Here you will find current news relating to Ohio personal injury, medical, products, insurance, workers
compensation and personal health.
[05/15]
One injured in two-vehicle accident
LANCASTER — One person was transported to Fairfield Medical Center following a two-vehicle
accident at 10:57 a.m. Wednesday on Rainbow Drive.
[05/14]
[05/13]
[05/12]
[05/11]
Workers' comp cases could be reopened
The state insurance fund for injured workers is trying to figure out the effects of a court ruling that in theory could allow hundreds of thousands of people to reopen previously settled claims.
[05/11]
[05/09]
[05/08]
Auto Insurance Companies Deny Claims Statewide
CLEVELAND -- If you think your full coverage auto insurance policy will protect you, think again. After tragic accidents, families across our state are finding a gap in their coverage.
[05/07]
Wrong Site Surgery Happens Often
Doctors are operating on the wrong body parts and getting away with it! A new study shows this mistake may be 20-times more common than previously thought.
[05/07]
May is Electrical Safety Month
According to ESFI, more than 46,000 workers suffered electrical injuries within the last decade, and nearly 300 workers die every year from exposure to electrical hazards. In light of these risks, ESFI offers some tips to prevent electrical injuries:
[05/07]
Americans head overseas for medical care
Amid rising health-care costs, more health plans and insurers are beginning to warm to the idea of Americans traveling overseas for everything from plastic surgery to heart bypasses.
[05/06]
[05/06]
FDA Study Links Insulin Pumps to Teenage Injuries, Deaths
Researchers from the Food and Drug Administration have concluded that insulin pumps can be risky for teens, sometimes leading to injury or even death, but they still insist that parents should ensure their children’s regular use of the devices.
[05/06]
[05/06]
Semi vs. train accident causes oil spill in Leipsic
Crews from around Putnam County responded to a semi tractor trailer versus train accident in the Village of Leipsic Tuesday morning. The driver of the semi was transported by Leipsic EMS to St. Rita's Medical Center.
[05/06]
[05/05]
Accident renews bus seat belt debate
A seat belt might not have made any difference Thursday for Daniel Wood. According to our story, the 16-year-old was sitting near a window in the left rear corner of a Pendleton County bus that was hit by a dump truck. He likely was killed instantly.
[05/05]
[05/04]
[05/02]
Pfizer in Tentative Settlements Over Some Celebrex Cases
Pfizer Inc. has struck tentative settlements with some groups of plaintiffs who allege that the painkillers Celebrex and Bextra caused heart attacks and strokes, according to lawyers at three firms involved in the litigation.
[05/02]
Boating accident at Put-In-Bay
PUT-IN-BAY -- A call came in to EMS at Put-In-Bay this morning around 11:25 saying there had been a boating accident. At around 11:35, a second call said there'd been a drowning.
[05/02]
Authorities Call Coshocton Accident Very Serious
Authorities at the Zanesville Post of the State Highway Patrol say last night around 7:00, 26-year old Joshua Stapleton of Mansfield was driving north on County Road 271 in Franklin Township when he was hit head on by 37-year old William Jeffery of Homerville.
[05/01]
[05/01]
[04/30]
[04/30]
Fewer autopsies being performed at local hospitals
Forensic pathology might be hot TV, but in real life, autopsies are growing less common locally. They probably are less common nationally, too, but the government has stopped keeping track. Between 1972 and 1995, the last year for which statistics are available, the rate fell from 19.1 percent of all deaths to 9.4 percent.
[04/30]
[04/29]
FDA Faulted for Approving Studies of Artificial Blood
A new analysis concludes that the Food and Drug Administration approved experiments with artificial blood substitutes even after studies showed that the controversial products posed a clear risk of causing heart attacks and death.
[04/29]
[04/28]
[04/28]
[04/27]
[04/26]
[04/26]
Head-on collision sends five to hospital
HAMILTON — A 3-year-old girl and an adult riding in a pickup truck involved in a head-on collision were flown to Cincinnati hospitals in a crash that injured three others, including a 6-year-old boy.
[04/25]
[04/25]
Mom gets $2.7 million in daughter's death
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A mother who says emergency workers didn't do enough to prevent the strangulation death of her daughter after three 911 calls was awarded $2.7 million Thursday in a wrongful death claim.
[04/24]
[04/24]
[04/24]
8 Children Taken To Hospital After Bus Hits Car
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Eight children were taken to a hospital Thursday morning after their school bus hit a car. The Richmond Heights Elementary School bus was approaching a red light on Chardon Road when it hit the car in front of it.
[04/23]
[04/23]
[04/23]
[04/22]
Inexact Copies: How Generics Differ From Brand Names
Generic medications have been a boon to consumers around the world, allowing millions to buy lifesaving drugs for pennies a day. Some 65% of all prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. are for generics, though they account for only 20% of the dollars spent, according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.
[04/22]
Evidence links tainted heparin to China source
Washington - Food and Drug Administration officials said Monday they have new evidence that links hundreds of serious adverse reactions and scores of deaths among patients given the blood thinner heparin to a man-made contaminant introduced during production in China.
[04/21]
200,000 Kids Hurt On Playgrounds
Each year, about 200,000 children head to the emergency room to treat injuries from playgrounds, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[04/21]
[04/20]
[04/19]
Free Boat Safety Inspections Help Launch New Boating Season
Recreational boaters who want to ensure they get their boating season off to a good start may want to participate in a free boat safety inspection offered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Watercraft and its boating partners.
[04/18]
Research ghostwriting common, insiders say
The news this week that Merck & Co. conducted research on its own drug and paid prominent scientists to lend their names to the studies came as no surprise to many people in medicine.
[04/18]
[04/17]
For Buses, Wheels To the Shoulders?
Washington area transportation officials are pushing a plan to run buses on the shoulders of the region's highways and other major roads, allowing the vehicles to drive around congestion and go to the head of the line at traffic signals.
[04/17]
Bias seen tainting medical articles
Drug companies often pay academic scientists to take credit for research articles that are prepared by company-paid medical writers and then published in peer-reviewed journals, say reports in the Journal of the American Medical Assoc.
[04/16]
Skybus named in class-action suit
The class-action suit, filed yesterday in bankruptcy court in Delaware, alleges that Skybus violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give 60 days' notice of any mass layoffs with limited exceptions.
[04/16]
[04/15]
[04/15]
[04/14]
[04/13]
Doctors leave despite malpractice-award cap
COLUMBUS When Bobbie Cameron became pregnant with her third child, she reluctantly chose a new doctor to oversee her care. Her longtime physician had dropped out of the birthing business because of soaring malpractice insurance rates.
[04/13]
Medical-bill confusion costly for Ohio patients
Trying to understand a hospital bill can be a challenge. It usually provides little detail about the medical care you received, and the first version you get in the mail might say "This is not a bill."
[04/12]
[04/11]
20 Most Dangerous Autos Named
SUVs, Small Autos Increase Risk For Drivers - Want to stay safe as you navigate the open --or congested -- road? You may want to avoid certain vehicles.
[04/11]
Study: Banning Smoking Increases Drunken Driving
Fatal accidents involving alcohol increased after communities banned public smoking, the study to be released by the Journal of Public Economics found. The authors attributed the increase to people driving farther to drink, either to a place with an outdoor smoking area or a city without a ban.
[04/10]
[04/10]
[04/09]
FDA sees more Heparin deaths, expands recall
WASHINGTON - Expanding the scope of its Heparin recall, the government is sending letters to 82 medical device makers today warning them to withdraw any stents, catheters and other products that might contain the contaminated blood thinner.
[04/08]
Most Docs Favor National Health Insurance
Most U.S. doctors now support the idea of national health insurance, a shift from a half-decade ago, when less than half favored a national system, a new survey has found.
[04/07]
[04/07]
Young riders need a boost
One size doesn't always fit all, especially when it comes to seat belts. The lap-and-shoulder belts that protect an adult in a crash can be a serious hazard for a young child.
[04/07]
[04/06]
Americans' safety net frayed as agencies lose personnel
And once again, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio complained that government watchdogs had failed to protect consumers, and the products should never have made it to stores in the first place. Yet his consternation went well beyond the single, small agency in charge of safeguarding consumer products.
[04/06]
[04/06]
Buckle Up? Injuries fuel school bus debate
As the federal government moves closer to requiring seat belts on at least some school buses, a Morning Call survey shows more than 200 injuries to regional schoolchildren since 2000 might have been prevented if they had been properly belted in their seats.
[04/05]
Sheriff: New road, fewer accidents
BUCYRUS -- Crawford County Sheriff Ron Shawber said he believes the new U.S. 30 that runs through Crawford County is a major reason accidents in the county are down.
[04/04]
[04/03]
Proposed Ohio booster seat law would impact children as old as 8
Children's Medical Center of Dayton's injury prevention coordinator Jessica Saunders told legislators on Wednesday, April 2, "We have made great strides in educating families about the importance of car seats for children under 4; however, there is still so much work to be done to protect children who are graduating too early into adult seat belts."
[04/02]
Home Defibrillators Questioned
New research, designed to see whether automated external defibrillators (AED) could extend the lives of people who had suffered a specific type of heart attack, has concluded that they do not increase the chances of survival better then CPR.
[04/02]
[04/02]
[04/01]
Worker crushed in accident
LOVELAND – AirCare has taken an employee of Tire Discounters to University Hospital after a vehicle pinned him against a wall, according to Loveland emergency communication reports.
[04/01]
Truck driver in critical condition after accident
MILLWOOD — A Canton truck driver is in critical condition in Ohio State University Medical Center after a wreck Monday morning. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Terry Billman, 54, was eastbound on U.S. 36 at 9:51 a.m. when his rig overturned on a curve, one mile west of Millwood.
[03/31]
New CPR advice: chest compressions only
In an effort to get more bystanders to perform CPR, the American Heart Association issued new guidelines today changing the way it teaches the lifesaving technique by eliminating mouth-to-mouth breaths.
[03/30]
Fed rules claim to pre-empt injury suits
If you think the prescription drug you took for headaches caused your heart attack, the Food and Drug Administration says you can't sue the maker for injury if it met agency standards. Plaintiffs' attorneys call it "silent tort reform." But it's part of tension existing since the nation's founding: conflict between state and federal law.
[03/30]
More health care workers needed
Ohio has been facing a shortage of qualified health care workers, particularly nurses, for several years, and the situation doesn't look to be improving anytime soon.
[03/30]
[03/29]
Employers to receive break in compensation premiums
Firms to get 1st cut since BWC scandals in '05
COLUMBUS - Ohio's private employers are about to see their first overall cut in workers' compensation premiums in seven years and the first real break of any kind since investment scandals undermined confidence in the system in 2005
[03/28]
[03/27]
[03/27]
Motorcyclist deaths spike as helmet laws loosen
WASHINGTON — Death rates from motorcycle crashes have risen steadily since states began weakening helmet laws about a decade ago, according to a Gannett News Service analysis of federal accident reports.
[03/27]
[03/26]
Recent report shows the downside of escalators
A study of emergency-room data (ironically conducted by the Department of Pediatrics at Indiana University’s Riley Hospital for Children) shows that the rate of escalator-related injuries among older adults, 65 and up, more than doubled between 1991 and 2005, from 4.9 to 11 per 100,000 riders. Annually, the older population requires an average 2,660 emergency room visits for escalator-related injuries, compared to about 2,000 for children.
[03/26]
[03/26]
[03/25]
Crashes to cost state $2.2 million
The state will pay at least $1 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a fiery collision that killed a woman and two state troopers near Gallipolis in 2006.
[03/25]
After motorcycle mishap, DOT secretary becomes a spokesperson for helmet safety
Peters is an avid motorcyclist herself and one who knows firsthand how important wearing a helmet can be. “My helmet prevented me from being a brain injury patient when I crashed my Harley two years ago,” says Peters who suffered a broken collar bone when she hit the pavement. That’s why she’s now pressing Congress to enact legislation to encourage more states to pass motorcycle helmet laws.
[03/24]
[03/24]
[03/24]
Insurance suit goes before high court
COLUMBUS — A Trumbull County woman injured in a car accident while her husband was driving is not entitled to paid medical benefits from the automobile insurer, an attorney told the Ohio Supreme Court.
[03/24]
[03/24]
[03/21]
3 men injured in 3-vehicle crash
Three men were hurt last night in a three-vehicle accident on Airport Highway near Eber Road in Springfield Township, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.
[03/21]
[03/20]
[03/20]
[03/20]
[03/19]
[03/19]
Worker injured at ethanol plant
LEIPSIC — 12:10 p.m., March 19 — A man at an ethanol plant near Leipsic apparently lost a limb and was on his way to a Toledo hospital this morning after an incident at the plant.
[03/18]
Matter family settles lawsuit with county
LIMA — A family has reached a settlement with the county in a lawsuit over overgrown shrubs and other safety concerns at the scene of the crash that killed its star-athlete son.
[03/18]
Lack of coverage kills 2 a day
Two adults in Ohio and one in Kentucky die every day because they lack health insurance coverage, according to a report released this morning.
[03/18]
One hurt in backhoe, bus crash
An afternoon accident involving an Adena Local Schools bus and a backhoe sent one student to the hospital Monday with minor injuries.
[03/17]
[03/17]
[03/16]
[03/15]
2 more lawsuits blaming heparin for 2 area deaths
Two new lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo against drug manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corp., accusing the company of supplying defective heparin, a blood thinner used by many kidney dialysis patients.
[03/15]
Madison steelworker Alvin Largent, 61, killed at Reighart Steel
Willoughby- A 61-year-old steelworker from Madison was killed Friday morning when a 500-pound steel plate fell on him. Alvin Largent, a father of three, died when the plate disconnected from a cable at 11:12 a.m. and fell back on his machine, police said
[03/14]
GM Recalls 200,000 Sedans Over Fire Risk
General Motors Corp. is recalling 207,542 Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix sedans over a risk they could catch fire, and warned their owners not to park the cars in garages until they are fixed.
[03/13]
[03/12]
W.R. Grace & Co. To Pay $250 Million In Record Asbestos Settlement
In the largest asbestos-related settlement on record, W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA) agreed Tuesday to reimburse the federal government $250 million. The money was used by the government in the town of Libby, Montana, where hundreds of people were sickened by asbestos, including some that died. The investigation and cleanup cost the taxpayers $168 million, with another $175 million likely.
[03/12]
[03/11]
[03/11]
[03/10]
[03/10]
[03/09]
Bar-Coded Surgical Sponges Reduce Error
The scanning process is similar to the technology modern grocery stores employ to scan grocery items, she says. The sponges are scanned at the beginning of a surgical procedure with a hand-held scanning device. At the end of a procedure, all the sponges are again scanned and accounted for.
[03/08]
Germany Recalls Blood Thinner Linked to Deaths in US
German authorities have confirmed they have recalled supplies of the blood thinner heparin because they suspect the products may be contaminated, widening a withdrawal of the drug linked to 19 deaths in the US.
[03/07]
FDA reviewing Botox
The FDA has approved Botox for cosmetic purposes as well as for serious medical conditions. But after a few complications in children, including deaths, the FDA is reviewing the paralyzing drug.
Dr. Silverman uses Botox successfully on many patients who suffer from cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
[03/07]
U.S. Senate backs product safety overhaul
The vote could mean a major boost in funding for the product safety commission and harsher penalties for companies that make hazardous products. A less expansive House bill, which had industry support
[03/07]
[03/06]
[03/06]
[03/05]
Catching the Cancers Colonoscopies Miss
Doctors today were taking a hard look at how colonoscopy may change in light of new data which suggests many potential cancers are being missed -- and the research may even impact how colonoscopy is done and how patients perform the distasteful preparation for the procedure.
[03/05]
[03/04]
Law would make it easier to find accident victims' families
According to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), of the 334,200 motor vehicle accidents in the past year, 10,701 have either resulted in fatalities or have left accident victims unable to communicate.
Consequently, law enforcement is often at a loss of how to get in touch with victims' families and inform them about the situation.
[03/04]
[03/03]
Toledo surgeon wants more physician openness
Pharmaceutical companies can pay doctors to enroll patients in drug studies and collect data, a practice that has become increasingly common in recent years as public funding declines.
[03/03]
[03/03]
[03/03]
[03/02]
[03/01]
When pursuing claims, persistence pays
Placing claims with your insurance company can be difficult, even aggravating. Some companies are even suspected of training their people on how to deny, deny, deny.
The Ohio Department of Insurance just published tips on how to place a claim and
be sure you are treated fairly.
[03/01]
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