The costs of an auto accident often go well beyond what you pay the body shop for fixing your dents or the costs of your emergency room treatment. They may include a variety of other costs that impact you and society as a whole. Both the National Safety Council and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …
Report: Three Quarters of NY Doctors Sanctioned for Negligence Are Still Allowed to Practice
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
More than 77 percent of doctors who were sanctioned in New York State for medical negligence during a 10-year-period between 2003 and 2014 were allowed to continue treating patients in our state, a new report has found. Released in May 2014, the report by the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), “Questionable Doctors,” finds …
Mother of Medical Malpractice Victim Seeks ‘Culture Change’
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
What happens when a medical mistake claims the life of your child? For Leilani Schweitzer, it triggered a career in hospital risk management – but not before it changed her life in ways only the death of a child could. In an in-depth essay on EverydayHealth.com, Schweitzer explains how her 10-month-old son, Gabriel, was admitted …
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Another Hospital in Trouble for Sharing Insulin Pens
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
It should be common knowledge that you cannot share needles between patients in a clinical or hospital setting. In fact, doing so could be considered a form of hospital negligence. Unfortunately, in some hospitals, staff members may fail to recognize that insulin pens should be treated the same way as needles and never reused. …
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GM Restructuring After Faulty Ignition Switch Recalls
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Product Liability, Wrongful Death
Since February, General Motors (GM) has recalled nearly 3 million vehicles for faulty ignition switches — a problem that has reportedly led to at least 13 deaths. With news reports indicating that GM knew about the problem even before these deaths and failed to act, the car company is now facing pressure to right its …
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Documents Show GM Knew About Deadly Ignition Switch Defect
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Wrongful Death
General Motors engineers knew that the ignition switch in certain models of GM’s small cars had problems as early as 2001 but repeatedly decided not to do anything about it, according to recently released confidential documents. The recall by GM has been expanded to replace defective ignition switches in 2.6 million cars. The defective ignition …
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NY Hospitals on “Best” and “Worst” Consumer Reports Rankings
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
The latest research indicates about 440,000 people die each year in the U.S. after suffering a medical error in a hospital. These fatal mistakes include everything from misdiagnoses to surgical tools left inside a patient’s body. A new analysis from Consumer Reports indicates that the hospital you choose when you need medical care does …
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When a doctor makes a mistake resulting in patient harm, the humane thing to do would be to offer an apology. But doctors are often afraid to say “I’m sorry” because they fear it could hurt them in a medical malpractice lawsuit. In other words, they are reluctant to express sorrow or concern when a medical mistake …
Does Daylight Savings Time Make for More Auto Accidents?
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Personal Injury
At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, we will move our clocks forward one hour for daylight savings time. Americans have been doing it since World War I, and each year we lament losing that precious hour of sleep. But more than just losing an hour, research has found the time change could increase …
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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, airbags saved an estimated 25,782 lives between 1987 and 2008. These bags are now standard in new cars and can pop out of steering wheels, side panels, and dashboards when a collision occurs. But these safety features are far from always-safe and certainly aren’t the soft pillows …
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