Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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pedestrian%20crossing%20sign.jpgThe third New York City Summit on Pedestrian Injury was hosted Thursday by the Elmhurst Hospital Center’s Trauma and Neurosurgery Departments. Doctors, hospital administrators, transportation and traffic safety experts as well as community activists gathered together to examine pedestrian injuries and their impact on public health.

The chairs of the summit were Dr. Jamie Ullman, director of neurosurgery at Elmhurst and Anju Galer, a trauma coordinator for the nursing and the surgery departments in the same hospital. Both of them are working on a 3 years study on pedestrian injury in New York. Ullman said 2012 marked an all-time high in the number of injuries within the hospital catchment area, and in 2013, she said, it’s a trend that shows “no signs of stopping.”

Read more in Streetblog.

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In a car crash, the probability of sustaining serious personal injury or to die is much higher for drivers and car occupants if they are older adults. The number of drivers above 65 years old increased by 20% in 10 years. During that same time, the proportion of older drivers involved in deadly car accidents increased by 15%. To curb this alarming situation the NHTSA announced a new 5-Year Traffic Safety Plan and Guidelines for Older Drivers and Passengers

A previous NHTSA analysis of the personal injuries sustained by 18,000 occupants involved in a car accident shows that drivers over 75 have a higher risk of suffering personal injury than younger drivers especially when it comes to head, chest and legs and foot injuries. Statistics also show a much higher number of head and chest injuries for older car occupants involved in a side impact accident.

Intersection accidents are the most common car accidents older drivers make. In the most common cases they don’t notice potential conflicts or traffic signs and signals.

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Wrongful deaths and serious personal injuries related to traffic accidents are epidemic in New York. The newly appointed NYPD commissioner, Bill Bratton, promised that this situation would change.

In a speech Thursday Bratton said “It is ironic that even as the death totals have declined dramatically with violent crime in this city, this year the number of people killed on our streets – pedestrian and traffic — will almost equal the homicide total”.

Bratton said his priorities are to make the streets and the subways safer.

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Personal injuries related to decorating such as falling from a ladder, lacerations and back strains are the most common decorating injuries reported by emergency departments during the months of November and December.

There are about 250 injuries a day during the holiday season according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additionally, Christmas trees are responsible for an average 200 fires every year with additional deaths, injuries and property loss.

If you don’t want to be part of the statistics and spend the holidays with your family instead of the hospital, the Consumer Product Safety Commission just published a list of safety tips on Ladders, Trees and Decorations, Candles, Lights and Fireplaces that is worth the reading.

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onfi.pngSerious skin reactions medically known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), can occur at any time during Onfi treatment warns the Food and Drug Administration. According to the FDA, 6 cases have been identified in the US and 14 out of the US. Out of the 6 cases identified in the US 5 were children. All the cases resulted in hospitalization with one case of blindness and two deaths.

Read the FDA Safety Alert

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Our partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Chris Sallay, was on ABC news yesterday to comment on the deadly train accident that happened Sunday morning in New York. According to the most recent information the train was traveling at 82 miles per hour as it approached a sharp curb where the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. The National Transportation Safety Board said the train’s sudden power shift came “very late in the game”. The train engineer, William Rockefeller is at the center of the investigation. Rockefeller was a veteran of the line and knew the road well. The investigation will determine if the speed was the result of a human error or faulty equipment.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this horrible tragedy.

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A New York Metro-North train derailed this morning. 4 people died in the accident and 63 suffered personal injury including 11 critical injuries and 6 serious injuries.

The derailment happened in the Bronx where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet. It is a dangerous area as the rails make a sharp curve. A previous accident happened at this location when last July 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed.

“That is a dangerous area on the track just by design,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site. “The trains are going about 70 miles per hour coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour to make that sharp curve … where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River and that is a difficult area of the track.”

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A father and his son were seriously injured after an auto body shop completely collapsed in the Bronx.The explosion of an air compressor inside the body shop was mentioned by the FDNY as the probable cause of the collapse.

Read more in the New York Daily News

 

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Severe burns and other personal injuries as well as destruction of property may result from improper use of gas-fueled turkey fryers that cook the bird in hot oil. These cooking appliances are very popular for Thanksgiving but they are not safe! The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) discourages their use. The risk of oil spilling is significant and the resulting injuries can be severe.

If you still decide to use a Turkey Fryer you should be aware of some of the dangers you are facing:

  • During the cooking hot oil can splash on your hands or face resulting in burn injuries
  • The deep fryer stand can tip or collapse when the turkey is put in or taken out resulting in a major hot oil spill
  • The temperature of the cooking oil is so high that even its vapors can ignite creating an additional risk of fire
  • Deep fryers can not be used inside. Many fires have ignited when fryers were moved indoors or into a garage to keep the appliance out of the rain
  • Bad weather such as snow and rain is an additional danger to deep frying. If the rain or the snow hits the oil it may splatter or turn to steam and result in burns. The same can happen if the turkey is put in the oil when not fully thawed
  • Deep fryers use around five gallons of oil and if the turkey is dropped too quickly in it, the oil will splash and burn people close to the appliance.

The NFPA continues to believe that turkey fryers that use oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for acceptably safe use by even a well-informed and careful consumer.

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Because Dietary supplements are available in health stores without prescriptions most consumers believe they are safe. But Some Body Building, Weight Loss and Sexual Enhancement dietary supplements contains hidden ingredients that can cause serious personal injury and sometimes lead to death.

Last week after 56 six cases of liver injuries and one death case were linked to the use of OxyElite Pro Dietary Supplements, the manufacturer USPlabs recalled all products containing Aegeline and VERSA -1, two illegal ingredients. (for more see USA Today)

The production of the sport supplement “Craze” was suspended by the manufacturer Driven Sports at the end of last month after tests conducted by the Harvard Medical School revealed the supplement contains potentially dangerous amounts of methamphetamine analog. The owner of Driven Sports, Matt Cahill was convicted in 2005 of felony charges for the sale of the weight-loss pills made from a highly toxic chemical pesticide banned from human consumption. He served two years in prison. (see Boston Globe)