When you click “accept” under the multi-paragraph “Terms and Conditions” portion of the Uber app, are you really bound by those terms? How about if those terms strip you of your constitutional rights? Uber, the cell-phone based transportation company, is working to make sure the answer to both of those…
All of us depend on doctors and hospital workers for treatment when we are sick or injured. Many times they are successful, saving our lives or the lives of our loved ones. But hospitals are far from infallible. 195,000 people die each year in American hospitals due to potentially preventable…
If you only read Sharley McMullen’s death certificate, you would think she passed away as the result of respiratory failure and septic shock. The truth is much more alarming. McMullen, a healthy 72-year old woman from California, was finishing up treatment for a benign stomach ulcer when she contracted an…
Millions of nursing home residents have signed away their right to sue their nursing home, regardless of whether they were sexually assaulted, physically abused or suffered serious injuries as a result of their care. The worst part is: these residents may not even know it. Forced arbitration clauses, which are…
Bringing suit for compensation against a doctor who, through his or her own negligence, caused you or a loved one injury is a fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens. Unfortunately, this right has been under attack for years. As a result, the road to recovery for patients in medical negligence…
The New York City Department of Transportation enjoyed a small victory last week with the announcement that the city has surpassed its goal of constructing 15 miles of fully protected bike lanes in 2016. By the end of this year, 18 miles will be completed. This achievement has been overshadowed…
17 New York City construction workers died last year in work-related incidents. That is, if you ask the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. According to the Department of Buildings, only 12 construction workers lost their lives on the job. The discrepancy between these two numbers stems from…
Earlier this year, we covered an analysis published by the BMJ that identified preventable medical errors as the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. Recently, a study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that nearly one third of patients admitted to rehab centers…
It takes special kind of criminal to take advantage of another person’s tragedy for profit. According to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, many of those criminals live right here in New York. When Hurricane Sandy touched down on the eastern seaboard in late 2012, it wreaked havoc in 24…
In the five years between January 2010 and October 2015, roughly 350 patients have undergone gastrointestinal procedures with contaminated scopes produced by the Tokyo-based company Olympus Corp. Dozens have died as a result. The product, called the duodenoscope, is used in 700,000 procedures every year in America alone. Doctors insert…