January, 2017 - Braunfotel and Frendel

Medical conditions that are often misdiagnosed

For many New Yorkers who have health problems, the road to recovery begins with an accurate diagnosis. Once their condition is properly identified, they can start receiving the treatment and care that they need to get better. However, many people get an erroneous diagnosis, and the treatment that they receive could end up hurting them.One of the most commonly misdiagnosed health problems is asthma, and research has shown that one-third of all asthma diagnoses are incorrect. Asthma may be misdiagnosed because the illness has gone into remission or a patient is displaying asthma-like symptoms. Either way, it is important for people who have been diagnosed with asthma to be reassessed so that they do not continue to take unnecessary medications.Celiac disease is another condition that can be difficult for doctors [...]

Medical conditions that are often misdiagnosedjames2017-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

Surgical complications not affected by tough malpractice laws

New York residents who are receiving medical care should be informed about the findings of a recent medical study. The report indicates that aggressively pursuing malpractice cases does not protect patients from surgical complications.Advocates of medical malpractice legislation that makes it easier to file a lawsuit against doctors assert that the laws are necessary for better care. However, according to the study, the risk of litigation did not correlate with better medical outcomes. Instead, a malpractice environment tends to cause doctors to engage in defensive medicine in which excessive treatments and tests are ordered in the attempt to reduce malpractice risk.The data examined for the study included state-based information regarding the average award size for malpractice suits, medical malpractice insurance premiums and the amount of claims for every 100 physicians [...]

Surgical complications not affected by tough malpractice lawsjames2017-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

New York’s zero-tolerance laws come with stiff penalties

New York, like every other state, has zero-tolerance laws when it comes to underage drunk driving offenses. It is illegal for people under 21-years-old to drink alcohol. If a person under 21-years-old is pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving and has any alcohol in his or her system he or she could be charged with driving under the influence, even if he or she was not intoxicated.If it is a person's first time being found in violation of New York's zero-tolerance law, he or she will have to pay a $125 civil penalty, and his or her license will be suspended for six months, although there is a $100 fee to terminate said suspension. If a person is found to be in violation of New York's zero-tolerance law for [...]

New York’s zero-tolerance laws come with stiff penaltiesjames2017-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Auto-brewery syndrome can lead to drunk driving charges

What would happen if one had not consumed any alcohol, but still got accused of drunk driving, following a New York car accident? That is what happened to one woman who hit a parked car in 2015.As a recovering alcoholic, she knew that she had not consumed any alcohol before she hit the car. But, when the police came and administered a breath test, her blood alcohol content level registered at 0.10. How could this be?The woman, and others like her, suffered from a condition known as auto-brewery syndrome. This rare condition causes a person's digestive tract to turn high-carbohydrate or sugary foods (in this woman's case, orange juice) into alcohol. Often, a person does not even know they have this disorder until they are arrested for drunk driving or [...]

Auto-brewery syndrome can lead to drunk driving chargesjames2017-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

What acts constitute second-degree assault in New York?

Last week, this blog told the story of a man who is facing second-degree assault charges, among others, after allegedly being involved in a fight with another person. These charges are serious as second-degree assault is a class D felony. Today, we are going to explore some acts that constitute second-degree assault in New York.Under New York Penal Code, Section 120.05, there are a number of circumstances that could constitute second-degree assault. For example, if a person intends to seriously injure another individual and does cause such injury to the individual or another individual; if a person intends to physically injure another individual, and does cause such injury to that individual; or a third individual, through the use of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon.A person also commits second-degree assault [...]

What acts constitute second-degree assault in New York?james2017-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Cancer deaths falling by about 1.5 percent each year

Cancer death rates around the country have fallen by a quarter since 1991 according to a report released on Jan. 5 by the American Cancer Society. The number of deaths caused by cancer has been falling by about 1.5 percent each year for both men and women over the last 25 years, and the health organization says that this is largely due to the development of more effective cancer screening methods and a sharp decline in the number of New Yorkers and other Americans who smoke.Detecting cancer in its early stages is extremely important. Colonoscopies are becoming more common in the United States, and the ACS report credits this procedure with a steep decrease in colorectal cancer deaths since 1991. Death rates are also declining because less-effective cancer screening methods [...]

Cancer deaths falling by about 1.5 percent each yearjames2017-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Man faces attempted murder, assault charges after alleged fight

Sometimes, when two people disagree or believe they were wronged in some way, emotions can become heated. Insults may be hurled, or in especially bad situations, one or both parties may commit an act of violencer. When this happens, it can lead to criminal charges, as one recent reported altercation shows.A 40-year-old man from Congers is facing allegations of second-degree assault and attempted murder after an altercation that allegedly occurred two days before Christmas. On December 23, officers were called to a reported fight at around 11:00 in the evening.At the scene, police officers found the Congers man and a second individual. The second individual reportedly had a number of wounds, and police found what they said was a weapon in the nearby area.The wounded individual was hospitalized. The Congers [...]

Man faces attempted murder, assault charges after alleged fightjames2017-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

New York manufacturers may benefit from new safety tech

Some workers in the manufacturing and fabrication industries might soon enjoy improved conditions that give their hands a break. In late 2016, a team led by professors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison received funding to continue its research into algorithms that could analyze hand motions using available cellphone technology.The research team had already created algorithms that let computers analyze hand motion and deliver a measurement of how much hazardous activity was associated with different tasks. Following this initial success, they hope to use the additional money to apply their techniques to a broader pool of data from different facilities over a period of three years. In the process, they believe that they can create a completely new, more objective means of measuring the injury risk levels associated with individual job [...]

New York manufacturers may benefit from new safety techjames2017-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

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