Archive for June, 2009

The Seattle Times (WA) ran a story involving a 41-year-old man who neglected his mother and was charged with first-degree manslaughter after her death.

Christopher Wise called the police after his 88-year-old mother, Ruby, had passed away. Upon finding the boyd, authorities said Ruby’s body was extremely emaciated and that a pressure sore on her shoulder blade went as deep as the bone. Weighing 70 lbs. at her time of death, Ruby was found wearing only a hospital robe and soiled adult diaper while laying in a bed stained with blood, urine, feces and pus.

A medical examiner attributed Ruby’s death to complications with the eight large and extremely deep pressure sores on her body.

Christopher was his mother’s sole caregiver for the past decade and it had been two years since his mother had seen a doctor.

Neighbors told authorities that they could hear the woman moaning and yelling for help since April. During their investigation, they found earplugs in the living room. Wise would admit that he used the earplugs to drown out his mother’s moans.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home abuse practice. Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team is the largest in the state and has successfully represented abused and neglected nursing home residents throughout Wisconsin.

We’ve shown you how to keep up with food recalls using the Food and Drug Administration’s web site, so here’s a link to keep you up to speed on product recalls:

http://www.cpsc.gov/

At the CPSC web site, you can sign up for email updates. Each time a recall is declared you’ll receive an email describing the product or model being recalled, the potential danger or injury associated with the product and how to dispose of the product. Everything from children’s toys to common household items are included in these email updates.

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

A Racine County jury slapped a 3-time drunk driver with a $457,000 guilty verdict for rear-ending and injuring a Janesville man while driving under the influence near Burlington, Wis.

According to police reports, Kevin Armstrong, 49, of Delavan, Wis., crashed his Ford F-150 into the rear of Todd Needham’s pick-up truck as Needham waited for the traffic light at the intersection of Highway 50 and Highway P.

Armstrong was taken intocustody before being taken to a local hospital for Field Sobriety tests and a blood draw. The laboratory tests showed Armstrong had a BAC of 0.328.

The accident was Armstrong’s third drunk driving offense.

Needham suffered back and neck injuries in the collision.

“It’s absolutely tragic that the criminal courts failed to keep this repeat offender off the road,” said Needham’s attorney Tom Kyle. “I only hope the drunk drivers hear about this verdict and make wiser decisions.”

The verdict awarded $350,000 in punitive damages and $107,767 in compensatory damages to the plaintiff. The $350,000 is by far one of the largest punitive damage awards ever reported in Racine County for a drunk driving accident.

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

Nestle USA voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products today. The recall comes after a number of illnesses were reported by those who ate the dough raw.

The FDA is investigating potential E. coli illnesses related to the raw dough.

There have been 66 reports of illness across 28 states since March. The FDA is advising consumers to throw away any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their homes.

The recall inludes:

• refrigerated cookie bar dough
• cookie dough tub
• cookie dough tubes
• limited edition cookie dough items
• seasonal cookie dough
• Ultimates cookie bar dough

An AP article tells the story of a consumer who used Zicam.

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

(HealthDay News) – Assisted living housing may be the ideal solution for an aging person who can’t quite live alone, but who doesn’t need the complete services of a nursing home.

Rotary International offers this list of assisted living options:

• Individual apartments or homes — which are part of a senior community, where social activity, security and supervision are there if needed.
• Congregate housing — which offers independent living in private residences, but with the benefit of community meals and activities.
• Assisted living housing — which offers help with some daily activities, such as bathing, dressing and cooking.
• Board and care housing — which offers community meals and activities, and assistance with activities such as bathing and grooming, getting dressed and using the toilet.
• Continuing-care retirement communities — which are senior-housing complexes that offer a variety of assisted living options, often from independent quarters to nursing facilities.

Consumers should stop using Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and related products. According to federal health regulators, they can permenantly damagee the sense of smell.

Matrixx Initiatives, the products’ manufacturer, has also been ordered to stop marketing the products and remove the products from store shelves.

The over-the-counter products contain zinc, an ingredient scientists say may damage nerves in the nose needed for smell.

The other products affected by the FDA recall include adult and kid-size Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs.

According to the FDA, about 130 customers have reported a loss of smell after using Zicam products since 1999.

The FDA said Zicam Cold Remedy was never formally approved because it is part of a small group of remedies that are not required to undergo federal review before launching. Known as homeopathic products, the formulations often contain herbs, minerals and flowers.

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

Three people have died in a two-vehicle collision on U.S. 41 in Brown County Friday morning.

A male driver traveling north in the southbound lane of U.S. 41 shortly before 1a.m. struck a southbound sedan carrying three people head-on.

Two women in the southbound sedan died while a male passenger is in critical condition.

The male, traveling the wrong way in a Jeep Libery, died at the scene. Alcohol is believed to be a factor, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The Sheriff’s Department also reported that the Jeep was involved in a crash near Wisconsin 172 just prior to the fatal accident.

Highway 41 is no stranger to these types of accidents. A main transportation artery that stretches from Illinois to the upper peninsula of Michigan claimed 37 lives in druken-driving accidents from 2003-07.

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 car accident cases through out the state.  Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

A 40-year-old woman was found guilty of financially exploiting and neglecting a disabled man who was in her care.

Helen Lloyd first met the victim when she cared for him at Hillside Center in Wilmington.

Given permission by the victim’s family, he was moved from the long-term care facility and went to live with Lloyd.

The victim was bedridden with a history of stroke, partial paralysis and seizure disorder.

Lloyd became the victim’s payee for his monthly Social Security income, which was supposed to be used for his personal care and rent.

An investigation by the Newark police, tthe Attorney General’s office, protective services and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General concluded Social Security payments to Lloyd exceeded the amount needed to provide for the victim’s care and rent.

The investigation also found Lloyd continued to collect the victim’s Social Security income for three months after her care for him ended.

In May 2008, Protective Service caseworkers visited a Newark address where the victim was living to find him alone in a hospital bed in the dining room with no sheets on the bed. He was hospitalized with bed sores and removed from Lloyd’s care.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home abuse practice. Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected nursing home residents in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Falls in the elderly can have serious consequences. We have seen many cases of falls at nursing homes that could’ve been avoided or prevented.  We have also seen many residents die as a result of fractures and brain injuries caused by a fall. In fact, the Wisconsin Nursing Homes and Residents annual report shows that 24% of nursing home residents have fallen in the past 30 days, and 26% had fallen in the past 31 days to 180 days.

Here are some steps from the American Academy of Family Physicians that you can take to minimize the risk of falls:

First, be sure your home is as safe as possible.

• Wear shoes with nonskid soles (not house slippers).
• Be sure your home is well lit so that you can see things you might trip over.
• Use night lights in your bedroom, bathroom, hallways and stairways.
• Remove throw rugs or fasten them to the floor with carpet tape. Tack down carpet edges.
• Don’t put electrical cords across pathways.
• Have grab bars put in your bathtub, shower and toilet area.
• Have handrails put on both sides of stairways.
• Don’t climb on stools and stepladders. Get someone else to help with jobs that call for climbing.
• Don’t wax your floors at all, or use a non-skid wax.
• Have sidewalks and walkways repaired so that surfaces are smooth and even.

Next, get regular check-ups from your doctor, and take good care of yourself:

• Have your eyes checked every year for vision changes, cataracts, glaucoma and other eye problems.
• Have your hearing checked every two years, or anytime you or others think that you can’t hear well.
• See your doctor if you have foot pain or corns, or if you can’t trim your toenails well. Sore feet could make you fall.
• See your doctor right away if you feel dizzy, weak or unsteady on your feet, if you feel confused, or if you fall.
• Let your doctor know if a medicine is making you feel dizzy or making you lose your balance.
• If your doctor wants you to use a cane or a walker, learn how to use it–and then use it all the time.
• When you get up from bed during the night or in the morning, sit on the side of the bed for a minute or two before you stand up. This will give your blood pressure time to adjust, and you will feel less dizzy.
• If you need to go to the bathroom often at night, consider using a bedside commode.
• And keep your body in good shape:
• Get regular exercise, especially walking.
• Do exercises to strengthen the muscles you use for walking and lifting.
• Don’t smoke.
• Limit your alcohol intake to two drinks or less a day.