MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
Automobile accidents are an extremely common occurrence in New York. Accidents range from simple “fender benders” where damage to vehicles and passengers is trivial to catastrophic accidents where severe injury or death occur.
Most car accidents occur due to driver inattention or what is known in legal terms as negligence. Driver inattention encompasses failure to observe traffic control devices like stop signs and yield signs or becoming distracted from attention to the roadway. Recently, a spike in accidents has been caused by texting while driving or talking on a cell phone while driving. The dramatic increase in these kinds of accidents led the New York State Legislature to enact the “No texting and driving law.” In addition to driver negligence, car accidents can be caused by a road that was poorly designed or constructed. Regardless of the cause of the accident, experienced lawyers are needed to achieve the best possible result.
Romano & Associates are experienced accident lawyers. We have represented victims of all kinds of car accidents. When you are involved in an accident it is important to retain an attorney who will assist you in making sure all of your medical bills and lost wages are paid. Insurance companies possess vast resources that they utilize to minimize payouts for medical treatment and lost wages. An experienced lawyer, well-versed in the no-fault laws, is essential to make sure all benefits are paid. We are available to visit you at your house if you do not feel well enough to come to our office.
CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS
Many New Yorkers work in the many areas of the construction
industry. Whether they work as laborers or in one of the many trades, including carpenters, iron workers, electricians, or as engineers or architects, or laborers, this line of work is a very dangerous place to earn a living.
Safety is of utmost importance for everyone at the construction site. When safety procedures are not followed, unfortunately people get hurt. Construction accident cases can be complex. Depending on the circumstances there may be several parties responsible. In addition to bringing a workers’ compensation claim against your employer, you may be able to get compensation from a third party, such as a maintenance company equipment manufacturer who may have been responsible for your accident.
PREMISES LIABILITY
If you were injured on someone else’s property because of an unsafe condition, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. It is important to contact us immediately so we may conduct a thorough investigation into what caused your accident and determine whether or not you have a case. If you were injured on someone else’s property because of an unsafe condition or tripping hazard, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries
Did you slip and fall?
Did you trip and fall over something that shouldn’t have been there?
A broken up sidewalk or street?
A stairway that was too steep or not lit up.
An icy or snowy parking lot or sidewalk that wasn’t shoveled or plowed.
We need to take photographs, video, visit the scene, meet and speak with any witnesses, to make sure that the defect doesn’t disappear. Photographs ARE CRUCIAL in these cases.
HOSPITAL
NEGLIGANCE
You or a loved one may have just left the hospital, but you feel like something is wrong. Maybe you weren’t treated right or you believe that someone made an error while receiving treatment. The nurses, physician’s assistants, radiology technicians, nurse’s aides and doctors employed by the hospital may have made a mistake. Lawyers call this negligence or medical malpractice.
Feeling like something isn’t right may not be the fault of the doctor or nurse. This might be the result of something much bigger. This could be a problem with the entire hospital system. A breakdown in the system for diagnosis and treatment of patients like you and your family that needs to be addressed. If a hospital employee makes an error in treating a patient, the hospital is liable for their negligence or malpractice.
If you’re not sure if something went wrong, Call us! We will discuss the situation with you and help you to decide if something went wrong and if there is anything we can do to help you.
FAILURE TO
DIAGNOSE CANCER
Looking back you start to ask yourself, what if we would have known about the cancer earlier? Would we have been able to stop it? Would my husband or wife have been able to live longer to see his grandchildren grow up for a few extra years? Why didn’t the doctor notice the cancer earlier? Was it not there? Or did the doctor fail to detect it? Did they misread the mammogram? Did they not look closely enough at the blood work?
You want answer, right!? Call us. We will meet with you and discuss your situation. We will help you to determine if something was left undiagnosed. We can’t change the past, but we can do everything possible to protect you and your loved one now to prepare you for the future.
Very often the signs that a patient has cancer are overlooked by a doctor. When a doctor fails to notice the signs that a patient may be suffering from, colon or breast cancer, a medical malpractice case against the doctor who misdiagnosed the cancer may exist. Our office specializes in cases where a doctor fails to diagnose colon cancer, breast cancer, or skin cancer.
Many times a doctor will fail to appreciate the results of blood tests that indicate something is wrong. The failure to appreciate the results of laboratory tests can lead to a misdiagnosis of cancer. Recognition of the problem too late constituted medical malpractice by the doctor.
SURGICAL ERROR/
COMPLICATIONS
Sometimes doctors make errors during surgery. Yes, they are trying to save your life, but they don’t always prepare themselves and take ALL of the steps necessary to do their job the right way.
No matter what type of work you do, you have to take all of the proper steps to get the job done. Even a successful surgeon can make a mistake if they don’t follow all of the steps they are supposed to when performing surgery.
If a surgeon doesn’t read a patient’s entire medical history before surgery this can result in an improper surgery or inappropriate technique during the surgery. Someone can get hurt or killed because of this.
While performing a surgery a doctor may damage an adjacent organ accidentally. The doctor may fail to notice that the adjacent organ has been injured. Failing to notice that an adjacent organ has been injured during surgery is medical malpractice.
We have represented many clients who have been harmed by surgical mistakes.
After a doctor finishes the surgery, they may fail to recognize the signs of infection post-surgery. They may rush to get to their next patient and not properly examine the area of the surgery after they finish the surgery. In every surgery, a risk of infection exists. However, in some cases failure to diagnose post-surgery infection may be medical malpractice.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
NURSING HOME NEGLECT/ABUSE
Are you constantly leaving the Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility from visiting a loved one, wondering if something is wrong. Does the smell of the home alone tell you that the staff at the Nursing home just doesn’t care, or aren’t doing their job?
Do you look around for help when you visit, but are unable to find any staff members to assist you. Do staff members complain to you that they are overworked or have to care for too many patients?
That they just don’t have the time to do as much as they might like to take care of your loved one?
Do you find your complaints to the nursing manager fall on deaf ears?
Do you find your loved one soiled, left unwashed, or sitting in their own urine and feces?
Does the entire corridor smell the same?
Does your loved one have pressure ulcers or bed sores?
Do you feel like this shouldn’t happen, even though staff members tell you that all old people get them because they lay around all day and because their bodies are old?
Call us. We will discuss your situation and determine if we can help you to help your loved one.
The loved one may be your parent, a spouse, a sibling, or an aunt or uncle. They worked hard their entire life. They contributed to your family, to their career, to society. They paid taxes. They may be on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. They deserve to be taken care! If they are not, then something needs to be done.
Placing a loved one in a nursing home is a very difficult decision. When a nursing home facility is finally selected, the hope is that your loved one will receive the care and attention they deserve. Sadly, at times, that does not happen.
Frequently, residents in nursing homes are severely injured. Due to the absence of a comprehensive plan of care, patients fall from their beds, develop bedsores and suffer from malnutrition. Residents that suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia sometimes are ignored by the staff at facilities where they live. At a vulnerable time in their life, older people are often left alone and are uncared for. That often results in injuries that compromise an already delicate situation.
Federal and State Law require all nursing home facilities to provide high quality care to seniors who live in their facility. Specifically, Federal law 42 C.F.R. 482.25 states that every resident must receive “the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practical physical, mental and psychosocial well-being in accordance with the comprehensive assessment and plan of care.”
If you believe a loved one is not receiving the care that the law requires, contact our office to discuss your concerns.
When your beloved elders are unable to care for themselves, you look to the medical professionals in nursing homes to care for them. You place your trust in the nurses, doctors and aides that they will make sure our grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts are provided for.
When that trust is broken and your loved one is injured due to the negligence of a member of the nursing home medical staff, you deserve justice! Please call us. We would be happy to discuss your situation at length and determine how we may be able to help you and your loved one.
