Slip-and-Falls and Other Subway Injuries Could Be Prevented

Terrible accidents in subway stations garner headlines. In the past few months, several people have died after falling or being pushed onto the tracks in front of oncoming trains. Read More

Recent Taxi and Livery Cab Accidents Reveal Legal Issues

A terrible crash that killed a young couple and their unborn baby has highlighted a number of New York City traffic issues. Read More

The New York Statute of Limitations in Wrongful Death Cases

The statute of limitations in wrongful death cases is two years in New York state. This means that a plaintiff has two years from the date of the death to file a wrongful death action, or lawsuit. Read More

How Safe are New York Pedestrians?

In short, the overall picture looks good. New Yorkers can be confident that their streets are getting safer. However, not everything is wonderful, and the city cannot afford to relax its efforts to improve pedestrian safety. Read More 

Elder Abuse is a Growing Problem, Especially in For-Profit Nursing Homes

The growing number of for-profit nursing homes appears to be adding to the problems of waste, fraud and abuse that plague many nursing homes. Read More

Patient Safety Is No Accident

The term "birth injury" can frighten expectant parents, and rightly so. Many young parents are not aware of the wide variety of birth injuries that can occur. Read More

New York's Wrongful Death Statute Needs Changing

Like other states, New York has a wrongful death statute. It allows survivors of a person killed because of another's negligence to take legal action. In fact, New York was the first state to enact a wrongful death law - in 1847. Read More

How the Consumer Product Safety Commission Keeps Us Safe

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulatory agency formed in 1972. Its mission is to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury or death from consumer products. Read More

Medical Errors Can Be Prevented and Patient Safety Improved  

Computerization of medical records, barcoding for medications, evidence-based medicine and other approaches have been shown to limit injuries and illnesses caused by medical providers and hospitals. Although medical literature frequently reports on techniques that can reduce medical errors, practitioners and institutions have not embraced them very speedily. Read More

Information About Brain Injury

Receiving a brain injury diagnosis after a car accident, birth injury or other traumatic event is devastating. Both the injured person and his or her family have many questions and the future seems very uncertain. Fortunately, many informational resources are available for people with brain injuries that can make life easier. Read More

Few Traffic Accidents Are Investigated in New York City

The New York City Police Department has become the object of criticism for its failure to investigate traffic accidents. Injured victims are unlikely to obtain answers from law enforcement, whether the accident involved motor vehicles, pedestrians or bicycles.  Read More

Bike sharing raises helmet issue

New York is not alone in promoting bicycle riding through a bike share program. In fact, New York is coming rather late to the party. Many other cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver, Des Moines, Miami Beach and Minneapolis, have established programs for bicycle sharing. European cities such as Paris, Barcelona and London have embraced bike sharing as a way to reduce pollution and traffic congestion. Read More

Sometimes, dangerous intersections can be fixed only after community activism

Middle school students in the Bronx have taken up the cause of improving the safety of city streets. After three years of lobbying the city, they can finally point to a result, although it was not the result they wanted. The students, members of a youth program called Bronx Helpers, have tried to get a traffic light installed at the intersection of East 172nd Street and Townsend Avenue. Read More

Nursing Home Horror Stories Come From New York State and Beyond

There are frequent news stories about the terrible conditions and treatment found in some of the nation's nursing home and assisted living facilities. Some recent examples of some nursing home horror stories from New York State and beyond are listed here. Read More

Distracted Driving: Why Isn't It Getting More Attention?

WE all know the risks involved in using a cellphone or texting while driving. We even know statistics that tell us that drivers using phones are four times more likely to be involved in crashes. However, we often fool ourselves into thinking that we will not be a victim in such accidents. We believe that the numbers do not apply to us. Read More

New York Traffic Deaths at All-Time Low; City Wants Even Lower

New York has seen record-low rates of traffic deaths, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has credited much of it to money the city has spent on safety improvement projects such as raising public awareness and implementing several safety programs. Read More

Four Subway Deaths in 24 Hours–Some Safety Reminders

Subways and buses are the preferred mode of transportation for millions of New Yorkers every day. Not only is public transportation convenient, but it also helps protect the environment. And, best of all, there is no need to find parking, which is either very expensive or unavailable. Read More

New York Hospital Rankings Help Consumers Make Smart Choices

Consumers of medical care want the best care for their families. Many nonprofits, government agencies, and other organizations publish free, comprehensive health care rankings to help consumers choose hospitals that maximize health outcomes and minimize the risk of substandard care and medical error. Read More

U.S. Senate Pushes Truck Safety Legislation

There has been no shortage in the news lately of stories about commercial vehicles and truck accidents, so the U.S. Senate is pushing legislation that would give more power to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - and with good reason. Read More

Bus Safety Comes to the Forefront

Buses can be an inexpensive way to travel, especially when considering rising gas prices and the cost of airline travel. However, bus travel has come under fire in 2011 because of the alarming number of accidents that have occurred on low fare and tour buses. Read More

New Action Plan Aims to Reduce Pedestrian Accidents in New York

New York City has recently launched the Pedestrian Safety Report and Action Plan. The plan examined thousands of accident records involving pedestrians. The New York Department of Transportation is using this data to examine the causes of pedestrian injuries and fatalities to determine what can be done to reduce the numbers. Read More

New York Times Letter to the Editor Oct. 23,2010

It is not just ironic but potentially dangerous that Peter Orszag argues that following clinical guidelines should immunize doctors from malpractice liability. Read More

Senate should pass measure to enhance food safety (Buffalo News)

Recent news from America’s corporate food factories is sickening. The U. S. Senate responded to the latest outbreak of food poisoning with public hearings last month to scold two giant egg producers responsible for salmonella afflicting at least 1,500 people. Read More

Keep patients safe to reduce health costs (Times Union)

Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch may have experience bean counting -- evidenced by his recent proposals to manage Medicaid spending -- but some of his proposals show how out of touch he is with the struggles of ordinary New Yorkers. Read More

NY Pilot Program Aimed at Reducing Preventable Medical Mistakes

Each year in the United States, it is estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die as a result of a preventable medical error, making it the 8th leading cause of death in the country. Medical errors also are responsible for causing injury to one out of every 25 hospital patients and cost the U.S. economy between $17 and $29 billion every year. Read More