Snyder Wenner Legal Blog

Cross-Border Trucking

2008-07-11T13:14:00.001-07:00

The laws governing Mexican trucks entering into the United States continue to draw controversy. Recently, the Bush administration announced plans to allow Mexican trucks to travel further into the United States. Although plans are in place to have U.S. inspectors oversee the Mexican trucking companies, some wonder if these new regulations will threaten national security, sacrifice U.S. jobs or endanger U.S. motorists.

Mexican truck drivers are often underpaid and safety regulations in Mexico are less stringent that those in the U.S. Mexican vehicles on U.S. roads may endanger other drivers. How can standards be enforced for Mexican trucks traveling in the U.S.?

Advocate groups are searching for more answers. The Department of Transportation does have an inspection program in place but it’s still to early to know how effective it will be.

For more information on the recent changes in cross-border trucking laws and your rights, please e-mail the experienced truck accident attorneys at Snyder & Wenner, P.C.

Meet Your Surgeon Before Surgery

2008-06-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

The job of a surgeon is one that requires skill, good judgment, dexterity, and quick decision-making ability. No matter how good others say a surgeon might be, or what his surgical results might have been in the past, there is no guarantee that your surgery will be free of complications. Every surgery carries some degree of risk, but you can greatly minimize yours by choosing an experienced and fully-credentialed surgeon.

Choosing a Surgeon
Make sure to meet and speak with your surgeon before you schedule your procedure. Why? You can tell a lot about a person from his demeanor, the way he communicates with you, and the extent to which he answers your questions. A face-to-face consultation will help you establish a comfort level with the surgeon. He can address any concerns you may have and explain the risks and benefits to you. Choose a surgeon who will take this time with you, rather than just hand you a printout of information.

Don’t Let Surgical Errors Happen to You
There have been cases of medical malpractice where the patient never met their surgeon before the procedure day. This is often true in high-volume LASIK and cosmetic surgery centers where low prices are promoted and occasional corners cut. Face time with patients is one of the first things such a surgeon will dispense with. Surgical errors are one of the more frequent types of medical malpractice.

Please contact us at Snyder & Wenner, P.C. if you would like to learn more about your legal rights in connection with surgery. We will be glad to give you a free private consultation.

When Should You Leave the Hospital?

2008-05-19T14:46:00.002-07:00

Hospital discharge must be planned and timed accurately. We are typically discharged a lot earlier these days than was the case a few decades ago. We will have our prescription painkiller, detailed self-care instructions, and whatever devices we might need such as a walker or crutch.

We’ll have a series of follow-up appointments set up and the doctor’s phone number should anything go wrong. Perhaps a social worker or nurse will be stopping by.

Hospitals stays are very expensive, either for the patient or the insurance company, and hospital beds are always in demand. So hospitals like to discharge people as soon as they are considered able to manage at home. That makes way for a new patient with a new set of payments owing, which helps the hospital’s bottom line.

Premature Discharge Study
In January, 2003, study results were published about premature hospital discharge study. It was funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and conducted by a team led by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. It followed 559 patients in the N.Y. area and found several clinical issues in hip fracture patients that could cause major complications:

Abnormal vital signs
Mental confusion
Heart or lung problems
Lack of appetite

Even if those patients were receiving post-op care in a skilled facility of some type, they still encountered these early discharge risks.

Late Discharge no Better
Early discharge is a type of medical malpractice claim. So is unduly late discharge. Doctors can be held financially accountable if they recommend an extended stay without good reason. They may be charging you for unnecessary tests and collecting insurance money. This misuse of power can either fall under medical malpractice law or insurance fraud.

A Patient Can Disagree
You, the patient, have the right to agree or disagree with the hospital’s recommendations. If you feel you are not well enough to go home, you have the right to stay. If a hospital were to refuse to house patients or deliver necessary treatment, it could face consequences such as fines and loss of licensing.

If you or a loved one was discharged early, and serious injury or complications then occurred, you may be entitled to compensation. For more information please e-mail us at Snyder & Wenner, P.C., and we will schedule a free consultation for you.

What is Informed Consent?

2008-04-11T07:49:00.002-07:00

You may have heard doctors and nurses talking about getting your “informed consent” before a treatment is delivered. Informed consent is the legal term for your permission for treatment or testing. Your permission has to be obtained in writing before the treatment takes place. The consent form explains the risks and side effects involved and asks you to sign in acknowledgement that you have read it and you understand the risks.

Failure to obtain informed consent is considered battery and is against the law. If a you are not given the opportunity to sign an informed consent form, or if you’re mislead about any of the conditions of treatment, and you sustain any injury because of the treatment, you may have a valid claim of medical malpractice.

The signing of an informed consent form does not release medical professionals from their duty to give you excellent medical care that conforms to the accepted standard.

Types of informed consent lawsuits

The informed consent signature is on file, yet the patient was given false information by the doctor, nurse or support staff.
The medical professionals followed protocol but failed to acknowledge a patient’s mental or psychological condition that prevented him or her from fully understanding what was said. In such cases, informed consent should be obtained by a caregiver or legal guardian.

You can learn more about informed consent and your rights if you email us at Snyder & Wenner, P.C.

Avoiding Truck Accidents

2008-03-31T16:43:00.001-07:00

If you think of a standard passenger vehicle and an 18-wheeler next to each other, it’s clear which vehicle has the advantage if an accident were to occur. Trucks can weigh 80,000 pounds or even more, which has specific consequences:

They take longer to stop
They take longer to gather speed
They can lose control more easily on a downgrade
They need far more room to make a turn
With their extra height, they can run right over a small passenger car
They have a more and larger blind spots

Drive defensively
By far the most effective way to avoid any trouble with a big rig is to keep a safe distance from it. Give it the extra road space it needs for maneuvering and stopping.

Here are some Don'ts if you are driving anything smaller than a big rig:

Don’t drive in the driver’s blind spots. If you are driving in the next lane over from a big rig and can’t see the driver, you know he can’t see you either. So drop back or speed up until you can see him and you’ll be safer.
Don’t forget that a big truck has a larger blind spot on his right side than his left, and another one directly in front of him.
Don’t drive close up behind an 18-wheeler because again you’ll be invisible to the driver - in another blind spot. Fall back so that he can see you in his rear-view mirror.
Don’t dart in front of a big truck. Leave extra road space in front of it for safety. The law requires 400 feet between a truck and the vehicle in front of it, which is a large, tempting space to dart into.
Don’t try to get in front of a big rig that’s entering the freeway. That driver cannot suddenly brake for you.
Don’t forget to check all your lights for night driving visibility

If you have been injured in a truck accident, and are wondering whether you have a valid legal claim, please contact us. We will be glad to consult with you at no charge, even if the accident did not occur in or around Phoenix, Arizona. We can talk over the phone, or if necessary, can come to where you are.

Recent Crash Tests further Expose SUV Safety Myths

2007-10-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

According to findings released October 11, 2007 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, many midsize SUVs perform no better and sometimes even worse than automobiles in crashes, especially side impacts.

The models tested include the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Chevrolet Trailblazer, the Nissan Pathfinder, the Toyota 4Runner, the Nissan Xterra, and the Ford Explorer, and showed that many of the vehicles were defective in their passenger protection measures.

The tests show that frontal safety has improved, so that most vehicles received "Good" safety ratings, but side and rear collisions are another matter.

For side collisions, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Nissan Pathfinder and Xterra (without optional side curtain airbags), and the Chevrolet Trailblazer, all performed only marginally, despite the fact that many were equipped with standard side-curtain airbags. In rear crashes, the vehicles performed even worse, with only the Cherokee receiving a good rating, and all others than the Pathfinder received poor ratings.

There is no reason why vehicles of this size, with the engineering heritage of over a hundred years of assembly-line production, should continue to perform so poorly on crash tests. If you or someone you love was injured as a result of a defective automobile, contact the experienced product liability lawyers at Snyder & Wenner, P.C. serving accident victims in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

Welcome

2007-10-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

The dedicated injury lawyers of Snyder & Wenner, P.C. believe that people who have been wronged deserve the utmost compassion and highest level of legal representation available.