Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog

An ideal weekend for sports fans

Published on: January 30, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

For sports fans, this weekend is made for snowstorms. Oh by the way, another swath of storms is expected through the end of the week. So if you are poised to sit on the couch and watch college basketball, hockey games, and Super Bowl XLIX, no one is going to be upset with you.

However, there are those who are going to brave the roads and travel this weekend. For those hearty souls, this post is for you.

We have posted about the dangers of winter driving, and this weekend deserves a reminder of not only the duty to drive with reasonable care, but also of the common hazards that can arise. Essentially, when driving conditions deteriorate, it is imperative that drivers slow down. The reasons are simple. By reducing speed, a driver reduces the likelihood of losing control of his or her vehicle after hitting a patch of ice. Also, the amount of space needed for a safe stop can be reduced as well. Simply put, less speed equals less sliding, and less of a chance to crash into someone (or something).

Types of brain injuries revealed

Published on: January 29, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

On our blog we have discussed the many ways that people can suffer brain injuries; especially in the context of auto accidents, sports injuries, and arguably the most common way…falls. We have noted how important it is for physicians and medical personnel to make quick, yet educated, decisions about how to treat a brain injury.

However, knowing that you may have a brain injury is only half of the inquiry. Knowing what type of brain injury is just as important, because it may help in treating it and recovery times. With that, this post will focus on different types of brain injuries.

Concussions – This is likely the most common injury, and probably the most notorious given the news that has been generated over concussions in football. Concussions are caused by direct trauma to the head, either by being hit or punched, or by falling.

Your back pain could be a spinal infection

Published on: January 28, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

In a number of posts we have written, we have highlighted the continuing problem of medical conditions being caused by delays in diagnoses. Essentially, such a delay could lead to a minor condition that would require little treatment progressing to a serious one that would require surgery or other invasive treatments.

One such condition is a spinal epidural abscess. Basically, this condition arises when a mass of infected material becomes engorged between the bones in the spine as well as the nerves and membranes that make up the spinal cord. Just like an abscess found on other parts of the body, the mass is commonly caused by bacteria, fungus or even a staph infection.

Unfortunately, a spinal epidural abscess can be misdiagnosed as a patient may only notice back pain. Also, in the process of ruling out other maladies, the delay in properly diagnosing the condition can lead to it worsening.

Here we go again. Another snowstorm.

Published on: January 27, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Just when you thought that winter hasn’t been so bad with regard to snow, a major winter storm is bearing down on our region and threatens to bring at least a foot of snow before all is said and done on Tuesday. Indeed, we have had our share of snow this season, but since the last major snow storm before Christmas, things have been relatively light.

That said, officials are telling people to stay off the roads, and thousands of flights across the northeast have been cancelled. Also we have written about safe travel in snowy weather as well as how to avoid ice missiles after a storm. With this post, we venture into the area of “Good Samaritan” laws.

Essentially, “Good Samaritan” laws are statutes that provide legal immunity to those who stop and help someone in distress. Normally, a person does not owe a legal duty to help someone (who is hurt or trapped, for example) absent some type of special relationship between the person in distress and the rescuer (i.e. a parent and child). However, once a person proceeds to rescue someone, he or she has a duty to continue, or to do so in a reasonable manner that would not put others in danger.

Listening may be effective in preventing medical errors

Published on: January 26, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

We have written a number of times about how physicians and medical staff have a duty to use reasonable care while tending to patients they are assigned to. Indeed, the main impetus behind medical malpractice cases is the failure to use such care (i.e. acting as a physician with similar experience would in a given situation), but often malpractice cases may start even before this.

According to a recent Consumer Reports study, the lack of respect a patient may receive from hospital staff may lead to medical errors. For instance, certain pains and complaints of discomfort may be dismissed as a patient simply whining; or a doctor may not carefully listen to a patient’s concerns when he or she speaks up.

Among their many findings, researchers learned that patients who believed that they rarely received respect were more than twice as likely to experience a “preventable medical error” compared to those who received respect. Further, a quarter of the patients surveyed indicated that they were not always treated as adults with regard to their own care and a third of those surveyed said that medical personnel did not listen to their wishes without interrupting.

How deaths after premature births can be avoided

Published on: January 25, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

It is difficult enough to bring a baby who is full term into the world. For babies who are premature, caring for them is no less important, but can be difficult as well. However, modern medicine is enabling more pre-term babies to survive. However, pre-term births are still extremely dangerous. According to medicalnewstoday.com, about one in four extremely premature births results in the death of a newborn.

The problem is particularly visible with infants born between 22 and 28 weeks. Babies this young are at risk of death even with hospital supervision. However, with every additional week that a baby can grow inside its mother’s womb, the mortality risks decrease upon birth.

Nevertheless, researchers found that several things can help in avoiding deaths after a premature birth. First, having more prenatal care could help in identifying ailments that could threaten the baby. Second, decreasing the use of prenatal antibiotics, and third the increased use of C-sections have all helped in reduce the number of premature babies falling victim to diseases that lead to death.

Study suggests that defensive medicine still persists

Published on: January 22, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

We have written before on the concept of defensive medicine and the monetary effect that it has on health care costs. Essentially, many doctors have become used to performing unnecessary tests to rule out potential conditions out of fear of being sued for malpractice down the road. This practice has been chronicled as one of the reasons for the dramatic and continuing increase in care costs.

However, in a number of states where medical malpractice reform has changed the standard in which patients must prove harm, it appears that doctors are still hedging their bets and relying on additional tests even when they are not required.

According to a study conducted by research non-profit RAND Corporation, defensive medicine is still the norm despite changes in the law that basically grant immunity for some doctors; particularly emergency room physicians. The study compared data from Medicare patients from Georgia, Texas and South Carolina (three states that enacted malpractice reforms) and compared them to states that did not pass such reforms regarding quality of care (i.e. whether a physician ordered a CT scan or MRI, hospital readmissions, and total costs of hospital visits).

Black ice blamed for multi-car pileups in New York

Published on: January 21, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

If you are venturing out today, it is likely that you have heard warnings about black ice being present on roads across New York. Streets and highways likely provided drivers on Sunday with harrowing experiences because of the thin, invisible sheets of ice that coat the roads once freezing rain actually freezes on the ground.

ABC News reports that nearly 500 accidents occurred over the weekend across the northeast, with huge accidents occurring in New Jersey and New York. On I-95 in the Garden State, a 30 vehicle accident injured 16 people. Outside of New York City, a 60 vehicle crash injured more than 30 people and left one dead. In fact, the New York City Fire Department received more than 3,500 calls for accidents due to slippery roads.

Indeed, the weather calls for another reminder for drivers of the legal implications of failing to use reasonable care on the road. Yes, there are instances where the weather can cause conditions so unpredictable that an accident may occur despite one’s best efforts. But drivers should be wary of conditions and realize that reducing speed on potentially icy roads can also reduce the chances of being in a crash.

Facility where Joan Rivers suffered fatal complication loses accreditation, certification

Published on: January 17, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Following increased scrutiny since the death of comedian Joan Rivers in September, Yorkville Endoscopy—the facility where Rivers was receiving care prior to her death—will reportedly be losing recognition as an accredited and certified facility for insurance purposes.

Both the Centers for Medicare Services and the American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities apparently removed their blessing because of substandard care provided by the facility.

As readers may remember, the facility was cited for substandard care following an investigation of the events that led to Rivers’ death, including failure to take notice of deteriorating vital signs. The firm that manages Yorkville Endoscopy and other surgical centers, has been cited for substandard care at its other facilities as well, though the firm’s attorney says the violations in question are not out of the norm for the industry and, in any case, have since been corrected.

Patient ignored in emergency room falls into coma

Published on: January 16, 2015 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

It is tough enough going to an emergency room after a serious injury, you shouldn’t have to wait an eternity in order to get medical attention. Unfortunately, patients can fall through the cracks in the midst of a busy trauma center, and may not be seen in a reasonable amount of time. When this happens, what may be a commonly treatable injury may progress into something worse and life threatening.

Such was the case of a patient who came to an emergency room complaining of a severe headache and excessive vomiting. The patient’s wife even informed medical personnel that he had recently been hospitalized for bacterial meningitis. He also had been diagnosed previously with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and had been placed on blood thinners.

For more than four hours the patient was not seen by a physician despite abnormal vital signs and laboratory readings. Soon afterwards, the patient fell into a coma. Indeed, the patient did not pass away, but a medical malpractice suit was initiated due to the failure to diagnose him in time to prevent a common ailment from progressing into something substantially worse.