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Information Hub for Accident Victims - Carpey Law

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Information Hub for Accident Victims - Carpey Law

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Carpey Law is a Pennsylvania-based law firm focused on the representation of clients involved in complex civil litigation, including representing severely injured individuals in a vast array of personal injury cases.
Contact: 215-563-8286

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I want to let you know that I appreciate you for your consistent follow through whenever our members contact Carpey Law. Please let Mr. Carpey know that his guidance was on target and I was able obtain the information needed to help our church. Stuart Carpey and Carpey Law have always responded to the need whenever asked and has never refused to help. Thank you. Have A Great Day! :-)

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Need a Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer? Call Carpey Law Firm

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I want to let you know that I appreciate you for your consistent follow through whenever our members contact Carpey Law. Please let Mr. Carpey know that his guidance was on target and I was able obtain the information needed to help our church.

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Effects of medical care caused by a Medical malpractice can include delay in cancer treatment, misdiagnosis of an injury or disease transfusion errors, adverse drug events, wrong-site surgeries, surgical injuries, treatment-related infections, and more.
Contact : 215-563-8286
Website:  https://www.carpeylaw.com/

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Medical malpractice is a preventable adverse effect of medical care, whether or not it causes harm to the patient. Intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency departments tend to have the highest medical error rates. The National Institutes of Health says that medical errors tend to be associated with extremes of age, new procedures, urgency, and the severity of the medical condition being treated. According to the World Health Organization, the risk of patient death occurring due to preventable medical malpractice while receiving health care is about one in 300. Nearly half of the errors in healthcare are considered preventable.

According to a recent study by Johns Hopkins, more than 250,000 people in the United States die every year because of medical errors or medical malpractice, making it the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer. The most common medical malpractice in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health, are: adverse drug events, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, central line-associated bloodstream infection, injury from falls and immobility, adverse obstetrical events, pressure ulcers, surgical site infections, venous thrombosis (blood clots), and ventilator-associated pneumonia. However, medical malpractice also includes transfusion errors, adverse drug events, wrong-site surgeries, surgical injuries, restraint-related injuries, hospital-acquired infections, treatment-related infections, and falls, burns, and pressure ulcers.
Learn More From a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Most Common Medical Errors in the U.S.

Medical errors happen at astounding rates in the U.S. (nearly 100,000 deaths every year) and the best way to help prevent one from happening to you is to know what to look for.
The most common medical malpractice claims in healthcare include:

Medication errors - Though it's the most common type of medical error, medication mistakes are also the most preventable. This includes the misinterpretation of prescription abbreviations and instructions, sometimes due to poor handwriting.

Infection - While hospitals are expected to be clean and sanitized, hospital-acquired infections such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, bloodstream infections, pneumonia, and clostridium difficile, are a big risk to patients receiving medical treatments or surgery in the hospital.

Poor communication - Miscommunications between healthcare facilities and providers, and between patients and providers often leads to errors in healthcare.

Other medical malpractice claims include:

Prescription Abbreviation Errors: Sometimes medication information and accompanying instructions are written quickly, and as a consequence, incorrectly. (Not to mention doctors don't always have the best handwriting) This means pharmacists and caregivers may be providing you with the treatment regimen. Sometimes a D looks like a P. And sometimes "QHS" is read as "QHR," which will have you taking your meds far too often. For a look at similar errors, have a look at this Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) PDF.

Drug Interactions: There are a number of interactions which can make your prescribed drug dangerous to your health. Your doctor should know these interactions and should make sure you are notified of them. Failing to do so will put at risk for great harm. This includes drug-to-drug interactions and drug-to-diet interactions.

IV Mistakes: One of the most common mistakes occurring in hospitals are those involving intravenous meds. The errors include problems with the line, as well as giving patients incorrect dosages.

Equipment Errors: Sometimes the biggest problems occur for the simplest reasons. Anesthetic machines, x-ray machines, defibrillators, etc., have been known to malfunction for simply not having good batteries. Hospital staff are sometimes so concerned with the "big" issues that they overlook everyday problems, like dead batteries.

Billing Mistakes: While not malpractice, on occasion a hospital commits a mistake in billing. It may not be intentional, but it can still cost you money. A medical bill could have some complicated charges that actually don't have any relation to your care. Remember, when in doubt, scrutinize your bill and call the billing office.

Get a Consultation for your Medical Malpractice Case
What Is The Most Common Cause Of Medical Errors?

Miscommunications are the most common causes of medical errors in healthcare. Whether verbal or written, miscommunication can occur between physicians, nurses, patients, or other health care providers.
Addition Causes of Medical Errors include:

Inadequate Information Flow. When necessary information does not follow a patient who is transferred to a new facility.

Human Problems. Medical errors, like poor documentation and labeling of specimens, are made by human beings. When standards of care, policies, processes, or procedures are not followed properly by staff, it can lead to medical errors.

Patient-Related Issues. Issues like inappropriate patient identification, inadequate patient assessment, failure to obtain consent, and insufficient patient education fall under this category.

Organizational Knowledge. Put simply, these issues can include insufficient training and education for health care providers.

Staffing Patterns and Workflow. Understaffing can put healthcare workers in a position where they are more likely to make mistakes.

Technical Failures. The failure of medical devices, such as implants, grafts, or other medical equipment can lead to undesirable outcomes.

Distracted Doctoring

These days, doctors have a lot of information at their disposal - in fact, many doctors have medical information right in the palm of their hands. Use of Smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets makes it possible for doctors to get more done in a short amount of time.

Patient data? Check.

.Medical history? Check.

Case studies? Check.

Drug information? Check.

But in a time when the Institute of Medicine reports an average of 100,000 medical error fatalities every year, is it a good thing that doctors are spending more time with their eyes - and minds - on their electronic devices?

One of the main problems with Smartphone use on-the-job is that electronic devices have tons of features - most of which don't help doctors do their jobs better. Access to email and social networks is just a click away, and the temptation is often too much to resist.
Distracted Doctoring is Becoming a Real a Concern
A 2010 peer-reviewed survey which polled 439 medical professionals who perform cardiopulmonary bypasses revealed that roughly half of those polled confessed to having used their cellular phones during a procedure.

The issue, it seems, is mostly with younger doctors. These physicians are members of a generation so used to using cell phones and computers that not-using them is almost unheard of. In fact, the problem is sparking conversation in med schools, with professors reminding students that the patient is the priority, not their cell phones.

In an attempt to combat distracted doctoring, some hospitals are mandating that operation rooms be deemed "quiet zones," meaning there is to be no interaction with cell phones or computers. And while this is a step in the right direction, the rule is not easy to enforce.

Distracted doctoring is an unfortunate consequence of doctors having the ability to access useful patient information right when they need it. Abuse of cell phones, however, could very well lead to even more medical errors in hospitals. And there's already way too many of those.

FBI Investigates Medical Devices Linked to Spreading Uterine Cancer
Learn More About Distracted Doctoring Cases
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate medical devices as stringently as prescription drugs. With a good amount of unregulated devices in the medical field, the risk of complications from the use of medical devices can therefore be high. Recently, the FBI began an investigation into a particular surgical device, the Morcellator. Invented by Johnson & Johnson, this laparoscopic power device has caused greater issues and further medical problems for patients than the company's claims to have been aware of. In fact, the FBI is looking into the idea that Johnson & Johnson knew about the tool's hazards before they pulled it off the market last year.

A morcellator is a surgical device used during procedures that treat uterine fibroids, such as hysterectomies or myomectomies. This laparoscopic device creates tiny, minimally invasive incisions, which allows the device's rotating blades to enter the patient's body and break down large tissue masses or tumors into smaller fragments. The broken-down tissue fragments are then vacuumed out the body. However, the FDA says the morcellator may be responsible for seeding cancer into the patient. During the process of removing the small fragments of tissue mass, if any of the tissue containing cancer cells get left behind, they have the ability to spread to other part of the body, in turn leading to the development of tumors.

Prior to Johnson & Johnson removing their device from the market, surgeons had been using this device for procedures to treat uterine fibroids. The dangers of using the Morcellator were brought to light by Dr. Amy Reed, an anesthesiologist, and Sarah Robinson, a physician assistant. Both had this procedure performed, which resulted in worsening of their conditions. After Ms. Robinson's cancer worsened from the use of the morcellator, she collected a list of women and families of women whose cancer worsened as a result of the device, which was sent to the FBI. Dr. Reed, along with her husband who is also a physician, have been vocal in a campaign to the FDA and FBI against the use of the morcellator. The FDA soon after recommended that laparoscopic morcellators no longer be used. Meanwhile, the FBI had started an investigation into whether Johnson & Johnson were previously aware of the devices link to the spread of uterine cancer in patients.

Ways To Prevent Medical Malpractice

Become an active member of your healthcare team. The most important thing you can do to prevent medical errors is to get involved in your care. Don't assume everyone on your medical team has all of your information!

Tell your medical team about your medication history, including your current medications and dosages (including over-the-counter medications, vitamins and herbal supplements), and drug allergies.

To avoid infection, keep an eye on everyone caring for you and make sure that they wash their hands and wear clean gloves.

Before a medication is administered, confirm that it is the correct medication and dosage.

Choose a hospital with a high safety rating, where you will be more likely to have good outcomes without medical errors.

Do Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Improve Healthcare?
To protect yourself from medical malpractice:
Does a lawsuit resulting from a medical mistake in Pennsylvania benefit society on the whole? That is a hotly debated issue in the medical and legal community.

There can really be no contra argument that medical malpractice lawsuits brought because of wrong-site surgery, misdiagnosis, object retention, and prescription errors gets the attention of the medical community. Lawsuits take years to bring to fruition. However, any claim of malpractice where suits is filed means inevitable delays as evidence is gathered, the parties to the suit are deposed, and experts are retained to offer their opinions. Malpractice settlements and verdicts vary from one locality to the next. A patient injured by a medical mistake in Pennsylvania may be able to pursue a medical malpractice case. Not all medical wrongs equate to malpractice, however. The fact is, most such claims are never brought, for a variety of reasons. One of the most important reasons is the expense in bringing such cases. The damages must be severe enough to warrant bringing a lawsuit.

What we know is:

Every year about 98,000 medical errors occur in the US, some causing injury, others causing death. Of those 98,000 errors, only 0.05% result in penalties for offending doctors. Which brings us to the next important fact...
Too few doctors are disciplined for medical errors.
An early 90s report released by the National Practitioner Data Bank said a shockingly small group of doctors are responsible for over half of med mal payouts. Here are the report's exact numbers:

Just over 5% of doctors are responsible for more than half of med mal offenses resulting in payouts.
A doctor who commits medical malpractice is likely to do so again.
About 35,000 doctors were reported to have committed two or more offenses resulting in payouts. Among them, a mere 8% were in some way disciplined.

Of the doctors who have committed five med mal errors resulting in payouts, only about 13% have actually been disciplined.

Medical Malpractice: Certificate of Merit

In Pennsylvania, in order to begin a successful medical malpractice claim, the court requires that a 'certificate of merit' be filed. A certificate of merit is a document from a medical professional which states that the medical care received by the plaintiff was unacceptable. This means that you are not allowed to continue your case in Pennsylvania unless you have a letter written from a medical professional saying that, as an expert, he or she believes that the care from the defendant doctor (or other medical professional named in the lawsuit) fell below the acceptable standard of care.

This rule requires that when your lawyer files your medical malpractice claim, he must also file a certificate of merit within 60 days. If the deadline is missed, your case will be dismissed. You may refile your case; however, you can only refile if your case is filed within the two year statute of limitations. It is important to know that it is extremely unlikely that a lawyer will even commence a medical malpractice lawsuit without an expert opinion stating that the defendant doctor or hospital provided medical care that fell below the acceptable standard of care. Why? Because such a lawsuit will be thrown out, thus the requirement of the certification of merit.

Obtaining a certificate of merit is the first step in proving a medical malpractice case. Discovery, which includes interrogatories, document requests and depositions, is prohibited until the certificate of merit is filed. The court, however, will allow any discovery which is required for an expert to make a determination as to whether a defendant medical provider deviated from accepted professional standards. The content of the rule is as follows:

The aim of this rule is to "weed out" medical malpractice claims that would otherwise be difficult to win before they get into court. This rule essentially forces plaintiffs to get permission to sue from a licensed medical expert.

Medical Malpractice Mythbusting
"Except for the production of documents and things or the entry upon property for inspection and other purposes, a plaintiff who has asserted a professional liability claim may not, without leave of court, seek any discovery with respect to that claim prior to the filing of a certificate of merit. Pa. R.C.P. 1042.5.
Fact: Many people falsely believe that medical malpractice lawsuits are largely baseless. This is just not true. In fact, the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a study which concluded that roughly 97% involved malpractice which entitled patients to compensation due to their injuries.
Myth: Most Malpractice lawsuits are frivolous
Fact: This is also not true. A medical malpractice suit can be a lengthy and complex ordeal which most attorneys are apprehensive to take on. Most medical malpractice suits go to trial. In fact, at our office, we turn down the vast majority of potential clients that come to us with complaints that their medical provider did something wrong. It could be because liability would be too difficult to prove. It could be because the damages were not severe enough to warrant the expense and financial risk of proceeding with a case.
Myth: Medical malpractice lawsuits are easy to resolve and settle
Fact: As stated above, nearly 99,000 people die annually due to medical errors. And those errors may in fact be preventable. These sorts of preventable errors include wrong-site surgery, misdiagnosis, object retention, and other errors which can only be chalked up to medical negligence. Doctors have a term for this. They call it a "mal- occurrence." That means something went bad in the medical care, but it was not necessarily negligence. In some cases, negligence cannot be proven. But in those cases where the medical care fell below the accepted standard of care, the law says that is negligence. And, if the injured patient's damages are severe enough, it may warrant a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Insurance companies and the US Chamber of Commerce have successfully poisoned jury pools through their 50 year propaganda campaign. They make it seem that medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous, generally have no merit, and cause more problems than they correct. The press in this country has bought into it. In reality, medical malpractice lawsuits weed out bad doctors and bad medicine.
Myth: The majority of medical malpractice occurrences are unpreventable
If you think you have experienced a medical error, Carpey Law can help. We are experienced medical malpractice lawyers in the Philadelphia area. Give us a call at 610-8340-6030, or email at scarpey@carpeylaw.com.

[1] Who/G "10 facts on patient safety", WHO.int
Updated August 2019, https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/patient_safety/en/
Contact Carpey Law
For more information on medical malpractice myths and common forms of medical errors in Pennsylvania, see the articles located on our website.
[2] Allen, Marshal, and Piarce, Olga. "Medical Errors Are No. 3 Cause Of U.S Deaths, Researchers Say", www.npr.org, May 3, 2016, 6:31 PM ET. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/03/476636183/death-certificates-undercount-toll-of-medical-errors

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What Is Medical Malpractice? Effects of medical care caused by a Medical malpractice can include delay in cancer treatment, misdiagnosis of an injury or disease transfusion errors, adverse drug events, wrong-site surgeries, surgical injuries, treatment-related infections, and more. Contact a medical malpractice attorney.

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Texting While Driving Accidents - Carpey Law

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Texting While Driving Accidents - Carpey Law

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Texting while driving accidents are common among teenagers and adults. Well, in that case, you’re 23 times more likely to get into a texting while driving accident. If you or a loved one was injured in a texting while driving accident, Carpey Law can help.

Contact Today: 215-563-8286

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When we all began driving, we were taught to keep both hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road at all times. It seems some have forgotten these rules, and make unsafe exceptions to keep one hand on the wheel and the other holding a phone. Texting while driving leads to reckless driving, car accidents, and even death.
In this article, we will cover: If you have been involved in a texting while driving accident, contact Carpey Law today!
Why Is Texting and Driving So Dangerous?

The average amount of time your eyes are taken off the road while texting and driving is 5 seconds.* One might think 5 seconds is nothing, but in all reality, things on the road can happen in a split second.

If you're going at about 55 MPH, 5 seconds is the equivalent of driving an entire football field without looking.* When we think about it like this, we realize the severity of taking our eyes off the road for a "mere" 5 seconds. If that sounds scary, it's because it is. You're 23 times more likely to get into an accident when you're texting and driving.

Another reason texting and driving is so scary? So many people do it, and claim they can do it "safely." Everyone knows that drunk driving is unsafe and illegal, and everyone knows they shouldn't do it under any circumstances. However, even though texting and driving is more dangerous, 77% of young adults claim they can drive safely while texting.

They've done it before, they believe themselves to be "good at it," and have developed a system of either glancing down at the phone and then back out the windshield rapidly, holding the phone close to the windshield to keep it in their "line of vision", increasing following distance, or texting only at stop signs or red lights, and so on.

In reality, people who text while driving, even those who are "good at it," spend about 11% of their time outside of their lane.

Distracted Driving Comes in Different Forms

Texting and driving is largely regarded as a teenage and young adult problem; however, in reality, people of all ages are getting into accidents because they are distracted while driving.

The term "texting and driving" is a specific phrase for what is actually a broad range of cell phone-based activities, including searching for music, surfing the web, checking Facebook, reading emails, or any other activity that gets your eyes off the road and on your phone for an alarming amount of time. (You might think it's not, but it is.) You don't actually have to be texting in order to be considered texting and driving.

The visual act of looking down at your phone is only one of the elements that makes texting while driving a distraction.
Driving is made up of three different categories:

Visual, aka seeing the road in front of you and everything in and around it.

Manual, aka having your hands on the wheel and your feet on the pedals.

Cognitive, aka thinking about what you are doing and focusing specifically on driving.

Texting while driving causes distraction in all three of these categories:

Visual: You're taking your eyes off the road for full seconds at a time.

Manual: You're taking your hands off the wheel to use your phone.

Cognitive: Your main focus is not on driving, but on whatever is happening on your phone screen.

The Facts About Texting While Driving

Dialing a phone makes it 2.8 times more likely you'll get into an accident.

Reaching for a device is also dangerous and raises our chances of getting into an accident by 1.4 times.

13% of drivers under the age of 20 that are involved in car wrecks admit that they were texting or talking on their cellphones at the time of the crash.

77% of young adults believe that they are confident in their abilities to safely text and drive.

The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

Additionally, almost 390,000 injuries occur each year from texting while driving accidents.

11 teens die every day as a result of texting while driving

Texting while driving makes you 6 times more likely to get into an accident than driving drunk

Pennsylvania Texting and Driving Law

In 2012, Pennsylvania passed a bill that bans the use of cell phones and texting while driving for drivers. Under this Pennsylvania law, if a driver is observed in violation, a policeman can ticket that driver and can impose a fine of $50. However, the exception to this law is the use of navigational systems (such as GPS) or calling 911 in the case of an emergency. The goal is to limit the talking and texting of drivers on the roads.

Additional implications of the Pennsylvania texting and driving law depends on the circumstances. A texting while driving violation can lead to a reckless driving charge. If the accident involves the death of another person, texting while driving can lead to a homicide by vehicle charge.

Like Pennsylvania, only 24 other states have such tough driving restrictions
The Pennsylvania bill's lead sponsor and chairman of the Transportation Committee, Representative Joe Markosek said, regarding his reasons for sponsoring the bill, "We are all one text from eternity." In 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 3,142 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.

There is currently a new texting while driving bill that has passed the PA House and is awaiting a vote in the PA Senate. This new bill could:

Prevent drivers from holding a phone while driving, including GPS usage.

Prevent drivers under 18 from using a phone at all, even if the vehicle is stopped.

Increase fine from $50 up to $200 for violations.

Continue to allow drivers to talk on the phone using a Bluetooth or hands-free device.

Learn More from a Car Accident Attorney in PA
Danger Of Hands-Free Cell Phone Use While Driving

How safe are you when driving while having a phone conversation using hands-free wireless technology? Well, according to a University of Utah study and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the answer is not very.

The University of Utah study showed that motorists that used hands-free phones were as impaired as drunk drivers. The study found that compared with undistracted drivers motorists who talked on handheld or hands-free cell phones:

Drove slightly slower

Were 19 percent slower to resume normal speed after breaking, and

Were more likely to crash

In fact, three study participants rear-ended the pace car. All were talking on cell phones. None were drunk.

Further, the NHTSA has indicated that hands-free cell use causes a cognitive distraction that degrades a driver's performance. Drivers are less likely to pick up on visual and audio cues that are necessary to avoid an accident. This makes hands-free cell use just as dangerous as handheld cell use.

Local Teen's Story Of Texting And Driving

On November 15, 2013, I had made the worst mistake of my life. I was texting and driving and I got in a collision that ended up totaling my car. This accident changed my driving outlook for the rest of my life. I had small injuries and luckily the car I hit was not too badly damaged. But this lesson is one that I want to tell the world about because I want to stop what happened to myself from happening to anyone else.

According to textinganddriving.com, in the year 2011, 23% percent of auto collisions involved cell phones, that is 1.3 million car crashes. These numbers are painstakingly high for something that can so easily be stopped. I know that when I got in my accident, I thought that if just for 3 seconds I would have focused on the road instead of looking down at that text, I could still have my car and my low insurance. That could have been one less accident in the percentage for the year 2013, if I just decided to wait to text after I was done driving. Just by doing such a simple task like texting can increase your chances to hurt yourself or someone else in a collision. There are plenty of things that can be done to prevent texting and driving. You can get involved by waiting to respond to that text or call next time you are driving, remember it can wait.

How To Prevent Texting While Driving Accidents?

The PA law for texting and driving and the new bill are a great start to preventing texting while driving accidents. Here are some other things that you can do personally to make the roads safer:

Commit to not driving while distracted by signing a pledge

Download apps that stop incoming text messages while you are driving

Keep your phone out of reach while you are driving

Speak up about the dangers of texting while driving and distracted driving

Read Carpey Law's Latest Articles
Truth or Dare: Do You Text While Driving?

Truth: Do You Text While Driving?

(A voting form)

The truth is that texting and driving is the single most dangerous thing you can do behind the wheel (even more so than driving drunk). Texting or using your phone takes your eyes away from the road for longer periods of time than any other activity people tend to do while driving (like eat, put on lipstick, change the radio dial, etc.)

Dare: Sign the Pledge

Join Carpey Law and keep our roads safer by pledging not to text and drive.
This includes:

Composing texts or emails

Reading texts or emails

Viewing or taking snapchats

Scrolling through your music selection to find a particular song

Doing anything that requires touching, unlocking, or looking at your phone

Even when:

You're at a red light or stop sign

You're running late for something and are tempted to text the person you're

meeting to let them know (It's better to arrive late than dead, as they say.)

A song comes on that you don't feel like listening to

You have six unread texts from your mom or significant other

If someone is in mortal peril and needs your immediate help, they will call you.

Otherwise, there is no situation that cannot wait until you reach your destination.

Click Here to Sign the Pledge!
Promising to keep driving and cell phone use of any kind separate means you're making our local roads and highways safer. Thank you!

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Texting while driving accidents are common among teenagers and adults. You're 23 times more likely to get into a texting while driving accident. If you or a loved one was injured in a texting while driving accident, Carpey Law can help.

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Car Accident Damages from a Car Accident Lawyer in Philadelphia

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Car Accident Damages from a Car Accident Lawyer in Philadelphia

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Get expert advice from a car accident lawyer in Philadelphia to assess your case and guides you through possible damages. There are various types of damages you can file including compensatory damages, general damages and punitive damages.

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Car Accident Damages from a Car Accident Lawyer in Philadelphia