Medical poisonings in children have increased in the last several years, due to the high rate in which parents are filling prescriptions. In a Pediatrics study, the author explains that over 700,000 children in the United States under the age of 18 go to the emergency room every year because of poisonings and accidental medication exposures.
When an accidental child death occurs, a medical expert witness will be able to determine if it truly was unintentional or not. Since there are over 90,000 wrongful deaths each year, due to medical malpractice alone, the role of a medical expert witness can be a major one.
If a client is charged with Second Degree Murder due to the death of a child, a medical expert witness will be able to review medical records to determine the cause. In this example, the expert witness plays a crucial role in determining whether or not the individual is guilty of any wrongdoing.
Many children die after ingesting or absorbing lead. Exposure to the naturally occurring metal can lead to brain damage, blood issues, or even death. A medical expert witness will have knowledge of OSHA standards regarding lead, and also know how to detect the common signs of lead poisoning in children. The expert witness can perform a case review, or even help a lawyer with case development.
An expert witness will often provide testimony of key findings and facts about an accidental child death, such as one caused by Baby Shaken Syndrome. Their opinions and assessments can help to persuade a judge, jury or arbitrator.
Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice cases can be overwhelming, complicated, & time-consuming, often requiring the thorough review of several years of medical records.
Now, with the use of electronic medical records, the ability to clearly decipher a patients care is even more challenging.
An experienced Nursing professional can save you hours of time by outlining injuries and medical issues, summarizing medical history, and establishing possible relationships to the current injuries and/or outcome of a case.
At Saponaro Inc., our Nursing professionals have extensive experience reviewing, organizing, and summarizing voluminous medical records in a clear and concise fashion.
Clarify medical history prior to an injury in question.
Explain injuries related to an accident/malpractice.
Assist medical experts in analysis of the electronic medical records
Outline potential deviations and potential defendants.
Explain medical issues and terminology.
Recommend the type of Expert needed.
Conduct literature research.
Our highly qualified Nursing professionals will provide you with a straight-forward analysis of the medical records to help you pinpoint the pertinent issues of your case before you invest significant financial resources and non-billable hours on a case with a limited recovery value.
In November of 2012, 59 Cleveland police cruisers were involved in a car chase and mass shooting incident when two unarmed individuals were killed in a hail of 137 rounds of bullets. Some 13 officers fired their weapons, despite the fact that no one had shot at the officers. During the pursuit, many of the officers had not followed instructions about switching their radios to the main communications channel and therefore did not hear orders to discontinue the chase. (more…)
Over the past two decades, the number of truck accidents has increased by 20%.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in 2002, 4,897 individuals died and 130,000 people were injured in crashes that involved a large truck. Trucking accidents typically cause much greater harm than ordinary traffic accidents due to the large size and heavy weight of most trucks of up to 10,000 pounds.
Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) accidents involve complex litigation around regulatory issues and industry standards of care. Our truck accident expert witnesses can provide in-depth analysis, accident reconstruction, and testimony for a variety of issues, including (but not limited to):
Events that should never occur in surgery (“never events”) happen at least 4,000 times a year in the U.S., according to research from Johns Hopkins University.
The finding published in Surgery, is the first of its kind to reveal the true extent of the prevalence of “never events” in hospitals through analysis of national malpractice claims.They observed that over 80,000 “never events” occurred between 1990 and 2010.
They estimate that at least 39 times a week a surgeon leaves foreign objects inside their patients, which includes surgical items such as towels or sponges. In addition, surgeons performing the wrong surgery or operating on the wrong body part occurs around 20 times a week.1
After Hurricane Sandy did catastrophic damage up and down the East Coast, 450,000 private insurance claims were filed in New Jersey alone. Estimates of property damage, business expenses and other losses have exceeded $80 billion, with estimated insured losses in the $25 billion range. Questions of causation, business interruption, water damage, reinsurance coverage, and more have all come to the forefront. Unfortunately, claim denials, underpayments of insurance claims, undervalued damage estimates, lowball insurance settlements, delayed payments or deceptive practices can infringe on legal rights.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists are 35 times more likely to experience a deadly accident on the road than those in cars, with head injury being the leading cause of death in motorcycle accidents. Additionally, while deaths in most other categories have gone down over the last 10 years, motorcycle fatalities have actually increased.
This trend demonstrates the need for qualified experts with specific knowledge about motorcycle accidents and accident reconstruction. Saponaro, Inc. can provide a cost-effective, physics based Impact Severity Analysis to provide clarification of the extent of impact and injury caused to your client in a motorcycle or automobile collision. (more…)
Personal injury cases require detailed evidence in a court of law. There are a variety of resources to use when presenting a personal injury case in a court room. No matter how a client was injured, from a traffic accident to medical negligence, trial technology can help build a visual that will help strengthen a personal injury case.
See how your personal injury case can benefit from using trial technology: (more…)
Employment litigation has tripled in the past decade to more than one-third of all lawsuits filed in the federal courts of the United States. Regulations, compliance, and assessments are increasing in complexity, and the number of employee suits filed each year continues to rise.
Saponaro, Inc. understands how to effectively and efficiently evaluate and refer an expert to address your employer-employee relations issues. If you are involved in employment litigation, and need a knowledgeable expert, please contact us.
When a person enters a hospital or other medical facility, they do so expecting the highest standards of care, and to leave in better condition than they first entered. While no one enters a medical facility with the intent of being harmed, injuries still occur.
While it’s not possible to completely eliminate your risk for medical malpractice, you can take some steps to reduce your risks:
Research: Before scheduling a doctor’s appointment, take some time to do some research of your own. There are many websites out there that will tell you malpractice rates for any facility, as well as sites that provide records and reviews on individual doctors.
Observe for Cleanliness: When you arrive at the office or facility, look around. Is everything clean and sterile? Do you observe doctors and nurses washing their hands and following other proper medical procedures? According to MIT Technology Review, about 100,000 people have died due to hospital infections, some of which stemmed from doctors, nurses, and technicians not washing well enough.
Ask Questions: Is the doctor knowledgeable about your condition, and able to provide satisfactory answers? If you feel like your doctor doesn’t seem to know or care about your condition, find another doctor.
Most doctors carry medical malpractice insurance to protect themselves and the cost of their legal defense should a medical malpractice case come about. The plaintiff, on the other hand, will need to hire a personal injury lawyer. Lawyers on both sides will call medical experts to either confirm or deny that the doctor’s conduct and actions fell below the standard of care.
If you believe that you are a victim of medical malpractice, contact an attorney to find out whether or not you have a case.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death in children in 2012. Some of the main reasons for accidental child death—reported by The National MCH Center for Child Death Review—are motor vehicle accidents, drowning, suffocation, poisoning and firearms.
