Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

Most Philadelphia drivers may not realize that the choices they make when they purchase car or truck insurance may some day impact the outcome if they are involved in a personal injury car accident or truck accident. When purchasing insurance, Philadelphia drivers must choose between Full Tort or Limited Tort insurance. In case of a car accident, limited tort insurance forces the car owner to assume the burden of recovering funds to pay for pain and suffering endured when a serious personal injury is sustained. Full tort insurance places that burden on the insurance company in exchange for higher insurance fees.

In order to recover funds for pain and suffering, the victim of a Philadelphia car accident or truck accident or their family must show that the personal injury suffered was severe enough to cause serious impairment of body function, permanent disfigurement or death. If you suffer serious injury in a car or truck accident, it is advisable to seek the advice of an expert Philadelphia personal injury attorney with experience in handling full tort and limited tort auto accident claims.

Generally, muscle strains and other injuries that may cause pain or problems for several months but do not result in lifelong chronic issues are insufficient to obtain pain and suffering compensation; however, there are exceptions. Obtain the appropriate diagnostic tests that confirm your injuries may be crucial to your case. An experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can advise you on medical tests that can support your claim and other necessary measures that you should take.

When Philadelphia auto owners choose full tort insurance, their ability to recover for pain and suffering is not limited, even for minor injuries. Either tort option allows injured parties to recover for economic loss, including lost wages, property damage and excess medical bills. If you have been in a car or truck accident, consult a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

When you have a fender bender, you may not worry too much about who is at fault. You exchange insurance information and leave it up to the insurance companies. However, when people suffer personal injury or are killed in a Philadelphia auto accident, drivers need to be concerned about who is found to be at fault. The party at fault is the party that pays for the often expensive car repairs and medical bills. When a life is lost, the cost in both emotional toll and money can be considerable and, in some instances, the cost can include jail time.

Fault may be difficult to fully determine in a Philadelphia car accident. Police investigations, while generally thorough, sometimes miss crucial pieces of evidence or knowledge about personal habits that may affect the case. Police officers are human. Sometimes investigations are deemed completed when what appears to be a reasonable conclusion is reached. Had the investigation continued, it might have revealed additional facts that could drastically change the conclusion. Very often and particularly when there are no witnesses to the accident, it becomes a game of he said, she said and joint fault is assigned with both parties sharing in the blame for the accident. This can make it difficult for an injured passenger to obtain help with his medical bills or compensation for a disabling injury or loss of income related to his injury.

Often, it is only careful investigation by a Philadelphia personal injury attorney that discovers the small fact that shifts blame from one party to another. An astute Philadelphia personal injury lawyer has the skill and knowledge to know what to investigate, how to investigate and how to present a difficult personal injury car accident case to the court to obtain the greatest assistance for his clients.

Philadelphia stores are removing bag-shaped baby slings from store shelves in response to a federal recall of more than 1 million Infantino manufactured baby slings. Baby slings sold in Philadelphia and other cities in the U.S. and Canada have been linked to severe personal injury risk for infants and implicated in at least 14 inadvertent infant suffocations, three last year. (See our March 19 post on infant sling personal injury risks.)

This week the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered the recall of the SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo infant slings that are linked to the three infant deaths that occurred last year. Wendy Bellissimo baby slings were sold exclusively at Babies-R-Us, but the SlingRider infant carriers were sold at Wal-Mart, Target, Babies-R-Us and other stores in both the U.S. and Canada. According to the warning issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the defective product fabric slings can block a baby's breathing, resulting in suffocation. As the parent moves about while the baby is in the sling, it is also possible for the baby's chin to be forced against his chest, making it difficult for the infant to breathe and presenting a serious risk of personal injury or suffocation.

Baby slings have been used by various cultures for centuries. Designed properly, experts say infant slings provide a valuable connection between baby and parent. However, some experts say usage instructions included with infant slings may not be clear and that many parents are wearing slings incorrectly or using the slings with infants who are too young. Many slings are safe only for babies who are at least four months old and have developed a degree of muscle tone. When used with younger infants, these slings pose a severe risk to Philadelphia infants.

If you own a recalled baby sling, stop using it immediately. Contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer about personal injury and defective product law.

More than 500 children in Philadelphia and across the country have been strangled by window blind and window shade cords since 1980, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. That's an average of one child death per month due to unsafe or defective window blinds or shades. In 2007, an Ohio woman found her 16-month old toddler dead in his crib. Wrapped around his neck was the cord of a window shade she had purchased specifically because the box was labeled safe for children. The child's mother is one of many bereaved parents angry with an industry that has failed to address a serious defective product issue, despite its tragic personal injury record.

According to a recent Associated Press investigation, redesigns and recalls in the window shade and window blind industry haven't changed fatality figures much. Records kept by the advocacy group Parents for Window Blind Safety shows an average 14 deaths per year between 1990 and 2000. The group is concerned, however, about a disturbing recent rise in the fatality rate of window blind and window shade personal injury accidents. Since 2008, fatalities have increased to 17 deaths per year.

Despite numerous personal injury problems and a rising child death rate in Philadelphia and across the U.S., federal agencies have failed to regulate safety standards for the window blind and window shade industry. Federal law prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from setting mandatory safety standards for products even if voluntary standards fail to provide a safe product. Often manufacturers do not remedy safety defects in their defective products until personal injury lawyers win high-priced settlements that cause them financial duress. The Ohio woman whose baby was strangled by a window shade cord sued the manufacturer and seller of the defective product and did win a high-priced settlement.

If you have experienced personal injury from a defective product, consult a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

The queasy stomach, vomiting and diarrhea that are the hallmarks of food poisoning may not come from the food Philadelphians eat; it could come from the spices added to food during preparation or serving. The Food and Drug Administration traced a recent nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning to black and red pepper. Salmonella bacteria live in the intestinal tracts of animals, birds and humans and can be spread by rodent or bird droppings. While most infects humans suffer intestinal upset and recover, salmonella can be life-threatening for infants, small children, the elderly and the chronically ill. The contaminated spices sparked a recall of the spices themselves and the foods they had been added to, including nationally sold salami products.

The pepper recall is the sixteenth spice recall ordered by the FDA since 2001. Recalled bacteria-infected spices have all been popular and commonly used spices ranging from sage to basil, increasing the threat that people living in Philadelphia and across the country could be sickened during normal meal preparation. Food poisoning can cause serious personal injury illness, life-threatening dehydration and possibly death. The growing health threat posed by contaminated spices has caused the FDA to launch an investigation of the spice industry.

A culinary staple in every home kitchen and Philadelphia restaurant, defective product spices can be contaminated during the harvesting, transport, production or storage processes by rodent urine and feces, foraging ants, bird droppings and unsanitary production procedures. The FDA is working with the spice industry to standardize procedures for eliminating bacteria from spices. The industry currently uses three different methods to eliminate bacteria from spices: steam heat, irradiation or fumigation with the pesticide ethylene oxide. Bills to insure the safety of spices shipped to Philadelphia stores are currently pending in Congress that would standardize the way raw spices are treated and require spice importers to verify the safety of imported spices.

Philadelphia parents use baby slings because they are supposed to be a nurturing way of keeping baby safe and comforted while on the move. The slings strap across an adult's chest, providing a convenient way to carry an infant close to mom or dad while keeping adult arms free. Now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that baby slings may pose a serious personal injury risk to Philadelphia infants that can result in suffocation death. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the popular sling-type infant carriers most likely played a role in the inadvertent suffocation deaths of 14 infants, three last year. While the deaths are still under investigation, the agency has issued a warning to parents and caregivers in Philadelphia and across the country that infant slings can pose a serious personal injury hazard to babies that can result in their death.

Generally made of soft fabrics that cuddle the baby's body, infant slings are popular with parents and caregivers who find the slings comfortable to wear. Attachment parenting advocates recommend slings, or 'baby wearing," to enhance parent-child bonding. Many parents and caregivers enjoy the convenience of "holding" their infant while keeping their hands free for chores or activities with other children. What appears to sometimes happen though is that as the adult moves around the infant's head can become wedged against the sling. Unable to control their neck muscles, babies cannot turn their heads away from the fabric and are suffocated while essentially in their parent's arms.

Much discussion about the issue is being generated on talk shows and the blogosphere. The most divisive arguments center on whether baby slings are defective products or are being used incorrectly. Ultimately, the issue may be decided in court by Philadelphia personal injury lawyers or government regulators.

Auto safety issues seem to be making Philadelphia headlines daily. Honda yesterday announced a recall of Element and Odyssey models to repair squishy brakes. A vehicle stability assist modulator connected to the brake assembly appears to be faulty and has been linked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to several car accidents. The recall comes on the heels of Honda's recall of nearly half a million vehicles for malfunctioning air bags that can burst and cause serious personal injury, peppering vehicle occupants with metal fragments.

Toyota's acceleration problems continue to worry Philadelphia car owners and baffle federal regulators. Despite several repair efforts, sudden acceleration on Toyota vehicles remains a problem. Federal regulators are now investigating whether cosmic rays from space, known to affect airplane and space shuttle systems, might be interfering with car computer systems. NHTSA has also tracked fatal acceleration car accidents to Ford and Chrysler vehicles.

In their nationally syndicated column Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi advise drivers to shift their car into neutral if the gas pedal sticks or the car starts to accelerate on its own. Shifting into neutral disengages the engine from the wheels so that even if the engine continues to rev, the car will slow down and eventually stop. Shifting into neutral is preferable to turning off the key because it allows the driver to maintain control of the car. In neutral, the power steering, power brakes, ABS and other vehicle systems continue to work. Turning off the key shuts down all these systems and can activate the steering wheel lock, giving the driver absolutely no control over the runaway vehicle.

If you are in a car accident caused by uncontrollable acceleration or vehicle malfunction, a personal injury attorney can provide a free case evaluation and advise you of your legal rights.

A personal injury suit at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio should serve as a warning to Philadelphia residents and business owners who may be coping with roof damage suffered during the winter. Last spring a water leak in one of the university's buildings saturated the ceiling. Workers used high speed fans to dry the ceiling. Two OSU workers and their families are now suing the university, claiming that they were exposed to a dangerous fungus during the ceiling repair procedure which caused them to suffer serious personal injury.

Both workers contracted histoplasmosis last spring, a sometimes fatal fungal disease of the lungs. Histoplasmosis can cause fever, chills, chest pains, fatigue, cough, permanent scarring of the lungs and chronic respiratory problems. If the fungus attacks other organs, histoplasmosis can be fatal.

Commonly found in bird and bat droppings, histoplasmosis is transmitted when pulverized droppings are stirred into the air and breathed in. The OSU victims claim that the university knew the roof space above the leaking ceiling had been infested by birds and bats and that the fans used to dry the ceiling introduced histoplasmosis fungus into the air breathed by the workers. Both workers said they experienced intense pain during their illnesses, and one worker had to have a section of lung removed. Tests performed on a ceiling tile confirmed the presence of histoplasmosis fungus.

The university denies any negligence in performing repairs or protecting its employees. A court will decide the matter, but it is a cautionary tale for Philadelphia business owners and residents who may have experienced water damage to roofs during the heavy icing that damaged many Philadelphia buildings this winter. If you fear exposure to histoplasmosis or other diseases that may have resulted from building damage or repair, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can review your case.

In what may become the biggest defective products safety scare since lead paint on children's toys, dangerous cadmium levels in children's themed jewelry again made headlines in Philadelphia today. In the latest action by federal regulators since high levels of cadmium were first discovered in metal children's jewelry earlier this year (see our January 13 post), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered a recall of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer charm bracelets. Sold in Philadelphia dollar stores and discount chains from 2006 until now, the chain link bracelets feature charms depicting characters from the classic holiday television film interspersed with snowflakes and candy canes. Federal regulators told Philadelphia parents to throw the dangerous bracelets away .

Highly toxic cadmium is a known carcinogen and can cause irreparable damage to kidneys and bones and may affect brain development. The metal is particularly dangerous to children whose bodies are still developing. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer bracelets exhibited alarmingly high levels of toxic cadmium in government lab tests. When high cadmium levels in children's jewelry were first revealed as part of an Associated Press investigation published in January, lab tests commissioned by the Associated Press showed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer bracelets to be 91% cadmium.

Just last month, the Commission recalled Disney The Princess and the Frog charm bracelets sold in Wal-Mart stores for high cadmium levels (see our February 8 post). In both instances, the jewelry was manufactured in China. Chinese manufacturers use cadmium because of its low raw material cost and malleability at low temperatures, both of which decrease production costs and increase the manufacturers' profit.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to investigate potentially toxic children's jewelry being sold in Philadelphia but has not widened its investigation to include metal toys that may also pose a dangerous cadmium risk to Philadelphia children. If you are concerned about the effect of defective products on your children, contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney to discuss your rights.

Manslaughter charges were filed in New York this week that point to a potentially worrisome Philadelphia personal injury issue. Two construction workers died in a May 2008 construction accident when a giant construction crane fell apart, sending pieces of the 200-foot tall crane crashing onto the construction site and a nearby apartment building. Investigation found that the crane owner had recently had the crane repaired, hiring an obscure Chinese firm over the Internet to weld a critical component. Shortly thereafter, the weld failed, killing two workers at a Manhattan construction site. The crane owner's attempt to save money during these difficult financial times imperiled construction workers and the public.

The incident raises some serious questions for construction workers and the public. As the recession drags on, Philadelphia business owners, particularly those in the construction trades, continue to be squeezed financially. How many construction equipment owners are resorting to cheap equipment repairs or cheap parts to save money? How many construction workers are being forced to work with faulty equipment because their employers don't have the money to finance often expensive repairs?

In these difficult financial times when jobs are at a premium, particularly in the hard-hit construction trades, workers are disinclined to risk unemployment by blowing the whistle on employers who take liberties with safety standards. Workers may have no way of knowing when equipment repairs are substandard. It is even possible, though less likely, that construction equipment owners may be duped by unscrupulous repair services. Faulty construction equipment repairs could be placing Philadelphia construction workers and Philadelphia residents at serious risk of personal injury or even death should a serious construction accident occur.

When a construction accident occurs in Philadelphia, comprehensive investigation by a skilled personal injury attorney can uncover the true cause of the construction accident and determine actual fault and responsibility.

A hospital stay is fraught with worry and anxiety for both the patient and his or her family. But when a patient is discharged, there's a reasonable expectation that the patient is on the road to recovery and is being sent home with the medications and instructions that will promote full recovery. According to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund, a private New York research group, hospitals are not meeting expectations when they discharge patients and too many Philadelphia patients are winding up right back in the hospital as a result.

The Commonwealth Fund study found that preventable medical errors and negligent hospital discharge procedures forced more than 13,000 elderly and disabled of Pennsylvania patients to be readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge. The two most common medical errors were sending patients home without required antibiotic prescriptions and not providing written post-hospital care instructions to patients at the time of discharge. Lack of follow up procedures to insure that patients were taking required medication and that they were correctly following post-hospitalization instructions was also cited as a frequent contributor to hospital readmission.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, preventable hospital mistakes cost Medicare and taxpayers approximately $12 billion each year. Medicare and several federal health care reform bills would tie hospital payments to readmission rates, paying less to hospitals that showed a higher incidence of patient readmission. In the Commonwealth Fund study, Pennsylvania hospitals showed a preventable readmission rate of 19.7%, at the high end of the national median.

The conditions most likely to require hospital readmission were: heart failure, pulmonary disease, pneumonia. cardiac stent placement and major hip or knee surgery. When Philadelphia hospital personnel fail to provide proper medication or patient care instructions at discharge, necessitating readmission, a case for medical malpractice can be made. Patients have been known to suffer serious personal injury complications and even die from these preventable medical errors.

Philadelphia personal injury lawyers and Philly consumers were appalled to learn that Toyota has for years been collecting car crash data but failed to reveal or share it to protect consumers. According to an Associated Press investigation published this week, Toyota has consistently stone-walled authorities by denying access to vital information about vehicle accidents collected in the event data recorders installed in every Toyota car and truck. As part of their continuing quality control efforts, most auto manufacturers use event data recorders, also called EDRs, to record engine, computer and other operating system data about their vehicles. Working much like the "black box" devices used in commercial airplanes, these electronic recorders provide the manufacturer with vital data about the vehicle's performance -- and failure -- if it is involved in a car accident.

Most automakers allow open access to EDR data. This data can be invaluable to police and insurance investigators as well as Philadelphia personal injury lawyers trying to determine the cause of an auto accident or truck accident. The Associated Press investigation found that Toyota frequently refused to share critical information with crash victims and accident survivors. When forced by personal injury attorneys during court proceedings to provide EDR data, Toyota frequently provided blank or incomplete data sheets or initiated out-of-court settlements. Unlike other auto manufacturers, Toyota EDRs use proprietary software that effectively restricts access to EDR information by auto accident investigators. According to the Associated Press, last week only one computer in the entire U.S. was equipped with the software necessary to read Toyota EDR data.

Toyota's recall of 8 million vehicles plagued by runaway accelerator and faulty brake problems has affected thousands of concerned Philadelphia car owners. If you own a Toyota car or truck and have been involved in an accident, contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

When we select a nursing or convalescent home for our parents or grandparents, we hope that they will be taken care of in a warm, loving environment. As it is, we often harbor feelings of guilt that we are unable to take care of our elders when they need us the most. We want to show our appreciation for the love and help they showered upon us as we grew up.

Imagine that after selecting a nursing home and paying the high fees associated with it, we discover that our elder is:

• Looking bruised


• Disoriented


• Nervous and Scared


• Emaciated

They might be suffering from any number of physical or mental ailments that might or might not be treatable, but they might also be suffering from abuse. It's very important to check that the staff at your chosen nursing home have been trained and certified as care givers.

However, it's not always possible to weed out disturbed individuals and this has often been the case even in some of the best facilities. There have been cases where families placed hidden cameras and caught care givers eating the meals designated for the nursing home resident, slapping them, using unnecessary pharmaceutical restraints, and many other forms of physical and emotional abuse. These forms of abuse can clearly cause the elderly much pain and stress, leading to complications like illness and even death.

As such you need to check up your parents/grandparents and make sure that they are being treated properly. If they exhibit any of the aforementioned signs, ask the staff if everything is OK. Perhaps bring them for a checkup at a physician not associated with the facility.

If you suspect that abuse is the cause, you should certainly be speaking with a lawyer who specializes in litigating nursing home abuse in Philadelphia to explore your options.

Shopping for Philadelphia medical professionals these days isn't that different from shopping for a good auto mechanic. Both professions are populated by good and bad practitioners. The difference, of course, is that if your Philly auto mechanic does a bad job, you're merely annoyed. If your doctor does a bad job, you could suffer debilitating personal injury or die.

Like good auto mechanics, good doctors are usually found by word-of-mouth recommendations. Mechanics have the edge in that AAA ratings and Angie's List help assure Philadelphia customers that they'll receive satisfactory service. There's no Angie's List for the medical profession, but something similar is under construction.

The national Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank is being developed to alert Philadelphia hospitals and other members of the nation's medical community about disciplinary and professional actions taken against doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers. There are numerous cases where a physician or medical worker has left a hospital under the cloud of medical malpractice only to start practicing in a different hospital or community without penalty, his new employers and patients unaware of previous complaints. The national data bank is an attempt to plug this loophole and assure Philadelphia patients that they are receiving quality medical care.

The problem is that hospital and medical boards in Philadelphia and other cities are not reporting disciplinary actions to the data bank. ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism group, recently brought the problem to the attention of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Miscommunication between federal, state and local agencies is partly to blame. Delinquent agencies appear to be making an effort to update data bank reporting. Philadelphia malpractice lawyers believe the national data bank has the potential to reduce personal injuries from medical malpractice, reduce the potential for Philadelphia medical malpractice by denying problem doctors the opportunity to practice, and ensure that Philadelphians receive quality medical care.