It’s an uncomfortable and common experience among patients: leaving a clinic or a doctor’s office and not feeling reassured, but rather feeling uncertain about the diagnosis and proposed treatment. Maybe the doctor didn’t fully explain something, or maybe the patient was reticent to ask a question. When these concerns crop up, it is extremely important […]
Will Fatal Bus-Truck Accident Spur New Safety Regulations?
If you’ve been following national news, you may have seen ongoing reports of a fatal bus-truck collision in California. A tractor-trailer collided with a motorcoach that was carrying about 40 high school students, and a bus window had to be kicked out for many of the students to escape. Flames engulfed the truck and the bus, […]
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop, P.C., Files Lawsuit Against Cab Companies and Cab Driver After Rear-End Collision
Family awarded nearly $3 million in medical malpractice suit
People who are in pain may find relief in the hands of their physicians. However, when the physician overlooks a major problem, this can make the patient’s health problems worse, causing permanent injuries as well as emotional distress. In extraordinary circumstances, the patient may end up taking his or her life as a result of […]
Hospitals Using Standardization to Combat Medical Errors
In the last 15 years, studies of U.S. hospitals have revealed a disturbing frequency of patient deaths resulting from medical mistakes that could have been prevented. According to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, the annual number of deaths caused by preventable hospital errors was estimated to be as high as 98,000. Many […]
Laser Offenses an Increasing Problem in Aviation Safety
Because of the serious risk of aircraft accidents, it is now illegal to point a laser at a helicopter or an airplane. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 raised the penalties for so-called “lasing” offenses, one response to the number of reported laser incidents having increased by 1,000 percent since 2005. A quick […]
Electronic Logs Proposed for Truck Drivers’ Hours of Service
Keeping hours-of-service records is a primary safety requirement for truck drivers and trucking companies. Truck drivers are required to log their hours and take rest breaks to avoid fatigue, which too often is a contributing factor in serious truck accidents. However, the accumulated data in truck drivers’ logbooks can be unwieldy for investigators and regulators. […]
Cholesterol and Diabetes Drugs Recalled over Mistaken Bottling
As consumers and patients, we rely on product manufacturers and distributors to ensure that products are reasonably safe and properly labeled. Unfortunately, when companies fail in this regard, defective products can have devastating consequences. People who have been affected by a dangerous product need to be aware of their right to hold the responsible party accountable. With […]
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop, P.C., Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Victim of Semitruck Accident
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop filed a personal injury case today on behalf of a driver who was seriously injured when a semitractor-trailer traveling on Interstate 294 outside of Chicago swerved across four lanes of traffic and caused a six- vehicle collision. The swerving semitractor-trailer caused the victim’s vehicle to smash into the concrete median resulting […]
Lawmakers: Why Did GM Not Heed Complaints over Deadly Defects?
Legislators want to know why General Motors declined to fix deadly auto defects that were allowed to go to market for a decade. So far, an ongoing investigation has linked 13 deaths to defective ignition switches in a variety of GM models. The problem with 1.6 million recalled cars is that their electrical systems and […]
Illinois High Court Upholds Law Protecting Construction Workers
If you have been injured in the course of your employment, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. However, these benefits often fail to cover the full cost of a work injury. Many injured workers have to file a civil lawsuit in conjunction with a workers’ compensation claim in order to receive the compensation they […]
Helicopter Pilots Must Adhere to New FAA Rules
About 10 years ago, the Federal Aviation Administration began ramping up efforts to improve helicopter safety — in particular for air ambulances. The ensuing four years saw a decline in helicopter crashes, but in 2008 the FAA reported a record number of helicopter fatalities. In light of the 2008 accidents and other data collected over the […]
Investigation of Cargo Plane Crash Points to Pilot Fatigue as a Factor
In recent years, the Federal Aviation Administration has addressed the problem of fatigue among on-duty airline pilots. Studies have shown that operator fatigue can result in impairment similar to the effects of alcohol, and federal restrictions are currently in place to help ensure that pilots get enough sleep. However, when the FAA presented its new […]
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop, P.C., Brings Lawsuit on Behalf of Woman Injured in Dangerous Parking Lot
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop filed a premises liability case today on behalf of a 54-year-old woman who seriously injured her right arm when she slipped and fell on snow and ice in a parking lot. The lawsuit alleges the parking lot was owned and controlled by a country club that failed to keep the parking lot […]
New rule issued to improve helicopter safety
Helicopter safety is an important issue in the United States as helicopter crashes can cause catastrophic and fatal injuries for those involved. Helicopter safety has been pushed to the front of the line by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA recently published their final rule for helicopter safety. The rule is meant to address the […]
Fatal aviation accident may have been caused by fatigue
A fatal cargo jet crash that happened last August may have had several warning signs, according to data presented to the National Transportation Safety Board on the fatal accident. The UPS cargo jet accident happened in Alabama last summer after two UPS pilots tried to land at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Reports of the fatal aviation […]
Serious Violations Preceded Deadly Truck Accident
A Chicago-area trucker is facing four felony charges for behavior leading up to a deadly wreck on I-88. The semi-truck accident occurred two weeks ago and claimed the life of a toll-way worker. It also left an Illinois State Trooper with critical injuries. As a result of his actions, the truck driver has been labeled an “imminent […]
Severe Turbulence Causing Infant to Fly Out of Parent’s Arms During Flight Is a Reminder of the Dangers of the Infant Seat Exception
When a United Airlines flight from Denver, Colorado, to Billings, Montana, encountered severe turbulence yesterday afternoon injuring five passengers, an infant flew out of his or her parent’s arms and landed in another seat. Though the infant fortunately did not appear injured, the flight incident is but another reminder of the dangers inherent in children […]
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop, P.C., Attorneys Participate in American Association for Justice (AAJ) Winter Convention
Rapoport Sims Perry & VanOverloop partners David Rapoport and Michael Teich attended the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Winter Convention in New Orleans. AAJ, the world’s largest trial bar, is dedicated to ensuring fair and effective justice for people injured by the misconduct or negligence of others. The organization’s members work together to promote fairness […]
Drug Use And Fatal Car Wrecks
Recent polls conducted by CNN and CBS indicate that the American public supports the legalization of marijuana for the first time. According to a study conducted by Columbia University researchers, pot use is increasingly a factor in deadly car accidents. Over the past 10 years, the number of fatal crashes in which a driver had marijuana […]
