New York Personal Injury Laws

Tip On Insurance Policies

I’m Ira Maurer, with a public service law tip. If you’re a driver in New York, you’re insurance policy must have coverage for underinsured uninsured drivers. That means if you get in an accident with someone who doesn’t have an insurance policy as required by law, your own insurance still will provide a benefit of at least $25,000 for each individual who’s injured, maximum coverage, and a maximum of $50,000 for all injuries from one single accident.

That’s not very much money, and if you get seriously injured it won’t go anywhere near what’s necessary to compensate you for your injuries and help you deal with the financial losses. You can purchase more insurance if you call up your insurance agent, for a relatively minor sum – hundreds of dollars – you can get hundreds of thousands of dollars of additional coverage. This is a no-brainer. So if you’re a driver in New York, you should purchase additional uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

For more information, contact the Maurer Law Firm by going to maurerlaw.net

Plumbers Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that plumbers were exposed to asbestos during the construction of the World Trade Center? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney here in New York City, and I can give you some information about the types of exposures to asbestos that plumbers faced during the construction of the World Trade Center site.

Large Quantities of Exposure

The World Trade Center site, composed of seven different buildings, was a massive construction project, and the plumbers union had a very large presence during the building of the seven buildings. The buildings at this site required massive quantities of water, hot water and cold water piping running throughout the site. The plumbers’ work at the World Trade Center site exposed them to asbestos in the form of asbestos pipe covering, asbestos gaskets, asbestos insulation that covered the equipment that the plumbers worked with on a daily basis at the World Trade Center site. In addition to their own work, the plumbers who worked at the World Trade Center site could have also been exposed to the work of other trades – trades who are working with asbestos-containing floor tile, or asbestos-containing joint compound, or asbestos-containing fireproofing – exposed as bystanders to the work of others.

You have questions about mesothelioma and exposures to asbestos at the World Trade Center. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we handle cases everyday for mesothelioma victims and their families. I invite you to give our office a call. We can answer your questions. Thank you.

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

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

How is mesothelioma diagnosed? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City and I can tell you that there’s generally two ways that physicians – doctors – diagnose mesothelioma.

Clinical Diagnosis

The first way of diagnosing mesothelioma is a clinical diagnosis. That means that a doctor is evaluating a patient’s presenting symptoms to draw a picture as to what this patient could be suffering from. So the things that are evaluated are things like shortness of breath. Often with mesothelioma victims fluid builds up – it’s called a pleural effusion – but it’s basically just a build up of fluid between the bony rib cage and the lungs and when the fluid builds up it pushes on both the ribs and the lungs. The ribs don’t move, they’re made of bone, so it pushes in and impacts the lungs, makes it harder for the patient to breathe. Shortness of breath is a known symptom of mesothelioma. General fatigue and weakness, weight loss – substantial weight loss, unexplained, in a short period of time – is another factor, another symptom that physicians will use to clinically diagnose or be suspicious of mesothelioma.

Definitive Diagnosis

For mesothelioma victims, the definitive diagnosis comes in the form of a biopsy, and for pleural mesothelioma it’s a biopsy of the pleura. The pleura is the lining on the outside of the lung sometimes referred to as a saran wrap like substance that lines the exterior – the outside – of the lung and doctors will take a biopsy of that surface to determine if a patient has mesothelioma. And how is that biopsy taken? Well, it’s usually taken through a surgical technique and I’d say the most common one would be a video-assisted thoracostomy sometimes known as a vat, V-A-T, a video-assisted thoracostomy. The doctors go in with several instruments, one of which has a camera on it, and the surgeon – the doctor – can visualize the area in the chest where the mesothelioma could be, and with other instruments – and again this is a minimally invasive technique – the physicians can take a biopsy, a piece of flesh.

That biopsy material is then taken and sent to a pathology lab within the hospital. And the pathologist, they’re a specialized doctor who deals with diagnosing disease from looking at a slide. The flesh is put onto a slide and for mesothelioma victims the slides are often stained in certain ways so that different cell types can be visualized when the pathologist looks under a microscope at the slide. That pathologist then writes out a report – it’s called a pathology report – and the pathology report is a very important piece of paper that becomes part of that patient’s medical case because it definitively diagnoses their disease, and it becomes a very important part of their legal case because it definitively diagnoses them as having been a victim of pleural mesothelioma.

I’m sure you have many other questions about how mesothelioma is diagnosed. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we handle cases every day for mesothelioma victims. This is what we do every day and we can answer your questions. I encourage you to call our office at the number below and we’d be happy to answer your questions. Thank you.

Dangers of Distracted Driving

You’re driving down the road, and you see that guy, the one holding-up traffic because his attention is one his cellphone. You shout at him, “Really?” You think to your self, “That idiot is going to hurt somebody.” Some people just don’t mixed their phone and driving as well as you do. Well, at least you think you mixed them well.

Let’s consider this thing called: distracted driving. Let’s call it any activity that can divert a person’s attention from the primary task of driving, such distraction include: grooming, texting, eating, changing the radio station, talking on a cellphone and so forth.

Humans have long claimed the ability to multitask, and with our current culture, technology saturation at an all time high, people believe more than ever that they are good multitaskers. While it’s possible to do more than one thing at a time, the human brain is incapable of devoting sufficient attention across multiple tasks, when just one of them require much attention.

Earl Miller Distracted Driving Research

MIT, neuroscientist, Earl Miller, puts it bluntly. You’re not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously. He says, “You’re actually switching between them very rapidly.” Even the things we do very well, with little conscious thought, can be a big bite out of the mental capacity which has strict limits by nature. Talking on the phone is easy, but it uses up mental capacity, and depending on the conversation, it can eat up most or all of our attention.

Dr. Miller says, “We’re mistaken when we believe we’re paying attention to everything around us when we multitask.” Psychologist say we’re also prone to inattentional blindness, that’s the failure to notice something even when we’re looking right at it. One of the most famous study to show this phenomenon involved an invisible gorilla. Participants watched a video of six people passing basketballs, and counted how many times the players wearing white passed the ball. In the middle of the video, a woman in a gorilla suit walks into the middle of the screen, thump her chest, and then leaves. About 50% of the participants didn’t even notice the gorilla – they were demonstrating inattentional blindness.

Consider the Following Factors that Can Affect Inattentional Blindness.

One: Obviousness

This has to do with the object’s ability to catch our attention. For example, especially on a rainy day, a gray car pulling out in front of your car would not be as conspicuous as a bright red car.

Two: Expectation

When we expect certain things to happen, we might overlook or blackout to what actually is happening. For example, if we expect the car up the road to be moving, when it’s really stalled, we may not realize we’re approaching the stalled vehicle at high speed. Three: capacity. As stated earlier, we can spread our attention around only so far. Even when we are expert at something, the activity consumes a certain amount of attention. Talking on the phone, texting, dialing: each demands part of our mental capacity, and can easily compete for the same resources we need for staying aware of our surroundings.

Distracted Driving Risk

Distractions can blind the mind the things around us, and driving is one of the most dangerous activity the average american engages in, with approximately 33,000 traffic fatalities annually. So we have a choice, will I pretend to be an expert at multitasking while driving, and put my mind at greater risk for inattentional blindness, increasing the possibility that I will harm other, and myself too, or will I choose to drive cell free with myself off as many distractions as possible and devote my mind to safer driving?

Take the pledge to drive cell free at www.drivecellfree.net. You can also download our free eBook: Distracted Driving, The Multitasking Myth. It will tell you more about the psychology behind inattentional blindness, bust the myth that talking on the phone is the same as talking to someone in the car, give you interesting and practical facts and statistics surrounding distracted driving, and explain some of the legal ramifications of distracted driving – go to www.drivecellfree.net. Finally, to help make our street safer, we invite you to share this video with your friends and family.

By: Steven Gacovino

How Do Trucking Accidents Happen

Trucking accidents are typically a result of negligent driving, manufacturing defects, or improper maintenance of a truck. Injury form truck accidents can be catastrophic and sometimes deadly. You need an attorney that knows the rules and manufacturing standards when it comes to the trucking industry to ensure that you collect the damages you’re entitled to.

Being seriously injured in a trucking accident can be a very overwhelming process. Contact me

Steamfitter Exposed to Asbestos

You’re a steamfitter. You’ve been working your entire life with asbestos gaskets and pipe covering, and now you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma. And you’re struggling with how you’re going to handle your case.

Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I’ve represented many, many steamfitters over the years. And I can tell you that their exposures are always the same. Steamfitters work with pipes and gaskets each and every day, and steamfitters help to build this city.

 How Steamfitters Became Exposed

And in so doing they worked at every powerhouse, built the powerhouses. And were exposed to those asbestos gaskets, they’re in-between the flanges of every pipe in those powerhouses. The pre-fabricated gaskets as well as the sheet gaskets that you cut with thick shears to fit over those flanges.

And then you take a hammer and pound through the flange where the bolt hole is, so that you can make that gasket fit securely. While you were doing your work, other trades were working around you. Insulators were insulating some of the very same pipes that you were working on.

And they were insulating equipment that was nearby to your work. And while you were working on these pipes and dealing with these flanges, you were attaching these pipes to large pieces of equipment like boilers or pumps.

And those pieces of equipment were covered with asbestos, causing you to be exposed again. Well, there are many ways that steamfitters were exposed to asbestos, both from their work and from the work of others in their working vicinity.

Why am I telling you this? Because you’ve been exposed to asbestos. Over the years I’ve represented many members of the local 638 steamfitters union here in New York City. And each of them has talked to me and talked in their deposition in their case about their exposures to asbestos gaskets, to asbestos insulation, asbestos pipe covering.

And if you’re a steamfitter, I’m sure you had many of the same exposures. I’m sure you have many questions about mesothelioma. Well, I have the answers to those questions. I’m Joe Williams, and I invite you to call me at my office at the number below, and we’ll answer your questions. We represent mesothelioma victims every day. This is what we do, and I’ll be happy to speak to you. Thank you.

Putting Together a Mesothelioma Case

How is a lawsuit started for a mesothelioma victim? Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I can tell you that the first thing that is done to start a mesothelioma case, is a very thorough investigation.

 Gathering Evidence

And one of the most important parts of that investigation is, a conversation with the victim of mesothelioma and with their family. And during those conversations, and they’re just general talks in the victim’s home, we talk about all the ways that that victim could have been exposed to asbestos during the course of their life.

In all the different settings, whether it’ll be at work, at home, through family members, environmentally. We talk about all the possible exposures that that particular person could have had. We then take that information and do a thorough work-up of the case.

An investigation of job sites, of different places where exposure to asbestos could have happened for this particular victim. We then take all that information and we formulate a legal document. It’s called a summons and complaint.

 What To Do With the Evidence

And a summons and complaint is the document that starts off a legal case. It basically accuses the defendants, the companies the cases are brought against, of wrongdoing as it relates to this particular mesothelioma victim.

That document is prepared, and because mesothelioma victims are suffering, and because time is of the essence, and timing is very important, it’s important to know that in New York state and in many states, we are able to file this document electronically.

We file it immediately. It’s filed electronically, and then we serve the document through our process service on these companies in every state in the United States. And this whole process can happen within days.

We move at light speed with respect to mesothelioma cases because of the nature of this disease. You may have many more questions about how a mesothelioma case is started, and we can provide the answers to your questions.

I’m Joe Williams. At our office we represent mesothelioma victims and their families every day. These are the kinds of cases that we handle each and every day, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. I encourage you to call the number on your screen below, that’s my office number, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Do Pharmaceutical Companies Hide Negative Test Results?

Today on You be the Judge. Do pharmaceutical companies have the ability to control which studies are published about their drugs? Can studies showing bad results be hidden? Are doctors being misled about the benefits of some drugs? Modern medicine has worked many wonders, and helped millions, perhaps billions of people worldwide. Due to the profitability of drug manufacturing, pharmaceutical companies are able to afford expensive, in-depth research, to develop new medications that save people from devastating and life-threatening health problems.

When drug makers seek to create new medicines, they fund extensive research and testing, before releasing the medications on the market. Doctors then rely on this research, to decide for themselves, whether the drug is suitable for their patients. As a patient, you are then given information to decide whether you are comfortable with the potential side effects. But there is a problem. Drug makers are the ones funding and conducting the studies that validate their products.

Research Disproving Pharmaceutical Claims

Award winning physician and writer, Dr. Ben Goldacre, has compiled extensive research by experts from around the world, into his most recent book, Bad Pharma. Dr. Goldacre explained that researchers outside of the pharmaceutical industry have been examining the studies provided by drug makers, and comparing the reported results, with those found in independently-funded trials. These researchers found that the industry-funded trials produced a significantly higher rate of favorable outcomes for their drugs, than did the trials that were funded independently.

Reboxetine Example

Here’s another example of how the flow of information is distorted. Reboxetine is an antidepressant used to treat depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and ADD/ADHD. At one point, it was considered to be one of the most effective drugs of its kind and was prescribed worldwide. Later, researchers gathered the data on all the trials ever conducted on Reboxetine. Dr. Goldacre shows that out of the seven trials comparing Reboxetine against a placebo, only one yielded a positive result, and this was the only one published in an academic journal. The other six trials, all using substantially larger samples of patients, showed that Reboxetine was no better than the placebo sugar pill. Many other studies on Reboxetine were never published, including those that showed its negative side effects maybe worse than other competing drugs.

Originally, doctors, including Dr. Goldacre, reviewed the published trials to determine if Reboxetine was effective and good for their patients, unaware of the other studies that found the drug to be non-beneficial. From a legal standpoint, drug makers are doing nothing wrong by withholding test results. But what do you think about this?

By: Edward Lake