Older drivers Today have a lower risk of being involved in a car accident than their peers did during the mid nineties. Because cars are safer and seniors are generally healthier they are also less likely to be killed or seriously injured if they crash. A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety demonstrates that drivers 70 and older have enjoyed bigger declines in fatal crash rates per licensed driver and per vehicle miles traveled than drivers ages 35-54, referred to in the study as middle-age drivers, since 1997.
Texting while driving continued to increase in 2012 putting road users at higher risk of an accident, young drivers are texting less while adults are texting more
Vehicle Accidents caused by texting and driving are injuring and killing people every day but sadly the percentage of drivers who are texting or manipulating electronic devices while driving continued to increase in 2012 according to the latest National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 2012, the rate of drivers texting while driving was of 1.5% compared to 1.3% in 2011.
The rate of people using a hand held cell phone has been steady at 5% since 2009 with a significant higher rate of usage among female drivers (6% compared to 4% for male drivers).
0.6% of drivers used headset cell phone while driving in 2013.
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A man who lost his leg after being treated for a broken ankle was awarded 9.1 million by a Jury in a New York Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
In a recent malpractice lawsuit, a New York State Supreme Court Jury, Erie County, awarded $6 million for past and future pain and suffering and $2.8 million for medical expenses and lost of wages to a man who lost his leg as the result of medical malpractice by his surgeon. His ex-wife was also awarded $350,000 for loss of services.
Donald Schultz was a 35 year old public safety dispatcher for the City of Tonawanda, NY, when he broke his ankle in 2004. After initial treatment he still felt pain on the side of his foot near the little toe and made an appointment with Dr. Michael A. Parentis at the Knee Center of WNY. Dr Parentis performed 12 surgeries on his foot and leg. He started with surgeries on the little toe then amputated it. After the patient developed an infection, the doctor also amputated the fourth toe. As the pain continued the doctor continued to operate up until July 2009 when he amputated the leg below the knee.
Read more in Buffalo news
Male nurse charged with raping elderly woman with dementia in a Bronx Nursing home
An elderly patient with dementia was sexually abused in a Bronx nursing home last night. A male nurse at Manhattanville Health Care Center in the Bronx, NYC, was caught in the act of raping a 64 year old patient who was suffering from dementia. 42 year old Nanic Aidasani was picked up by the Bronx police and charged with rape.
For more info see video.
To prevent defective drug importation a better collaboration between Indian and US regulators is necessary
Imported sub-standard quality and defective drugs were the central theme of FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg’s visit to India. The visit was organized after the FDA recently banned the import of drugs and drug ingredients from several large Indian manufacturers for quality reasons. The commissioner met with health officials, regulators and drug makers executives including those of the banned companies.
Both countries agreed that their regulators would work more closely to better coordinate regulatory oversight as well as organize seminars, webinars, meetings and training sessions.
India is the second largest drug importer in the US after Canada and supplies 40% of the generic and over the counter drugs used in the US. Recently the FDA has been concerned by the increase of defective or low quality drugs imported from India. Weak domestic regulatory oversight and a lax approach to quality control by some manufacturers are the main reasons why a significant quantity of low quality or defective drugs reach the American market undetected.
In order to allocate more resources to prevent the import of high risk defective drugs the FDA is testing a Secure Supply Chain Pilot Program that allows 13 pharmaceutical companies to have expedited entry for up to 5 drug products
Imported high risk defective drugs are a rising concern for the FDA. The agency wants to spend more resources to fight the “bad guys” and provide incentives to drug manufacturers who are adopting best practices for supply chain integrity by giving them expedited access for the importation of up to five of their drug products. The pilot will last two years and if effective, will be open to additional companies.
Companies that have qualified for the pilot are
• AbbVie Inc.
The Vision Zero Action Plan 2014 to reduce death and personal injury related to traffic accidents in New York was presented yesterday by Mayor Bill de Blasio
4000 New Yorkers suffer severe personal injury and 250 are killed every year in traffic accidents and to Bill de Blasio this is unacceptable. Yesterday afternoon the Mayor of New York presented “Vision Zero Action Plan” the first report produced by a multi agency task force that the mayor created last month. (See previous blog) .
Vision Zero has proven to be a successful program throughout different cities of the world because its multi faceted approach brings together government, advocacy and private sector actors as well as the public to become part of the solution. In a similar fashion, yesterday’s action plan contains proposed actions by the City, the Police Department, the Department of Transportation, the Taxi & Limousine Commission, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Some of the most interesting recommendations include
New York drunk party boy steals a truck, crashes into several parked cars, ignores red light and slams into an MTA bus killing the driver in the accident
Drunk driving is at the origin of the accident between a truck and a bus that led to the death of the bus driver last week in the meatpacking district of New York. Model Tyson Beckford’s nephew was so drunk that he was kicked out of several venues in downtown New York before he stole a delivery truck parked with the keys inside. He crashed into several parked cars before he ran the red light at the intersection of West 14th Street and Seventh Ave and slammed into an MTA bus. The driver, William Pena who was not wearing a seat belt was ejected and died at the scene. A scooter driver, a food cart vendor and his customer as well as a bus passenger suffered personal injury.
Read more in the New York Post
NY Health Department Investigation in the death of Rory Staunton shows that NYU Langone ER committed blatant medical malpractice
Blatant medical malpractice was committed by the Emergency Room staff of the NYU Langone Hospital in New York that lead to the death of 12 year old Rory Staunton according to a recently released investigation by the the New York State Department of Health.
Rory Staunton died on April 1st 2012 from sepsis after a scrape on his arm became infected. He was taken to the ER at NYU Langone Hospital but was sent back home after the staff failed to diagnose sepsis. His condition worsened and he died the next evening.
According to the investigation by the NY Health Department “NYU Langone ER failed to provide care in accordance with acceptable standards of practice for both medical staff and nursing services, as well as a systemic failure related to the reporting and follow up of abnormal laboratory results”.
New York Queens pedestrians at high risk of personal injury as they are forced to walk in traffic because the city hasn’t cleaned the icy sidewalks on its proprety
Queens pedestrians are at a high risk of personal injury as they have no other alternative than to walk in the street with the traffic because the City of New York is not cleaning the icy sidewalks that are on its property.
Residents are upset because according to the law in New York, property owners have 4 hours to clean their sidewalk after a snowstorm or they get a $150 ticket. The city hasn’t cleaned its sidewalks for days putting Queens residents at risk of slip and fall injuries or a car accident if they choose to walk in traffic to avoid walking on ice.
A crew from New York One was there to document the situation and met an elderly woman who just slipped and fell on her face. Her face was bleeding and she was taken to the hospital by paramedics for further treatment. Read more and look at the video on New York One website