Nearly a quarter of a million Americans have pacemaker leads implanted in their hearts that may be defective. The leads are known as “Sprint Fidelis” leads, manufactured by Medtronic. The leads were recalled 2 years ago, but in this recall the potentially defective products have only been taken o...
Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian Blog
Half of hospital workers don't wash their hands properly
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are 1.7 million infection cases a year in hospitals. The annual cost of these infections is estimated to be $20 billion, and tens of thousands of lives. According to an article in the October 8, 2008 New York Times, “a surv...
Bar Owner's Responsibility for Drunk Drivers
What are Dram-Shop Laws? Drunk drivers who cause personal injury to others are almost without question negligent and liable for their actions. After all, when someone who has been drinking gets behind the wheel of an automobile, their reckless behavior and poor judgment immediately puts others a...
Electoral College Part II: Where does the Electoral College come from and why do we still have it?
Why do we have the Electoral College Still? Now that technology allows us to keep track of all the votes, is there a better method? When the United States was first formed, the creation of the Electoral College (see Part I to learn about how the Electoral College works) for electing the Presiden...
Electoral College Part I: What is it?
What is the Electoral College? How is it different than a popular vote?The Electoral College is the method that the United States uses to hold Presidential elections. Instead of choosing the president based on the candidate that receives the most votes by the people (the popular vote), the presid...
Thousands of Nursing Homes Flunk Medicare Rating Test
Roughly 22% (about 3,500) of the nation's 16,000 nursing homes received the lowest possible rating from Medicare's new five-star rating system. This means that hundreds of thousands of our parents and grandparents are staying in nursing homes that are simply not up to standards, and may be unsafe...
Injuries or Death on Someone Else's Property--What is an Invitee?
When you, as a member of the general public, are invited onto the property of another—whether it's restaurant, a store, or another person's home—then you are legally known as a visitor or invitee. Therefore, the property owner has a duty to make the property safe during your visit. This includes ...
Medical Malpractice
Researchers Focus Attention on Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Posted by: Dev Sethi August 10, 2009 Researchers have published a study in the Journal of Internal Medicine addressing process of care failure as a cause of delay in cancer diagnosis. The authors found that process of care failures -- pro...
Employer's Liability for Acts of Employee--Part II Scope of Employment
Employers are not always responsible for the actions of their employees, and it depends on whether the employee's misconduct occurred within the scope of his or her employment. Going along with the rational discussed in part 1, an employer should be responsible for the risks they expose the publi...
Employer's Liability for Acts of Employee
Employers are oftentimes responsible and therefore liable for the negligent or wrongful actions of their employees, which is a concept legally known as “Respondeat Superior.” Hence, if you are injured by the misconduct of someone else, the company or person that they work for may also be responsi...
Medical Negligence--Informed Consent
Informed ConsentGenerally, physicians have a legal duty—or responsibility—to inform you of all the risks involved in any given medical procedure you might undertake so that you have the opportunity to thoroughly assess the procedure and determine whether it is a procedure you want to go through o...
Loser Pays
For hundreds of years civil lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to make individuals or a family whole again. These lawsuits are filed knowing that if one were to lose their claim then they would not have to pay lawyer fees. This allows people with little or no money to enter the civil arena an...
LED Lights Safer for Bike Riders and Pedestrians
LED lights are more visible and safer for bicyclists and walkers out on the roads at night. That is the conclusion of field reseach recently conducted by bike safety experts. Tucson is an outdoors town. Especially this time of the year, look around almost anywhere and you will see folks riding t...
Consumer Safety -- Toys
Safety First for Holiday Toys Consumer advocates have come out with their annual holiday shopping tips designed to help Santas everywhere avoid dangerous toys. There is good reason for parents to be careful while picking out presents this holiday season. Even with new lead standards in place as ...