Icy Temperatures and High Water Levels Can Be Deadly

Although the days are warmer, the water has not yet warmed up. Attempting to swim, or falling into the water from a boat, can quickly become a life-threatening situation for even the strongest swimmers. Icy water can cause cold-water shock – a condition that immobilizes the body and eventually leads to hypothermia.

These types of drownings often occur without the splashing and shouting associated with a swimmer in distress. The victim instead silently slips out of sight, underwater and drowns.

With the rise in temperature that tempts people onto the water, the snow in the mountains melts. Snow melt may create high, fast-flowing water in rivers, making sports such as canoeing and rafting especially dangerous.

Protect Yourself

Approximately 100 drowning deaths occur in Washington every year. These terrible events can occur in lakes, rivers, the ocean and even in backyard swimming pools. According to the Department of Health, teens – especially boys – are at the highest risk due to risky behaviors. This is particularly evident in the spring months because children and teens are eager to get in the water and participate in water activities.

The best way to protect against drowning and near-drowning is to follow a few basic safety guidelines:

• Never swim alone.
• Choose a supervised area.
• Go somewhere with clear water.
• Check river levels and conditions before setting out.
• Have an emergency plan.
• When boating, wear a life jacket.
• Ensure that pools are fenced and locked.

Injuries from Drowning and Near-drowning

Death from drowning is a tragic ordeal. Near-drowning, too, may cause serious injury including:

• Spinal cord injury
• Paralysis
• Coma
• Persistent vegetative state

Drowning or near-drowning accidents are too often caused by the negligence of one or multiple parties. When pools lack proper safety features or are poorly supervised, children can become the victims of drowning. Boating accidents may be caused by negligent operators who do not follow proper boating laws or do not look out for swimmers. These accidents can cause drowning or near-drowning.

If you or a loved one was injured in a near-drowning, or your loved one drowned, due to a pool or boating incident, please contact us immediately. Our attorneys are dedicated to finding out who was responsible for your suffering. You may be eligible for compensation. Please contact the Perey Law Group for your free, no-obligation consultation.

There are 3 types of misdiagnosis: missed diagnosis, wrong diagnosis and delayed diagnosis. The result is inevitably incorrect treatment. This can be particularly damaging in the cases of cancer, heart disease and stroke. It can lead to the progression of the actual illness, resulting in permanent injury or even death. That misdiagnosis is so common is alarming for anyone who puts their faith in the hands of medical professionals.

Protect Yourself

No one ever signs up to be a victim of misdiagnosis. You can help protect yourself from these all-too-common mistakes by being your own advocate.

• Provide honest information. When your doctor asks you a question, answer it in full with complete honesty, even if it is embarrassing.
• Ask questions. If you are not comfortable with a diagnosis — and even if you are — ask your doctor if there are any other possible diagnoses. Do not end the conversation until you know why you were diagnosed with one condition and not another.
• Volunteer relevant information. Diagnosis is as much an art as it is science, and it depends on doctors looking in the right places for the right clues. If something is bothering you, but the doctor does not ask about it, tell them anyway.
• Get a second opinion. If you are still uncomfortable with the level of care you receive from one doctor, go to another. A new perspective could identify a piece of the puzzle that leads to the correct outcome, the right diagnosis.

Misdiagnosis and Malpractice

Clearly there is a rampant problem within the medical field: over the last 25 years, 350,000 victims have received malpractice settlements because of injury due to misdiagnosis. The frightening truth is that this only represents a portion of the number of people injured by misdiagnosis. The rest either remain silent or fail to obtain compensation in court.

While misdiagnosis is not necessarily malpractice, Washington law protects the patient in cases in which injury is occurred due to a breach in the standard of care.

Contact Us

If you or a loved one was injured, or if you have lost a loved one, due to a misdiagnosis, please contact us immediately for a free consultation. Perey Law Group is dedicated to seeking justice and experienced in getting compensation for those injured by medical malpractice.

The tragedy has caused Washington residents and officials to take a close look at potentially hazardous sites within the state.

Workplace Explosion Hazards You Need to Know About

Everyone knows that it’s dangerous to work on an oil rig or in an industrial plant. But what about in a bakery? Or a scuba shop? As a worker, make it a priority to know what hazardous conditions are present in your workplace, starting with the following explosion hazards:

• Combustible dust. Many workplace fires and explosions have been caused by combustible dust, which can come from a wide variety of things including grain, tobacco, wood, plastics, metals, coal, pesticides, textiles, rubber and flour.
• Compressed gas. From manufacturing plants to scuba shops, compressed gas is not an uncommon workplace hazard. When cylinders used to store gas are poorly maintained or cylinders are filled too quickly or handled improperly, there is a risk of explosion. Training employees about equipment maintenance is essential to preventing disaster.
• Combustible liquids. Combustible liquids have a flash point at or above 100º F and include acetic acid, mineral spirits, kerosene, carbolic acid and pine oil. Storage of both flammable and combustible liquids should be well-regulated by employers to prevent accidents.

In the Texas incident, the explosions could have been caused by vapor from liquid anhydrous ammonia or the ammonium nitrate stored at the facility.

Workplace Explosions Cause Injury and Death

Several types of injuries can result from explosions:

• Blast injuries typically affect the ears, lungs and gastrointestinal tract
• Injury from flying objects
• Injuries incurred by being propelled by the blast into an object
• Crush injuries
• Burns
• Inhalation of toxic substances

Death can result from any of these injuries.

Who is Responsible?

It is an employer’s responsibility to train employees to manage workplace risks and to keep their facilities up to date on safety protocols and maintenance. But the employer is not always at fault. Often, the responsibility lies with the manufacturer of a chemical or a product. Figuring out where the negligence occurred in the chain of events is key to getting injured workers their due compensation.

That is where the Perey Law Group comes in. We have the knowledge and diligence to conduct a thorough investigation and obtain justice for workers hurt in explosions. If you or a loved one has been injured in an explosion, or you have lost someone due to one, please contact us immediately. You may be eligible for compensation. We offer a free consolation with one of our experienced attorneys during which we will discuss your options.

How could that happen?

Misdiagnosis is Not Enough

Misdiagnosis itself is not enough to claim malpractice. According to Washington law, one of the following must be proven with substantial evidence:

• The injury resulted from the failure of a health care provider to follow the accepted standard of care.
• That a health care provider promised the patient or his or her representative that the injury suffered would not occur.
• That injury resulted from health care to which the patient or his or her representative did not consent.

In Turner’s case, injury could not be more evident. Pneumonia is a serious and potentially fatal illness. The misdiagnosis delayed treatment, causing her to slip into a coma and lose her foot. The case, therefore, rested on whether or not the misdiagnosis qualified as a breach in the standard of care.

The standard of care refers to the standard exercised by a reasonable professional in the same area of expertise. Proving it was not met requires testimony from experts in the field to demonstrate that the doctor missed something he should have caught.

The first jury did not agree that a breach in the standard of care was satisfactorily proven. Such a verdict is a reminder that even egregious injury in not enough to guarantee a medical malpractice suit victory.

A Mistrial Gives Case a Second Look

The legal system is full with complexities and there are rules for the conduct of jurors as well as for attorneys and judges. Due to some questionable comments made by several of the jurors, the judge declared a mistrial due to juror misconduct and Turner’s case got a second chance. This time, the outcome was different. Although pneumonia and certain cancers share symptoms, this is well-known and the doctor should have been more thorough in his examination and diagnosis. The jury awarded Turner $813,000 in damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of consortium.

We Are Experienced in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Proving medical malpractice is no easy feat. The attorneys at Perey Law Group have considerable experience with medical malpractice cases. We know how to recognize and prove injury and negligence. If you or a loved one has suffered injury at the hands of a a medical professional you may be eligible for compensation.

Please contact us immediately to discuss your legal options with one of our experienced attorneys. We provide a free consultation, so act now. There is a time limit on filing a lawsuit.

That frightening premise is what the family of a man who died after an operation is claiming in a lawsuit headed to trail in less than 2 weeks. The lawsuit is one of several in recent years filed against Intuitive Surgical Inc., which manufactures surgical robots used in 1,371 U.S. hospitals, Bloomberg reported.

This case illustrates the quickly changing state of modern medicine. But it also rests upon long-established principles of law that remain relevant – even if lines are increasingly becoming blurred.

The Case

The lawsuit in question was filed in Kitsap County by the family of Fred Taylor. Taylor was injured during a 2008 procedure to remove his prostate. The lawsuit alleges the surgeon who performed the operation using Intuitive’s da Vinci Surgical System had never used the machine without supervision, and was not properly trained to use it.

Taylor suffered kidney failure, brain damage and other severe complications from the surgery and later died of heart failure linked to the procedure, according to the lawsuit.

The case is set for trial April 15.

What Exactly is a Surgical Robot?

The da Vinci Surgical System is Intuitive’s flagship product. With a price tag in the $1.5 million to $2.5 million range, the robot allows complex surgical procedures to be performed by a surgeon operating what Bloomberg describes as a “video-game style console” in the operating room.

From the company’s website:

“Da Vinci is powered by state-of-the-art robotic technology that allows the surgeon’s hand movements to be scaled, filtered and translated into precise movements of the EndoWrist® instruments working inside the patient’s body.”

According to Bloomberg, surgical robots were used in roughly 300,000 procedures in 2012. They are not new: they’ve been in use since the 1990s.

Proponents argue that surgical robots make smaller incisions in the patient, allowing for a faster recovery and shorter hospital stay. They can also perform tasks much more precise than a surgeon could with her or her own hands – provided the surgeon has been properly trained to use the machine.

But it appears that’s not always the case. If Fred Taylor did die as a result of his surgeon being inadequately trained to use the da Vinci system, interesting legal questions arise. Who is responsible for the actions of a non-human when it performs tasks that can have grave consequences?

Product Liability or Medical Malpractice?

Typically, when a patient is injured or killed as a result of a surgical procedure, legal liability lies with the surgeon, the supporting staff and/or the hospital where the surgery was performed, depending on the circumstances. The Perey Law Firm has successfully handled many of these kinds of cases.

One party generally not held accountable, though, is the company that made the scalpel.

That is essentially Intuitive’s argument in defending the Taylor lawsuit. Their attorneys argue that the Taylor family can only sue the medical provider who performed the procedure, not the company that made the surgical robot used.

But Bloomberg reported the judge in the case said product liability laws in Washington place responsibility on medical product manufacturers to properly train and instruct doctors.

What Do You Think?

Who should be to blame in this scenario? Intuitive Surgical Inc.? The surgeon and his employer? Both?

Our law is adaptable to changing times and changing industries. It has happened before and it will happen again. The outcomes of cases like these will shape the way we go forward.

Regardless of the legal nuances, representing innocent people hurt or killed during a medical procedure is something we’re proud to do. Contact the Perey Law Firm today for a free consultation if this has happened to you or someone in your family.

The Department of Health reviewed 2012 figures, expecting to find a single case of anencephaly among the county’s roughly 4,000 live births, based on the national average. Instead, they found 8 cases.

Investigators are now trying to figure out why.

Anencephaly: ‘Uniformly Fatal’

Anencephaly is a neural tube defect that results in a baby being born with portions of the skull and brain missing. The baby’s head is typically misshapen as a result of this horrific defect, and death shortly after birth is inevitable. The area’s health officer described the defect to the Yakima Herald as “uniformly fatal.”

Can Birth Defects Be Prevented?

There are many causes of birth defects. Exposure to prescription medications is one of the most common. But birth defects sometimes occur due to genetics or even due to no apparent cause at all.

There are steps that expecting mothers can take to increase their odds of having a healthy baby, however.

In a recent story, the Yakima Herald expressed concern that pregnant women in Yakima County might not be receiving adequate pre-natal care. The county has Washington’s third-highest rate of teen pregnancy.

The article reads:

The most conclusive studies show a direct link between neural tube defects and a lack of folic acid, which is found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and legumes, among other foods. Taking vitamins with folic acid is an easy way to help prevent anencephaly — if women know to do so.

Additionally, anencephaly occurs early in pregnancy, the article notes, before many women know they are pregnant. By then, it’s too late to start taking folic acid. That’s why women who may become pregnant should take at least 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily.

For underprivileged women who lack health insurance or other means, government assistance can typically provide the necessary care.

Doing Our Part

At Perey Law Group, we do our part to try to decrease the number of birth defects in Washington by raising awareness and demanding accountability. We’re proud to represent families and help them take on pharmaceutical giants that sell products that caused a birth defect in their child. If this has happened to your family, contact us today.

As Washington’s law is slowly rolled out in 2013, the Perey Law Group brings you five important things you should know about it:

1. There is currently no legal way to purchase marijuana for non-medicinal purposes.

The law intends to heavily regulate and tax marijuana much like alcohol, but these provisions have not yet been established. The state has until Dec. 1, 2013 to enact rules for the sale and distribution of marijuana. Private drug sales remain illegal. They are not regulated the way the state intends marijuana sales to be regulated under the new law.

The Seattle Police Department has created a webpage outlining the law and the department’s approach here. While possession of up to one ounce is now legal, the department will continue to enforce other marijuana-related laws. From the website:

“…the Seattle Police Department will continue to enforce laws against unlicensed sale or production of marijuana, and regulations against driving under the influence of marijuana, which remain illegal.”

2. Marijuana use is still illegal in public.

Just as you can be cited for walking down a public sidewalk drinking alcohol, you can be cited if caught smoking marijuana in public. It’s even a citation-worthy offense to open up a bag of marijuana in public. Additionally, if smoking tobacco is forbidden in a certain area, it is also forbidden to smoke a joint there.

3. Don’t drive while high.

We hope this goes without saying. Intoxicated driving is dangerous and potentially deadly to yourself, your passengers and everyone else on the road. Laws forbidding driving under the influence of drugs will remain in place and be enforced just as they were before the new law was passed.

4. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

While President Obama has said the federal government has “bigger fish to fry” than prosecuting marijuana offenses, the Justice Department has said it will continue to prosecute large-scale growers and distributors in Washington. While Seattle police will focus on enforcing state law, not federal law, a federal official would be within his or her authority to charge you with a federal marijuana-related offense, even if state law allows it. So, as Seattle police say on their website, don’t be a fool and bring marijuana with you into the federal courthouse — or any other federal property, for that matter.

5. Marijuana use is only legal for those 21 and older.

Even when the law is rolled out in full at the end of 2013, no one under the age of 21 will legally be able to smoke marijuana. Much like alcohol laws, it will likewise be illegal to provide marijuana to an underage person.

Educate Yourself

You can find the entire text of the law here. Understanding not only I-502 but all laws on the books where you live is important to our society. Our laws should be discussed, analyzed and criticized. That’s not just for lawyers like us. It’s a part of democracy.

What Are Never Events?

“Never events” are not surgical complications or the result of risks inherent to surgery. They are surgical mistakes that are completely avoidable, yet happen anyway. Researchers estimated the following rates for these surgical mishaps:

• A sponge or towel is left inside a patient’s body 39 times per week.
• The wrong procedure is performed 20 times per week.
• The wrong body site is operated on 20 times per week.

Procedures and checklists are in place to help surgeons avoid these human errors, including timeouts before surgery to match the patient with the procedure, body site marking before the patient goes under anesthesia and sponge and towel counts before and after surgery to ensure that nothing has been left behind. All surgeons know the potential for these mistakes, and all agree that they should never happen. And yet they still do.

Of the 9,744 medical malpractice claims reported in the National Practitioner Data Bank over the last 20 years involving these events, patients experienced various degrees of harm.

• 59.2% had temporary injury.
• 32.9% had permanent injury.
• 6.6% died.

Never Events and Medical Malpractice

In order to qualify as medical malpractice under Washington State Law, one of three criteria must be met:

• Injury resulted from the failure of a health provider to follow the accepted standard of care.
• A health provider promised the patient that the injury suffered would not occur.
• Injury resulted from health care to which the patient did not consent.

Surgical “never events” fulfill the first criteria. Injury is a certain outcome of these errors and surgeons agree that they should never happen. When they do occur, it is a clear violation of the standard of care due to negligence.

Were You a Never Event Victim?

If you or someone you loved was injured or if you have lost a loved one because of a surgical error, please contact us immediately. You may be eligible for compensation to help deal with your injuries or loss. We provide a free consolation with one of our experienced attorneys, during which we will discuss your legal options.

Medical negligence cases are hard. Doctor and nurse friends should know that medical malpractice lawyers actually help improve their professions because of heightened focus on patient safety and that only a very small percentage of potential cases that are reviewed will end up as a lawsuit. To succeed, medical cases demand careful screening, large investments of time and expense, and incredible preparation. Only significant medical mistakes with clear damages will result in a positive outcome from litigation.

You can be over-prepared. Medical texts are thick and heavy. They don’t fit on airplanes very well and hurt your neighbor if you drop them out of the overhead bin.

Airports are painful. Travel is a necessary evil because the best medical expert for your case is inevitably at least 1,000 miles away. Layovers are inevitable too. Storms follow me. I always get “special” treatment from TSA when I have a quick connection to make. And there is no way to get comfortable trying to sleep on an airport floor.

Libraries are free. An afternoon or two in a public or medical library at a university provides a cure for any learning curve.

Kids and court don’t mix. Once, with no option for kid coverage, I reluctantly took my daughters to court. A full courtroom left only front-row seating, where both girls sat in quiet anticipation equipped with legal pads and pencils. My hearing was called first, and I quickly approached the bench, presenting the ex parte order with no argument required. Standing up in the quiet court room, my oldest daughter asked, “Is that it? Is that all you do?” The courtroom was no longer quiet as I waded through the laughter and the tapping of the gavel in time with the clicks of my daughters’ dress shoes across the cold floor and out the door.

Kids and clients do mix. Leaving before sunrise to start a long drive, I was met by my youngest daughter, still in her PJs. “Wait, Daddy,” she said, as she disappeared downstairs. Hours later, I sat on the carpet next to my client’s child-size wheelchair and handed her the teddy bear my daughter sent for her. Smiles at both ends of that trip made the drive worth every minute. Kids bring infectious joy with them while visiting clients in hospitals and nursing homes too.

Lawyers should like living rooms. It is much easier to see your client’s case in their living room than it is in your office.

Be wary of E-Communication. E-mail is cool at first, but can become a quagmire of information overload. E-mail has a cousin. Her name is “FB.” She should be avoided as much as possible if you have strong opinions of any kind.

Writing Elves only come out at midnight. It is not possible to write a creative, coherent, or persuasive brief before midnight. Writing Elves are nocturnal and it is boring before midnight anyway.

Electricians didn’t design courtrooms. Electricians must have gone on strike in 1916 or whenever the Seattle King County courthouse was constructed. Usually, a single electrical outlet lives its solitary life on a wall that is as far away as possible from the gadget I need to plug into it. One can never take too many electrical cords and power strips to court.

Gadgets have gremlins. Gadget Gremlins are the jealous siblings of the Writing Elves. Gremlins are mean, but patient, waiting for the worst possible time to mess up a case or presentation. A long time ago, people communicated with butcher block paper and a marker. That is your plan B.

Radios are overrated. “One Direction” and Justin Bieber songs get old quick. Morning talk radio kills brain cells. “Top 40” refers to the ratio of commercials per hour. Turn the car radio off once in a while. Some of the best lawyering happens when it is quiet.

Focus groups are everywhere. Lawyers love to talk, but hate to listen. People who stay around you for extended periods of time love YOU. If they did not love you, they would leave because they are tired of listening to you. Talking and listening to anyone who does not love you will teach you how to tell your client’s story efficiently and effectively – which is how a jury should hear it.

Hugs. Handshakes are for opposing counsel you like. If your client isn’t hugging you, you are not working hard enough. If you did not hug your child, spouse, significant other, dog, cat, or guinea pig today; you are working too hard.

Help. Asking for it is hard. Receiving it is easy.

Learning. I still learn something new every day. What a privilege we enjoy being able to help clients in bad situations. Clients teach me about hope, fear, dreams, courage, love, life . . . and so much more. I am thankful that I still have a lot to learn and for another year to add more lessons to my list.

Doug Weinmaster, WSAJ EAGLE member, practices in Seattle with the Perey Law Group, representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice and serious injury cases. He serves on the WSAJ Board of Governors and also chairs the WSAJ Medical Negligence Section.

Photo by Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian

With a heavy heart, I read about Sunday’s tragic bus crash on Interstate 84 near Pendleton, Oregon, which killed nine people and injured many more, all apparently tourists on a bus tour conducted by a Korean travel company (the Mi Joo Tour and Travel Company).  With relatives in the Pendleton, Oregon area, and having litigated bus roll-over cases as a personal injury attorney, I have traveled this section of road many, many times, during both winter and summer.  In the summer, under even the best of conditions, the westbound section of Interstate 84, with its treacherous downhill grade and convex curves, is concerning and requires great caution.  In the wintertime, it demands ultimate respect, with safe driving often requiring chains and speeds as low as ten (10) or fifteen (15) miles per hour.  One will often see professional drivers literally creeping at walking speeds as they drive westbound down I-84’s Deadman’s Pass in the far right-hand lane (the lane farthest from the steep ravines), with hazard lights flashing.

The saddest part of this bus crash, is the knowledge that it was most likely preventable.  While the NTSB investigation will undoubtedly reveal some (but often not all) of the possible causes of this tragic bus crash, the immediate questions that come to mind are:

• Was the driver familiar with this stretch of roadway?  If not, why not, and was the driver properly warned about the particularly dangerous sections of roadway on a route with which he may have been unfamiliar?
• Was the driver properly qualified, trained, and experienced for wintertime driving over icy mountain passes?
• Was the bus traveling slowly enough under the then existing weather conditions, as required by law and as demanded by this particular stretch of roadway?
• Did the driver radio dispatch ahead of time for current road reports to assess whether other drivers had experienced black ice?
• Why didn’t the guard-rail do its job and stop the bus?
• What was the impact speed with the guardrail?
• Were proper safety precautions taken on the vehicle itself, such as: using chains, ensuring proper tread depth and consistent tire and brake pressure?
• Was this particular make and model of bus suitable for wintertime conditions in the Northwest, did it meet U.S., Oregon and Washington safety requirements, and was it properly maintained?
• Did the Korean travel company place profits ahead of people in choosing to hire a driver based on Korean language skills rather than one most familiar with safely navigating the mountain passes between Las Vegas and Vancouver, B.C.?

The last bus roll-over case I handled occurred within a very short distance of this particular accident, under similar black ice conditions.  It, unfortunately, was entirely preventable, and chances are good that this one was too.  My client, a young girl returning from a chartered ski trip with the Special Olympics, boarded a bus on her way home to the Tri-Cities.  The charter bus driver proceeded through black ice conditions without chaining up, despite previously noticing slippery roadways and other cars stopping to put on chains.  Most of the claims have now settled, and it’s unfortunate that lessons from that case were not learned and applied in this case.

As a father, my heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones in this accident.  As an attorney, I’m furious that needless deaths and injuries happened on such a well-known, dangerous section of roadway demanding ultimate caution.

Jim Holland is a personal injury attorney at the Perey Law Group in Seattle, Washington.  His practice focuses on serious personal injuries, including bus crash litigation.  His practice takes him all over the Pacific Northwest, helping bring truth and accountability to injured clients and their families.