New York Personal Injury Attorneys

New York Tort law

New York law considers a tort to be a civil wrong. A “tort” is a wrongful act, not including breach of contract or trust, that results in injury to another person, their property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation. In other words, a tort is a crime that, while not criminal in nature, may entitle compensation to the party has been wronged. Any personal injury lawsuit or other civil action that is not for breach of contract falls under Tort Law.

Who Has Grounds For a Valid Tort Action?

The following criteria must be met to have grounds for a valid tort action:

• A Duty of Care Was Violated: In order to have a valid lawsuit, the defendant must have violated a duty of care they owed the plaintiff. A duty of care is a legal obligation that an individual or entity has to another person to act with a certain degree of care when performing certain tasks.  An individual becomes negligent when they fail to uphold their duty of care. Individuals may be found liable for any injuries that occur as a result of their negligence.
• The Breach in Duty Was Directly Responsible For the Injury: The plaintiff’s injury must have been directly caused by the defendant’s negligence. The defendant cannot be found liable if their negligence was not the cause of the injury.
• The Injury Caused Damages: The plaintiff must have suffered either economic or non-economic damages in order to have a valid tort action. The victim does not have a valid lawsuit without suffering tangible damages.

What Compensation is Available to Plaintiffs in a Tort Action?

Any person who suffers a tortious injury may be entitled to receive compensation for damages suffered.  The following damages may be available to plaintiffs filing a tort action:

• Lost Wages: In many cases, the plaintiff bringing the tort action is forced to miss work as a result of their injury. A personal injury lawsuit can help the plaintiff recover any salary not covered by workers’ compensation.
• Medical Bills: Many tort actions are brought after the plaintiff suffered an injury due to negligence. In many of these cases, the plaintiff’s injury forced them to face high medical bills that may not be covered by insurance. By bringing a tort action, the victim may be able to have all medical bills not covered by insurance compensated, as well as any future medical expenses resulting from the injury.
• Pain and Suffering: In addition to compensation for monetary damages, victims may be able to receive compensation for excessive pain and suffering. Pain and suffering includes but is not limited to loss of life’s enjoyment and long term physical pain.

In addition to the aforementioned types of compensation, victims may be entitled to recoup monetary damages for any other losses suffered.

If you have suffered an injury due to another’s negligence or been the victim of a wrongful act that caused monetary damages, you may be entitled to compensation. To see if you have a valid lawsuit, call 212-406-1700 or contact us online for a free consultation. Queller, Fisher, Washor, Fuchs & Kool will review your claim to see how we may be of assistance.

A New York bound ferry crashed into a dock in Lower Manhattan earlier this week, leaving at least 57 injured. The ferry is a daily ferry operated by Seastreak that has a capacity of approximately 400 passengers.

The cause of the ferry accident is still unknown at this time, as is the full extent of the damage. However, breaking CNN News reports that there are at least 57-injured as a result of the crash, including two people facing critical injuries. Passengers were being removed from the ferry on stretchers; a large, gaping gash was visible on the front of the vessle.

Our New York City injury attorneys continue to be concerned about a series of ferry crashes that have occurred in Manhattan in recent years.

New York City Ferry Crashes

Ferry crashes can be extremely dangerous to passengers aboard these large commuter boats. A witness to this recent accident, for example, indicated that she had seen a lot of passengers bleeding, bandaged and strapped to boards for evacuation from the ferry. The large number of people on board commuter ferries only exacerbates the risk when something goes wrong. And, of course, drowning is a risk to anyone submerged in the water; even in summer, frigid river waters can quickly overwhelm an accident victim.

Tragically, it seems that ferrys are too often involved in these serious or fatal mishaps.

• The same Seastreak ferry involved in this most recent crash was also involved in a collision in 2009. In that incident, the vessel slammed into a dock in New Jersey, tearing a two-to-three foot gash into the vessel’s starboard bow.
• The Seastreak ferry was also involved in a 2010 crash when a dock pile punctured a hole in its board side.
• In 2010, a different New York commuter ferry called the Andrew J. Barberi injured 36 people when it crashed into the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
• In 2003, the Andrew J. Barberi killed 11 people and injured another 42 after crashing full speed into a concrete pier at the ferry terminal in St. George.   Victims were trapped under massive debris piles and some jumped into freezing water to escape.  This incident is widely viewed as one of the worst mass transit disasters in modern history. It occurred after the pilot blacked out at the controls, reportedly as a result of painkillers.
• In 2001, a ferry from Highlands to Manhattan stranded 257 people for more than five hours outside of Sandy Hook when the ferry ran aground in icy waters.

These accidents had many different causes, including of course the negligence of the ferry driver or operator.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a ferry accident in New York City, contact Queller, Fisher, Washor, Fuchs & Kool at 1-877-394-1329.

Towards the end of December 2012, WNYC published an article indicating that New York City hospitals had been effective at reducing medical malpractice claims and settlement costs. According to the article, the number of lawsuits filed against the city’s public hospitals in the prior 10 years had dropped by 28 percent and the dollar amounts paid out to patients had decreased from $195 million in 2003 to $130 million in 2011.

The article also indicated that 249 cases had settled at an average cost of $487,000 per lawsuit.

While our New York City medical malpractice attorneys believe that hospitals should make every possible effort to reduce claims of malpractice, we urge hospitals to focus not just on achieving quick settlements and reducing payouts but more importantly on improving hospital safety initiatives to reduce malpractice.   Meaningful malpractice reform shouldn’t mean a better way of expediting and settling cases but should mean that hospitals provide better care to patients.

Efforts to Improve Hospital Safety

According to WNYC, hospitals are doing several different things in their efforts to reduce malpractice claims and settlement costs. For example, they have a new system in place to expedite claims and see if they have merit. This allows for quicker negotiation of settlements and earlier negotiations of settlement when there is clear evidence of malpractice. The president of the Health and Hospitals Corporation indicated that previously suits had lingered longer before action was taken, making settlement costs more expensive.

Speedy settlements are good for hospital malpractice victims — only if they are fair. However, it is important that patients not agree to any type of settlement unless they know the full extent of their injuries and are certain that the settlement is fair and full compensation. Further, it is important that patients not be rushed into accepting a settlement and that they have their case and settlement offer reviewed by a lawyer before giving up their rights.

WNYC also indicated that the HHC president was using malpractice cases to try to work to improve patient care. The cases can identify weaknesses that are harming patients and everyone in the hospital can work together to reduce risks presented in hospital environments. It is this type of effort that is needed, not just a rush to quick settlements, if there is to be a meaningful improvement in patient care and a reduction in the number of people who are seriously hurt by hospital negligence.

New York City hospitals continue to have lingering problems when it comes to patient care, in large part because they are understaffed. In 2011, an article in the Huffington Post indicated that patients visiting New York emergency rooms had to wait longer than almost anyone else in the entire country, with a 296 minute average wait time. Administrative problems and lack of effective guidelines for patient care also create problems. In 2010, for example, the New York Times reported that a routine records review revealed that around 4,000 tests for heart disease performed over three years had gone unread at Harlem hospitals.

Future budget cuts will only serve to exacerbate the problems that New York hospitals are facing. Unfortunately, this means patients may still not be getting the care that they should in hospitals throughout New York.

If you or a loved one has been injured by malpractice in a New York City hospital, contact Queller, Fisher, Washor, Fuchs & Kool at 1-877-394-1329.

In December, ESPN Anchor Hannah Storm was cooking dinner on a propane gas grill in her home when she noticed that the grill had gone out. Storm went to relight the grill, triggering an explosion so loud her neighbor thought a tree had fallen on the house. The grill doors blew off and a ball of fire exploded in Storm’s face, causing her to suffer first and second degree burns on the face and neck. She lost her eyebrows and half of her hair. Yahoo Sports has published pictures of the burn injuries.

Fortunately, Hannah Storm was able to get the treatment that she needed and was able to return to work, hosting the Rose Parade on New Year’s. The serious accident, however, highlights the risks associated with propane grills in particular, and the issue of burn injuries generally. Propane gas grills are one of many common causes of burn accidents that occur in the United States each year. Our New York City burn injury attorneys urge everyone to understand the risks and to take the precautions necessary to protect themselves.

Burn Injury Dangers

While Hannah Storm’s case is a high profile one that has drawn attention to propane gas grill accidents, the reality is that these types of accidents happen regularly. Gas grills are one of many common causes of serious burns, responsible for 6,900 home fires between 2005 and 2009 according to the National Fire Protection Association. They are, however, far from the only cause of serious burn injuries.

Some other common causes of burn injuries include:

• Car accidents. The U.S. Fire Administration released a report in 2008 indicating that there were 258,500 highway vehicle fires between 2004 and 2006.
• Fires at work.  According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three percent of the 4,609 workplace deaths in the U.S. were caused by fires or explosions in 2011.
• Scalding accidents.  The Electrical Safety Foundation International reports that more than 100,000 hospital emergency room visits each year occur because people have suffered a scalding injury.
• Chemical burns. Chemical burns aren’t just a workplace problem. As WebMD indicates, bleach, cleaning products, pool chlorine and other household products can all cause chemical burns to occur.
• Fires in apartments.  According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were 95,500 structure fires in apartments in 2011. These fires caused 4,425 injuries and 415 deaths. Unfortunately, those living in New York City may be especially susceptible to injuries in apartments, condo buildings and high rises.

These are just some of the many common causes of burns. Tragically, a huge number of people are hurt each year as a result of some type of burn. In fact, according to the American Burn Association, 450,000 people throughout the U.S. sought medical assistance because of a burn in 2010. The American Burn Association also indicates that every 30 minutes, someone is hurt in a fire and every 169 minutes, someone is killed as a result of a fire.

While you may not hear about many of these fires, the incident with Hannah Storm makes clear that burn injuries can happen to anyone and that they can happen anywhere. Remember to have a fire extinguisher in your home and to be cautious of the dangers of burn injuries to help keep you and your family from falling victim to an accident.

If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury or other catastrophic injury in the greater New York area, contact Queller, Fisher, Washor, Fuchs & Kool at 1-877-394-1329.

On January 8, 2013, NY1 reported that a ceiling collapsed in a historic building in Manhattan’s Murray Hill section. The building was undergoing renovations at the time of the collapse.  Unfortunately, this is not the first incident of a ceiling collapse in recent years, but it is the most recent example of the potential dangers presented by older buildings throughout the city.

New York personal injury attorneys have learned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a federal investigation into the deaths of dozens of elderly people killed due to problems relating to bed rails.

These devices are intended to help prevent people from falling out of the bed. However, what’s often happeneing is people are getting their heads caught either in between the rails or in the space between the rail and the bed.

As we understand it, federal authorities have known how dangeorous these products are for more than a decade, but hadn’t taken a hard line stance against them or even warned consumers about them – despite the fact that elderly people continue to die when using them. Between 2003 and the spring of 2012, approximately 150 adults (mostly elderly) died after becoming trapped in the rails. During that same time period, roughly 36,000 older adults (that’s about 4,000 annually) had to be taken to the emergency room for treatment as a result of an injury caused by bed rails. In all of 2011, it’s believed at least 27 people died as a result of bed rail injuries.

It’s worth noting that these numbers are likely much higher, as not all injuries and deaths caused by the rails are officially reported as such.

Those who have studied these injuries and deaths indicate that the incidents are 100 percent avoidable.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first issued warnings about the rails back in 1995. That year alone, some 550 people died due to injuries incurred from bed rails. However, the government didn’t go so far as requiring manufacturers to print safety labels on the sides because the industry was aggressively resistant. Instead, the industry agreed to adopt some voluntarily guidelines. None of the rails were recalled, though safety alerts were sent to both nursing homes and home health care agencies – many of whom continue to use the rails.

The FDA had in 2000 explored whether warning labels on the devices should be mandated, but again opted to do nothing, citing potential legal issues and the added cost to small manufacturers.

Some have estimated that a push to replace the older models of bed rails with newer, safer models would result in a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to elder care facilities. Still, the cost seems well worth it considering the enormous number of injuries and loss of life we are seeing due to these devices.

New FDA voluntary guidelines were issued in 2006, which recommended smaller gap size limits, with a warning regarding the body parts that are most likely to get caught in them. This may have made the rails somewhat safer, but people are continuing to incur injuries.

So now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, at the request of a woman who lost her 81-year-old mother in a bed rail incident, is launching a formal study to determine whether more regulations are necessary.

If you or your loved one is a victim of personal injury in New York City, contact Queller, Fisher, Washor, Fuchs & Kool at 1-877-394-1329.