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• Missed, and Mis-Diagnoses

  Ken Margolin | March 19, 2007 1:30 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  There was an excellent article written by Dr. Jerome Groopman, of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, in today's Boston Globe, about the causes of medical misdiagnoses. When mis-, or missed, diagnoses occur, they can be deadly. The problem, writes Dr. Groopman, often stems from rigidity in the way doctors think about the symptoms presented by their patients. Dr. Groopman identifies three...

• Truck Accident Victims Unite for Change

  Ken Margolin | March 15, 2007 1:50 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Sometimes the only solace after a loved one has been killed due to corporate negligence and greed, is to join with other grieving families to lobby for change. That is just what the families of children killed by truck driver negligence did, in forming Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH). Together, they call themselves the Truck Safety...

• Asthma Drug Xolair Risks

  Ken Margolin | March 14, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Asthma is a highly-prevalent, yet also easily treatable condition. Drugs and inhalers can make asthma manageable for sufferers and enable them to suppress symptoms and to deal effectively with sudden, severe flare-ups. Asthma is often related to allergies and therefore responds to treatment by so-called "allergy shots." The benefit of this treatment is that the patient does not need to take...

• Is Law Enforcement the Way to Reduce Truck Accidents?

  Ken Margolin | March 08, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  I've posted a few blogs on this site, recounting the fearsome toll on the highways due to large truck accidents and truck driver negligence. The list of well-known causes of fatal truck accidents includes speed, excessive driver hours, drug use, oftentimes to help the driver stay awake, faulty equipment, and inadequate safety training. An excellent blog by Attorney Jeff Lowe, of Missouri,...

• Working Teens at Risk

  Ken Margolin | March 07, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  A disturbing article in Yahoo News the other day, described a serious problem with high school aged youths put in dangerous work situations. According to the piece, many teens between the ages of 14 and 18, were assigned to work with dangerous tools, with inadequate training, allowed to work excessive hours, or permitted to work with no adult supervision. Many of the violations noted were in...

• Choosing a Nursing Home

  Ken Margolin | March 06, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Cases of nursing home abuse are profoundly depressing. The saving thought for families forced to move a loved one from their home is that they will receive the care and the protection that they need in the home. Nursing home neglect or abuse is a betrayal of trust. Those facing the necessity of placing a family member in a nursing home can take some comfort from the realization that competent...

• The Atlanta Bus Tragedy

  Ken Margolin | March 05, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  A tragedy in Atlanta, Georgia, killed six members of the baseball team of Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio, and injured dozens of others. The Bluffton baseball team was traveling in a charter bus on highway I-75 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the way to games during the team's spring break. It appears that the bus took a left lane exit at full speed, the driver possibly thinking that he was in a...

• Workplace Assaults

  Ken Margolin | March 03, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that an average of 1.7 million people annually were the victims of non-lethal workplace assaults during the period 1993-1999. Leading the way for types of employment carrying the greatest risk of assault, were nursing homes and hospitals. Retail operations, such as grocery stores, also carried a surprisingly high risk...

• Sexual Assaults on People with Disabilities

  Ken Margolin | March 02, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  The Florida InjuryBoard law firm partner of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., just took on a case of an autistic young adult who was sexually assaulted while in the care of a group home. The obligation of organizations providing day and residential care for people with disabilities, to keep them safe from sexual assault, is undeniable. Sexual assaults on the disabled are...

• Dangerous Toys Still for Sale

  Ken Margolin | March 01, 2007 2:30 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Little has changed since I ran a blog some months ago, on dangerous toys. They are still out there, still for sale, and still marketed to the children most likely to be harmed by them. A number of consumer and advocacy groups put out lists of the year's most dangerous toys. The list by W.A.T.C.H. (world against toys causing harm), of the most dangerous toys of 2006, illustrates the kinds of...