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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Fair Worker In Critical Condition After Ride Collapses

A North Carolina State Fair worker who was disassembling a ride was taken to the hospital after suffering a severe leg injury

Brian Long, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, said Anesto Newell, 32, was injured about 3:30 a.m. as he was taking apart a ride called the Vortex. The ride is not the same one – also called the Vortex – that was idled last week after five people were hurt.
 Family members who were also working nearby said he suffered a broken back, pelvis and leg when a piece of the ride fell on him.

"All I saw was this yellow hoodie laying on the ground and I said, 'Oh no, that's my brother,'" said Tywan Newell. "When I got there, the ride was on top of his body."


Anesto Newell was taken to WakeMed where he had surgery and was in critical condition in intensive care.

Fair/Festivals have proven to be an unsafe environment in recent years with a number of injuries and even fatalities reported due to faulty rides and defective equipment.  

Thursday, October 24, 2013

9-year-old boy orphaned in crash that kills entire family

A 9-year-old boy is recovering after his entire immediate family, including his pregnant mother, was killed in a car crash in California.

car accident lawyer

Relatives confirmed that 11-year-old Irving Miranda, 5-year-old Jose Miranda, 4-year-old Stephanie Miranda, 30-year-old Luis Miranda and 31-year-old Vivian Rodriguez all died in the collision at Ham Lane and Vine Street near Lodi Memorial Hospital.

A driver who witnesses have said might be responsible for the crash was in surgery, police said.

"All I saw was him flying down Ham Lane, flying around a car in the wrong lane and (he) was on the phone, and I told my parents when I got to their house, there will be a major accident before he reaches Kettleman Lane," Andrews said. "He was at least 100 miles per hour."

Westley Ruyle also was in the area and spotted the same vehicle just before the crash.
"The next thing we know, this gray Tahoe went flying by us at a high rate of speed, possibly close to 100 miles per hour -- maybe more," Ruyle said. "He almost hit a few vehicles on his travels. Before I got to Tokay, next thing I know, I see a huge dust cloud."

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Robotic Surgery ERROR Cover-up - Thousands Injured or Dead.

In March of  2009, Erin Izumi, a 30 year-old woman from Tacoma, Wash., had robotically assisted surgery to treat endometriosis. The procedure at St. Joseph Medical Center dragged on for almost 11 hours.

A week and a half later, Ms. Izumi was rushed to an emergency room, where physicians found that her colon and rectum had been torn during the surgery. She was in the hospital for five weeks, undergoing a series of corrective procedures to repair the damage, including a temporary colostomy, according to her attorney Chris Otorowski.

But even though medical device manufacturers and hospitals are required to report every device-related death and serious injury to a database maintained by the Food and Drug Administration within 30 days of learning about an incident, no report about the case was made in 2009. Hospital officials declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for the manufacturer said it became aware of the incident only when Ms. Izumi filed a lawsuit. It disputed the claim and settled the case in May 2012.

That was not the only lapse in reporting problems with robotic surgical equipment, a new study has found.
The equipment, called the da Vinci system, is made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. It has been on the market for more than a decade; more than a million procedures have been performed with it. Between January 2000 and August 2012, thousands of mishaps were reported to the F.D.A. In the vast majority of cases, the patient was not harmed, but among the reports were 174 injuries and 71 deaths related to da Vinci surgery, according to a study published last week in The Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Yet by combing news reports and court records, researchers at Johns Hopkins were able to find examples of botched operations that were not reported to the agency. They concluded that adverse events associated with the da Vinci were “vastly underreported.” The consequence is that little is known of the real disadvantages of the equipment, and the injuries and deaths it may cause, even as robotic surgery is widely marketed to consumers, Dr. Zuckerman said.

Nevertheless, robotic surgery has grown dramatically, increasing more than 400 percent in the United States between 2007 and 2011. About 1,400 da Vinci systems, which cost $1.5 million to $2.5 million, have been purchased by hospitals, according to Intuitive’s investor reports.

The expansion has occurred without proper evaluation and monitoring of the benefits, said Dr. Martin A. Makary, an associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins and the senior author of the paper.
“This whole issue is symbolic of a larger problem in American health care, which is the lack of proper evaluation of what we do,” Dr. Makary said. “We adopt expensive new technologies, but we don’t even know what we’re getting for our money — if it’s of good value or harmful.”

A 2010 study found that 56.8 percent of surgeons surveyed anonymously said they had experienced irrecoverable operative malfunctions while using the da Vinci system, Dr. Makary noted.
Women were more likely to be harmed during the robotic procedures, Dr. Makary and his colleagues found. Nearly one-third of deaths that were reported to the F.D.A. database occurred during gynecologic procedures, and 43 percent of the injuries were associated with hysterectomies.
“Any time there is a serious problem with the da Vinci, it should be reported,” Dr. Zuckerman said. “It’s the F.D.A.’s job to figure out whether this is a problem related to the device or a doctor error.”

If you or someone you know has been injured due to a defective medical device or negligence of a doctor call the experienced medical malpractice and defective products attorneys at Buttafuoco & Associates. 1-800-669-4878

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

7-Ton Block DANGLES From Crane In NYC

Almost exactly a year after a construction crane collapsed under the extreme conditions of Superstorm Sandy, the crane that replaced it developed problems that shut down part of Midtown Monday, and forced evacuation and shelter in place orders for thousands of people.

The culprit: a 13,500 pound concrete block that dangled over one of the city’s busiest streets.  57th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, is the location of One57, a 1004 foot tall skyscraper that will be the tallest residential tower in the city, and, in fact, all of the Western Hemisphere, once it’s completed.  Getting to that point has proven to be no small task.
“This crane is cursed,” said Lefteris Daskapulos.  ”All the time, something’s going on with that crane,” said Daskapulos, the manager of a restaurant a few doors east of the record-breaking superluxury building under construction.

It all happened while a tornado watch was in effect.  The NYPD, FDNY, Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Department of Buildings were all concerned that a forecasted severe storm could produce sustained winds and gusts so strong that the concrete weight would end up swinging like a pendulum and hit buildings.  Another emergency scenario envisioned the nearly seven ton weight falling off in the winds.

That was why ConEd and the Department of Public Works were brought in, to depressurize a steam tunnel running under 57th Street, and to turn off a water main and monitor a gas line in the block.  If any of that infrastructure was impacted by a 13,500 pound weight falling 43 stories, there could have easily been flooding or an explosion, or both.  A construction accident of this magnitude could have seriously injured thousands of people.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

RECALL ALERT: Journey Girl Travel Trunk A Laceration Hazard.



SAFETY RECALL
Journey Girl Travel Trunk
Toys”R”Us Item Number: 058085
UPC Number: 4897027965070
Model Number: 5F5F79E


The blue metal handle can pose a serious laceration hazard.




Toys R Us recalled about 12,650 Journey Girl Travel Trunks because the blue metal handle on the trunk can be sharp, presenting a laceration hazard to the user.
The recall involves the trunk that carries 18-inch-tall toy dolls.The trunks were sold with three clothes hangers and two pull out drawers for storage. Travel trunks included in the recall have UPC # 48970277965070 and model number 5F5F79E. The model number is printed on the bottom of the travel trunk next to the UPC code.
Toys R Us has received six reports of incidents involving the handle on the trunk, including one report of a consumer who received stitches as a result of a laceration.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/Toys-R-Us-recalls-Journey-Girl-Travel-Trunks.html#XICJKFggAw2Q2FWu.99
 Toys R Us recalled about 12,650 Journey Girl Travel Trunks because the blue metal handle on the trunk can be sharp, presenting a laceration hazard to the user.

The recall involves the trunk that carries 18-inch-tall toy dolls. The trunks were sold with three clothes hangers and two pull out drawers for storage. Travel trunks included in the recall have UPC # 48970277965070 and model number 5F5F79E. The model number is printed on the bottom of the travel trunk next to the UPC code.

Toys R Us has received six injury reports of incidents involving the handle on the trunk, including one report of a consumer who received stitches as a result of a laceration.
Toys R Us recalled about 12,650 Journey Girl Travel Trunks because the blue metal handle on the trunk can be sharp, presenting a laceration hazard to the user.
The recall involves the trunk that carries 18-inch-tall toy dolls.The trunks were sold with three clothes hangers and two pull out drawers for storage. Travel trunks included in the recall have UPC # 48970277965070 and model number 5F5F79E. The model number is printed on the bottom of the travel trunk next to the UPC code.
Toys R Us has received six reports of incidents involving the handle on the trunk, including one report of a consumer who received stitches as a result of a laceration.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/Toys-R-Us-recalls-Journey-Girl-Travel-Trunks.html#XICJKFggAw2Q2FWu.99

Toys R Us recalled about 12,650 Journey Girl Travel Trunks because the blue metal handle on the trunk can be sharp, presenting a laceration hazard to the user.
The recall involves the trunk that carries 18-inch-tall toy dolls.The trunks were sold with three clothes hangers and two pull out drawers for storage. Travel trunks included in the recall have UPC # 48970277965070 and model number 5F5F79E. The model number is printed on the bottom of the travel trunk next to the UPC code.
Toys R Us has received six reports of incidents involving the handle on the trunk, including one report of a consumer who received stitches as a result of a laceration.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/Toys-R-Us-recalls-Journey-Girl-Travel-Trunks.html#XICJKFggAw2Q2FWu.99
Toys R Us recalled about 12,650 Journey Girl Travel Trunks because the blue metal handle on the trunk can be sharp, presenting a laceration hazard to the user.
The recall involves the trunk that carries 18-inch-tall toy dolls.The trunks were sold with three clothes hangers and two pull out drawers for storage. Travel trunks included in the recall have UPC # 48970277965070 and model number 5F5F79E. The model number is printed on the bottom of the travel trunk next to the UPC code.
Toys R Us has received six reports of incidents involving the handle on the trunk, including one report of a consumer who received stitches as a result of a laceration.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/Toys-R-Us-recalls-Journey-Girl-Travel-Trunks.html#XICJKFggAw2Q2FWu.99

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

2 Trains Collide In Chicago Injuring 33 People - one train mysteriously unmanned

More than 30 people were seriously injured after a pair of trains collided.

The crash happened just before 8 a.m. at Harlem Avenue and Interstate 290 in suburban Forest Park. A westbound train that stopped at the Harlem station was struck by an out-of-service, unmanned train heading toward the Loop.

Chicago Transit Authority officials reported 33 people, many complaining of severe neck or back pain were transported to nine area hospitals.

Robert Kelly, of Amalgamated Transit Union 308, said it's still unclear what happened and how the train got out of the station. "Both the supervisor in the station at Forest Park and the motorman who was sitting in the station said there was nobody on the train as it went through and collided with the other train," Kelly said. "This is baffling everybody," he said.

Chicago Transit Authority spokesman Brian Steele said there are more questions than answers as staff reviews surveillance video and talks to employees. "We don't know what the circumstances are that led to this train to begin moving on the path that it did," Steele said. "It shouldn't have done so and the question of why is what we're looking into."

"That train never should have made it to the Forest Park station. It should have been tripped in the yard," Kelly said. Someone had to start the train, and even if they bailed out, it had to travel up an incline and pass through three different fail safe systems designed to stop it. The last fail safe is located in the cab itself, designed to alert a motorman of impending danger ahead.

Witnesses said at least one person was taken away on a stretcher, but the CTA tweeted the injuries were "minor." Loyola University Medical Center confirmed they received four patients from the collision but said their injuries were "not serious."

"I went forward and caught the rail," one passenger said. "I jammed my hip, my feet and my leg."
Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park said they were treating two patients in good condition and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park reported they received one patient in good condition.