after the tests that she was infected and would soon die.

Soon after, the woman, a Columbian immigrant, turned against her husband Gabriel. She accused him of cheating, stopped going to work, moved out of the bedroom, and contemplated suicide. When she called the hospital back, they told her that there had not been a mistake despite the fact that she felt perfectly healthy. In fact, they told her that her disease was very advanced and serious.

However, weeks after that, the hospital called to say they made a mistake – although they did not apologize. By this time, Maria had suffered severe emotional damaged, possibly irreversible marital damage, and lost wages. Both her and her husband also became addicted to sleeping pills while trying to survive the news that Maria had HIV and that Gabriel had been unfaithful.

"My partner has been destroyed emotionally," Gabriel said of the medical malpractice suit. New York City officials did not comment on the case.

Welcome

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The firm would like to congratulate Howard Stolzenberg and Terrence Cortelli on their recent admission to the White Plains bar association.

Holiday Party

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Last nite, Lever & Stolzenberg LLP held its annual Holiday Party. It was alot of fun and the Firm thanks everyone for coming and making this year one of the Firm's most successful years ever. We look forward to what next year has to offer and we hope to bring more justice for our clients who have been injured and need our help. Happy holidays and happy new year to all!

Things to Do In the New Year: Getting Automobile Insurnace in Order

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

"As we look to start a new year, not only should we look to ensure our cars are in proper working order, but we also need to understand that one's automolibe liability policy is in proper working order too," says Terrence James Cortelli, a New York accident lawyer known for his experience in personal injury law. "Drivers should understand their coverage, liability, and their auto insurance policy as a whole."

According to Mr. Cortelli, the best way to ensure that a driver’s auto insurance will protect them in the event of a motor vehicle accident is for the policyholder to take the time to talk to their insurance agent or a representative from their insurance company so that they can better understand their policy.

Even a quick call to your personal injury attorney can be a major help in understanding your policy. Mr. Cortelli explains that he is always looking to help people understand their policies and even offers his email address (tcortelli@lsinjurylaw.com) to anyone who needs help, free of charge.

“We find it is generally not in one's best interest to talk to the defendant’s insurance representative without first consulting an attorney because it often jeopardizes the monetary award that victim is entitled to.” "Having auto insurance coverage is not only the law, but it is essential in the event that a driver is in an accident," says Mr. Cortelli. "Ninety-nine percent of the money that is awarded to our clients comes from the defendant’s insurance company."

Mr. Cortelli says that, depending on the nature of an auto accident, victims may be eligible for compensation from the other driver’s insurance company. However, when a person is seriously injured in a car accident, he stresses that it is important for victims to consult an auto accident attorney before talking to an insurance company representative.

"If a person or their loved one has been injured in an automobile accident, they must consult a personal injury lawyer before talking to the insurance company that represents the individual that caused the accident," says Cortelli.

According to Cortelli, unrepresented victims of auto accidents that offer statements to a defendant’s insurance company, are examined by an insurance company doctor, or sign a release, often give information to the insurance compnay that they do not even realize will destroy their case even in those situations where they are truly hurt and not at fault for the accident. That is why, he says, it is important to consult a personal injury lawyer first. Personal injury attorneys are experts at dealing with insurance companies and getting right and just results. "Insurance companies never take advanage of me or my clients because I know the law," Cortelli adds.

"The victim has nothing to lose," says Cortelli, "because a quality accident attorney will offer a free consultation."

If you or a loved one have been in a car accident, or just have a simple question about your insurnace policy, Mr. Cortelli says that his firm is always looking to help.

Terrence James Cortelli works for the firm Lever & Stolzenberg, LLP, a personaly injury firm that helps those involved in serious automobile accidents. For a free consultation, do not hestiate to call at 1-877-288-9191

Tom Brokaw And Wife Involved In Fatal NYC Car Accident In The Bronx

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx was the scene of a deadly NYC highway accident last Friday afternoon – and accident that involved two cars, a mail truck, and former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and his wife, Meredith. The New York City Police Department said that their initial investigation revealed the fatal car accident was caused by a loose spool of cable on the highway.

The Bronx car accident occurred around one in the afternoon, when the Brokaws were driving in the left lane and spotted the cable in the roadway in the right lane. When an SUV merged left to avoid the cable, it forced a mail truck into the far left lane, where it collided with the car owned by the 69-year-old newscaster. The mail truck jumped the highway median, with the US Postal Service worker suffering some injuries. The Brokaw’s Volvo attempted to stop, but slid across the median as well and slid into the mail truck.

The SUV also crashed due to the spool, and the driver, Suejas Estrada, 30, from the Bronx was thrown from the vehicle. It is not know whether Estrada was wearing a seat belt at the time of the car accident.

The Brokaws told reporters that they were “deeply saddened by the loss of life” that took place at the accident scene. Neither were injured in the accident.

The NYC car accident caused backups for several hours where the Bruckner Expressway merges with the Sheridan Expressway.

Long Island Dad Dies In Hit-And-Run Motorcycle Accident

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Have you seen a damaged early-to-mid-90s Buick Century in the Nassau area in the last week? Police are searching for the perpetrator of a deadly hit-and-run accident in Long Island on Sunday, in which a local motorcycle rider was left for dead.

New York Police say that 46-year-old John Deiker of Franklin Square was struck while riding northbound on Commonwealth Street near the intersection of Naple Avenue a few minutes before noon. While the driver of the car that struck him immediately fled the scene, Deiker was left in the middle of the intersection suffering from severe internal injuries. He died a short time after being found at Franklin General Hospital. Dieker, who was on his way home in order to attend the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show with his family and two children, was not wearing a helmet at the time of his accident. He was just yards away from his house at the time of the accident.

Police have turned their efforts to finding the person who struck the motorcycle in Franklin Square, but only have some information, such as the make of the car, from witnesses. They are not willing to say that alcohol, speed, reckless driving, or weather was a factor in the deadly NYC motorcycle crash.

Anyone who has information about this Long Island hit-and-run should immediately call the Nassau County Police Homicide Squad or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.

New Rule: Don't Facebook the Judges Who are Deciding Your Client's Case

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

In a recent opinion, the state’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges “friend” lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it “reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ‘friends’ are in a special position to influence the judge.”

In practice, of course, actual friends and Facebook friends can be as different as leather and pleather, and the committee did recognize that online friends were not the same as friends in the traditional sense. A minority of the panel would have allowed Facebook friendship, which it characterized as more like “a contact or acquaintance” without conveying the notion of “feelings of affection or personal regard.”

But the committee’s majority concluded that the possibility of the appearance of impropriety required that they recommend against friending, said Judge T. Michael Jones of the First Judicial Circuit Court, a committee member. He emphasized that the committee’s role was advisory, and that the opinion “does not have the force of a Supreme Court opinion” in Florida.

The decision was issued last month, and was first reported Tuesday by the Legal Profession Blog.

Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University, said the Florida rule went too far. “In my view, they are being hypersensitive,” Professor Gillers said. He noted that the differences within the committee probably indicated a generational gap, which Judge Jones said was not the case. In the case of a truly close friendship between a judge and a lawyer involved in a case, the other side can simply seek to disqualify the judge, Professor Gillers said.

Judges do not “drop out of society when they become judges,” he said. “The people who were their friends before they went on the bench remained their friends, and many of them were lawyers.”

Nonetheless, Professor Gillers said, many judges are careful not to socialize with friends during cases that involve them.

One Florida county judge, Nina Ashenafi Richardson of Tallahassee, said the rule was “probably a good idea, just to avoid any perceptions of impropriety.” Although the judge has a Facebook page that a friend put together for her political campaign — “it was an amazing tool to get my message out” — she said she had not used it since.

Still, legal sycophants can take heart: lawyers can declare themselves Facebook “fans” of judges, the committee said, “as long as the judge or committee controlling the site cannot accept or reject the lawyer’s listing of himself or herself on the site.”

Victims' family say wrong-way lawsuit focuses on DWI

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

The family of two victims from Diane Schuler's wrong-way crash on the Taconic State Parkway said their lawsuit filed today isn't about money or revenge but about awareness to drunk driving.

"This holiday season, remember the Taconic tragedy," said Roseann Guzzo, who lost her father, Michael Bastardi Sr., and brother, Guy Bastardi, in the crash. "If you have to go to a party, don't drink and drive. Be aware. We're all brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. You can have a good time, but don't drink and drive — especially with children in the car."

The Bastardis held a news conference outside the Westchester County Courthouse today to discuss the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, available here, was filed in state Supreme Court against the estate of Diane Schuler and her brother, Warren Hance, who owned the minivan Schuler drove on July 26 before she killed herself, her 2-year-old daughter, three young nieces, the Bastardis and their friend, Daniel Longo, 74. Schuler's 5-year-old son, Bryan, survived.

Schuler and her husband, Daniel, had spent the weekend at a Sullivan County campground and headed home to West Babylon, L.I., in separate vehicles.

The Bastardis are seeking unspecified damages from both parties in the suit. Irving Anolik, the Bastardi family attorney, emphasized the suit isn't centered on money. He said the family was filing it to bring attention to the dangers of drunk driving.

Guzzo said the family intends to create a foundation focusing on the dangers of drunk driving.

Tom Ruskin, president of CMP Investigative Group and a spokesman for the Schuler family, declined to comment. Represenatives for the Hances could not be reached for comment.

The Westchester Medical Examiner's Office found Schuler was drunk and high before she crashed. According to the lawsuit, the Bastardis allege Schuler's behavior "imperiled the lives and well-being of all lawful users of the highway" that day.

The lawsuit also implies that Michael Sr. and Guy Bastardi didn't die instantly from the crash. Brian Sichol, the attorney filing the lawsuit for the Bastardis, said his firm's investigation into the matter found that first responders to the scene saw the two alive. The significance of this information, he said, indicates the two underwent suffering and pain before their deaths.

Governor Signs Anti-Subrogation Law

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

NYSTLA achieved an extraordinary legislative victory when Governor Paterson signed into effect new General Obligations Law §5-335 on November 12, 2009. This law now bars any benefit provider, such as an HMO or private health insurer, from seeking any reimbursement or subrogation against any settling party to a personal injury or wrongful death action with respect to benefits it may have paid or is obligated to pay. The only exceptions are for claims for which there is a statutory right of reimbursement (e.g., Medicaid, Medicare, workers' compensation) and subrogation claims to recover excess no-fault benefits.

This new law directly overrules two problematic Court of Appeals decisions, Teichman v. Community Hosp. Of Western Suffolk, 87 N.Y.2d 514 (1996), and Fasso v. Doerr, 12 N.Y.3d 80 (2009), to the extent they recognized non-statutory rights for reimbursement or subrogation against a settling party.

Moreover, this law takes effect immediately and applies both to future actions and all pending cases that have not settled or gone to trial as of today.

This law is a major victory in protecting our injured clients against the proliferation of unwarranted claims for windfalls by way of subrogation and reimbursement asserted by health insurers in recent years. It will significantly facilitate the prosecution of our cases and remove major obstacles to their resolution.

The bill also eliminates the exception under CPLR §4545 that barred a public employer sued by its employee from reducing a future lost earnings award by the amount of future pension benefits that plaintiff will receive (Iazzetti v. City of NY, 94 N.Y.2d 183, 701 N.Y.S.2d 332 [1999]). Under this new law, a public employer sued by its employee will now be entitled to the same collateral source setoff for future benefits as all other defendants are already entitled to receive. Even here, NYSTLA effectively rebuffed the City of New York's overreaching attempts to have the law changed not only for new actions but also all those now pending. Thus, unlike the new GOL §5-335 above, this amendment to CPLR §4545 applies only to actions commenced on or after its effective date.

Two Hit-And-Run Accidents Shock Long Island, Kill Two Youths

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Two New York pedestrian accidents rocked Smithtown this week - occuring just miles from each other. In the first Long Island hit-and-run case, 11-year-old Courtney Sipes was struck and killed by a car on Main Street in Smithtown just after dark as she and her mother crossed the street. The young girl, who was in fifth grade, was thrown dozens of feet from the car and landed under a parked car. Many in the area said that crosswalk where the accident took place is a dangerous one, with a short crossing time and poor lighting.

The New York pedestrian accident victim was taken to St. Catherine of Siena Hospital where she was pronounced dead. NY investigators say that the car that hit the girl likely sustained hood damage and was either a white pickup or a white SUV.

In a second fatal Long Island pedestrian accident, a 15-year-old boy was struck while riding his bike in Smithtown on Terry Road and Route 347. In this case, the person driving stopped the car. Witnesses and the driver, 25-year-old Alex Helkin say that there was a green light at the time of the accident and that the bike rider must not have seen that the light had changed. The young man was riding bikes with three other teenagers at the time of the NYC car accident.

The Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner pronounced the bike accident victim, Nicolas Svercel, dead at the scene of the accident. Suffolk County Police are continuing the investigation. As of yet, no charges have been filed.

New York State Bans Accused Fertility Doctor From Practicing

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

After holding a license to practice medicine in New York State for three decades, a fertility doctor living in Connecticut had his NY medical license revoked after authorities discovered that he had inseminated a woman with the wrong sperm in 2002.

Dr. Ben Remaley, a Connecticut OBGYN, has been accused of using his own sperm to inseminate a woman with fertility problems. When the woman gave birth to twin baby girls, the family was shocked to discover that they did not resemble their father, who was African-American. A paternity test confirmed that the babies were not his. The doctor was fined $10,000 at the time the case surfaced in 2002, for mislabeling specimens and for keeping inaccurate records. The family settled for their improper medical practice case in 2005. Now, however, the Attorney general is investigating the possibility that Remaley used his own sperm to impregnate the woman and that there may be other cases out there.

The obstetrician handed over his NY medical license and has agree not to inseminate any more women or reapply for a license. The gynecologist still practices medicine in Connecticut.

It is unclear why there is continued interest in this case at this time and a gag order on the case prevents further details from being revealed at this time. However, many believe that there may be more medical malpractice evidence in this case that has not yet been brought to light.

Indie Rock Band Member Falls To Death In Williamsburg Elevator Shaft

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

In a fall accident reported throughout the New York Indie rock music world, !!! drummer Jerry Fuchs was killed in an apartment building elevator shaft on Sunday morning, Novemeber 8.

The New York Post reported that the drummer, who worked with !!!, Maserati, Vineland, Tuning machine, and Juan MacLean, was attending a fund-raiser in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the time of the fatal fall accident. The 34-year-old musician was in an elevator with a friend when it became stuck near the fifth floor. Both men decided to try jumping four feet from the lift to the floor’s elevator opening. The friend jumped successfully, but Fuchs’ clothing became caught and the man fell into the space between the elevator and the fifth floor. The friend, 24-year-old Stephen Alessi, said that Fuchs successfully made the jump, but that the man’s hoodie became caught on the elevator, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards.

After falling more than 50 feet, friends found him at the bottom of the elevator shaft, where he was breathing but not able to speak or respond. Emergency workers rushed the man to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 on Sunday. A lawyer for the building’s owner, Mona Gora, said that the freight elevator was not manned after hours and said that whoever was operating the elevator at one in the morning was not trained. Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said that the elevator was not defective.

Two NYFD Fire Truck Collide In Brooklyn, 12 Firemen Injured

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

On Saturday morning, October 24, two New York City Fire Department fire trucks collided at an intersection in Brooklyn. Both emergency vehicles were responding to a gas leak in the NYC borough at the time of the truck accident.

New York City Police and Fire officials told the New York Times that the truck accident occurred at the intersection of at Ashford Street and Hegeman Avenue in Brooklyn and involved a truck from Engine Company 236 and a truck from Ladder Company 107. The former fire engine was a medium-sized truck while the latter was a full-sized ladder truck weighing 70,000 pounds.

Twelve firefighters were injured in the NYC truck wreck – with two facing serious injuries from the crash. One man, a driver of one of the fire trucks, became pinned when the vehicle crashed onto its side. Witnesses described an enormously loud crash as well as large amounts of smoke. The ladder truck struck a tree and a minivan as it crashed and flipped. The other truck, which did not roll over, drove onward to the gas leak after the collision, located at 762 Warwick Street. The fire departments stands by the second driver’s decision to go on to the first emergency.

The injured firefighters were taken to Kings County Hospital Center, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Many suffered back and neck injuries, while two suffered serious leg injuries. One of the firefighters took an estimated two hours to remove from the crash, as his leg was pinned between the truck and the tree.

25-Year-Old Wins $43 Million For Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury At Bellevue

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

In 1984, Tiffany Busone was born at the Bellevue Women's Hospital in Niskayuna, New York. However, the usually joyful occasion was colored by a terrible tragedy - Busone suffered from severe cerebral palsy that would affect her for the rest of her life. Three years later, her parents filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor in charge of the girl's birth and settle out of court. This year, the now-25-year-old woman won $43 million in past and future damages against the hospital in a New York birth malpractice lawsuit.

The NYC medical malpractice lawsuit put forth that the hospital incorrectly incubated and resuscitated the already-injured baby, causing her further oxygen deprivation and permanent brain damage. Today the young woman is wheelchair bound and requires daily care. She will also be prevented from earning a living like she might have if she had not been injured as an infant.

The $43 million in medical malpractice damages included money for past and future pain and suffering, past and future medical costs, home health care, and lost earnings. The case was deliberated by a Saratoga County jury - more than 20 years after Busone's mother brought the original case to court. Busone, despite her crippling disability, recently completed her undergraduate degree.

About five percent of cerebral palsy suffers have the condition as the result of a birth injury. There is no known cure for the debilitating motor condition.

Bronx Jury Awards Injured NYC Construction Worker $9.36 Million

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Are New York City construction workers given the safety equipment and the protection they need against on-the-job accidents? Unfortunately they are not always looked after as they should be by their employees under New York law. This was certainly the case with a Bronx construction worker who fell two stories while on the job - an NYC construction site accident that could have and should have been prevented with the proper safety measures.

This week a Bronx jury awarded the injured worker with $9.36 million in damages - an amount that should cover his past and future medical bills as well as his pain and suffering. The jury only deliberated for about an hour before deciding on the side of the injured construction worker and against his employer who did not provide him with any sort of safety harness or net while working.

The accident took place in the Bronx in the spring of 2006 when the worker in question fell while working on the outer wall of a building. The man suffered two fractured feet and a fractured knee - serious injuries that required multiple surgeries and that will plague him for the rest of his life. During the trial several doctors, a life care planner, and an economist testified that the injured construction worker would face a number of challenges in the future because of his shattered feet, including future home care and possible life in a wheelchair.

The developer and general contractors of the East Clark Street building were found to be negligent in providing proper safety equipment and are responsible for paying the damages.

NYC Medical Malpractice: Woman Sues After Brain Surgery Delay

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

A woman's serious brain surgery was delayed for weeks in New York because one surgeon was on vacation and another refused to perform the operation. Now, the woman is suing for medical malpractice.

Thirty-two-year-old Jennifer Ronca went to the North Shore University Hospital for brain surgery on April 10, 2009. The first half of the surgery went well, but the surgeon for the second half of the operation, Dr. Paolo Bolognese, was on vacation at the time. When the hospital asked chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Thomas Milhorat, to step in and complete the surgery, he refused, leaving a patient stranded and unconscious on the operating table. Hospital staff say that Milhorat was finishing a research paper in his office and did not want to be disturbed despite the patient in distress. Now, Ronca is suing the two doctors and the hospital for negligence and carelessness.

The surgery was rescheduled, but Ronca is still suffering, both from her condition and from the surgical error. She was being treated for Chiari malformation, in which part of the lower brain falls into the spinal canal. The hospital involved in the case said that although there was a mix-up concerning her operation, Ronca was not injured by their doctors and has no reason to sue.

The North Shore Hospital and its lucrative Chiari Institute are also juggling other New York medical malpractice suits involving the controversial brain operation that Bolognese and Milhorat perform.

The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court.

Brooklyn Man Dies Of Heart Attack In Hospital, Family Sues

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

The family of a Brooklyn man who died on a heart attack at Maimonides Medical Center is suing the Brooklyn hospital for medical malpractice. The family of the man say that he could have survived if not for the multiple medical mistakes by doctors, interns, and other medical professionals in the hours after their father's medical emergency.

The family says that 52-year-old Jacob Goldbrenner went to the hospital with heart problems in July of 2008. As the man's health deteriorated, lab technicians and medical interns struggle to run tests, get results, find lab keys, or locate an anesthesiologist. Goldbrenner suffered a heart attack during the five hours he waited at the hospital for doctors to run tests or perform a life-saving procedure. Even when doctors intubated the patient to help his breathing, the tube missed his lungs and went into his stomach in another act of medical malpractice.

Although the heart attack patient was put in an ambulance and rushed to Westchester Medical Center with the promis of undergoing a heart transplant, he died of his condition two weeks later. His family, including his 27-year-old son Baruch Goldbrenner, believe that his life could have been saved if the staff at Maimonides Medical Center had not caused so many medical errors and so many delays. Specifically, the family believes that if doctors could have found key to the cardiac catheterization lab, their father would be alive today.

Off-Duty Cop Kills Woman In Alleged Brooklyn DUI Car Accident

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

After being involved in a NYC pedestrian accident that may have involved drinking and driving, a New York City cop has been suspended from duty for thirty days without pay.

Last Sunday, 32-year-old Vionique Valnord was flagging down a taxi in Brooklyn following a wedding around one in the morning. Off-duty NYC police officer 30-year-old Andrew Kelly struck and killed the woman with his Jeep Cherokee. Those who responded to the scene said that the officer had slurred speech, red eyes, and smelled of alcohol, though Kelly refused a breathalizer test at the scene of the fatal Brooklyn car accident.

Although a blood test seven hours later did not detect any alcohol in his system, Kelly has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. Michael Downs, another NYPD officer, was in the car at the time of the NYC accident but fled the scene. He is being suspended for not rendering aid.

Kelly presented a note of condolence for the family of the dead woman in court, though it is not known if he will testify. The grand jury hearing will begin next week. A memorial for pedestrian accident victim Valnord will be held this week, with Mayor Bloomberg in attendance.

An internal investigation is also taking place to see if any other NYPD officers tried to conceal that Kelly was drunk at the time of the fatal car accident.

Midtown Truck Driver Hid Medical Condition; Kills 2 During Seizure

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Who are truck companies hiring to drive their vehicles? In some cases, they might have medical conditions that make it dangerous for them to be behind the wheel. This was true in the recent case of a fatal dump truck accident that occurred in New York City in which the truck driver suffered a seizure while driving.

Auvryn Scarlett was driving a recycling truck on 35th street in Manhattan when he suffered a seizure behind the wheel. Scarlett knew he had a medical condition that caused seizures, but had forgotten to take his medication for the last two weeks.

Twenty-six-year-old George Bonilla was also in the cab of the dump truck, but could not grab the wheel from his coworker. The truck jumped a sidewalk, killing a British couple Jacklyn Timmons and Andrew Hardie, both 47. Another man, 25-year-old Abayomi Henderson, was seriously injured in the NYC truck accident.

Scarlett has been charged with murder following the deadly New York pedestrian and truck accident. The man's employer, Action Carting, had no idea their driver suffered from a potentially dangerous medical condition. He had been with the company for ten years. Although he never set out to harm anyone, he did take actions to put others in danger by driving the truck while not on his seizure medication. He had gone on disability leave in 2007 following a seizure but returned to truck driving later that year.

It is not clear why Scarlett went off of his seizure medication.

Truck Accident On Hutchinson River Parkway Reveals Trucking Violations

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Many drivers are familiar with the most common dangers of trucks - distracted truck drivers, driving under the influence, speeding, and reckless drivers. But many are not aware at the other ways that truckers can break the law and endanger the lives of others that are on the road.

A good example of these more subtle truck dangers occurred on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Rye Brook, New York earlier this month. A trucker that was traveling on I-287 got onto the Parkway, which does not allow big rigs. The truck struck the King Street Bridge, which was too low for the truck to clear. The King Street Bridge has been hit in a similar fashion several times in past months.

The New York truck accident, which was carrying several tons of onions, interrupted traffic on both King Street and on the Hutchinson River Parkway as emergency workers labored to remove the pallets of onions from the truck onto small truck beds and to clear the road.

The truck driver, Marco Pena, was charged with disobeying traffic directives, driving a restricted vehicle onto the parkway, and having an overweight vehicle. It is not clear whether or not he knew it was illegal to drive a truck on the parkway.

A car traveling behind the truck became wedged beneath the trailer during the 18-wheeler accident. No one was seriously injured in the New York big rig accident. The New York Department of Transportation told the media that they were looking in to reviewing the number of signs and visibility of signs that inform truckers not to use the parkway.

New York Times: Workers Comp Fails Low Wage Workers

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

In a feature written by the New York Time, journalist Steven Greenhouse investigates how low-wage workers are treated here in the United States. A new study that surveyed workers in the largest cities in America, including New York City, finds that low-wage workers are often left behind. Not only are low-wage workers often paid less than minimum wage, the study found, but they are often not compensated for overtime hours and suffer from other wage-law violations.

Most importantly, and most surprisingly, the study discovered that low-wage workers are less likely to receive workers' compensation due to pressure from their managers not to file claims. In fact, the study, which reached out to 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, found that only eight percent of workers seriously injured while on the job file for the workers' compensation benefits that they need and deserve. While others are receiving financial compensation for lost wages and medical bills, the vast majority of low-wage workers are taking the financial blow, either by paying out of their own pocket or by using their health insurance. Only six percent of those surveyed had work injuries paid for by workers' compensation. In many cases, the workers' managers and bosses pressure the worker not to file for workers' comp - an act which is illegal.

Although many knew that illegal immigrant workers suffered from a number of similar injustices, the study found that all low-wage workers, including native-born Americans and legal immigrants, are in danger of being victims of wage-law violations and unfair workers' comp treatment.

OSHA Investigates Tractor Death of New York Landscaping Worker

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Occupational Safety Hazard Administration (OSHA) is investigating the death of a New York landscaper who died on the job in South Bristol, NY, at the beginning of September. Ontario County Sheriff's Deputies reported that the man, 55-year-old James Meisenzahl, was clearing away some small trees and brush on a hillside when his 2007 Bobcat T300 tractor flipped over and rolled down the hill.

The fatal New York worker accident took place near County Road 12 in Ontario County. At almost three in the afternoon. According to the man who found the on-the-job accident victim, Meisenzahl was found slumped over in the tractor, which had come to rest in an upright position. The man who found the dead contract worker, property owner John Allhusen, had hired him to clear the brush and was stopping in to check on his progress clearing the field.

Meisenzahl was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders. Although it is likely that he died of a severe head injury after being crushed by the heavy equipment, an autopsy is being performed to confirm the cause of death. The man was from Naples, NY, and had been hired for contracted construction work throughout the region for the last decade.

"He was a well-respected craftsman and a nice person," said Gail Musnicki, manager of Bristol Builders. "We were friendly competitors."

The federal Occupational Safety Hazard Administration (OSHA) was notified of the NY worker accident and will investigate with the help of Ontario County Sheriff's Deputies.

After Son Killed On Niagara Thruway, Parents Wed At Funeral

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Fatal New York car accidents can tear families apart and bring only sorrow and sadness. But in the case of one fatal car accident that took the life of a precocious 7-year-old boy, his death brought his two parents together.

At the beginning of September, the young Asa Hill was killed in a terrible multi-vehicle accident on the Niagara Thruway. The boy suffered from a traumatic brain injury in the I-190 accident and was rushed by EMS to the Women's and Children's Hospital where he was put on life support. After discovering the boy was brain dead and donating his organs to others in need, his parents took their son off life support.

According to eyewitnesses, a white utility vehicle plowed into a compact car, setting off a chain reaction of crashes on the New York highway. The compact car spun out of its lane, involving an SUV and another truck in the accident. When the compact carrying Asa burst into flames, a dozen bystanders helped rescue the boy until official help could arrive. Others were seriously injured in the Buffalo, NY, crash as well.

At the boy's memorial service on Monday, his parents, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, decided to grant their son's wish and marry at the end of the service. The couple, who were high school sweethearts, were brought together over the tragic death of their son.

Family Gets $11 Million In Medical Malpractice Case Involving Negligence

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

When a New York mother reported a case of sexual abuse to her doctor, she expected that the doctor would act to help her and her family get to the bottom of the abuse and begin to heal it. However, even after the mother reported that her two little girls, aged 9 and 11 at the time, were being inappropriately touched by their older half brother, the doctor did not act.

This month, a Saranac Lake jury awarded the girls $11 million in damages, confirming that the doctor in question acted negligently. The medical malpractice case gave $6 million to the older girl, now 18, and $5 million to the younger girl, now 16. The girls sustained repeated rapes and abuse from their half-brother over a range of months. Police were finally contacted in 2001, and the half-brother spent almost two years in a juvenile detention facility before being released.

According to evidence given in court, Dr. Patricia Monroe and Adirondack Internal Medicine and Pediatrics was made aware of sexual abuse in the family but did not speak with either girl about the incident or report it to Child Protective Services. Even when the older girl came in for other medical issues, such as a sore throat, the subject of the abuse was not brought up. Monroe and her medical malpractice lawyer are appealing the decision.

"They want to move on," the family's NY medical malpractice lawyer said. "Do they want to be compensated, of course. But they never asked me how much money they're going to get. Money is not a big thing to these kids."

Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68 percent of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week.

“We were all surprised by the high prevalence rate,” said Ruth Milkman, one of the study’s authors and a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the City University of New York. The study, to be released on Wednesday, was financed by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations.

“The conventional wisdom has been that to the extent there were violations, it was confined to a few rogue employers or to especially disadvantaged workers, like undocumented immigrants,” said Nik Theodore, an author of the study and a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “What our study shows is that this is a widespread phenomenon across the low-wage labor market in the United States.”

According to the study, 39 percent of those surveyed were illegal immigrants, 31 percent legal immigrants and 30 percent native-born Americans.

The study found that 26 percent of the workers had been paid less than the minimum wage the week before being surveyed and that one in seven had worked off the clock the previous week. In addition, 76 percent of those who had worked overtime the week before were not paid their proper overtime, the researchers found.

The new study, “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers,” was conducted in the first half of 2008, before the brunt of the recession hit. The median wage of the workers surveyed was $8.02 an hour — supervisors were not surveyed — with more than three-quarters of those interviewed earning less than $10 an hour. When the survey was conducted, the minimum wage was $7.15 in New York State, $7.50 in Illinois and $8 in California.

Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis responded to the report with an e-mail statement, saying, “There is no excuse for the disregard of federal labor standards — especially those designed to protect the neediest among us.” Ms. Solis said she was in the process of hiring 250 more wage-and-hour investigators. “Today’s report clearly shows we still have a major task before us,” she said.

The study’s authors noted that many low-wage employers comply with wage and labor laws. The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small-business owners, said it encouraged members “to stay in compliance with state and federal labor laws.”

In instances when workers’ compensation should have been used, the study found, one third of workers injured on the job paid the bills for treatment out of their own pocket and 22 percent used their health insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance paid medical expenses for only 6 percent of the injured workers surveyed, the researchers found.

Call to Jury Duty Strikes Fear of Financial Ruin

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Few people like jury duty. But for many people squeezed by the recession, a jury summons holds a new fear: financial ruin.

Judges and court officials around the country say they are seeing the impact of the recession in their courtrooms. While no one keeps overall statistics on juror excuses, those closest to the process say that in many parts of the country an increasing number of jurors are trying to get out of service, forcing courts to call an ever larger pool of jurors to meet their needs.

Ranae Johnson, the jury commissioner for Bonneville County, Idaho, said that she typically summoned 400 people for each two-week term of service, but that lately she “had to pop it up to 500” because of rising numbers of economic hardship claims. “We’re hearing it more than we used to,” Ms. Johnson said. “A lot more.”

Other judges say they sense a shift as well. Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn of the Federal District Court in Dallas said that as she geared up recently for a trial that was to last several months, the pleas from jurors differed from those in a case of similar length she impaneled a few years ago.

“I did have more people who had lost their jobs,” Judge Lynn said, “or were looking for a new job, or were relocating for a job.” Many potential jurors told her that their employers would not pay for their jury time — employers that she knew, from the previous long trial, had paid in the past.

Unemployment — or the fear of it — is hardly a barrier to jury service, of course, and being without a job could even make it easier for some people to do their civic duty. Jury experts say that many people have an exaggerated sense of the hardship that service requires.

“Most people, when they’re called for jury duty, assume if they are going to be on a trial, it’s going to be a long trial,” said Shari Seidman Diamond, a law professor at Northwestern University. In fact, Professor Diamond said, the typical trial takes just two or three days, and in many jurisdictions jurors are dismissed after one day if they are not placed on a jury.

Longer cases prompt greater efforts to head for the exits, said Douglas L. Keene, a trial consultant in Austin, Tex. Those who are unemployed “can’t afford to not be out there looking for a job,” Mr. Keene said. And despite laws that protect jurors from being fired for their service, he said, people whose companies have gone through rounds of layoffs worry about the impact on them of several days away from the office.

Fretful or angry jurors are a concern for plaintiffs’ lawyers in civil suits, Mr. Keene said, because the plaintiffs brought the suit and “are more likely to be blamed by the jurors for any inconvenience that jury duty caused them.”

Judge Rosenberg agreed. He could force more jurors into the box than he does, he said, but a miserable juror who is straining to get back to work might be too eager to reach a quick verdict instead of engaging in a full and careful deliberation. “That’s not the juror you want,” he said. “That’s not justice.”

There are actions that states could take to make jury service less painful financially, said Patricia Lee Refo, a lawyer in Phoenix, principally paying jurors more. Jury service, Ms. Refo said, is “a critically important civic service,” and “we should pay them in accordance with the importance of their work.”

That is not a likely path for financially squeezed states to take, and some areas are openly hoping that people without incomes will find jury pay attractive. Matt Benefiel, a court official in Orange County, Fla., which includes Orlando, said that while the area’s unemployment rate was higher than the national average, the number of people claiming hardship to get out of service had not increased.

“We might actually have jurors who are looking to get the money,” Mr. Benefiel said, which amounts to $15 a day for the first three days and $30 thereafter.

Norman Goodman, the county clerk for Manhattan, agreed.

“If somebody’s out of work, I guess jury service is a paying job,” Mr. Goodman said, even if the daily check from the court is just $40. “It’s not going to get you into Tiffany’s,” he said, “but it’s something.”

Van Critically Injures Pedestrian In Queens NYC Hit-And-Run

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

A woman visiting her childhood neighborhood in Queens was killed on Saturday night when an out-of-control van hit a parked car, which in turn slammed into the pedestrian. The woman was in town to attend her 15 year high school reunion in Flushings, Queens.

New York Police say that 34-year-old Paula Jimenez was rushed to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens with critical injuries following the NYC car accident, but she later died of her injuries at the hospital. She was an organ donor, and family members say that she will save other lives even after her death.

"This is horrible," said 42-year-old Andrew Jimenez, Paula's loving husband and the father of her two children. "She was a great mom. I have to raise my kids by myself. I have no choice. She did everything for us."

The van was driving on theVan Wyck Expressway when it skidded off the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park exit and hit a parked Toyota next to where Jimenez was talking on her cell phone, police and witnesses said.

The driver of the Queens van, 49-year-old Jian Feng was charged last night with multiple counts, including assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Some say that at the time of the hit-and-run, Feng was fleeing the scene of another car accident in the New York City area. His charges may become serious after Jimenez died from her injuries in the hospital.

Young Girl Killed On NY Thruway After Ejection From Car

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

An accident on the New York Thruway claimed the life on an 11-year-old girl from Buffalo on Saturday, New York State Police reported.

NY State Police Sergeant Nick Merritt told reporters that the little girl, MacKenzie Garrett was ejected from the rear passenger window of her father's car, which was carrying various members of her family, including her father, 44-year-old Ronald Garrett, 6-year-old Liam Garrett, 11-year-old Alexis Carey, and 38-year-old Jennifer Weyand.

Police say that the driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the guardrail of the Thruway. Police are still investigating the accident, but say that in addition to the bad weather on the highway, unsafe speeds may have also played a role in the NY car accident. The car was driving westbound near the Whitestown-Marcy town line when the driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the median.

One other car was involved in the crash - a vehicle driving behind Garrett was not able to avoid the accident that happened directly in front on it and crashed into the car. Kunkel Ambulance responded to the scene, though no one else involved suffered serious injuries.

It is not clear whether or not the 11-year-old car accident victim was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident.

The accident took place during a heavy rain storm and a heavy wind storm - adverse weather conditions that caused at least four other accidents on the NY Thruway on Saturday.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - Westchester County

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

A jury awarded more than $27 million to a woman who claimed that an undiagnosed spinal tumor has robbed her of most of her ability to walk. Shania-Gay Ffrench developed back pain and headaches in 2000. Doctors initially blamed scoliosis or uterine fibroids, so some 17 months passed before the tumor was detected. It could not be removed until 2007, by which time it had caused damage that has rendered Ffrench, now 30, largely wheelchair-bound. Ffrench sued her treating doctors, but, by the time the case reached the jury, her primary physician, Dr. Keith Edwards, was the only remaining defendant. The jury found that Edwards bore 30 percent of the blame. It awarded damages of $47.95 million, but Edwards' obligation will total $27.3 million.

Ffrench v. Montefiore Medical Center

School District Liable for Injury that Occurred During Gym Class

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

A jury decided that the Buffalo public school system must pay $944,825 to a teenager who tore knee ligaments during an unsupervised football game in physical-education class. The underlying incident occurred June 5, 2006, a day on which Buffalo's Public School 43 Academy was missing its physical-education teacher. A substitute could not be found, so the gymnasium was unsupervised when the plaintiff, Nicholas Vogl, then 13, arrived for physical-education class. Nicholas and his classmates organized a game of touch football, and Nicholas was hurt after another student pushed him. The defense argued that Nicholas and the others should not have engaged in unsupervised athletic activity, but the jury found that the school was entirely at fault.

Vogl v. City of Buffalo

Man dies in car-dump truck crash on Brooklyn Bridge

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

NEW YORK (AP) - A man has been killed in a car accident on the Brooklyn bridge.

New York City police say the victim was driving toward Manhattan when his car collided with a city Department of Transportation dump truck.

The driver of the car was rushed to a hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police say the truck was equipped with an arrow on top of its cab alerting drivers to work crews on the bridge.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the truck was moving or parked during the crash.

The accident, which happened late last night, remains under investigation.

Will Bloody Texting PSA Get The Message To Teens?

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Be warned: the four-minute PSA is extremely graphic, showing not only the realistic bloody injuries of three pretty teenage girls, but also an unresponsive infant in a car seat and a preschooler asking her unconscious and bleeding parents to wake up.

Mike Stout, director of the division of traffic safety for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said that he doesn't know if this kind of message would deter teens from texting behind the wheel -- and he wouldn't take the risk of trying to find out.

"This is way too gory," Stout told ParentDish. "...sometimes you have to push the envelope, but if you put this on TV, you'd have no control over who your audience was. Younger kids could see it, and I know some teens that it wouldn't affect at all."

As I watched the clip with my baby nearby, tears came to my eyes when the camera lingered on what appeared to be a dead infant in a car seat with a preschool-age sibling pleading for her parents in the front seat to "wake up."

So the PSA gets right to the heart of parents to avoid the lure of a quick text. But would the teenager behind me do the same?

Construction Worker Dies In New York City Bridge Accident

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

The New York Times reports that a construction worker died on the job on a New York City bridge after the boom of a crane fell and hit the man. The electrical worker was 48-year-old William Barnes of Port Washington, New York. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the NYC construction accident.

"He was controlling the boom on the side of the truck and for some reason, the boom fell," said FDNY Battalion Chief Joe Downey. "It was pinned right behind his head and his neck."

The accident, which happened on Throgs Neck Bridge between Queens and the Bronx, took place when a cable on the hydraulic boom that Barnes was operating snapped. The boom fell onto Barnes, pinning him against the machinery. He died on blunt force trauma. The accident took place at half past ten on Tuesday morning.

Barnes was an employee of Tri-State Electric Contracting Inc. in Haverstraw, N.Y., a company that was working on repairing a ramp connected to the bridge. Although Barnes was not specially trained to operate the boom truck, he did have the valid driver's license needed to use it legally. Barnes had been employed by Tri-State for just under half a year.

In the Past, Tri-State has been involved in other New York construction accidents. Just last month, the company took responsibility for a fire on the bridge that caused significant property damage. The fatal NY construction worker accident is still under investigation.

Barnes leaves a wife, Maritone, and a son, William, 11, behind.

Two NYC Road Workers Injured In Car Accident While On The Job

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Two New York City road construction workers were hit by a woman driving under the influence last week, according to reports. In a heroic act of friendship, one man pushed his coworker out of the path of the car, which had careened into their road construction site.

The New York Daily News reports that 35-year-old Michael Hudson and 33-year-old Bobby Keller were at work on Rockaway Boulevard in Queens near the Kennedy airport when a car crashed into their site. The workers, one a flagman and the other an equipment operator, barely had time to react to the car. New York Police believe the car was traveling at 60 miles per hour.

Hudson, who was turned toward the car, pushed his friend out of the way - but lost his leg in the process. Keller suffered a shattered ankle, but could have very well been killed if not for his construction buddy. Hudson was just recently left the ICU of Jamaica Hospital, where his leg was amputated following the NYC construction site accident.

The woman driving the car, Yolanda Silvera, was high crack according to police reports. NYC police also say she was arguing with a passenger and distracted at the time of the car wreck. She is being held on $250,000 bond in the wake of the accident. She could serve up to seven years in prison on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree vehicular assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, and driving under the influence.

Report Cites Abuse at State Juvenile Prison Centers

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Report Cites Abuse at State Juvenile Prison Centers

As reported by NICHOLAS CONFESSORE (NY TIMES)

Published: August 24, 2009

ALBANY — Children at four juvenile detention centers in New York were so severely abused by workers that it constituted a violation of their constitutional rights, according to a report by the United States Department of Justice made public on Monday.

The report caps a nearly two-year investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division into claims of excessive physical force at some of the state’s 28 juvenile residential centers, which house children who were convicted of criminal acts but are too young to serve in adult jails and prisons.

Federal investigators found that workers at the four locations — the Lansing Residential Center and the Louis Gossett Jr. Residential Center in Lansing, N.Y., and two facilities, one for boys and one for girls, at Tryon Residential Center in Johnstown, N.Y. — routinely used physical force to restrain residents, despite rules allowing force only as a last resort.

The report documented dozens of episodes at the four centers in a period of less than two years that resulted in serious injuries, including broken teeth and bones. It found that physical force was often the first response to any act of insubordination by residents, who are all under 16.

In a report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union issued in September 2006, New York’s juvenile residential centers were rated among the worst in the world.

Later that year, an emotionally disturbed teenager, Darryl Thompson, died after two employees at the Tryon center pinned him down on the ground. The death was ruled a homicide, but a grand jury declined to indict the workers. The boy’s mother is suing the state.

In one case described in the report, a youth was forcibly restrained and handcuffed after refusing to stop laughing when ordered to; the youth sustained a cut lip and injuries to the wrists and elbows. One boy, after glaring at a staff member, was forced into a sitting position and his arms were secured behind his back with such force that his collarbone was broken.

Another youth was restrained eight times in three months despite signs that she might have been contemplating suicide. “In nearly every one of the eight incidents,” the report found, “the youth was engaged in behaviors such as head banging, putting paper clips in her mouth, tying a string around her neck, etc.”

Officials at the centers also routinely failed to follow state rules requiring that instances in which force is used be reviewed after the fact. In some cases, the same staff member involved in an episode conducted the review. And even when a review determined that excessive force had been used, the staff members responsible sometimes faced no punishment.

For more information, look to the blog of Terrence James Cortelli.

Labor statistics don't measure shock of a lost life in Latino workplace deaths

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Last month, three construction workers in Austin died after falling 11 floors down the side of a building.

They fell off a lift in the scaffolding that supported them. All three, ages 28, 30 and 40, were part of the crew working on the 21 Rio condo project, just blocks from the University of Texas at Austin campus.

The tragedy was duly reported, the appropriate investigations have been launched and workplace safety advocates have peppered their blogs with calls for due process and stricter safety measures.

It’s difficult to not be cynical, but it crosses my mind that if it weren’t for the fact that three workers perished in the same accident the larger story of fatal workplace incidents would not be known.

Since 1992, while the overall number of workplace deaths has declined nationwide, the number of Latino workplace deaths has increased by 76 percent. The raw numbers are telling: there were 533 Latino workplace deaths in 1992.

In 2006 the number increased to 990. Last year, in Texas, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that 50 Latinos lost their lives in work-related accidents. The deaths of the Austin scaffold tragedy were numbers 19, 20 and 21 so far this year.

The simplistic reason for the increase is that there are more Latino construction workers today than there were 17 years ago. And while that may be true, the statistic is disproportionate.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latinos comprised 10.4 percent of the U.S. labor force in 1998. By 2007 the number had increased to 14 percent. It’s a substantial growth, no doubt.

But the growth does not substantiate the dramatic increase in workplace fatalities. Neither do the numbers show the impact on families and fellow workers. The victims are someone’s son or daughter, parent or sibling.

These accidents leave gaps much larger than a couple of day’s interruption in a construction project workflow. And that’s something that labor statistics can’t measure. Cold numbers can’t illustrate the shock of a lost life.

It’s easy to attribute such things to the tragic yet not surprising outcome of workplace hazards. Most of these are not cozy, desk or cubicle jobs. These people put their lives at risk, and they understand the gamble.

What is unacceptable, though, is the underlying cause of most of these accidents. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics sites three factors that lead to workplace accidents and fatalities: poor communication skills, lack of training and exploitation of workers.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, in a recent interview in SA Today, said she is “particularly concerned about our Hispanic work force, as Latinos often work low-wage jobs and are more susceptible to injuries in the workplace than other workers.”

“There can be no excuses” she added, “for negligence in protecting workers, not even a language barrier.”

Solis is correct, and she should use the entire weight of her department to ensure that these three factors become negligible for future workers and their families.

Malpractice and Health Care Reform

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Letter to the Editor from NYSTLA President, Nicholas Papain, printed in the New York Times
Re "Malpractice and Health Care Reform" (editorial, June 17):

To the Editor:

The "medical malpractice crisis" is a myth ginned up by lobbyists who represent insurance and health care special interests, with no regard for the consumers who put their faith in medical providers.

Reforms to our liability system must make patients the priority. Patient safety initiatives, as independent studies have shown, are the only proven way to reduce premiums. Guidelines that dictated when a malpractice case could proceed, on the other hand, would pose significant dangers, including reducing the quality of care and imposing unfair obstacles to legitimate legal actions. Nor are caps on damages the answer, as your editorial points out.

A more effective way to improve care, protect victims of malpractice and reduce the burden on doctors would be to hold health maintenance organizations accountable for their negligence and the negligence of their doctors. Americans must have a fair way to get compensation when medical professionals make mistakes, period.

New York, June 17, 2009
Nicholas Papain
The writer is president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

Terrence Cortelli Commended by Rockland Bar Association

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Terrence Cortelli recently volunteered his time to help students from Clarkstown South learn how to be successful trial attorneys. This year's program, which was sponsored by the New York State Bar Association, revolved around a fact pattern wherein a high school student's newspaper article about his principal. The issue was whether the student defamed the principal or whether the article merely constituted an opinion, which is protected speech under the Constitution. The students, guided Mr. Cortelli, competed against other local high schools and were close to competing for the New York State championships in Albany.

Crane Rigger To Face Manslaughter Charges In NYC Crane Accident

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

This week the New York Supreme Court judge denied a motion to throw out the manslaughter case filed against New York City crane rigger William Rapetti. Rapetti is facing seven counts of manslaughter after the fatal crane accident in NYC last year in the grand jury case. The next court date in the trial has been set for October 8, 2009.

The crane accident took place in mid-March of 2008, when a 20-foot tall construction crane collapsed, crushing an apartment building and damaging several other properties. Seven people were killed in the NYC crane accident, including six construction workers and one tourist. The apartment building under construction had been cited for 13 safety violations at the time of the accident, five of which had not been resolved.

A few weeks after the construction accident, the Manhattan district attorney's office began a criminal investigation into the crane collapse. Some believe that the crane was put together incorrectly after it was damaged last year. Others believe the blame should be put on William Rapetti, the master crane rigger who did not use the required equipment before the collaps. Rapetti used four slings to help raise the crane instead of the required eight just hours before the fatal NYC accident took place.

Rapetti's lawyer argues that his client did nothing to contribute in the fatal New York crane collapse, and that the fatal NY construction accident was just that - a tragic accident.

After Rescue, New Weakness Seen at A.I.G.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

According to the New York Times, the insurance component of AIG may be in trouble. If true, this would be problematic for anyone pursuing a personal injury case where the insurance company providing coverage to the defendant is AIG. See our blog for more info.

Staten Island Construction Accident Injures Two Workers

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

According to the Staten Island Advance newspaper and ForConstructionPros.com, a New York Construction accident injured two construction workers on Tuesday, July 28.

The NYC construction accident took place when an asphalt milling machine tipped over while on a steep hill where workers were repairing and resurfacing the road at Cunard Place and Ridgefield Avenue. The heavy machinery, which is owned by Perfetto Contracting Co., of Brooklyn. Both the milling machine operator and a fellow worker were taken to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze with minor on-the-job injuries. The machine came to rest on its side in the middle of the intersection where work was being done.

Initial reports say the machine was made off balance by the boom, flipping the equipment, spilling about 30 gallons of fuel, missing a great deal of valuable property, and luckily not seriously injuring any construction workers. The equipment also leaked hydraulic fluid, some of which spilled into a nearby drain. Firefighters from Hazardous Materials Co. 1 as well as other emergency workers cleaned up the mess and siphoned the rest of the potentially dangerous substances from the toppled machine.

An industrial tow truck will be used to move the machine back into an upright position. The asphalt milling machine weighs around 45 tons - and many from the accident scene were simply relieved that the construction accident did not cause any more damage than it did.

Traffic was temporarily stopped on Richmond Road as the road job accident was dealt with by officials.

To visit ForConstructionPros.com, click here.

Eight Die In Fiery Wrong Way Taconic State Parkway Crash

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

A Long Island, New York woman is responsible for the deadly wrong way NY car accident that killed eight people last week, but investigators are still baffled about how and why the accident took place.

The 36-year-old New York mother, Diane Schuler, drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway, crashing her red Ford minivan into an oncoming SUV. Schuler, her daughter Erin, and three of her young nieces were killed in the New York car accident as well as the three passengers in the SUV. Schuler's son, 5-year-old Brian, survived the crash and is being treated for injuries at the Westchester Medical Center.

The autopsy on Schuler revealed that the woman did not suffer from a heart attack or stroke, and New York State Police also believe that she was not driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. All police know is that she called her brother shortly before the accident to tell him she needed help driving because she was sick and disoriented. Although he told her to pull over and called the state police to locate her car, the accident happened not long after the phone call.

The woman was traveling home from a camping trip in upstate New York. She drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway for almost two miles before having the accident. Six people called 911 to report the woman, while others tried to alert her that she was going the wrong way by honking their horns and flashing their headlights.

New York Times: Data Withheld About Distracted Driving And Car Accidents

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

We've all heard the rumors: talking on a cell phone while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. And in the past three years, a number of states have taken action and banned cell phone use or mobile texting either for all drivers or for teen drivers. However, this week two consumer advocacy groups have revealed that the federal government and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration muted a large-scale study that proved that cell phone use and texting while driving increased the number of car accidents, car accident injuries, and car accident fatalities.

The research, which consists of hundreds of pages of research dating back to 2003, shows that drivers talking on a phone are four times as likely to cause a car accident as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content. Drivers using cell phones or Blackberries were at 1.3 times greater risk of a crash or near crash, and at three times the risk when dialing or texting compared with other drivers without mobile distractions. Even hands-free devices - like those used in California by all drivers - cause driver distraction, the study showed.

According to the New York Times, some argued that the data was not released because it was incomplete, but others argued that the driver distraction information could have prevented car accidents and saved lives. Now that the driver distraction information is out, many believe it was suppressed for political reasons - and at the sacrifice of public safety.

Dump Truck Driver Plunges Off NY State Thruway In Rockland County

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Exit 15 overpass of the New York State Thruway in Ramapo has been the scene of deadly NY truck accidents in the past - and on Tuesday, July 7, the dangerous stretch of roadway was once again the site of a deadly truck accident.

According to New York State Police, 44-year-old Santos Ortiz was driving a garbage truck on the overpass when he lost control of his big rig and plunged 200 feet to his death in the Ramapo River between Suffern and Hillburn.

The truck's 250-gallon gas tank burst upon impact, dumping fuel into two town's water supplies. At the same time, the tractor-trailer's load of local garbage was also dumped into the river. Area wells were closed and residents used an emergency reserve tank while emergency crews cleaned up the accident.

Ortiz was pronounced dead at the scene, having received fatal head injuries during the fall. An emergency STAT Flight helicopter was called off from the scene once emergency officials confirmed the truck driver had died in the 18-wheeler accident.

One northbound lane of the New York State Thruway was closed for about an hour following the fatal truck crash. New York State Police are still investigating the cause of the truck accident, as the reason that Ortiz swerved off of the overpass is not immediately clear. Speed may have been a factor in the truck crash.

Clean-up crews, including Castleton Environmental Contractors and a hazmat team dispatched by the Department of Environmental Conservation, worked late into the night cleaning up both the truck's fuel and the garbage from the truck's trailer.

New York Crane Database: Will It Prevent Crane Accidents?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

Following two deadly crane accidents in New York City last year that took the lives of nine construction workers, the city has agreed to create a crane database that tracks vital crane information and that will hopefully curb crane accidents and crane accident injuries in the future.

However, some, such as the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) believe that the crane database is not answering the pertinent questions surrounding crane accidents and their causes. According to the SC&RA, most crane accidents are not caused by component failure - a problem that could be reduced through the crane-tracking database - but rather by human error, poor ground conditions, power lines, and errors during assembly or disassembly.

In a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, executive vice president of SC&RA Joel Dandrea stated that the new crane database will be ineffective, impractical, and unnecessary since such a small percentage of crane accidents will be stopped because of the database.

The letter went on to explain that many crane parts are interchangeable - and that even more crane parts are without serial numbers, making accurate and helpful crane tracking impossible.

Instead of supporting a crane database, Dandrea suggested working on other issues that could improve crane safety and reduce the number of construction site accidents in New York City.

Proponents of the new crane database point to the fact that a crane tracking system was one of the recommendations from the High Risk Construction Oversight study, which the Department of Buildings launched in July, 2008, after the second crane accident took place in New York. In the past year, 26 construction workers have died in New York City.