1. Be honest and open with your medical professional

Doctors, physical therapists and other healthcare providers are available to help cure and treat your injuries. Tell your medical professional about all pain and discomfort that you have felt since your accident. Pain and suffering is one of the main elements of damages in any personal injury case.  Don’t keep these things to yourself.

2. Be as descriptive as possible

It is important for your personal injury case, and for your well-being, that you be thorough in your description of the injuries you have suffered. Tell you doctor where the pain is located, how painful it is, what you believe caused the pain, and how long you have felt it. It is often helpful to keep notes on your pain and discomfort before an appointment with a physician. This helps you get the most out of your doctor visits.

3. Make sure all of your questions and concerns are addressed

Tell your doctor everything; even if you are not sure that it is relevant. Explain past injuries, whether or not they are accident related. If you are concerned that your injury will prevent you from working or going about daily tasks, address this. You appointment is your opportunity to have all questions answered. Do not leave the appointment with lingering concerns.

4. It is your right to get a second opinion

Sometimes patients disagree with doctors. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with your doctor’s diagnoses, you are entitled to get a second opinion. Each doctor is different, with different professional experiences. It is possible that you can find a doctor who has a better understanding of your injuries. Furthermore, getting a second opinion can help to clear your mind of any doubts regarding your treatment plan.

5. Maintain the routine established in your treatment plan

One of the biggest problems in a patient’s recovery is not keeping up with his or her treatment plan. Adhere to the course prescribed by your doctor. Part of your recovery depends on you and your dedication to the healing process. Listen to your doctor or physical therapist, and always make the recommended follow-up visits.

Studies conducted by the American Cancer Society (ACS) say the lifetime probability of an American developing cancer is 44 percent for men and 38 percent for women. Statistics like these can be frightening, but they also emphasize the importance of getting the recommended cancer screenings.

Of course, one must remain aware of the possibility for mistakes in cancer diagnoses. Medical professionals and equipment are rarely perfect and can occasionally misdiagnose or overlook cancers.

RightDiagnosis.com, a website which publishes results of cancer research, reports that “failure to diagnose or treat in time was the most common cause of a patient safety incident, with a rate of 155 per 1,000 hospitalized patients.” The website also submits that most medical malpractice lawsuits involve misdiagnosis of cancers.

Here are the most common cancer misdiagnoses:

• Breast cancer
• Lung cancer
• Colon cancer

Right Diagnosis reports that cases of misdiagnosis often occurred in hospital emergency departments and ICUs, with one study finding a rate of 20 percent misdiagnosis in ICUs.

There is, unfortunately, a lack of concrete statistics regarding cancer misdiagnoses. But, when it comes to cancer, it is never a bad idea to get a second opinion.

Diagnostic errors happen when a doctor comes to an incorrect conclusion about their patient’s ailment. Doctors at Johns Hopkins have stated that diagnostic errors are responsible for 40,000 to 80,000 hospital deaths per year. Here are some helpful tips that you as a patient can follow to minimize the chance of an error.

• Don’t wait to take care of troublesome symptoms that may land you in the emergency room. Once urgent care is needed the chance of a diagnostic error drastically increases.
• Don’t hide anything from your doctor. If you are taking medication or have any disease or illness you need to disclose that information to your doctor. The human body can have different reactions to illnesses because of medications that may have been taken. Further certain combinations of medications can prove to be lethal.
• Ask about alternative diagnoses.
• Get multiple opinions. This is important especially for serious potentially ailments because it shows whether doctors are in agreement about what is wrong.
• See a specialist. Specialists focus on specific areas and therefore will likely give you a more accurate diagnosis.
• Research your condition. If you research your condition you will feel more comfortable speaking with your doctor. Many patients are nervous about speaking with their doctor but communication between the doctor and patient is key for a correct diagnosis.

With over 750 million passengers, one of the most common modes of highway transportation in the U.S. is buses and motor coaches.  As safe as they can be, each type of motor coach presents a different danger.

Intercity Motor Coach Buses

Intercity coach buses, for instance Mega Bus, Bolt Bus and Greyhound (Greyhound owns Bolt Bus), are taken by thousands of people every day to go from city to city.  Most of these vehicles are equipped with seatbelts but passengers still suffer from bus accident fatalities.  Roadside inspections and compliance reviews are regularly conducted, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which oversees motor coach safety.  However, it is up to the bus companies to follow these safety regulations and ensure compliance.

Most common types of safety violations include:

• Driver fitness and fatigue
• Defects (ie.  Faulty brakes, cracked windshield, low tire pressure etc.)
• Outdated driving logs
• Speeding and other local traffic violations

 School Buses

School buses are statistically one of the safest forms of transportation because of an occupant protection system utilized on all school buses called ‘compartmentalization’.  According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), compartmentalization in school buses means strong seats, closely spaced together, high backed, well padded, and are designed to absorb energy during a crash which provides protection for front and rear collisions.  However, compartmentalization does not protect much against side impacts and roll-overs.

According to the NTSB wearing lap-shoulder belts could reduce the risk for passengers being killed in a rollover crash by 77%.  In August 2010, the NTSB issued recommendations to include lap belts in school buses, but have yet to be made mandatory.

 Party Rides/ Limo Buses/ Luxury Buses

Party rides today present a new and different type of danger.  These new types of buses can hold between 10-50 people and are usually equipped with surround sound, smoke machines, laser and disco lights.  Even with these amenities, the party bus is still a bus and therefore still subject to motor coach regulations.  The lounge-type mood encourages drinking and dancing and is detrimental to passenger safety by making them more vulnerable to injuries following a collision.  Typically, there are no seatbelts in party buses, nor is there any form of compartmentalization (high backed, padded seats).  The chauffer is not always closed off from the rest of the bus, and therefore could easily be distracted with a bus-full of party goers.  These accidents can result in catastrophic injuries and death because passengers are moving around and there are simply less safety features than the typical bus.  For instance, in a recent Safety Research & Strategies article, in March 2011, 15 passengers aboard a casino bus were killed while 18 were injured.

Stuart A. Carpey is a nationally renowned personal injury attorney with locations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.  If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus-related accident in the Pennsylvania area, please feel free to contact the law offices of Kreithen, Baron & Carpey PC., for a free consultation. 

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Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents and has become a recent epidemic due to the rising popularity of cell phones.  According to a study from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, cell phones were deemed to be the number one driver distraction and the risk of a crash / near crash was 23.2 times more likely to happen when texting.  Additionally, texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than drunk driving.

Texting while driving slows the driver’s reaction time, and redirects the driver’s attention away from the road, putting themselves as well as other drivers in danger.  One way to protect yourself from distracted driving is to install text-blocking software or applications.  These types of anti-texting software can have several types of functions, such as:

• Reading texts and alerts aloud.
• Sending auto texts that the driver is currently operating a motor vehicle and cannot respond.
• If travelling at speeds higher than 5 mph blocks/locks the cell phone (via GPS system), only allowing for emergency 911 or speed dial phone calls.

The prices of these applications vary, averaging about $5 per month per phone line, with some being free.

Because teens make up the majority of cell phone usage, most of these text and internet blocking software are specifically designed for teen drivers and their concerned parents. Another method of preventing texting and driving are anti-usage pledges.

One program that our firm supports is Teens Against Distracted Driving (TADD), which educates teens to spread the word about the dangers of texting and driving.  If you or a loved one has been invoved in a distracted driving accident in the Pennsylvania area, please feel free to contact Stuart A. Carpey at the law offices of Kreithen, Baron & Carpey PC., for a free consultation.