Bergen County Personal Injury Law Blog

With all the attention that has been paid to distracted driving in recent years, it is almost shocking to read statistics indicating that drivers continue to text and talk while behind the wheel. Yet according to a new survey of teenage drivers, that is exactly what is happening: about 30 percent of respondents stated that they had sent or read a text while driving in the past month, and nearly half said that they had made a cell phone call without a hands-free device.

What is perhaps the most shocking revelation of the study is that the drivers surveyed were not unaware that texting or talking behind the wheel significantly increases their chances of being involved in an auto accident. In fact, about 80 percent of the survey respondents said that they knew of the risks.

Earlier this week, we wrote about a recent publication from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in which a panel of doctors released a list of five cancer tests and treatments that they say should no longer be offered to patients.

The list included: advanced imaging technologies and bone scans to determine the stage of early breast and prostate cancers which are at a low risk of metastasis, those same tests to check for metastasis in patients who have been successfully treated for breast cancer, medication to stimulate white blood cell production in chemotherapy patients who are at risk for a particular blood cell disease, and chemotherapy for patients whose diseases are advanced and who are unlikely to benefit, which is the most controversial of the recommendations.

Recently, a task force with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released a controversial list containing five common tests and treatments that the panel says should no longer be offered to cancer patients. The procedures on the list, the panel said, have not been shown to help cancer patients live longer and may actually have a detrimental effect, significantly decreasing quality of life and harming patients' health.

Naturally, the list has created some controversy, and it is too soon to tell whether doctors in New Jersey and throughout the country will comply with the recommendations. However, with a continued rise in both health care costs and needs, it makes sense to reevaluate diagnostic and treatment tools from both a budgetary and a effectiveness standpoint.

Earlier this week, we began a look at common issues with the FDA's approval process which have resulted in unsafe medical devices being approved for sale and use by patients in New Jersey and throughout the country and world. As a result, many patients who have received these medical products have reported adverse side effects including debilitating pain, injury and even death.

In general, devices that are considered 'high-risk' - meaning that they play a critical role in sustaining life - will not be approved without clinical data proving that they are safe. But every year, the FDA approves several such devices under the lax 510(k) process. One such example of this is the heart valve ring, which is used to repair faulty heart valves, and which lost its 'high-risk' status in 1997 after years of pressure from manufacturers.

According to a 2011 report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the number of "adverse event" reports for medical devices has increased by about 15 percent every year for the last 10 years. If you are a regular reader of our New Jersey personal injury blog, you are likely not surprised by this increase.

In recent months, we have written multiple blog posts about the dangerous and defective medical products that are causing pain, injury and even death to so many people across the U.S. The reasons for many of these problems, we believe, are the failings of the FDA's current approval and monitoring processes.

Despite efforts to implement more stringent graduated licensing requirements and procedures for teenage drivers, the number of teens killed in motor vehicle accidents is on the rise, according to a new study.

During the first half of 2011, the study found, the teen car accident fatality rate increased by 11 percent in comparison with the same time period in 2010. If the increase continued in the second half of the year, 2011 will mark the first year that teen crash fatalities have risen since nearly a decade ago. The report for the second half of 2011 will be released in the next few months.

Slow and steady seems to be the name of the game in the main personal injury lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of New Jersey company Johnson & Johnson, over its faulty artificial hip replacement products.

About 3,500 plaintiffs have reportedly joined in on the multidistrict litigation (MDL) against DePuy, which will be heard in federal court in Ohio. MDL consolidation is generally used to expedite the legal process when there are multiple similar products liability or other personal injury claims filed against a defendant. In an MDL, the pre-trial proceedings are consolidated in order to speed up the discovery process.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, one of the most shocking stories to come from the storm- and flood-ravaged region was that of the mass lack of preparedness of area nursing homes. At one facility, 35 residents died during the storm, with some believed to have drowned in their beds when the building flooded.

But now, nearly seven years after Katrina, it seems that nursing homes in Bergen County and throughout the state and country have not learned from that tragic incident. A recent government survey indicates that nursing homes are significantly underprepared for natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, leaving their frail residents even more vulnerable to injury or death in the face of such an event.