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Auto Accidents - Driving While Texting

Donald Caminiti — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:50:00 GMT

Using a cell phone, and especially texting, can serve as a major distraction while operating a motor vehicle. That goes for anyone of any age. When you factor in the
lack of experience behind the wheel that teens contend with, along with a cell phone, you've got a recipe for disaster — or worse, death.

Five states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington) and the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands prohibit driving while talking on hand-held cell phones.

Unconvinced of the wisdom of these bans? AAA surveyed 1,000 teen drivers ages 16-17 and found that 61 percent of the group admitted to risky driving habits. Of that 61 percent, 46 percent of the teens reported texting at the wheel and 51 percent said they talk on cell phones while driving.

A research study of 900 teens from 26 high schools nationwide done by the group Students Against Destruc-tive Decisions and insurer Liberty Mutual Group revealed texting was ranked as the most distracting
activity the group of respondents participated in while driving.

Driving is a full-time job; treating it as anything less is to risk one's own safety, as well as that of other people on the road.

Texting and driving - like drinking and driving - don't mix, even if it is to text back just a single letter. Anyone operating a motor vehicle, no matter their age, should pull over if they want to make or receive a cell phone call.

Driving while texting (DWT) is nearly as dangerous as driving while intoxicated (DWI).

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

The Poor Record of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners

Karen Gatlin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:37:00 GMT

Dr. Joseph Gluck, a New Jersey pediatrician, was the former director of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners from 1998 to 2006. It was therefore surprising to hear him recently state that the board does not properly review complaints and has failed to protect the public against incompetent and, perhaps, dangerous physicians. New Jersey has one of the ten worst records in terms of imposing sanctions on physicians who are a danger to the health and safety of the public. Instead of revoking licenses, the board has often imposed a reprimand or suspension, allowing physicians to maintain or resume their practices after a short period of non practice. There needs to be more oversight of the Board to ensure that proper action is taken to protect New Jersey citizens from incompetent or impaired physicians.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Concierge Medicine

Karen Gatlin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:09:57 GMT

Some doctors have decided to limit their practice of medicine to patients who pay directly for treatment and do not require physicians to submit forms and other paperwork to insurance companies. This kind of medical practice has been called "Boutique" of "Concierge" medicine. The doctors do not participate in Medicare nor do they accept insurance payments. Patients retain their medical insurance to cover specialists and hospitalizations, but pay a yearly fee to their primary physicians for medical services, a fee which can range from $1,000 to $15,000. This not only avoids paperwork for the doctor’s office, but increases their salaries and provides more time to spend with each patient as the number of patients seen daily is much smaller. Rather than see a large number of patients daily who ware shuffled in and out in an assembly line manner, concierge medicine allows doctors to spend a long time with each patient and to have a real understanding of their medical conditions and daily lives. Preventative medicine is emphasized. Patients are offered weekend appointments, home visits, and 24 hour access to physicians As more careful medicine and more time spent with patients equates with less error, these doctors are offered much less expensive malpractice insurance and the patients received higher quality care. Does concierge medicine lead to a two tiered medical system, one catering to the wealthy, another to the poor? Or is it a return to the family doctor style of medicine when house calls were routine?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Truck Crash - Wrongful Death

Donald Caminiti — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:41:00 GMT

Two construction workers died after an SUV crushed them into the back of a dump truck shortly after midnight Wednesday on the New Jersey Turnpike, in Elizabeth.

State police and Turnpike officials said the driver of the SUV entered a construction zone at exit 13A and smashed into the workers, killing both. The tragedy was caused as a result of the driver having fallen asleep at the wheel.

The driver managed to negotiate a toll booth and ramp when his SUV entered a construction area just north of Interchange 13A around 12:15 a.m.

Jones said the vehicle hit a truck before pinning the two workers against the second truck.

Driving while overly tired is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. If you believe you are having difficluty operating your motor vehicle because you are tired, pull over to the nearest rest stop and take a break. A simple stop may save your life or the lives of others.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Durom Artificial Hip

Donald Caminiti — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:08:56 GMT

Complaints surrounding an artificial hip component have prompted the nation’s largest orthopedics device producer to suspend sales of artificial socket. According to some physicians the Durom cup hip socket, produced by Zimmer Holdings, has show a higher than normal failure rate requiring patients to undergo replacement surgery. The company estimates that hundreds of the 12,000 or so patients implanted with the device may require replacements in the coming years

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Cold Medicine Warning: Do not Administer to Children Under Four Years of Age

Karen Gatlin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:37:01 GMT

Attention, parents: Don't give your children under 4 over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, and read the fine print on labels, say makers of such remedies who have been under pressure to strengthen their warnings. The cough and cold medicine industry, in the wake of intensifying criticism from consumer groups, lawmakers and pediatricians, agreed Tuesday to add "do not use" warnings to pediatric cough and cold medicines. The voluntary move by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which includes Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth, Novartis AG and Procter & Gamble among its members, follows earlier recommendations that products be banned for children under 6, saying they don't work and that the risks to kids outweigh the benefits.

The Food and Drug Administration, which advises parents against giving such medicines to children under 2, said it supports the move by the industry even while it has undertaken a highly publicized evaluation of cough and cold medicines. The FDA has yet to give its own guidance but worries that parents would give adult doses if it instituted a ban of products for children under age 6.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

What the "puck's" happening?

Donald Caminiti — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:05:51 GMT

Hockey spectators beware! The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in a recent case that a hockey venue has no duty to warn or protect spectators of danger of injury from errant hockey pucks. The court stated that an injured spectator assumed the risk of her injury because she was seated in the stands, six or seven rows from the ice, above the protective plexiglass and outside the area protected by netting. So, next time you go to a hockey game and sit in the "cheap seats", beware, because you never know what the "puck" might happen.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Pain and Suffering Caps on lawsuits are unfair

Donald Caminiti — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:08:38 GMT

Former Dallas Cowboy Ron Springs, who has been in a coma since the fall after surgery to remove a cyst, is one of 11 plaintiffs challenging Texas' medical malpractice cap in a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, challenges the 2003 Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform Act, which limits awards in Texas. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the cap unconstitutional.

The law caps awards for pain and suffering at $250,000 for doctors, $250,000 for hospitals and $250,000 for nursing homes and other institutions for a maximum of $750,000 per claimant.

The plaintiffs are asking for class-action status.

In January, Springs' wife filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against two doctors she said caused her husband's brain damage during a routine surgery to remove a cyst.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Two Killed When Carjacked SUV Plows Into Bus Stop

Chrissie Cole — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:28:00 GMT

A woman waiting at a bus stop was killed this morning when an SUV carjacked in Leonia struck a utility pole and lost control in Bergen County.

According to a report in the Record, the male driver of the SUV was also killed in the crash. Police told the Record that the SUV was traveling at high speeds south on Grand Ave. just after 5:00 a.m., when it struck a pole, spun around and stroke another before driving into the bus stop.

Power was knocked out in the area due to the accident. Police expect the road to be closed most, if not all of the day.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Medical Malpractice - "Dr. Creepy" and his tattoos

Donald Caminiti — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:40:45 GMT

A Pennsauken woman has filed suit in Camden County Superior Court against her orthopedic surgeon, who - after performing successful surgery on her herniated disc - left a washable tattoo on her belly, below the panty line, while she was still under anesthesia at Virtua Memorial Hospital in Burlington County. The patient and her husband say they discovered the red rose the next morning while he was helping her dress to leave the hospital. Dr. Steven Kirshner apparently has left washable marks on previous patients as a way of lifting their spirits. Perhaps so, but in this case, it appears that "Dr. Creepy" had to lift more than just his patient's spirits in order to apply the tattoo!

Of course, the overwhelming majority of orthopaedic surgeons are competent and caring physicians who I am sure are also concerned about their patients' spirits following surgery. In "Dr. Creepy's" case however, one wonders whether he exhibited similar concern for his male patients and why he could not find another more appropriate way to lift his patients' spirits -- perhaps by simply telling them that the surgery was succesful.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti