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Posted On: February 25, 2010

Choking Hazards: US Pediatricians Seek to Prevent Injuries to Children By Asking for Warning Labels

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that its time that the US government mandate that warning labels be placed on the packaging of foods that pose a potential choking hazard to children. The pediatricians’ group also is calling for a redesign of certain manufactured foods, such as candies and hot dogs, which can be reshaped in a manner that is safer for kids.

Dr. Gary Smith, the head of the group’s Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, says that foods that are round or cylindrical in shape are a choking hazard. Smith noted that there are steps that can be taken to protect kids from choking, which is considered the number one cause of death in the five and under age group and the reason that thousands of kids under age 15 end up in the emergency room. One study reports that hot dogs are a factor in 17% of the asphyxiation accidents involving food and kids in the 10 and under age group.

Some other choking accident food culprits include:

• Peanuts
• Marshmallows
• Meat chunk
• Cheese chunks
• Peanut butter

At least one child fatality every five days is caused by a food-related choking accident. For a boy or girl who is lucky enough to survive an accidental choking incident, if the brain was deprived of oxygen for long enough, there may be the possibility of a traumatic brain injury.

Our Maryland injuries to children and minors attorneys are determined to help our young clients and their families obtain financial recovery for the harm they have suffered because a manufacturer or another party was liable for food products liability.

Pediatricians Want Redesign of Hot Dogs, Candy to Curb Kids' Choking, BusinessWeek, February 22, 2010

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog, USA Today, February 22, 2010


Related Web Resources:
American Academy of Pediatrics

Food Choking Dangers for Babies and Toddlers, Suite101.com

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Posted In: Injuries to Minors

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Posted On: February 20, 2010

Maryland Lawmakers Want Texting While Driving Ban to Block Drivers From Reading Messages

Maryland lawmakers are planning on making read text messages while driving illegal. The current texting while driving ban, which went into effect last year, only bans drivers from sending text messages. There also may be enough support to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, especially as the newer phones include applications that allow drivers to e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and browse the Internet. Currently, school bus drivers and drivers with provisional licenses and learner’s instructional permits are not allowed to talk on any kind of cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. Lawmakers, however, want to do more to decrease the number of Maryland car accidents.

According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, about 636,000 auto crashes a year involved someone using a cell phone. 2,600 fatalities and 330,000 injuries have resulted from these distracted driving accidents. The National Safety Council says that the number of car crashes caused by cell phone (talking and texting) use—1.6 million auto collisions—is even higher. Meantime, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute have reported that the number of car crashes in states with handheld cell phone bans doesn’t seem to have gone down.

The Maryland General Assembly has struggled with how much restriction to place on cell phone driving activities. However, there is no longer any doubt that texting while driving increases a motorist’s Maryland motor vehicle accident risk dramatically. While the act of texting is harmless in and of itself, it is the fact that motorists become distracted, taking their eyes and mind off the road and their hands off the steering wheel, that makes texting while driving such a dangerous driving activity. People have even compared its degree of dangerousness to the perils presented by driving while drunk.

Just this week, a jury convicted a man of killing a pedestrian while he was engaged in distracted driving. Prosecutors claim that he was texting.

In most cases, the distracted driver never intends to hurt anyone. Yet unfortunately, Maryland personal injuries and wrongful deaths do happen.

Lawmakers want to tighten ban on texting while driving, The Baltimore Sun, February 19, 2010

Costa Mesa driver found guilty of killing nanny in 2008 road accident, Daily Pilot, January 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

FocusDriven

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Posted In: Car Accidents , Maryland Legislation

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Posted On: February 16, 2010

Baltimore City Jury Awards Brooke Greenberg $250,000 for Maryland Personal Injuries in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Against Johns Hopkins Hospital

A Maryland jury has awarded Brooke Greenberg $250,000 for Baltimore medical malpractice injuries she sustained while at Johns Hopkins Children's Center after she underwent a medical procedure to replace her feeding tube in 2007. The Reisterstown teenager is known internationally for never aging past infancy, despite the fact that she is 17-years-old.

After she was discharged from the hospital, her home nurse and parents noticed that there were bruises on her legs and arms. Her parents sued for Maryland medical malpractice involving injuries to a minor on her behalf.

Last week, a Baltimore city jury found the famous hospital in breach of the standard of care when Greenberg was inappropriately restrained after the surgery. They awarded her damages for the emotional trauma and physical pain she suffered.

The hospital is debating whether to appeal the jury verdict. Hospital officials claim that Greenberg was suffering from a disorder that caused spontaneous bruising. However, the jury determined otherwise.

Greenberg has never developed past infancy. Scientists are trying to determine the cause of her mysterious condition.

Hospitals are supposed to provide each patient with the standard of care. Failure to meet that standard of care or deviating from that standard can be cause for filing a Maryland personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit if the patient gets hurt, suffers emotional trauma, or dies.

Medication mixups, poor sanitation, surgical errors, inappropriate restraints, wrong diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, anesthesia errors, nursing negligence, failure to check vitals, and failure to do follow-ups following procedures are some of the reasons why people have sued for Maryland medical malpractice.

Hopkins weighs appeal of verdict in girl's bruising, The Baltimore Sun, February 10, 2010

Duly noted: Girl who doesn’t age wins suit against Johns Hopkins, MDDailyRecord, February 15, 2010


Related Web Resources:
Johns Hopkins Children's Center

The Curious Case of Brooke Greenberg: 16-Year-Old Has the Body and Mind of a Toddler, FoxNews, August 7, 2009

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Posted In: Injuries to Minors , Medical Malpractice

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Posted On: February 9, 2010

Rep John Murtha Dies Surgical Complications After Doctors “Hit His Intestines”

What should have been a routine laparoscopic surgery has proved fatal for Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. The 77-year-old died from complications when doctors “hit his intestines” during the minimally invasive gallbladder procedure at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. His intestine was damaged and an infection developed.

Murtha has been the Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District Representative since 1974 and was number eight in the chamber in terms of seniority. He was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the US Congress. In 2005, he shocked Washington when he called for the US to withdraw from Iraq.

Murtha leaves behind his wife and three children.

Maryland Surgical Malpractice
If doctors made a medical mistake that caused Murtha’s health complications, the congressman’s family may have grounds for filing a Maryland medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and the medical professionals involved in the gallbladder surgery.

Laparascopic gallbladder surgery
Laparascopic gallbladder surgery involves the removal of the gallbladder without having to open the abdominal cavity. During this minimally invasive procedure, a small incision is made and a trocar is inserted. A video camera and small surgical tools are inserted using the trocar so the surgery can be conducted. Surgeons can watch the surgery on a monitor that airs what the video camera inside the body is recording.

It is important that a surgeon cut or clip in the right places in order to safely remove the gallbladder. Cutting the wrong anatomical part can cause serious injury or death. Other serious side effects include bile peritonitis, bile leakage, abscess, cholangitis, and infection.

Surgeons can be held liable for Maryland surgical malpractice if their medical mistake, carelessness, or recklessness causes personal injury or wrongful death to a patient.

Congressman: Murtha's intestine damaged in surgery, Washington Post, February 8, 2010

Rep. John Murtha dies after surgery complications, CNN, February 8, 2010


Related Web Resources:
Laparascopic gallbladder surgery, FamilyDoctor.org

Medical Malpractice, Justia

Continue reading " Rep John Murtha Dies Surgical Complications After Doctors “Hit His Intestines” " »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Posted On: February 6, 2010

Maryland Police Say Frederick County Car Accident Caused by Teen on Cell Phone

A 17-year-old driver is accused of causing a serious Frederick County, Maryland car accident while talking on a cell phone on Wednesday. The young driver was merging onto Interstate 70 when he allegedly rear-ended a 1999 Jeep Cherokee driven by Norman Hayter, Jr., a Middletown resident. Police say that the juvenile did not realize that road work had caused traffic to slow down.

Hayter, 58, was seriously injured in the Maryland auto accident. He was transported by air to Washington County Hospital.

Meantime, the teen driver sustained minor injuries. He is charged with negligent driving.

Distracted Driving
Teen drivers, who are more easily distracted and less experienced than their older motorist counterparts, are already at greater risk of being involved in a motor vehicle collision. Add the additional distraction of talking on a phone or texting while driving, and the consequences can prove fatal.

In Maryland, drivers younger than age 18 with a provisional or a learner driver’s license are prohibited from using any kind of cell phone while driving. All other motorists are allowed to drive and use a cell phone at the same time. Sending text messages while driving in Maryland is banned.

Although it now has been confirmed that talking on any kind of cell phone is dangerous—there is no US state that completely bans this distracted driving habit and there are only six US states that ban the use of handheld cell phones—it is impossible to ignore the fact that at least 1.6 million US motor vehicle accidents a year are caused by texting and cell phone using drivers.

If a motorist causes a car accident while talking on a cell phone, he or she can be charged with negligent driving, and injury victims may choose to file a lawsuit for Maryland personal injury or a wrongful death.

Police: Teen on Cell Phone Causes Bad Accident, Your4State, February 4, 2010

Teen motorist talking on cell phone strikes stopped SUV, The Herald-Mail, February 3, 2010


Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association, February 2010

National Safety Council

Continue reading " Maryland Police Say Frederick County Car Accident Caused by Teen on Cell Phone " »

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Posted In: Car Accidents

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Posted On: February 3, 2010

Harford County and Its Sheriff’s Office are Defendants in $145 Million Maryland Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleging Police Brutality

The family of Dwight Jerome Madison is suing Harford County and the Harford County Sheriff's Office for Maryland wrongful death. Madison, 48, died after police threw him in jail last June. His family is alleging wrongful arrest and police brutality. They are seeking $145 million from the defendants.

According to the Maryland police brutality lawsuit, Madison was arrested on June 11, 2009 just hours after police stopped him in Bel Air. The 48-year-old was let go after he told them he was looking for a friend in the area. Police officer followed him and arrested him for trespassing. He was transported to the Harford County Detention Center.

Police claim that Madison asked to be arrested so he would have some place to go. They then contend that while in custody, he became uncooperative and grabbed and choked one of the guards. Police TASERed Madison, who fell and struck his head.

The Maryland wrongful death lawsuit claims that the following day, a civilian jail worker and three corrections officers assaulted Madison, who had a severe head injury. Even though it was allegedly obvious to those involved that Madison was dying, they continued to Taser him, causing his death. Madison died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore on June 13.

The family’s wrongful death lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, says the corrections employees and deputies directly caused his wrongful death and violated his legal rights. It also alleges that the defendants have consistently engaged in “condoning its officers’ pervasive misconduct and abuse of authority.”

Arresting someone without just cause and using excessive force to detain them are both possible grounds for suing the police for Maryland personal injury.

Even if you did break the law, police must still uphold your civil rights. Unfortunately, many people are too scared to speak out for fear of repercussions.

$145 million wrongful death lawsuit filed against county, sheriff's office, Explore Harford, February 2, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Read the Police Press Release, Harford Sheriff, June 13, 2009

Harford County, Maryland

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Posted In: Police Brutality , Wrongful Death

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