Kelley & Ferraro

Asbestos exposure could happen to anyone

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Asbestos/Mesothelioma on Wednesday, August 15, 2018.

Ohio residents who work in certain industries already know that they could end up contracting an illness from the substances and chemicals around them on the job. They and their employers take measures to ensure their safety. When it comes to asbestos exposure, this involves numerous steps and precautions that people who don't work around this toxic substance would not know to take.

This includes people who live and work in Ohio communities. Schools, offices and businesses built during the time when asbestos-related products were widely used in construction materials could still cause people to suffer exposure without them even knowing it. People still receive diagnoses of mesothelioma from this type of unintended exposure.

Car accidents continue to happen despite red light cameras

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, August 15, 2018.

Local governments continue to look for ways to reduce the number of vehicle crashes that occur in their jurisdictions. Some areas decided to install cameras on their traffic signals that would take photos of drivers who run red lights. The problem is that a study done by Cleveland's own Case Western Reserve University indicates that red light cameras are not decreasing the number of car accidents and may actually increase them.

In one area of the country, the installation of red light cameras increased the number of non-angle accidents at the intersections in which they were installed. When removed, the number of angle accidents rose. Essentially, one type of crash may have been reduced, but another type of crash increased.

People can still suffer asbestos exposure even in 2018

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Asbestos/Mesothelioma on Thursday, August 9, 2018.

How is it that a toxic substance whose use was largely banned decades ago could continue to pose a health risk? Asbestos exposure still occurs even in 2018 because many structures and products used here in Ohio and elsewhere still contain the substance. In many cases, this is because as long as it is not disturbed and becomes airborne, its threat to people is nearly nonexistent. Once disturbed through something as simple as a renovation to something as catastrophic as a fire or explosion, it becomes deadly once again.

Even though sources say a single exposure event does not pose a health risk, that may not be true for everyone. Even a single event can lead to lasting damage if the concentration is high enough as in the toppling of the Twin Towers on 9/11. If an individual uncovers asbestos in a home and inhales a large enough concentration of it in a confined space, that could also lead to health issues at some point.

Ohio's interstates have too many fatal vehicle accidents

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, August 9, 2018.

The interstates that run through Ohio carry a lot of traffic each day. With that many vehicles in the same place, it is no wonder that those roads also become the scene of numerous serious and fatal vehicle accidents. The drivers causing these accidents may fall into one or more of three common categories -- drowsy, impaired or distracted.

An otherwise ordinary Friday afternoon on southbound Interstate 280 became the scene of a recent disaster. The crash involved six passenger vehicles and two big rigs. One of the big rigs slammed into the back of one of the passenger vehicles, which started the chain reaction accident.

Multiple vehicle accidents can easily lead to fatalities

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

Interstates and highways here in Ohio and elsewhere are designed to keep traffic moving. Unfortunately, there are many times when the traffic slows or actually comes to a complete stop, especially in construction zones. One driver's mistake in these areas could lead to multiple vehicle accidents, which could easily lead to fatalities.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol recently responded to a crash that took place in a construction area on Interstate 75. Traffic had slowed due to the ongoing roadwork, but a commercial vehicle failed to respond in time to the change in the traffic's speed. That vehicle set off a chain reaction that ultimately involved six vehicles.

Bayer says it will remove Essure from the market after FDA action

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Pharmaceutical Litigation on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

Many women across the country, and here in Ohio, know that they are not ready to have children. They use any number of forms of birth control in order to avoid pregnancy. Many birth control devices and medications come with significant risks even with the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. In April, the FDA issued an action for Bayer to restrict the sale of a birth control device it manufactures called Essure because of the risks it poses to the women who use it.

Essure is inserted into a woman's fallopian tubes for the purpose of developing scar tissue that blocks fertilization. Many women complain of chronic pain. Other women have suffered perforations of their fallopian tubes and the uterus. Moreover, the coils could end up migrating into the abdomen or pelvis.

Will stopping speeders in work zones curb car accidents?

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Car Accidents on Friday, July 27, 2018.

Many Ohio motorists get irritated with road construction. It slows traffic and often requires roadways to go down to one lane. This causes some drivers to attempt to get around the bulk of the traffic ahead of them by speeding through the work zones and cause car accidents.

For instance, the construction zone in which work is still underway on Interstate 270 here in Ohio sees numerous car crashes. Reports indicate that police have responded to approximately 120 crashes between Nov. 2017 and March. One family lost a loved one last fall to an accident in a construction zone caused by a drunk driver.The victim was working construction in the area at the time.

Overprescribing opioids continues here in Ohio despite dangers

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Pharmaceutical Litigation on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the ability to track prescriptions to Medicaid participants. The agency used this data to track the over-prescribing of opioids here in Ohio from June 2016 through May 2017. The results were alarming.

Everyone in the medical profession should be aware of the fact that an opioid crisis exists not only here in Ohio, but across the country. Some people may think that the fact that doctors in the state continue to overprescribe opioids is due to patients "doctor shopping" in order to feed their addictions. In reality, only around 231 people during that time frame engaged in this activity.

Talc linked to asbestos-related cancer: Are you at risk?

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP on Monday, July 23, 2018.

Do you regularly use talc powder? A recent case might make you reconsider your daily routine. Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay nearly $5 billion to a group of women who claimed its Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products caused them to develop cancer.

The lawsuit stemmed from the claims of 22 women who alleged that they developed ovarian cancer due to their long-term use of talc products that were tainted with asbestos. The victims argued that Johnson & Johnson had been covering up evidence of this contamination for decades. The jury sided with the women, awarding a verdict of $550 million to compensate them for their actual losses and $4.14 billion to punish the company for its wrongful actions.

Another drug recall announced by the Food and Drug Administration

By Kelley & Ferraro, LLP posted in Pharmaceutical Litigation on Wednesday, July 18, 2018.

Many of the medications manufactured and prescribed in this country expand the lives of millions of people across the country. It is the job of the Food and Drug Administration to make sure that those medications cause no unnecessary harm to patients. Unfortunately, people across the country, including many here in Ohio, continue to suffer harm, and sometimes, recalls do not get to everyone in time.

One of the most recent drugs requiring a recall is valsartan, which is used to prevent heart failure and control blood pressure. This drug is ordinarily only a component of other drugs on the market and may cause cancer. The FDA's recall of the drug makes the United States the 23rd country to recall this medication due to that potential.

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