Personal Injury Lawyers in New York

Scaffold Law and Construction Site Accident Kings County and other New York Counties

In New York State there is a scaffold law that protects workers at construction sites. The purpose of the scaffold law is to require building owners and general contractors to provide workers with proper scaffolds, hoists, harnesses and other appropriate worksite safety equipment. If a construction site worker is injured because the owner or contractor failed to provide the safety equipment then the owner or contractor is responsible for harm and economic damages suffered by a worker.

Construction work is inherently dangerous. And high elevation work, particularly when working on a scaffold, and ladder or roof, a moments lapse can result in death or serious injury, unless construction workers are supplied with adequate safety equipment. The on the job death rate for construction workers is 15 per 100,000 employees, almost triple the death rate in government jobs. New York State has virtually the safest constrction injury prevention rate in the nation thanks in large part to the scaffold law. The scaffold law is found in section 240 of the New York state labor law and it is over 100 years old. The scaffold law applies only to construction work at elevated heights.

By making the big money interests responsible for worksite safety, the scaffold law effectively ensures that owners and general contractors will select only subcontractors adequately budget to safety, have good safety records, and who don't cut safety corners to make extra money at the expense of construction workers safety.However, even in the presence of the scaffold law, certain owners of buildings and certain type of general contractors choose to profits and money making over worker safety. Each year our firm is retained by constuction workers and their families because safety equipped was not provided at the construction site and falls and severe injuries were suffered because of the owners' and general contractors' choice to not provide safety equipment and procedure.

Construction workers injured on the job often sustained devastating economic loss in the form of lost wages and lifetime severe impairment of an ability to earn a living. Construction worker's family is very much affected because the injuries impact on the worker's ability to take part in family activities that were characteristic before the injury at the construction site. If You have been involved in a construction site accident, please contact the Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

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Erbs Palsy - medical malpractice bronx county and other counties


A frequent injury suffered by babies as a result of birth trauma is Erbs palsy also called brachial plexus palsy. Erbs palsy or brachial plexus palsy occurs when the doctor delivering a baby places excessive force and traction grasping the baby's head trying to deliver the shoulder during delivery. Excessive force and traction injures spinal nerves located in the cervical area of the spine most commonly at the root of the C5-C6 nerves. This causes a permanent nerve injury causing the arm to be limp, weak and partially paralyzed . There is also injury to the shoulder, hand and the brachial plexus.

Shoulder dystocia causes the difficulty in delivering the shoulder. Shoulder dystocia is a
preventable complication because medicine has established factors are associated with a high risk of shoulder dystocia. These factors include birth weight estimated to be greater than 4000 grams(macrosomia), gestational diabetes, prolonged second stage of labor, multi-parity, and other factors. The delivering doctor has the responsibility to carefully evaluate both baby and mother before attempting to vaginally deliver a baby. Sonography is a safe simple method of helping to accurately predict the birth weight carefully when it's done near the time of anticipated birth .

The only prevention of a shoulder dystocia is delivered by cesarean section.

When shoulder dystocia has not been diagnosed by the physician and the baby's head has been delivered, then good and accepted medical practice demands that the physician not place excessive traction in an attempt to deliver the shoulder. The physician must not apply excessive downward traction on the fetal head in an attempt to deliver the shoulder. Fundal pressure cannot be used to aid delivery until at least one shoulder is delivered. The correct method is to flex the mother's thighs upon the abdomen. This reduces the traction required to deliver the shoulder(anterior). This method is named the McRoberts maneuver. Suprapubic pressure perpendicular to the abdomen is also used to push the anterior shoulder into the oblique or under the symphysis pubis.

When doctors fail to follow is relatively simple steps and the baby is caused this permanent
lifetime injury, and the doctors responsible to the baby for the harm and damages caused.
Every year we are consulted by parents of babies who were delivered traumatically and are now plagued by a loss of use of their arm to decrease range of motion, strength And vitality. With experience in legal representation firms such as ours, the insurance the insurance company for doctors usually tries to settle these medical malpractice cases. Sometimes the insurance company tries to cheat the baby and not pay insurance money because the insurer thinks that can pull a fast one in a trial. In order to succeed against the big insurance company at trial parents of a baby really need experienced attorney in the court room.


If your family has been involved in suspected birth injury to your child, please contact the Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence affects more than 32 million Americans (more than 10% of the U.S. population). Also, in the United Stated, 20% of all crime experienced by women are cases of intimate partner violence, compared to 3% of violent crime experienced by men.

Men Can Be Victims, Too

Very little is known about the actual number of men who are in a domestic relationship in which they are abused or treated violently by their male or female partners. Few of these incidents are ever reported to the police, so data is limited. However, approximately 23% of men who had lived with a man as a couple reported being raped, physically assaulted and/or stalked by another man, while 7.4% of men reported violence by a female spouse or cohabitant.

While data regarding abuse on males is limited, the following is available:

• 3.2 million men experience minor abuse each year (pushing, slapping, hitting)
• 800,000 men per year are raped or physically assaulted by their partner
• 370,000 men are stalked each year
• In 2002, men comprised 24% of domestic violence homicide victims

The causes of domestic violence are just as varied as the types. In some relationships, violence arises out of a need for power and control. Some domestic violence is learned behavior from previous generations. Abusers' efforts to dominate their partners have been attributed to low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy, unresolved childhood conflicts, poverty, hostility, misogyny (hatred of women), personality disorders, substance abuse, etc. Some experts claim that all domestic abuse relates to men's need to devalue women and view them in negative ways.

Regardless of the causes, domestic violence remains a very serious problem in the United States today, and domestic violence can be very difficult to spot. Some of the worst abusers may appear perfectly calm and normal at work or in social situations. A common pattern of domestic abuse is that the perpetrator alternates between violent, abusive behavior and apologetic behavior with sincere promises to never do it again. The abuser may even be very pleasant most of the time. This is why so many people do not leave abusive relationships. They fall for the abusers lies about never doing it again and being able to change.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a divorce or is about to get married in New York City, Long Island—including Nassau or Suffolk Counties, please contact the experienced Divorce Attorney Law Offices at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos.

Neonatal Emergencies - birth injury lawyer Queens County and surrounding counties

Parents of a newborn baby are rarely prepared for the presence of a medical emergency involving their baby. Often times these neonatal emergencies can result in a baby leaving the hospital without any permanent consequence if the neonatal emergency is timely and properly diagnosed and treated by the doctors and nurses.

Pneumothorax is a neonatal emergency that requires medical treatment involving a tube drainage of the lung. The signs and symptoms of pneumothorax include cyanosis and respiratory distress such as diminished breath sounds. A chest x-ray is used to make the evaluation.

Upper airway obstruction is a neonatal emergency that often shows itself with a baby's struggling respirations. The evaluation involves a nasogastric tube to determine patency of the nasal passages. The treatment is suction, orophagyngeal airway, and intubation if necessary.

Intestinal obstruction is a neonatal emergency that has signs and symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal distention, and failure to pass meconium. Abdominal x-rays and sometimes a barium enema is used to make the diagnosis. Intestinal obstruction requires surgery.

Hirschsprung's disease is a neonatal emergency that presents with abdominal distention, bilious vomiting and failure to pass stool. Evaluation can involve barium enema and rectal biopsy. Surgery is necessary.

Fetal circulation persistence, meconium aspiration and other forms of respiratory failure present as respiratory distress and cyanosis. The evaluation includes blood gases and chest and abdominal x-rays. This neonatal emergency requires respirator treatment including oxygenation.

Each of these neonatal emergencies require doctors and nurses to detect and respond to on an emergency basis because left untreated these medical emergencies can cause a newborn to suffer brain damage, or grave intestinal destruction, and the lifetime disability or death. Since almost all babies are born in hospitals where medical help is available and lifetime injury preventable, it is a terrible shame when medicine does not provide ordinary care by responding to a baby's needs. We have not seen improvement in the medical care of neonatal emergencies over the past 25 years as lawyers were presenting parents of these children who suffer massive economic damages and loss of liberty and quality of life when medical malpractice causes an unnecessary delay in treatment because of lack of attention to a parent's concern about their baby after the birth, or nurses and doctors do not carefully watch over the baby after birth.

If your family has been involved in suspected birth injury to your child, please contact the Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

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Nursing home negligence and abuse among senior citizens has become a growing concern to those dependent on extended health care institutions for the care of their elderly loved ones. As the population in the United States ages, the demands placed on its medical system to care for the elderly have escalated substantially.

At the current time, there are approximately 34 million people over the age of 65 in our country, and nearly one in twenty of these elderly people will require some form of assisted living. Sadly, however, our senior citizens are frequently becoming victims of intentional abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It is difficult enough to place a loved one in these places, let alone see that loved one suffer under the care of an abusive, overburdened, and under-trained nursing home staff.

The National Center for Elder Abuse reports that neglect of our senior citizens' basic needs is the number one type of elder abuse. Physical abuse by caregivers is number two with a staggering one million senior citizens being abused each year.

Institutional abuse (abuse taking place in nursing homes and assisted living facilities) can come in many forms including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation. General neglect of elders is the most pervasive type of abuse, and typically occurs when the caregiver simply does not care about the elderly person left in their care. Neglect can often lead to health disorders such as dehydration and malnutrition, both of which can be fatal if left untreated.

If you or a loved one has been abused or neglected while in a nursing home or assisted living facility in New York, please contact the Nursing Home Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

Breast cancer is the most common and most feared cancer among women in the United States.
The incidence of breast cancer continues to rise and science is not entirely clear why.

Mammography is the most important tool in early detection of breast cancer and it has become
universally accepted over the past 20 years. The National Institutes of Health census panel report of 1997 concluded that the reduction in mortality attributable to screening mammography was 30% for women over the age of 50 and 20% for women over the age of 40.

There have been technological improvements in mammography including the development of
digital mammography and computer aided detection(CAD). In digital mammography the screen film system is replaced by a detector, which produces electronic signal that is digitized and
stored. Digital mammography offers some clear advantages in its performance as compared to
screen so mammography. Display brightness and contrast can be adjusted completely.
Computer aided detection, referred to as CAD, involves a diagnosis reached by a radiologist who
considers the computer analysis of the image when making his or her own interpretation.

Breast cancer diagnosed early saves lives and reduces the need for extensive surgery for radical
mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The role of the mammographer is therefore
crucial to saving lives and the quality of life. Unfortunately we often see that mammographers
fail to fulfill this responsibility because of ordinary negligence such as not comparing films from
years past, not taking the time to comprehensively read the current films, not recommend
additional imaging study such as magnified views, and not talking directly to their colleague, a
gynecologist, or internist or family practitioner, about the films and their patient. Much of this
has to do the concern of making money by maximizing the number of mammographies read in a
short period of time, maximizing the amount of the amount of health insurance payment. For
these reasons our law firm continues to receive clients who suffer harm and economic damages
because of negligent medical care(malpractice).

It is estimated that each year in the United States, people age 60 and older are victims of abuse and neglect; 40,000 of those victims reside in New York state. There are many forms of elder abuse including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect; however, one of the more insidious forms of elder abuse is financial exploitation. Currently, financial exploitation is the most prevalent forms of elder abuse and occurs in 46% of the total cases of elder abuse.

Elders who are frail and not fully able to take care of themselves are vulnerable to abuse. Family members, contractors, telemarketers, financial advisers and even healthcare professionals entrusted with the elder's care are usually the ones exploiting them financially. Elder adults who have been financially exploited are often left without the resources they need to assist in their care; they also often lose their dignity and any sense of independence they may have had. Older adults made destitute have no alternative but to turn to public aid when they need care.

There are steps to take to ensure you elderly loved one is not take advantage of by swindlers. Power of attorney is a useful legal tool that allows an individual to designate another party to manage funds to transact business on his or her behalf. Also, in some states, bill have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly to help protect elders by making long overdue changes in the power of attorney law.

If your elderly loved one has been the victim of abuse by financial exploitation in the New York area, please contact the Personal Injury Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos.

Nursing home abuse and neglect is becoming more pervasive in the United States, and these dreadful crimes are taking place daily in our nation's nursing facilities.

A California woman, Florence Pierpoint, had been diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 79 while she was a patient at a nursing home facility in Tacoma, Washington. Her daughter, Linda Fox, found out that the healthcare workers in charge of her care were administering her toxic levels of morphine. According to the orders, morphine was not to be used unless she was in pain or asked for it specifically. According to the family's attorney, not one record indicated that she was in pain.

The family filed a lawsuit against the nursing home operator after a Pierce County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by morphine overdose.

When Mrs. Pierpoint arrived back at the nursing home after being treated for pneumonia in a local hospital, the staff was given very clear instructions from her physician that included carefully prescribed doses of morphine to manage her pain as needed.

According to the family's attorney, "The day after Florence returned to the home, her condition began a dramatic slide downward, fueled by repeated injections of large doses of morphine and other drugs well beyond her doctor's orders." In one single day, she received six doses of morphine.

If your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect in a nursing facility in New York City, including the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens or in Long Island, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties, please contact the Nursing Home Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos today to schedule your initial consultation.

Toymaker Mattel is voluntarily recalling 9 million toys including popular characters such as Barbie, Batman, Polly Pockets and a toy from Pixar's "Cars" movie because of dangers to children, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced. The commission stated that Barbie Doll and Tanner dolls, Batman Magna series action figures and Polly Pocket Playsets have small, powerful magnets that can be dislodged and swallowed. All of the toys were manufactured in China. If the magnets are swallowed, they can cause intestinal and other serious injuries.

Also included in the huge recall are "Sarge" die cast toys because of hazardous lead paint. The Sarge Cars were sold in retails stores from May to August 2007 and is about three inches in length. The car is an Army green color and features a white star on the hood. Surface paint on affected products contains excessive and dangerous amounts of lead.

Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause serious adverse effects including vomiting, anemia and neurological damage.

Chinese officials have temporarily banned Lee Der, the company that made these dangerous toys, from exporting any products. The manager of the Lee Der company committed suicide this past weekend.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to lead poisoning in Long Island, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties or in New York City, including Queens, the Bronx or Brooklyn, please contact the Lead Poisoning Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos to schedule your initial consultation.

Over eight doctors and licensing board administrators from Puerto Rico have been indicted by a United States federal grand jury for taking part in a large scale fraud that helped unqualified doctors in the U.S. territory obtain medical licenses through bribery and deception.

Most of the defendants are Puerto Rican and have been practicing as doctors there; at the time of this writing, none of the unqualified doctors has practiced in the United States. However, a medical license from Puerto Rico is recognized in Arizona, Florida, Texas, Virginia and New York.

The defendants are said to have obtained the false licenses in a variety of ways including bribing officials and substituting exam papers submitted by successful candidates for their own. Allegedly, a secretary at the licensing board cut and pasted extracts of papers from successful candidates into the paperwork submitted by some of the defendants.

Some of the defendants had failed their medical exams at least a dozen times.

The current list of charges could be just the tip of the iceberg as federal agencies do more investigating as far back as 2001. And, if the defendants prescribed medication while unlicensed, they can face charges under the Controlled Substances Act. If they submitted Medicare or Medicaid claims, they may also face mail fraud charges.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to medical malpractice in Long Island, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties or in New York City, including Queens, the Bronx or Brooklyn, please contact the Medical Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos to schedule your initial consultation.

A jury has decided that a California surgeon must pay $25.million for cutting the sphincter muscle of a man who was having a cyst removed from his buttock. James Van Buren of Merced, California has not had control of his bowel since he was injured during the 2001 procedure in the doctor's office. Dr. Sian Evans, a general surgeon, cut the man's sphincter muscle while trying to drain the infected cyst. The lawsuit charged that Dr. Evans was not careful enough in cutting the nickel-sized cyst and hit the man's nearby sphincter muscle.

Because of the injury, 43-year-old Van Buren will have to wear diapers for the rest of his life; his attorney said this tragedy has caused him embarrassment, emotional pain and has ruined the rest of his life.

Due to some states having medical malpractice award caps, the judgment may be limited to $250,000. If that happens, the case will go to the state appellate court. Many attorneys who specialize in medical malpractice cases contend that the cap on non-economic damages in the 1975 is outdated. In the mid-1970's, $250,000 would equate to about $1 million today.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to medical malpractice in New York City, including Queens, Brooklyn and The Bronx or Long Island, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties, please contact the Medical Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos today to schedule your initial consultation.

We often hear about doctors being involved in multimillion dollar lawsuits, but it is rare that the physician is actually the one suing rather than the one being sued. A Connecticut physician sued the anesthesiologist and hospital where his wife died during routine face-lift surgery for a total of $3.1 million in medical malpractice and won.

Dr. Alan J. Malitz sued for gross negligence after his wife, Susan, died just two hours after entering Manhattan Eye Ear & Throat Hospital on February 16, 2004. Fifty-six-year-old Susan Malitz died of cardiac failure caused by an overdose of local anesthetic. While in surgery, the alarms that monitor the patient's blood oxygen levels were turned so far down that they were inaudible.

The Malitz's settlement was reached after just four days of trial and requires that the hospital pays $400,000 and the anesthesiologist pays $2.7 million. However, this was not the first time the hospital has been sued. In 2004, just five weeks before Susan Malitz died there, Olivia Goldsmith, author of the book First Wives Club (later made into the movie of the same name), died during a routine cosmetic procedure, also. Later that same year, a 61-year-old mother of two suffered brain damage after a face-lift and was awarded $7 million.

While doctors constantly complain about paying the huge medical malpractice insurance premiums they must pay, Dr. Malitz must have been extremely relieved that malpractice insurance does exist and payment is awarded to deserving victims of medical malpractice or negligence.

If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to medical malpractice in Long Island or New York City, including the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens, please contact the Medical Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos to schedule your initial consultation.

A jury has awarded more than $21 million to a Florida couple in what is being called a "wrongful birth" case in which a doctor misdiagnosed a severe birth defect in their son, leading them to have a second child with similar problems. Because the doctor works for the University of South Florida, the Legislature will have to be persuaded to award most of the money because state law caps negligence claims against government agencies at $200,000.

Daniel and Amara Estrada's two young sons are not able to communicate and need constant care. Two-year-old Caleb is a severely impaired child who will need care for the rest of his life.

The couple claimed that Dr. Boris Kousseff failed to diagnose their first son's genetic disorder, Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome, which is the inability to correctly produce and synthesize cholesterol. Had the disorder been correctly diagnosed in the first child, a test would have indicated whether the couple's second child also was afflicted by the disorder. The couple would have terminated the pregnancy had they known the second child would suffer like their first. Dr. Kousseff told them they would be able to have normal children after their first son's birth.

If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to medical malpractice in New York City (including the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens) or Long Island—including Suffolk and Nassau Counties, please contact the Medical Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos.