Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

Millions of Americans in Philadelphia and throughout the country have had to undergo Colonoscopy procedures, especially as a normal part of basic medical care when aging. Usually these procedures are fairly safe, but it is important to remember that, if one does not choose the right doctor, injuries could occur.

Just a few years ago, a jury in New Mexico awarded plaintiff Michael Salopek $1 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. After going to his doctor in 2005, Michael allegedly had to be treated for a puncture wound in his colon. After undergoing a colonoscopy, Salopek internal organs were pierced by the surgeon's tools. His doctor, however, told him at first that the perforation had eventually healed itself.

Salopek eventually suffered from having fecal matter leaked out through the hole in his colon and into his body for 11 days before discovered. This caused serious infection and the need for Salopek to have 13 surgeries to repair damage and a part of his colon removed.

The settlement helped Michael to pay medical expenses and make up for lost wages at work. Perforations can occur during Colonoscopies and it is important for doctors to recognize and treat the problem immediately or else medical malpractice is in question. If you or a love one has been the victim of medical malpractice, contact a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer or a Philadelphia injury lawyer today.

Highway deaths in Pennsylvania for 2010 total 1,324. This represents a number that is up an alarming 68% from the previous year in 2009. In 2009, in the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvanis region, highway deaths dropped to 226 from 251 in 2009 accoring to the Philadelphia Inquirer. While road deaths declined slightly in the Philadelphia region in general, highway fatalities rose in general from the historic lows of 2009. Philadelphia still has the highest incidence of deaths and injuries on the road in the Southeastern region of Pennsylvania.

Fortunately death tolls are still not yet seeing all time highs again as they did in 1970 when there were 2,555 fatalities and thousands of injuries on the roads as well. However, now, with the new 2010 statistics released and available, many Philadelphia residents are wondering why the dramatic increase in highway deaths has unfolded and what can be done to make Pennsylvania's highways safer. Namely, how can we help teen drivers stay safer. Drivers between the ages of 16 and 17 were among the groups whose fatalities and crashes increased the most.

If you feel that you or a love one has suffered wrongful death or injury while on the road in Philadelphia or Pennsylvania, it is important to get the facts as soon as possible to avoid statute of limitations and get whatever you may be entitled to. Contact a Philadelphia accident lawyer or a Philadelphia injury lawyer today.

A grant was recently provided by Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is in the amount of $420,000 to support patient safety research which will focus on using health information technology to improve post hosptial management of patients whose medical test results are still pending when a patient is discharged from the hospital. Better communication and management of patients can prevent serious medical error. A recent study has found that current hospital discharge summaries are "grossly inadequate" at documenting both tests with pending results and information about which physicians should receive the test results.

Dr. Martin Chieng Were, M.D., M.S., a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School has headed up the project to study how to better track and prevent what are known in the medical field as "fumbled handoffs." A fumbled handoff is a termed used to describe what happens when a patient is transferred out of the care of one doctor (often after a hospital stay) into the care of another doctor. When proper patient release notes are not kept or generated, patients might not get necessary follow-up care and could even suffer injury or death as a result of such medical malpractice.
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If you or a loved one has been the victim of a fumbled discharge, medical malpractice, or has suspected other medical error, contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer or a Philadelphia accident lawyer today.

The US Justice Department has just files suit over a popularly used medical device. The law suit, which has been filed against Boston Scientific, alleges that Boston Scientific knowingly sold defective Guidant Defibrillators.

Defibrillators are used by doctors, nurses, and paramedics in cases of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation, and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. The Guidant Defibrillator was known to have serious safety concerns which could have lead to medical error, medical malpractice, injury, and even wrongful death if used.

It is also alleged that the Medicare program wrongly paid for the heart devices that Boston Scientific knew were faulty, according to a late January 2011 Wallstreet Journal report. The suit, which was filed in a Minnesota federal court seeks to recover some of federal health care expenditures by Medicare. Fortunately, the lawsuit has opened the eyes of the medical community, who should no longer be using the possibly defective devices.

All too often, defective, unsterilized, or poorly updated medical devices lead to patient injury, not only in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, but throughout the nation and all over the world. Patients who put their trusts in a medical facility can become a victim of poor quality of care due to such issues. If you or a loved one has been the victim of wrongful injury due to medical malpractice, contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer or Philadelphia accident lawyer today.

Medical malpractice and criminal activity is being investigated in the case of Claudia Seye Aderotimi, 20, of London England who traveled to Pennsylvania recently to undergo what was supposed to be a simple non-invasive cosmetic procedure.

Aderotimi set up an appointment online to receive an injection of silicone to the buttocks and traveled from London to Philadelphia to do so. Silicone is used as a permanent filler in the body and is intended to create a rounded shape. Liquid silicone is currently not approved in the US for cosmetic injections. After receiving the injection, Aderotimi wound up in a Pennsylvania hospital and was pronounced dead early Tuesday morning.

Police have executed search warrants to the home of the woman believed to have set up the appointment for Aderotimi and are further investing the case. In a similar case in 2009, one New York city woman suffered pulmonary embolism after receiving a silicone injection, after fluid injection into her hips and thighs entered her lungs.

Tragically, cases of medical malpractice and wrongful death involving elective cosmetic surgery procedures have become common in recent years both in Pennsylvania and throughout the world. Contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer or a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer if you suspect you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice or injury after having a procedure performed by an unlicensed cosmetic professional.

When it comes to work injuries and accidents as well as occupational hazards, the coal miner has become a poster child. This week, the Philadelphia Inquirer went six miles deep to report from a coal mine in southwestern Pennsylvania, the kind of many Philadelphia residents and US citizens forget even exists. Pennsylvania is still quite the coal producer and was in fact the fourth largest U.S. coal producer in 2008.

Pennsylvania is at the forefront as coal, wind, and solar power battle it out to become the key energy industries of the future. In the mean time, several US workers in Pennsylvania and the surround states go to work as coal miners, power plant workers, solar panel and wind turbine builders, etc.

Today's challenge of improving the coal industry and creating alternative energy sources, has put some US workers back to work, but it is important for us to remember the day to day occupational hazards the men and women in the coal and energy industry can face. While environmental and emissions regulations continue to be scrutinized, it is also important for us to remember our country's energy workers and how we can keep them as safe as can be from work related accidents and occupational hazards.

If you or a loved one has sustained a work injury of has had an accident in the workplace, call a Philadelphia injury lawyer today. A Philadelphia injury lawyer can further on advise you on the next steps to take towards getting the compensation you're entitled to.

It's been a rough winter for those in in Philadelphia and along the entire East Coast. Record levels of snow, ice, and freezing rain have fallen throughout the region and become quite the challenge for those who live, work, commute, and walk around the Philadelphia area.

This week, several inches of ice and freezing rain fell across a large region of the country again. This storm left several business parking lots, town sidewalks, and streets icy and unplowed as already cash strapped businesses slacked on taking care of the ice on their property. With so many storms this year, several businesses are running low on snow and ice removal funds.

A Philadelphia injury lawyer advises you to be careful, as what this could mean to you or a loved one is a slip and fall accident as a result of ice or slick snow. If you have become injured due to a slip and fall on ice or snow you may be able to receive compensation from whoever is determined to be responsible.

This all will depend on where you fell, when you fell, what the weather conditions were like when you fell and more. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries from a slip and fall, do not hesitate to contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer to find out what you may be entitled to today.

That's just what one firefighter just a few hours North of Philadelphia has just done. Richard LaPiedra, 42, is a well known Staten Island firefighter, previously heralded for his many years with the firedepartment and many heroic feats during his career has just sewed the FDNY. Recently, Richard became injured while on a call. He suffered injuries after tripping over a mound of pot growing paraphernalia while fighting an apartment blaze.

Richard LaPiedra was able to legally sue the Fire Department because he alleged that his injuries were caused by a violation of statutes, namely, the illegal marijuana growing operation and the equipment used for it, according to his injury lawyer. The injuries are allegedly career ending in nature, and for that, LaPiedra could receive a hefty some upon winning the case. "Its devastating to him" LaPiedra's lawyer said on Thursday.
After the fall, LaPiedra is said to have suffered disabling shoulder and spine injuries. Aside from the FDNY, the court papers also named Robert Pennachio, the owner of the building as a defendant.

Hundreds of thousands of workers become injured on the job each year or suffer occupational injuries. Public servants are no exception, and regardless of the nature of their work, some of their injuries may still be grounds for receiving compensation. If you or a loved one has been injured on the job, contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer today. A Philadelphia injury lawyer can help you understand your rights.