February 2010 Archives

According to a recent survey conducted by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), aggressive driving is responsible for more than six million crashes in the United States each year. To raise awareness of the dangers of aggressive driving, CURE Auto Insurance offers the following tips to keep all drivers safe on the road.  CURE was founded in 1990 by New Jersey Insurance Commissioner James J. Sheeran and award-winning insurance expert, Dr. Lena Chang.

1. Know the warning signs. Keep yourself and others safe by recognizing aggressive driving characteristics in other drivers. Aggressive drivers typically use excessive speed, frequently or unsafely change lanes, fail to use proper signals, tailgate, fail to yield to the right of way, and / or disregard traffic controls. Knowing these warning signs will help determine potentially aggressive drivers.

2. Know what to do if you encounter an aggressive driver. If you notice the warning signs mentioned above, authorities recommend that you do the following things to ensure your safety: keep your distance, do not pass unless you have to, change lanes only when it is safe, if you cannot change lanes and an aggressive driver is behind you maintain the proper speed and do not respond with any gestures and remain calm. You may also call 911 to report an aggressive driver.

For more, see TheFirstReporter.

An investigation by Consumer Reports paints an unflattering picture of U.S. hospitals when it comes to their rate of patient infection and public accountability.  In its March issue, the magazine reports 30,000 patients die each year because of blood infections they contract while connected to central line IVs in hospital intensive care units.  

While hospital infections will never be eliminated, greater accountability will ensure they are kept to a minimum and it is recommended patients get more proactive and investigate hospital reporting data.  Also, patients should familiarize themselves with how hospital procedures are done and speak up when they fear a mistake has been made.   

Registered nurse Joann Paul, who runs the quality control program at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, KS, says the key to infection prevention at Wesley is communication and attention to detail.  It's about nurses not being afraid to tell doctors that they've skipped a step.

For more, see For more, see kwch.com.

An investigation by Consumer Reports paints an unflattering picture of U.S. hospitals when it comes to their rate of patient infection and public accountability. In its March issue, the magazine reports 30,000 patients die each year because of blood infections they contract while connected to central line IVs in hospital intensive care units.     

"Many studies suggest that up to 50% of ICU patients who get these infections may not survive their hospitalization," said Dr. John Santa, a medical expert for Consumer Reports.

For years, doctors held the belief that these infections were inevitable and they became an accepted risk of hospital care.  Now, research has shown the vast majority of these infections are preventable, if hospital nurses and doctors adhere to strict safety measures, the magazine reported.

For more, see kwch.com.

An expert witness from Maryland's medical examiner's office delivered graphic testimony Tuesday to jurors in a Prince George's County courtroom of how eight victims in the February 2008 street-racing crash perished along a stretch of Indian Head Highway/Route 210 in Accokeek.  The testimony by Carol Allen, an assistant medical examiner whose office performed autopsy reports on the victims, also called into question whether all eight people died during the actual crash or whether some were instead killed by other vehicles leaving the scene in the ensuing pandemonium.

Tuesday marked one of the last days of court proceedings before the prosecution rests its case in the vehicular manslaughter trial against Tavon J. Taylor, 20, of Waldorf, who allegedly was involved in an illegal street race connected to the Feb. 16, 2008, crash.

For more, see Gazette.net.

Psychiatry expert Dr Fred Ovsiew, professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago’s Northwestern University, says the idea that head injury may cause hysteria is gaining credence in modern medicine. Delivering the 30th TS Srinivasan Endowment Oration on ‘Hysteria! The Road Less Travelled Between The Brain And Mind,’ Dr Ovsiew quoted a report in The New York Times about how an autopsy done on a retired ice hockey player showed brain damage.

He said, “The report quotes the subject’s son as saying that his father exhibited symptoms of hysteria after retiring from the game. The report of the physician said his was not a psychiatric disorder or a post-career adjustment issue, and that he had been struggling with a disease that had been short-circuiting his nerve connections inside the brain.” Dr. Ovsiew said this could be considered a link between the brain and the mind.

For more, see thetimesofindia.

An expert witness in the trial for William Beckerman, who is accused of setting fire to his home in West Hartford, CT, last year, testified Thursday that the fire was caused by a faulty furnace.  Michael K. Higgins, a fire investigator hired by the defense, said that soot blew through holes in a furnace flue pipe and onto the floor, likely starting the fire. Soot is unburned oil that builds up when a furnace is not functioning optimally, he said.

The fire burned heaviest in the furnace room, which is why the ceiling above it caved in before other parts of the ceiling — further evidence that the fire broke out near the furnace, Higgins testified.

Beckerman is accused of using fuels to set his home on fire on Feb. 11. Gasoline and kerosene were found in three areas of the home, including the top of a couch in the basement and a step of a stairway.

For more, see www.courant.com.

31-year-old Army veteran Seth Linaman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and boating under the influence in the boating accident at Alcova Reservoir last spring.  Gary Boyd, boat accident reconstruction expert with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, testified Tuesday that that the four seats were occupied when the boat crashed into a canyon wall. 

Prosecutors claim however, that shortly before Seth Linaman's boat struck a Fremont Canyon wall on May 16, Linaman, standing beside the driver's seat, grabbed the vessel's steering wheel and throttled the boat into an oncoming wake.  Linaman faces more than 20 years behind bars if convicted of all counts.

For more, see trib.com.

Jurors in the Morning Star Boys’ Ranch trial began deliberations Tuesday afternoon after opposing attorneys tried to define the case as all about accountability or all about profit.  “This case is about years and years of a gross violation of the public trust that continues today,” said Daniel Fasy, attorney for Kenneth Putnam, who is suing the group home for troubled boys where he was a resident in 1988-89.

Fasy pointed to the testimony of plaintiff’s witness Douglas Poppen, an expert in group homes for boys, who said he was “shocked and appalled” by the standard of care at Morning Star, particularly its methods of corporal discipline. Fasy asked the jury to consider why Morning Star’s attorneys did not bring their own expert witness to counter that testimony.

For more, see The Spokesman Review.

Sean Kane, founder of the Safety Research & Strategies Inc, will testify this week in a congressional probe of safety issues at Toyota Motor Corp.  Kane has been called as a consumer products safety expert witness for a hearing into the Toyota issues by the the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reforms.  Kane said on Sunday that the automaker had skirted a full investigation of unintended acceleration in its vehicles and faced a risk of growing recalls. 

"I suspect that we are going to see a series of recalls appear over a period of time here, certainly over the next year, and they are going to address varying issues and varying vehicles," said Kane, founder of a consumer safety group.

For more, see Yahoo News.

Angel Hernandez lives in West Palm Beach, FL, but Monday he was in a St. Lucie County courtroom fighting a drug charge.  Ten years ago Hernandez was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  In 2003 he began using marijuana and in 2005 stopped his other medications, relying solely on marijuana to alleviate his MS symptoms.  In court Hernandez claimed, "There is no prescribed medication that would not make my MS worse."

Hernandez' attorneys were in court arguing a medical necessity defense for the marijuana and asking for a new trial. Defense attorneys countered that 14 other states have enacted laws protecting patient access to marijuana.  In the end, Judge Phillip Yacucci denied a defense request to allow a medical expert to testify and sentenced Hernandez to a year’s probation.

For more, see wptv.com. 

An expert witness from US aerospace giant Boeing will meet Monday to coordinate with a Thai  investigation team probing the cause an engine fire on a Thai Airways International (THAI) Boeing 747-400.  The incident forced the pilot to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi airport last week, THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand said Sunday.  The Wednesday incident occurred when TG flight 116 which was to fly to Chiang Mai returned for an emergency landing about 10 minutes after taking off following the engine fire, the first accident happening to a Boeing 747-400 in Thailand’s national flag carrier fleet.

For more, see mcot.net.

Actress Brittany Murphy died from pneumonia, but anemia and prescription drugs also played a role, Los Angeles County coroner's officials said Thursday. The primary cause of death was community-acquired pneumonia, with contributing factors of iron deficiency anemia and "multiple drug intoxication," according to the coroner's office. The death was ruled accidental.

Murphy's widower, Simon Monjack, previously told US magazine that his wife took the painkiller Vicoprofen and Fluoxetine, an antidepressant to treat menstrual cramps, as well as over-the-counter Robitussin for her last illness. Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner in New York City, said the coroner's determination indicated drugs probably played a key role in Murphy's death. "It sounds more like it's a drug-related than a natural pulmonary pneumonia," said Baden, who did not work on the Murphy case but has served as an expert witness in numerous high-profile deaths. "One doesn't die of pneumonia, usually, that quickly."

For more, see mercurynews.com.

Defendant Peter Flanagan, who is facing rape charges, testified Tuesday in Luzerne County, PA, that he and a then-38-year-old mentally challenged woman had a five- to six-year relationship before she became pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn baby girl.  Psychiatry expert witness Richard Fischbein testified for the prosecution that he interviewed the woman and found that she functions at the level of an 8- or 9-year-old, and that she can accomplish only basic daily living functions,  “No way, no how does she have the capacity to consent to sex.”

Flanagan originally denied having sexual relations with the woman, but DNA testing later proved Flanagan was the father of the woman’s 24-week-old stillborn child.  Police began their investigation when the woman gave birth at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. Hospital officials became suspicious because the woman said she did not know she was pregnant.

For more, see timesleader.com. 

For two weeks in February, expert witness hearings will be held at the Maine Public Utilities Commission in the case regarding Central Maine Power (CMP)’s proposal to expand their transmission network in Maine. These expert witness hearings will start at 9am each day and be held on February 2nd-5th and 9th-12th at the Commission’s Hallowell offices on 101 Second Street.

Central Maine Power is an electric transmission and distribution utility regulated by the Commission. CMP submitted its plans for the expansion—labeled the “Maine Power Reliability Project”—in July 2008. The Company seeks the Commission’s approval for new construction and reconstruction of approximately 350 miles of 345 kilovolt (kV) and 115 kV transmission lines and several substations throughout Maine. The approximate cost of the project is $1.5 billion.

For more, see wabi.tv.

A newly released Mercy For Animals investigation has revealed the hidden cruelty common in the dairy industry at the largest dairy factory farm in New York State - Willet Dairy in Locke.  In a joint statement, internationally renowned experts, including Dr. Bernard Rollin, an expert witness on animal welfare issues in the U.S. and abroad, and Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned cattle welfare expert and advisor to the USDA, compared the conditions documented at Willet to the infamous Hallmark slaughterhouse, where undercover video exposing abuse of downed cows resulted in the largest beef recall in US history. They state, "This dairy presents at least as bad a picture of the industry as does Hallmark."

New York veterinarian, Dr. Holly Cheever, bluntly stated, "(I)t is my professional opinion that the environment that this dairy provides as well as its cattle-handling techniques are improper, unhygienic, dangerous, and inhumane."

For more, see opednews.com.

A New Jersey trucker who caused an April 2008 crash on Woodford Mountain that took the lives of three people was sentenced Friday to serve six months in prison.  Kenneth Middlebusher, 44, appeared in Bennington District Courtand received a 1- to 10-year suspended sentence as part of a plea agreement. Middlebusher

MIddlebusher pleaded guilty on Oct. 27 to gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle with resulting fatality. Because it is a felony charge, Middlebusher will permanently lose his commercial license. He will also lose his privilege to drive a vehicle in Vermont for one year.  On April 16, 2008, Middlebusher was driving a truck loaded with 8,000 pound rolls of paper heading west on Route 9. Middlebusher lost control of the vehicle while heading down a steep hill and traveled into the opposite lane, where he collided with two other vehicles. 

Police said that drugs and alcohol were not factors. Expert witnesses were unable to determine how much of a role Middlebusher’s unsecured load played in the crash, police said. Accident reconstruction expert John Serth Jr.  was called by the defense and said that based on his investigation, he believes that Middlebusher applied his brakes, which caused him to skid.

For more, see benningtonbannner.com.