Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog

Legislative focus: crash prevention, recalls and clean air

Published on: October 23, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

National legislators have long been trying to get car manufacturers to produce vehicles that are more environmentally friendly and that better protect their drivers and passengers, respectively.

At first blush, that might reasonably seem to be a bifurcated focus, with those topic areas not having any readily perceivable overlap.

Congressional members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee have come up with an interesting twist, though, that has somehow managed to tie those two concerns together, while at the same time seeking to entice car makers to act through employment of a carrot-rather-than-stick approach.

Defective products: a persistent threat to New York consumers

Published on: October 23, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

It hardly seems unreasonable to argue that a consumer in New York or anywhere else in the United States has the right to use purchased products in a confident manner.

Put another way: They shouldn’t explode, ignite, fail to engage as promised, collapse, start or shut off unexpectedly, or otherwise operate in a manner that injures their user.

There are state and federal laws that address such problems, and their origins are grounded in the sad reality that consumers flatly need to be legally protected against products that are negligently designed or manufactured, or that fail to adequately warn against dangers when used in certain ways.

Development in long-discussed cancer-screening guideline

Published on: October 22, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Some? None? More?

When it comes to breast cancer screening for women in New York and across the United States, the accepted guideline seems, well, anything but accepted.

In fact, discussion simply seems to lead to more questions.

Could a distracted driving ticket help in your accident claim?

Published on: October 22, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

It is only a matter of time before the New York State Police conducts its fall ticketing campaign for distracted driving. State troopers are aimed to remind people of how dangerous distracted driving can be and why it is illegal. Drivers can expect police in marked and unmarked cars to be on the streets throughout central New York to catch people in the act of using their cell phones while behind the wheel.

Authorities report that last year, more than 550 tickets were issued to drivers who were on their phones when they should not have been. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that more than 3,000 people were killed and 424,000 were injured in distracted driving accidents.

While drivers may be concerned about being ticketed, those who have been in accidents may not have much sympathy. In fact, a Long Island woman was recently hit by a car and killed by a person suspected to be on their phone when the accident happened. Because of this, people who have been injured in distracted driving accidents should look to see whether the offending driver had been ticketed for distracted driving due to the accident or even before the crash occurred.

New York birth injury focus: shoulder dystocia

Published on: October 22, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Few things could possibly be more frightening for any involved person or family member to contemplate than something going wrong in an operating room.

And when babies are the focal point in any matter involving substandard care, concern ratchets up to an unfathomable degree.

Intuitively, we all know that. It is just a given. As we note on our Syracuse Birth Injury page at the New York personal injury law firm of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, “few things are as devastating to families as birth injuries.”

Risks contributing to truck accidents: yes, there are many

Published on: October 21, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

We note on our legal website the often devastating consequences that ensue for New York drivers and occupants in passenger vehicles when they become involved in crashes or collisions featuring large commercial trucks.

In fact, we cite the obvious regarding big rigs on the Syracuse Truck Accident page at the personal injury law firm of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, noting that, given their unrivaled size and weight, “they can readily mow over, crush or crumple a two-ton car.”

That is flatly scary. Moreover, the prospect of such accident outcomes might readily conjure up in the minds of drivers in passenger cars and trucks other factors that increase the accident odds for 18-wheel rigs and other highway behemoths.

Former prison inmate brings medical malpractice lawsuit

Published on: October 21, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Generally we don’t think about medical care in New York’s prison system. It is not a common topic that we see on news reports; and because of this, it is like prisoners are out of sight and out of mind. Despite this, prison inmates can still be victims of medical malpractice just like people in our own communities.

The story of a former Pennsylvania prison inmate exemplifies this notion. The inmate had complained about bowel problems while in custody and underwent an upper GI tract diagnostic test by an outside company. The technicians reportedly misread the diagnostic report and they failed to identify an abnormal gastric mass lesion.

This problem led to the inmate’s conditioning worsening, which then led to him needing to have blood transfusions to alleviate the problem. As such, the inmate has initiated a lawsuit against the company that performed the test, alleging that it willfully sent a technician who lacked the experience in conducting such diagnoses, and that the delayed (and ultimately incorrect) diagnosis led to the inmate’s further health problems. The inmate alleges that he suffered intense pain, emotional distress and increased risk of serious harm due to the misdiagnosis.

Could the new IPhone 6 be hazardous to consumers?

Published on: October 20, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

The fanfare behind the new IPhone 6 Plus may not have been as great as prior IPhone releases, but customers appear generally happy with the new smartphone iteration. However, with each new phone release, there the expected defects and bugs that can drive customers crazy, and the IPhone 6 Plus is no different.

There have been consumer complaints about the new IPhone overheating. Essentially, the new fingerprint sensor that allows users (and no one else) to access the phone causes the device to overheat and shut down. While the problem is not the same as the Stacks phones in the move “Annie” it brings about the question of what a manufacturer’s liability would be should an overheating phone injure a consumer.

Basically, a manufacturer has a legal duty to ensure that a product it puts out in the marketplace is safe for its intended uses. This means that they must take reasonable steps to remedy defects that could put consumers in danger by informing customers through recalls and replacing problematic products when necessary.

Spinach recall could affect thousands in New York

Published on: October 19, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

While a number of our posts have focused on automotive recalls, there are many other product recalls that can affect our readers in different ways. For instance, everyone at some time goes to the grocery store to buy food. In the last few weeks, a number of important food recalls have been initiated.

For instance, Dole Fresh Vegetables has called for a recall of bagged spinach due to fears about possible salmonella contamination. This bacteria could be potentially harmful if ingested. Officials from Dole indicate that the recall is a precautionary one, and that no consumers have been sickened as of yet. A random sample of spinach was tested by the State of Michigan’s Agriculture Department.

According to a USA Today.com report, the recall affects more than 33,000 bags of spinach, which were distributed to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and a number of other states. Health officials advise consumers that if they purchased Dole spinach that have certain product codes to discard the bags immediately.

Should I seek recovery from medical error in malpractice litigation?

Published on: October 16, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

A recent article in Becker’s ASC Review took a look at a number of interesting facts surrounding medical malpractice litigation, including statistics on the incidence of medical malpractice claims, average payouts, which specialists are most at risk for litigation, and inconsistencies in settlement agreements.

One point in the article particularly caught our eye, and that was a reference to a 2003 article published in BUMC Proceedings looking at the most common reasons patients file medical malpractice lawsuits. According to that article, the top four motives for filing medical malpractice suits are: to prevent a something similar from happening again; to obtain an explanation of how the injury occurred; to gain financial compensation; and to hold a negligent physician accountable.

Although the reasons for pursuing medical litigation largely break down to these four basic motives, there are a variety of specific reasons why an injured patient might do so. Having a good reason to pursue such litigation is not enough, though. One must also have a strong case and that is likely to result in a payout that outweighs the costs of pursuing litigation.