Just say “no” to auto insurers who want to “watch” you while you are driving
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on July 20th, 2010
Do you really think insurance companies are on your side? If you do, think again. Take Progressive Insurance for example. They recently proposed a plan in Pennsylvania where they'd offer you a 30% discount on your auto insurance – if you install a wireless monitoring device in your vehicle that would let them keep track of your driving so they can be sure that you are safely operating your vehicle. [caption id="attachment_916" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Image...
Lessons from the fatal Duck Boat crash on the Delaware River
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on July 14th, 2010
In just an instant last week, a pleasure cruise on the Delaware River turned into tragedy for a group of Hungarian tourists who were seeing the sights off the Philadelphia waterfront on a recreational "duck boat" tour. The duck boat – half-boat, half-on-road-vehicle – had entered the river to take the tourists on a cruise but its engine began giving off a burning smell and was shut off, immobilizing the 30-foot-long watercraft, according to a...
Just what we need: Wine vending machines and potentially more drunk driving in PA
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on July 13th, 2010
Drunk driving was the cause of 11,773 traffic deaths across the United States in 2008, according to the latest available U.S. government statistics. Drunk drivers, on average, cause the death of another person every 45 minutes in the U.S., according to the group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). So, of course, shouldn't we make it easier to buy alcoholic beverages so that more people can imbibe and operate a motor vehicle while they are impaired?...
Your Online Privacy – the whole world is watching
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 29th, 2010
Just how much about your life are you divulging on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace or other social media Web sites every day? Well, here's some sobering news: what you say on Facebook or any of the other sites could some day come back to haunt you in a legal proceeding from a divorce case to an accident investigation to a workplace injury settlement. How so? Well, it seems that attorneys across the nation are finding...
Lessons learned from the 9/11 responder settlements
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 28th, 2010
The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America happened almost nine long years ago and still the suffering goes on. Only now are legal settlements nearing for many of the first responders who were injured when they dove into carnage of the World Trade Center towers that day and in the months to follow, recovering the remains of the almost 3,000 victims of the tragedy. Finally, after a seven-year-long legal fight, a federal judge in New...
Protecting patients: Shorter shifts for new doctors is a smart idea
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 25th, 2010
Imagine being at work for 24 hours or more in one stretch and having to maintain your peak performance every long hour and minute. That's a tough challenge. Now imagine that your work involves patient care and life or death decisions as a medical resident in a teaching hospital, with shifts lasting 24 to 30 hours at a time. That's how things have been set up in teaching hospitals for years, but it's not necessarily...
Hospitals that make sick people sicker: hospital-acquired infections continue to be a big risk for patients
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 24th, 2010
Being a patient in a hospital can help extend your life through excellent medical care, but at the same time, hospitals can be one of the most dangerous places to get a life-threatening infection that can complicate your treatment. A new state report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health concludes that 25,914 patients undergoing surgeries and other treatments in hospitals last year had their conditions complicated by infections they picked up during their stays, according...
Your family and the law: Be on guard against scams unleashed by thieves who prey on the elderly
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 22nd, 2010
Behind almost every news event, there seems to always be some scammer who is trying to find tricky ways to steal money from unsuspecting elderly victims. We read about examples like this almost every day in the newspaper. Older people get visits at their front doors from someone who says they won a contest and have to pay a fee to collect their prizes. [caption id="attachment_865" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Scammers bait the hook and steal money,...
Summer Safety: Sharing the Road with Bicycles and Motorcycles means Being Careful
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 18th, 2010
With the warm, lovely weather of summer upon us, it's a great time to remind drivers that we're sharing the road with others who aren't wrapped protectively in vehicle cocoons of steel, plastic and rubber. Thousands of others are out there on the roads with only two wheels on bicycles and motorcycles and are much more vulnerable to serious injury. As motorists, we all need to be careful and more aware to protect ourselves from...