Philadelphia Injury Lawyer Blog

Tuesday's chair lift accident at Maine's popular Sugarloaf ski resort injured a number of people, including several children. Eight people -- 5 adults and 3 children -- were injured seriously enough to be transported to a local hospital when the chair lift derailed. One of the injured was air-lifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys noted that accidents involving severe jolts and falls can result in serious back and neck injuries.

When the derailment occurred, ranks of lift chairs plunged 30 feet, tumbling several skiers out of their chairs and into the snow below. Scores of the 220 skiers on board the lift at the time of the accident were stranded in their chairs in the bitter cold for nearly two hours before rescue crews were able to lower them safely to the ground.

Although the 35-year-old ski lift had recently passed a required safety inspection, resort personnel said it was scheduled for replacement this coming summer, in part because of stability issues in high winds. Winds on the mountain were gusting to 40 mph on the morning of the accident which had caused the resort to close all ski lifts earlier that morning. The accident occurred about 10:30 a.m., not long after ski lifts were reopened. One eyewitness told Fox News that he had seen an employee working on the lift prior to the accident.
Authorities are investigating to determine whether a mechanical problem or strong winds or a combination of the two might have caused the accident.

The Maine accident put Pocono ski resort operators and safety authorities on alert. In an effort to prevent ski accidents at Pennsylvania's popular winter playground, this year the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry added a load test to the regular inspection procedures mandated for ski lifts. In addition to an annual state inspection, the 180 ski lifts operating in Pennsylvania's 23 ski areas undergo daily inspects by resort personnel.

Winter arrived with a vengeance Sunday, burying Philadelphia in 12.4 inches of snow while many surrounding areas received only a relatively minor dusting of 2 to 4 inches of snow. Even in areas without heavy snowfall, ice made Pennsylvania road conditions dangerously slippery, resulting in dozens of motor vehicle accidents. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers noted that multi-car accidents were common as cars lost traction and skidded into each other on icy Philadelphia streets. On the Pennsylvania Turnpike, strong winds caused dangerous whiteouts and hazardous snow drifts. Most Philadelphians who finally managed to dig out their cars and shovel their driveways were still trapped at home as weary road crews struggled to clear the streets. It was a good day to stay home.

Winter storms can turn Philadelphia streets into death traps, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys warn. Philadelphia drivers often fail to allow for the longer stopping distances required when navigating roads covered in snow and ice. City traffic, in particular, where cars travel in close packs as they hurry through changing traffic signals or crawl bumper-to-bumper during rush hour, is a magnet for serious personal injury car accidents. Even streets that appear to be free of snow can be sheeted with deadly, invisible black ice when melting snow refreezes.

To avoid being injured in a weather-related Philadelphia car accident, experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyers recommend ramping up defensive driving.

> Slow down and increase distance from the car in front of you to increase reaction time and maneuvering space.

> Allow at least a car length between you and the car in front of you at stoplights and in bumper-to-bumper traffic to avoid being trapped in chain-reaction accidents.

> Watch for skidding, out-of-control cars as you approach intersections, even if the light is in your favor.

> If you are injured in a car accident, consult a Philadelphia personal injury attorney about your rights.

The Grinch appears to be alive and well this Christmas, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers warn. A new study shows that the majority of holiday light strands sold in Philadelphia and across the U.S. may contain more lead than federal product safety standards permit in children's products. That's not news Philadelphia parents want to hear after decorating their homes and Christmas trees with holiday lights.

In a study of 68 holiday lights sold under popular brand names in Philadelphia stores, researchers found that 79% contained detectable amounts of lead. Even more disturbing, warn Philadelphia personal injury attorneys, 54% of the lights tested contained 30 times more lead than the federal children's safety limit of 600 parts per million (ppm). Because holiday lights are not marketed to children, they are not required to meet child safety standards. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys warn parents that the potential risk to their children could be significant and that the high levels of lead found in some holiday lights could also pose a risk to adults. Lead is known to cause serious neurological and reproductive injuries.

Holiday light testing was conducted by the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lead is a manufacturing component of the vinyl used to coat holiday light wires and bulb sockets. Researchers at the center tested popular varieties of holiday lights for several hazardous metals and chemicals, including lead, cadmium, arsenic and PVC. Test results found detectable lead in 4 out of 5 holiday light products. Nearly a third of the lights tested contained lead levels greater than 1,000 ppm, enough to make them illegal in Europe. California requires a warning label on electrical cords that contain a lead level of 1,000 ppm or greater.

Philadelphians are urged to keep holiday lights out of children's reach and wear gloves and wash their hands after handling holiday lights.

Children love toys that light up, make noise, play music or move. As every Philadelphia parent knows, noisy motion toys are the first to attract the attention of children on Christmas morning, particularly very young children. When Christmas shopping for their children, Philly parents understand the importance of buying age-appropriate toys and know to watch out for small parts that can present a choking hazard when they. But tiny toy pieces aren't the only hazard that may be lurking under your Christmas tree, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers warn. Few parents are aware of the potentially lethal hazard presented by the small lithium batteries that power many children's toys.

More than 3,500 people swallow small lithium batteries every year, according to the Washington D.C.-based National Capital Poison Center. Also called disc or button batteries, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that these miniature batteries are commonly used to power children's toys, games, singing greeting cards, flashing Christmas pins and other light-up jewelry, hearing aids, watches remote control devices and numerous other items from cat toys to cooking thermometers. While lithium batteries have allowed toys and other products to become smaller and lighter-weight, their ingestion triggers hundreds of potentially dangerous swallowing incidents in Philadelphia every year, particularly during the gift-giving holiday season. Battery swallowing emergencies have become so numerous that the National Capital Poison Center operates a 24/7 hotline dedicated to battery ingestion at 202-625-3333. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers also recommend that parents keep the phone number of the National Poison Control Center -- 800-222-1222 -- handy in case of emergency.

When children swallow a battery, it often passes harmlessly through the digestive tract and is eliminated in the stool. However, lithium batteries can become stuck. If this occurs, the battery can generate an electrical current that can burn through tissue, causing fatal internal injuries. Toys and games with screw on battery covers can help prevent battery swallowing accidents.

After 32 tragic deaths and years of lobbying by heart-sick parents and consumer advocates, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission yesterday banned the manufacture, sale and resale of drop-side cribs. In the past decade, 32 infants and toddlers in Philadelphia and across the country have been tragically suffocated or strangled to death in drop-side crib accidents. These cribs are also implicated in the entrapment deaths of another 14 children. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers urge parents of young children to immediately stop using drop-side cribs and make sure that these hazardous cribs are not in use by their child's day care provider.

A long-time industry standard, drop-side cribs have a kick plate connected to one of the side crib rails. When the plate is kicked, the crib side drops down, allowing parents to easily lift a child out of the crib. Investigations following infant deaths have found that the stress of repeatedly raising and lowering the crib side can cause hardware to weaken or break, allowing the drop side to separate from the crib structure and come off its track. Babies and toddlers can fall into the resulting gap and hang or suffocate to death.

A 2007 investigation by the Chicago Tribune led to the recall of one million drop-side cribs with several subsequent recalls eventually affecting more than 7 million drop-side cribs. As their dangers received increased publicity, the cribs began falling out of favor with parents; and manufacturers began offering more cribs with fixed sides. New safety standards proposed last year threatened to ban the use of drop-side cribs in hotels and day care centers. In response, major crib manufacturers voluntarily agreed to halt the manufacture of drop-side cribs earlier this year.

Yesterday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission finally enacted proposed safety standards and banned the manufacture, sale and resale of drop-side cribs. The ban will affect more than 59,000 day care center and 43,000 hotels which have 2 years to comply.

The first blast of winter brought snow showers, freezing rain, plummeting temperatures and icy roads to Pennsylvania as the first major winter storm blew out of the Midwest toward the Atlantic coast. While Philadelphia was spared the worst brunt of the storm, abnormally cold temperatures and blowing winds made roadway conditions icy and treacherous. From Pittsburgh to Waynesboro, blowing snow and dangerous ice closed roads and sent auto accident reports skyrocketing. Nearly 60 storm-related traffic accidents were reported to the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services on Friday alone. Pennsylvania State Police said traffic accidents were "too numerous to list." Philadelphia personal injury lawyers warn Philadelphia drivers to brush up on their winter driving skills and exercise extreme caution when driving on snow-covered and ice-slicked roads.

Winter always bring a significant increase in the number of Philadelphia personal injury auto accidents. Slippery roadways can take drivers by surprise. Invisible black ice can quickly send a vehicle skidding or spinning out of control. Slower speeds and longer stopping distances, especially on turns and in heavy traffic, are required to prevent winter accidents, warn Philadelphia personal injury attorneys.

When Philadelphia auto accidents result in serious personal injuries, accident victims are ill-prepared to deal with the legal aftermath. The physical and emotional strain of recovery, the financial pressure of lost income and mounting medical bills, the financial and emotional cost of lengthy recovery and the threat of permanent disability place enormous strain on accident victims and their families. The voluminous and confusing paperwork demanded by insurance companies and their constant pressure to settle accident claim burdens accident victims and their families with even greater stress. An experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can take that burden off families so accident victims can focus on recovery. An astute Philadelphia personal injury attorney can cut through the paperwork and red tape and see that you get the compensation you're entitled to.

A $5 million settlement is expected unleash a flood of wrongful death lawsuits against the makers of chewing tobacco, say experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorneys. This week, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. agreed to pay a $5 million settlement award to the family of a North Carolina man who died of mouth cancer in 2003. A tobacco chewer from the age of 13, Bobby Hill of Canton, NC was 42 when he died of cancer of the tongue. Hill's wife filed the wrongful death lawsuit against the maker of popular Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco products in 2005. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers say the $5 million award is the first wrongful death settlement won against a chewing tobacco company.

Lost in the harsh media spotlight shown on the connection between cancer and cigarettes, the dangers of smokeless tobacco products have drawn little press and few legal battles. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys expect this week's hefty settlement award to change that overnight. Smokeless tobacco products carry significant cancer risk. Chewing tobacco is addictive; users absorb twice as much nicotine as cigarette smokers. Smokeless tobacco use can cause cancer of the mouth, throat, lips, larynx and esophagus. According to American Cancer Society, tobacco use is responsible for 1 in 5 U.S. deaths.

While cigarette use has declined since 1964 when the U.S. Surgeon General first linked smoking to cancer, use of smokeless tobacco products has inched up. Erroneously considered less lethal than cigarettes, chewing tobacco is believed to be nearly risk free by many, particularly teens and young adults. According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, the average age of first-time chewing tobacco users is 10. Young women who use chewing tobacco to control weight gain are the fastest growing user group.

If you use chewing tobacco and have been diagnosed with cancer, consult a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

In an extremely tragic Pennsylvania accident case that has recently come to trial, two young girls were sadly killed while riding in the car of a teenage acquaintance.
Driver Thomas Kocon was driving his SUV about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia when it flipped over on Route 100 in December of 2009. Kocon, of North Coventry Township, was only 18 years old at the time of the crash.

The many young passengers in the vehicle at the time suffered unfortunate fates. Sixteen-year-old Andrea Antonio Harris and 15-year-old Breanne Brothers were killed in the crash while three other young girls were injured.

Charges in this case, including homicide by vehicle and recklessly endangering people, were filed against driver Thomas Kocon. Kocon recently pleaded guilty to the charges, entering the plea in late November 2010 in Montgomery, Pennsylvania.

Kocon’s defense attoney has noted that his client is “completely devastated.” The Mercury of Pottstown reports that Judge Joseph Smyth has deferred sentencing pending a background check on Kocon.

Similar cases, in which young, inexperienced drivers inadvertently injure or kill passengers, happen around Philadelphia as well as all over the country. In an effort to prevent such tragedies, so-called “Cinderella laws” have been instituted by some states in order to limit the number of passengers young drivers are allowed to transport in their vehicles at one time.

These cases can be absolutely emotionally taxing for both the families of the defendants as well as for the victims, as individuals struggle to be sure to obtain what they are entitled to, while making sense of and grieving over the accident. It’s always important to contact a Philadelphia injury attorney or a Philadelphia accident attorney who can help throughout the entire process.

Despite the fact that Johnson & Johnson, maker of the faulty DuPuy replacement hip, has recalled 93,000 DuPuy ASR hip implants and admitted that its hip implant is a "bad product," Philadelphia patients could get stuck paying the bill to correct the problem, warn Philadelphia personal injury attorneys. More than 300 hip replacement patients in Philadelphia and across the U.S. have complained to Johnson & Johnson about severe pain and difficulty walking, sitting and standing following recovery from hip replacement surgery in which the DuPuy ASR hip implant was used. Hip replacement surgery is considered a relatively uncomplicated procedure with a very good recovery rate and has become one of the more common surgical procedures performed in the U.S. today.

In issuing a voluntary product recall, Johnson & Johnson admitted that "a high than expected number of patients required a second hip procedure." Statistical data indicates that the DuPuy ASR hip implant has a 12% rate of failure. However, despite its admission of fault, Johnson & Johnson is now attempting to hold patients liable for implant failure, warn Philadelphia personal injury lawyers. To the frustration of hip replacement patients, Johnson & Johnson is refusing to pay the cost of a second hip replacement surgery to remove the faulty DuPuy implant and replace it with a different product.

Considered one of the most significant medical achievements of the last century, hip replacement surgery has allowed people crippled by severe arthritis to walk comfortably again. Hip replacement surgery can dramatically improve the comfort and mobility of patients whose hips have been damaged by disease or broken during a fall. First introduced in 1960, more than 193,000 hip replacement surgeries are performed in the U.S. annually.

Philadelphia residents who have undergone a hip replacement that used the DuPuy ASR hip implant are urged to contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney.