Medical Malpractice Lawyers in New York

A New York food company, Gourmet Boutique, is recalling 143 tons of poultry and meat products, found to be possibly contaminated with the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. Florida agricultural officials and federal food safety inspectors found the problem, and Gourmet Boutique is voluntarily recalling specific products. They are listed on the USDA website, along with recommendations for what to do if you think you may have ingested any of these products.

There are so far no reports of any illness resulting from ingestion of these products. The Listeria monocytogenes bacterium causes Listeriosis, a bacterial infection. It is a rare condition and during 2004 and 2005, occurred only about 3 times per million people in the U.S. About 30% of those cases occurred in pregnant women, and the remaining 70% occurred in people whose immune system was compromised, such as:

• HIV or AIDS sufferers
• Those with a blood cancer
• Chemotherapy patients
• Elderly people
• Some who have a hereditary condition

Listeriosis Symptoms

The Listeria monocytogenes bacterium usually enters the body through ingested food. In the past it has been found in seafood, vegetables and dairy products, besides poultry and meat. After one or two days, the symptoms appearing would be:

• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Headaches
• Fever
• Sore muscles
• Confusion
• Trouble with balance
• Convulsions

If you suspect you may have used any of the contaminated products, do not delay in seeing your doctor. Antibiotics are used for treating Listeriosis – most often ampicillin or gentamicin or both. Please also feel free to call or email us for a free consultation. We would be glad to give you information about your legal rights and options.

Of all possible causes for personal injury claims, car accidents are the most frequent. Whether you’re the driver, a passenger, a motorcyclist, bicyclist or pedestrian, you can be hurt by an automobile. It makes sense when you think of how most people drive to and from work everyday and how those who stay home still drive to do errands. Almost everybody is on the road most days.

If you are injured in an auto accident, some of the claims you might be able to bring would be:

• Against the driver responsible and/or his insurance company – for your medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering
• Against the vehicle manufacturer for a possible defect in the vehicle, either yours or the responsible driver’s vehicle
• Against the City or County for poor road maintenance, signage, or lighting
• Against a bus company if a bus driver was responsible or partly responsible

In car accidents which cause what are considered severe or serious injuries – brain, neck or spinal cord injuries, or severe burns – you may sustain a permanent disfigurement or disability. You may need living assistance from then on. That means very high medical bills and ongoing costs for things like physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy etc. Who should pay for that? What if the negligent driver is uninsured, or under-insured?

Help Your Auto Accident Attorney to Help You

For those situations, legal help is invaluable. It will help your auto accident lawyer if you can supply copies of medical records, bills, and contact information for others involved in the accident. Why not keep a disposable camera in the car so that you can take photos at the scene of the accident? Photos of vehicle damage, relative positions of vehicles, road conditions, and personal injury taken at the time of the accident could be central in winning you the compensation you deserve. Even if you have no camera, you could jot down some notes at the time, if you aren’t too injured. They could be enormously useful.

Keep in mind that insurance companies do not make their money by paying out claims to their customers. They make it by investing the money they receive in premiums. Insurance adjusters are trained to be pleasant, but to make lowball offers in hopes that the traumatized accident victim will accept them without getting any legal advice. Before you sign anything for an insurance adjuster, or accept any offer, please contact us here for a free case evaluation. Why throw away the comfort of a fair and just monetary compensation?

The Gesner family knew nothing of the land’s history when they bought their nice house at Manchester-By-The-Sea in Massachusetts. Not until they tried to sell it did they discover that it had apparently been built on an old dump. So they had the soil tested and found that it contains several heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium and chromium, all within four inches of the surface. Testing also revealed that the lead content is about six times the EPA’s limit for children and pregnant women.

Julie Gesner was pregnant

So the family moved out immediately. During their subsequent investigations, they found a letter dated november 2000, written from the Board of Health to the builder. It ordered the builder to stop construction on that house. They could find no follow-up to that letter.

The town administrator, one Wayne Melville, has said he was unaware of this letter until April 18 of this year, when it was brought to his attention. He states that there is no evidence that the land was ever a dump or a landfill. The site is 1.3 acres and apparently there are some old records that indicate a dump did operate there in the 1950s.

The Gesner family considers that the town should have informed them of the fact that their house was on a previous dump, if in fact this is true. The broker who sold them the house mentioned at the time that he had heard a rumor that it was built on a dump. But the Gesners knew no more than that, and went ahead and bought the house.

Now they can neither live in it nor sell it

The EPA has ordered the town of Manchester-By-The-Sea to either explain how it plans to clean up the site, or prove that it is not responsible.

When we buy a house, it’s an emotional event, and sometimes an urgent one if we have our old house in escrow already. People often become attached to a house before they actually own it, and may disregard vague rumors rather than pushing for more information.

If you have sustained financial or other injury through somebody else’s negligence, please feel free to contact us. In a free consultation, we can listen to you and start to determine whether you might have a valid legal claim.

In Colorado Springs last week, a four-year-old boy was found in a sandbox face down. He was at a daycare center, and two of the workers there found him. One called 911 and the other tried to clear sand from the child’s mouth. Emergency workers arrived quickly from a nearby fire station and tried using suction to remove the sand, but without much success.

The child was pronounced dead at the Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital about one hour later. Police said that he had put his head into a hole dug by another child playing in the sandbox previously. It was about 12 inches by 16 inches and surrounding sand collapsed on him, burying him for about a minute.

Local police and the Colorado Department of Human Services are both investigating the incident, although it appears to have been a genuine accident. The daycare center has never been cited for any incidents or violations, and has been licensed for 13 years.

The child’s father is not blaming anyone. He told the local newspaper reporter that his son was a happy boy.

“He'd walk up to you without even knowing you and give you a big hug. Not a care in the world," he said. "Bad things happen to good people, you know? Just don't take your kids for granted."

Some daycare centers are repeatedly found to be in violation of one regulation or another, and some are prone to unfortunate incidents. If you have a child in a daycare center, or are considering putting your child in one, be sure to check into the center’s past history and records with the State Department of Human Services. Talk to other parents who use that center and ask them how satisfied they are with its childcare services.

If your child has suffered any injury at a daycare center and you are wondering whether you might have a valid legal claim, please call or email us. We have considerable experience with daycare centers and will be glad to give you a free consultation.

The Supreme Court strikes again.

Patients rights have been taken away by the Supreme Court, leaving them defenseless against medical device makers. The nine judges ruled against the estate of a patient who suffered serious injuries due to an alleged defective catheter, which burst during a procedure.

The Supreme Court found that the estate of Charles Riegel could not sue the manufacturer of the defective product (Medtronics Inc.) because the US Food and Drug Administration had approved it for the market. The court feared that states would impose requirements upon the manufacturers, which were harsher than those imposed by the federal government. In other words this is a case of federal preemption of state's rights. Patients have long held the right to sue manufacturers of defective medical devices in New York State. That right has been taken away.

Under federal law once a company complies with the US Food and Drug Administration's requirements the agency allows the product to be market. At the time Congress enabled the Food and Drug Administration there was no expressed intent to limit states rights or protect the manufacturer of medical devices. Activist judges on the Supreme Court felt otherwise.

Applying the rationale of the Court we can foresee this reasoning affecting other areas where the federal government allegedly has a role in protecting the public interest. The FDA supposedly approves drugs, yet we know of many instances where they fell short of insuring safety for patients. One has only to use their imagination to come up with a list of federal regulatory and approval agencies which are underfunded and understaffed.

If you or a loved one has Queens medical malpractice question , please contact the Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County

This may be considered a legal advertisement.

Joseph Miklos

Since lead in paint, plumbing, and gasoline has been banned in the U.S., we don’t have very much lead exposure any more. But the main concern with lead exposure is regarding young children, and in old houses, a young child can still be exposed to harmful amounts of lead. If there is old flaking paint, it falls on the floor, gets caught into stuffed toys, clothing, bed linen etc. and a child could ingest it. Toddlers often pick things off the floor and put them in their mouths. The paint flakes also create dust containing lead which everyone in the house will breathe.

If old plumbing still exists, lead can leach into the drinking water. It is also present in food cans and juice containers made in some other countries and can therefore be in the food and juice.

Lead poisoning symptoms in children

Lead affects the brain, the kidneys, and the bone marrow (soft tissue inside bones). Resulting symptoms can be:

• Difficulty with paying attention
• Learning difficulties
• Muscle weakness
• Stomach pain
• Headaches
• Confusion
• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Anemia

Any of these symptoms could show up, but not necessarily. The way to detect lead poisoning is through a blood test. Since children are still growing, lead exposure at an early age can affect development.

Cutting down on lead exposure

If you live in an old house and are renovating it, close off each room that is being worked on. Keep young children out of them. Make sure that your diet is high in iron and calcium, as they can help prevent lead poisoning.

• Foods containing iron are chicken and turkey, spinach, eggs, tuna, lean beef and pork, dried beans and peas and whole grain products
• Foods containing calcium are dairy products and anything made with milk such as puddings and creamy soups

Lead Poisoning: Part 3 will cover New York laws regarding lead poisoning and will appear in this space next week. If you think your child or you yourself may be suffering from lead poisoning, be sure and have a blood test done. You might also schedule a free consultation with one of our lead poisoning attorneys, to learn more about your legal options. Please call or email us.

What is Lead?

Lead is one of the group of Earth’s elements known as “heavy metals” (the heavy part referring to atomic weight). Some others in the group are iron, copper, zinc, manganese, mercury and plutonium.

• Iron, copper and zinc are essential nutrients up to a point, but too much will cause illness.
• Mercury, plutonium, and lead have no known positive effect on living organisms including humans. When they accumulate in the body, they can cause severe illness

A Little History

People have mined and used lead for many thousands of years. People have also known for thousands of years that it can be harmful. Writings exist from 250 BC about anemia and colic caused by lead poisoning.

In ancient Rome, where eating and drinking were a major recreation, wine was sweetened with lead acetate and caused gout. A Roman medical document from 30 AD includes “white lead” in a list of poisons for which there are antidotes. White lead (also called sugar of lead) is lead soaked in vinegar, which made a lead paste. The remedy for white lead was walnut juice in the wine. But although the Romans knew of lead’s toxicity, they still used it in make-up and skin care, and in treatments for bleeding, infection, and inflammation.

In ancient China, alchemists had a practice of soaking lead in blood and then firing it. If that was done several times, a protective coat formed on the lead’s surface – very useful for martial training. This procedure kept the fighters safe from lead poisoning.

In Boston, in the 18^th century, people were fond of rum. Because the rum was made in stills made partly of lead, lead poisoning became widespread at that time.

In modern times, lead exposure has mostly come from leaded paint and leaded gasoline, besides occupational exposure for some. Although paint and gasoline are no longer made with lead in the U.S. (or in many other countries), old buildings still have old lead paint, usually flaking off and causing air-borne dust.

In Lead Poisoning: Part 2, this space will cover the symptoms of lead poisoning. If you have a child who may be suffering from lead poisoning, please call or email us and we’ll be glad to consult with you at no charge.