The Opioid Crisis: What You Need to Know
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 27th, 2017
Opioids, the highly addictive painkillers that doctors routinely prescribe to patients to mask pain, continue to be a growing burden on American society, despite all the warning signs and overdose deaths which occur regularly across our country every day. Opioids have become so pervasive and dangerous that they are now linked to a two-year drop in U.S. life expectancy, according to a Dec. 22 story by the BBC. The U.S. life expectancy fell in 2016...
Be Safe and Drive Sober This Holiday Season
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 22nd, 2017
The December holidays are here, with Christmas just around the corner and New Year's Eve coming up fast, so it's a good time to reflect on the dangers of drinking and driving amid all the holiday parties and family festivities we will all likely enjoy. In Pennsylvania, the State Police are participating in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" impaired driving enforcement campaign through Dec. 31, joining more...
Shafted: Congress Strips Consumers of Their Rights to Sue Banks
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 22nd, 2017
American consumers should be outraged by the latest late-night shenanigans from the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress, which recently struck down an Obama-era rule that would have given consumers the right to band together to sue banks and other financial institutions for irresponsible behavior. The rule, which was created under the Obama administration in response to the 2008 U.S. economic and banking crisis, would have allowed consumers to sue banks using class actions under certain circumstances, which...
$9M Settlement to Woman Hurt in Crash with a Distracted Truck Driver
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on October 27th, 2017
A 44-year-old woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2015 when her vehicle was struck by a truck whose driver was distracted and falling asleep has reached a $9 million settlement with the company that owned the truck. The plaintiff, Deanne Crews, alleged in her lawsuit against Advanced Drainage Systems that its driver, 71-year-old David Cole, was distracted and falling asleep as he drove in Logan Township, N.J., on Aug. 18, 2015, and veered...
$2.8M Verdict in Plane Crash Death in Product Liability Case
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on April 28th, 2017
The wife of a U.S. Forest Service employee who died in 2010 when the chartered plane he was flying in suffered a catastrophic engine failure and crashed in Lock Haven, Pa., has been awarded a $2.75 million verdict by a federal jury. Daniel Snider, who was 30 at the time of the incident, died on June 21, 2010, when the Cessna T210L aircraft he was a passenger in crashed on a residential street in Lock...
$5.5M Settlement to Student Severely Injured in School Crosswalk
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on February 17th, 2017
A young woman who was severely injured in December 2012 in Bremerton, Wash., when she was struck by a vehicle in a school crosswalk as she walked to her high school for classes will receive a $5.5 million settlement to compensate her for her injuries. The victim. Regina Monzon, was 17 years old on Dec. 12, 2012, when she was struck by a vehicle in a poorly lit crosswalk in a school zone on her...
$150K Settlement to Family of N.Y. Civic Leader Killed by Car
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 9th, 2016
The family of a 68-year-old Northville, N.Y., man who died in 2011 after being struck by a car as he crossed his street to retrieve the mail from his roadside mailbox has reached a $150,000 settlement with the Town of Riverhead, N.Y., whose employee was driving the car. Kieran "Kerry" Moran, a longtime civic leader in Northville, was struck by a car being driven by Town of Riverhead employee Walter Breitenbach on Sound Shore Road about...
$12.7M Verdict to Pa. Woman in in Tonsillectomy Malpractice Case
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 3rd, 2016
A 33-year-old woman has been awarded $12.7 million in damages by a Montgomery County, Pa., jury after she suffered brain damage following tonsillectomy surgery when her breathing tube was allegedly removed too soon. The woman, Sherrell Clayton, who previously worked as a special education teacher, underwent the 14-minute surgery at Main Line Hospital and was "inappropriately oriented and unresponsive" to questions after the procedure, according to a Nov. 3 story by The Legal Intelligencer. After...
Keeping the Holidays Safe: Just Say No to Drinking and Driving
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 23rd, 2016
As Americans across the nation prepare to travel to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and loved ones this week, we here at MyPhillyLawyer offer our annual reminder about not mixing drinking and driving, especially during the winter holidays from now until the end of the year. Drinking and driving never mix, but that message is even more important during the holidays when we are reminded over and over again to enjoy ourselves, but to...