Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer Blog

Operating a motor vehicle while impaired by any substance is both illegal and dangerous under any circumstances. But when the driver is maneuvering a large commercial truck, often at high speeds, the stakes are raised in an already deadly situation.

Tragically, these occurrences still take place, regardless of stringent federal laws mandating substance use for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. All truck drivers who possess a commercial driver license (CDL) and drive CMVs on municipal roadways are subject to alcohol and drug tests by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), as reported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). CDL drivers are subject to the following tests:

• Pre-employment
• Post-accident
• Random testing
• Reasonable suspicion
• Return-to-duty
• Follow-up testing

In the instance a CDL driver tests positive for substance use, or rejects testing, by federal law they are condemned from operating on public roads. In Pennsylvania, the state DUI punishment scale is:

• General impairment, which is 0.08-0.099 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
• High BAC, which is 0.10-0.159 percent
• Highest BAC, which is 0.16 percent and higher

The higher the BAC level, the more serious the infraction, and previous violations increase penalties exponentially. Any CMV driver involved in a truck accident in Pennsylvania found to be impaired at any level may be subject to the “High BAC” punishment, even when their BAC level was not. Refusing testing for substances may also result in “Highest BAC” penalties, regardless of BAC level.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a big rig accident due to an impaired or otherwise negligent driver, call the Philadelphia truck accident lawyers at Anapol Schwartz at 1-866-735-2792 for a free review of your case.

In the first prospective class action lawsuit of its type, which may eventually include any NFL player who has ever suffered head trauma while playing in the league, seven previous professional football players have sued the NFL due to alleged negligence toward concussions and concussion-related injuries.

According to the Associated Press, in the lawsuit filed on August 17, the plaintiffs are charging the league with instructing players to hit using their heads, neglecting to adequately address the resulting injuries, and masking the potential links for decades between contact football and brain trauma.

Among the former players suing is two-time Super Bowl winner Jim McMahon, who claims he played through five concussions and now suffers from long term cognitive health problems as a result. The other previous players named in this claim are: Wayne Radloff, Charles Ray Easterling, Joseph Thomas, Steve Kiner, Gerald Feehery, and Michael Furrey. The lawsuit calls for increased medical observation as well as monetary compensation for the care of injured athletes.

“We have to ultimately determine how many people are in the (legal) classes,” players’ lawyer Larry Coben of Philadelphia firm Anapol Schwartz told the AP. “How many people from the ‘70s are experiencing this, how many people from the ‘80s, from the ‘90s? And then, what are the losses?”

While the NFL lawsuit is a high profile example of sports safety liability and large scale injury negligence, head injuries are a problem for contact football players of all levels, as well as those involved in other sports. If you or a loved one has suffered a head or brain injury that is sports-related, call the Pennsylvania sports injury accident lawyers at Anapol Schwartz at 1-866-735-2792 for a complimentary review of your claim.

Stanford University researchers recently reported a new drug interaction between paroxetine (Paxil, GlaxoSmithKline) and pravastatin (Pravachol, Bristol-Myers Squibb), which may lead to diabetes in prone individuals, or worsen present diabetes cases.

As reported by Drug Topics, citing May data published online by Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, combining the two allegedly elevates average blood glucose levels by 19 mg/dL overall and by 48 mg/dL in patients with diabetes. Because random blood glucose levels usually fall in the low to mid-100s, the interaction may present a distinct risk to individuals suffering from preliminary or full diabetes.

Lead author for the report Nick Tatonetti told Drug Topics that this instance seems to mark the first occasion that data-mining techniques, usually used to monitor and forecast consumer habits, have been used to pinpoint drug interactions. Researchers searched FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) for claims of ill effects involving glucose homeostasis and made a profile for diabetes-related incidents and followed a long trail of research that eventually led to the pairing of paroxetine and pravastatin.

According to the report, data from electronic medical records at Vanderbilt University and Partners HealthCare showed comparable outcomes. Early studies in mice show a marked interaction between that raises mean fasting blood glucose about 50 mg/dL; a forthcoming study is necessary to validate the interaction, according to researchers.

If you’ve suffered adverse diabetic reactions involving the combination of pravastatin and paroxetine, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages. Call the Pennsylvania Paxil attorneys with Anapol Schwartz at 1-866-735-2792 for a free review of your case.

Due to rigorous, and sometimes impractical, production deadlines, long hall and highway truck drivers may be tempted to operate vehicles without sufficient rest or sleep for prolonged intervals in order to make a delivery on schedule.

As a result, truckers who drive while fatigued are significantly less able to operate their large vehicles safely, which greatly increases the risk and incidence of accidents and jeopardizes the safety of all motorists on the highway.

To combat and reduce the number of big rig accidents caused by truck driver fatigue, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) established Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules, which all commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers must comply.

The present Hours of Service limits for property-carrying CMV drivers are as follows:

• The 14-Hour On Duty Limit bans driving after 14 consecutive hours of service until after 10 consecutive hours off the clock.


• The 11-Hour Driving Limit allows drivers to operate their vehicle for a maximum of 11 hours during the 14-hour duty period and they may not resume until taking 10 successive hours off.


• The 60/70-Hour Duty Limit condemns operating a vehicle after 60/70 hours on shift in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver may operate when on-duty hours are below the 60/70-hour limit for 7/8 consecutive days, and may also begin a new 7/8 day cycle by taking 34 or more successive hours of off-duty rest.

When a commercial truck driver fails to follow these rules and causes a crash due to fatigue, he or she may be held accountable for the resulting damages and/or wrongful deaths. If you or a family member has been injured in a Pennsylvania semi truck crash due to a fatigued truck driver, contact the Scranton, PA truck accident lawyers at Anapol Schwartz at 1-866-735-2792 for a free consultation of your case.

Pregnant women using ongoing, big doses of the pharmaceutical fluconazole (brand name Diflucan) may run an increased risk of having children with birth defects, according to a new warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Fluconazole is used to treat a variety of yeast infections, pertaining to the mouth, throat, vagina, and other areas, and associated with oropharyngeal and esophageal candidiasis, vaginal candidiasis, and cryptococcal meningitis. It’s also prescribed for its anti-fungal purposes to individuals undergoing radiation therapy and chemotherapy prior to a bone marrow transplant, and to those suffering meningitis due to a particular strain of yeast infection.

The FDA mandated additional product labeling and listed harmful doses of the medicine as 400 and 800 milligrams taken daily during an expecting woman’s first trimester (the first three months of pregnancy). No advisory has been given by the FDA for using low, single doses (150 milligrams or less) to treat vaginal yeast infections.

Birth defects associated with the product, according to the FDA, may include: “abnormal facies, femoral bowing, abnormal development of the skullcap, brachycephaly, cleft lip or palate, thin ribs and long bones, congenital heart disease, and arthrogryposis.”

In addition to the increase in product labeling, with regard to the FDA’s classifications on fetal hazards due to pharmaceutical use, fluconazole’s official rating has been elevated from a category C to a category D (with the exception of low dose, short term usage). Category D claims evidence that a particular drug may be dangerous to human fetuses, while the drug’s prospective medical benefits in treating substantial or life-threatening sickness in expecting women may warrant use in some occasions, regardless of possible risks, according to the FDA.

If you’ve become pregnant while using fluconazole, have taken the drug while expecting, or have suffered ill reactions due to the drug, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages. Consult an experienced Philadelphia drug injury attorney today to learn more about your rights.

As the third tour bus crash in upstate New York during the past three weeks, a bus transporting Polish sightseers on August 3 lost control and overturned on I-81. Officials said all aboard were injured (news reports vary, claiming the number of passengers between 28-30 people); there were no fatalities. Police cited dense rain and “speed too fast for the conditions” as the causes of the wreck, which took place on a rustic stretch of highway near Whitney Point, NY.

The bus was en route from Niagara Falls, NY, to Trenton, NJ, when it reportedly veered off I-81 southbound, plummeted down an 80-foot grass bank, and rolled onto its roof in a ravine. Among the injured, one woman was pinned beneath the bus for more than one hour, according to reports, before rescue workers could successfully dig her free. State police said 19 people injured in the wreck were cared for at three Binghamton-region hospitals. By Thursday, August 4, the day following the crash, all had been reportedly released. Officials said the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement unit took the bus to an undisclosed location to perform an examination of the vehicle and a further investigation into the cause of the accident.

According to the police, the bus was licensed to Princeton Holdings Inc. of Morrisville, PA, a company that also runs the Trenton-based Amerpol Tours. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration files show the company earned a “satisfactory” safety grade (the best of three levels) in October 2009. Over the past two years, data shows four inspections of the bus found small equipment issues, as well as a neglect in keeping data aimed at battling driver tiredness, but none warranted removal from service. No records indicate alcohol or substance abuse violations associated with the bus or company.

This crash also comes right on the heels of New York’s mass suspension of the operating licenses for eight bus companies that repeatedly violated safety regulations, prompted by a fatal Bronx tour bus accident in March that killed 15 passengers. If you or a family member has been involved in a PA tour bus accident, call the Pennsylvania bus accident lawyers at Anapol Schwartz at 1-866-735-2792 for a free consultation of your case.

Last week, in a series of articles, The Sentinel reported on the numerous recent motorcycle accidents in the Carlisle, Pa., region that have resulted in serious injuries or death. One story, profiling a local rider, highlighted the vulnerability of motorcyclists, physically and legally.

On an evening in May, a man was riding his motorcycle through Carlisle when he said “a girl that was text messaging” pulled out in front of him. While his bike was nearly destroyed, and sustained about $4,100 in damages, he remarkably emerged from the ordeal without serious injuries. In the initial police report, the man was listed at fault and cited for careless driving regardless of his statement that the other driver involved pulled in front of him while texting. The motorcyclist’s citation has since been discharged following a trial held in June.

In another area crash, which closed highway I-81 in Silver Spring for several hours on July 14, the rider (who was also a friend of the man involved in the previously mentioned story) was not as lucky. Police said the man, who was from Maryland, was hit from behind by a car driven by a 19-year-old girl. The motorcyclist was catapulted from his motorcycle and into the center of the road. He died at the scene as the result of chest injuries.

To inform and equip both motorcyclists and car drivers with skills that help avert accidents, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) started a program called "Live Free, Ride Alive.” PennDOT also hosts basic riding and safety classes for cyclists, including pass/ fail classroom and road tests.

To educate and protect drivers of all vehicles on their legal rights, the Pennsylvania motorcycle crash lawyers at Anapol Schwartz are ready to help. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident, call 1-866-735-2792 for a free review of your case.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has elevated their enforcement efforts as a result of almost $2.1 million in state funds dedicated to helping police combat “aggressive driving behaviors.” Those behaviors are listed as speeding, running red lights, tailgating, and now distracted driving. Across the state, roughly 320 municipal departments as well as state police will engage in the initiative from July 11 through August 28.

Distracted driving is highlighted focus in the plan, with the motif being “Distracted Drivers are Aggressive Drivers,” and are said to be frequently cited by police for other driving offenses like tailgating and speeding. Cops are especially directing efforts on highways and roads consistently noted for a large amount of accidents involving distracted driving.

The National Safety Council credits more than 1.3 million crashes per year due to distracted driving. It takes many forms, but it’s usually separated into three main categories: 1) Visual (when a driver takes his/ her eyes away from the road), 2) Manual (when a driver removes his/ her hands from the steering wheel), and 3) Mental (when a driver allows his/ her mind to drift away from the task of driving).

Specific activities that regularly take drivers’ attention away from the road include: using a cellular phone, consuming food or drink, conversing with passengers, combing hair or primping activities, reading anything, using a PDA, operating a navigational GPS unit, interacting with pets, watching video or other content on a hand-held device or dashboard monitor, and switching the radio, CD, or mp3 track, among others. Daydreaming, dealing with intense feelings, or dwelling on personal problems can also prove fatally distracting. But text messaging is widely considered to top the list of “most treacherous distracted driving activities,” as it exercises all three modes of distraction (visual, manual, and mental).

Have you been injured in an accident involving distracted driving? Call 1-866-735-2792 to contact the Pennsylvania distracted driving attorneys at Anapol Schwartz to learn more about your rights and discuss your case.