Blog

Sep 26, 2013

In a recent blog post (please see our August 28, 2013, entry), we discussed some of the factors that contribute in a major way to commercial truck crashes in Ohio and across the nation. Obvious culprits include aggressive driving — both by truckers and by motorists of passenger vehicles in close proximity — and cell phone use. We alluded also to drowsy driving, which is a singular peril in the trucking industry owing to the...

New Castle man killed in cement truck accident

Sep 25, 2013

Tragedy struck Big Beaver Borough on Monday afternoon around 2 p.m. when a man was killed after he crashed the cement truck he was driving. Police and Investigators are saying that a tire on the truck blew out and likely caused the fatal accident. Police say that the accident happened on a westbound ramp entering I-376. The truck is reported to have turned abruptly and sped off the ramp onto the interstate just shortly before...

Jails have become overrun with many who are considered mentally ill

Sep 25, 2013

In a 2006 United States Bureau of Justice Statistics poll, 56% of state prison inmates and 64% of local inmates were said to be suffering from some sort of mental illness. Mental health experts today say those numbers are too dated may have been grossly underreported even then. We see the effects of uncared for mental illnesses in the news almost daily. Around the country and here at home, hardly a few days go by...

Man sues after living with HIV misdiagnosis for nine years

Sep 25, 2013

Thirty years ago, an individual diagnosed as having the human immunodeficiency virus was doomed to death. HIV is the virus which causes an individual to develop acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. During the 1980s and 1990s, millions of people around the world contracted the deadly virus and subsequently died from complications related to AIDS. Nine years ago, a 34-year-old man was told by his doctor that he was HIV positive. Since that time, the now...

Truck driver’s failure to stop sets off deadly chain reaction

Sep 24, 2013

Truck drivers are accustomed to driving long hours and in all types of road conditions. Truckers are also used to navigating through challenging driving environments including road construction sites. When coming upon a construction work zone, truck drivers, along with all drivers, are often cautioned to slow down and be prepared to make sudden stops. A truck driver who failed to heed this advice was recently involved in a multiple-vehicle accident in which one man...

Mental health facility budget cuts are happening all over the region

Sep 24, 2013

Despite mass shootings and murder-suicides tied to people with serious mental health issues, states around the country continue to cut funding every year. Budgets cuts lead to reduced access to care–it's as simple as that. And with deplorable acts of violence taking place at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C., the elementary school in Newtown, and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic here in Oakland, now seems like the worst possible time to cut the...

New study reports medical malpractice deaths as high as 440,000 per year

Sep 23, 2013

Each time a new study is published about the severity and consistency of medical mistakes, the kind that injure or kill patients, the numbers seem to worsen. A 1999 report titled "To Err is Human," published by the Institute of Medicine, suggested that nearly 100,000 people die annually due to medical malpractice. Initially, that number was the subject of great debate, but today most health care professionals agree and some think the number is actually...

$11 million in cuts to mental health in PA has its consequences

Sep 23, 2013

Mental health facilities in western Pennsylvania are nearly extinct. Budget cuts over the past 30-40 years have forced state-run psychiatric hospitals to close their doors, leaving previous inhabitants to be dealt with by the law, for-profit companies, local hospitals, and outpatient caseworkers. In the decades bookended by the 30s and 60s, state-run "mental hospitals," as they are commonly referred to, were prevalent, self-sustained micro-communities where the afflicted were able to thrive and even be cured...

At least one case of hepatitis C linked to dentist office

Sep 21, 2013

It is fair to say that there is a certain level of trust that residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania place with doctors and other medical providers when they seek assistance for medical conditions. Dentists are included in this group. There are many different types of injuries someone might suffer at the hands of a medical professional including the spread of disease. One that is currently in the news is hepatitis C. A dentist in another state...

Symptoms of a concussion may not be obvious initially

Sep 20, 2013

Residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania likely often hear the words brain injury. Throughout the state, residents suffer these injuries on a regular basis. While a brain injury can take multiple forms. One that is likely commonly suffered is a concussion. Though concussions happen all too often, it is likely that many are wondering what the symptoms and possible outcomes of a concussion are. Concussions should be taken seriously since they could lead to serious problems with...