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On Wednesday April 28, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow qualified associates/staff to obtain informed consent from patients prior to medical procedures. Traditionally, doctors were the only individuals who had the sole, non-delegable responsibility of obtaining the Consent Forms. The unanimous vote amends the state’s Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act (MCARE Act) to clarify that not only a treating physician but any “qualified practitioner” would be able to obtain a patient’s informed consent.
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Continue Reading Pennsylvania Senate Approves Bill Allowing Delegation of A Doctor’s Informed Consent Duties

On April 6, 2021 the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill that will ultimately protect not only healthcare workers, but also various facilities and businesses. According to the article reports, by a 107-to-94 vote, this bill will specifically protect businesses, health care facilities, nursing homes, and schools from “lawsuits alleging COVID-19 exposure, absent claims of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.”
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Continue Reading Pennsylvania State Representatives Pass Expanded COVID-19 Liability Immunity

On April 5th, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee pushed forward Senate Bill S-1766, legislation which would expand the state’s wrongful death statute to allow for recovery of damages from “mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering, loss of society and loss of companionship.” Currently, the survivors who lost a loved one cannot be compensated for such emotional loss.
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Continue Reading Wrongful Death Legislative Expansion Proposed in New Jersey Senate

Studies have shown that approximately 20 million Americans use, or have used, an e-cigarette. This particular worldwide industry is estimated to be worth over $3 billion annually, and some estimates project that the industry will be worth over $10 billion by 2017. Furthermore, the e-cigarette industry advertises their product as a “safe” alternative to actual…

If you’re from the Philadelphia area and you’re a major soccer fan, it’s possible you’ve heard of Daniel “Danny” Califf.  Mr. Califf is the former captain of the Philadelphia Union team in Major League Soccer.  However, you probably have not heard of Mr. Califf’s injuries, which he suffered as a result of an exploding E-Cigarette.…

Effective September 1, 2015, new child passenger safety laws will go into effect in New Jersey.  These new laws were designed with enhanced safety in mind – specifically on improving protections for young children riding in cars.  So what are these new rules?

  1. Every child under 2 years old and weighing less than 30 lbs. must be secured in the back seat of a vehicle in a rear-facing car seat with a five-point harness.
  2. Every child under 4 years old and weighing under 40 lbs. must be secured in the back seat of a vehicle in a rear-facing car seat with a five-point harness until the child grows larger than the height and weight standards set by the manufacturer.
  3. After a child outgrows the manufacturer’s height and weight standards, the child may begin sitting in a front facing child seat with a five-point harness.
  4. Every child under 8 years old and less than 57 inches in height must be secured in a rear-facing or forward-facing child seat with a five-point harness or a belt-positioning booster seat.
  5. Any child older than 8 years old or taller than 57 inches in height must be properly secured by a regular adult seat belt.

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Continue Reading New Jersey’s New Child Passenger Safety Laws: What Parents Need to Know

Grocery stores and other large retailers generally have plans, policies and procedures designed to keep their customers safe. Unfortunately, far too often store employees either do not know or do not follow corporate safety policies. This is why thousands and thousands of people are injured in grocery stores here in New Jersey every year.

Many people feel an intense loyalty to “their” grocery store and spend large portions of the family budget on groceries. Stores like ShopRite expect to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from each of their customers over the course of a lifetime. Is it too much to ask for customers to actually be kept safe while they shop? Sadly, for many grocery stores and other large retailers, the answer is yes. In my experience, corporate profit is frequently more important than customer safety.

Grocery store owners know there are “problem areas” in every grocery store. These include the produce department, floral department, frozen food aisles, checkout areas, entrances and exits, to name a few. These are high traffic areas where there is often water or slippery produce on the floor.

Grocery store owners and operators have a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care for the safety of their customers. Store owners must take steps to correct or give warning of dangerous conditions (like water on the ground), so long as the owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition. Furthermore, the grocery store owner must make inspections of the store to try to find dangerous conditions. Store employees are typically required to conduct “floor sweeps” to check for dangerous conditions, like spills or tripping hazards. This is where most grocery stores fail their customers because employees do not perform regular “floor sweeps” or follow any inspection schedule. This means that dangerous conditions frequently go unnoticed, and that is why thousands of people are injured in grocery stores each year. Of course, this is not the only area where grocery stores fail to keep their customers safe from harm. Other causes of customer injuries will be explored in some of my upcoming posts.…

Continue Reading What Should You Do If You’ve Been Injured At a Grocery Store?