An Overlooked Medical Malpractice Issue – Wrong-Site Surgeries

We tend to grow up learning to trust our doctors and other medical care providers that help us when we’re sick and/or injured. We all also understand that doctors must pass through incredibly rigorous training before they are ever allowed to work with us in regards to our health. However, some of the blatant mistakes that are made during the administration of medical care are nothing short of shocking, and one issue that’s been in the news recently always leads to the need for help from a medical malpractice lawyer – wrong-site surgeries.

The term is so strange that it could lead people to believe that this situation arises when a patient reports to the wrong facility for a procedure. In fact, wrong-site surgeries occur when a patient reports to a facility for a procedure and then doctors perform surgery on the wrong part of the body. As unbelievable as it sounds, it happens more than most would ever guess.

One hospital in Rhode Island has recently been fined $150,000.00 by state health officials for performing its fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007. Rhode Island Hospital is not only the largest in the state, but it’s also the teaching hospital associated with Brown University’s Alpert Medical School. As a result of the latest mistake, the hospital will now be required to install cameras in all of its operating rooms in order to track the progress of procedures.

One of the wrong-site surgeries involved operating on the wrong part of a patient’s brain, and these types of mistakes can lead to disastrous and sometimes tragic results. Estimates indicate that as many as two surgeries per month are performed on the wrong location in the United States based on findings by commissions that have been appointed to analyze the issue.

If you or someone you love has suffered from such an egregious example of medical malpractice, you need to stand up for your rights. Contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney today at the Phillips National Injury Group to schedule a free initial consultation so that you can obtain the answers you need regarding your legal rights and options.

Train Accidents and Commuter Trains

Trains have been an integral part of shipping and transportation in the United States for centuries. The miles upon miles of railroad and commuter train tracks speak to this reality, and given the recent years that have featured skyrocketing gas prices, more and more commuters are beginning to use this form of transportation. Unfortunately, the number of train accidents in the United States remains troubling, and train accident lawyers are often sought out to help people who have suffered as a result of this issue.

One look at the statistics would lead almost anyone to believe that these accidents continue to be a public hazard. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency charged with overseeing train travel and movement, approximately 13,000 train accidents occur in the United States every year. These include freight trains and commuter trains.

Of these 13,000 accidents, more than 800 people are killed and more than 9,000 people are injured. The causes of these accidents include collisions between trains, collisions between trains and vehicles, trains hitting pedestrians, derailments, driver errors, equipment problems and signal problems among the most common. Basically, anything and everything can happen when a train gets moving, and with the enormous size and tremendous speed at which these trains travel, almost every accident leads to disastrous results.

People who are injured or worse in a train accident also face a complicated situation in the legal sense if they feel that it’s their right to pursue a justifiable recovery. The reason is that railroads and trains are almost all overseen by the federal government, and that means that claims usually need to be brought in federal court. Federal court is an entirely different context than state or local courts and require the help of attorneys who understand these differences and how to properly proceed when a claim arises.

If you or someone you love has been injured or worse in a train and/or commuter train accident, you need the help of an experienced and skilled train accident lawyer. Contact the attorneys at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation to get the process of protecting and enforcing your rights started.

Premises Liability and Swimming Pool Accidents

Swimming pools are an attraction for anyone who deals with the summer heat, and there are millions of pools in operation around the country at schools, at city parks and in private homes. While swimming pools can be a welcome relief for anyone for a number of reasons, they also present inherent dangers that need to be properly handled. If they are not, those who suffer losses need the help of a premises liability lawyer to make sure that those responsible for injuries are properly held accountable.

While statistics regarding drownings and injuries are difficult to compile because many of them are not reported as such, there are estimates in existence. Many of these estimates seem to agree that nationwide, as many as 1,500 children drown in pool accidents on an annual basis. In addition, drowning is the second leading cause of death for children under the age of 14 behind only auto accidents. In terms of injuries, most estimates indicate that as many as 7,500 children are injured in swimming pool accidents every year.

When these unfortunate and sometimes tragic situations arise, the law that governs is centered on the theories of premises liability. Premises liability is a relatively complicated area of law that depends on several labels and statuses when defining the nature of a legal claim. In short, a person who is injured or worse generally needs to have been legally entitled to be on the property with limited exceptions.

If someone is legally entitled to be on someone’s property, the owner/overseer/manager of that property owes that person a legal duty to protect against both obvious and latent risks for injuries. Clearly, swimming pools fall into that category. Any random slip or mistake in a swimming pool can lead to disastrous consequences in a matter of seconds, and those who own swimming pools must be constantly aware of what’s happening in the pool.

If you or someone you love has been injured or worse in a swimming pool accident, you need the help of a premises liability lawyer to make sure that you don’t encounter any problems with the technicalities of this sort of claim. Contact the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Taxi Cab Car Accidents and Lawsuits

Many of us have experienced rides in taxi cabs, and while the majority of drivers tend to be professional and responsible, there are those drivers who leave passengers on the edge of their seats and provide a reminder that even though it’s generally thought that taking a taxi in unfamiliar territory and especially after drinking is the responsible choice, there are still dangers to consider. If you or someone you love has been involved in an accident in a cab, you need to contact a taxi cab accident lawyer as soon as possible because these legal situations can be complicated.

While it’s generally estimated that there are thousands of taxi cab accidents in the United States every year, it’s extremely difficult to compile accurate statistics because of the fact that there are also thousands of what are known as ‘gypsy’ cabs in operation. Gypsy cabs are those that operate without a license to do so, and are therefore driving as a cab illegally.

Regardless, every taxi cab accident creates a list of complications, and that starts with naming the proper defendant in the case. The first determination to make is whether or not your taxi driver was at fault for the accident. If he or she was, then you’ll need to determine the nature of the relationship between the cab driver and the taxi company if the driver was not operating independently.

If the driver was working for a company, it could still be complicated because some drivers work as independent contractors, which means that general liability norms can become muddled based on the particulars of the relationship. In addition, there are insurance coverage issues that could apply to the driver, to the cab company or both, and someone without a legal background would likely not understand where to begin in order to hold the proper parties accountable for injuries you’ve suffered.

Therefore, if you or someone you love has been harmed in a taxi cab accident, you need to avoid all of the stress that goes with managing your legal claim and concentrate on your recovery. Instead, contact a taxi cab accident lawyer at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

How do Soft Tissue Injuries after Car Accidents Affect My Claim?

Not all injuries that are suffered as a result of a car accident are simply diagnosed and diagrammed on a chart for anyone to be able to see. While such injuries as broken bones, torn ligaments, concussions and many other injuries can be tangibly detected and displayed, others cannot. Generally, these injuries are referred to as soft tissue injuries, and if you or someone you love has suffered from such an injury, you need to secure the help of a car accident lawyer as soon as possible to protect your legal rights. In the meantime, below you’ll find a few considerations regarding soft tissue injuries that result from car accidents.

1. Timeliness

Most injuries suffered in an accident are detected immediately after they occur. However, that’s not always the case with soft tissue injuries, as they can take some time to develop and to ultimately be felt by the injured party. This does not make their situation less painful, but it can lead to speculation that the injury was not suffered as a result of the accident in question.

2. Proof of Existence

As stated earlier, if someone suffers a broken leg as a result of a car accident, all that needs to be done is to show the X-rays to prove its existence. Unfortunately, many soft tissue injuries will not show up on an X-ray or an MRI, which means that the only way to show that such an injury has occurred is to depend on the word of the injured party. This can be problematic for a legal claim without the proper help.

3. Unknown Duration

Since soft tissue injuries can be difficult to diagnose, the prognosis for such an injury can be equally as ambiguous. Soft tissue injuries can last only a few days or as long as a lifetime depending on the nature of the injury itself. Therefore, when attempting to quantify legal damages, the judge and/or jury could have a hard time deciding on an award when there’s little to guide them regarding how long the injured party will be suffering and will need medical help.

Overall, while these issues can affect a claim for negligence after a car accident, proving soft tissue injuries is nothing new for a car accident attorney with experience. If you are suffering from this type of injury, contact the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Paralysis from Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle accidents occur at an alarming rate. Despite the fact that motorcycles represent only 2% of the registered vehicles on the road in the United States, drivers and passengers on motorcycles represent over 8% of the fatalities that occur in vehicle accidents nationwide. This is a trend that’s held steady, and motorcycle accident lawyers are used to hearing tragic descriptions of accidents that leave people with injuries from which they’ll never recover.

One of those injuries is to the spinal cord. Even though the overall safety and survival statistics have improved since states began enacting and enforcing motorcycle helmet laws, most people riding on motorcycles do so with their spinal cords completely exposed to any collision impact that could occur either with another vehicle or the concrete beneath them.

When an injury to the spinal cord occurs, the situation is always serious. One of the reasons for this severity is that the spinal cord remains one of the true mysteries in the medical world, and there are very few surgical techniques that can repair or correct serious injuries to this region of the body that’s already incredibly sensitive. Therefore, all that can be done in many cases is for doctors to attempt to make the permanent situation that results from a spinal cord injury as tolerable as possible for the patient.

This often means that the patient must learn to live with varying degrees of paralysis. This can involve the inability to move the arms, the legs, both or even any area of the body below the neck. Not only do those who suffer from this injury have to relearn how to live in the most basic ways, but they are also at a constantly higher risk for such otherwise common problems as respiratory infections becoming fatal given the body’s inability to move and work properly.

If you or someone you love has suffered from paralysis as a result of a motorcycle accident, you need to act now to make sure that your legal rights are properly protected and enforced. Contact a motorcycle accident attorney at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Traumatic Brain Injuries and Negligence

When it comes to medical science, perhaps no area of the body remains more of a mystery than the brain. That’s why anyone who has suffered a traumatic brain injury often faces years if not a lifetime of suffering while the symptoms that result from it dominate their daily lives. Clearly, all of this results in costs and damages, which is why traumatic brain injury lawyers are regularly helping clients pursue a proper recovery.

Consider the following statistics from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

1.4 million people in the United States suffer a traumatic brain injury every year
50,000 people are killed as a result of traumatic brain injuries
235,000 people are hospitalized
1.1 million people are treated and released

The CDC also lists the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries:

Falls – 28%
Motor vehicle crashes – 20%
Struck by/against events – 19%
Assaults – 11%

Many or most of those causes listed above can be traced to negligence on the part of one person or several people that result in the injury to another. Given that unfortunate reality, negligence often leads to the following types of symptoms that last for a completely unknown amount of time:

Loss of short-term memory
Loss of long-term memory
Loss of motor functions
Loss of personality aspects
Loss of recognition skills
Seizures
Dizziness
Chronic pain

Of course, these are only a few examples, and when someone is forced to live like this because of the negligence of others, he or she needs help to seek the recovery that’s deserved.

The reason recovery is deserved is because of more than the pain and suffering that often accompanies traumatic brain injuries. There are real costs involved with the aftermath of them, including:

Immediate medical costs
Loss of income
Ongoing medical costs
Costs of physical and psychological rehabilitation
Loss of companionship
Loss of future earning capacity

Once again, these are only a few examples. If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the negligence of other parties, you need to take action to properly protect and enforce your legal rights. You can do so by contacting a personal injury attorney at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Hiring a Police Brutality Lawyer

The world of crime and punishment is filled with stress, urgency and mistakes by all parties involved in an investigation. Police officers have a difficult job, and they are humans just like anyone else. Unfortunately, these realities often lead to police officers going too far in their efforts to identify and detain suspected criminals, which is one of the reasons that police brutality lawyers exist. Below is an overview of the issue, as you need to understand a few things if you think you’ve been the victim of police brutality.

Statistics

Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to come up with dependable and objective statistics regarding the prevalence of police brutality. That’s because a vast number of instances in which this conduct occurs are never reported for the obvious reason that the victim fears retaliation. However, it’s far from a stretch to agree with organizations that estimate the number of instances to be in the tens of thousands annually in the United States.

What to Do

If you have been investigated for a crime and you feel that you have been improperly treated, regardless of your underlying guilt or innocence in relation to the crime at issue, you need to cooperate with the police as much as possible while the situation is playing out. That means that you should not attempt to physically defend yourself, as you will likely only make the matter worse and allow for a claim by the officers responsible for your injuries that you resisted arrest.

Instead of fighting back, simply offer yourself in a form of unconditional surrender. Put your hands in the air, go down to the ground and state that you are not resisting arrest. However, what you should not do is begin to answer questions that are being asked, as you need to respectfully assert your rights to silence and to an attorney in a non-violent manner.

When you have managed to get through the situation, you need to contact a police brutality lawyer. He or she will be able to secure the proper medical examinations that will document your injuries, and an attorney with experience will be able to put the strongest proof available out there for the court to see as you move towards holding those responsible for this conduct accountable. If this has happened to you, contact the police brutality lawyers at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule an initial consultation.

Amputations Due to Negligence

Amputations are obviously extremely traumatic injuries, and a look at a few different sources for statistics reveal that as many as 185,000 people in the United States every year lose at least one limb, and as more than 20% of these amputations occur as a result of physical trauma. The types of trauma that could be included in these statistics include vehicle accidents, machinery accidents and other unforeseen events. It’s for this reason that amputation attorneys around the country are always ready to field incoming inquiries, and below is a brief overview of the type of fallout that can occur to anyone who’s lost a limb due to negligence.

1. Immediate Medical Needs

Clearly, when someone loses a limb he or she encounters immediate and extreme medical needs. These needs often include attempts to save the limb if possible, emergency surgery to close the wound if restoration of the limb is not possible, risks that come from the loss of copious amounts of blood and of course the extreme pain and shock that anyone would experience if he or she suddenly lost a limb.

2. Adjustment Period

If someone loses a limb, he or she must begin to undertake the arduous process of relearning basic daily functions that were often taken for granted before the injury. These adjustments will depend on the nature of the injury, but tasks that could need to be relearned include walking, running, dressing, driving and any number of other activities that must be done differently if it’s possible for them to be done at all.

3. Ongoing Medical Needs

If someone loses a limb, it’s common for the patient to be fitted with an artificial replacement. While the advancements in this field have been nothing short of remarkable in recent years, every artificial limb is very costly and will need regular adjustments as well as ongoing rehabilitation in order to learn to maximize the effectiveness of the new limb.

A quick breakdown of the statistics show that anywhere between 30,000 and 40,000 people in the United States lose a limb every year because of accidents. If you or someone you love is part of that growing number, you need to contact an amputation lawyer at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.

18 Wheeler Accident Statistics

The trucking industry remains a backbone of the United States economy, even in this current recession. Millions of miles are logged every month by truckers across the country, and while the drivers of these enormous vehicles are generally trained at a high level and possess the skill and experience necessary to navigate trucks that can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds through every sort of driving condition, the fact is that accidents do occur. When an 18 wheeler accident takes place, the fallout is usually catastrophic given the speed and weight of the vehicles involved. That’s one of the many reasons that 18 wheeler accident lawyers are constantly fielding inquiries regarding the legal rights and options of those that are injured or worse.

A quick view of these statistics tend to reinforce this point. Of the approximately 6 million vehicle accidents that occur in the United States every year, more than 500,000 of them involve 18 wheelers. In addition to this troubling statistics, these 18 wheeler accidents also lead to more than 5,000 fatalities on an annual basis. Aside from the fatalities, the statistics also show that more than 60,000 injury crashes occur that involve 18 wheelers on a consistent basis.

Breaking these numbers down leads to even more troubling conclusions. More than 13 people are killed in 18 wheeler accidents every day. More than 164 injury crashes also occur on a daily basis. All of this leads to serious problems for those who have suffered as a result of these accidents, and one of the first issues that those who are wrongfully injured in these accidents tend to encounter is the identity of the party or parties to pursue if compensation is sought.

The reason is that some truck drivers operate independently, while others are independent contractors for large trucking companies and still others are employees. Therefore, any situation could involve naming either the driver, the trucking company or both as defendants, and the facts are not always clear in terms of which parties to pursue before moving forward.

As a result, if you are one of the people who has suffered because of such an incident, the best step you can take is to contact an 18 wheeler accident lawyer at the Phillips National Injury Group today to schedule a free initial consultation.