Lehigh Valley Personal Injury Law Blog

Every time a motorist gets behind the wheel of a vehicle in Pennsylvania, he or she is responsible for driving cautiously and being aware of others who may be in or near the roadway. Unfortunately that responsibility is not always observed, and when the wrongdoer is driving a truck, serious injuries can occur. It almost goes without saying that a truck accident involving a pedestrian rarely ends well for the victim. One 20-year-old Allentown woman nearly lost her life when she was struck by a snow plow at about 7 p.m. on Jan. 21. The woman was said to be walking to a friend's house in Allentown when she was struck by the plow on Linden Street while crossing American Parkway.

Witnesses say the 49-year-old truck driver stopped after he hit the woman and then fled the scene of the accident. They were able to get his license plate number and report it to authorities. Police went to the man's Allentown home where residents telephoned the driver to return. He arrived driving the snow plow and was placed under arrest. He faces criminal charges of causing an accident involving death or injury, failure to notify police of the accident, failure to stop to give information or render aid, and driving on a suspended license.

According to today's Morning Call the Department of Health undertook an investigation related to patients who have been overdosed because of improperly programed morphine pumps. According to the new release, one patient was killed and two others were discovered. All three incidents involved patient controlled pumps which allow the patient to administer controlled amounts of morphine on demand.

If improperly regulated overdoses of morphine can cause a patient's auto immune system to slow or stop a person from breathing. The news release states that a 38 year old Kempton man, A'Brunzo, received five times the amount of prescribed morphine. The Board of Health reported that; "the cumulative effect of these systemic problems resulted in the hospital's inability to ensure the provisions of quality care in a safe environment". In fact the findings were so serious that the regulators declared that patients were in "immediate jeopardy".

It appears that these events took place in October of 2011. The Board also stated that the hospital failed to take the appropriate steps to document these malfunctions, and in the case of Mr. A'Brunzo, failed to properly document the episode in his chart. Medication errors are supposed to be reported immediately to the doctor who ordered the drug and a notation placed in the chart in "the most conspicuous manner possible".

The hospital has reported that new pumps were installed effective December 7, 2011. Competency testing for nurses and staff on the proper procedures is scheduled to take place in February.

While regulators were at the hospital they also found additional problems with the hospital's documentation practices. These instances involved doctor's authorizations regarding the use of restraints and failure to report infection data to the Department of Public Health.

Dennis F Feeley

The law firm of Cohen and Feeley is located in Bethlehem Pa., and limits its practice to serious injury cases including medical negilgence.

Drunk driving is a serious problem throughout Pennsylvania and a drunk driving car accident can tear families apart in an instant. Even a single drink can increase the likelihood of a fatal crash and individuals with severe substance abuse problems are perhaps the greatest risk on area roads.

One Pennsylvania woman with an addiction problem was recently sentenced for causing a drunk driving car accident which killed her 14-year-old son. The New Kensington woman was driving her son home from a baseball game at the time of the accident. Unfortunately the woman's blood alcohol level was 0.14 percent, almost twice the legal limit for intoxication. The woman also was under the influence of methadone, which is a drug that people use to wean themselves off of heroin.

Parents give their newborns baby food with the expectation that they are feeding their children nutritious and beneficial supplements. Last week Wal-Mart and other retailers pulled Enfamil baby formula from their shelves after federal investigators started their investigation into whether a defective product is the cause of a deadly bacterial infection that killed one infant and made another sick.

Although the investigation is still ongoing, the news of the deaths is startling parents, and some retailers are not taking the risk that a potential deadly product is on their shelves. The parents of the baby who died from the bacteria could potentially file a wrongful death lawsuit if the formula is in fact linked to the death, and the parents of the ill baby could be entitled to compensation for their damages.