New York Personal Injury Laws

Causation of Peripheral Neuropathy

Antibiotics. They are among the most important discoveries of the twentieth century. They have saved millions of lives, but the rampant over-prescription of certain antibiotics is leaving many patients disabled for months, even years with an affliction called peripheral neuropathy (learn details at neuropathyreliefguide.com/nerve-renew-review/). These antibiotics are fluoroquinolones. They include drugs like Avelox, Cipro, and Levaquin, some of the most powerful medications on the market.

Many professionals consider quinolones the last line of defense against major infections. However, instead of being reserved for serious or life-threatening bacterial infections, such as hospital-acquired pneumonia, these antibiotics are frequently prescribed for lesser problems like sinus infections, bronchitis, ear infections, and other ailments that can be treated with less potent drugs.

Doctor David Flockheart Research

Doctor David Flockheart, a leading fluoroquinolone expert at the Indiana University School of Medicine explains, “You don’t use these big guns for killing mosquitoes. You should use them appropriately for big infections. A few doses can leave the patient disabled with peripheral neuropathy for months, even years.” One young woman shared, “I was prescribed Levaquin for a sinus infection. On the fifth day I couldn’t get out of bed. I was 16. I wanted to be an animation artist. I couldn’t even pick up a pencil. I ended up in a wheelchair for six-and-a-half years.”

Peripheral neuropathy happens with the nerves that carry information from the brain to the central nervous system are damaged resulting in weakness, numbness, lack of coordination, sharp burning or stabbing pain, and many other side effects.

Doctor Jay Cohen Research

Researcher, Doctor Jay Cohen, said in 2001 that the side effects are, “devastating.” He went on to say, “Many of the people in my study were healthy before their reactions. Some were high-intensity athletes. Suddenly, they were disabled, in terrible pain, unable to work, walk, or sleep.” But it wasn’t until 2013 did the FDA require drug makers to list peripheral neuropathy as a side effect. This came 12 years after the connection had already been made. To make matters worse, studies have shown that as many as 40% of prescriptions for these antibiotics are unnecessary.

Have the Risks of Antibiotics Affected You or Loved Ones?

Share this video with your friends and family to raise awareness. While fluoroquinolones play an important medical role, everyone should be made aware of the risks associated with them. One victim shared, “I used to love to dance. Now I can hardly make it through one song on the dance floor.” Share this video to protect your loved ones so they can dance if they want to.

If you believe you or a loved one has suffered peripheral neuropathy as a result of Avelox, Cipro, or Levaquin call and speak with a legal representative immediately. The manufacturers of these drugs may be required to compensate victims, and it won’t cost you a dime to find out if you qualify. Call today at 888-LAW-8500. That’s 888-529-8500 or visit us online at lawyersusa.com/antibiotics.

By: Steven Gacovino

No-Fault Law Public Service Tip

I’m Ira Maurer with a public service law tip on the No-Fault Law in New York.

What is the No-Fault Law and why does it exist? Several decades back, our court systems were overwhelmed with too many claims, and the only way they could free up the logjam was to limit which cases could be brought in our court system. You must have a serious injury as defined by the No-Fault Law in order to pursue a lawsuit in New York, or your case will in fact be dismissed before trial on motion by the defendant.

Secondly, what benefits are you entitled to under No-Fault? Regardless of who is to blame, you’re entitled to receive wage benefits and have your medical treatment paid for. In New York, every insurance policy must have $50,000 first-party benefit available, payable over a period of 36 months. You are entitled to receive wage benefits not exceeding $2000 a month. You can get 80% of your wage loss, but it won’t exceed $2000 a month.

Second of all, your medical treatment has to be paid for. You don’t have to obtain preauthorization from your own No-Fault insurance company. They must pay reasonable and customary charges for your treatment. If they think you don’t need the treatment, they’ll send you for an independent medical exam to have a doctor cut off your benefits. But initially, they don’t have a right to decide whether or not you’re entitled to the care, and they don’t get to preauthorize anything.

That’s different from your own healthcare insurance, which may require pre-certification for an MRI, for example. So, No-Fault means your own insurance pays those benefits for wage loss and medical treatment. It doesn’t matter who is to blame. Your own insurance pays for it. And, you can purchase additional insurance beyond the $50,000 in first-party benefits when you purchase your policy. That’s something you should speak to your insurance agent about.

For more information about pursuing a claim under the No-Fault Law for personal injury from a car accident, visit the Maurer Law webpage at maurerlaw.net.

Drywall Installers Exposed to Asbestos

You work as a drywall installer, and you’ve now been diagnosed with mesothelioma. You’re trying to determine all the ways you could have been exposed to asbestos. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I’d like to talk to you about the ways that drywall installers were exposed to asbestos on construction jobs.

Ways Drywall Installers Were Exposed

Now, we know that prior to 1977, joint compound contained asbestos. It was banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1977. Drywall installers who put up those boards of sheetrock – usually four foot by eight foot boards – onto studs, we know that those seams between the sheetrock had to be taped and filled with joint compound. The joint compound came in either a pre-mixed form in a bucket – it was already wet – or it came in large bags, it was dry, and had to be mixed with water, and when it was mixed, lots of dust in the air. Either way once the joint compound was wet, it was applied to the seams, smoothed out, and allowed to dry. Once dry, sanded down, creating lots and lots of dust in the workspace. Tradesmen did this process two or three times to sanding, two or three times to make a smooth finished professional wall. Each of those sanding applications created dust that the installers who worked with breathed. These exposures to this asbestos dust on a daily basis over the course of an entire career caused mesothelioma.

 Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

We see in these cases in asbestos litigation the exposures many years ago decades later resulting in a tradesman such as a drywall installer being diagnosed by his doctors with mesothelioma. The doctors, when they review this, they connect the asbestos exposure to the current diagnosis of mesothelioma years later. Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because you have questions about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. I’m Joe Williams. At our office we represent victims of mesothelioma and their families, and we deal with these issues every day. Give us a call at our office and we will answer your questions. Thank you. [music]

Insulators Exposed to Asbestos

You’re an insulator. You’ve been working with asbestos products your entire career, but you had no idea that asbestos caused cancer, and now you have mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I want to talk to you a little bit about the types of exposures that insulators had to asbestos. Now, obviously insulators are the trade that handled insulation products. Now, I want to tell you about a client of mine who is a member of Local 12 which is the insulator’s union here in New York City.

 Past Client, Insulator

He worked with every type of asbestos insulation you could imagine. He used insulation at huge power houses here in New York to insulate large high temperature steam pipes. He worked with insulation that was applied in block form to boilers. He worked with refractory that was used in boilers. He worked with insulating cement that was used to insulate all types of equipment in power houses here in New York. He also handled asbestos containing blankets, and applied them to equipment such as turbines. He used these types of blankets and asbestos cement on other equipment like pumps. We also know that insulators used spray on insulation on the steel I-beams in large commercial structures. That asbestos was a dry product that was mixed with water through the use of a spray gun, and the asbestos insulation was sprayed onto the steel I-beams of large structures.

Contact Us with Questions or Concerns

Now these are just some of the exposures to asbestos that insulators would have had during the course of their working career. There are many more, and I’m sure you have many questions about how insulators were exposed to asbestos. I’m Joe Williams, and at our office we handle cases from mesothelioma victims every day, and we’ve represented many, many insulators. I invite you to look at the number below on your screen. Call our office, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Various Ways Brooklyn Workers Became Exposed to Asbestos

You were diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you worked in Brooklyn, New York, and you’re wondering, “Where could I possibly have gotten this from?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney. I’m here in New York right now, and I can give you some information about asbestos exposures in Brooklyn, New York. We know that there was major exposure sites in Brooklyn, New York. We know that from handling these cases for many years, and we have to start every discussion about asbestos exposure in Brooklyn, New York with a discussion about the Brooklyn Naval Yard. The Brooklyn Navy Yard was a major shipbuilding and ship repairing site right along the Brooklyn Piers in Brooklyn, New York, in which thousands of workers – at one time, up to 70,000 workers during World War II – worked to build and repair naval ships. All manner of asbestos products were used at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There’s also the Brooklyn Piers, where longshoremen and other workers loaded and unloaded civilian ships, and were exposed to asbestos. There’s the Kentile Asphalt Tile Plant which, in its heyday, was the largest asbestos tile plant in the world. And, of course, during the housing boom of the last century, apartment buildings and schools to accommodate the kids were built by union tradesmen, and those tradesmen with their own hands used asbestos products like insulation, and floor tile, and joint compound, and refractory asbestos bricks, to build these buildings, and build Brooklyn itself. Now, I’m giving this information because you have mesothelioma, and you have questions. We have information about the asbestos exposure sites in Brooklyn, New York, and how workers, union tradesmen, and other workers, were exposed to asbestos in Brooklyn. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we answer questions and help victims of mesothelioma and their families every day. We certainly would like to answer your questions. I invite you to call the number on the screen below. Give us a call, and we’ll answer your questions. Thanks.

Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, but your employer and every employer that you ever worked for is out of business and you’re concerned with how you could have a legal case.

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I can tell you that almost every client that walks into my office brings up this concern. I’ll give you an example.

 Worker’s Compensation for Asbestos Exposure

A plumber that I represented recently came to my office and talked to me about his exposures to asbestos, but his big concern was that the four plumbing companies that he worked for during the course of his career as a plumber, which was over 40 years, they were all small companies and were all out of business. I explained to him that in New York State, and in most states, you can’t even sue your employer for work-related injuries; your benefits are limited to worker’s compensation.

How a Plumber was Exposed

So when I met with this client, this plumber, we talked about all the ways he was exposed to asbestos and it came out that he was exposed to asbestos from all types of equipment during his 40-year career as a plumber, boilers, and pumps, and asbestos cement, and pipe covering and pipes, and all sorts of things, and he was able to have a very strong and successful case.

 Employer Out of Business, Not Out of Responsibility

Why am I sharing this with you? Because this is a common concern. The client comes into my office and informs more that their employers are out of business, and they think that they can’t address their legal rights. And I explain to them that it’s not just the employer who can be responsible, there’s many other entities who can be responsible, and an asbestos case is really an attempt to capture all of the lifetime exposures to asbestos.

 Contact Us With Questions or Concerns

I’m sure you have many more questions about this topic as it relates to mesothelioma, and we can answer those questions. I’m Joe Williams, and if you look at the screen below you’ll see my office number. I encourage you to give us a call, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Car Accident Injury Claim

I handle serious personal injuries involving car accidents for cars and trucks. Those types of claims can be pursued in the courts but only if it’s a serious injury, because the No-Fault Law in New York requires that you have to have a fracture, you have to have a lost limb, you have to have a scar – something that’s permanent. If you don’t have a serious injury under New York No-Fault Law, you can’t pursue the claim.

Dentists and Dental Technicians Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that dentists and dental technicians are being diagnosed with mesothelioma from their work in dental labs years ago?

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about some of these exposures to asbestos. So someone who now is an older gentleman, and is a dentist, and has been a dentist their entire career is diagnosed with mesothelioma, and they’re trying to figure out how could they have been exposed to asbestos, because all their doctors are telling them that the mesothelioma diagnosis is from asbestos. It’s caused by asbestos. So they journey back on the history of their life to determine if there’s ever a time when they worked with asbestos.

 Possible Ways of Exposure

And what we’ve found is that back when they were in dental school, they worked making crowns, and they used a method called the lost-wax method. And what that means is that wax is placed into an object, and it is used to make a mold for the crown. But what’s important about this process is that the lining underneath the wax is an asbestos-containing paper, and it’s used to withstand the high heat of when this mold is placed into the oven.

Now the dental technician – or the dental student in the example I’m giving, who later became a dentist – had to cut that paper and manipulate it, and it’s made of asbestos. And in doing that repeatedly over a course of time, exposed that person to asbestos dust, asbestos fibers that they breathe, which cause them to – decades later – be diagnosed with mesothelioma.

 Contact Us with Questions and Concerns

Now I’m telling you this information, because you have questions about Mesothelioma and how it is caused. I’m Joe Williams. At my office, we deal with issues like these every day, and we answer questions every day for mesothelioma victims and for their family members .

If you have questions, I invite you to contact our office, and we’ll answer your questions.

Thank you.

Representing Railroad Employees And Passengers

I handle serious personal injury cases for both employees and passengers. The railroad industry is a very dangerous place and the laws are quite complex that apply to those cases. It’s important that  you’re represented by an attorney