Pennsylvania Personal Injury Blog

Penn Live reports that Congress is considering legislation that would increase the weight of trucks on interstate highways to 97,000 pounds, a 21 percent rise from 80,000, the current limit.

Those in favor of the proposed changes say that heavier trucks would mean fewer trucks on the road, which would also lead to cleaner air since less fuel will be consumed. However, opponents say that heavier trucks would make the roads less safe for other motorists and that accidents that involve the heavier trucks would be more deadly.

Currently, states set the weight limits for their own roads. Each state would need to pass legislation to allow heavier trucks on their interstates within their borders. This could complicate trucking routes should some states approve the weight increase and others do not.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has said it will review the effect heavier tractor-trailers would have on the state’s interstate highways. In Pennsylvania, trucks that weigh 100,000 pounds are able to travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike without a permit. However, unless they have a permit, they aren’t able to exit the turnpike to travel on interstates and other roads in the state. Tractor-trailers that weigh over 80,000 pounds are able to travel on state interstates only by permit. If that weight is exceeded, a government permit and an escort vehicle are needed, as is typically the case with flatbed trucks that are loaded with heavy equipment.

The proposed legislation would also require trucks to have more axles in order to better distribute the increased weight, and to have an improved braking system. Experts estimate it would cost between $6,000 to $10,000 per truck to add the additional axles and updated brakes to meet the new safety requirements for trucks with higher weight limits.

If you have been injured in a truck accident in Pennsylvania, contact the Philadelphia truck accident lawyers at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP. We can help you determine whether a truck driver’s negligence or defective truck part contributed to your accident, and we will compile a strong case on your behalf in order for you to obtain the compensation you need to continue living your life. For a free consultation, call 1-888-684-7192 today.

The Delaware County Times reports that Senator Andrew E. Dinniman (Chester and Montgomery counties) plans to introduce a bill on March 4 in the Senate to address distracted driving. According to the article, the bill would ban hand-held cell phones and texting while driving, and would only allow hands-free cell phone use only for adult drivers age 18 and older.

The U.S. Department of Transportation describes distracted driving as any non-driving activity that has the potential to distract a person from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. The three main types of distraction are visual, manual, and cognitive. Texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction, since it causes a driver to take their eyes away from the road, their hands off of the steering wheel, and their mind off of what they’re doing.

Many states have added laws prohibiting the use of cell phones without hands-free devices. Distracted driving has become a large issue in the U.S. and states are constantly adding some form of cell phone talking or texting ban to make cell phone usage while driving a motor vehicle illegal.

Distracted driving is illegal and any activity that decreases your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is against the law. If you or someone you love has been in a serious car accident and you believe it was caused by the other driver who was distracted by using their cell phone to text or place a phone call, you may be entitled for compensation for your losses. For more information, contact the experienced Pennsylvania car accident attorneys at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), on average, approximately 28 percent of December car accidents nationwide involve drunk drivers. However, this number increases to 40 percent on Christmas and New Year’s, making alcohol and holiday travel a dangerous and sometimes deadly combination.

The percentage of fatal traffic accidents involving alcohol is highest over New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, according to the NHTSA, though the percentage is just a bit lower for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The NHTSA includes both car crashes and motorcycle accidents in its percentages.

The number of fatal accidents caused by drunk drivers has decreased steadily since 1982, thanks in part to increased awareness of the danger of drunk driving as well as to increased police patrols and other safety measures. Unfortunately, the number of fatal accidents involving a drunk driver still peaks around the December holidays. Even though the overall number of accidents has gone down, half the accidents that do occur on Christmas or New Year’s still involve drunk drivers, according to the NHTSA.

You can help protect yourself and your loved ones first by never driving while drunk or “buzzed” and never allowing a friend or family member to do the same. Call a cab or choose a designated driver who will be sober the entire night. You may also wish to arrange your holiday plans so that you do not drive during Christmas or New Year’s at all, particularly at night.

If you have been injured in a car crash, the experienced Pennsylvania car accident attorneys at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP can help. Our skilled legal team has the resources and courtroom experience that is needed to help you fight for the compensation you deserve. To learn more, schedule a free consultation with Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP today by calling us at 1-888-684-7192.

Kevin R. Marciano and David R. Cherry from the Pennsylvania personal injury law firm of Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP were included in the Top Lawyers 2010 feature in Main Line Today. As a print and online publication popularly read among Philadelphia residents and professionals, Main Line Today covers amusing yet commanding information on matters of local high interest.

Sixteen attorneys were selected for the Main Line Today Top Lawyers 2010 list based on insight from fellow lawyers about whom they considered to be “tops” in the field. The list is meant to supply readers with a guide for acclaimed attorneys in specific areas of practice.

Kevin R. Marciano was selected as the finest attorney for working with medical malpractice victims and David R. Cherry was chosen as the superior choice for workers’ compensation lawsuits. In brining years of experience, integrity, and commitment to their specific fields, Mr. Marciano and Mr. Cherry have been recognized as attorneys who have made a significant difference in the community.

In regard to the sensitive and complex nature of medical malpractice cases, Mr. Marciano states, “I have such respect and adoration for the doctors I’m suing; we know they do great things. The problem is that, when doctors make mistakes, catastrophic things happen.”

Mr. Cherry comments on the importance of acting within a timely manner in workers’ compensation cases and serving those in need by stating, “We help injured workers in a way that really affects their lives. I go to court immediately to get lost wages and medical benefits…For me, it’s not just about money. It’s the human factor that motivates me.”

The Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP have over 100 years of combined legal experience. In handling a wide range of personal injury cases, including class action, products liability, workers’ compensation, auto accidents, and more, the law firm has obtained many successful case outcomes for injury victims in Pennsylvania. Please check in with our blog again to learn more about PA personal injury law or visit www.cherryfieger.com for more information about our firm.

A Cherry Hill woman riding a bike in Medford, NJ was hospitalized with multiple fractures because of a driver texting about a drug deal. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the bicyclist was riding along Route 70, wearing a reflective vest and a helmet on November 16 when she was struck by a car.

The male motorist told police he was texting when his 1994 Oldsmobile Cutless wandered onto the shoulder.

The article said that the text message related to a deal for a “controlled dangerous substance.”
Police were seeking the man’s car before the accident happened and had reports he was driving erratically.

The biker suffered multiple injuries, including fractures to her face, a vertebrae and a leg.

Unauthorized prescription drugs were found in the car, and the motorist was charged with possession with intent to distribute.

Continue reading "Driver Injures Biker While Texting about Drug Deal" »

A new study raises new concerns about Zetia and Vytorin, drugs taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol. According to an article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, Zetia failed to shrink buildups in artery walls while a rival drug, Niaspan, did so significantly. Zetia users also suffered more heart attacks and other problems although the numbers of these events were too small to draw firm conclusions.

A preventive cardiology chief at Johns Hopkins University said that in the seven years Zetia has been on the market, it hasn’t proven that it improves clinical outcomes.

Lipitor and Crestor (statins) have long been used to lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, and are known to cut the risk of heart problems. Because many statin users still suffer heart attacks, doctors have been testing adding a second medicine to further lower risk.

They are trying Niaspan, a slow-release version of niacin, a type of B vitamin that raises HDL, or good cholesterol. The other is Zetia, which lowers bad cholesterol in a different way than statins do, by blocking its absorption in the gut.

Vytorin is a pill that combines Zetia with a statin.

Abbott Laboratories sponsored the new study in which researchers enrolled 363 people with heart disease or a high risk for it who had been taking statins for six years on average.

Half were given Niaspan and the others, Zetia. Ultrasound images of neck arteries showed that Niaspan shrank buildups by about 2 percent, while Zetia had no effect on this even though it lowered bad cholesterol as expected.

Continue reading "Study on Merck Pill Zetia Raises New Questions" »

On November 17, federal health officials said that a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke. The Associated Press reported in an article that the Food and Drug Administration said the drugs Prilosec and Nexium cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix, known generically as clopidogrel.

Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug’s full effect. Procter & Gamble’s Prilosec OTC is available over-the-counter and AstraZeneca’s Nexium is only available with a prescription.

The FDA said that patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots would not get the full effect of this medicine. Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs.

The FDA recommended that patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family. These include Mylanta and Zantac. FDA scientists said there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix’s anti-blood clotting action.

FDA regulators said they don’t have enough information to say whether other drugs in the same class as Nexium and Prilosec (proton pump inhibitors) shouldn’t be used with Plavix. The warnings on Plavix have been strengthened based on a 150-patient study submitted over the summer. Some consumer advocates argued that regulators should have placed the information in a “black box” warning label.

It was reported last year that taking Plavix with Nexium significantly increased patients’ chances of being hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or chest pain. Plavix’s labeling was updated to advise against using it in combination with certain heartburn drugs.

Continue reading "FDA Says Heartburn Drugs Can Interfere with Plavix" »

A Philadelphia jury is weighing punitive damages against drugmaker Wyeth. According to an article by the Associated Press, there is link between the Illinois woman’s breast cancer and the hormone-replacement drug she took.

The woman’s case is one of many Prempro lawsuits to go to trial out of several thousand filed across the country. About 1,500 are pending in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia jury awarded $3.75 million in compensatory damages on October 23. According to the article, they said the company’s actions were willful and warrant punitive damages.

The 64-year-old woman is a retired hospital records clerk from Peoria, Illinois. She took Prempro for five years before her 2002 cancer diagnosis.

People of all ages take prescription drugs, non- prescription drugs, and supplements on a daily basis in the United States to prevent and treat various illnesses. Although these medications are supposed to help people, many people have suffered serious side effects, and even death. To help innocent consumers who have been injured by a defective or dangerous pharmaceutical receive the compensation they need, experienced PA drug injury attorneys may be of great assistance.

Continue reading "PA Prempro Cancer Case: Jury Weighs Damages" »

A Philadelphia jury awarded $2.5 million to a woman from Bensalem. The jury found that Paxil had caused heart problems in her 3-year-old son who required several surgeries after his birth to fix his heart. They ruled out additional punitive damages.

The case was the first of about 600 lawsuits to go to trial on claims that the GlaxoSmithKline’s Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects in children whose mothers took the drug during pregnancy.

According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, legal experts saw the 10-2 jury decision as a big win for plaintiffs in the remaining cases, even though the jurors awarded only compensatory damages.

Jurors linked the plaintiff’s problems to Paxil and said GlaxoSmithKline was negligent in not properly warning the woman’s doctor of the drug’s risk. They did not find the company’s behavior “outrageous,” which would have been necessary to award punitive damages.

The standard for finding punitive damages requires evidence that a company knew about problems but ignored them or covered them up because the product was so profitable.

Continue reading "First Paxil Lawsuit Results in Plaintiff's Favor" »

Metrolink, a commuter rail agency, agreed to pay about $30 million to settle most of the lawsuits from a derailment that killed 11 people and injured another 180 on January 26, 2005. A driver, Juan Alvarez, was trying to commit suicide and parked his gas-drenched SUV on the tracks.

A fast-moving Metrolink train struck the SUV, derailed and struck a parked Union Pacific locomotive before colliding with another Metrolink train traveling in the other direction.

According to an article, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Metrolink agreed to settle nearly 90 % of the cases, including nine wrongful death claims and 15 serious injury cases. Both sides are trying to resolve the remaining cases ahead of trial set for January 4.

Alvarez was convicted last year of murder for causing the crash and sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms.

If the civil trial proceeds, attorneys will argue the wreck could have been prevented if the engineer had hit the emergency brake. The engineer said he applied the emergency brake as soon as he realized the SUV was parked across the tracks. However, data from the train showed the engineer applied the service brake for six seconds, instead of immediately hitting the emergency brake.

It was the deadliest rail disaster in California history until last year, when a Metrolink train collided with a freight train in suburban Chatsworth, killing 25 people. A federal investigation revealed a number of safety violations, including a text message sent by the commuter train’s engineer seconds before the collision.

Continue reading "California Train Derailment Victims Settle for $30M" »

The Personal Injury Law Firm of Cherry Fieger Marciano LLP is proud to announce that Kevin R. Marciano has been elected 2009 President for the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (PaAJ). Formerly known as the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, PaAJ encompasses a wide range of services such as providing opportunities for information to be shared and distributed to attorneys and the community in an effort to support and promote a judicial system that maintains and exercises efficiency and fairness.

Kevin R. Marciano has been an active PaAJ member for 16 years participating as a frequent writer, lecturer, course planner, and has served on the Association’s Board of governors continuously as a Board representative and then an officer since 1997. After being elected as President, Kevin pledged on June 28 to maintain PaAJ’s mission of advocating on behalf of injured victims and their families and take action to strengthen the organization.

As a Philadelphia attorney who focuses his practice on catastrophic personal injury, product liability, wrongful death, medical malpractice, liquor liability/dram shop, and premises liability, Kevin fully advocates and upholds the PaAJ philosophy of the administration of justice to defend each individual’s entitlement to trial by jury through the 7th Amendment. Kevin stated: “As a trial lawyer, I have dedicated my career to fighting for justice and helping people in need. Our association is the one voice that speaks for Pennsylvania consumers in the courts and in the Legislature.”

Continue reading "Kevin R. Marciano Elected Pennsylvania Association for Justice President" »

One of the changes in the workers’ compensation act, which the insurance carriers initiated in 1997, was the Independent Rating Evaluation or IRE. This change provides that if an insurance carrier requests an IRE with a Bureau appointed physician within 60 days after 104 weeks of the date that the injured worker begins receiving total disability payments and if the impartial physician rates the workers’ disability at less than a 50% impairment of the whole person using the AMA Guidelines, then that injured workers’ claim for benefits will be capped at 500 weeks. This change is quite useful for the insurance carrier because a claim whose exposure is capped at 500 weeks is cheaper to settle than a potential lifetime claim. It is also very difficult to under the AMA Guidelines obtain an impairment rating which is greater than a 50% impairment of the whole person.

But what happens if the insurance carrier fails to file for its IRE within 60 days of the 104 week date that the injured worker begins receiving total disability benefits? In Gardner v. W.C.A.B. (Genesis Health Ventures), 585 Pa. 366, 888 A.2d 757 (2005) the State Supreme Court held that where the insurance carrier misses its filing deadline, there would be no automatic conversion of the injured workers’ potential lifetime claim to a claim for 500 weeks. The Supreme Court held that the insurance carrier must instead file a Petition and litigate its case before the Workers’ Compensation Judge.

Continue reading "The Burden of Proof in an IRE Petition" »

An employee of an Edison recycling company was killed on-the-job after being caught in a wood chipper. According to the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, the fatality occurred on Tuesday, February 24 at Generated Materials.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident and the police are withholding the man’s identity pending notification of his family.

According to the article, the man became entangled in a conveyor belt attached to the wood chipper in this on-the-job accident.

The family of the victim is entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits through the workers’ employer. The family may also want to file a “third-party” claim. A claim may be filed against negligent parties other than the worker’s employer. It could, for example, be the manufacturer of a defective product that caused an injury or death or it could be another contractor or sub contractor.

Continue reading "On-the-Job Death of Man Caught in Wood Chipper" »

Mary Ann Bower, a former nurse in a Pittsburgh-area nursing home was convicted of abusing a 94-year-old patient with Alzheimer’s disease. She will have to pay a fine of $300 and she may lose her nursing certificate in this personal injury lawsuit.

According to an article from Wfmj.com, Bower was convicted after employees at the Kane Regional Center in Glen Hazel, Pa said that she flicked water in the face of Thelma Bryant. The article also said that Bower was a night supervisor at the facility and that she did not stop any abuse or reprimand the other nurses who were also involved.

The other nurses are facing more serious charges for allegedly hitting the patient in this personal injury lawsuit.

The most common forms of nursing home abuse in Pennsylvania are physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. When a nursing home professional takes advantage of their power to withhold care from an individual, extort money or property from them, or abuse their bodies, an intolerable and cruel situation can arise.

Continue reading "Pittsburgh Nursing Home Abuse of Alzheimers Patient Results in Conviction of Nurse" »

Daniel Blake, of West Virginia, lost three children in a southwestern Pennsylvania house fire in 2007. He filed a wrongful death lawsuit that claims the owner of the house failed to repair the furnace. According to the Associated Press on Philly.com, Blake claims space heaters and a log-burning fireplace were used to heat the house in Franklin Township, Greene County.

The owner of the house, James Roberts, said the furnace worked and that the tenants, Steven and Rebecca Eddy, had apparently discontinued gas service, even after he helped pay the bill.

The article stated that a fire marshal blamed an electric space heater for the Feb. 17, 2007 fire.

Blake’s three children, their mother, 26-year-old Rebecca Eddy, and her niece and two nephews all died.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Fire Wrongful Death Suit Filed By Virginia Man" »

On Saturday, February 14, a SEPTA bus driver choked on a throat lozenge and lost control of the bus in Wynnefield Heights, causing the bus to hit five parked cars on one side of the road. It then dragged a green Cadillac across the street and knocked down a utility pole in its path.

According to this article that appeared in The Philadelphia Daily News, the bus driver and six passengers were taken to local hospitals where they were treated for minor injuries.

The bus also destroyed a red and white metal awning and a brown metal rocker at a home owned by Claudia Conway before smashing into the brick front of a house owned by Wanda Kee Taliaferro.

The day after the bus accident in Pennsylvania, plywood covered the hole in Taliaferro’s house, a utility pole had been erected and the downed wires, which no longer worked, remained on both sides of the street. Deep tire treads from the bus and car crossed the lawns of two properties.

Fortunately, Taliaferro was not home at the time of the Wynnefield Heights auto accident. At least five houses may have structural damage. A structural engineer will inspect the damaged houses.

Continue reading "Wynnefield Heights SEPTA Bus Crashes Into Neighborhood" »

John Parkhurst, a single father of Capitol Hill, is suing the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) for $200 million. He claims lead-contaminated tap water poisoned his twin sons as infants, causing them ongoing health problems.

According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com,
Parkhust claims that the water utility hid elevated levels of lead from customers and federal authorities between 2001 and 2004. He also says they failed to remedy the situation and left out information from public education campaigns that would have warned people about the problem. According to the personal injury lawsuit, WASA continued to encourage residents to drink the water.

The complaint followed a study that determined hundreds of D.C. children might be at risk of irreversible IQ loss, developmental delays, and behavioral problems linked to the lead levels. Considering such a drastic number of children have suffered, a mass tort lawsuit may be in order.

Parkhurst prepared baby formula and food for his sons, Jonathan and Joshua, using tap water from when they were 8 months old, when he adopted them from Vietnam, until they were 2 in 2002. It wasn't until then, during a yearly medical checkup, that Parkhurst learned the twins (now 8 years old) had dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Parkhurst’s attorney said Jonathan’s levels were so high, they were reported to the Centers for Disease Control. As the boys got older they developed anxiety and serious attention problems. After he read about the lead level study, he made the connection.

Continue reading "Class Action Lawsuit Against DC Water Authority Begins With Father Suing For $200 Million" »

Jim Sullivan III, a Gloucester County, NJ real estate broker who acquired a contaminated building and rented it out as a day-care center says he did not believe an environmental cleanup was necessary.

According to this report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, he did not tell Kiddie Kollege Day Care operators that the building was once a thermometer factory with a history of mercury spills and vapors.

The statements appear in court records and a deposition Sullivan gave to attorneys who represent nearly 100 children who attended the now boarded-up New Jersey day care.

The Kiddie Kollege Day Care closed in July 2006 after New Jersey inspectors discovered the building’s new use. Testing showed it contained hazardous vapors 27 times the acceptable limit. Mercury beads were detected in cracks and crevices of floors and ceiling joists.

Class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the children and day-care staff. They are asking for payment from Sullivan and local and state government for medical testing.

Continue reading "Toxic Day Care Contamination Revealed " »

Two former University of Rhode Island students have settled a lawsuit that accused them of causing the death of a college student from Richboro, Bucks County, Pa., who was crushed by a bus in Newport, R. I. in 2004 in a bus accident.

According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, the two students, Jarrad Rocheleau and Loren Welsh, reached the agreement with the parents of Francis J. Marx V, who accused them of scuffling with their son early on May 20, 2004. The accident caused the Fairfield University senior to fall into the path of a bus being used for a pub-crawl.

The wrongful death lawsuit began two weeks ago in Superior Court and was resolved before closing arguments on February 10.

Rocheleau and Welsh admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The article stated that the settlement was for less than the $5 million sought by Marx’s parents.

After a formal dance at one of Newport’s mansions with his girlfriend, Marx got into a heated argument with a group of URI students celebrating their impending graduation with a pub-crawl.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Suit Settled In Student Bus Death" »

A 3-year-old female pedestrian was struck and killed on Route 129 when a fire truck crashed into a pickup truck, causing the pickup truck to careen into the crosswalk center median and create the pedestrian accident. The pickup truck then struck the child, dragging her several feet down the southbound lanes of the highway.

According to this article that appeared in the Delaware County Times, the accident happened on January 30 around 7:20 p.m.

Several pedestrians were also injured when the fire truck careened into a light pole that then toppled over and landed on top of them.

The article stated that two adults, the 3-year-old girl, and a male juvenile were standing on the intersection’s median pedestrian crosswalk when the trucks collided and caused the Pennsylvania pedestrian accident.

Continue reading "Trenton 3-year-old Killed In Pedestrian Accident" »

Federal investigators are looking into what caused a tour bus accident on February 1 on a rural Arizona highway. The crash killed seven Chinese tourists and injured 10 others.

According to this article on Philly.com, tourists left Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon the Friday before the accident. They were returning from their trip when the bus went across a median and rested along the southbound lanes of the highway.

The National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said the investigative team would be measuring and photographing the site, evaluating the condition of the highway, and looking for skid marks.

After inspecting the bus accident site, the investigators will evaluate the bus, including checking whether the wheels and brakes were in good working order and if any mechanical malfunctions may have caused the accident.

Continue reading "Investigators Comb Tour Bus Crash Site For Clues" »

The first of about 8,000 lawsuits blaming the health problems and wrongful deaths of Florida smokers on tobacco companies went to trial this week.

According to an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, the first of those plaintiffs to go to trial is Elaine Hess. The key to her case is proving whether her deceased husband, Stuart Hess, was addicted to cigarettes made by Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris.

In 2006, the Supreme Court rejected a $145 billion class-action suit, saying the punitive damages awarded by a jury were excessive. They did agree that tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and concealed the health risks of smoking for years. They also ruled that smokers or their survivors must prove their wrongful death cases individually.

Elaine Hess’s husband, Stuart Hess, 55, died in 1997 of lung cancer. Hess’s attorney told a jury that Hess smoked about two packs of cigarettes a day and tried numerous times to quit. He also said that medical and other evidence shows that Hess became addicted to nicotine in the mid-1950s, long before the hazards of smoking were widely known outside the tobacco industry.

Continue reading "Trial Opens In Fla. Widow's Tobacco Lawsuit" »

Christopher Donaghy, the 27-year-old host of a Super Bowl party on Sunday, was killed when a guest at his party shot him accidentally.

According to this article that ran in the Philadelphia Daily News, Donaghy hosted a party of about 8 people. One of those guests, an off-duty Plymouth Township Police officer, left a gun he owned on a table during the game.

The article said that another guest, Ronald Parcutt, was playing with the weapon when it discharged in his hands and struck Donaghy in the back. He died less than 2 hours later.
Donaghy, 27 was the son of a Philadelphia police officer.

According to police, the 9mm semiautomatic Glock lacked an external safety. Parnett was arrested and charged with murder.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Super Bowl Party Ends In Wrongful Death" »

New Jersey has paid $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Maria Caiafa, a Cape May County woman, whose daughters died in a car crash with a state trooper. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the state made no admission of culpability.

The settlement was signed in May, but the family didn’t announce it because publicity over the wrongful death case makes it hard for them to manage their daily lives.

Christina, 19, and her sister, Jacqueline, 17, were returning home after picking up milk when authorities say trooper Robert Higbee ran a stop sign and hit their minivan.

Continue reading "N.J. Pays $2M In Trooper Crash That Killed 2 Daughters" »

Iva Peterson, a legally blind prison social worker, lost most of one leg after a branch from a falling tree impaled her as she was heading home from work in a SEPTA Paratransit van. She was awarded more than $5 million in damages in her personal injury lawsuit.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, Peterson is largely confined to a wheelchair because her right leg was amputated above the knee after the 2005 accident.

The 40-foot tree toppled from a median strip during high winds in March 2005 on a state road. The 8-inch tree limb crashed through the windshield of the Paratransit van, spearing Peterson’s leg and also injuring the van driver. Peterson had a long hospitalization and has been unable to return to her job.

The suit was settled this week on the basis that PennDOT and an engineering company under contract to inspect trees on state roads were negligent in not identifying the rotted tree and having it removed.

The settlement provided $240,000 from PennDOT, whose liability is capped by law at $250,000, and $4.8 million from SITE Blauvelt, the engineering company. Another firm settled separately for an undisclosed amount.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Woman Who Was Pierced By Tree Limb Awarded $5M" »

The family of Andrew Polakowski, a student killed by a dormitory elevator more than two years ago, is suing Ohio State University for more than $50,000.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the suit claims that the school was negligent with regard to the elevator that crushed the 18-year-old boy from Erie, Pa. The freshman died in October 2006 when he got pinned trying to leave an overcrowded elevator that was stuck between floors.

Polakowski’s parents filed their wrongful death lawsuit this month in the Ohio Court of Claims. Their attorney says they want to be compensated for the loss of their son.

In a statement, an Ohio State spokesman said the university is in contact with the Polakowskis’ attorneys and is reviewing the family’s filings.

Continue reading "Parents Sue Ohio State Over Elevator Death" »

SEPTA said human error likely caused the train crash that sent nine people to the hospital causing some injuries on-the-job and delayed commuters for much of the morning.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a southbound work train struck the rear of a stopped southbound R1-Airport train about 4:40 a.m., on January 27. Five crew members were on the work train, and 16 passengers and two crew members were on the commuter train.

Four people were injured on the work train and five on the commuter train. They were treated at Albert Einstein Medical Center.

Richard Dixon was on the R1 train when it was hit. He said he was at the front of the train, with the engineer, when the accident occurred.

Dixon was knocked backwards into the wall and the engineer hit his head. Dixon was among those who went to the hospital, to be examined for back pains, and he said one of the passengers in the same ambulance received stitches for a cut on his chin.

According to the article, initial inspections of the signal, communications, and mechanical systems showed all were working properly.

A spokeman for Septa said human error, possibly by train crew or a dispatcher, is the probable cause. Although light snow was in the area at the time, he said weather was not considered a significant factor in the accident.

Work trains are treated differently under railroad operating rules than regular trains and must have specific authority from a dispatcher to proceed on a main line.

Continue reading "9 Taken To Hospital After SEPTA Train Crash" »

The Pennsylvania auto accident that killed two Drexel University students and seriously injured four others Sunday is still under investigation.

According to the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the students were on a fraternity trip in Lycoming County, PA when the driver’s SUV struck a “rock cut” along the mountainside around 3:30 a.m. that morning.
Ian Alexander, 22, of Royersford, president of Drexel’s Alpha Chi Rho fraternity, and John Patrick “Johnny” Williamson Jr., 21, of Havertown, died in the accident.

Police would not say whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, or whether the two who died had been wearing seat belts. Police are still investigating the accident.

Williamson’s mother was told by police that alcohol was not a factor in the car accident. Police also said that the four survivors, including the driver, Andrew Cardamone, 19, of Philadelphia, were all wearing seat belts. Cardamone and passengers Eric Rayburn, 18, of Quakertown, and Kevin MacDonald, 18, of Philadelphia, were taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where they remained in serious condition last night.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Car Crash That Killed 2 Drexel Students Poses Questions" »

Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis, settled a $1.42 billion pharmaceutical drug lawsuit after selling and marketing the drug Zyprexa for dementia, which it was not approved for.

According to a report from MSNBC, the company salespeople used a slogan “5 at 5”, meaning 5 miligrams at 5 p.m. to help dementia patients sleep.

Regulators never approved selling the drug for dementia and federal prosecutors say this type of marketing led to the lawsuit.

Lilly agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and pay $615 million to resolve the criminal case.

Although Eli Lilly said it admits no wrongdoing, they also agreed to pay roughly $800 million to resolve a civil case.

Zyprexa is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, court documents showed Lilly sales representatives also pushed it to treat generalized sleep disorder, aggression, Alzheimer’s-related dementia and depression, among other unapproved uses, from 1999 through 2003. Although doctors can prescribe drugs for unapproved uses, companies aren’t allowed to market drugs for those uses.

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Sebastian Hizey, a 6-year-old boy, was killed at a Monster Truck show in Tacoma, Washington after debris flew into the stands, hitting him in the head in this wrongful death case.

According to an article from the Los Angeles Examiner, a red truck came apart while doing doughnuts during the freestyle competition of a Monster Jam show last week. The debris flew 30 to 50 feet over a safety barrier into the stands and also injured another spectator. The boy’s father issued a statement saying his son was hit in the head by a Frisbee-sized piece of metal, weighing between 7 and 12 pounds.

Spectators reported that it took a long time for medics to arrive and the show continued even after the two were hurt.

Officers serving as security at the event investigated the incident and did not find anything criminal.

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Pa. let incompetent doctor continue practicing

Dr. Richard A. Brown, once an aspiring doctor from Phoenixville, PA, is now facing many legal problems, including falsifying credentials to obtain his medical license, writing illegal prescriptions, and tax evasion.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Brown either “resorted to legal action or squirmed through loopholes in regulations governing medical practice in Pennsylvania.”

He was arrested in 2001 for a felony drug charge, which resulted in 5 years’ probation and suspension of his medical license. However, he somehow continued to practice medicine and dispense narcotics. According to the article, because Pennsylvania is a weak state for disciplining doctors guilty of various crimes including medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, state regulators did not find out about Brown’s guilty plea.

After he was first arrested in December 2001 and charged with 106 counts of drug violations, he still continued to prescribe narcotics to known drug abusers.

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