compensation

Liability still to be established in Times Square bus crash

Published on: August 9, 2014 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

By now, many of you may have heard about the serious bus accident in Times Square that injured at least 15 people. The crash occurred just days ago when a Gray Line bus crashed into a double-decker tour bus then jumped the curb, travelling along the sidewalk before coming to rest at the edge of the plaza.

Although the driver of the Grey Line bus, a 58-year-old man who police say has a history of license suspensions due to administrative infractions, was initially arrested on an impaired driving charge, he was released recently. Police say they are awaiting the results of a full toxicology report before they decide whether to move forward with prosecution.

Although the driver insists that he is innocent, it’s important to point out that there are a number of things that can impair a driver besides alcohol and drugs, both of which were not found in the driver’s system after the crash. Everything from driver fatigue to prescription medication can interfere with a person’s ability to drive, making them a danger on the roadway.

North Syracuse car crash remains a mystery

Published on: July 15, 2014 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

Sometimes it is immediately clear who caused a crash, like when a tractor-trailer driver falls asleep at the wheel, crosses into oncoming traffic and smashes headlong into a car. Or, when a driver is busy texting and fails to notice a stop sign, plowing into a left-turning motorcycle. Sometimes, however, fault is a little harder to find, at least at first glance, yet this does not mean that the family members of those killed in fatal car accidents shouldn’t work with a wrongful death lawyer to file a lawsuit.

And that may be what the family of a woman who is believed to have been killed in a North Syracuse car crash will do once it is a bit more clear as to whose fault the accident was.

Although the North Syracuse police are saying that one of the vehicles involved in this two-car crash ran a red light, officers have not yet said if it was the minivan in which the woman was riding or an SUV.

New York man discovers malpractice when appendix wasn’t removed

Published on: April 19, 2014 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

It is not that uncommon to suffer appendicitis, or the inflammation of the appendix. People in New York are diagnosed with the condition quite frequently, generally after they go to the hospital with intense pain and swelling in the abdomen. The only treatment is to have the appendix removed or risk it bursting, leaking pus and infection into the abdominal cavity. If the appendix is left in, a patient could die from peritonitis.

So, when a Bronxville, New York, man had to get an emergency appendctomy while on vacation, he may have been a bit surprised, as he was supposed to have had his appendix removed in January 2013 in New York. It seems, however, that the surgeon failed to remove the appendix, just a yellowish mass, and now the man is suing both the hospital and the surgeon for medical negligence.

You see, this was not just the surgeon’s fault (although he is certainly not off the hook). The man’s appendix, or whatever the surgeon removed, was sent to pathology following its extraction. The hospital knew that the man’s appendix was still in him, but it never told him, nor did it tell him that a yellowish mass had been removed from his body.

Medical malpractice payouts in New York

Published on: April 18, 2014 | By Jeff DeFrancisco

According to an annual report by Diederich Healthcare, total medical malpractice payouts in the state of New York amounted to roughly $39 per capita in both 2012 and 2013. That is the highest per capita rate in the nation—fifty percent higher than any other state. Given this information, one might be tempted to conclude that it is relatively easy to obtain compensation for medical malpractice in New York, but that would be a hasty conclusion.

First off, keep in mind that it is often difficult for those who have been legitimately harmed by medical negligence to find an advocate to represent them. Much of the reason for this is economic—medical malpractice attorneys are often leery of taking cases that don’t promise a significant payout because the cost of going to trial is so great.

Those who can find a good attorney to represent them should keep in mind, though, that taking a case to trial is not necessary the best way to obtain compensation. This is because the majority of medical malpractice payouts do not come through litigation. Most of the time—96 percent of the time in 2013—such payouts happen as the result of a settlement.