Today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement that a salmonella outbreak that has been linked to 73 people over 31 states is actually linked to Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. Of the 73 people, 24 have been hospitalized. While not all boxes of Honey Smacks are affected, Kellogg has announced a recall of 15.3-ounc and 23-ounce packages of the cereal that have a “best if used by” date of June 14, 2018 through June 14, 2019.
Salmonella can be a deadly and devastating illness. Just this year, Snyder & Wenner was involved with a salmonella case against Foster Farms chicken, wherein it was alleged that the company knowingly and/or negligently sold contaminated chicken. The jury agreed, awarding a multi-million dollar verdict in favor of our client. This verdict came after Foster Farms refused to make a single offer to settle the case.
If you or someone you know became sick after eating Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, please call Snyder & Wenner right away so we can work to protect your rights. For over 35 years, Snyder & Wenner has worked tirelessly to protect the safety of members of our local Arizona community, and throughout the entire country. In doing so, we have collected over $150 million for our clients and their families.
For years we have been telling the public all of the statistics supporting the finding that medical malpractice accounts for one of the leading causes of death in our country. A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and reported by NPR, now confirms it.
Based on the research, Johns Hopkins now estimates that more than 250,000 Americans die each year from medical errors. That ranks medical malpractice as the 3rd leading cause of death in our country, behind only heart disease and cancer. The study also noted, however, that the numbers may be even more significant, as the current coding system used by the Center For Disease Control does not account for very important factors that lead to medical malpractice, including communication breakdowns, diagnostic errors, and poor judgment.
The problem is so significant, in fact, that the doctors in charge of the study actually called for changed to be made in death certificates to better reflect fatal lapses in case. In an open letter, they also urge the CDC to immediately add “medical errors” to its annual list reporting the top causes of death.
So, since this is such a significant problem, we must ask ourselves “why is nothing being done to reverse the alarming trend?” Rather than attack the problem head on, insurance companies and hospitals have engaged in a dangerous game of pointing the finger at the victims and the victims’ families who try to hold the doctors and hospitals accountable for their conduct. Tort reform is not the answer; a safer and more responsible system of medicine is.
In a previous blog, we discussed different tips expecting mothers can take to protect themselves and their babies from birth injuries. However, to more effectively safeguard yourself and your unborn child from harm during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, you need to know which injuries you and your baby could face.
Below, we discuss the most common types of birth injuries your child could sustain, as well as the conditions you are at risk for. Read on to learn which types of injury you and your baby could face so you can reduce your chances for injury.
Like all doctors, psychiatrists—medical practitioners who specialize in mental illnesses—are held to certain standards of diagnosis, treatment, and care. If a psychiatrist violates his or her duty to patients, that psychiatrist may be charged with medical malpractice.
Standards of medical skill help protect both psychiatrists and patients, but when those standards are violated, psychiatric malpractice may have occurred. This blog discusses what psychiatric malpractice is and how to protect against it.
It is widely known that doctors and other medical professionals can make serious errors due to negligence. What is less known is how those errors permanently impact the victims of malpractice. These victims are forced to deal with the emotional and physical consequences of the injuries that doctors cause. Those effects commonly impact the rest of their lives.
Despite the life-changing outcomes, some malpractice victims don’t seek compensation. Many patients simply are not sure if medical malpractice occurred in their specific situation. People mistakenly believe that errors can just happen in a hospital, so no one is responsible for that. Other victims wait too long to consult a lawyer, and the statute of limitations expires. In Arizona, the statute of limitations on medical malpractice is two years from when the person knew or should have known of the injuries to put him/her on notice to investigate what caused the injuries. This deadline can often be confusing, as doctors may tell the patient that his/her outcome is expected and normal, when, in fact, it is not.
Placing your loved one in a nursing home is not an enviable task. Nursing homes are notorious for their poor, substandard care of their patients, and handing your family member over to inattentive caretakers is disconcerting, at best. Nursing homes know their reputation in the public eye; they know that decades of poor care has resulted in mistrust and skepticism. This view has spilled over into the courtrooms, where jurors have routinely held nursing homes accountable for the deaths and/or mistreatment of patients to the tune of millions of dollars for each grieving family member.
6 Signs That Your Loved One Needs a Better Nursing Home
According to the International Journal of Epidemiology, the elderly population ages 85 and above will increase by nearly 350 percent in America by 2050. This statistic holds dramatic implications for nursing home care throughout the country.
If your loved one already lives in a long-term care facility or nursing home, you may already know about the facility’s challenges. For one thing, many nursing homes are short staffed—a problem that will only grow in coming years. Unfortunately, staffing pressures sometimes lead to neglect and elder abuse in some cases.
Watch for the following warning signs at your local nursing home so you can safeguard your loved one from neglect or abuse.
Plan Ahead to Protect Yourself and Your Baby from Birth Injuries
The months of pregnancy before your child’s birth bring excitement and anticipation. As a new parent, you look forward to welcoming a new baby into your life, and you want to do everything you can to prepare for his or her arrival. You research child care, baby-proof your home, and take extra precaution when you exercise and eat. You do these things to ensure the optimal health of your child.
However, even if you do everything you can to prepare for the birth and maintain your baby’s health, there are always risks involved with the birthing process. And while you hope for the best outcome for a happy, healthy baby, you also need to prepare in case of a medical emergency or negligence on the part of your doctor.
A doctor should act as a trusted confidant and assistant. At times, however, health care professionals make errors that result in permanent injuries or death.
To avoid these mishaps, communicate directly with your doctor. When you and your physician work together to discuss symptoms and treatments, you both help avoid potential medical malpractice. Read the suggestions below to see how you can improve your communication with your healthcare provider before, during, and after your checkup or procedure. For more information, click here.
Snyder & Wenner’s $3.2 million verdict against the Phoenix VA Hospital was again profiled on ABC15 last night. The story follows up on the previous story ABC15 had done prior to the trial, which exposed the VA’s negligent treatment of Jacob Amrani.
The story points out that Snyder & Wenner’s verdict is one of the highest against the VA in recent history. Attorneys David Wenner, Brian Snyder, and Howard Snyder litigated the case against the U.S. government for approximately 3 years, culminating in a 2 week trial in Federal Court in February 2015. Over the last 32 years, Snyder & Wenner has built a reputation of excellence in medical malpractice cases. They hired top experts from throughout the country to inform the Federal Judge of what happened, why it happened, and how it could have been easily avoided had the VA used reasonable care in treating Dr. Amrani. The collective testimony of these experts proved to a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty that the VA doctor was negligent, and that he caused Dr. Amrani’s permanent, severe injury. When asked for comment on the case, attorney David Wenner stated, “As patient safety advocates, we were honored to represent Dr. Amrani in this case. The government fought us tooth and nail every step of the way, so we are beyond thrilled that the judge vindicated Dr. Amrani and held the VA responsible for his negligent conduct. No amount of money will ever get Dr. Amrani back to his pre-injury self, but we are very proud that our hard work paid off for Dr. Amrani and for our community. We hope that this case will be the start of a positive change in how veterans are treated in our country.”
