Baltimore City Nursing Home Neglect Over Problems with Air Conditioners

A Baltimore city nursing home has been fined more than $50,000 for allowing elderly and ill residents to bake in near-100 degree temperatures without air conditioning before a 911 call alerted the state to the problem. The actions of this nursing home operator constituted nothing short of nursing home neglect for failing to take steps to properly care for their residents. Read more

On the Job Injury Risk Higher Among Young Workers, But Risk of Death is Less

According to a new federal report, younger workers throughout the United States face a higher risk of being injured on the job than older workers, but less of a chance of dying. Read more

Request for Jury Trial in Maryland Lawsuits May Be Raised to $15,000

Maryland voters will get the chance to decide in November whether to raise the minimum amount that must be at stake in a lawsuit for the parties to request a jury trial. Read more

Maryland Pain and Suffering Damage Cap Reviewed by Court of Appeals

The Maryland Court of Appeals is currently considering a case that challenges the constitutionality of the Maryland pain and suffering damage cap. The cap places an artificial and often harsh limit on the amount of non-economic damages a court can award in medical malpractice lawsuits, auto accident lawsuits, truck accident lawsuits or other personal injury claims. Read more

Study: Cell Phones and Texting Cause 28% of all Auto Accidents

A recent study by the National Safety Council estimates that more than a quarter of all auto accidents in the U.S. could be prevented if people did not talk on their cell phones or send text messages while driving. The study comes as the federal transportation administration enacted a ban this week for text messaging by truck drivers and bus drivers. Read more

Maryland Texting While Driving Ban: Designed to Prevent Maryland Accidents

A new Maryland traffic law will go into effect tomorrow, banning text messaging while driving in an effort to reduce the number of Maryland accidents caused by distracted drivers.

The new law will make it illegal to type or send text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Being caught texting while driving in Maryland will be a misdemeanor, subject to a fine of up to $500. It will also be a primary driving offense, meaning that police will be able to pull people over and fine them if they suspect them of sending text messages.

Going into effect October 1, 2009, the new Maryland law allows sending messages to contact 911, and does not ban talking on the phone while driving. Playing games and using applications are not banned by the law either, and the law does not explicitly address e-mail, using twitter or updating Facebook, but their legality is up for interpretation and engaging in such activities likely carries the same distractions as text messaging.

The law is seen as a victory for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which seeks to have texting-while-driving bans in all 50 states by 2013. The law goes into effect just before AAA’s “Heads Up Driving Week.” from October 5 through October 11, which is designed to bring attention to driving behavior and encouraging distraction-free driving.

A recent study by Virginia Tech has found that truck accidents are 23 times more likely when a commercial driver is sending text messages while driving. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute looked at a number of different potential distractions for drivers of cars and trucks by adding cameras and instruments to the vehicles of drivers. Above any other distraction, text messaging truck drivers were putting themselves and others at the most risk.

The results were compiled from several driving studies conducted by the institute, and the collected data equaled about six million miles of driving. Heavy vehicle and truck drivers were 23.2 times more likely than a non-distracted driver to have a truck accident if they were texting, 6.7 times as likely to crash while reaching for, or using, an electronic device, and 5.9 times as likely to have an accident while dialing on a cell phone.

Drivers of light vehicles and cars were at much less risk of having a car accident, but still faced a 2.8 times greater risk of crashing while dialing a cell phone than a non-distracted driver and were 1.4 times more likely to crash while reaching for an object and 1.3 times as likely to have an auto accident while talking on the cell phone.

Researchers from the institute said that it was the tasks that drew the drivers’ eyes away from the road ahead of them that were the activities with the highest risk. Sending a text message took a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds over a 6-second interval, which equates to driving the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the road. The study found that just talking on a cell phone, which does not distract a driver’s eyes from the road, made little difference in the likelihood of an accident.

Maryland Nursing Home Ratings

Over 50% more Maryland nursing homes received one star under Medicare’s new rating system than those who receive five stars, the highest ranking possible.

The new nursing home rating system is designed to provide information about the overall quality of care provided at facilities throughout the United States, as well as individual rankings for staffing, quality and health inspections.

The ratings are based on complaint investigations and inspection records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which inspect and evaluate nursing homes nationwide that receive government benefits. The rankings include information about nursing home staffing levels, nursing home bedsores and other preventable injuries.

Out of the 230 Maryland nursing homes, 47 (20%) were given 1 Star and only 30 (13%) received 5 Stars.

When compared to the nursing home rankings from all states, the quality of care at Maryland nursing homes fell in line with the national averages. Approximately 23% of all nursing homes in the United States received 1 Star, with Louisiana nursing homes accounting for the highest percentage of one-star facilities (39%).

Delaware nursing homes were found to have the highest percentage of top performing facilities, with 29% of their 45 homes receiving 5 Stars.

The complete list of the nursing home rankins are available through the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov/nhcompare, allowing families to search by state, city, zip code or the name of the nursing home.

Providing this additional information will hopefully allow families to better evaluate the quality of care at Maryland nursing homes they are considering for their loved ones.

Our Maryland nursing home attorneys investigate potential cases for serious and life-threatening injuries caused by neglect and abuse throughout the state. To review a potential call our toll free injury hotline at (800) 522-0102 or complete our on-line request form to speak with a Maryland nursing home attorney.

Dangers of Text Messaging While Driving

Several news reports have suggested that last weeks Los Angeles train accident could have been caused by an engineer who missed a stop signal because he was distracted by text messaging moments before the crash. At least 25 people were killed and 130 people injured in LA train wreck between a Metro Link commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train.

Investigators are looking into a report that a cell phone text message was sent by the commuter train engineer minutes before the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is examining the cell phone records of the engineer and of a teenager who claims to have received the message. The engineer was killed in the accident and his phone was destroyed.

Earlier this year, the Maryland legislator rejected a bill that would have banned text messaging while driving in Maryland. The law was designed to reduce the risk of Maryland auto accidents caused by distracted drivers. Similar bans are in place in Washington State, New Jersey and Phoenix.

The Maryland legislation did not pass, as law makers indicated that text messaging does not involve a distraction of a unique nature and therefore does not necessitate a ban. In their opinion, the distractions caused by text messaging is similar to that caused while talking to people in the care, speaking on a cell phone or changing the radio.