The U.S Health Officials from CDC on Sunday reported an additional 27 cases of meningitis making total number of meningitis cases as 91. This fungal meningitis outbreak is linked to steroid injections that has killed seven people so far and now infected 91 in nine states.

The recall is being done due to risk of contamination, and in cooperation with an investigation being ordered by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy.

In addition to the back pain steroid, other recalled products include acetaminophen suppositories, nipple ointments, morphine, vancomycin, and vitamin K.

Tennessee State has been worst hit by this Meningitis Outbreak and has so far reported 32 cases. Other states include Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

Common symptoms of the fungal meningitis may include fever, new or worsening headache, nausea, and new neurological deficit consistent with deep brain stroke, the CDC reported.

Cerebrospinal fluid which was obtained from patients showed an elevated white cell count (with a predominance of neutrophils), low glucose, and elevated protein.

If you or your family member is a victim of this Meningitis Outbreak then make sure to get in touch with New York Product Recall Lawyers at 1-866-ATTY-LAW for a free consultation. We will help you receive justice and compensation you deserve.

Four people have died and more than 30 patients are sick due to meningitis outbreak which has now reached five states. So far cases have appeared in Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Maryland. It is feared that the outbreak might spread to other states because they have already received shipments of the contaminated drug by New England Compounding Center, A Massachusetts pharmacy. Experts fear that the number of cases will rise in the coming few days.

The patients are thought to have been infected by a steroid drug contaminated with a fungus, Aspergillus manufactured by The New England Compounding Center, A Massachusetts pharmacy. The Pharmacy recalled 3 lots of injections on Sep 26, but Tennessee clinic had already received 2000 vials of the drug, as per the New York Times.

Meningitis does not spread from person to person, but it can cause inflammation of the braining lining, or central nervous systems. The common symptoms of Meningitis include severe headaches, fever and slurred speech.

There are about 3000 Compounding Pharmacies in the United States. These pharmacies prepare customized drug mixtures and these pharmacies are not held to the same safety standards. These pharmacies are not subjected to FDA inspection.

While some patients are showing signs of recovery, others are still recuperating in intensive care units. Fungal infections like Meningitis are stubborn and it can take upto a year to treat the disease.

New York, Brooklyn Model suffered a herniated disc and nerve damage while filming of MIB 3. The injuries have halted her promising career as a successful model.

Danika Garner, 23 was donning a 30 pound sheet metal dress and 6-inch heels while enacting role of an alien during filming of "Men in Black (MIB) 3 in Manhattan last year.

The model has hired Frekhtman & Associates to represent her case.

Read More at : NYPOST.com

Often times the plaintiff and his or her attorney will make an agreement with the defendants and their attorneys called a high low agreement. The purpose of such an agreement is to set a high or ceiling value as well as a low or floor value for which the case will be resolved. This guarantees the injured plaintiff will receive monetary compensation thereby eliminating the possibility of obtaining no recovery in the event of a dismissal or defense verdict after trial. It also sets a ceiling on the recovery which defendants favor because it prevents them from having to pay a large amount in the event a jury awards a very large sum to the injured party. An example of a high low agreement may be a car accident case with a $500,000 insurance policy. The parties may enter into a high-low of 250/75 meaning the plaintiff will get at least 75,000 and no more than $250,000. The trial or arbitration proceeds the same way it would without the agreement but the above parameters are controlling. Therefore, if the jury renders a defense verdict, the plaintiff still gets $75,000 and if the jury awards $1,000,000, the plaintiff only recover $250,000.

These types of agreements are used by counsel for plaintiffs and defendants and can prove helpful. It is important to negotiate the terms of the agreement carefully.

Recently, on December 17, 2009, the Court of Appeals of the State of New York decided a case called Runner v. New York Stock Exchange, 2009 WL 4840213, NY Slip Op 09310 (2009). It clarified the state of the law with respect to construction accident or Labor Law cases where an object falls and comes into contact with a worker. These are commonly referred to as “falling object” cases.  The Court held that there is no strict requirement that the worker and the falling object make contact.  The proper question to ask is not whether the object hit the worker but rather “whether the harm flows directly from the application of the force of gravity to the object.” Ibid.  In Runner, the plaintiff was injured while transporting a large wire wheel down a flight of stairs. As the wheel descended the injured worker was pulled into a metal bar injuring his hands. It may no longer be required that the object fall from a height above the worker or that that object hit the worker.  Such an expansive reading of the Labor Law is a step in the right direction in accordance with the legislative intent behind the Labor Law.

Many plaintiff’s attorneys are going to Albany, New York the State Capitol to address the legislature concerning the New York serious injury motor vehicle law also known as Insurance Law 5102(d) or the “threshold” law.  The New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSLTA) is attempting to change this law to avoid dismissal of cases with serious injuries.

The New York personal injury attorneys at Frekhtman & Associates will send a number of attorneys to participate in this effort.  We will also speak to clients whose cases were unfairly dismissed due to the threshold law.  Currently, Insurance Law 5102(d) has nine categories of serious injury. However, many of the categories are ill defined and open to numerous interpretations allowing some judges to dismiss claims while other judges uphold similar if not identical claims.  Furthermore, even if a client has sustained a serious injury, including knee surgery for example, a court may dismiss the case as not qualifying under Insurance Law 5102(d) on technical grounds such as that the medical doctor who treated the client after the accident failed to compare the range of motion of his knee to normal, or that the client had an unexplained gap in his medical treatment, and or that the client’s doctor did not compare his range of motion to normal at a time recent to defendant’s motion to dismiss. Any one of these failures by doctors to document an injury may lead to dismissal of otherwise meritorious and serious injury claims.

Hopefully, Lobby Day will prove fruitful in changing and old and outdated law that simply does not apply to contemporary litigation.

Frekhtman & Associates, a New York personal injury law firm obtained a jury verdict of $2,800,000.00 for a construction worker who was injured when a temporary light fixture fell from the ceiling and struck him on the head.  The plaintiff was laying tiles onto the wall inside a New York City Transit Authority station near Yankee Stadium at 161st Street in the Bronx, New York. At trial, the plaintiff presented evidence of his injury including a subdural hematoma, PET-SCAN evidence of a mild traumatic brain injury (MBTI), and herniated discs in his neck.  Despite video surveillance by the defendant of plaintiff working after the accident, the jury found for the plaintiff and awarded $2,800,000 in total.  The Appeals Court, Second Department Appellate Division, affirmed the jury award on liability and damages. The Second Department reduced the award from $2,800,000 to approximately $1,600,000.00. Defendant, the New York City Transit Authority, has expressed an intention to file a motion for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals, which is the highest Court in New York.

New York Accident Attorney advises New York car insurance holders to consider purchasing OBEL i.e. Optional Basic Economic Loss coverage. Along with basic insurance coverage, OBEL coverage provides protection to automobile accident victims with an additional $25,000 which can be used to cover medical expenditures and lost wages.

There are various types of insurance covers which provide compensation for medical bills/or lost earnings in case of an auto accident. OBEL coverage is an optional coverage and is not mandatory. If you obtain this coverage then it will provide additional benefit of $25,000 which will supplement your motorist insurance coverage.

It is mandatory for every single driver of an auto vehicle in New York to possess Personal Injury Protection or No-Fault insurance. The No Fault insurance pays for medical bills up to $50,000 and this optional coverage provides an additional cover of $25,000. In case your first 50k are used up or exhausted, then OBEL coverage provides benefits to the policy holder as well as to the pedestrians, your family members, and other occupants of the car if they receive injuries in an auto accident.

OBEL gives you a complete control over the additional $25,000 and the manner in which you would you like to avail this additional benefit. Under basic, mandatory No-Fault coverage the first medical provider who billed the insurance company is the first to be paid.

There are various options available to you under OBEL Coverage. It provides you right to decide the allocation of funds. You can use OBEL Coverage to cover following:-

1. Basic Economic Loss which includes medical expenses, loss of earnings, and other necessary expenses;

2. Lost Wages

3. Psychiatric, physical, or occupational therapy and rehabilitation; or

4. Combined benefits of option two and three.

However, it is important to select the right option. You are not allowed to change or switch to a different option once you have made a selection.

If you have received serious injuries in an accident, then OBEL can help you. If you or someone close to you has been involved in serious accidents such as truck accidents or tractor trailer accidents, then No-Fault coverage will exhaust quickly. This will lead to large, unpaid hospital bills. Therefore purchasing OBEL coverage will give you additional benefits which will cover expenditures arising out of serious automobile accidents and injuries.

If you are injured in an automobile accident due to negligence of some individual then you must get in touch with an Accident Attorney who will help you receive justice and compensation for your injuries.

Visit New York Accident Lawyer : http://www.866attylaw.com at following address:-

60 Bay 26th Street,
Brooklyn, New York – 11214
Phone : (718) 331-7700

The Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway,
New York, New York – 10007
Phone : (212) 766-5656

A 63 year old Woman named Judith Leekin, has been sentenced to 11 Years in adoption scam. The woman is a former resident of Queens and has been convicted for adopting and abusing 11 disabled children.

She has admitted to using forge names to adopt the children, and used to send phony report cards to the authorities. She received

She made a fortune of $1.68 millions in adoption subsidies, which was forfeited by her in a plea deal.

Leekin, moved to Florida after adopting children from New York during 1988 – 1996.

The children were kept in inhumane conditions – forced to sleep on the floor and were tied up, or beaten if they misbehaved.

Lawyers for the children have asked for up to 40 years in prison for Leekin.

A Bronx gang member, George Melende was convicted to life without parole. He was involved in a gruesome 2005 murder, and was convicted for the first-degree murder of Dennis Rivera.

The incident happened in 2005 when three Latin Kings gang members tortured Rivera for a day and a half. During this time, victim was forced to drink drano, his genitals were branded with a scalding hammer, and was subjected to electric shocks.

After this gruesome torture, he was strangled to death by crushing his throat with a baseball bat and set fire to his body in a parking lot behind Yankee Stadium.