LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL PINES
Personal Injury, it's all we do.

As personal injury attorneys, we believe it is necessary for all Americans to have the right amount of health care.  The current recession has caused state budgets to cut back on health care.

One group of Americans this affects more than any other group is children.  Children with personal injuries and their parents have found it more difficult to get treatment and care for childrens’ injuries.

Childrens’ hospitals and pediatricians are hit the worst by state budget cuts.  Even though children make up about half of Medicaid’s clients, their numbers have increased to 22 million children who get their health coverage from Medicaid or a state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

States usually offer CHIP, which is aimed at families with more income than Medicaid patients, as part of their Medicaid programs.  Both programs are funded with state and federal help.

Specialists who take Medicaid are increasingly more difficult to find.  A recent survey says over 1,800 practices said they no longer accept new Medicaid patients.  Some of these specialists who deal with spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries that do not take new Medicaid patients make it more difficult on children that need them.

Children’s hospitals have been cutting back as well.  According to a new survey polling the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, 20% of the 42 hospitals responding say they had to cut or consider reducing clinical services because of the recession.  This could seriously affect how we handle children’s injuries.  An economic downtown should not be the reason for reduced amounts of health care – especially in children.  Children need health coverage more than other age groups because they do not have work related benefits or social security.

As personal injury lawyers, we believe that all Americans have the right to proper health care.  Some age groups like children and the elderly depend on these federal health care programs, so it is necessary for these programs to be available to them.

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

Synthes Inc., a medical device maker located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and four of its executives were indicted on June 16, 2009 on federal charges they incorrectly promoted a bone filler for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Adminstration.

The wrongful promotion of Norian XR caused the wrongful deaths of three people, and makes Synthes responsible for fines of up to $8 million.

As personal injury lawyers who handle medical malpractice lawsuits, we believe it is important for companies who create treatments and products that cure personal injury should not market its products for uses they were not designed for.

The use of medical products in ways it was not designed can cause lead to personal injury or wrongful death.  A medical device used improperly can cause more severe or permanent disabilities like paralysis (i.e. paraplegia & quadriplegia) or wrongful death.

The people charged in the medical malpractice mistake are Michael B. Huggins, president of the Synthes spinal division, Thomas E. Higgins, senior vice president for global strategy, Richard E. Bohner, vice president for operations and John J. Walsh, a regulatory affairs executive.

Federal prosecutors charged Synthes and Norian Corporation with running an unauthorized trial of the bone filler in spinal procedures known as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.  The wrongful death of three people were linked to those procedures, but they cannot prove the Synthes product caused the wrongful deaths.

The four executives were charged with criminal misdemeanors involving the shipment of unapproved medical devices.  No punishment can replace the three lives that were lost because of a medical mistake that could have been easily avoided.

As personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice claims, we find it disappointing to find out doctors are improperly using medical devices because the company producing those devices were marketed improperly.

That irresponsibility caused the wrongful deaths of three people.  Hopefully, these and other wrongful deaths will make companies think twice before repeating the same mistake.

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough has been recalled and federal health officials are warning consumers to throw out packages they have purchased because of risks of an E. coli infection.

As products liability attorneys, we believe that if a loved one or you suffer a personal injury due to a defective product such as cookie dough, the maker of that product should be held accountable for any pain and suffering you endure. We confront cases frequently when companies fail to manufacture products that are safe to use by consumers. 

Hiring a products liability lawyer in the event of personal injury as a result of unsafe products can help you receive a settlement that can help pay for any medical bills related to the products.

Teenage and preteen girls account for most of the 65 reported illnesses from an E. coli outbreak that has spanned 29 states.  At least 25 people have been hospitalized, including seven with a severe personal injury that can cause kidney failure. 

There have been no wrongful deaths reported, and no state has yet seen more than five cases, signaling that the outbreak is more scattered.

The FDA said that consumers shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough or bake the Toll House products since that could risk spreading E. coli through handling or on food-preparation surfaces. The E. coli strain can cause personal injury such as bloody diarrhea, dehydration and even wrongful death among people with weak immune systems.

As products liability lawyers, we know information is vital when defective products can lead to personal injury or wrongful death. We want everyone to feel safe in the products they use and not at risk for pain and suffering because a product liability slipped through the cracks.

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced products liability attorney — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

The plane crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, New York operated by Colgan Air earlier this year caused the wrongful death of 50 people.  Federal officials have realized new rules should be passed regarding how long pilots fly before they rest.

Pilots who do not sleeep enough can cause the same event a driver can without sleep: a plane crash or car accident that leads to personal injury or wrongful death.

As car accident attorneys, we know fatigue can lead to car accidents that can cause personal injury or wrongful death.  Drowsy driving leads to hundreds of car accidents every year.

The trucking industry can be responsible for some of these types of auto accidents.  Truckers can sometimes work long shifts (sometimes overnight), and these truckers are vulnerable to driving without enough rest or falling asleep at the wheel.

Car accidents or semi-truck crashes can lead to personal injury like whiplash or traumatic brain injuries like concussions.  Wrongful death can occur in severe auto accidents.

Federal investigators have a reason to believe fatigue played a role in the Buffalo crash.  The first officer flew all night from her home in Seattle to Newark where the Buffalo flight started.  The pilot flew in from Florida and showed signs of fatigue on the cockpit recorder.

The airline industry has been hesitant to change the rules that govern flight and hours, but because of the recent Buffalo crash, the Federal Aviation Administration may be more willing to change their regulations.

Doing this would make pilots more rested while they are in the air transporting hundreds of commuters every day.  These men and women are responsible for many lives, and they should take every step necessary to ensure their safety … including getting the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep every day.

As car accident attorneys, we believe responsibility of drivers to not get behind the wheel of a car is just as important as pilots getting behind the controls of an airplane.  Both methods of travel are used by millions of Americans every year, so everyone must do their part to ensure safe travel without personal injury or wrongful death.

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

A vast majority of the world’s countries — 85 percent– lack adequate laws to address the growing problem of wrongful deaths and personal injuries from car accidents, according to the World Health Organization’s first global report on road safety.

Traffic injuries are the ninth leading cause of wrongful death worldwide, and public health experts say that without intervention they will rise to fifth within 20 years, surpassing AIDS and tuberculosis.

As car accident attorneys and wrongful death lawyers, we believe that these shocking statistics are too high and encourage all drivers to obey the laws of the road as you never know when safe driving will prevent a car accident.   

In addition to causing tremendous personal suffering, traffic deaths and personal injuries can cause high medical bills for families and burden already strained health systems.  Creating and enforcing laws that require seat belts and helmets and punish drunken driving is a proven, cost-effective injury prevention strategy.

“Very few people realize that this is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and the leading cause of death for young people,” Dr. Krug said. “Because it happens one by one, here and there and not in mass events, it gets less attention.”

As wrongful death attorneys and auto accident lawyers, we believe that safety comes first when operating a motorized vehicle but know that no one is immune from being in a car crash and that at any given time an automobile accident can happen.   

Please feel free to call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced automobile accident lawyer.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.

A new report was published by the World Health Organization which found that nearly half of the 1.2 million people killed in car accidents around the world each year are not in cars.  They are on motorcycles and bicycles or walking along roadsides.

Each year, over 60,000 people suffer a wrongful death and 100,000 are personally injured in pedestrian accidents in the United States.  Car, truck, taxicab and motorcycle drivers are usually to blame for pedestrian accidents, but oftentimes it is distracted or drunk drivers (DUI) that cause pedestrian accidents.  This is not alright with us, as pedestrian accident attorneys.

Car accidents were the 10th-leading cause of death in the world in 2004, behind lung cancer and ahead of diabetes, and they are on track to become the fifth-leading cause by 2030.

The report found that high-income countries, such as the United States and most of the nations in Europe, have about 52 percent of registered cars but only 8.5 percent of car accident deaths.  Shockingly low income countries have 9 percent of the world’s cars but account for almost 42 percent of traffic deaths.

No matter where you live pedestrian accidents result in the wrongful deaths of many people each year.  In addition to causing wrongful deaths, a pedestrian accident can cause a loved one or you personal injury and pain and suffering. 

As pedestrian accident attorneys, we know that auto accidents happen, but there are always ways of preventing them in the future.  Car drivers can be as careful as possible but still never see a pedestrian.  The easiest way to avoid a pedestrian accident is to make sure that car drivers can see you.

Please feel free to call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.

The top U.S. air-safety regulator said that within a few months he hopes to draft tougher rules to alleviate fatigue among commuter airline pilots.  Fatigue among pilots – just as in car accidents – often result in a crash which can cause personal injury.

When people drive while they are tired, drowsy or sleepy, this is commonly referred to as driver fatigue or drowsy driving.  This is a major cause of car accidents, since drowsy drivers are unable to adequately perceive, react and respond to situations on the road.

As personal injury lawyers and auto accident attorneys, we understand the dangers of drowsy driving, and have handled numerous cases caused by driver fatigue.  Fatigued car drivers often have a difficult time perceiving and processing information.

In the United States alone, the National Sleep Foundation estimates that around 20% of car accidents may involve fatigued drivers.  Car accidents that occur as a result of a drowsy driver behind the wheel can cause a loved one or you numerous personal injuries or even wrongful death.

The new proposed rules, and the speedy timetable for implementing it, are an indication that, the Aviation Administration considers commuter pilot fatigue to be among the agency’s top safety concerns.

Fatigue is also a top safety concern when driving an automobile as a drowsy driver is more likely to get into a car accident and cause a personal injury to a loved one or you.  The risk of auto accidents goes up at night as car driver fatigue becomes one of the major issues at hand.

As personal injury attorneys, we believe that a well-rested driver is a safe driver.  If you feel sleepy or if your eye-lids begin to feel heavy it is safer to pull off the road than to continue driving.

Please feel free to call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced automobile accident lawyer.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.

In an effort to get support for his campaign for health care reform, President Obama told the American Medical Association that he would work with doctors to limit how vulnerable they are in medical malpractice lawsuits.

As personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice lawsuits, we believe doctors should be held responsible for personal injury if their treatments or medical procedures cause further personal injury or wrongful death.

Medical malpractice lawsuits can raise insurance premiums paid by doctors in some high-risk specialties like obstetrics (childbirth) and neurosurgery.  Those increases are usually passed on to patients leading to higher medical bill costs.

The current medical malpractice system fails to compensate some victims of malpractice lawsuits because those who have them do not file after their personal injury or wrongful death.  The president did not specify which medical malpractice reform he favors, but he has rejected putting caps on malpractice settlements.  These caps would be unfair to people with severe personal injury by physician errors who need substantial compensation.

There are alternatives like setting up a panel of neutral experts to hear medical malpractice lawsuits.  Other suggestions are mediation or granting doctors presumptive protection in medical malpractice lawsuits if they followed recommended clinical practice guidelines.

No matter how medical malpractice is reformed, we, as personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice lawsuits believe Americans with personal injury due to a medical mistake should be able to hold a doctor responsible if they are found liable for the personal injury.

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

As personal injury attorneys, we know that of all the organs in the body, personal injury to one does more damage physically AND psychologically than the others: the brain.

Not only does the brain serve as the control center for all of the body’s systems (movement, circulation, etc.), but the brain also acts as the controller of cognitive function (including thinking and reasoning).

Damage to the brain can cause lasting effects on both systems.  Brain damage from brain injuries can cause the connection from the brain to bodily systems to become damaged or separated completely.

Twenty percent of all brain injuries suffered by people are caused by traffic accidents (i.e. car accidents, motorcycle accidents and truck accidents).  These accidents can lead to one of three types of brain injuries.

• Mild Brain Injuries

Mild brain injuries (MBIs) are sometimes tricky to diagnose.  Scan tests such as magnetic resonance images (MRI) or computed axial tomography (CAT) scans may not reveal changes to the brain after an accident.  Physical or behavioral symptems like fatigue are usually the way to diagnose a MBI.

• Acquired Brain Injuries

Acquired brain injuries (ABIs) happen when the brain is deprived of oxygen.  Oxygen is required for the brain to function properly.  Causes of an ABI can include a stroke, aneurysm (balloon-like bulge of a blood vessel) or a heart attack.

• Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can be caused by many things.  Twenty-eight percent of TBI cases were caused by a fall.  Another 20% were caused by traffic accidents.  In TBIs, the brain can actually move inside the skull or a severe blow to the skull could impact the brain directly.

Car accidents are a leading cause of brain injuries because of the unknown factors: how will you hit your head?  Will anything else fall on my head?  Drivers who do what they can to prevent brain injuries like wearing a seat belt and driving safely can decrease their chances in suffering a brain injury.

As personal injury attorneys, we know brain injuries can happen at any time.  We urge our clients to learn more about brain injuries and what could happen as a result of a brain injury.

In part three of the series, we will go more in depth in discussing mild brain injuries.

• Head And Brain Injury Series Part 1 - Causes

Please contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced car accident lawyer — in either English or Spanish — at (800) 655-6585 or click here to submit your case for a Free Review.

A new study has shown that nearly two out of three bankruptcies stem from medical bills, and even people with health insurance face financial disaster if they experience a personal injury.

“The U.S. health care financing system is broken, and not only for the poor and uninsured,” the authors of the bankruptcy study said.  “Middle-class families frequently collapse under the strain of a health care system [such as providing medical treatment for personal injuries] that treats physical wounds, but often inflicts fiscal ones.”

As personal injury attorneys, we believe that accidents can happen.  Car accident injuries can be anywhere from a spinal cord injury causing paralysis (i.e. quadriplegia and paraplegia) to traumatic brain injuries (concussions) and even emotional trauma.  These personal injuries can often result in high medical bills, and someone has to pay for them — with or without medical insurance.

Unfortunately for those that suffer personal injury, medical bills are replacing hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place as the major cause of backruptcy.

In 2007, medical problems contributed to 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies.  Between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all bankruptcies attributable to medical bills rose by about 50 percent.  Hospital costs accounted for about half the expenses (48 percent), followed by prescription drugs (18.6 percent), doctor’s bills (15.1 percent) and insurance premiums (4.1 percent).  Medical equipment and nursing home care rounded out the lengthy medical bill list.

The health problems that left patients with the highest out-of-pocket medical bills were:

• Neurologic (i.e., multiple sclerosis): $34,167
• Diabetes: $26,971
• Personal Injury: 25,096
• Stroke: $23,380
• Mental illnesses: $23,178
• Heart disease: $21,955

As personal injury attorneys, we understand that personal injuries in addition to causing pain and suffering and emotional trauma you will force you to seek help paying medical bills.  Is saving money in the short run worth the long term medical bills that come from car accidents that cause personal injuries?

If you need help paying back your medical bills, call us now  at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury attorney attorney to find out how we may help you.  We look forward to providing good advice to help you make smart decisions about your case in either English or Spanish.