Postal Workers Most at Risk of Dog Bites
May 29th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
It probably comes as no surprise for many: some mail carriers face a daily risk of dog bites depending on the area they service. The United Postal Service released the list of US cities where postal workers suffer the most dog bites. Houston ranked first with 62 attacks followed by San Antonio with 39 attacks. In total, 3,000 mail carriers were attacked by dogs in 2010 alone.
Most of the attacks occur when letter carriers deliver mail to a house with an outdoor dog. While they usually carry around a pepper spray to keep the dog at bay, it is not always enough to prevent injuries. Their mail satchel can also be used to defend against dogs although this won’t be sufficient to hinder very aggressive dogs.
Postal workers can refuse to deliver mail to a house where the dogs are not secured properly. The Postal Service urges pet owners to ensure that their dogs are secured when the letter carriers arrive. This is especially important if the dog is large and aggressive. If and when an attack occurs, the victim can file a lawsuit against the dog owner.
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Salmonella Risks Leads to Pet Food Recall
May 28th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
After receiving a report that a dog became ill as a result of eating pet treats produced by Keys Manufacturing, the US Food and Drug Administration is helping the company identify the cause of salmonella. Keys Manufacturing has recalled its Pig Ears for Pet Treats product, which has been identified as the contaminated product.
Pig Ears for Pet Treats was shipped to 14 states including Texas from late September 2010 until the end of January this year. The news is disturbing not only because pets are becoming ill but also because the salmonella bacteria can be transmitted to pet owners.
There are symptoms you need to watch out for if you gave this pet treat to your dog. Among these include loss of appetite, listlessness, vomiting, and diarrhea. They will also feel abdominal pain and may have a fever. If you suspect your pet is infected with the bacteria, it is important to consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.
Even if your pet hasn’t shown any symptoms yet, it may be a good idea to have them examined. This is because the salmonella bacteria have more consequences for humans if left unchecked. On some occasions, people with this infection developed urinary problems, arthritis, muscle aches, eye infections, and heart and artery problems.
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Underreporting of Hospital Errors is Common
May 27th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
According to a report by Bloomberg, as much as 90 of patient injuries are not reported by hospitals. The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has noted that the most underreported injuries consist of infections after surgery and pressure sores. The agency analyzed 354 “adverse events” such as medication errors, bloodstream infection, and pressure sores. This data was derived from 3 US teaching hospitals which will remain anonymous due to patient confidentiality. The adverse events in the study occurred on 33% of hospital admissions, using records of 795 patients.
Even back in 1999, the US Institute of Medicine has already concluded that 98,000 deaths and over a million injuries were caused by medical errors. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Milliman Inc, a Seattle-based consulting firm, have discovered that hospital claims from the period of 2001 until 2008 have cost 17.1 billion.
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FDA Further Restricts the Use of Avandia
May 25th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is placing new restrictions on the prescription of rosiglitazone-containing drugs. These medicines are used to treat Type 2 diabetes and are sold under the name Avandamet, Avandaryl, and Avandia. Patients and healthcare providers must now enroll in a new program in order to receive these drugs.
These restrictions are part of a program launched by the FDA, the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) – which requires a stricter management of marketed drugs with serious side effects. The new restriction for the diabetes drug was based on the finding that rosiglitazone enhances the risk of heart disease.
The Avandia-Rosiglitazone program limits the use of the medicine to the following patients:
- Those who have been successfully treated with the medicine
- Those whose blood sugar cannot be controlled by other diabetic medicines or who do not wish to use medications that contain pioglitazone
Rosiglitazone medicines will no longer be available on retail pharmacies. Patients who are enrolled in the Avandia-Rosiglitazone program will receive the drugs through mail order or through certified pharmacies.
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Bus Crash Kills One in Texas
May 23rd, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
A Valley Transit Greyhound bus was sideswiped by a pickup truck in Highway 77 in Texas. As the pickup truck got into the highway from an intersecting road, it crashed into the bus, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a utility pole. A trooper from the Department of Public Safety described the accident and noted that 21 passengers were injured in the crash while one was killed.
Of the total 24 passengers onboard the bus, 21 were taken to the hospital for treatment and 17 were released for minor injuries. Four of the injured were kept for observation and further treatment. The woman who was killed by the crash was sitting near the front of the bus at the time of collusion.
According to witnesses, the bus driver had no time to react as the pickup truck collided onto the passenger side of the bus. The driver of the pickup truck was given a ticket for failure to yield the right of way; additional charges may be filed upon further findings.
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Worker Who Was Burned and Injured By Electrical Box Recovers
May 22nd, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
A laborer who was severely burned by an electrical box was awarded $7.7 million in damages.
In 2007, Marco Murillo, then aged 32, was salvaging copper cables from electrical boxes at a demolition site. Mr Murillo was working on one of the last boxes to be dismantled on the site when he was severely burned on both hands and forearms.
Oncor Electric Delivery had responsibility for the de-energizing the electrical boxes. As a result of his injuries Mr Murillo underwent skin grafts, had back muscles transferred to his forearms and nerves transferred from his ankles into his forearms.
A judge found that Oncor Electric Delivery was 60 percent liable and that three other defendants in the case were found 40 percent liable. Oncor is responsible for the entire award.
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Hixton Woman Convicted In Accident That Injured Four Amish Teens
May 21st, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
A Hixton woman has pleaded guilty for causing a drunk driving accident that injured four teenage boys who were driving Amish buggies. The Pioneer Press reports that the 49-year-old woman was convicted of one felony charge of hit-and-run involving injury and three charges of causing an injury via intoxicated driving.
Witnesses at the scene of the accident said that they saw the woman leave a tavern before she hit the teens who were driving three buggies with lanterns on the back. They also testified that the woman drove off after the accident which seriously injured one of the teens.
Police managed to quickly track down the woman’s vehicle because her license plate was found among the crash debris. Police officers spoke with the woman within a half-hour of the accident and she initially stated that she had driven into a ditch. The woman then changed her story and said she thought she had hit a woodchuck. Eventually the woman admitted to having been drinking and failed field sobriety tests.
The district attorney said that she wanted the woman to spend a year in jail and that restitution was important in this case. It was also revealed that the woman has three prior drunken driving convictions. And will be sentenced following the completion of the pre-sentencing report.
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Jury Sides With Injured Worker Resulting From Chemical Spill
May 20th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
A jury has awarded more than $2.5 million to a man who claimed that he suffers restrictive airway disease as a result of a chemical spill in the workplace.
The plaintiff in the suit, Mr Joseph Leto, was working at Amrex Chemical Co.’s Binghamton facility on Oct. 18, 2005, when sodium hypochlorite was spilled onto the floor above him. The chemical seeped into the floor, combined with an acid to form chlorine gas which seeped into the room in which Leto was working.
Amrex has acknowledged fault for the spill but argued that Mr Leto, who was employed as a plumber, could have developed his respiratory impairment while working in the presence of asbestos or mold in the course of his job. The jury did not accept the company’s claims and blamed the incident at Amrex’s plant for Mr Leto’s injuries.
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Ford Settles Lawsuit Involving Death of a Police Officer
May 19th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
On Dec. 30, 2009, the Ford Motor Co. agreed to pay $1,925,000 to settle a suit filed by the family of a police officer who died from injuries sustained in a car accident.
In 2005, Officer Mark Simmons Jr. was a passenger in a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria police car when it was rear-ended by a pickup truck. The victim’s family alleged that the support and anchor mechanisms on Simmons’s seat failed due to design and manufacturing defects. These defects caused him to be violently thrown to the back of the car and seriously injured.
Simmons, a father of two young children, sustained severe brain damage in the accident and died in 2008.
Ford argued the seat, which met all government safety standards, was safe. It also contended that Simmons’s injuries were caused by the severe nature of the accident and his failure to wear a seat belt, but despite these contentions, the company ultimately agreed to the settlement.
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Electric Company Must Pay 948k For Car Accident
May 18th, 2011 by Rosanne Lim. No Comments »
The family of a mentally ill man who was fatally struck by a car as he walked on an unlighted road recovered $948,000 in damages.
In 2005, Paul Wojewski, 57, who suffered from bipolar disorder, was walking in the center lane of Belt Line Road in Dallas when he was hit by a car driven by Alejandro Garcia. Mr Wojewski’s family said Mr Garcia couldn’t see Mr Wojewski before the accident because the streetlights on the road weren’t working. They blamed TXU Electic Delivery Co.for the lack of streetlights alleging that they knew of the faulty lights weeks before the incident but had failed to rectify the situation.
TXU argued, in their defence, that Mr Garcia was at fault and also blamed Mr Wojewski for failing to take his medication.
The family also sued Mr Wojewski’s psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Rosenthal, alleging he allowed Mr Wojewski to leave his office unescorted while in the midst of a manic-depressive episode two days before the accident. The doctor settled this claim prior to trial for an undisclosed amount. The jury found TXU 40 percent, Rosenthal 40 percent and Wojewski 20 percent liable, and awarded the family $2.37 million in damages. After the reduction for comparative fault and the earlier settlement, the family recovered $948,000 from TXU.
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