Pennsylvania Personal Injury Blog

An electrical fire in an efficiency apartment in Middletown recently left the apartment’s occupant temporarily homeless but unhurt, according to a recent article released by PennLive.com.

The fire broke out on Sunday morning, December 26 in the 200 block of Main Street in a detached efficiency apartment, according to Middletown fire officials. The Middletown Fire Company and other fire departments arrived at the scene shortly after the 9:40 a.m. call reporting the fire. Unfortunately, the apartment and detached garage of which it was a part were both destroyed.

Fire department officials say that the fire began in a wall near the base of the apartment and burned the walls and floor. The fire appears to have been started by an electrical fault, although the fire department’s investigators did not say whether the fire might have been the result of faulty wiring or other construction work.

The resident of the apartment was not home when the fire started. Red Cross volunteers helped him find new shelter and replace some necessary possessions.

Fire can cause extensive damage to a home and severe injury to those within. When a home is destroyed or a family member is injured by a fire, the costs of rebuilding your life can be astronomical. Individuals injured in fires caused by defective products, mistakes in electrical wiring, or errors during home construction may be able to seek compensation from negligent parties for medical bills and other damages.

If you have been injured in a fire, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP. We will examine your case carefully and answer any questions about your legal rights and options. For a free and confidential consultation, call Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP today at 1-888-684-7192.

Rebekah Metzler, a news reporter from Maine, is suing a Maine ski area resort after she broke her back in 2008 while riding inside a giant ball down one of the resort’s ski trails for a story. Philly.com reports that she suffered permanent injuries after riding inside the ZORB that went out of control on a ski trail.

ZORB riding (also known as globe riding) is a fairly new extreme sport. It offers the experience of rolling down a hill while strapped in a large inflatable globe.

In addition to accidents such as this ZORB accident, often, serious injuries occur at ski resorts. The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) reports that injuries including paralysis, serious head injuries such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other ski-related injuries occur about 43 times a year. In 2009, there were about 16 serious ski accidents as well as 23 snowboarding accidents at ski resorts.

Anyone who has been injured in a serious skiing accident should seek the advice of an experienced personal injury attorney, who can advise them on their legal options. Personal injury accidents include many types of injuries, such as burn injuries, brain and spine injuries, slip and fall accidents, and more.

The Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP can help you or a loved one by discussing your situation and consulting with medical and technical experts to determine the full extent of your injuries. Our lawyers will examine the case carefully to conclude whether another person or business was negligent and contributed to your injury.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured in a personal injury accident in Pennsylvania, contact Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP at 1-888-684-2374 for a free consultation.

Each year, over 200,000 children are treated at U.S. hospitals and emergency rooms for injuries that happened on the playground, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly half of these injuries are severe, including broken or dislocated bones; internal injuries; amputated limbs, fingers or toes; and severe head trauma such as concussions. Although deaths from playground injuries are rare, life-altering injuries unfortunately are not.

According to the CDC, most playground injuries occur on climbing equipment or on swings. Injuries on playgrounds can occur in public parks, at schools, or even at home, though most playground injuries take place when kids are on recess during school hours. Children between the ages of five and nine are at the highest risk for serious playground-related injuries.

Parents throughout Philadelphia can help protect children from falls on the playground by examining playground equipment to make sure it is maintained properly, with no loose parts, missing fasteners, or broken pieces. The surface below playground equipment should also be soft enough to cushion a fall. While these steps can help you protect your children, no parent can find every hidden danger on a playground. Equipment with unseen defects or that was installed incorrectly may look safe, but may also lead to brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or other life-altering consequences.

If your child was injured on a playground in Pennsylvania and you believe another person’s negligence is to blame, please don’t hesitate to contact an experienced personal injury attorney to learn about your rights and legal options. The Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP will fight hard for the compensation your child and your family deserve. For a free and confidential case evaluation, call Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP today at 888-684-7192.

Dressing up and collecting candy after dark make Halloween great fun for kids of all ages. However, every Halloween, accidents happen. By following a few safety tips provided by WGAL, you may help prevent an accident from spoiling your family’s fun this October 31.

1. Check your town’s trick-or-treat schedule. Most communities plan a specific day and time for trick-or-treating. Schedules can be found in your local newspaper.
2. Choose costumes made of flame-retardant material. To reduce the risk of fire, do not allow children to carry candles or things containing candles, like jack-o’-lanterns. Instead, give children glow sticks or flashlights.
3. Before the big day, make sure costumes fit properly. Hem long costumes to prevent tripping, and make sure masks fit so that children can see and talk clearly.
4. Carry a flashlight while trick-or-treating so kids can see where they’re walking.
5. Only allow kids to visit the front door of houses to collect candy. Do not let them go into houses or up to darkened or closed doors where you can’t see them.
6. Only cross streets at marked intersections, and look both ways for traffic before you and your children step into the intersection.
7. Examine your kids’ candy before allowing them to eat it.
8. If you allow children to go trick-or-treating with older siblings, make sure the supervising siblings follow these rules as well.

Keeping safety in mind can help protect those you love from injury. Unfortunately, another person’s carelessness can also result in an accident. If you or a loved one has been injured by another person’s negligence, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Cherry Fieger & Marciano, LLP. Our skilled attorneys have handled a wide range of injury cases and will help you understand your legal rights and options after an injury. Call 888-684-7912 for a free case evaluation.

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.

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, several Pennsylvanians have already begun celebrating with fireworks and other devices. While a patriotic spirit is to be encouraged, far too many citizens overlook safety when utilizing these potentially dangerous objects. A new study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reveals that fireworks-related incidents were responsible for two deaths in 2009 and approximately 9,000 emergency room visits for injuries. According to the CPSC, throughout the 30 days near last year’s holiday, about 6,000 injuries involving fireworks were reported in which half of the injuries related to firecrackers, bottle rockets, and sparklers.

Consumers below the age of 20 are the most prone to fireworks injuries; however, the risk of serious injury or even death still exists for anyone within close proximity of fireworks or other apparatuses. Some common fireworks injuries and hazards include:

• Loss of limbs
• Burn injury to the hands, face and head
• Lacerations
• Residential fires
• Wrongful death

Parental supervision is essential when legal fireworks are being used. Never allow young children to set-off or play with fireworks or other gadgets. It is also important to never throw or point fireworks at another individual. To learn more about how you can help prevent serious injuries related to fireworks this Fourth of July holiday, please refer to the CPSC’s website for consumer fireworks safety tips.

At Cherry Fieger & Marciano LLP, our Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys cannot stress enough the importance of consumer safety during the Independence Day holiday. Take every necessary precaution to keep your loved ones safe.

West Chester is a notorious yet quiet borough with a 2008 estimated population of 18,315. Located 25 miles west of Philadelphia, West Chester holds the county seat of Chester County and is a section of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area. In being home to several historical attractions such as Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens, and the Brandywine Battlefield, West Chester was rated by CNN as number 11 on the list of best places to live in the United States. In being such a well-traversed borough, West Chester visitors and residents may find themselves involved in a wide range of personal injury accidents brought about by someone else’s negligence.

Injury accidents in West Chester are unfortunate occurrences that typically involve car crashes, workplace accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, construction site accidents, and several other instances where another person’s negligent behavior inflicts physical harm, emotional suffering and financial consequences upon an innocent person or group of people. West Chester personal injury victims may be able to seek restitution from negligent parties to help pay for medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of past and future wages, and other types of damages.

West Chester automobile collisions occur more frequently than most Pennsylvanians would like to admit. Several car injury accidents are caused by distracted drivers who may be texting or otherwise using a cell phone, speeding, or displaying other forms of reckless driving. Accidents are also known to result from defective car components or dangerous road conditions. Whether you or a loved one have been injured in an auto accident involving a truck, motorcycle, bus, or other vehicle, a skilled West Chester personal injury attorney will protect your rights and ensure that full and just compensation is obtained.

The experienced West Chester injury and car accident lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP understand the potential challenges that an auto accident or any kind of personal injury accident presents to an injured victim and his or her family. We will conduct a detailed investigation of your accident to ensure that evidence is preserved and effectively presented in your case. To learn more about how the attorneys at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP can help you, please call 1-888-684-7192 today for a free consultation.

Springfield is a township located in Pennsylvania’s Delaware County. As a suburb of Philadelphia, Springfield is situated only 10 miles west of the busy city and had an estimated population of 23,725 in July of 2007. Springfield’s friendly and cultural community encompasses a total area of 6.4 square miles that is home to the popular 590,000 square foot, two-level Springfield Mall. Despite being well-known as a safe community, Springfield inhabitants and visitors encounter a wide range of personal injury accidents caused by someone else’s negligence.

Personal injury accidents in Springfield, Pennsylvania often involve automobile collisions, incidents of medical malpractice, construction site accidents, nursing home abuse, work accidents, and several other instances where another individual’s negligence causes psychological trauma, physical injury, and financial consequences upon an injury victim. Those who suffer due to personal injury accidents may be able to hold negligent parties legally responsible and obtain compensation for pain and suffering, hospital bills, loss of earnings, and other damages.

Auto accidents in Springfield take place far too often and are one of the most common types of personal injury incidents in Pennsylvania. Whether an accident involves a bus, pedestrian, tractor-trailer, motorcycle, or small vehicle, auto collisions may result from negligent, distracted, or reckless motorists. Car accidents may also be caused by auto design flaws or dangerous roads. Experienced Springfield car accident attorneys are dedicated to helping injury victims receive full and just compensation in addition to protecting an injury victim’s legal rights.

The skilled Springfield, PA personal injury lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP have been assisting individuals afflicted by another person’s negligence for several years. We will provide you with the quality legal counsel and representation that you need in order to hold negligent parties legally accountable and be successful with your case. If you or a loved one has been injured in a personal injury accident, contact Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP for a free consultation by calling 1-888-684-7192 today.

Drexel Hill is located in the Upper Darby Township of Pennsylvania in Delaware County and had an estimated population of 30, 036 in 2007. Drexel Hill is less than a half-hour drive from Center City, Philadelphia, which makes it a desirable community to reside in for being tight-knit but close to large cities. The main hub of Drexel Hill is the community of Drexelbrook that includes approximately 1,223 homes in 90 federal style buildings, an undersized business center and recreational spaces for all age groups. Although a relatively quiet community, Drexel Hill is busy and densely populated enough that residents and visitors encounter their share of personal injury incidents caused by another person’s negligence.

Personal injury accidents in Drexel Hill frequently involve automobile accidents, on the job accidents, hospital error or malpractice, elder facility neglect or abuse, construction accidents, and many other situations where someone else’s negligence causes physical harm, emotional turmoil and financial strain. Personal injury victims may be able to obtain monetary compensation from negligent individuals to account for medical treatment, loss of earnings, pain and suffering, and other related damages.

Drexel Hill car accidents happen far too often as the result of reckless, distracted, or negligent driving. Other accidents, whether they involve buses, pedestrians, trucks, motorcycles, or other vehicles, are sometimes caused by poorly maintained roads and auto parts that are flawed. Experienced Drexel Hill, PA personal injury lawyers work with those injured in car accidents to help them receive the compensation that they deserve.

At Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP, our knowledgeable and skilled Drexel Hill car accident attorneys have been protecting the rights of injury victims for many years. In providing quality legal counsel and representation to our clients, we make sure that an accident is thoroughly investigated and that all the appropriate evidence is gathered to efficiently support a case in a timely manner. If you or a loved one has been injured in a personal injury accident in Pennsylvania, please call Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP at 1-888-684-7192 for a free consultation today.

As the county seat of Delaware County in Pennsylvania, Media is a diverse and friendly borough only 12 miles west of Philadelphia. Media has an estimated population of 5,396 and became the first fair trade town in America in June 2006. Widely known as “Everybody’s Hometown,” Media has significantly progressed from a dominant rural area to a busy suburban town and home to several educational institutions. As a consequence of being such a densely populated and fast-moving borough, Media visitors and inhabitants encounter a wide range of personal injury accidents caused by the negligence of others.

Personal injury accidents in Media often involve automobile accidents, hospital malpractice, nursing facility neglect, on the job accidents, and construction accidents, just to name a few. These accidents are frequently caused by another person’s reckless behavior or inattention, thus creating significant physical, emotional, and even financial hardships for an injury victim to overcome. However, personal injury claims in Media may help an injury victim receive compensation for pain and suffering, hospital bills, loss of earnings, and other damages.

Car accidents are unfortunately one of the most frequently occurring personal injury incidents in Media. While a handful of car collisions are brought about by auto part design flaws or dangerous road conditions, several other accidents are caused by negligent drivers. Whether another motorist caused you to suffer injury in a bus accident, pedestrian accident, truck crash, motorcycle collision, or another kind of traffic accident, you may be able to hold them legally responsible. With an experienced Media personal injury attorney on your side with experience in auto accident litigation, you can expect a thorough investigation to be conducted to help support your case and protect your rights.

At Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP, our dedicated and knowledgeable personal injury and car accident lawyers understand the many challenges that you and your family may be coping with during this time. We have been helping those injured by the negligence of others for many years and know what it takes to reach a successful outcome in your case. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, please contact us at our Media office for a free consultation. Call 1-888-684-2374 today.

As the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is ranked at number six for the most densely inhabited city in the U.S. The city proper had a population of over approximately 1.54 million in 2008 and the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan region had about 5.8 million, making it the fifth largest in the country. Often referred to as “Philly” and sometimes “The City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia is the fourth-largest urban area by population in the nation.
In being home to several historical sites, Philadelphia has a culture and variety of neighborhoods like no other U.S city. However, similar to other cities, Philadelphia inhabitants and visitors may be afflicted by another person’s negligence in a wide range of personal injury accidents.

Personal injury incidents in Philadelphia may relate to car collisions, medical malpractice, construction accidents, nursing home abuse, work accidents, and several other instances where another person’s negligence imposes physical injury, emotional trauma and financial hardship upon an innocent individual. Those adversely affected by personal injury accidents may seek compensation from negligent parties to help cover medical bills, loss of past and future wages, pain and suffering, physical therapy, and much more.

One of the most common types of personal injury accidents in Philadelphia involves car accidents. Whether a person is injured in a bus crash, pedestrian accident, truck collision, motorcycle accident, or small vehicle accident, these incidents are often caused by distracted, negligent or reckless drivers. Some car accidents are also caused by defective auto parts or unsafe and improperly maintained roadways. A skilled Philadelphia car accident attorney works to obtain full compensation for auto crash injury victims by protecting their rights. Car accident victims need legal counsel and representation from an attorney who will conduct a thorough investigation to determine who was at fault as well as gather appropriate evidence to effectively support the case.

The experienced and knowledgeable Philadelphia personal injury and car accident lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP are dedicated to helping those whose lives have been significantly affected by another individual or group’s negligence. If you or someone close to you has been injured in an accident that was caused by someone else, please contact Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP at our Philadelphia office for a free consultation. Call 1-888-684-7192 today to find out how we can be of assistance.

According to a recent article, federal safety officials are investigating a DuPont chemical plant after a series of leaks that resulted in the death of one worker.

The DuPont Belle plant in West Virginia is on safety shutdown after three leaks were reported. One leak, which released about 1,900 pounds of hazardous methyl chloride, went unnoticed for 5 days.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board are investigating.

On January 23, 2010 a worker was taken to a Charleston hospital after being exposed to the chemical phosgene. The article reported that a 58-year-old man who was a 32-year DuPont employee died on January 24, 2010.

Phosgene is used to make plastics and pesticides, and can damage the respiratory system.
The company reported the methyl chloride leak to emergency officials on January 22. On the 23rd, the worker was taken to the hospital after being exposed to phosgene residue in a transfer line.

Continue reading "W. Va. DuPont Worker Dies after Phosgene Exposure" »

A 33-year-old construction worker died in Southhampton Village, New York on January 4, 2010 when a foundation wall at a worksite collapsed and pinned him underneath. According to a report, the accident may have been the result of poor workmanship and attempts to cut corners.

The worker was trapped beneath the fallen concrete wall.

According the article, the victim was digging under the wall before the collapse to install footings, structural supports that should have been in place before the concrete wall was poured and the forms were removed.

An inspector for the Southampton Village commented that the concrete wall should have been reinforced with steel, but was not reinforced at all.

The construction site is being investigated by the Village Building department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The family of this deceased worker would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Worker Killed in Job Site Accident" »

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" »

Federal health regulators have found tiny particles of trash in drugs made by Genzyme, a biotechnology company. This is the second time this year the company has been cited for contamination issues. According to an Associated Press article, on November 13, the Food and Drug Administration said that bits of steel, rubber, and fiber found in vials of drugs used to treat rare enzyme disorders could cause serious adverse health effects for patients.

The FDA said the products would remain on the market because there are few alternative treatments. They also said doctors should closely inspect vials for particles before injecting them into patients. Doctors should return the defective pharmaceutical to Genzyme if they suspect contamination and watch for potential allergic reactions, blood clots and other problems in patients.

In June, Genzyme was forced to shut down a key production facility due to viral contamination.
The drugs affected by the latest announcement include: Cerezyme, Fabrazyme, Myozyme, Aldurazyme and Thyrogen. All are manufactured at a biotech plant in Allston Landing, Mass., where FDA regulators are conducting an inspection.

Genzyme specializes in biotech drugs to treat rare diseases.

Continue reading "FDA Discovers Pieces of Steel and Rubber in Genzyme Drugs" »

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" »

Two Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge builders were injured on October 29 when a steel structure they were preparing collapsed near the Lehigh River at Parryville. According to an article in The Morning Call, several circles of steel, each with a diameter of about 10 feet, tipped over, hitting the men. The two men were pulled from the steel and taken to an area hospital. Fortunately, they did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The men were employees of Walsh Construction Co. and were putting together the steel framework for a column to support a Northeast Extension replacement bridge between the Lehigh Tunnel and the Mahoning Valley interchange.

The article said that the cause of the accident was unknown.

Continue reading "Turnpike Bridge-Building Accident Injures 2 Workers" »

A man from Ambler, PA was charged with third-degree murder in connection with a fatal car crash in Delaware County on November 10. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 18-year-old man allegedly was traveling at a high speed northbound in the southbound lanes of Route 352. He then drove his Ford Explorer though a red light at the intersection of Knowlton Road in Middletown Township. He collided with a car and broke the smaller Honda Accord into two pieces. The driver in the other vehicle died at the scene. The charged man was treated for injuries.

Drivers of two other cars caught in the pileup and a passenger also were hurt, but the Inquirer reported that their injuries were not life-threatening.

The 18-year-old also faces charges including aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and recklessly endangering another person.

The 18-year-old should be held both civilly and criminally responsible for the motorist’s death and for injuring the other victims. The families of these victims would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death/personal injury attorney.

Continue reading "Ambler Resident Charged for Fatal Delco Car Crash" »

One worker was killed and another injured on November 10 when a crane tipped over at the construction site of a Kansas City, Missouri performing arts center. According to an article on KansasCity.com, the two men were in the bucket of the 100-foot-tall JLG Lift when it fell away from the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. It then landed across a platform of steel beams.

One of the men was pronounced dead at a hospital and the other was listed in serious but stable condition.

The men were installing steel panels on the building for Detroit-based subcontractor Midwest Steel.

According to the article, the center will be the home of the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet.

Crane accidents kill up to 82 construction workers each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Continue reading "Kansas City Crane Accident Kills Worker" »

On November 9, about a million Maclaren strollers sold by Target and Babies “R” Us were recalled after 12 reports of children having their fingertips amputated by a hinge mechanism.
According to an Associated Press article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the recall includes all nine models of single and double umbrella Maclaren strollers (Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller).

The amputation risk occurs when a child’s finger is placed in the hinge mechanism of a stroller while it is being unfolded. When the opened stroller locks into place, it can cut off the tip of the child’s finger.

The company is offering free hinge covers to prevent future incidents. The covers should not be removed unless the stroller is being cleaned, according to the CPSC.

Continue reading "Stroller Recall Over Fingertip Amputation Danger" »

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a Levittown man whose car allegedly slammed into a parked police car, causing the cruiser to fatally run over an Officer, was “impaired.”

A paramedic and a police traffic investigator testified that the suspect behaved “oddly” right after the accident on January 29.

The 37-year-old officer became wedged under his cruiser and suffered a skull fracture and multiple fractures of the left leg.

He died of multiple injuries.

The driver went on trial November 9.

According to a fellow Officer and accident reconstructionist for the Middletown police force, the driver’s eyes were “red and glassy” and he was incoherent when interviewed by first responders.

The man is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. Court records have alleged that the man was high on methadone, marijuana, opiates and benzoylecgonine, a substance related to cocaine use.

Continue reading "Trial Over Officer's Traffic Death Address Impairment" »

On November 5, a SEPTA track inspector was struck and killed by an R3 West Trenton train in East Oak Lane. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a 34-year-old from Sharon Hill was struck by a southbound train near the Philadelphia-Montgomery County line just south of the Melrose Park station. He died at the scene.

The man was part of a team inspecting tracks that normally carry northbound trains. It was unclear yesterday how fast the train had been traveling.

According to the article, inspecting tracks is a set procedure. SEPTA officials said trains often switch tracks because of equipment issues.

The family of this deceased man would be well advised to contact an experienced Philadelphia worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Track Inspector Hit and Killed by Regional Train" »

On November 3, 8-year-old twins were mowed down by a hit-and-run driver in Crescentville, PA. According to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the sisters were on their way to a corner store at Cheltenham Avenue and Colgate Street when they were struck by a gray Lincoln Town Car that sped from the scene.

One of the girls suffered only bumps and bruises and was treated for minor injuries at St. Christopher’s hospital.

The other child’s injuries are much more severe than her sister’s.The article said that the Lincoln rolled over the little girl, leaving tire marks on her clothes and abdomen. She was listed in critical condition.

An arrest in the case is expected to come soon, as police found a car that they believe might have been involved.

The driver of the Lincoln should be held both civilly and criminally responsible for the girls’ injuries. The twins’ family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced personal injury attorney.

Continue reading "8-Year-Old Twins Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident" »

A man from central Pennsylvania has been charged with drunken driving and homicide by vehicle in a crash that killed a taxicab driver and one of his passengers in October. According to an article on Philly.com, the 31-year-old man is also charged with aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence and other counts.

The article said that his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit, he tested positive for marijuana, and he told officers that he was texting at the time of the crash.

Police said the man’s car crossed the center line on Harrisburg’s Market Street Bridge on October 3 and hit the taxi head-on. The crash killed the 34-year-old male driver of Harrisburg and the 28-year-old female passenger of Camp Hill, PA. Her husband, a 31-year-old man, was injured.

Continue reading "PA Man Charged in Collision with Taxi that Killed 2" »

Two Penn State fraternities and two students were charged with misdemeanors in connection with the death of an 18-year-old freshman who fell onto a concrete stairwell after a night of drinking.

According to an article on Philly.com, University and State College police charged the Alpha Tau Omega and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities each with one count of selling or furnishing alcohol to minors and one count each of unlawful acts relative to alcohol. The 18-year-old freshman was found dead in September with a blood-alcohol level of 0.169 percent, more than twice the legal limit for a 21-year-old to drive. He was found about 75 yards from Phi Gamma Delta.

A 21-year-old female student and a 21-year-old male student are facing charges. According to the article, the female student bought vodka for her underage sister and for the teen who died earlier in the weekend. The male student hosted the deceased teen and his friends in his room at the Phi Gamma Delta house.

Continue reading "2 Penn State Students, 2 Fraternities Face Charges for Drinking Death" »

A New Jersey truck driver involved in a Route 9, NJ accident that led to the death of three people, has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of grossly negligent operation resulting in death. According to an article by The Associated Press, attorneys said they will ask a Vermont District Court judge to sentence the Deptford, N.J. man to one to 10 years in prison.

On April 16, 2008, the truck driver was driving a tractor-trailer on Route 9 in Woodford, NJ that overturned on a sharp, downhill curve. The truck hit two cars in the opposite lane, killing two men. A third man died five months later of injuries suffered in the crash.

The families of these victims deserve to be rightfully compensated for their tremendous loss. Every day throughout the country families are devastated when innocent loved ones are injured or even die as the result of traffic accidents.

Continue reading "Deptford Truck Driver Pleads Guilty in 2008 Triple Fatal Accident" »

The family of a Connecticut woman who died after her chenille bathrobe caught on fire has filed a federal lawsuit against a Pennsylvania-based retailer. According to an article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, attorneys for the estate of an 80-year-old woman filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in Hartford, CT against Blair LLC. They are claiming wrongful death and product liability and are seeking $30 million.

The woman was severely burned on Feb. 12, 2005, when her robe ignited as she made tea in her home. She died two weeks later.

The robes were linked to nine deaths. Blair recently expanded its recall of more than 300,000 chenille products it imported from a Pakistani manufacturer.

As a consumer, you have the right to assume that products you purchase or use have been produced in a manner that would ensure that they are safe and free from unreasonable risks. If a company manufactures or sells a product that is hazardous to the user, the company must be held liable for any injuries or fatalities that occurred due to the faulty product.

Continue reading "Bathrobe Fire Death: Connecticut Family Sues" »

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 40-year-old paralegal died after apparently being hit by a bicyclist in Center City, Philadelphia earlier in October. According to an article on Philly.com, the Center City law firm where the man worked has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who struck the paralegal.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital on October 15, after police picked him up near the intersection of 16th and Locust. He was found on the street, bleeding from severe head injuries. The article said that he was put into a medically induced coma to prevent further brain swelling.
At first, police reported the incident as a transport to the hospital. They later learned that several people in the area heard a loud noise, then saw two men on the ground, one of whom had been riding a bicycle and apparently crashed into the paralegal. Witnesses told police that the cyclist then fled the scene.

The bicyclist should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of this male paralegal. The family of any victim who dies in Pennsylvania due to someone’s negligence would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced Philadelphia wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Paralegal Dies of Injuries from Being Hit by Bicyclist" »

A 75-year-old woman was injured on October 12 when an aerial lift crashed into the roof of a Center City apartment building, causing debris to fall on her. According to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the woman tried to protect her head, but the impact of the 125-foot boom broke her left arm and crushed her elbow. She fell face-first to the ground and debris and bricks from the roof hit her, fracturing her spine.

She, along with her attorneys, filed a notice of plans to sue Masonry Preservation Group, Inc., of Merchantville, N.J., and First Presbyterian Church, of 21st near Walnut. The aerial-lift operator was killed in the accident and two others besides the woman were injured.

The operator was repairing loose masonry on the church, when a huge wheel of the lift platform ran over a fiberglass and cement TV-cable box embedded in the sidewalk.

The weight of the heavy machinery broke the cover of the cable box and destabilized the lift, causing it to slowly fall, taking down a streetlight, taking out a section of the roof of an apartment building and landing on a Verizon truck.

The woman fell under the lift and tried to push it off of her. She fractured vertebrae in her back when debris and bricks fell on her. Her attorneys are looking into whether proper permits for the work were obtained for the masonry repair, or if there were violations by the city Licenses and Inspections Department or the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Continue reading "Lift Accident's 75-Year-Old Victim Files Suit" »

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" »

A man from Tabernacle, PA said a defective Toyota seat belt contributed to his paralysis. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, he thinks that the company may be withholding crash data that could prove it.

The injured man’s attorneys argued in court that Toyota had been evasive when asked whether crash-test videos still exist for the 1991 short-bed, deluxe pickup.

On January 4, 2005, as the plaintiff was heading to work, he stopped to make a left turn onto in Barnegat, Ocean County, NJ and was struck from behind and then by a second vehicle. He filed a year later against the first driver, Toyota, and the seat-belt manufacturer. The man’s legs are paralyzed, although he does have some upper-leg strength that allows limited walking with a walker or crutches.

The seriously injured man claims that he was wearing his seat belt because he always buckled the restraint before starting the vehicle, as required by his employer.

There are allegations in California accusing Toyota of withholding and destroying evidence during civil litigation in unrelated cases. The man’s attorneys said this may be indicative of a widespread practice to conceal damaging evidence.

On October 9, a Superior Court Judge ruled that the company had an obligation locally to clarify whether videos or other electronic information exist showing that vehicles have been properly tested and met all safety standards.

The plaintiff’s lawyers allege that the seat belt, with a design defect, opened upon impact and that he was thrown into the dashboard with such force that he fractured vertebrae. Had the seat belt worked properly, the man would not have been thrown from his seat.

One of his attorneys also alleges that Toyota engineers knew in 1991 the seat belts installed in some vehicles were defective and that they later installed a properly designed belt. But the company never issued a recall.

The case is scheduled for trial in February.

According to the article, attorneys for the injured man are questioning if the company has a broad practice of withholding evidence.

Continue reading "Burlco Man's Suit Has Toyota Safety Data at Its Center" »

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" »

An October 9th explosion and fire at an asphalt plant in eastern Pennsylvania injured three workers, two of them critically.

According to an Associated Press article, an electrical panel burst into flames in the control room of the H&K Group’s South Reading Blacktop plant at 11 a.m. on October 9. A male electrical contractor was eating lunch in front of the screen. Two workers, a 57-year-old man and a 49-year-old man were injured after they and others rushed to help the worker who was eating in front of the screen.

The man eating lunch and the 57-year-old were in critical condition October 10 at a nearby hospital. The 49-year-old was treated for smoke inhalation.

The company called the blast a flash electrical fire and says it was the first such accident at the facility. State police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration have also been investigating.

The families of these injured workers would be well advised to contact an experienced Philadelphia workers' compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Flash Electrical Fire at Asphalt Plant Injures 3" »

A freshman student at Delaware County’s Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades died after he was electrocuted during a class on October 9th at the school’s power plant.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, an 18-year-old male student from Darby Township apparently was wiring a large lamp when he was hit by a jolt of electricity.

The male student was rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

The school is still gathering information about the tragic accident. The college also will bring in accident experts to determine the exact cause and make sure the school’s accident prevention policies are adequate.

The Inquirer reported that other students were with the 18-year-old in the power plant. It was not clear how many or how close they were to him when the accident happened. There are about 40 students in this particular student’s electrical program who are typically together in the power plant.

The student’s family would be well advised to obtain a wrongful death attorney who could determine if there was any negligence or wrongdoing. When needless death occurs due to negligence of another party, wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering. It is recommended that families who think their family member’s death was wrongful first contact a wrongful death attorney for a case assessment. If the case is valid, the attorney can help investigate the claim, gather evidence, represent them in court, and collect the compensation they deserve.

Continue reading "Electrical Accident Kills College Freshman" »

A 27-year-old man from Maple Shade, NJ has been charged with killing his passenger and an oncoming motorist while driving under the influence of marijuana.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the driver was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of assault by auto in the Aug. 9 deaths of a 63-year-old from Mansfield, and a 22-year old from Maple Shade.

He was driving west on Route 38 in Mount Laurel, NJ on Aug. 9 when he accelerated to prevent a sedan in the lane to his right from merging ahead of him.

According to the article, he lost control, struck the median, and went airborne into oncoming traffic. His Chevrolet pickup truck struck two vehicles, killing the driver of a Toyota Highlander. The man’s passenger died later that day.

Police determined that the man’s vehicle had exceeded 80 miles per hour just before the crash and that he was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the collision.

Continue reading "Fatal Route 38 Collision: Driver Charged with DUI" »

On October 12, a mobile crane working on a church steeple toppled near Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, killing the crane operator and injuring a woman standing nearby.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the orange aerial lift, working at the First Presbyterian Church at 21st and Walnut Streets, fell at about 1:15 p.m. that day. It knocked down a streetlight, sheared off a stoplight, and clipped the roof of a building on the north side of the street.

The crane operator was turning the machine when one wheel rolled over a cable access cover, the heavy lid gave way, the machine wobbled then fell. He was taken to a hospital, and was pronounced dead at 1:42 p.m.

The church had hired Masonry Preservation Group, of Merchantville, N.J. to perform a survey of the church’s stone exterior.

MPG does extensive work in Philadelphia on the maintenance and restoration of historic stone and masonry structures. It brought several of the truck-mounted cranes and set them up around the church.

According to article, the operator turned the crane, one of the four enormous wheels at the base rolled over a cable access panel. It started to tilt and it swayed out about 20 feet into the street. Then it swayed back towards the church. The second time it swung out, it toppled over.
The type of equipment involved in the accident, known as an AWP or aerial lift platform, is not technically considered a crane, and is not subject to the strict regulations put in place by Philadelphia last year.

The family of the crane operator would be well advised to contact an experienced Philadelphia worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Rittenhouse Square Crane Accident Kills Operator" »

The Obama administration reported on September 30 that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, an indication of the dangers of using mobile devices behind the wheel.

According to an article, the Transportation Department was bringing together experts over two days for what was called a “distracted driving summit” to take a look at the highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. Secretary Ray LaHood said the administration would be developing ways of curbing distracted driving.

Transportation officials said in a research report that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 were injured last year in crashes where at least one form of driver distraction was reported. Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008.

The panel of government officials, safety advocates, researchers and lawmakers hoped to develop a consensus on the roadway hazards and hear warnings from young adults who caused car accidents because they were texting while driving.

The new data underscored the major problem of distractions involving young drivers. The greatest proportion of distracted drivers were those age 20 and under. Sixteen percent of all under-20 drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving, the government said.

Continue reading "Almost 6,000 Deaths Caused by Driver Distraction" »

The widow of the small-plane pilot killed on August 8 in a collision with a helicopter over the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. According to an article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, she is accusing the helicopter operators of operating an aerial “bumper car.”

The crash killed nine people aboard the two aircraft, including the pilot from Ambler, Pa. The federal lawsuit filed this week in Philadelphia seeks more than $1.3 million in damages.
The woman sued tour company Liberty Helicopters, helicopter owner Meridian Consulting I Corp., manufacturer American Eurocopter and several of their insurers.

Her suit charges that Liberty and Meridian have a history of accidents and that American Eurocopter failed to equip the helicopter with sufficient safety equipment.

The crash also killed the pilot’s brother and nephew, along with the helicopter pilot and five Italian tourists.

The family also plans to sue the Federal Aviation Administration, which employed the controller, and a supervisor who had allegedly left on an unauthorized errand.

When needless death occurs due to negligence of another party, wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering. It is recommended that families who think their family member’s death in Pennsylvania was wrongful first contact a wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia for a case assessment. If the case is valid, the attorney can help investigate the claim, gather evidence, represent them in court, and collect the compensation they deserve.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Chopper Owner, Maker Over Hudson Crash " »

A 79-year-old man accused of hitting a female cyclist was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident. According to an article on Philly.com, the female bicyclist was hit on October 2 by a truck in Center City and is in critical condition. Initially the driver was charged with suspicion of driving under the influence.

The woman who was injured is believed to be in her 40s. She was hit about 7:30 p.m. at 22d and Market Streets. The article stated that SEPTA police stopped the truck at 22d and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The driver of the truck should be held both civilly and criminally responsible for the woman’s injuries. She and her family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced Pennsylvania bicycle accident attorney.

Continue reading "Cyclist Injured in DUI Hit and Run Accident" »

The trial is going to begin in a medical malpractice lawsuit following the death of a University of Pennsylvania sophomore. She died in September 2007 of meningitis. According to an article on Philly.com, her family claims that the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was negligent in performing a lumbar puncture on a patient with brain swelling, and that her brain herniated, killing her.

The hospital maintains that the sophomore received outstanding care and that the lumbar puncture, commonly known as a spinal tap, is the standard test for meningitis.

The suit is being heard in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

If you or someone you love has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, that patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. People of all ages are at risk for medical malpractice, including children, adults, and the elderly.

Continue reading "Trial Begins in Medical Malpractice Suit for Penn Student's Meningitis Death" »

A bankruptcy court judge overseeing certain Chrysler assets approved a $24 million settlement in the death of a California longshoreman run over by a Dodge pickup. According to an article, the settlement comes more than two years after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded damages of more than $55 million to a deceased man’s family. The family argued the automaker had failed to fix and adequately warn consumers about a transmission defect that made it appear trucks were in park position, when they actually were between gears.

An appeal of the jury verdict by the former DaimlerChrysler was delayed by Chrysler’s Chapter 11 bankrupcty filing in April, leading to negotiations that resulted in a settlement.

The 38-year-old suffered fatal head injuries when he was run over by a 1992 Dodge Dakota at the Port of Los Angeles on April 13, 2004. Both sides in the lawsuit said he had left the truck running without setting the parking brake, but they differed on who was to blame for the accident.

Attorneys for the man’s family argued that the truck slipped into reverse after the man got out. Those attorneys said DaimlerChrysler had received more than 1,000 “park-to-reverse” complaints involving 1988 through 2003 model Dakotas. The family’s attorneys argued that the company issued a recall in 2000 but it was for repairs that failed to fix the problem.

Jurors found in March 2007 that DaimlerChrysler was negligent in the truck’s design, and for failing to warn consumers or adequately recall the vehicle.

Continue reading "$24M Chrysler Wrongful Death Settlement Approved by Judge" »

A 42-year-old man was critically injured on Jan. 11, 2008 after getting hit by a car right after stepping off a SEPTA bus in Frankford, PA. According to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, he is suing the transit agency and the drivers of the bus and car.

The injured man was struck unconscious and is now confined to a wheelchair with limited mobility in his arms and legs.

The article stated that instead of pulling over into the bus lane, the driver stopped in the traveling lane to let passengers off at Bridge Street.

After the man got off the bus, he was struck by a Mazda that was trying to pass the bus on the right.

The lawsuit says that as a result of the defendants’ negligence and intentional acts, the man suffered “neurological damage, paralysis, speech impediment, loss of motor function, excruciating and agonizing pain.” The lawsuit was filed September 22 in Common Pleas Court. The suit seeks a jury trial and more than $50,000. The injured man said he has and will incur enormous medical bills in excess of one million dollars.

Continue reading "SEPTA Drivers Sued Over Auto Accident" »

According to an article on Philly.com, a $4.85 billion fund was set up so that Merck & Co. Inc. can compensate kin of those who died of heart attacks or strokes.

The claims are from the families of more than 3,100 users of its Vioxx painkiller who died of heart attacks or strokes because of the drug.

The fund will pay about 3,000 claims for heart-attack deaths and at least 122 for strokes.
Merck launched Vioxx in 1999 and withdrew it in 2004 when a study showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Merck set up the fund in 2007 after reserving $1.9 billion to fight 26,600 Vioxx lawsuits.

The facts of each case determine the extent of Merck’s liability, which analysts once estimated to be as much as $20 billion overall.

Families of heart-attack victims who died will get an average payment of about $374,000. The amount will depend on the Vioxx user’s age, how long he or she took the drug, and whether the person had health risks such as obesity or hypertension.

Continue reading "Merck to Pay 3,100 Vioxx Claims" »

Rider University has settled a lawsuit with the family of a California student who died from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity event in 2007.

According to an article by the Associated Press, financial terms were not disclosed.

The university has agreed to ban alcohol in dorms and at on-campus fraternity and sorority social events, strengthen sanctions for alcohol violations, and tell parents about incidents.
Other changes already in practice include imposing stiffer sanctions for hazing, putting live-in directors in Greek houses, and posting information about fraternity misconduct on a Web site.

When needless death due to the negligence of another party occurs, like the death of the student in the above case, wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering. It is recommended that families who think their family member’s death was wrongful first contact a wrongful death attorney for a case assessment. If the case is valid, the attorney can help investigate the claim, gather evidence, represent them in court, and collect the compensation they deserve.

Continue reading "Student's Wrongful Death Settled in Rider University Suit" »

On September 12, a Lower Township, NJ man was killed, and his wife and teenage daughter critically injured, when a man’s car crossed the center line on a curve and hit their car. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the driver of the vehicle responsible for the accident was charged with death by auto and driving while intoxicated. This is his eighth drunken-driving arrest since 1996.

For 13 years, the legal system has tried to stop this particular man from drinking and driving. He was sent to alcohol treatment and to jail and his driver’s license was taken away. Yet the Philadelphia resident continued to get arrested.

On Saturday, September 12, a 50-year-old father of four was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, minutes from his home on Route 9 in New Jersey.

His wife was taken to Atlantic City Regional Trauma Center, and their 13-year-old daughter was taken to Cape Regional Medical Center. Both remain in critical condition.

According to the article, the man who caused the accident had been through the system many times in Philadelphia and had been given numerous opportunities for rehabilitation. They took the man’s license away, but he was still driving. Many people have been killed by repeat offenders.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is pushing for tougher legislation to target repeat offenders because the recidivism rate among drunken drivers is so high. After a third conviction in New Jersey, drivers are required to install ignition locks that prevent anyone from starting a car without first passing a breath test.

Continue reading "Man Responsible for Fatal Accident Had Series of Arrests" »

On September 15, an attorney told a Philadelphia jury that GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. ignored evidence for years that its antidepressant Paxil may have caused birth defects. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, this attorney represents a woman who says that taking the drug during her pregnancy caused her three year-old son’s heart problems.

The Bucks County resident, a former cheerleader for the Philadelphia 76ers, is making the claim for her son who appeared briefly in the courtroom this morning. According to her attorney, Glaxo told its scientists to avoid disclosing possible risks associated with the drug’s use by pregnant women.

An attorney for GlaxoSmithKline is claiming there is no evidence that Paxil caused the child’s heart problems. The case is being heard in Common Pleas Court.

The woman’s attorney showed the jury a series of documents that showed that Glaxo knew before Paxil went on the market that rats administered the drug were more likely to have pups that didn’t survive past four days and that the rate of death increased with higher doses of Paxil.

In the late 1980s, at about the same time as the rat study, an internal Glaxo scientist warned that “there remains the possibility that this compound could be teratogenic (meaning can cause birth defects) at higher dose levels.”

The trial is the first of more than 600 cases alleging that Glaxo knew Paxil caused birth defects and hid those risks to pump up profits. Approved for U.S. use in 1992, the drug generated about $942 million in sales last year, 2.1 percent of Glaxo’s total sales.

Continue reading "Trial Opens in Philadelphia in Paxil Lawsuit" »

A Philadelphia man was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of a 91-year-old man and his 84-year-old wife in a Sept. 21 crash in Bensalem. According to the an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, he was also charged with reckless endangerment and other offenses.

The article stated that the charged man “was the direct and substantial cause” of the crash that fatally injured the couple on their way home.

The man responsible for the wrongful death car accident should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of the two individuals. Their family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Man Charged for Double Fatal Crash in Bucks" »

An 18-year-old from Delaware County was asleep in the backseat of a friend’s car when an SUV driven by a drunken driver crashed into the car, severely injuring his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that on September 22, the driver of the SUV was sentenced to three years and eight months to 14 years and six months in prison. On Aug. 17, the driver pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, fleeing police, and other charges. He has been ordered to pay about $35,000 in restitution.

According to the article, the driver had numerous legal charges, including underage drinking, curfew violations, fighting, and harassment. He was truant from school and had his driver’s license suspended for juvenile drug charges. He was ordered twice by the courts into drug rehabilitation.

On April 29, 12 days after getting out of rehab, the man stole the family SUV and drove drunk. The police followed him for 1.7 miles and attempted to stop him as he swerved back and forth and blew through stop signs and a red light before crashing into the car carrying Jewell and two other Ridley High School teens.

The injured victim is still in pain from the accident and is dependent on others for most of his care.

The driver in this incident should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the victim’s injuries. His family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced personal injury attorney.

Continue reading "DUI Crash Leaves Victim Paralyzed: Delco Driver Sentenced" »

On September 16, the FDA ordered the drugmaker Wyeth to put the strongest warning possible about the risks of IV push and Phenergan (promethazine) on the drug label. According to an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the drug caused one woman, a Vermont musician, to lose her arm. Levine fought drugmaker Wyeth all the way to the Supreme Court and won.

In the spring of 2000, this particular woman had a migraine headache and got the drug Phenergan to treat associated nausea. The drug was administered via a method known as intravenous push, which can cause infection and gangrene. That happened to her and doctors amputated her lower right arm.

She sued Wyeth and the Supreme Court decision in her favor was viewed as upholding all consumers’ rights to sue drug companies.

The article stated that although Wyeth no longer sells Phenergan, many makers of generic drugs still do, and the FDA ordered them to put the strongest warning possible about the risks, sometimes called a “black box,” on the label.

The stronger warning would let medical professionals know that the preferred way to administer promethazine is through intramuscular injection.

Continue reading "Phenergan Ordered to Display Black Box Warning" »

The operator of a motorcycle whose passenger was ejected from the rear seat and thrown over the railing of a highway bridge into the Schuylkill has been charged with vehicular homicide in her death. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 21-year-old man was speeding on a stolen motorcycle when he struck the rear of a car while trying to pass it. The accident happened on the Dannehower Bridge on Route 202 in Norristown on June 23. The 19-year-old passenger from Norristown was thrown off the bike and over the side of the bridge, suffering fatal injuries.

The operator of the motorcycle suffered serious injuries but survived. He was charged with vehicular homicide, driving with a suspended license, receiving stolen property, and other offenses.

The man in this motorcycle wrongful death accident should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of his female passenger. Her family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Motorcyclist Charged for Wrongful Death of Passenger" »

A federal investigation concluded that a bus driver is to blame for a school bus crash in Bucks County, PA that injured 20 students, including a girl whose leg had to be amputated.

According to an article from phillyburbs.com, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the January 2007 accident happened when the driver hit the wrong pedal.
The bus drove into a crowd outside Pennsbury High School. It hit a retaining wall and injured the students.

In March 2007, police said the accident happened due to unintentional acceleration after the bus driver confused the gas and brake pedals. The driver said that he didn’t hit the wrong pedal and that the bus suddenly lurched forward.

The families of the injured victims here would be well advised to obtain the services of an experienced, skilled, and knowledgeable personal injury attorney who will do a thorough investigation.

Continue reading "Federal Board Blames Driver for 2007 Bus Crash in Bucks" »

A construction worker from Eatontown, Monmouth County, NJ was injured after falling 20 feet while making repairs to a home in Barnegat. According to this article in the Press of Atlantic City, the construction worker was working in an attic at 12 Carriage Way and fell through a ceiling.

He landed on a stairway, breaking his left arm and inuring his elbow.

Police, fire, and paramedic crews responded right away to help him and he was airlifted to Jersey Shore Medical Center.

The construction worker would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Construction Worker Injured After Fall at Barnegat, NJ Home" »

The Delaware County driver who lost control of her car while reaching for an iPod, killing one woman and injuring another, was found to have drugs in her system. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the 20-year-old female of Havertown tested positive for marijuana and Difluoroethane, an ingredient found in Dust-Off, a can of compressed air used to clean computers.

The Upper Darby superintendent of police said they are recommending the District Attorney’s office charge the young woman with homicide by vehicle involving DUI, manslaughter, and other related charges. On August 15, two females, a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old, were struck from behind by the car the intoxicated driver was operating.

The 19-year-old was killed instantly; and the 20-year-old was hospitalized with multiple injuries. She is now at home recovering. According to police, the driver was heading south on Lansdowne Avenue when she lost control of her car, crossed two lanes of traffic, drove onto the sidewalk for 30 feet before striking the women. There were no skid marks at the accident scene.

The driver in this case should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of the young teenage woman and for the injuries of the other female. Their families would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Driver Who Killed Woman Had Been “Huffing”" »

The Ford Motor Co. has settled a lawsuit filed by residents of a northern New Jersey town over toxic waste dumped there nearly 40 years ago. According to an article, the settlement was announced in state Superior Court. The residents of Ringwood, about 25 miles northeast of New York City, will receive about $10 million.

An attorney for the Plaintiffs alleged that they had been injured by exposure to toxic chemicals at the Ringwood landfill site. After more than three years of litigation, the parties have entered into a settlement that will resolve all the claims in the litigation.

Under terms of the settlement, Ford and two other defendants, URS Corp. and Arrow Group Industries, admitted no liability for the residents’ claims of health problems caused by the waste.

The article stated that during the 1960s and 1970s, contractors hired by Ford dumped thousands of tons of paint sludge and heavy metals from a car manufacturing plant in nearby Mahwah into landfills, open pits and an abandoned mine that dates back to the 18th century.
The Ringwood site was placed on the federal Superfund list, a ranking of the country’s worst environmental dump sites, in 1983.

Large amounts of hardened paint sludge and other waste were discovered. A joint federal-state report released that year found the site contained potentially unsafe levels of metals and chemicals.

Residents blamed the toxins for serious illnesses including certain cancers and skin diseases, and about 700 of them joined a lawsuit in 2006.

Continue reading "NJ Toxic Waste Exposure Lawsuit Settled by Ford" »

The family of two workers sued International Paper (IP) after an explosion killed a contract worker and injured 22 others at its Redwood, Mississippi plant on May 3, 2008.
According to this Associated Press article on Philly.com, the blast killed a 28-year-old male employee. The two workers who filed the lawsuit and several other workers were severely burned when the 12-story boiler exploded during an attempt to restart it after annual maintenance.

In the lawsuit filed last year, the IP plant acknowledged that the boiler had been shut down for maintenance, there was an explosion, and the company knew workers would be present that day. The company argued that workers did not exercise reasonable care for their own safety.
One of the employees, who was burned over 60 percent of his body, said that workers should have been cleared from the area before the boiler was restarted.

OSHA fined International Paper $77,000 in the months following the explosion for one alleged willful violation and one alleged serious violation.

OSHA also found that some company officials did not share an internal memo about starting the boiler with workers in the facility’s control room, the report said.

A settlement conference is scheduled for Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.

Continue reading "IP Mill Explosion Settlement Proposals Due" »

On September 6, two firefighters were hurt after a ladder they were climbing collapsed in western Pennsylvania. According to an article, the accident happened Sunday morning at a fire scene in Monongahela, just outside Pittsburgh.

The men were on a 100-foot ladder when it collapsed and they fell. Fortunately, the injuries are not life-threatening. The article said that the fire started at a downtown pizza shop and then spread to two adjacent buildings.

The injured workers are entitled to Worker’s Compensation. By law, it is required that every company in Pennsylvania carry Worker’s Compensation Insurance in the case an employee is injured on the job, becomes ill due to circumstances surrounding their job or even if death results from their job. Benefits can include medical expenses, lost wages and death benefits. Workers’ compensation exists both as a way to benefit injured workers and as a way to protect employers. Workers' compensation is a no-fault insurance system, which means that no guilt needs to be proved in a case; only that the injury sustained occurred while on the job.

Continue reading "PA Ladder Collapse Injures 2 Firefighters" »

A 29-year-old male motorcyclist was killed in a crash on September 5 on Route 1. State police are searching for a vehicle that may have caused the accident. According to this article in The Delaware County Times, the motorcyclist from the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby, lost control of his motorcycle on Route 1 north approximately a quarter-mile north of Route 352.

A witness told police that a black sedan changed into the right lane and cut the motorcyclist off, causing him to brake hard and lose control of the motorcycle. The motorcycle did not make contact with any other vehicles. The Pennsylvania State Police (Media Barracks) are still investigating.

The motorcyclist’s family deserves to be rightfully compensated for their tremendous loss. They would be well advised to contact a skilled Philadelphia motorcycle accident attorney.

Though motorcycle accidents in Pennsylvania have a variety of causes, common causes include unsafe road conditions, inclement weather, defective motorcycle parts, driver fatigue, drunk drivers, and driver error. The latter is the most common cause of motorcycle accidents.

Continue reading "Route 1 Accident Kills Motorcyclist" »

On August 21, attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Cubs on behalf of the mother of a 21-year-old who died after a wall near the team’s stadium collapsed on him during a storm in 2007. According to a report, the lawsuit says the Cubs owned the structure near Wrigley Field that fell on the young man.

The suit claims the wall was slated for demolition but the Cubs failed to cordon off the area.
The man who was killed took shelter by the wall after a powerful storm struck. Workers found the badly injured man while clearing the rubble and he died a week later of head and neck injuries.

When needless death occurs due to negligence of another party, wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering.

Continue reading "Chicago Cubs Face Lawsuit Wall Collapse that Killed Man" »

Two men were injured while working with electrical cables in downtown Washington.
According to an article, D.C. fire crews had received a report of an explosion at the site of several high-voltage feeds.

A utility company (Pepco) spokesman said the contractors were pulling an old underground cable when it touched a live cable, triggering an electrical shock on August 24. One man suffered facial burns and the other suffered smoke inhalation.

The injured utility company workers would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Electrical Accident Injures 2 Workers in Downtown DC" »

On August 27, a worker for a lawn irrigation company was trapped for nearly five hours before being rescued from a muddy hole in Burlington County, NJ. According to an Associated Press article on Philly.com, a 24-year-old of Berlin, NJ was pulled out of the 6-foot deep hole by members of Task Force 1, the state police urban search and rescue unit.

The worker was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Fortunately, his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The worker became trapped shortly before 1 p.m. on August 27 while trying to repair a leaking water line in a Southampton Township retirement community. Soil and mud around him collapsed, covering him up to this thighs.

The worker in this incident would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Construction Worker Trapped in Muddy Hole Rescued" »

Six companies recalled millions of window blinds and shades after the deaths of three children who got caught in cords that help the coverings move up and down.

According to this article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, the recalls were announced on August 26 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The recalls involve Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA as well as smaller companies that sold their window covers at retailers such as Target.

No deaths were associated with the blinds and shades from Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA, but CPSC says there have been six reports of children becoming entangled in the inner cord of the Pottery Barn Kids shades.

According to the CPSC, the three deaths, which date back to 2006, involved blinds or shades made or imported by Vertical Land Inc., of Panama City Beach, Fla., and Lewis Hyman Inc., in Carson, California.

A one-year-old was killed in 2007 when he became entangled and strangled in the lift cord loop of a roll-up blind from Lewis Hyman that had fallen into his portable crib, The company is recalling about 4.2 million of the blinds.

Continue reading "Wrongful Deaths Cause Blinds and Shades to be Recalled by Six Companies" »

According to court documents obtained by The Associated Press, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline used a “ghostwriting program” to promote its antidepressant Paxil. This allowed doctors to take credit for medical journal articles mainly written by company consultants.

An internal company memo instructs salespeople to approach physicians and offer to help them write and publish articles about their positive experiences prescribing the drug.

The document was uncovered by a Los Angeles law firm, which is representing hundreds of former Paxil users in personal injury and wrongful death suits against GlaxoSmithKline. The firm alleges the company downplayed several risks connected with its drug, including increased suicidal behavior and birth defects.

Ghostwriting is legal in principal, but that said, it could contribute to illegal activity if the information is misleading and causes harm.

Articles from the company’s program appeared in five journals between 2000 and 2002, including the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Continue reading "Ghostwriting Used by Glaxo to Market Paxil" »

A Georgetown couple and their daughter died after a crash in Milton, DE. The couple’s other daughter remains in critical condition. According to an article in the Delaware County Times, a New Castle, DE man crossed into oncoming traffic on Del. Route 30 on August 23 and hit the family’s car.

The 33-year-old man and his wife, 32-year-old, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their 14-year-old daughter was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Their other daughter, an 8-year-old, was listed in critical condition at another hospital in Delaware.

The driver of the other car, a 22-year-old man, is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault. The accused driver should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the deaths of the parents and their daughter. The victims’ family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Delaware Couple and Their Daughter Die in Crash" »

On August 13, two construction workers working on a residence hall at Montclair State University in New Jersey were injured when the hydraulic lift they were working from tipped over.
According to an article, a University spokeswoman said the workers suffered “broken limbs” in the accident and were taken to a nearby hospital.

The building under construction is an unnamed six-story residence hall. It was not immediately clear how high the workers were when the accident happened and the cause is under investigation.

The injured workers at Montclair State University would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "2 Construction Workers Injured at NJ University" »

The Little Tikes Co. is recalling about 1.6 million toy workshops and trucks, after an 11-month-old boy got a plastic nail lodged in his throat. According to an article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the boy from Goose Creek, S.C., recovered after being hospitalized.

The recall includes a variety of toys manufactured by Little Tikes of Hudson, Ohio, in both the United States and China. They were sold with red or blue plastic toy nails that are about 3 1/4 inches long.

The recalled toys were sold on the Little Tikes Web site and by retailers around the country, including Toys ‘R’ Us, between March 1994 and June 2009.

Dangerous toys and defective child products can cause serious injuries, even death. Products may be dangerous because of design defects, manufacturer defects, incomplete instructions, and failure to provide danger warnings.

Continue reading "Children Products Recall Alert: Little Tikes Toy Workshops and Trucks" »

On August 14, a 20-year-old driver who was distracted by her iPod struck two young women who had just walked out of Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Upper Darby, PA, killing one. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the car struck a 19-year-old from Clifton Heights, and a 20-year- old from Lansdowne, from behind.

The 19-year-old was killed instantly and the other pedestrian was stabilized at the hospital and then transferred to an area Medical Center and was in “extremely critical condition.”

The driver, who is from Havertown, was treated for minor injuries.

According to police, the driver was heading south on Lansdowne Avenue when she lost control of her 2003 Hyundai Accent, crossed two lanes of traffic, traveled up onto the sidewalk for 30 feet, and struck the women. The car became trapped between a large tree and a brick wall.

The driver told police she was reaching down for the iPod, wasn’t paying attention, and lost control of the car.

The female driver could be held criminally and civilly responsible for the accident and for the death of the pedestrian. The families deserve to be rightfully compensated for their tremendous loss. They would be well advised to contact a Philadelphia wrongful death attorney who will file a wrongful death claim on their behalf and fight for their rights.

Continue reading "Driver Distracted by IPOD Hits Pedestrians" »

A Walt Disney World employee died during a stunt show practice on August 17. This is the theme park’s third worker killed on the job this summer. According to an article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, the worker suffered a head injury late August 17 while rehearsing an acrobatic move in the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” and died shortly after. The move required the worker to jump into the air, dive over another performer and land in a tuck and roll onto a mat. The 30-year-old performer had only been with the show a week.

Earlier this month, 47-year-old died four days after being injured in a Magic Kingdom show. He was sword-fighting in “Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial” when he slipped and hit his head on a wall.

In July, a 21-year-old monorail driver was killed when his train and another monorail train collided.

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator traveled to Disney World this week to begin an investigation that could take up to six months. The probe would be conducted separately from investigations into the two other deaths this summer.

According to the article, some union leaders at the theme park said they were concerned that the resort’s hiring of fewer workers this summer might affect safety. The work force this summer did not increase like it normally does during the busiest time of the year for Orlando’s theme parks. Because of longer park hours and longer lines, they need more staff to cover---this has not been the case this summer.

Continue reading "3rd Worker Killed This Summer at Disney World" »

According to this article in the Delaware County Times, officials in Ocean City, MD said three people were hospitalized after high levels of carbon monoxide were found at the Americana Hotel on the boardwalk.

No carbon monoxide detectors had been installed in the building, even though the law in Ocean City requires them.

The hotel was evacuated the morning of August 11 and three people with symptoms of possible carbon monoxide poisoning are being observed at a local hospital. Tests found relatively high levels of carbon monoxide on the seven-story building’s three highest floors.

The source of the leak is still under investigation. A fire department spokesman said that the hotel had no carbon monoxide detectors.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious and potentially life threatening condition and can lead to life-long health problems. Symptoms are often mistaken for other problems, such as nausea, flu-like symptoms, and lightheadedness.

Continue reading "Carbon Monoxide Leak Hospitalizes 3 in Ocean City Hotel" »

A top executive at TD Bank died of brain injuries on August 7 after falling out of a moving golf cart at a fund-raiser for a NJ high school.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a 44-year-old man of Moorestown, NJ was a passenger in the cart at Rancocas County Club Golf Course in Willingboro Township, NJ. He fell out of it and was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

The man was a senior vice president at TD Bank and was helping to raise money for a local high school’s football team.

Police are investigating the incident. The County Medical Examiner confirmed that the man had died of head trauma and that the death was accidental.

The family of the deceased man would be well advised to contact an experienced personal injury attorney. This attorney would be able to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. The accident may have been the result of an unsafe cart, driver error, or defective equipment.

Continue reading "Golfer Dies of Head Injuries after Fall from Cart" »

A patient sued a New Jersey oncologist who health officials suspect was responsible for a hepatitis B outbreak this year. According to this article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, one man from Manchester, NJ said he contracted the disease after being treated for prostate cancer at the office of suspected doctor this year and last year.

The affected man sued the doctor for medical malpractice in a state court in Ocean County, NJ in July. His attorney said that the man was tested before the doctor treated him and was not infected with the virus.

The state warned nearly 3,000 of the suspected doctor’s patients in March to get tested after five cancer patients tested positive for hepatitis B, which is transmitted through exposure to infected blood and can cause serious liver damage.

According to the article, the state Health Department refused to say how many more patients tested positive after the warnings were issued.

The oncologist’s medical license was suspended in April because of conditions at his Toms River office. There was blood on the floor of a room where chemotherapy was administered, blood in a bin where blood vials were stored, open medication vials, and unsterile saline and gauze.

Continue reading "Patient Sues N.J. Oncologist Over Hepatitis Infection" »

The University of Utah has settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of seven Chinese scholars killed in a 2003 van rollover auto accident in Pennsylvania.

According to an article, State officials agreed to pay nearly $500,000 to the plaintiffs, including three men injured in the crash.

In April 2003, the crash occurred in Pennsylvania during the Chinese delegation’s trip in the U.S., which the university organized. It involved a cross-country road trip from Utah.

The suit sought at least $3.5 million in damages, and claimed the university acted negligently by contracting with an unlicensed travel business in New York, which in turn hired an unqualified van driver.

Continue reading "University of Utah Settles Suit Over Deadly Pennsylvania Crash" »

The Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory warning consumers to stop using products containing steroids or steroid-like substances, many of which are labeled as dietary supplements. According to an article, the advisory came after FDA investigators raided the offices of American Cellular Labs, looking for evidence the company sells steroids under the guise of a supplement.

The FDA sent a warning letter to the company, saying it was selling unapproved and misbranded drugs and telling the company to explain how to prevent the recurrence of violations. Those products include TREN-Xtreme, MASS Xtreme and six others. The FDA received several reports of adverse effects over two years, including serious liver injury, from the American Cellular products and 15 from similar products made by other manufacturers.

These defective products may be popular among athletes in high school, especially football players, who may not be subjected to a thorough drug-testing program. The FDA warned consumers to be cautious when they buy any dietary supplements, not just the ones that claim to build muscle. Many can be contaminated with potentially dangerous substances.

Continue reading "FDA Warns About Supplements with Steroids" »

A man of Kennett Square pleaded guilty to a vehicular homicide that happened on October 2, 2008. He crashed his car into a tree, killing his friend, while allegedly fleeing from police. According to this article on Philly.com, the 22-year-old was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, DUI, and causing an accident involving death. He was not properly licensed and he also fled or attempted to elude an officer.

The young man was high on marijuana and driving without a license that day when an officer tried to pull him over in Chester County for an expired registration. When the officer approached the car, he accelerated suddenly and forced the officer to move out of the way to avoid being struck. The car crashed soon afterward.

The man’s front-seat passenger and friend died from the car crash in Pennsylvania.

The driver in this case should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of his passenger. The DUI victim’s family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney. The amount that can be claimed and the heirs who are allowed to file a Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit can vary widely depending on jurisdiction. In addition, statutes of limitation may come into play that limit the time a family has to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Continue reading "West Chester DUI Accident Kills Driver’s Friend" »

A blast at an explosives manufacturing plant in Ohio injured 10 workers on July 28. According to an article, the blast was caused by a broken detonating cord. The explosion, which occurred at the Austin Powder Co.’s Red Diamond plant, blew off part of the roof and a wall. This plant employs about 200 people and makes explosives for the mining and construction industries.

The article said that a partially filled spool of cord exploded when a detonating cord broke during the manufacturing process.

The injured workers at the Ohio plant would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing. An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Broken Cord Caused Blast Injuring Workers at Ohio Plant" »

The parents of a toddler who died in the backseat of his caretaker’s locked minivan, sued the day care center in July, alleging negligence by those who “were under a legal and moral duty to provide competent and safe care.” According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the toddler was forgotten and left in the van for hours on July 1 when the temperature outside was more than 80 degrees. The temperature in the closed van could have been at least 40 degrees higher than it was outside.

By the time he was discovered outside the Fairy Tales Day Care Center in Penndel, Bucks County, PA, he was dead.

One of the defendants in the Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit is the family’s neighbor, an owner of Fairy Tales who drove the toddler to the day-care center but failed to take him inside. The police are weighing possible charges against the neighbor and driver. State regulators closed the center on July 7, but it reopened on July 10 after it appealed in court.

Many day care centers have policies for checking on an absent child, such as calling the parents. If this day-care center did have a policy like that, it did not follow it in this case because the family did not receive a phone call.

State regulators from the Department of Public Welfare have been trying to close the day-care center, citing safety and record-keeping violations.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Day Care Center Sued for Negligence" »

A man was killed in a Montgomery County car accident in PA after a driver crossed into opposing lanes of traffic and struck his vehicle. According to a CBS news report, a 23-year-old man was heading west in a 2002 Buick station wagon when for an unknown reason, he crossed over to the eastbound lanes striking a 2006 Suzuki sedan. The driver of the Suzuki was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Buick and a 50-year-old passenger were hospitalized with injuries.

Traffic accidents occur for a variety of reasons. In this particular case, it's not clear what caused the driver of the Buick to cross over to opposing lanes of traffic. These accidents could occur due to driver error – possibly an impaired, speeding, reckless or distracted driver. Or they could occur because the car had a mechanical problem. If such an accident were to be caused as a result of the driver's fault, the injured party or his family could seek compensation from the "negligent" driver.

Continue reading "Fatal Montgomery County Auto Accident" »

Federal officials are investigating a death from a workplace accident in Pennsylvania of a 19-year-old man who was killed during a July 4 fireworks display at Quakertown's Memorial Park in New Castle. According to this news report, the man had been an employee of the fireworks company for only six weeks and was part of a three-person team that worked on the fireworks display.

He was in the process of setting up the fireworks exhibition when a single shell malfunctioned causing an on-ground explosion. The explosion reportedly destroyed the containment bunker and the wooden debris struck the worker killing him. He died of blunt force trauma. In addition to local police, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in the investigation of the circumstances of the young man’s death.

In cases where workers are injured on-the-job, the injured workers and/or their families will be entitled to receive worker's compensation benefits to cover medical expenses, lost earnings and other costs related to the injury or death. Worker's compensation in Philadelphia exists both as a way to benefit injured workers and as a way to protect employers. It is a no-fault insurance system which means that the only thing that needs to be proved is that the injury was sustained while on the job.

Continue reading "Investigation into Worker Killed at July 4 Fireworks Display" »

Eight people suffered injuries in a two-car accident in Pennsylvania’s Peters Township, according to this news report. According to Pennsylvania State Police, a 44-year-old woman suffered moderate injuries while four children suffered minor injuries. A 60-year-old man in a Ford Taurus sustained minor injuries while his passenger – a 22-year-old man – suffered moderate injuries. A baby girl in the car, who was secured in a car seat, escaped with minor injuries. Police are still investigating the cause of this injury auto accident in Pennsylvania.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, you would be well-advised to consult with a skilled Philadelphia car accident attorney, who can analyze all aspects of the accident, identify the negligent parties and hold them accountable. If the other party was driving negligently, recklessly or under the influence, then you may be able to seek compensation for medical expenses, loss of wages, physical therapy and even long-term care where catastrophic injuries are involved.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Car Accident Injures Eight" »

The family of a bicyclist who was killed two years ago after being hit by a drunk driver in a bicycle accident in Pennsylvania, has entered into a settlement with the driver and the restaurant blamed for selling alcohol to her even after she was intoxicated. According to this news report the fatal bicycle accident occurred Feb. 11, 2007 when the woman was driving after celebrating her birthday at a local restaurant with family members. Her blood alcohol content (BAC) was more than three times the legal limit, which is 0.08 percent in Pennsylvania. Last year, the woman pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and was sentenced to six years in state prison.

The lawsuit, filed in Lancaster County Court, asked for $100,000 in damages from the defendants. The lawsuit alleged that the restaurant sold liquor to the driver and her husband even after they were visibly intoxicated and failed to make sure that they had an alternative way to get home so neither one of them would have to drive. But attorneys for the restaurant argued that the woman did not appear intoxicated when she was at the restaurant.

Pennsylvania dram shop liability laws usually cover places of business that serve alcohol including liquor stores, bars, restaurants and clubs. These laws impose liability on businesses when they serve alcohol to someone underage or an individual who is already intoxicated who then goes on the break the law or cause an auto accident in Philadelphia that injures themselves or others. These cases are complicated because the indicators of intoxication can be contested as they were in this particular case.

Continue reading "Lawsuit in Fatal DUI Bicycle Accident Settled" »

A Pennsylvania worker suffered severe injuries to his legs after being run over by a forklift, according to a recent news report. The 48-year-old man was taken to the hospital for treatment after the Pennsylvania workplace accident, which happened in Hatfield Township. Officials are still looking into how and why this forklift accident occurred.

According to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, forklift accidents happen because of many reasons including lack of proper training for workers who have to operate forklift trucks. Forklift accidents could also occur because or improper assignment of forklifts and operators; poor maintenance of forklifts; and the age of the forklifts, which could cause them to fail. Forklift accident can result in catastrophic injuries or even death.

If you have been injured in an industrial accident or construction site accident, you need skilled representation from experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys who will inform you about your legal rights and options. If you are an injured worker, you will be entitled to receive worker's compensation benefits from your employer. If a third party (someone other than your employer) caused your on-the-job injuries, then you may be able to file a third party claim against that individual or entity.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Forklift Accident Injures Worker" »

A report said multiple failings led to a Green Beret's death in Iraq. According to this article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, the Defense Department’s inspector general determined that military leaders and a major military contractor failed to protect a Green Beret who was electrocuted while showering in his barracks in Iraq.

The Staff Sgt.’s wrongful death triggered an investigation, as well as a review of 17 other electrocutions in Iraq. He was a 24-year-old from Pittsburgh, PA. It also led to the ongoing electrical inspections of about 90,000 U.S.-maintained facilities in Iraq.

The inspector general’s found that “multiple systems and organizations” failed and exposed the Sgt. to “unacceptable risk.”

The man was electrocuted while showering when he came in contact with an energized metal shower and hose caused by the failure of an ungrounded water pump located on the roof of the building. The Houston-based military contractor KBR, Inc. installed the pump and adjacent water tanks.

KBR did not ground equipment during installation or report improperly grounded equipment during routine maintenance and KBR did not have standard operating procedures for the technical inspection of facilities.

According to the article, military commanders and key decision-makers failed to ensure that renovations were properly performed and did not address the maintenance situation. The Sgt.’s family has filed a lawsuit against KBR.

Continue reading "Electrocution Death of Pittsburg Sgt, Military and Contractor Faulted" »

An attorney from Nashville is preparing to file claims with the VA for about 60 veterans. According to this article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, he is going to ask the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to pay disability benefits and damages for hospital mistakes that may have exposed veterans to infectious body fluids.

The veterans have tested positive for HIV and hepatitis and others have suffered emotional distress after the VA provided them with initial positive blood tests for infections that turned out to be wrong. Other veterans among the roughly 10,000 affected former patients at VA hospitals in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Miami and Augusta, Ga., are likely to seek compensation beyond the VA’s offer of free medical care.

The attorney is planning to file medical malpractice and emotional distress claims with the VA within 30 to 45 days. The claims process differs from a traditional malpractice lawsuit because the VA is a federal agency. The patient’s claim first must be reviewed by a VA regional attorney.

The VA has offered free medical care to the affected veterans, but the attorney said it is no more than they already expected. The requested compensation will vary greatly, depending on the veteran’s age, ailments, and other factors.

Records show that among the patients who have heeded VA warnings to get follow-up blood checks, eight have tested positive for HIV. Twelve former patients have tested positive for hepatitis B and 37 have tested positive for hepatitis C.

Continue reading "VA Hospital Errors Affect Vets, Claims Being Filed" »

Lower Merion police identified a 75-year-old woman they believe is responsible for a hit-and-run accident that injured a Bryn Mawr boy on July 15. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the woman responsible is from Villanova, PA. Investigators impounded her gold 2002 Volvo station wagon, which had damage to the windshield on the passenger side.
The woman admitted her role in the auto accident in Pennsylvania when confronted by investigators and told them she thought she had struck a deer.

The 13-year-old boy was riding his bicycle west on New Gulph Road near Morris Road in Villanova when he was struck. After the collision, the driver didn't stop. The boy was air-lifted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in critical condition with a head injury. He is now recovering at home.

An anonymous tip led detectives to a garage in Villanova where they found the vehicle. The female driver is likely to be charged with causing an accident involving death or personal injury, a third-degree felony, and failure to render aid.

Continue reading "Hit-and-Run Driver Identified by Lower Merion Police " »

On July 22, federal health officials announced they found cancer-causing ingredients in electronic cigarettes, despite manufacturers’ claims that the products are safer than tobacco cigarettes. According to an article, the Food and Drug Administration said testing of products from two leading electronic cigarette makers turned up several toxic chemicals.

The Deputy Commissioner of the FDA said that not much is known about these products, including how much nicotine is there and what other chemicals may be there. FDA scientists tested 19 varieties of cigarettes, half of which contained forms of nitrosamine, a carcinogen known to cause cancer in humans. Many products that claimed to contain no nicotine actually had low levels of the stimulant.

Brands tested by the agency included Smoking Everywhere, marketed by a Florida-based company, and NJoy Cigarettes, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Public health advocates have also said that the products are aimed at young people and may lead to tobacco smoking. Because electronic cigarettes are not covered by federal tobacco laws, they are also often easier for young people to buy.

Electronic cigarettes produce a nicotine mist absorbed directly into the lungs. Most can easily pass as a tobacco cigarette with slim white bodies and glowing amber tips. They even emit what look like puffs of white smoke. Regulators said they have halted 50 shipments of electronic cigarettes at ports and borders since last summer. The FDA said it is authorized to seize the products because, for legal purposes, they are a medical device used to deliver nicotine.

Continue reading "FDA Says Electronic Cigarettes Contain Toxic Chemicals" »

A Philadelphia woman has been charged with driving while intoxicated following a Sunday car crash that killed her daughter’s friend.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a 47-year-old woman from Philadelphia was returning from a family reunion in Atlantic City when she lost control and swerved into a guardrail along the Atlantic City Expressway near Pleasantville.

Her maroon Buick sedan flipped over, trapping her and her 18-year-old passenger who sadly died at the crash scene.

The female driver’s 19-year-old daughter and two other young girls were also passengers in the car. One underwent surgery for a ruptured spleen following the accident and the other was evaluated for a lung injury.

The driver responsible for this auto accident should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the death of the teen. Her family would be well advised to seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Woman Responsible for Fatal Crash" »

A 12-year-old girl was critically injured in South Philadelphia on July 19 when the car she was in was broadsided by a drunken, unlicensed teen driver who fled the scene on foot. According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the car accident in Philadelphia occurred at 10th and Bigler streets when a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by a 19-year-old of West Philadelphia ran a red light and smashed into a Hyundai Elantra, two parked cars, and a fence surrounding a football field.

The teen driver was able to free himself from his car and subsequently ran, but was captured shortly after.

A witness said the driver’s side of the impacted car was smashed in and that firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to free the operator.

According to the article, the driver of the Hyundai Elantra, who is in his 50s, and an adult female passenger in the car, were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

A 12-year-old girl in the car was not as lucky. She suffered critical internal injuries and several broken bones. She remains in critical condition since the accident.

The under-aged teen driver who caused the accident by running the red light was found to be intoxicated and is not licensed to drive.

Continue reading "South Philadelphia Car Crash Injures 12-Year-Old Girl" »

A Florida dentist is being sued for allegedly dropping tools down the throat of an elderly patient - twice. According to an article, relatives of the 90-year-old man recently filed the suit in circuit court accusing the dentist of negligence.

The lawsuit that the elderly man’s family filed claimed that the doctor dropped an “implant screwdriver tool” in 2006 and a “mini-wrench” in 2007. The suit also says that the victim underwent several medical procedures to remove the tools but never fully recovered. He died in 2007.

The dentist was fined $17,000 by the state a year later. He was found negligent in a settlement.

When a patient has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. People of all ages are at risk for medical malpractice in Philadelphia and throughout the nation, including children, adults, and the elderly.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Against Dentist Who Dropped Tools Down Man’s Throat" »

On July 16, a driver in University City, PA struck three construction workers — including flipping one onto his hood and smashing his windshield — then drove around the block to argue with them. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the man was driving a Chevrolet Malibu east on Chestnut Street approaching 30th Street in Philadelphia when he got stuck in traffic.

The traffic was caused by a construction crew directing trucks loaded with supplies onto a site next to the intersection. First, the angry driver confronted a 33-year-old flagman who was stopping traffic and screamed at him to get out of the way. He then sped into the construction crew and caused a rare case of a pedestrian and work accident in Philadelphia.

The flagman was flipped over the hood of the offender’s vehicle and hit the windshield head first, breaking it. The driver then ran down two other construction workers and drove around again to confront the construction workers one more time. He was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

Continue reading "PA Construction Workers Injured by Angry Driver" »

Because the number of Simplicity drop-side crib recalls has now reached two million, government safety regulators said that parents should discard drop-side Simplicity cribs sold mostly through Wal-Mart and other mass retailers. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, ten infant deaths in recent years have been blamed on Simplicity cribs' defective products.

A spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned, “You should not put your baby to bed tonight in a Simplicity drop-side crib.”The agency said its warning did not apply to cribs on which parents had installed special hardware.

The agency recalled an additional 400,000 Simplicity cribs earlier this month, which brought the total number of recalled Simplicity cribs to two million in the last two years. The cribs recalled on July 2 were sold at discount stores between January 2005 and last month.

The Simplicity cribs’ hardware can break or deform, allowing the drop side to detach and create a gap between the mattress and the side of the crib where a small child could be trapped and suffocate.

Continue reading "400,000 More Recalls of Simplicity Cribs" »

The Philadelphia Daily News reported in a story that Synthes, Inc., a medical-device manufacturer in West Chester (as well as one of its subsidiaries and four company executives), was charged by a federal grand jury for allegedly scheming to conduct clinical trials using a bone cement on spinal fractures without the approval of the FDA.

Synthes Inc. specializes in trauma products and devices to treat damaged bone. According to the article, from May 2002 into fall 2004, a subsidiary, Norian Corp. conspired with Synthes and four Synthes executives to conduct unauthorized clinical trials of a bone cement called Norian SRS and Norian XR in surgeries to treat vertebral-compression fractures of the spine.

The article stated that the surgeries were performed despite a warning on the FDA-cleared label for Norian XR against this use. Before the marketing program began, the company knew that the bone cement reacted chemically with human blood in a test tube to cause blood clots. Despite knowing this, the company proceeded to market the defective product Norian XR for vertebral-compression fractures, and didn’t stop until three patients died on the operating table.

The patients were dependents of people serving in the U.S. military and died of hypotension, or a rapid drop in blood pressure.In January 2004, Norian and Synthes did not recall Norian XR from the market after the third patient died. Instead, they tried to cover up the details of the patient deaths by lying to FDA regulators during an official inspection in May and June 2004.

Continue reading "West Chester Company Penalized for Unlawful Clinical Trials" »

Darla Marshall, the second of two Kentucky widows, settled a federal lawsuit over surgical care she said killed her husband at an Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital. Major surgeries at this hospital have been halted for nearly two years after a spike in patient deaths.

According to an Associated Press article that appeared on Philly.com, the terms of the settlement over 61-year-old James Marshall’s July 2007 blood infection death six days after his lymph node biopsy at the VA hospital in Marion were not disclosed. Marshall sought $10 million in her wrongful-death lawsuit.

Another widow, Katrina Shank of Murray, Ky., settled for $975,000 last year for her lawsuit involving Robert Shank III, an Air Force veteran who was 50 when he bled to death in 2007 —one day after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the Marion site.

Both were patients of surgeon Jose Veizaga-Mendez, who resigned in August 2007 three days after Shank died.

Within a month of Shank’s death, surgeries at the Marion site, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, were halted after the VA found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March 2007 were “directly attributable” to substandard care there.

The article said that the VA’s findings of medical malpractice did not put the sole blame on Veizaga-Mendez, but Shank’s lawsuit said many or all of those who died were his patients. According to the article, of an additional 34 cases the VA investigated, 10 patients died after receiving questionable care that complicated their health.

Continue reading "Settlement Reached for 2nd Kentucky Widow Over Husband's VA Death" »

An FDA advisory panel recommended banning Vicodin and Percocet because they contain acetaminophen, which can cause liver damage if taken at higher-than-recommended doses. According to this article on Philly.com, the panel also urged the FDA to lower maximum doses for acetaminophen (also known as the branded drug Tylenol).

The FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, but usually does follow their recommendations. Vicodin and Percocet were recommended for a ban because some research has showed greater evidence of drug injury and liver damage with these medications. It could be because many patients take painkillers over the long term, while also taking other medicines they do not realize contain acetaminophen, such as NyQuil and Theraflu.

If the FDA bans Vicodin and Percocet, doctors may need to explore other ways to manage their patients’ pain. Vicodin contains hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Acetaminophen was included as an ingredient in the two drugs because it acts on different pain receptors than do hydrocodone and oxycodone. Other painkillers like aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also come with risks, such as kidney problems and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Experts said there are solutions that could reduce the chance of acetaminophen overdose, such as making sure all labels list acetaminophen. This could reduce the possibility that a patient might take too much of the drug. Doctors could also ask more questions about which drugs patients are taking. Doctors need to know how often a person takes Tylenol and NyQuil.

The pharmaceutical industry likely will fight the proposed ban since prescription drugs containing acetaminophen generated $1.4 billion in 2008 sales.

Continue reading "FDA Recommends Ban on Painkillers" »

A temp worker at a Camden chocolate processing plant, died on July 8 in a workplace accident after he fell into an eight-foot vat that was mixing and melting chocolate to be used in Hershey’s candy. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the worker was standing on a platform and tossing blocks of solid, raw chocolate into the tank.

The tank was heated at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and paddles inside stirred the chocolate as it was thrown in. When the man fell, one of his three coworkers on the platform immediately rushed to turn the machine off. The two others tried to pull him out.

He was struck by one of the paddles and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The decedent worked at a plant owned by Lyons & Sons, Inc., which is contracted by Cocoa Services, Inc. to process chocolate.

The mixing process was a daily task performed by the workers.

According to the article, the federal Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the incident.

The family of the deceased worker would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

Continue reading "Accident at Hershey Chocolate Plant Kills Worker" »

A transformer explosion caused an underground fire and power outage in a section of Newark, NJ and injured two workers. According to this article on Philly.com by the Associated Press, on June 30 around 11:30 a.m., Public Service Electric & Gas was working on the transformer when it caught fire and exploded.

Workers in the IDT building evacuated the building after they heard a loud boom. Two workers suffered workplace injuries and their conditions are not yet known.

Black plumes of smoke that rose from the ground disappeared as firefighters extinguished debris that ignited. PSE&G has not yet determined the extent of damage and many buildings in downtown Newark were without electricity.

In Pennsylvania, every company must carry Worker’s Compensation Insurance in case an employee is injured on the job, becomes ill due to circumstances surrounding their job, or even if death results from their job. Benefits can include medical expenses, lost wages and death benefits. Workers’ compensation exists both as a way to benefit injured workers and as a way to protect employers. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance system, which means that no guilt needs to be proved in a case; only that the injury sustained occurred while on the job.

Continue reading "Transformer Blast Injures Workers" »

Two Philadelphia police officers suffered severe injuries after being struck by a car driven by a suspected drunk driver, according to this Fox News report. The two police officers had just arrested another drunk driver when a black Honda Pilot sideswiped their police car and plowed into the arrestee's red Chevy. One of the officers, who was still searching the Chevy, suffered critical head injuries including multiple facial fractures from the car accident in Philadelphia. The other officer, who was standing by the Chevy, suffered injuries to his arm and legs, but is said to be in stable condition. Police arrested the driver of the Honda on suspicion of aggravated assault, speeding and driving under the influence.

Driving under the influence in Pennsylvania has serious consequences on the lives of those who cross paths with the drunk driver in an accident. When a drunk driver injures or kills another person, he or she could be held criminally and civilly liable for the accident and resulting injuries. Drunk driving is the worst form of negligence and causes grief that no family should have to endure.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Police Officers Struck and Injured by Drunk Driver" »

Four people suffered serious personal injuries after an out-of-control cab ran on to the curb outside the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, CBS News reported in a story. Eyewitnesses told officials that the cab was speeding when it swerved to avoid another car changing lanes. The taxi clipped the side mirror before completely losing control and running onto the curb. The cab then struck a bicyclist before crashing into a light pole.

The impact of the collision sent the cab spinning into a pedestrian waiting to cross the street. He suffered severe leg injuries and the female bicyclist is reportedly in the hospital in critical condition with a skull fracture. A passenger in the cab was also treated for injuries and the cab driver is apparently in the hospital with serious injuries.

If you are a Philadelphia vehicle accident victim and have been seriously injured as a result of another person's recklessness or negligence, you have legal rights that should be upheld while a valid investigation is affectively conducted to find the cause of the accident. Some factors of determining the cause of an accident include examining road conditions, the condition of the vehicle involved (mechanical problem or auto product defect) or alcohol consumption (DUI).

Continue reading "Philadelphia Car Accident Causes Multiple Injuries" »

Matrixx, the manufacturer of Zicam intranasal cold remedies, is issuing a voluntary recall of all Zicam Nasal Gel and Zicam Cold Remedy Gel Swabs, according to this news report. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued an alert warning consumers that these Zicam products were unsafe and unlawfully marketed by Matrixx. FDA officials have received numerous complaints from consumers who say that they have lost their sense of smell as a result of Zicam drug injury.

Matrixx has disagreed with the FDA's assessment that these zinc-containing cold remedies are hazardous to consumers. However, the company has restated that it is conducting this drug recall because it wants to cooperate with the FDA. Matrixx officials also plan on meeting with FDA officials to present "comprehensive scientific and medical data and analyses, demonstrating that these products are safe," the news report states.

Losing one's sense of smell not only destroys an individual's quality of life, but also puts him or her in a potentially dangerous situation if not able to smell smoke or a gas leak. The Zicam drug recall has already sparked numerous complaints and class-action lawsuits across the nation.

Continue reading "Zicam Defective Drug Recall" »

Officials in Norristown, Pennsylvania, are investigating what caused a motorcycle accident, which killed a 19-year-old woman. According to this news article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the woman who was a passenger on the motorcycle had been thrown off the vehicle and off the Route 202 Dannehower Bridge. Divers found the woman's body in the river. According to news reports, officials believe that another vehicle was involved in this fatal accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 4,000 deaths and about 76,000 injuries occur every year in the United States as a result of motorcycle accidents. There are a number of reasons why Pennsylvania motorcycle accidents occur. But the most common causes include dangerous roadway conditions, defective motorcycle parts, alcohol, driver error and driver fatigue. Some passenger vehicles simply don't comprehend the rules of the road and hit a motorcycle while making an unsafe lane change. Motorcycle accidents often result in catastrophic injuries including brain injury, broken bones, spinal cord injuries and even death.

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, please do not accept a "quick fix" settlement insurance companies may try to talk you into. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident or any auto accident as a result of someone's negligence or wrongdoing, you may be entitled to compensation to cover your medical expenses, loss of earnings, long-term medical care and other related damages.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Motorcycle Accident Kills Woman" »

Police in Port Carbon, Pennsylvania are saying that a construction worker is lucky to be alive after an 88,000-pound backhoe he was operating crashed through part of a Pennsylvania bridge about 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia. According to an Associated Press news report, the backhoe's cab was crushed against the bridge. The worker wasn't seriously injured in this construction accident in Pennsylvania, but a heavyset man would have been killed, officials said. It is not yet clear how or why the crash occurred.

Construction sites are extremely prone to risk of injury or death because of the nature of the job and the heavy equipment involved. Workers often do jobs in high-rise buildings, which make them prone to falls. Construction accidents can result in catastrophic injuries such as brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones and even death. Contractors and sub contractors are required under federal and state law to follow various procedures that will make a construction site safer for workers. All workers are also required to get the necessary training to do their jobs safely.

Continue reading "Worker Escapes Serious Injury in Pennsylvania Construction Accident" »

A 19 year old employee of Zambelli Fireworks Internationale of New Castle, Pa., was hit and killed by pieces of a sand-filled wooden launching container that was shattered by a ground explosion. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, he died of neck trauma at a July Fourth celebration in Quakertown, PA. His death was ruled a workplace accident in Pennsylvania.

The launching device that exploded on the ground is the focus of federal, state, and local investigations into the July 4th death of this fireworks employee.

According to one State police Sgt., there was a malfunction either from the tube itself that shoots the projectile or the charge at the bottom of the tube that propels the device.

Bucks County officials said the teen suffered blunt-force trauma and was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital-Quakertown, PA.

State police, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and state and county fire officials are all investigating the tragic PA workplace accident.

The employee’s death was one of five on the Fourth of July for pyrotechnics workers. Four others were killed in a single blast while unloading fireworks on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Fireworks Employee Killed " »

Two monorail trains crashed early morning on July 5 in the Magic Kingdom section of Walt Disney World, killing one train’s operator. According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, it was the first fatal crash in the monorail’s 38-year history in the park.

The transit system, which shuttles thousands of visitors around the Disney resort each day, was shut down while authorities investigated the wrongful death accident.

The monorail operator died at the scene of the crash. The other train operator was uninjured, but was taken to a hospital because he was emotionally shaken. Five park guests were treated at the scene.

It is unclear what caused this tragic crash and officials are still sifting through the evidence.
According to the article, the crash happened at the park’s ticket and transportation center.

The family of the deceased operator would be well advised to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

Continue reading "Operator Killed in Walt Disney World Monorail Collision" »

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" »

Dr. Gary Kao, an oncologist blamed for botching cancer treatments at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said he is not the type of physician he’s been portrayed to be. According to this article on www.delcotimes.com Kao testified on June 29 at a congressional hearing at the medical center in Philadelphia. Kao says the treatment, which involves implanting radioactive seeds in the prostate, “was and still is an evolving field.”

According to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report, 92 veterans received incorrect radiation doses at the hospital over a three-year period. The NRC is investigating the cases of medical malpractice in Philadelphia.

Although, Kao said he never falsified results or covered up mistakes, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter called the hearing after learning of the treatment problems. Specter himself is a cancer survivor.

When patients, such has the VA hospital cancer patients, have been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and in turn suffer an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice.

Continue reading "Pa. Doctor in VA Cancer Treatment Probe Testifies" »

The JBS Swift Beef Co. of Greeley, Colorado voluntarily expanded its beef recall to include about 380,000 pounds of products because of possible E. coli contamination. According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, a recall earlier this week involved about 41,000 pounds of products.

On June 28, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that all the beef products in the expanded recall were produced on April 21.

The USDA said an investigation by its Food Safety and Inspection Service of 24 illnesses in multiple states prompted the company to re-examine its food safety system. The department says 18 of the personal injury illnesses appear to have the same cause.

The USDA does not currently have an update of what states reported illnesses or received beef products covered by the expanded recall. But the earlier recall covered products that were made April 21-22 and shipped to Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

According to the U.S. CDC, common symptoms of E. Coli infections include stomach cramps and diarrhea and, in rare cases, there have been fatalities. Children may be susceptible to complications.

Continue reading "JBS Swift Beef Co. Expands Beef Recall" »

Scott Skirpan, a 50-year-old ex-Marine from Easton, lost both his legs three years ago in a gruesome industrial workplace injury accident in Pennsylvania at a Northampton County landfill. According to this article in The Philadelphia Daily News, the firm that owns the landfill, and Caterpillar Inc. (which made the bulldozer that crushed his legs), agreed to pay Skirpan $16.25 million to settle his negligence lawsuit in mid-trial.

It is one of the largest settlements in Pennsylvania history for a single-victim personal-injury case.

On May 1, 2006, five days into his job as a truck spotter at the Chrin Sanitary Landfill, a massive track loader backed around a pile of garbage and ran him over.

Skirpan’s attorney argued that Chrin Brothers, which owns the landfill, had failed to train their client, and that the Caterpillar didn’t have adequate rear vision. Skirpan was airlifted to St. Luke’s Hospital Trauma Center, arriving in cardiac arrest. He had eleven operations. Ultimately, surgeons had to remove his right leg and part of his right hip, and most of his left leg.

Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation in Philadelphia.

Continue reading "Worker Wins $16M Settlement" »

A man and a female bicyclist were seriously injured after they were hit by a cab that jumped the curb in front of the Kimmel Center while swerving to avoid another car on June 24. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the injured man may lose one or both legs after suffering serious fractures from the pedestrian accident in Philadelphia.

A police report said that the red Victory cab was headed southbound on Broad Street in Philadelphia and swerved to avoid a car changing lanes. It then jumped the curb and hit a lamp post and the bicyclist before spinning back into the street, striking a man crossing the street.
The bicyclist suffered head injuries and was reported in critical condition.

The driver and his passenger also were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The police also are viewing videotapes from surveillance cameras in the area to see if they show what happened.

Continue reading "Kimmel Center Pedestrian Accident Critically Injures 2" »

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" »

A safety foundation has asked General Motors Corp. to recall its 2000-01 sedans and refit their trunks with emergency-release latches. According to this article by the Associated Press on Philly.com, this comes after two Arkansas children were found dead in the trunk of a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu.

Kansas-based Kids and Cars said that although Ford has installed glow-in-the-dark handles inside all trunks since 2000, General Motors offered the latches only as an option on models made before 2002.

GM did not say what action the company might take in the wake of deaths regarding their trunk's auto product liability.

A Washington County Coroner said it appears a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old of Springdale died accidentally in the car’s trunk last week.

Police said it is likely that the children were playing in the trunk when it closed and they likely died of asphyxiation. Temperatures were nearly 90 degrees the day they died. Further investigation of the wrongful deaths is needed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released data for “non-traffic” deaths in January that showed three people died in 2003-04 after being closed inside a trunk. In a one-month period of 1998, 11 children were found dead in car trunks, prompting calls for trunk-release latches.

Continue reading "Safety Group Asks GM for Trunk-Latch Recall" »

An ammonia leak on June 20 at a poultry processing plant in North Carolina killed one worker and injured four others.

According to this article on Philly.com by the Associated Press, the leak occurred about 10 a.m. Saturday, June 20 at the Mountaire Farms plant in Robeson County, NC (about 16 miles south of Fayetteville).

The worker who died was identified as Clifton Swain, 47, of Fayetteville. Four other workers were taken to hospitals with injuries.

The County Emergency Management Director told The Fayetteville Observer that the leak has been contained.

The ammonia leak happened while workers were doing maintenance work on a piece of machinery at the plant and it has been ruled simply as a workplace accident.

The plant employs 2,500 people. About 30 to 40 people were at the plant when the leak occurred.

The workers from the Mountaire Farms plant who sustained any injuries and the family of the worker who died because of the leak are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through the employer. These benefits often are inadequate and may not be enough to cover a worker and his family, especially if the incident involves serious injuries that could keep the worker away from his/her job for a long time. It may be in the worker’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "Ammonia Leak at NC Plant Kills 1 Worker, Injures 4" »

The parents of a Chester County teen who fell to his death two years ago in an abandoned mine shaft while working with underprivileged children in Mexico, are suing the companies that organized the trip.

According to this article that appeared on Philly.com, the parents of the teen filed a wrongful death suit in Philadelphia court last week against Travel for Teens L.L.C. of Wayne and Casa de los Angeles, an Illinois corporation.

On July 20, 2007, the parents’ sixteen year old son was participating in a summer volunteer program and went on a field trip with 30 U.S. teens and 80 Mexican children. While playing tag with a group of children in the Cinco Senores mine in Guanajuato, Mexico, the boy fell into a 500-foot shaft that had no warning signs or railings.

The suit says that the failure of the program organizers to warn participants about the dangerous conditions constituted gross negligence. The teen’s parents are seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Volunteer Programs" »

The Associated Press reported in an article that consumers should immediately stop wearing a certain type of chenille robe made by Blair, LLC due to a fire hazard that is believed to have caused the wrongful death of at least six people.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Blair LLC, issued the second recall notice in two months after receiving reports of six deaths due to the robes catching on fire. In five of the six cases, the victims were women who were cooking at the time; three of the victims were in their 80s. The recall applied to 162,000 robes.

The article said that the CPSC urges all consumers to report any incidents or injuries involving consumer products, even after a recall has been announced. Contacting the CPSC may help prevent tragic deaths or injuries.

CPSC and Blair initially announced their voluntary recall in April, citing three reports of the robes catching on fire, including one report of second-degree burns.

The robes are a one-piece garment made of plush sculpted chenille, a shaped stand collar, and horizontal chenille front and back yolks and cuffs. The robes have a full-button front with seven matching button closures.

Continue reading "6 Deaths Result in Robes Recall" »

The government is investigating if heart attack survivors enrolled in a controversial federal study of an alternative treatment were told about possible health risks.

According to this article, the $30 million study with 1,500 participants, is one of the largest alternative medicine experiments. It tests high doses of vitamin and mineral supplements and chelation, a treatment used for lead poisoning. It has not been proven safe or effective for heart disease and has the potential to cause drug injury.

Last August, the federal Office of Human Research Protections began a probe into whether the people in the study were being fully informed of risks and adequately protected. Researchers then suspended enrollment.

Chelation involves intravenous doses of a drug, in this case disodium EDTA. Proponents claim it can flush out calcium that has built up in artery walls.

According to the article, the study’s consent form does not tell participants that others have suffered wrongful death from chelation. More than half of the doctors running the study make money by selling chelation treatments, which is a conflict of interest.

Continue reading "Chelation Heart Disease Study Investigated by Government" »

On June 16, federal health regulators said consumers should stop using Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and related products because they can permanently damage the sense of smell. According to this article by the Associated Press, scientists said the zinc in these over-the-counter products might damage nerves in the nose needed for smell. The FDA said about 130 consumers have reported a loss of smell after using Matrixx Initiatives’ Zicam products since 1999.

Other products affected by the FDA’s announcement are adult and kid-size Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs.

Loss of the sense of smell is potentially life threatening because people without the sense of smell may not be able to detect life dangerous situations, such as gas leaks or something burning in the house.

The article stated that Zicam Cold Remedy was never formally approved because it is part of a small group of remedies that are not required to undergo federal review before launching.

Known as homeopathic products, the formulations often contain herbs, minerals, and flowers.

The FDA issued a warning letter to Matrixx asking the company to stop marketing its zinc-based products. The agency did not issue a formal recall.

According to federal regulators, Matrixx would have to submit safety and effectiveness data on the drug. And, if they wish to continue marketing Zicam intranasal zinc products, they need to seek FDA approval.

Continue reading "Zicam Nasal Spray Linked to Loss of Smell" »

On June 10 in Austin, Texas, scaffolding on the 11th floor of a building collapsed and two workers who were on it fell to their deaths. A third worker was critically injured. According to this article, four men were on the scaffolding last week when it collapsed. The fourth worker suffered minor injuries.

Authorities do not know what caused the scaffolding to collapse, resulting in the wrongful death of two workers.

The workers here who sustained any injuries and the families of the workers who died because of the collapse are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through the employer. These benefits often are inadequate and may not be enough to cover a worker and his family, especially if the incident involves serious injuries that could keep the worker away from his/her job for a long time. It may be in the worker’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Continue reading "2 Workers Killed in 11th Floor Scaffolding Collapse" »

Craig Kelley, a Philadelphia Housing Authority police officer testified in the trial of Zahir Boddy-Johnson on June 5. On February 17, 2008, he was on duty inside a bulletproof-glass enclosed security booth at a Germantown apartment complex when he suffered a workplace injury in PA after Boddy-Johnson shot him with a rifle.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the officer was on duty alone when he heard a knock at the door of a security booth at the entrance of the Queen Lane Apartments. When he opened the door he was “staring down the muzzle” of a semiautomatic rifle about six feet away. The gunman struck Kelley in the left side of his abdomen, which spun him around and then knocked him down.

Boddy-Johnson, 18, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm on a public street. He could face from 35 to 50 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Kelley, who has been a PHA officer for 17 years, testified that the bullet remains in his abdomen and that because of his injuries, he has only been able to return to desk work.

Mr Kelley is entitled to Worker’s Compensation in Philadelphia for the injury that he suffered. Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.

Whether your injury was a simple slip and fall, or involves serious injuries and property damage, Cherry, Fieger, & Marciano can help you. Our dedicated and experienced Philadelphia work injury lawyers will do everything possible to get the monetary compensation that is owed to you to help pay for medical bills, physical therapy, loss of work and more.

On June 8, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers not to use skin products made by Clarcon because of high levels of disease-causing bacteria found during a recent inspection. According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory Inc. of Roy, Utah, issued a voluntary recall of some skin sanitizers and skin protectants marketed under several different brand names to prevent any further incidents of personal injury.

Consumers should not use any Clarcon products and should throw them away.

Analyses of several samples of over-the-counter topical antimicrobial skin sanitizer and skin protectant products revealed high levels of various bacteria, including some associated with unsanitary conditions. Some of these bacteria can cause opportunistic infections of the skin and underlying tissues and could result in medical or surgical attention as well as permanent damage.

Examples of products that should be discarded include Citrushield Lotion, Dermasentials DermaBarrier, Dermassentials by Clarcon, Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer, Iron Fist Barrier Hand Treatment, Skin Shield Restaurant, Skin Shield Industrial, Skin Shield Beauty Salon Lotion, Total Skin Care Beauty and Total Skin Care Work.

The FDA said its findings are concerning because these defective products are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds and damaged skin and protect against various infectious diseases.

As a consumer, you have the right to assume that products you purchase or use have been produced in a manner that would ensure that they are safe and free from unreasonable risks. If a company manufactures or sells a product that is hazardous to the user, the company must be held liable for any injuries or fatalities that occurred due to the faulty product.

If you have a Pennsylvania defective product claim, you will require the representation of Philadelphia's skilled products liability attorneys from Cherry, Fieger, and Marciano, LLP to handle all of the complexities involved with this type of case. There are many steps to a product liability case; beginning with proving that the product was in fact defective, next proving the product was the cause of the injury, and finally proving that the product was not used unreasonably. Please contact our firm today to discuss your case with an experienced legal professional.

On June 9, 2009, two people were unaccounted for after an explosion at a Slim Jim meat products plant in North Carolina. According to this Associated Press article on Philly.com, an Emergency Medical Services official said a third person initially declared missing was found and went to the hospital along with 20 other people. Authorities were still searching for two others but it wasn’t clear whether they were inside the building.

Five people who were injured had serious conditions. The article said several workers reported hearing an explosion before the collapse and the workplace injuries ranged from burns to smoke inhalation. Emergency crews were keeping people away because of an ammonia leak.

The Slim Jim plant workers here who sustained any injuries are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through the employer. These benefits often are inadequate and may not be enough to cover a worker and his/her family, especially if the incident involves serious injuries that could keep the worker away from his/her job for a long time. It may be in the worker’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

An experienced attorney would also look into a “third party claim.”These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.

Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.

Whether your injury was a simple slip and fall, or involves serious injuries, Cherry, Fieger, & Marciano can help you. These dedicated and skilled PA work injury lawyers will do everything possible to get the monetary compensation that is owed to you to help pay medical bills, physical therapy, loss of work and more.

A 23-year-old Indiana County man died and a teenage girl suffered major injuries after the all-terrain vehicle they were in crashed into a utility pole, according to this news report. Ryan Dixson Henry was driving around the borough with a 15-year-old passenger when he drove off the road near 3rd and Main streets. Pennsylvania State police officials said Henry first struck a newspaper box and then a utility pole, causing both him and the girl to get thrown from the vehicle in this PA wrongful death accident. Neither person was wearing a helmet. Henry was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after the ATV crash. He apparently died of head and chest injuries. The girl, who has not yet been identified, suffered serous injuries, the report stated.

ATV auto accidents in Philadelphia can cause serious injuries and even deaths. In this case, it is unfortunate that both the rider and the passenger were not wearing helmets. Safety gear is a must while riding an ATV. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were 750 deaths and 146,600 injuries reported in 2006 as a result of ATV accidents in the United States. Officials say that at least one-third of ATV accident victims are children under 16 years of age.

ATV accidents can happen because of driver error, inattention or simply inexperience. However, often times, ATV crashes also occur because of a manufacturing or design defect. If you believe you have been seriously injured in an ATV accident because of a product defect, you would be well-advised to consult with an experienced Pennsylvania product liability attorney. You may be eligible to receive compensation from the manufacturer of the defective product to cover medical expenses, loss of earnings and other related damages. If you have been seriously injured as a result of a product defect, please call Cherry, Fieger & Marciano LLP. for a free and comprehensive consultation.

Michael Tangora of Hookstown died after a two-vehicle collision in Chester, Pennsylvania on U.S. Route 30, the Herald Star reports. Hancock County Sheriff's officials said the head-on collision occurred when an eastbound truck on the highway traveling at a high rate of speed crossed the center line and struck a car. Two others – Anita Benz and Glenn Robert Krugle III, were airlifted to Pittsburgh area hospitals for treatment of injuries they sustained in the car crash. This fatal auto accident is still under investigation.

The consequences of an auto accident in Philadelphia can be devastating. As it occurred in this case, major injuries or death could occur as a result of an auto accident. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approximately 40,000 people die in the United States as a result of traffic accidents.

Also as in this case, auto accidents can occur as a result of someone's negligence or error. In this case, one of the drivers crossed over the center line and collided head on with the other vehicle. Distracted driving, reckless driving or driving under the influence is also considered "negligence" in Pennsylvania. If you have been seriously injured in a Philadelphia car accident by a negligent driver, you need to get in touch with an experienced Pennsylvania car accident attorney, who can analyze the case thoroughly, determine the facts, identify the negligent parties and hold them accountable.

At Cherry, Fieger & Marciano LLP., our skilled PA personal injury lawyers have obtained fair compensation for auto accident victims who have suffered major injuries or families that have lost loved ones as a result of another motorist's negligence. Call us today for a free consultation and evaluation of your Philadelphia personal injury claim.

Pennsylvania environmental officials have announced a $34,187 fine against a chemical company for a toxic leak that caused an acid cloud and forced hundreds of Butler County residents to be evacuated. According to this news report, Indspec Chemical Corp. has already been hit with a $121,500 in fines for federal workplace safety violations after an October 11, 2008 leak in its Petrolia plant. About 3,300 pounds of oleum leaked when a transfer tank overflowed. The type of sulfuric acid cloud that formed over the area as a result of the leak could have caused respiratory damage and skin burns, officials said. But so far, no workplace injuries have been reported as a result of this leak.

When it comes to Pennsylvania manufacturing plants, it is up to manufacturing companies to maintain a safe environment not only for their employees, but also for the area residents and neighbors. In this case, the company did not do its due diligence in making sure proper safety procedures were followed and their workers were properly trained to do their jobs. It is indeed fortunate that no one – neighbors or employees – suffered serious personal injuries as a result of this toxic leak in Pennsylvania.

If you have suffered toxic exposure as a result of such negligence or if you have suffered a workplace accident because your employer failed to maintain a safe environment, you are entitled to compensation. Please contact a skilled Pennsylvania workers compensation lawyer, who has experience successfully handling workers compensation claims and cases involving on-the-job injuries. At Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, we have the skill, the knowledge and access to experts who can strengthen your case and make sure you receive fair compensation for the injuries and loss you have suffered. Call us today for a free consultation.

A Pennsylvania motorcyclist was killed after crashing head-on into a minivan on Route 352 in Delaware County, according to this CBS News report. According to Pennsylvania State Police, the motorcycle was traveling southbound on Route 352 when it veered into the northbound lanes and struck a Dodge Caravan. The motorcyclist, 53-year-old Jeffrey Hoyle, was thrown from the motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene of the PA auto accident. Five people inside the van, including a 2-year-old child and a 91-year-old man, were taken to an area hospital with unknown injuries.

Motorcycles are increasingly becoming a popular means of transportation in the United States and here in Pennsylvania especially given the current economic pressures and rising gas prices. But unfortunately, riding motorcycles is risky. Very often, when it comes to motorcycle accidents in Pennsylvania, it is the motorcyclist who suffers major injuries or death. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 4,000 deaths and 76,000 injuries each year in the United States can be attributed to motorcycle accidents.

Motorcycle accidents can occur due to many reasons including the motorcycle's error, use of alcohol or drugs, a product defect in the motorcycle, a dangerous condition on the roadway or because of the other motorist's negligence. Motorcyclists can lose control of their vehicles also because of a mechanical malfunction or a product defect, which can trigger a mechanical malfunction. If your motorcycle accident is caused as a result of a product defect or another person's negligence, you are entitled to compensation for your injuries, damages and loss. If you have been injured in a Pennsylvania motorcycle accident, please call the experienced Philadelphia motorcycle accident lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano LLP. to find out more about your legal rights and options.

A Michigan truck driver faces reckless driving charges after his big rig hit a traffic cone and then struck a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker on April 30, 2009, according to a report. Truck driver Donald Minehart apparently did not realize that he hit the cone, which then struck a PennDOT supervisor who suffered injuries as a result. Minehart continued to driver and was stopped by troopers. The auto accident occurred in a work zone on Interstate 81 near exit 141.

This is not the first time a PennDOT worker has been injured by a careless driver. In May 2001, Richard Bradley, a PennDOT worker from West Hazleton, died when a teen driver struck him and three others on East Butler Drive in Butler Township. In this particular case, the worker was fortunate to get away without major injuries. However, this workplace injury serves as an important reminder for motorists to drive with caution along freeway construction zones.

Workers who get injured on the job are eligible for workers compensation from their employer. But very often, Pennsylvania workers compensation benefits are not sufficient to pay for medical expenses, loss of earnings or other related costs, especially when it comes to serious injuries. If you have been injured in a Pennsylvania workplace accident, please contact our experienced Philadelphia workers compensation lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano for a free consultation. Our skilled Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys will fight for your rights and make sure you get fair compensation for your injuries, damages and loss.

Over the past year, the optical products company Bausch and Lomb has quietly settled nearly 600 fungal-infection lawsuits for causing multiple cases of personal injury, with dozens more individual claims yet to be resolved. So far it has cost the company more than $250 million.

According to this article, more than 700 lens wearers in the United States and Asia say they were exposed to a potentially blinding infection known as Fusarium keratitis while using ReNu with MoistureLoc, a new-formula multipurpose solution for cleaning, storing, and moistening soft contact lenses.

Sometimes, the eye injury damage was irreparable, including seven people who had to have an eye removed and 60 more Americans who needed vision-saving corneal transplants. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 180 cases in 35 states from June 2005 through September 2006. The CDC continued to hear of sporadic, unconfirmed cases in the months after MoistureLoc was withdrawn.

Among out-of-court settlements reached in May was one brought by a Broadway actress and comedienne whose eye was scarred. In Colorado, a corneal transplant ended a race-car driver’s career. The culprit was a rare infection that most eye doctors had never seen before. The outbreak appeared first in Hong Kong in spring 2005 and reached its peak in the United States just days after MoistureLoc was removed from domestic markets in April 2006.

Victims typically complained of eye irritation that progressed to a sudden onset of searing pain. Many were mistakenly treated with antibiotics and steroids, which actually worsened the condition. Leading eye doctors and government scientists concluded that MoistureLoc was the only lens solution that contributed to the outbreak. Yet the mechanics of how it caused the problem are still not fully clear.

Continue reading "Dangerous Contact Lens Solution: Bausch & Lomb Settles 600 Eye Fungus Lawsuits" »

A 62-year-old man, Ahilefs Kalaitzi, was struck by a car and killed in a pedestrian accident on June 1 in Evesham Township, NJ. This was the township’s third pedestrian fatality this year.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kalaitzi was walking south on the shoulder of N. Elwood Road, near his home, when he was hit by a northbound car driven by 19-year-old Anthony Schepis III.

Kalaitzi was pronounced dead at Virtua Marlton Hospital. The driver, Schepis only suffered minor injuries.

According to the article, the incident remains under investigation.

Every eight minutes a pedestrian is hurt in a traffic accident – that’s up to 65,000 injuries a year. And 5,000 or more pedestrians die every year in pedestrian accidents.

It is recommended that victims and families of victims of Pennsylvania pedestrian accidents contact a competent, reputable and skilled PA personal injury lawyer with a good track record in order to pursue legal action against the person whose negligent behavior caused their injury. The right lawyer can help assess the case, gather evidence, negotiate between parties, and obtain compensation for injuries, associated trauma and costs.

The attorneys at Cherry, Fieger, & Marciano know how stressful and frightening pedestrian accidents can be, but we can help you during this difficult time. We have a long track record helping people bring negligent drivers to justice for pedestrian accidents - and we offer a free consultation to anyone with questions about whether their pedestrian accident could result in a valid lawsuit. Don't sit back and let someone get away with endangering your life, your happiness, and your financial future. Call our Philadelphia pedestrian accident attorneys today for a free and completely confidential evaluation.

Rubiel Sanchez-Ramirez caused a fatal car accident in Clayton, NJ on June 2. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, he was charged with causing a death while driving without a license and cited for several lesser violations. His bail was set that same day at $100,000 in Gloucester County, NJ.

Sanchez-Ramirez was driving an SUV in Deschler Blvd. in NJ when he struck and killed Mary P. Rogers, 52, of Williamstown, NJ.

According to the article, Sanchez-Ramirez, 25, received only minor injuries.

He was detained in Gloucester County Jail by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency because of his alleged status as an illegal alien from Mexico.

Sanchez-Ramirez should be held both criminally and civilly responsible for the accident and the death of Mary P. Rogers. Her family deserves to be rightfully compensated for their tremendous loss. They would be well advised to contact a Philadelphia wrongful death attorney who will file a wrongful death claim on their behalf and fight for their rights.

When needless death occurs due to negligence of another party, Philly wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering.

Cherry, Fieger, and Marciano understand the devastating impact a Pennsylvania wrongful death can have on a family. Call 888-845-2706 today for a free case evaluation and more information.

According to this article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the popular bodybuilding and weight-loss supplement, Hydroxycut, has been linked to liver damage. It is uncertain exactly how many people have suffered Hydroxycut drug injury, although a few incidents have been noted. For instance, a 33-year-old woman went to the emergency room at Yale-New Haven Hospital because of dark urine, yellowish skin, and profound fatigue. Her lab results showed she had acute liver inflammation.

Joseph Lim, a liver specialist at Yale on the woman’s case, noted that the woman had been taking Hydroxycut supplements for weight loss for two weeks. Several reports in the medical literature had linked Hydroxycut (which is used for both bodybuilding and weight loss) to liver damage. His patient improved after she stopped taking the supplement.

In May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers to stop taking Hydroxycut, which had been linked to liver damage and jaundice in 23 case reports received by the agency. These complaints included one liver transplant and one fatality. Those who have suffered injury due to using Hydroxycut in Pennsylvania would be well advised to contact a Philadelphia Hydroxycut recall attorney to help them receive compensation for any medical costs, treatment, or lost wages from not being able to work.

Iovate Health Sciences, the manufacturer, voluntarily recalled 14 Hydroxycut products. According to the article, the company sold more than nine million bottles of Hydroxycut in 2008. It is unclear how many people Hydroxycut may have injured or even which of its ingredients are dangerous. Although Hydroxycut was pulled from drug store shelves, many of its ingredients were widely available in other products still for sale. The FDA said that the agency was investigating those ingredients and other products that contain them.

The Hydroxycut ingredient that shares the product’s name is hydroxycitric acid or HCA. Two other ingredients in Hydroxycut could also be toxic: the mineral chromium and Camellia sinensis, the tea plant. They could be potential liver toxins. Recalling Hydroxycut does not fully protect the public if consumers buy another weight-loss supplement. Weight-loss and bodybuilding supplements may all be dangerous and have the potential to cause personal injury in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation. Unfortunately, adverse events are dramatically underreported because patients often fail to tell their doctors about supplement use.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Linked to Liver Damage" »

Ray Kot, a shift manager at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, was fatally shot May 27 in a storage room just off the casino floor. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a suspect identified by state police as a 57-year-old man from Norristown, PA was arrested inside the casino’s parking garage. Police also recovered a handgun that may have been used in the wrongful death incident.

Kot was pronounced dead about 2 1/2 hours after the shooting.

The shooting apparently happened in a nonpublic area of the casino where gaming supplies are stored. This area is not visible from the casino floor.

Kot was shot in the abdomen and rushed to the trauma unit at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which is handling the investigation, declined to provide further details about what happened or what may have prompted the shooting. No casino patrons or any other employees were injured and no one was evacuated from the casino.
According to the article, the gunman was not a casino employee, and there did not appear to have been a dispute between Kot and the gunman before the incident. State police said the suspect apparently knew Kot from past instances as a patron at the casino.

Kot was an employee at the casino since it opened in 1990.

The shooting was the second incident involving gunshots at the Taj Mahal this year. In January, a suspect in a New York embezzlement case pulled a gun and threatened to kill himself in an office there.

The family of Ray Kot is entitled to worker’s compensation benefits through his employer, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. These benefits often are inadequate and may not be enough to cover expenses of a deceased worker’s family. It may be in the family’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

Continue reading "Shift Manager Killed On-the-Job at A.C. Casino" »

Eleven spectators were injured when two school buses crashed into a restraining wall at a demolition derby-style race in Ohio.

According to this article, the accident happened on May 23 when the buses were racing in figure eights around the Columbus Motor Speedway track. The race was one of several taking place at a Crash-A-Rama event.

One spectator had to shield her 18-month-old daughter from flying debris and saw people get hit by chunks of concrete from the 4-foot-high wall.

The article said 11 people were taken to nearby hospitals with cuts, bruises, and some ankle injuries as a result of the bus accident.

The injured victims here may need the the services of a skilled personal injury attorney who will do a thorough investigation into this accident. Their attorney should be looking causes for this accident.

The experienced Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano use their knowledge, their aptitude and their ability in pursuit of obtaining considerable damages for the injured party.

Experts of the medical and technical fields are called in to provide much needed insight with subject matter including structural engineering, environmental engineering, general and specified medicine as well as accident reconstruction. Working with these experts greatly helps in the building of a strong case. If you or someone you know has been injured due to negligence in Pennsylvania, we can assist you in evaluating your case. Contact a skilled Philadelphia personal injury attorney at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano today.

On May 25, a 53-year-old Glen Riddle, PA resident died and six people were injured when a motorcycle collided with a van on Route 352 and Gradyville Road in Delaware County, PA.

According to the article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the crash occurred at about 8 p.m. when Jeffrey Hoyle, operating a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, headed southbound on Route 352, crossed into oncoming traffic.

The motorcycle hit a Dodge Caravan driven head on. The van was driven by Evelyn Hill of Philadelphia. Hoyle was thrown from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene. Hill and five passengers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The family of Jeffrey Hoyle would be well advised to obtain Philadelphia's skilled motorcycle accident attorneys so they may be compensated for their loss.

Though motorcycle accidents in Pennsylvania have a variety of causes, common causes include unsafe road conditions, inclement weather, defective motorcycle parts, driver fatigue, drunk drivers, and driver error. The latter is the most common cause of motorcycle accidents. Some passenger vehicles simply don't understand the rules of the road and may hit a motorcycle while changing lanes, may disregard their presence on the road, or ignore right-of-way laws. Unfortunately, the toll is usually on the side of the motorcyclist in these cases. Due to the inherent lack of protection while on a motorcycle, catastrophic injury often occurs, ranging from broken bones and minor lacerations and bruises to disfigurement, brain injury, paralysis and even death.

The National Highway Traffic Administration (NTHSA) estimates that 4,000 deaths and around 76,000 injuries take place every year due to motorcycle accidents.

The attorneys of Cherry, Fieger, Marciano understand the severity of Philadelphia motorcycle accidents and their life-changing effects. They have what it takes as personal injury attorneys to conduct discovery, gather appropriate testimony, stand up for you in court, and get the compensation you deserve —and they are offering a free case consultation today.

On May 27, authorities identified a motorist killed in an Evesham, NJ auto accident over Memorial Day weekend as a resident of that township, 19-year-old Shawn English.

According to the article on Philly.com, Thomas Thorn Jr., 22, of Tabernacle, NJ was driving a pickup truck when he struck English’s vehicle as it was crossing Route 70 on Maple Avenue around 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 24.

The article said that a preliminary investigation showed that Thorn, who is in stable condition, disregarded the traffic signal before his truck hit English’s vehicle. No charges had been filed yet as the investigation continued.

Every day throughout the country families are devastated when innocent loved ones are injured or even die as the result of traffic accidents.

The aggressive and skilled Philadelphia car accident attorneys at Cherry, Fieger and Marciano, LLP, represent clients who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents throughout the state of Pennsylvania. They have the experience and knowledge that are necessary to represent clients involved in even the most complex car accident cases. When preparing your case, their skilled team of attorneys will review all relevant facts to assist in determining which party was at fault and who should assume responsibilities. Some factors that may be of importance during this process may include road conditions, weather conditions, the condition of the vehicles involved (i.e., faulty or defective auto parts), and whether or not alcohol or drugs were involved.

If you or a loved one has suffered severe physical injuries in an automobile accident in Pennsylvania, please call Cherry, Fieger and Marciano, LLP for a free case evaluation.

An 8-year-old Camden, NJ boy was seriously injured in a vehicle accident on April 27 after he was hit by a NJ Transit bus and trapped beneath it.

According to this article from philly.com, the boy was riding the handlebars of a bicycle with a 17-year-old boy in April when the bus struck the bicycle at the intersection of Haddon Avenue and Cooper Street. Police said the younger boy was caught underneath the bus and had to be freed by rescue crews. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he underwent surgery.

There were no passengers on the bus. According to the article, the bus had just completed all stops on the 419 line, which runs from Burlington City to Camden. The bus was headed to a garage when the auto accident happened.

The family of this boy will need the services of an experienced, skilled, and knowledgeable personal injury attorney who will do a thorough investigation. Their attorney should be looking at other causes for this accident like a dangerous intersection, bad brakes, and so on.

The skilled Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano use their knowledge, their aptitude and their ability in pursuit of obtaining considerable damages for the injured party.

Experts of the medical and technical fields are called in to provide much needed insight with subject matter including structural engineering, environmental engineering, general and specified medicine as well as accident reconstruction. Working with these experts greatly helps in the building of a strong case. If you or someone you know has been injured due to negligence in Pennsylvania, we can assist you in evaluating your case. Contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano today by calling 888-845-2706.

Marquetta Grate, a 28-year-old Pittsburgh woman, died after being hit by a utility pole that was knocked down by a truck on May 15.

According to an article, Grate was waiting for a bus in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood when a tractor-trailer making a right turn hit the pole and made it fall.

Grate tried to get out of the way, but was hit. She was taken to a hospital and later died.

The family of Marquetta Grate will need the services of a knowledgeable, experienced and skilled Pennsylvania personal injury attorney who will do a thorough investigation. Their attorney should be looking at other causes for this accident like a dangerous intersection, bad brakes, and so on.

If you suspect a loved one shouldn’t have died at all and that their death was due to the action or lack of responsible action of another person, Philly wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent’s heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering.

The amount that can be claimed and the heirs who are allowed to file a Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit can vary widely depending on jurisdiction. In addition, statutes of limitation may come into play that limit the time a family has to file a wrongful death lawsuit. For these reasons and due to the complexity of these cases, it is recommended that families, who think their family member’s death was wrongful, first contact an experienced Philadelphia wrongful death attorney for a case assessment. If the case is valid, the attorney can help investigate the claim, gather evidence, represent them in court, and collect the compensation they deserve.

If you or someone you know has been injured or died due to negligence in Pennsylvania, we can assist you in evaluating your case. Contact a skilled Philadelphia personal injury lawyer at Cherry, Fieger, & Marciano today by calling 888-845-2706.

On May 13, a jury awarded Rosalyn James $2.185 million in a Philadelphia medical malpractice suit against St. Joseph’s Hospital and two emergency-room physicians. Her husband, Zachary James, died at the North Philadelphia hospital when his heart stopped beating on April 20, 2006.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, Mrs. James filed a lawsuit claiming her husband’s death may have been preventable if someone had just looked at his X-rays before he died.

James, 51, began experiencing chest, back, and leg pains on April 20. He called 9-1-1 and was transported to St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia. James was seen by the attending emergency-room physician, Dr. Thomas Powell, within a half hour, who ordered several lab tests, including X-rays and echocardiograms, but it took almost two hours for some of the tests to be performed.

Powell left the hospital to attend a corporate meeting, leaving a physician who was serving his first day on the job at St. Joseph’s. The emergency-room physician did not review the X-rays before they were sent to radiology, as per hospital procedure.

Zachary James died at 7:05 on April 20 from a dissecting aortic aneurysm, a condition in which blood gets between the layers of the aorta wall and fills up the sac surrounding the heart, constricting it until it's unable to pump. The X-rays and other tests would have revealed this condition before James had to suffer a wrongful death in Pennsylvania.

According to the article, the hospital and doctors pursued two defenses at trial. One was that Zachary James had a history of hypertension and “chronic noncompliance” in taking his blood-pressure medication.

The other was that quickly identifying James’ condition still may not have allowed enough time to properly transfer him to another hospital where the necessary surgery could have been performed. The defense argued that he was never given the opportunity to survive and the jury found both doctors and the hospital liable.

When a patient like Zachary James has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. People of all ages are at risk for medical malpractice, including children, adults, and the elderly.

Medical malpractice is a distressing situation, and the Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers at Cherry, Fieger, and Marciano, LLP, will make the process as simple as possible for you. If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, please contact Cherry, Fieger, and Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation with a skilled Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney.

A medical malpractice tribunal will decide whether a lawsuit can move forward against a psychiatrist who prescribed powerful drugs for a 4-year-old girl who later died of an overdose.

According to this article in USA Today, Michael and Carolyn Riley are awaiting trial on murder charges for their daughter, Rebecca’s 2006 death. The psychiatrist is accused of intentionally overdosing the girl to keep her out of the way.

A lawyer for Rebecca’s estate argued in March that Dr. Kayoko Kifuji should be held responsible in her death, claiming that Kifuji diagnosed her with bipolar disorder too quickly and did not monitor her condition closely.

When a patient, such as Rebecca Riley, has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, please contact Cherry Fieger and Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation with a Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney.

In severe cases of medical malpractice when a patient dies as a result of the negligence by the healthcare provider, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice and wrongful death. In most cases, a Pennsylvania wrongful death claim may be handled along with a medical malpractice claim.

Philadelphia police and SEPTA officials are continuing their investigation into the death of a man in a wheelchair, Milton Boneta, who was struck by a SEPTA bus at Eighth Street and Girard Avenue in Philadelphia on April 17.

According to this article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 61-year-old Boneta was crossing Eighth Street in his motorized wheelchair when the bus hit him while making a left turn.

Boneta already lost a leg in September when a SEPTA bus hit him near the same location, which is why he was in a wheelchair.

Police are sorting out the details and have interviewed about 35 witnesses.

The SEPTA driver remains at work, but has been taken off his route.

Witnesses to the bus accident in Philadelphia said the wheelchair had gotten lodged under the bus and dragged about 100 feet before the bus veered onto the curb-less sidewalk and came to a halt. Boneta was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s family would be well advised to contact a competent and skilled PA personal injury attorney with a good track record in order to pursue legal action against the person whose negligent behavior caused Mr Boneta’s death. The right lawyer can help assess the case, gather evidence, negotiate between parties, and obtain compensation for trauma and costs.

There are up to 65,000 injuries a year due to pedestrian accidents. And 5,000 or more pedestrians die every year in pedestrian accidents.

The unshielded human body is just not designed to stand up to the impact of a passenger vehicle, truck, or other conveyance. The pedestrian can be flung and suffer severe impact, such as brain injury, paralysis, broken bones, even disfigurement or death. Though urban areas increase higher pedestrian accident rates than the country, rural pedestrian accidents can be even more tragic due to crashes that occur at high velocities. Males are far more likely to be injured in pedestrian accidents, most of which occur on the weekends.

The Pennsylvania pedestrian accident attorneys at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano know how stressful and scary pedestrian accidents can be. They have a long track record helping people bring negligent drivers to justice for pedestrian accidents. They offer a free consultation to anyone with questions about whether their pedestrian accident could result in a valid lawsuit.

Paul Frankel, an Oklahoma City surgeon has been accused of medical malpractice in a lawsuit. According to this article, a father is suing over the death of his son, a Russian teenager who died after a risky brain stem operation.

This lawsuit is one of seven suits filed in Oklahoma County District Court against Frankel so far this year. He stopped practicing in December while he is under investigation by state medical officials.

Frankel performed a free surgery on Russian David Kurbanov in October 2006 to remove a tumor on his brain stem. Kurbanov slipped into a coma and never recovered. He died at the age of 16 in June of 2007.

Sabit Kurbanov, the boy’s father, said that the surgeon used his boy as a “guinea pig” for publicity. The lawsuit alleges that the care and treatment of David was below acceptable medical standards.

In another lawsuit against Frankel, a patient accuses the doctor of using the wrong size rods in 2007 during surgery for a herniated disc. The patient complained he had to have two more surgeries but ended up with permanent injuries.

If a patient, such as David Kurbanov, has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, please contact Cherry Fieger and Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation with a Philadelphia PA medical malpractice attorney.

In severe cases of medical malpractice, when a patient dies as a result of the negligence by the healthcare provider, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice and wrongful death. In most cases, a Pennsylvania wrongful death claim may be handled along with a medical malpractice claim.

A New Jersey family injured in a head-on car crash in 2006 was awarded more than $17 million by an Ocean County jury in a civil trial. According to an article, Jennifer Roden, her husband, Alvin, and their three young children were driving to a car dealership in August 2006 when another car crossed over the center line on Route 9 in Tuckerton, NJ and struck them.

All three children were hurt. One suffered a spinal injury that left her with permanent leg paralysis.

The other driver, Corey Clifford, was on his way home to Little Egg Harbor, NJ. He wasn’t criminally charged.

Every day throughout the country families are devastated when innocent loved ones are injured or even die as the result of traffic accidents.

The aggressive and experienced Philadelphia auto accident attorneys at Cherry, Fieger and Marciano, LLP, represent clients who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents throughout the state of Pennsylvania. They have the skills and knowledge necessary to represent clients involved in even the most complex car accident cases.

Continue reading "$17 Million Awarded to Family Injured in NJ Car Crash" »

Bristol Township police officers Michael Egan and Mark Buzby suffered debilitating leg injuries on Aug. 27, 2005. They were severely injured by a drunken and uninsured driver and then cheated out of insurance benefits by their own township manager and three insurance company employees. Egan and Buzby were entitled to Workers’ compensation benefits. However, in many Pennsylvania workers compensation cases, workers and their families do not receive adequate compensation for any lost income. In such cases, a skilled Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer will be able to look into whether there are any “third-party claims.”

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the officers had been investigating an accident on Route 13 in PA when the drunken and uninsured driver struck them. Egan had to have one of his legs amputated and Buzby underwent at least 18 operations. Now, both officers can perform only light administrative work.

The officers sought uninsured motorist liability benefits from the township, but were denied.

They were told the township had turned down such coverage before the accident, and were shown rejection documents to prove it.

Suing a third party in Philadelphia could include a party or entity other than an employer, such the bar who served the driver who hit the officers. If that bar knowingly served him alcohol while he was intoxicated, they could be held liable for the injuries he caused after he got into his car.

According to the article, the documents had been fabricated and backdated to deny the officers benefits. A Bucks County grand jury found a former Township Manager and three USI-Mid-Atlantic employees (Bristol’s insurance broker) guilty of forgery, tampering with public records, and other crimes.

Continue reading "Bristol Township Police Officers Injured On-the-Job, Cheated Out of Benefits" »

About 5,000 people in northeastern Pennsylvania were evacuated on March 21 after a tanker truck carrying more than 16 tons of hydrofluoric acid overturned near Wind Gap, PA. According to this article in the Delaware County Times, hazardous material teams managed to stop the slowly dripping liquid.

Hydrofluoric acid in low doses can irritate the eyes, nose, and respiratory tract. Inhalation can be fatal and those who have suffered similar injuries would be advised to contact a skilled Pennsylvania environmental toxins attorney after seeking medical treatment.

The driver was treated for injuries and released.

Anyone who may have suffered a serious injury due to the chemical spill would be well advised to speak to Philadelphia's top personal injury attorneys. When someone is determined to be legally responsible for injuring someone else, they are liable for the injury, and may be made to pay the injured person compensatory damages.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Chemical Spill Results in Evacuation of 5,000 People" »

For the second time in less than a year, a carbon monoxide leak at the Superfresh in Havertown, PA on March 30 caused the evacuation of 26 employees. According to this article in the Delaware County Times, three of the employees were hospitalized as a result of their workplace injury in Pennsylvania.

In August 2008, 32 people were hospitalized after an elderly woman collapsed. Authorities found carbon monoxide poisoning coming from a malfunctioning bakery oven.

The supermarket was evacuated in the early a.m. of the 30th and sealed off for a couple hours as paramedics ascertained the condition of employees. Three store employees have elevated counts of carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the article, the cause of the leak was a malfunctioning exhaust fan in the bakery area of the store.

Many of the nearby stores in the shopping center were also closed and employees were prevented from entering.

Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. A Philadelphia personal injury or work related accident can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Superfresh Employees Hospitalized after Carbon Monoxide Leak" »

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. is recalling all lots of Digoxin tablets because the defective product in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation might vary in size and deliver different doses of the drug.

According to an article that appeared on FoxBusiness.com on March 31, there have been “several adverse events” linked to the recalled heart medication. The adverse events include complaints reported by patients about side effects and may or may not be attributable to the product. So far there have been no reported deaths.

Digoxin is a prescription drug used to treat heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms. A higher than labeled dose might pose a risk of toxicity in patients with renal failure. According to the company, this can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, low blood pressure, and cardiac instability. Excessive digoxin intake can result in Philly wrongful death. A lower than labeled dose could cause decreased drug effectiveness, possibly resulting in cardiac instability.

The recalled items include Caraco Digoxin, USP, 0.125 milligrams and Caraco Digoxin, USP, 0.25 milligrams.

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.

If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a dangerous drug reaction in Pennsylvania, the skilled Pennsylvania pharmaceutical drug litigation attorneys at Cherry Fieger and Marciano, LLP may be able to help you recover the monetary compensation that you deserve.

Continue reading "Digoxin Heart Drug Recalled" »

An explosion in a plastic manufacturing plant in Orange County, CA has killed two people and injured a third person. According to the article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, the force of the blast on March 19 blew a concrete wall in the Solus Industrial Innovations building and shook a fire station across the street.

Firefighters rushed inside and found two bodies. Another worker was taken to a hospital for severe work injuries. There were three workers who were outside the building who declined treatment.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

The injured worker and the families of the workers who died are entitled to Worker’s Compensation through the manufacturing plant.

By law, it is required that every company in Pennsylvania carry Worker’s Compensation Insurance in the case an employee is injured on the job, becomes ill due to circumstances surrounding their job or even if death results from their job. Benefits can include medical expenses, lost wages and death benefits. Workers’ compensation in Philadelphia exists both as a way to benefit injured workers and as a way to protect employers. Workers' compensation is a no-fault insurance system, which means that no guilt needs to be proved in a case; only that the injury sustained occurred while on the job.

Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim and the right to seek a skilled personal injury attorney in Pennsylvania. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.

Whether your injury was a simple slip and fall, or involves serious injuries, Cherry, Fieger & Marciano can help you. Our dedicated and experienced PA work injury lawyers will do everything possible to get the monetary compensation that is owed to you to help pay for medical bills, physical therapy, loss of work and more.

The parents of 18-year-old Gregory Jacobs have filed a Pittsburgh wrongful death lawsuit against a hospital alleging that doctors at the hospital intentionally killed him to harvest his organs. According to this Associated Press news report, Jacobs was taken to Hamot Medical Center because he suffered a brain injury while snowboarding. His parents – Michael and Teresa Jacobs – allege that the doctors caused his death by administering medication and removing his breathing tube, which caused Jacobs to suffocate and die.

Gregory Jacobs was alive before the doctors began surgery, but the hospital's doctors suffocated him in order to harvest his organs including his heart, liver and kidneys. Although his parents, who were at the hospital, wanted Jacobs to live, the hospital's Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) directed that Jacobs' organs be removed without a valid consent. The suit also alleges that Jacob’s heart and brain were functioning when surgeons began the procedures for removing his vital organs.

If you believe that you lost a loved one because of negligence on the part of someone else, then you are entitled to file a wrongful death claim in Pennsylvania. When unnecessary death occurs due to the negligence of another party, wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. In such a claim, the decedent's heirs or immediate family members sue the negligent party or entity for damages related to the loss of life, medical/funeral expenses incurred, pain and suffering.

If you have lost a loved one as a result of someone else's negligence please call an experienced Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney at Cherry Fieger & Marciano for a free consultation. We will help you secure the justice and compensation you rightfully deserve.

Survivors of a crane crash, neighbors, and elected officials gathered on March 15 to mark the one-year anniversary of the deadly construction accident that killed six construction workers and a tourist. They observed a moment of silence for the victims.

According to the article on Philly.com by the Associated Press, the crane collapsed as it was being lengthened during the construction of a high-rise apartment building.

Three separate investigations blamed faulty rigging of an 11,000-pound crane part in the collapse. According to the article, workers attached the wrong number and type of protective slings to the steel brace meant to attach the crane to the tower under construction. This caused the brace to fall, which knocked out lower attachments to the building, resulting in the crane toppling into the quiet residential neighborhood near the United Nations.

A four-story town house was demolished and more than a dozen other buildings were damaged. After the crane accident, the city’s buildings commissioner resigned and the city passed dozens of new rules overseeing construction and cranes.

Continue reading "Anniversary of Deadly NYC Crane Collapse" »

About 5,400 of the Signo line of child car seats that are manufactured by a company called Recaro, are being recalled, according to this safety report alert from Consumeraffairs.com. A defective spring is said to be the source of the problem in the car seat and this may reportedly cause the central front adjuster strap to slip. This product defect in the latching system could prevent the harness from being securely tightened.

Consumers and users of this car seat who have more questions about the recall are asked to call Recaro at 1-888-473-2290. Please, also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at 1-888-327-4236 for additional information. Recaro should start notifying consumers shortly and replace the defective restraint system free of charge.

This defective child seat product recall is crucial as it concerns the well being of infants and young children. The defective restraint system here could fail in the event of a crash and cause catastrophic injuries. In a Philadelphia auto accident, a child may not be properly secured and could be injured or killed as a result. A recent investigative report found that of the 66 infant car seats tested in frontal crashes by the NHTSA, roughly half either separated from their bases or exceeded the permitted limits of injury.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured as a result of similar defective product, a recalled auto product or any malfunctioning appliance, you should get in touch with the Philadelphia law offices of Cherry, Fieger & Marciano without delay. Our team of experienced PA personal injury attorneys will commit their resources to get you the compensation you deserve and hold these manufacturers accountable.

Workers who formerly worked for a chemical laboratory in Pennsylvania may be able to take advantage of a government compensation plan for exposure victims to the environmental toxins, according to this UPI news report. A former employee at the Vitro Manufacturing Co. in Canonsburg in the 1950s told news media outlets that she did not know the tests she was running were of radioactive materials. She said she knew she was dealing with uranium but no one ever told her about the effects of radiation.

The employee said she only became aware after she got diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Although she does not have cancer now, she may qualify for at least $150,000 in workers' compensation from the federal government, the news report states. The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that former employees of Vitro would be treated as a "special exposure" group under an eight-year law that compensates employees at former nuclear weapons plants. This designation allows Vitro employees or their families to receive a $150,000 payment and coverage of certain medical costs if they worked at the plant for more than 250 days between 1942 and 1957 and if at a later date, were diagnosed with one of 22 cancers.

Pennsylvania law requires that every employer carry workers compensation insurance that provides compensation in case the worker is injured or killed on the job or as in this case, becomes ill due to circumstances surrounding the job. Workers compensation benefits can include medical costs, lost wages and death benefits. If you or a loved one has been injured on-the-job in Pennsylvania or believe that you have suffered adverse health effects as a result of your work environment, please call the top Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano, LLP for a free consultation.

Natasha Richardson, the Tony Award-winning actress, died at the age of 45 Wednesday from head injuries caused by a fall during a skiing lesson in the Laurentian hills. According to one story, a spokeswoman for the ski resort, Lyne Lortie, said that Ms. Richardson was not wearing a helmet.

“It was a normal fall; she didn’t hit anyone or anything,” Lortie said. “She didn’t show any signs of injury; she was talking and she seemed all right.”

Ms. Richardson was flown from Montreal Tuesday night to the Upper East Side hospital in Manhattan. Her death was announced Wednesday night by Alan Nierob, a spokesman for the actress’s husband, Liam Neeson.

“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” a statement said.

Another report stated that Ms. Richardson’s death has been ruled accidental and was caused by an epidural hematoma due to blunt force trauma to the head.

We are greatly saddened by Ms. Richardson’s death and our deepest regards go out to her family during this difficult time.

Brain injury is most commonly caused by accidents, assaults, and sports injuries. The brain is the most complex area of our bodies and brain injury accidents in Pennsylvania have effects that can impact a person’s quality of life indefinitely.

The skilled Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys at Cherry Fieger Marciano, LLP understand how stressful it can be to face the affects of brain injuries, whether you are an injured victim or a supporting family member. When others act negligently, compensation for medical treatment, pain and suffering, and even punitive damages can be collected in a Philadelphia wrongful death lawsuit against the responsible parties for their part in the brain injury. Call Cherry Fieger Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation.

Eight miners who were trapped underground for more than three days in 2002 have settled workers' compensation lawsuits against the mine’s operator and an engineering firm that drew the maps they used when they drilled into a flooded abandoned mine.

The Associated Press reported in an article that nine miners at PBS Coals’ Quecreek Mine in Somerset became trapped in a flooded tunnel on July 24, 2002. They dug into the mine while relying on outdated maps that showed it was 300 feet away.

The men were pulled from the ground in a dramatic rescue 77 hours later.

According to a report, eight of the miners have settled lawsuits against Quecreek Mine, the mine operator, PBS Coals, and the engineering firm that certified the maps. The monetary award to the miners is confidential. The companies do not admit to any negligence.

The report also said that a second group of miners who made it to safety also sued the companies and will share in the settlement.

In November, a judge issued PBS Coals and Musser Engineering fines of $55,000 each The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration had suggested fines of $5,000 each. The companies are appealing the fines.

Continue reading "Quecreek Miners’ Work Injury Lawsuits Settled" »

One man died and three others have been seriously injured in a blast at a south Louisiana oil facility. According to this article, the explosion happened around noon on March 10 at a Marathon Petroleum Co. pipeline facility in Vacherie, LA. The company stores and feeds crude oil to the company’s refinery in Garyville.

According to police in Louisiana, a crude oil pipeline was shut down for repairs at the St. James Pipeline Station when a welding crew apparently ignited fumes. There was no fire after the blast, but a worker was killed and three others were hospitalized with burns.

The family of the worker who died, as well as the injured workers, will be entitled to workers compensation benefits from their employer. It may be in the family’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced workers compensation attorney, who will carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.

Continue reading "On the Job Explosion Kills 1 and Injures 3 in Louisiana Pipeline Blast" »

The engineer of a Metrolink commuter train that crashed and killed 25 and injured at least 130 people in California last year, was planning to let a railroad fan operate the locomotive on the day of the accident. According to this article by the Associated Press that appeared on Philly.com, a transcript of the text messages by engineer Robert Sanchez was released this week. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened a two-day hearing into the collision that outlined the days and minutes that led up to the deadly crash.

The text messages showed that Sanchez allowed a fan to ride in the cab several days before the crash. He was also planning to let him run the train between four stations on the evening of the crash.

Federal investigators said Sanchez sent and received 57 text messages while on duty that day. One was sent 22 seconds before his train slammed head-on into the freight train. The large number of text messages was not uncommon for the engineer in the days leading up to the crash. Sanchez died on-the-job in the crash.

According to the article, there was no sign of mechanical error involving the Metrolink train that was carrying 220 passengers. The evidence is consistent with the Metrolink engineer failing to stop. The Metrolink Train and the Union Pacific Train were traveling at about 40 miles per hour when they crashed into each other. The NTSB panel conducting the hearing focused on cell phone use by train crew members; the operation of trackside signals designed to prevent collisions; and oversight and compliance with safety procedures during the crash.

Continue reading "Metrolink Engineer Text Messaged Before Fatal Crash" »

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" »

Lewis Leon, 26, seriously injured a woman after he struck her car, which was stopped at a traffic signal at Somerset Street and Park Avenue in North Philadelphia. According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the impact of the Philadelphia car crash pushed the car through the intersection and into a pole and then ejected the female driver from her vehicle.

The woman suffered head trauma, broken bones, and extensive bruising. According to the article, she is in critical condition at an area hospital due to this drunk driving accident in Philadelphia.

Leon allegedly continued driving after the crash and struck two more vehicles before coming to a stop at a pole. He was arrested and charged with driving while under the influence of intoxicants, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and related offenses.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Drunk Driving Accident Seriusly Injures Woman" »

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" »

Juan Rivera, a 58-year-old Passaic man, was killed when he was run over by an excavating machine on a construction job in Holmdel, NJ. According to the Associated Press on Philly.com, the construction accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. It happened in the back yard of a house that was being rebuilt after a fire.

Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene.

The article stated that the victim was working with another employee of a Franklin Lakes landscaping company that was installing a septic system and grading the yard. Rivera may have walked behind the 11-ton machine as the other man was backing it up.

The family of the victim is entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits through the workers’ employer, Franklin Lakes. The family may also want to file a “third-party” claim for this tragic construction accident. 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 "Worker On-the-Job Killed By Excavating Machine " »

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" »

Desiree Wylie said she had at least seven smoke detectors scattered throughout her three-story home in Coatesville the night her son and 2 grandsons died in a fire. According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, none of the ionization detectors went off, even though she had just replaced the batteries. She awoke to use the bathroom and smelled smoke. The smoke grew so thick within seconds that she could not get to her 11-year-old son or her grandsons. All three boys died of smoke inhalation in what is being considered the result of a defective product design in Pennsylvania.

Because ionization detectors are less sensitive to the smoke produced by smoldering fires, they can take a half-hour or more longer than their competitor (photoelectric detectors) to alert residents of danger.

In Wylie’s case, the delay was the difference between life and death.

Because of tragedies like this, Jay Fleming, a Boston deputy fire chief, is educating fire and government officials and the public about the potentially deadly deficiencies of ionization (ion) detectors.

Consumers have three choices in smoke-detector technology: ion or photoelectric alarms, or a hybrid of the two.

Continue reading "Coatesville Fire Kills 3 Boys, Ion Smoke Detectors Blamed " »

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.

Continue reading "Lilly Settles Zyprexa Suit For $1.42 Billion" »

The Department of Corrections recently settled a workers compensation claim with Carol Snyder, a former Graterford Prison guard, for $226,000.

According to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Snyder, as well as a medical expert, said she picked up a MRSA infection at the prison. The DOC settled with Snyder, although they are denying liability.

The CDC states that MRSA, also known as flesh-eating bacteria, is a staph germ that is resistant to most antibiotics. It is normally a skin infection and it can enter the body and kill. The disease has left Snyder’s face scarred and she has had recurring infections, including boils on her face, legs, armpits, and behind her ears.

The press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections denied Snyder’s contention that there were numerous cases of MRSA infections among prison inmate, including a death-row inmate. The secretary acknowledged there were “a handful” of staph infections, only half of which were MRSA. Snyder also claimed the cleaning was inadequate at Graterford prison and that inmates could have picked it up through the laundry.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Ex-guard Blames Prison For MRSA Infection" »

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.

Continue reading "Debris Kills Boy In Stands At Monster Truck Show" »

Robin J. Yeager, a 49-year-old Voorhees woman was struck by a car and killed in a pedestrian accident in Voorhees on January 12 as she crossed White Horse Road.

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, she was crossing the street shortly after 6 a.m. She was hit by a Pontiac Grand Prix driven by a 21-year-old man whose name has not been released by police.

The driver stopped his car, called authorities, and waited at the scene until they arrived. Yeager was pronounced dead at Underwood-Memorial Hospital.

The driver, who was not injured, had a suspended license. The man may face criminal charges depending on the investigation following this fatal Voorhees auto accident.

When needless death occurs due to negligence of another party, a wrongful death can be filed. In these lawsuits, the decedent's heirs sue the negligent party or parties for damages related to the loss of life and their own pain and suffering.

With the help of a wrongful death attorney, the family can sue the negligent person in court and receive monetary compensation for the wages the decedent would have earned had he or she lived, the loss of support to the family, even money related to pain and suffering and loss of consort.

The Cherry, Fieger, Marciano attorneys understand the devastating impact a Pennsylvania wrongful death can have on a family. They can help you find justice and compensation for your loved one’s death. Your case consultation with one of the Philadelphia, PA wrongful death attorneys is free of charge and completely confidential.

Cribs, baby garments, blinds, and stools recalled

According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a Stork Craft baby crib recall was initiated, recalling some 535,000 cribs in the U.S. The cribs, made in Canada, China, and Indonesia by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. were recalled because the metal mattress-support brackets can crack and break. A child could get trapped or suffocate if the mattress were to collapse.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is aware of 10 incidents of support brackets that broke. In one incident a child was trapped between the mattress and the side rail with no injuries.

Also, recalled Taggies Sleep’n Play baby garments, made in China and imported by Rashti & Rashti were potentially dangerous as the snaps on the garments can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children. No incidents or injuries have been reported. In July 2008, the company recalled two Taggies Sleep’n Play style baby garments, including the Butterfly Applique and the Fun Dog Print. The recall has been expanded to include the Dinosaur Applique and the Pink Toss Print styles. The garments are one-piece coveralls with snaps down the front.

Continue reading "Defective Product Recalls Include Children's Products, Blinds and Stools" »

Ohio distributor recalls two brands of peanut butter

An Ohio distributor, King Nut Companies, has recalled two brands of its peanut butter after an open container tested positive for salmonella bacteria.

According to the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, federal health officials said the company's peanut butter had not been conclusively linked to a national salmonella outbreak. The peanut butter recall involves approximately 1,000 cases of peanut butter.

King Nut asked customers (food service providers in Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, Idaho, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Florida) to stop distributing all peanut butter under its King Nut and Parnell's Pride brands with a lot code that begins with the numeral "8."

The Minnesota Department of Health found salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter.

The Minnesota tests had not linked it to the type of salmonella in the outbreak that has sickened almost 400 people in 42 states, but additional results are expected early next week.

Continue reading "Salmonella in Recalled Peanut Butter From Ohio's King Nut" »

State closes Willow Grove personal-care home after 2 deaths

The state closed Willow Crest Manor, a personal-care home in Willow Grove PA, after two residents died there. According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, it was understaffed, and medication was dispensed by unlicensed employees. The owner is now fighting to get his license back.

The state agency found that medicines given to residents weren't recorded, so there was no way to know whether they were receiving the right amount. Some patients received recalled prescription medications, while others got pills without doctor’s orders, according to the Department of Public Welfare.

The owner, Anand P. Mittal, was also accused of choking a Parkinson's patient. He was charged with assault, harassment and disorderly conduct and the case is pending trial. Mitall also has other facilities that the DPW is cracking down on.

Forty-eight residents were moved out of Willow Crest Manor after the deaths. Many of them had mental-health problems.

Continue reading "Neglect and Abuse at Assisted Living/Personal Care Facility " »

Delco woman faces DUI-related homicide charges

Roisin O'Neill, 22, of Newtown Square, had a blood alcohol content of .197 percent and was under the influence of marijuana when she drove up the off-ramp onto Interstate 476 on Sept. 19, traveling more than three miles in the wrong direction before striking a car operated by Patricia Waggoner, 63 in a fatal Pennsylvania head-on auto accident.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report, Waggoner, who was headed to Media to visit family, was pronounced dead at the crash site at 2:30 a.m. Sept. 19. She died of cerebral and chest trauma.

O'Neill’s injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said O'Neill was "falling down drunk" when she sped down the Blue Route in the wrong direction flashing her headlights at oncoming drivers. According to the article, Roisin O'Neill met friends just after 10 p.m. on Sept. 18 at Brownies 23 East in Ardmore, PA. She later admitted to police that she had two whiskey drinks before she arrived at the bar and a "beer or two" after she arrived.

Police said they interviewed five drivers who swerved to get out of her way as she drove, flashing her high beams, at high speed in the wrong direction for more than three miles. Waggoner also attempted to get out of the way of the speeding Ford Escape. She swerved her car right just as O'Neill swerved left and head-on into the smaller car resulting in a deadly Pennsylvania SUV accident.

Continue reading "Head-on Auto Accident in Pennsylvania Kills 1, Sends Another to Jail" »

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, September 20th a two alarm fire broke out in a Coatesville home, approximately 30 minutes west of Philadelphia. According to a CBS3.com news report, the home was engulfed in flames by the time the firefighters arrived on the scene.

Firefighters were able to rescue 2 adults from the blaze, but 3 children perished in the flames. Police did not release the names of the victims, but Red Cross spokeswoman Helen Blue said they were all boys, ages 3, 4 and 11. The blaze was extinguished shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, police said. The cause has not been determined.

According to the CDC Deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States (CDC 2005) and the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004). Children under the age of 4, the elderly, and low-income Americans are all especially susceptible to being killed in a fire. While smoking and cooking are the two greatest home fire starters, it is actually the inhalation of smoke or toxic gases that kills most fire victims, not the burn injuries.

Continue reading "Coatesville, Pennsylvania Fire Kills 3 Children" »