Shrager & Sachs was able to settle a case for an emergency room nurse who developed complex regional pain syndrome after incurring a spinal accessory nerve injury during a lymph node biopsy while under receiving diagnostic care at a hospital in central Pennsylvania.

The spinal accessory nerve controls functions related to the muscles in the shoulders and the head, such as shrugging the shoulders or tilting the head back. It can also affect motions of the arms, including extension and other larger arm movements originating in the shoulders.

Immediately after the biopsy, the patient began to experience injury symptoms promptly. The doctor’s defense was that there was no way that the procedure could have injured her in such a manner as she had claimed, as the nerve was too “deep” in the lymph node to be accessible.

Earlier today, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority released an advisory that hospital-acquired pressure ulcers remain a top concern for hospitals across the state. According to the advisory:

• PA hospitals reported over 19,000 pressure ulcer events (recognized safety concerns) in 2013.
• PA healthcare facilities reported 33,545 events involving impaired skin integrity in 2013 – a majority of which were hospital reported pressure ulcers.
• Nearly 30% of pressure ulcers reported from 2007-2013
• Reports of pressure ulcers from 2007 – 2013 reveal alarming rates and show need for improved protocol.

Pressure ulcers – also known as bedsores – are a form of injuries to the skin and underlying tissue that occur when there is prolonged pressure applied to the skin. They often affect individuals who are unable to move or regularly change positions when lying down. In hospital settings, health care providers typically set programs to avoid the development of pressure ulcers in bedridden patients. Pressure sores can range in severity from Stage I (redness, slightly dark pigmented skin) to Stage IV and severe deep tissue injuries.

Attorney Rob Sachs, Jr. – managing partner of Shrager & Sachs – will be speaking at an upcoming legal education conference next Monday, March 23. The conference – Auto Litigation 3.0 – is being hosted by 360 Advocacy and will be held at the Encore in Las Vegas. Speakers include some of the nation’s top and most accomplished injury lawyers who will be sharing their insight on handling auto accident cases.

Mr. Sachs’s presentation – Maximizing Wrongful Death Damages ­– is designed to help lawyers who handle cases involving fatal accidents. As is often the case, fatal auto collisions can result in tremendous emotional and financial damages for victims’ families. Mr. Sachs will be focusing on help lawyers improve case preparation, discovery, settlement negotiation, and trial advocacy skills so they can maximize compensation for families.

Shrager & Sachs is pleased to announce that Managing Partner Rob Sachs, Jr. has recently settled a central Pennsylvania medical malpractice case. The case was settled for just under $1 million.

The case involved a surgical injury to our client’s “spinal accessory” nerve during a lymph node biopsy procedure. In addition to suffering from a loss of function of the muscles typically controlled by the spinal accessory nerve, our client also developed a highly disabling “complex regional pain syndrome.”

Coincidentally, our client was a former emergency room nurse at the very hospital where the malpractice occurred. As a result of her injury, she will never work again a

We all heard sad news today that comedian Tracy Morgan was seriously injured while travelling back to New York from a comedy performance last night in Delaware. Preliminary investigation by the state police indicates that Morgan’s limo bus was hit from behind by a Walmart tractor-trailer that “didn’t see” slow moving traffic until it was too late. In addition to Morgan’s critical injuries, another person was killed. The tractor-trailer driver has been charged with death by auto and other charges.

Legislators began hearings this week to investigate what went wrong to cause the 100 vehicle pile-up on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Valentine’s Day. So far it doesn’t sound like there was a Penn DoT failure. They had worked to clear snow from a storm that had dumped up to one foot of snow on the area.

The speed restrictions had been lifted at 6:00 AM, about 2 1/2 hours before the chain reaction collision happened .Testimony also showed that the road had been plowed and salted just before the massive wreck happened.

Last week Managing Partner Rob Sachs, Jr. filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Polina Kadiyska, a 22 year old ballerina who was hit and killed after an underage, drunk driver struck her with his car, resulting in her death. As reported in the Philadelphia Daily News on August 6, 2013, a 19-year-old-man who had been celebrating his birth day and was under the influence of alcohol struck and killed Polina in a crosswalk in South Philadelphia. The man later plead guilty to homicide by vehicle while under the influence and is currently serving a 5-10 year prison sentence.

More than half of seniors admit to not taking their medications as directed. For those living alone, this can be due to a variety of factors. For a senior living in a nursing home, this can be a result of poor oversight by the facility. Almost half of Americans age 65 years and older take at least five different prescription medications regularly, according to a recent study from Kelton Research. When a senior is taking a variety of medications in different dosages over an extended period of time, frequently they can make mistakes or miss a day.

When a senior moves into a nursing home or assisted living facility, it is usually because of a loss of independence resulting from declining health. So it’s more important to these individuals to take all of their medications as directed by their physicians and it’s up to the staff of the senior care facility to ensure this. All too often, we receive calls from loved ones detailing the injuries or worse that are a result of improper medication administration.

One of our areas of special focus arises from one of the greatest crimes against humanity: obtaining justice for elderly who are abused or neglected. We’ve all heard the horror stories and listened to friends struggling to find a great assisted living or nursing home facility for their parents or loved ones. Putting your trust in strangers to care for your aging family members is a daunting prospect. Because too often, the care they receive is sub-par or even criminal.

As reported in the Philadelphia Daily News on February 20th, “In Philadelphia and across the nation, elder abuse – physical, financial, sexual or by neglect – is a growing problem, yet it dwells in the shadows of the better-publicized crimes of child abuse and domestic abuse, advocates say.”

Did you know, when riding SEPTA you are being filmed almost all the time? It certainly makes sense. More and more we expect when we are in public areas, we are being photographed by numerous still and video cameras. And we hear all the time how this kind of surveillance can assist in a court case. Every evening on TV, the evening news and crime shows detail how the surveillance video from a nearby establishment helps to solve a crime or settle a dispute. This is true in real life as on television.