Victim of 2019 NH Motorcycle Crash Sues RMV

Motorcycle Accidents

A Massachusetts man severely injured in a 2019 crash in New Hampshire that killed seven members of his motorcycle club has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles for allegedly failing to suspend the driver’s license of the man charged in connection with the crash.

Joshua Morin, of Dalton, alleges in his lawsuit filed last week in Berkshire Superior Court that the agency acted willfully, wantonly or recklessly when it failed to process thousands of license suspensions and revocations reported from out-of-state, The Berkshire Eagle reported.

That failure allowed Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, whose license had been suspended in Connecticut after an operating under the influence charge, to continue driving, according to the lawsuit.

More on the Tragic NH Crash

Truck Driver’s Trial In Fatal Biker Crash Expected In July

‘Fallen Seven’ Who Died in Tragic NH Crash Remembered, 1 Year On

More than 1,300 died from opioid overdoses in CT in 2021. Will $300 million save lives?

Mass Torts

When three 13-year-old boys were sickened by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl at a Hartford middle school on Jan. 13, it was a shocking reminder of the human toll of the opioid crisis. One of the boys later died and a sweep of the school surfaced 40 small plastic bags of the drug.

Later that same day, dozens of people spoke out against a proposal to locate a methadone clinic on a commercial street on the New Haven-Hamden border.

During the ongoing battle with COVID-19, there seems to be less attention being paid to opioid addiction, advocates say. But now these two events put opioids and opioid use disorder back in the spotlight. Deaths from opioid overdose in Connecticut have increased nearly 40% over the past three years, hitting 1,356 through the first 11 months of 2021 and, police say, the state is flooded with ever-more-powerful synthetic opioids.

The incidents on Jan. 13 illustrate two stubborn facts of the war on opioids: 1) The increase in overdoses indicates that the state isn’t winning, and 2) It’s difficult to get the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder to the people who need them.

Programs including methadone and buprenorphine are most effective for people who are diagnosed with having moderate to severe opioid use disorder, , according to numerous academic studies, including one published in February 2020 by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Yet people overwhelmingly end up enrolled in abstinence and detoxification programs, even though they’re effective in only 10 to 15% of the cases. Addiction experts believe stigma and barriers to access deter many from receiving life-saving medications.

Philips CPAP Recall Information; Can I Sue For Injuries?

CPAP, Tobacco

Philips Respironics manufactures “continuous positive airway pressure” (CPAP), bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), and ventilators for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Those with this condition experience disruption of normal breathing during sleep, as manifested by snoring.

These machines use polyester-based polyurethane foam to diminish the noise and vibrations generated while the user sleeps. When the foam degrades, it releases toxic gases and matter, which the users may inhale and ingest. As explained more below, the toxins may sicken users and expose them to serious conditions such as organ failure and cancer.

Philips issued a recall on June 14, 2021, for the first-generation devices. In the wake of this recall, numerous users have sued Philips for personal injuries and other damages. Below, we explain whether you can sue Philips if you claim one of its devices has resulted in illness or serious disease.

Did You Use One of the Recalled Models?
Determine if you used a device with potentially toxic foam. Philips manufactured the CPAP, BiPAP, and ventilator machines that used polyester-based polyurethane foam between 2009 and April 26, 2021. The devices which Philips recalled include these products.

The company has a page devoted to the recall of these devices. You can enter the device’s serial number to learn if Philips has recalled it.

The fact that your machine is subject to recall does not automatically mean you will recover from Philips. Generally, a voluntary recall is not admissible to prove fault. However, you can use evidence of such a recall to show that Philips manufactured and controlled your device. Below, we’ll tell you the specific legal theories upon which plaintiffs may rely in Philips CPAP lawsuits.

The Real Cause of the Crisis in Our Hospitals Is Greed

Pandemic | COVID-Related

We’re entering our third year of Covid, and America’s nurses — who we celebrated as heroes during the early days of lockdown — are now leaving the bedside. The pandemic arrived with many people having great hope for reform on many fronts, including the nursing industry, but much of that optimism seems to have faded.

In the Opinion Video above, nurses set the record straight about the root cause of the nursing crisis: chronic understaffing by profit-driven hospitals that predates the pandemic. “I could no longer work in critical care under the conditions I was being forced to work under with poor staffing,” explains one nurse, “and that’s when I left.” They also tear down the common misconception that there’s a shortage of nurses. In fact, there are more qualified nurses today in America than ever before.

To keep patients safe and protect our health care workers, lawmakers could regulate nurse-patient ratios, which California put in place in 2004, with positive results. Similar legislation was proposed and defeated in Massachusetts several years ago (with help from a $25 million “no” campaign funded by the hospital lobby), but it is currently on the table in Illinois and Pennsylvania. These laws could save patient lives and create a more just work environment for a vulnerable generation of nurses, the ones we pledged to honor and protect at the start of the pandemic.