Archive for October, 2008

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be ready to launch their Nursing Home Compare Web site by the end of 2008.  Their new, five-star system will help consumers search for a nursing home.

The innovative new system rates America’s nursing home by giving each a “star” rating similar to that used in the hospitality industry.

CMS hopes the system will provide patients and their families with an easy-to-understand assessment of nursing home quality, making meaningful distinctions between high performing and low performing homes.

The ratings will be posted on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web site by the end of this year.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the CMS web site.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm that handles nursing home abuse and neglect cases.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

Scientists for the FDA will go back and review previously ignored studies to determine if bisphenol A is safe in baby bottles and other products.

The Science Board, an advisory committee to the FDA and the FDA’s commissioner, will meet Friday to discuss their next move.

Earlier in October, Canada’s health regulatory agency reviewed the same evidence as the FDA and declared bisphenol A toxic and is now moving to ban its use, import and advertising in baby bottles and other children’s products.

The vastly different conclusions have American politicians questioning how well the FDA is protecting the American public.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a building block for polycarbonate plastic.   Examples of polycarbonate plastics include reusable food and drink containers i.e. baby and water bottles.  These polycarbonate items may leech this chemical into liquids.

Here’s a bisphenol A fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

Last week, we spent some time discussing the Journal Sentinel series on alcohol and its effects on the people of Wisconsin.  Well, one of our attorneys, Jonathan Groth, posted a drunk driving poll on his personal blog.  The post is called Operating While Under the Influence Poll.

A comment submitted by one of Jon’s readers raised an interesting question.  Do states with harsher laws on drunk driving have less drunk driving related accidents?

After a little research, we found a study published in Injury Prevention magazine which concludes states with stronger countermeasures have less self reported instances of drunk driving.   Click here to read the entire study.

According to the study, Wisconsin received a ‘B’ from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) based on the following criteria:

1. Presence of DUI laws
2. Trends in percentage of traffic fatalities that were alcohol related
3. Political leadership by the governor and state legislature
4. Completeness and availability of statistics and records
5. Resources devoted to enforcing DUI laws
6. Administrative penalties and criminal sanctions
7. Regulatory control and availability
8. Youth legislation, prevention and education
9. Victim compensation and support

The following week after the Journal Sentinel series Gov. Doyle announce that sobriety checkpoints will be on agenda in January.  Wisconsin is one of 12 states that do not allow sobriety checkpoints.  State legislators may also propose mandatory prison time for those convicted of five or more drunken driving offenses and ignition interlocks.  Click here for the article.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

You should immediately report your concerns to the nursing home administrator, director of nursing and social worker.

You should write down what happened, when and why you feel that it is abusive or neglectful for your own personal record/file.

If you think the law has been broken, you should call the police. You can also report your concerns to the Ombudsman (resident advocate) for the nursing home.

Finally, you should report the neglect or abuse to the Division of Quality Assurance to investigate. It is very important to report and document the neglect or abuse. Be persistent and patient.

-Attorney Jeffrey Pitman

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm that handles nursing home abuse and neglect cases.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

The FDA may upgrade warnings on Pfizer’s antismoking drug Chantix.  A nonprofit safety group referred to a string of traffic accidents and seizures involving individuals on the drug.  Blackouts and temporary loss of vision have also been reported.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices said 1,001 serious incidents involving Chantix users were reported in the first three months of this year.  That’s more than the total number of serious incidents for the top 10 most-prescribed brand-name drugs combined.

The FDA is currently reviewing the reports to see if the current labeling related to the accidents is adequate.  The FDA is already investigating previous reports of serious psychiatric and suicidal behavior linked to the drug.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Journal Sentinel concludes it’s five part series on the drinking culture in Wisconsin with an examination of U.S. Hwy. 41.  A main transportation artery that stretches from Illinois to the upper peninsula of Michigan claimed 37 lives in druken-driving accidents from 2003-07.

Click here to view a JS Online map highlighting alcohol related crashes.

Looking back at the series, it’s completely shocking. The accidents, the deaths, and the toll they take on family AND the community.  Hopefully, this series has shed some light on the severity of drunk driving and the frequency in which it occurs in Wisconsin.

Take some time to read through the entire series from the drinking culture in Wisconsin to the deadly accidents along Hwy. 41 and ask yourself these questions:

Do drunk drivers in Wisconsin get too many chances? Does something need to be done?

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state. Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

While researching one of our cases, I came across this web site: Road Safe America.   This organization was created by Steve and Susan Owings after one of their sons was killed in a tragic auto accident involving a semi tractor-trailer. 

Here’s a brief introduction from their web site:

Cullum Owings was killed in 2002 while trying to return to college following a visit home for Thanksgiving when his car − stopped in an interstate traffic jam − was crushed from behind by a speeding tractor trailer truck on cruise control. Since then, Road Safe America has been working to limit semi truck accidents by focusing on:

• Educating truck drivers and the public about the risks associated with trucks and passenger vehicles sharing our nation’s highways, through printed materials and media campaigns.
• Enforcing speed limit laws by supporting law enforcement safety initiatives that prevent trucking accidents.
• Working with policymakers and elected officials to develop laws that will help prevent injury and loss of life on America’s roadways due to semi truck accidents.
• Honoring the companies, trucking firms officials and others who help us achieve our mission.

If you recall, Wisconsin had a few noteworthy truck accidents already this year.   The Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare doctor who was killed when a tire fell off a truck’s rear-axle and bounded over the median and into his windshield, the 81-year-old nursing home patient who was struck by a semi just outside Bluffwood Meadows nursing home near Sumpter, WI, and the motorist who was hit by a semi after exiting his broken down vehicle on I-94 in Racine county. 

Hopefully, we’ll be able to avoid accidents like these in the future if we follow the lead of Steve and Susan Owings.  To learn more on how to get involved, visit their web site at www.roadsafeamerica.com

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put together this interesting graphic illustrating where Wisconsin ranks among the other states in several different alcohol-related studies.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state. Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

According to a State Farm Insurance study, the five most dangerous intersections in Wisconsin are all in Milwaukee suburbs.  The title of “Most Dangerous Intersection in Wisconsin” goes to Bluemound and Calhoun Roads in Brookfield with 120 crashes last year.  State officials say that traffic volume, not road design is responsible.

If that’s the most dangerous place to drive, then when is the worst time to drive?  The most fatalties occur on Sunday mornings between 2am and 3am, better known as closing time for most bars in Wisconsin.  May, June and July are the deadliest months of the year to drive with July being the worst.

Even though your gut feeling may say most accidents occur at intersections, statistics show that the greatest number of collisions occur at non-intersection locations.  Almost three times as many fatalties occurred at non-intersections when compared to intersections.

What’s the moral of the story?  Be careful regardless of when and where you travel and don’t drink and drive.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state. Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Senitinel is running a five-part series on alcohol and Wisconsin. The series highlights Wisconsin’s fondness for, and abuse of, alcohol.  The series does a commendable job of bringing alcohol abuse and the state’s lack of enforcement to the forefront.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula has represented several individuals who have been victims of these circumstances.  In fact, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a similar story on one of our clients who was recently injured by a habitual drunk driver in Waukesha, WI.  You can read that article here.

In Wisconsin, the law allows injured victims of drunk driving collisions to collect compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and incidentals along with punitive damages.  Punitive damages are meant, in part, to punish the drunk driver for his/her disregard of another’s rights.

Here are the links to the Journal Sentinel stories:

Sunday, October 18th - Drinking, a part of Wisconsin Culture

Monday, October 19th – Felony Drunk Drivers Avoid Prison

Tuesday, October 21st – Costs of Drunk Driving

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state. Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.