New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Law Offices of Scott D. Grossman : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

 You can't fail to see the irony of a man surviving 15 months on duty in Iraq, only to die in a New Jersey motorcycle accident barely three months after his return. On the 21^st of September last year, 21-year-old Anthony LaSelva, a New Jersey Army National Guard reservist was riding his new Kawasaki motorcycle on a Washington Township road. As he rounded a sharp corner, he struck a curb, and then crashed into a street light that wasn’t even lit at the time. LaSelva died from injuries sustained in the accident.

His family has now filed a lawsuit against the municipality for its failure to create safe conditions for driving on that road. The corner where the accident occurred has no warning sign posted to warn motorists or riders of the intensely sharp curve ahead, and the street lights were not functioning properly. In short, conditions were perfect for a fatal crash like the one that killed LaSelva. The lawsuit cites the "negligence" of the township for permitting "hazardous conditions" on the road, manifested by the lack of signs and non-functioning street lights.  The lawsuit also mentions Atlantic City Electric, which is the company that was responsible for maintaining the street lights.

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A Philadelphia journalist sustained traumatic brain injuries in a hit and run car accident in Collingswood, NJ yesterday. According to this news report, Collingswood NJ police are confirming that Brian Hickey, a former editor at the City Paper, was walking at night along North Atlantic Avenue, when an unidentified motorist crashed into him.

It was only later that police officers found Hickey, with a bleeding wound in his head. He was rushed to the Cooper University Medical Center in Camden, where it has been confirmed that he has suffered a traumatic brain injury.   Witnesses at the scene reported hearing a loud bang, and the screech of tires as the motorist fled form the scene. The skid marks on the road were the first indication to police officers that this had been a hit and run accident.

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 A New Jersey go-go bar has lost its appeal to hold on to its liquor license in the aftermath of an automobile accident that killed two people back in 2000. The bar, Cheerleaders located in Brooklawn, had its appeal overturned, and an earlier decision to repeal its license by the Alcoholic Beverage Control division in New Jersey, was upheld. Cheerleaders has about six months to sell off its license, and pay a fine to ABC.

The case goes back to April 2000, when a patron at the bar, 23-year-old Humberto Herrera-Salas was served alcohol even after it was obvious that he was intoxicated. Other regulars at the bar were quick to notice that Herrera-Salas was already drunk as he walked into the bar, and drunk driving experts later calculated that his blood alcohol level had to have been at least .18 by the time he entered Cheerleaders. At the bar, Herrera-Salas went on to down three shots of tequila and three beers. When it became obvious that he was too intoxicated to be hanging around the bar any longer, employees forced him outside, and even called a cab to drop him home. 

What happened next seems to have been the crux on which the appellate court upheld the decision to repeal the bar license. The employees should have made sure that Herrera-Salas was safely inside the car, and on his way home. Instead, they left him to his own devices, and went back inside the establishment. Herrera-Salas, too drunk to care, simply got into his car, and sped out of the parking lot.  A few minutes later, he was driving south in the northbound lanes of Route 130. The car accident when it did occur, was devastating in impact. Herrera-Salas' car crashed head on into a vehicle carrying a couple from Gloucester City. Patricia and Robert Reed were killed in the crash, and at least two passengers in their car were seriously injured. 

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It's everyone's biggest nightmare – popping a couple of pills for an ordinary ailment, and discovering later in your hospital emergency room, that the problem could be traced to pharmacy error at your local store. Now, a troubling report by WCNC points to an incentive scheme at North Carolina's biggest chain pharmacy as the cause of a growing number of errors at the franchise.

The company in question is CVS, which has the highest number of stores – 285 of them - in the state out of all the nationwide chains. According to the report, the distinction with other chains doesn't quite end there. CVS also has the highest number of citations from  the North Carolina Pharmacy Board for prescription errors. In fact, the Board has repeatedly cited the chain for creating a work environment in which employees are likely to make mistakes.

Regular customers who get their prescriptions filled at CVS are noticing the difference in service, the report says. Staff members often seem to be in a hurry to rush through prescriptions. It's not simply a desire to squeeze more out of their workday that's behind this high speed work environment. As the report points out, the company has incentive systems in place that reward employees based on the volume of prescriptions they fill. In fact, CVS pharmacists routinely receive updates on the amount of extra cash they stand to make depending on how quickly they can fill bottles with pills.

The extent to which CVS has been able to continue this practice unchecked, is shocking. Consider these statistics – the Board of Pharmacy stipulates 150 as the number of prescriptions that can safely be filled by a pharmacist in a single day. At CVS, some former employees have gone on record to claim that on a busy day, it's not unusual for pharmacists to fill as many as 500 prescriptions.  

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A 6-day-old baby girl, fatally attacked by her family dog over the weekend, died from her injuries at Morristown Memorial Hospital. The baby was attacked in her crib by the family's three year old Husky.

Our sincerest condolences go out to her family.

Data released by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, 2% of the American population is bitten by a dog annually. That’s over 4.5 million people, and of those bitten by a dog, most of them are children between the ages of five and nine. And of those 4.5 million people who are attacked by a dog, 20% receive treatment from a medical professional, and 20 people suffer fatal injuries.

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A dog attack can not only be physically painful but also emotionally scarring. According to a Rush PR News article there are several ways to prevent a dog attack and how to handle your self if involved in one. “Avoid making eye contact with the dog. Dogs perceive eye contact as a challenge and a threat. Look slightly down or aside of the dog, but keep him in your vision. Avoid smiling at the dog. You may be putting on a friendly face, but an aggressive dog sees you baring your teeth for a fight. Look for warning signs. Most dogs are not aggressive but rather just curious or defending what they perceive as their territory. It is important to be able to tell if a dog is just playing or is being truly aggressive. If the dog approaches you with its head held high or low, it is probably not going to attack. A dog whose head is level means business.” There are many more tips on how to prevent a dog attack and what to do after involved in one in the article.

            As a dog bite attorney lawyer covering Freehold, Manalapan, Marlboro, Howell, Jackson, Paterson and all of central and northern New Jersey and know how physically painful and emotionally traumatizing a dog bite can be. The article cited above provides a lot of good information on how to handle dog bite attacks and how to care for the injury afterwards. Some important statistics cited are “In the US alone, nearly 5 million people are attacked by dogs per year, and 1,000 people go to emergency rooms per day as a result of a dog attack; many of them are children, and about half of them have been bitten in the face.” Dog attacks are a serious problem throughout the country and New Jersey is no different. I suggest reading the article several times so you can be well informed on what to do if a situation arises. I hope this information can be useful to your family and friends in helping to prevent dog bite attacks.

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Earlier this week a story on ksl.com, a Utah television station, reported that an eighteen-year-old honor student received a potentially lethal dose of oxycodone for strep throat and has been in a coma since April 30. The teen, Jessie Scott of Draper, Utah, was given a teaspoon of concentrated oxycodone hydrochloride for pain due to strep throat, when the actual prescription called for a five-milligram dose. The Wal-Mart pharmacy that filled the prescription, was supposed to dilute the concentrated medication before dispensing it to Jessie, but it failed to do so. Jessie received 20 times’ the prescribed dosage due to Wal-Mart’s negligence. As of a result of the pharmacy’s horrific error, a few hours after taking the lethal dose, Jessie Smith’s organs began to fail, he was placed on a ventilator, and one of his lungs collapsed.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jessie Scott and his family.

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Pharmacy error, mistake, negligence… whatever you want to call it, is becoming a national epidemic. How many more babies and young people have to get injured or die before something is done to address it? Last week, yet another report filed in Texas of newborns receiving an adult dosage of Heparin, the blood thinning medication, leading to terrible tragedy, only this time, the babies did not survive. Unlike the overdose that occurred involving actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins, the Texas overdose was not due to a labeling error, rather, it was apparently due to a mixing error by a hospital’s pharmacy. That hospital was Christus Spohn Hospital South in Corpus Christi, Texas. According to a recent AP article, on July 4, 2008, 17 newborns received 100 times the appropriate dosage of the drug. Of the 17, two died, three were released, and the remaining 12 are in the hospital’s NICU.

Kiii.com, a television station in Texas, further reported that the premature twins, a boy and a girl born to Eric and Erica Garcia, were transferred to Christus Spohn after birth  and allegedly died from the Heparin overdose. While the hospital is not admitting responsibility for the twins’ death since they were born four weeks early, they are investigating the matter. It is of note that two of the staff pharmacy employees have taken temporary leave.

Our hearts go out to the Garcia family during this difficult time.

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You have read on this blog my ongoing reporting and analysis of the epidemic of pharmacy errors and the threat to the public that it poses. Well here is a variation on the theme.  Today it was announced on NJ.com, that retail pharmacy chain Rite Aid settled a lawsuit with New Jersey for $475,000 for selling expired over-the-counter medications along with expired infant formulas and baby food. According to the article, 42 Rite Aid stores were found selling expired items throughout New Jersey. If the chain, which also includes Eckerd stores, fails to comply with the terms of the settlement over the next year, it faces an additional $175,000 in penalties.

 Once again, I implore the public to be extra vigilant when shopping at these pharmacies. It is bad enough that we are forced to defend ourselves against prescription errors at the hands of pharmacists and their technicians; now simply going to the shelves for Tylenol or a can of Similac has become a potential health threat to us as well.

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