Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer discusses the problem of nursing home abuse

Millions of Americans place their loved ones in nursing homes every year with the belief that they will be well cared for. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is a very real problem in the United States. From malnutrition to overmedication and mental and physical abuse, there are a variety of ways that residents can be mistreated in a nursing home. An estimated 3.3 million Americans lived in nursing homes in 2013, which translates to 1 in 7 people ages 65 and up and 1 in 5 of those 85 and older. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), Bureau of Justice Statistics, 36% of nursing homes have been in violation of elder abuse laws.

CNN has reported that 90% of nursing home facilities are understaffed, and one in 3 across the country have been cited for nursing home abuse and other related infractions. Demographics show that the incidents of nursing home abuse will likely rise. […]

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer talks about the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.

A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that anti-smoking measures over the past fifty years have saved approximately 8 million American lives. According to the Journal report, more than 42% of U.S. adults smoked in the years preceding the 1964 Surgeon General’s report warning of the hazards of smoking, and that rate has dropped to about 18% today. Their report states that tobacco controls have contributed substantially to increases in U.S. life expectancy.

Although this is positive news, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and leaving 8.6 million people to live with a serious illness caused by smoking.

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, Bob Munley, said that smoking is still a problem with 43 million people still smoking in the U.S. […]

$1.25M Settlement Reached for Young Boy’s Death

$1.25M settlement after seven year old boy killed in bus accident

A $1.25 million settlement approved Monday by Lackawanna County Judge Trish Corbett ended a lawsuit stemming from the death of a 7-year-old boy who was run over by a bus at a Wyoming County camp.

The money came from two insurance companies:

• Travelers Property Casualty, which represented First Reform Episcopal Church of New York City. The church had rented Camp Lackawanna from the Lackawanna Presbytery so New York City youngsters could spend a week enjoying the outdoors in a religious setting.
• Pacific Employers, which represented the driver of the bus and Suburban Transit Co. of New Brunswick, NJ, and Coach USA Inc., Houston, which rented the vehicle to the church.

The suit says two buses rented by the church arrived at Camp Lackawanna several hours late. The first, […]

Calvary Charter Bus Crash Under Investigation

Bus crash could have been due to driver being distracted by GPS

Authorities are continuing to investigate a tragic February 2 charter bus crash that injured more than 30 Pennsylvania high school students and chaperones.

The accident happened when a Calvary Coach bus slammed into a bridge overpass in Boston. The 35 occupants were returning home to the Philadelphia area after a visit to Harvard University.

Investigators – including a collision reconstruction team – are conducting a thorough examination of the vehicle that could take up to six weeks to complete.

The top of the bus struck the bottom of a low bridge. The collision sheared off a portion of the roof, causing injury to passengers. At least four were hospitalized for serious personal injuries.

Following is from the Boston Globe:

State Police said Sunday that the crash injured 35 passengers, […]

Hospital Patients Given Wrong Medicine On Discharge

Three out of four patients go home from the hospital with the wrong prescriptions or a lack of understanding about their medications.

That’s the disturbing conclusion of a new study from Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The chief researcher, Dr. Leora Horwitz, who also practices at the hospital, said health care providers “do a relatively poor job of educating patients about their medications.”

Medical malpractice mistakes involving medication errors cause injuries to more than 1.3 million persons a year.

This is from the New Haven Register:

A recent study [Dr. Horowitz] led looked at 377 patients at Yale-New Haven Hospital, ages 64 and older, who had been admitted with heart failure, acute coronary syndrome or pneumonia, then discharged to home.

Of that group, 307 patients – 81 percent – either experienced a provider error in their discharge medications or had no understanding of at least one intended medication change…. […]