Since then, she and her husband Mike have been active in the fight to research birth defects, identify their causes and do what’s possible to prevent them. They also use their organization, Birth Defect Research for Children, to link parents of affected children with other parents who understand their struggles.

In a recent conversation, Betty said she knows what it’s like to be a parent in the dark about an ailment affecting one’s child.

“We think a family needs to know all there is to know about your child’s birth defect,” she said. “It used to be you couldn’t figure out anything.”

Looking for Patterns

Betty said her work with Bendictin taught her that there are often patterns in the occurrence of birth defects that can be spotted if you know where to look.

“If you collect enough data, you could analyze it and you could quickly see if there was a pattern,” she said. “If there was a distinctive pattern that was observed by researchers, then they would do the more highly controlled studies.”

The organization does this through what is called the National Birth Defect Registry, which she described as the organization’s proudest accomplishment. There is no other database like it in the world, she said.

“We have been able to do some remarkable things with it,” Betty said.

The Mekdeci’s successes didn’t end when Bendectin, the drug that likely harmed their son David, was taken off the market in 1982.

Later that decade, they helped identify birth defects linked to Agent Orange exposure in the Vietnam War. More recently, they linked the occurrence of Goldenhar syndrome, a rare congenital defect that causes facial deformities, to service in the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.

The Defense Department, initially skeptical, later verified these findings, Betty said.

She said she’s particularly proud of the work the organization has done linking paternal exposure to birth defects. This research is far less common than studying what a child is exposed to in utero through the mother.

Connecting Families

If the registry has the biggest impact on the broader fight against birth defects, the organization’s Parent Matching Project plays the biggest role in the day-to-day lives of families affected by defects.

It doesn’t just link a parent of a child born with, say, a cleft lip with the parent of a similar child. Because birth defects often come in tandem with one another, the program can link up the three birth defects. This means, Betty offered as an example, that a parent whose child was born with Down syndrome, leukemia and a heart defect can find a family also dealing with the combined effects of all three ailments.

“That’s been very, very popular,” Betty said.

Stay Tuned

Betty’s history with birth defects is a tale worthy of a book. It began with a drug during pregnancy that affected her son. Her crusade to get Bendectin off the market took her to courtrooms and government hearings.

Now, decades later, the drug that changed her life is back on the market under a different name. A self-described “feisty” woman unafraid of a fight, Betty is sounding the alarm.

Keep an eye on the Oshman & Mirisola blog for more on this in an upcoming post.

A study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that hospital reap more profit when mistakes are made during surgery. That’s because correcting the errors requires extra time in the hospital and, thus, a larger bill.

It’s not surprising when you think about it, and that means there’s a problem. The medical care industry and high profits have long been seen as going hand-in-hand.

The study also raises another concern, which the New York Times sums up well in a recent article:

“If the system does not change, hospitals will have little incentive to improve: in fact, some will wind up losing money if they take better care of patients.”

The Study

Researchers analyzed the records of 34,256 people who had surgery at any of 12 Texas hospitals in 2010. The hospitals are all run by a company called Texas Health Resources, which assisted with the study. Of those examined, 1,820 patients suffered from preventable complications associated with their procedure.

Those who did not suffer complications had an average hospital bill of $18,900. The average bill for patients with complications: $49,400.

That’s 2.5 times more profit when a patient suffers from a preventable complication, such as a blood clot, infection or pneumonia. You’d be hard-pressed to find another profession in which it pays more to do the job poorly.

Surgical Errors Can Be Deadly

While errors in treatment and surgery can be profitable for doctors and hospitals, they can be deadly for patients. A minor infection can heal, but serious internal injuries can occur due to surgical errors.  Medical mistakes kill thousands each year.

The attorneys at Oshman & Mirisola, LLP have successfully represented people who have suffered serious injuries from surgical errors. We have handled many other medical malpractice cases as well. Contact us if this has happened to you or a loved one.

If anyone finds it hard to believe that an insurance company would take advantage of people in their time of need for boost their profit margins, just take a look at what’s happening in Texas.

Still Waiting — More Than 4 Years Later

Hurricane Ike ripped through parts of Texas and Louisiana in September 2008, causing an estimated $29.5 billion in damage. It is, to date, the third-costliest hurricane to hit the U.S., behind Katrina and Sandy.

Four and a half years later, some insured homeowners who saw their property damaged have still not been helped. In September of last year, almost exactly four years after the hurricane hit, state officials in Texas began a criminal investigation into State Farm Insurance over the company’s handling of hurricane-related claims.

Attorney: State Farm Saved $1 Billion at the Expense of Customers

According to lawsuits filed by Texas policy holders, State Farm established an internal policy to intentionally deny claims for roof damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Jim Warner, a homeowner in Missouri City, Texas, is one of those people suing the company.

Warner has always paid his insurance bill on time and had never filed a claim until his home suffered roof damage in the storm. He told ABC News last year that heavy winds from the hurricane shifted the shingles on his roof, breaking the waterproof seal and resulting in water damage that left the roof in need of replacement. State Farm, however, refused to consider this “damage.”

Warner’s attorney told ABC News that emails between executives at State Farm make it clear the policy of denial was deliberate and calculated. He estimated the denials saved State Farm roughly $1 billion.

Could This Happen in New York?

The damage estimate from Hurricane Sandy is more than twice that of Hurricane Ike. Already, we are hearing stories of insurance companies delaying, denying or underpaying claims from the homeowners who counted on them. Take one Staten Island couple whose home of 34 years was completely destroyed. Their insurance company, Allstate, offered them just $10,000 — and then put their devastated home on a TV commercial about the company’s service.

Get Help

See this blog for some tips on dealing with your insurance company if you’ve suffered losses from Hurricane Sandy. Contact us today if you believe your insurer has denied you the coverage you pay for. The attorneys at Oshman & Mirisola, LLP have gone toe-to-toe with big insurance companies on behalf of policyholders before, and we will do it again.

Allstate, their insurance company, sent the couple a check for just $10,000 to cover their entire destroyed home at 67 Cedar Grove Ave. And then, in another move illustrating the company’s lack of concern, Allstate showcased the couple’s devastated home in a TV commercial touting the company’s service to its policyholders.

Meanwhile, the Trainas, who had been preparing for life in retirement, are living in a basement apartment as they try to get their lives back on track. They haven’t cashed Allstate’s check. Instead, they’ve given it to their attorney as they pursue legal action to get the reimbursement they deserve.

Insurance Companies’ Dishonest Behavior Comes at the Worst Time

While New York and New Jersey residents are still reeling with the effects of Hurricane Sandy, many home and business owners are finding, just as the Trainas did, that their insurance company won’t paying what it should to cover the losses. These people took out their insurance policies with exactly this sort of disaster in mind, and it’s not fair that they are denied the coverage they paid for.

We’re There for Home and Business Owners

At Oshman & Mirisola, LLP, we are committed to helping people whose businesses or homes were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. If your insurance company is denying a claim they should pay under your policy, or if they offer a lowball figure, we may be able to help you get the reimbursement you deserve. That’s why you bought the policy in the first place. You acted responsibly, and your insurance company should do the same.

Contact us today by calling (800) 400-8182 for a free consultation to discuss your case. There is no obligation.

Like most responsible homeowners would, they turned to their insurer, Paramount, for help. The home was covered for $175,000, and its contents for $50,000, according to a recent article in The Star-Ledger. The Sharifs had a hardship on their hands, but it looked like it’d be taken care of.

Until Paramount paid them just $6,343.68 for the damage.

Bad Faith?

According to Paramount, the Sharifs weren’t insured for flood damage, despite their claims otherwise. The sum they were paid — small compared to the value of their beachfront cottage — was for siding damaged by wind.

“I 100 percent thought that I had flood insurance,” Susan Sharif told The Star Ledger. “My house is 20 feet from the water. Why would I not have flood insurance?”

The Sharifs are far from the only people finding their livelihoods at the whim of their insurance company in the wake of the most devastating storm to hit the New York/New Jersey region in any of our lifetimes. And many homeowners and business owners are finding they picked the wrong company to count on in a time of need. (See this man’s story here.)

Fortunately, many of these people – including the Sharifs – are taking action. The Sharifs are among hundreds, if not thousands, of policy holders who have filed lawsuits against their insurer looking for the coverage they believe they are entitled to and have paid for.

Get Legal Help

The Sharifs have filed a lawsuit not only against Paramount, but against the broker who sold them their insurance as well. The couple insists they asked for full coverage and were never told or advised to get flood insurance. They thought they had it.

The attorneys at Oshman & Mirisola, LLP are committed to helping homeowners and business owners in New York and New Jersey who are battling their insurance company to recoup the losses from this devastating storm.  Contact us today to speak with one of our attorneys about your situation. Consultations are free and without obligation.

Police officers have difficult and dangerous jobs. Above all else — even more important than apprehending criminals — police are tasked with ensuring public safety. Police agencies must train officers to not engage in actions that place innocent people in danger.

Innocent people were endagered outside the Empire State Building in August of last year during a shootout between police and a gunman. Fortunately, no pedestrians were killed by the 16 bullets police fired, but nine were injured by police bullets.

One of those pedestrians has filed a lawsuit against the police department, alleging the officers were not properly trained and should have confronted the suspect in a quiet area to minimize danger – not on a crowded sidewalk in front of a world-famous tourist destination.

The Facts

Chenin Duclos, a 32-year-old from North Carolina, had arrived at Grand Central Terminal and was walking to catch another train when she was shot in the hip at Fifth Avenue and 34^th Street and fell to the ground.

You might remember the details of the incident. According to police, Jeffrey Johnson waited outside the Empire State Building with a handgun on Aug. 24, 2012. When the man he believed was responsible for laying him off from his job a year earlier exited the building, Johnson shot him to death and walked off.

Amid the panic, a bystander followed Johnson and pointed him out to police. When the officers confronted him, Johnson pulled out a weapon and police opened fire, firing 16 shots and killing Johnson. Nine bystanders, including Duclos, were hit either by bullets or by fragments.

While several of those injured have filed notices of claim — a legal precursor to a possible lawsuit — the lawsuit filed Jan. 22, 2103 is the first associated with the incident, the lawyer for Duclos told ABC News. It alleges the officers were not properly trained to confront Johnson in a quiet location where the danger to innocent bystanders would be minimized.

A Case Study in Personal Injury Liability

The police officers were clearly acting in the heat of the moment, and no one is suggesting they intended to hurt any bystanders. When criminals pull guns on police officers, police need to fire back. But, in this situation, the criminal likely would not have pulled his gun had police not approached him on a crowded sidewalk at 9 a.m. in midtown Manhattan. If you’ve ever visited midtown Manhattan, you know how crowded these streets are.

The officers should have been trained in alternate methods to apprehend the gunman that didn’t trigger a violent confrontation on a crowded street. An innocent person had been shot to death just moment before. No one needs it to happen again.

Due to her injury, Duclos, a student at the University of North Carolina, has had trouble resuming her studies. She suffered a shattered femur and a neck injury, and still undergoes physical therapy.

The Goal of Personal Injury Cases

This case isn’t about blaming police officers for taking quick actions. It’s about ensuring that people and public agencies are held accountable for the injuries that result from their actions. Sadly, this is necessary to force them to adopt policies and procedures that will minimize the risk of this happening in the future. This is personal injury law.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by the negligence of a person, business or government agency, contact Oshman & Mirisola, LLP to speak with a qualified attorney who will help you protect your rights.

Wilkinson, a 36-year-old single mother, went to the emergency room at Kings County Hospital when she was stricken with sudden chest pain in February 2010. She thought she was having a heart attack.

But a first-year doctor said her tests were fine and sent her home, the Daily News reported. He evidently didn’t see that the radiologist who studied her X-ray recommended follow-up exams due to the presence of a two-centimeter nodule in her lung.

“… Apparently nobody saw the report,” another doctor wrote more than two years later, when the nodule had doubled in size. Only then, in the spring of 2012, was Wilkinson told she had terminal lung cancer. It might have been prevented if doctors had acted swiftly after her 2010 visit, the doctor told her.

Wilkinson was given six months to a year to live.

Cancer Misdiagnosis: Dangerously Common

Cancer has become increasingly treatable due to advances in medicine in recent years. But it can’t be treated if you and your doctors don’t know you have it. For this reason, the odds of beating cancer are directly linked to how early it is diagnosed.

When trained, well-paid medical professionals fail in their responsibility to diagnose serious ailments like cancer, they need to be held accountable. Medical malpractice can only be curbed if institutions are forced to change their ways and practices in hopes of preventing these sorts of errors from happening.

The Daily News reported that Wilkinson has retained an attorney and filed a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit. While no court judgment can undo the damage done to her health and her life, it can hold the hospital responsible for its failure to recognize her cancer and treat it appropriately. A substantial judgment might also help provide for her 15-year-old daughter when Wilkinson is gone.

According to the article, the girl is autistic and severally mentally handicapped.

Contact Us

The attorneys at Oshman & Mirsola, LLP have years of experience representing people harmed by the negligence or error of medical professionals. Contact us today if this has happened to you or your family. Time to file claims is limited.