Playboy Model’s Death Blamed on Chiropractor

The sudden death from a stroke in February of a former Playboy model, known to her two million social media followers as the “Queen of Snapchat,” has been ruled accidental in an October report by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

However, in issuing its report, the coroner’s office attributed the stroke to a chiropractic procedure the victim had undergone several hours earlier. That finding again raises concerns about the safety of chiropractic procedures, which some have called dangerous and unnecessary.

 

Promising Career, Popular Model

Katie May, age thirty-four, had worked as a model and gained success with appearances in several ad campaigns and magazine features, including for Playboy, Esquire, GQ, and Sports Illustrated. She was also a popular social media personality. At the time of her death, it had been reported by some that she’d fallen during a photoshoot and injured her neck, which led to the stroke and her death.

She had, however, only told her online fans that she’d pinched a nerve in her neck during that January shoot, and that she planned to see a chiropractor about the problem. After a February 1 chiropractic visit, she began experiencing numbness and dizziness, and by the time she reached the hospital, she was found to be suffering a massive stroke. This led to major brain damage. Her family took her off life support on February 4.

The coroner’s report, completed seven months later, blamed her stroke and subsequent death on a tear in one of the important arteries that supplies blood to the brain. This tear, the report concluded, had been accidentally caused during May’s chiropractor visit.

 

Chiropractic Injury and Death

It’s estimated that about 20 million Americans visit a chiropractor each year. Most of them leave satisfied and in good health, but for years concerns have been raised about the safety of some chiropractic procedures.

In particular, the injury suffered by May, known as a vascular dissection, has been highlighted as a dangerous and sometimes fatal side effect of energetic chiropractic neck manipulations. The American Heart Association has officially cautioned against neck manipulation procedures since at least 2014 because of a potentially increased stroke risk, while other sources have determined that the risks outweigh the benefits, specifically because data is difficult to find on the true danger posed by these procedures.

The American Chiropractic Association counters that their practitioners are properly trained and that they perform procedures safely, but that all treatments pose some risk. They note that even commonly prescribed medicines, such as ibuprofen, present a risk of stroke to users.

 

Chiropractors and Medical Malpractice

Chiropractors might not be medical doctors, but they are trained and licensed healthcare practitioners. As such, they owe the same duty of care to their patients as any other healthcare professional.

When the mistreatment of a patient or the misapplication of a procedure causes an injury such as a stroke or—in extreme cases such as Katie May’s—death, that professional needs to be held accountable. An injured patient or her family would hold a doctor responsible for harming someone in their care, and chiropractors should be held to the same standard.

 

New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you or someone close to you has been injured by a procedure performed by a chiropractor or another healthcare professional, it’s important to pursue compensation to cover the costs of additional medical treatments, lost wages and income, and any unnecessary suffering caused by that injury.

Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP understands this kind of personal injury claim, and we’re ready to assist you. Call us today at 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) or complete the form below to set up a free consultation to discuss your case.

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Water Fountains Present Risk to Schoolchildren

A public elementary school in New York City is dealing with claims that elevated copper levels in drinking fountain water made a child sick. The boy went home with stomach pains after having ingested the water, which was discolored and foul tasting.

What makes this problem worse is that a few months earlier the same school had that fountain and four others test positive for elevated lead levels. Although all had been replaced, they were not supposed to be used until they could be cleared through remediation testing.

It is suspected that this round of contamination was caused by heavy metals that leach from old pipes when the water stands in them for too long. If this is true, then running the tap for fifteen to thirty seconds prior to drinking should help remove these impurities from otherwise well-regarded NYC drinking water. If the contamination was not from the pipes but from some other source underground, running the water would not solve the issue.

 

Copper in the Body

Body chemistry is a delicate balancing act with trace elements affecting brain and nervous system health. Copper has to have a certain ratio with zinc, for instance, for thyroid health, which controls cell energy. Too little copper can cause issues such as anemia, nerve damage, and a low white-blood-cell count, and too much copper results in “copper toxicity,” causing stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. More severe symptoms are brain disease, heart and kidney failure, liver failure, and death.

In the Staten Island school case, the levels were said to be elevated but not harmful. The school is taking this fountain out of commission until the problem is resolved. Still, parents have every right to be concerned and take proper precautions.

Some parents say they send their children to school with bottled water, while others trust that the administration is on top of the problem and will do the right thing. For the time being, school authorities say they will have janitors flush out the water system every morning to ensure stagnant pipe water does not have time to collect heavy metals dangerous to thirsty schoolkids.

 

Possibility Premises Liability Lawsuit

If it can be proven that the boy sustained harm directly from this incident and that the school should have been aware of the problem but failed to fix it, the family can pursue a premises liability case for financial compensation. A personal injury lawyer would look into all the evidence, including testing, state and local laws and standards, and the actions of the school to see if anyone was at fault in allowing the water fountain to be used when it represented a danger to the kids on the school grounds.

If it can be proven that the school failed to act when it should have, the victim’s family will be eligible for a financial settlement to cover their damages and pain and suffering.

 

Experienced NYC Premises Liability Attorneys

If you feel that you or a loved one has been hurt by something beyond your control due to a property owner’s carelessness or bad judgment, you may have grounds for a premises liability case. Contact Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP today to find out more about how we can go to bat for you.

Simply call us at 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) or reach us by completing the form below. The consultation is free and carries no obligation. We are personal injury lawyers who work hard to protect New Yorkers from negligence. We use our years of experience to build the strongest cases for our clients to ensure that justice is served.

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Carrey Wrongful Death Case Brings Topic to the Fore

Actor Jim Carrey’s ex-girlfriend Cathriona White was found dead of an apparent suicide in September 2015, and Carrey is now accused of wrongful death by the woman’s husband. She and the Ace Ventura actor had recently split up after having an on-and-off-again relationship for four years.

Her death was caused by an overdose of several types of prescription pills, at least two of which Carrey is alleged to have obtained under an alias and then given to her. His lawyer contends that Carrey legally obtained the pharmaceuticals and used a fake name to protect his privacy as a celebrity, and the actor’s attorney also contends that White stole the pills from his client. Three of the four drugs in question were Propranolol, Ambien, and Percocet, respectively.

Complicating matters, some of White’s friends didn’t know she was married to an American cameraman named Mark Burton (whom she was planning to divorce in December). From Burton’s end, he claims Carrey is trying to cover up his involvement in White’s death where he supplied her with highly addictive, allegedly illegally obtained medication. White may have battled mental illness for years, which Carrey referenced in his official statement following her death.

It’s impossible for us to make any assertions as to what actually happened in this case, and it should be noted that any liability or guilt on Mr. Carrey’s part has yet to be proven. However, the case does raise the topic of wrongful death to the fore, which is certainly a discussion worth having.

 

The Difference Between Murder and Wrongful Death

Mark Burton is accusing Jim Carrey of “wrongful death,” which contends that a fatality of one person resulted from another person’s wrongful actions. This could be because of something the accused either did or failed to do. Murder could be considered a type of wrongful death, but not all wrongful death is murder. While murder is a criminal case, which can lead to prison time if guilt can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, wrongful death is a civil case that results in a financial award for the plaintiff.

For example, while former football player O.J. Simpson was found innocent of murder charges regarding the homicide of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was later found guilty of the wrongful death case brought about by the Brown and Goldman families. The punitive and compensatory damages awarded to them in that case were $33.5 million with responsibility for their deaths placed on O.J. Simpson.

 

Wrongful Death Compensation

If suing for wrongful death, there are calculations made to determine what the probable life span of the deceased would have been and what their lifetime earnings might have been. In a case like this, providing illegally obtained drugs or illegally sharing prescription drugs would constitute a wrongful and negligent act if it can be proven.

In a wrongful death suit, the plaintiff can receive compensation for the victim’s lost wages, funeral expenses, medical bills, and sometimes the family’s pain and suffering.

 

Work with a New York City Wrongful Death Attorney

If you have questions surrounding a wrongful death or other personal injury case, Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP are here to provide answers and sound legal counsel. Call 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) toll-free or complete the contact form below and find out your legal options. We are dedicated to building the strongest case possible for our clients.

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Samsung Battery Problems Lead to Warnings, Recall

Last month Samsung, the world’s number one producer of smartphones, issued a recall on 2.5 million of its popular Galaxy Note 7 devices. The reason was alarming: This particular model might be subject to dangerous overheating, could catch fire, and might possibly even explode. Through September 15 there had been ninety-two such incidents reported nationally, including twenty-six burn injuries and fifty-five reports of property damage, prompting Samsung, in coordination with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), to recall all Galaxy Note 7s purchased before that date.

 

Dramatic Failures

The Galaxy Note 7 battery failure problem has led to a number of dramatic stories of small fires and minor injuries, several of which are recounted here. The most high-profile incident in the United States centered on a Florida man who says that his SUV caught fire while he left the phone charging in it. Another Florida man claims to have been burned when his Galaxy Note 7 exploded in his pocket. A Brooklyn, New York, boy had a phone explode in his hands. Finally, the device may have been the cause of a house fire in South Carolina and a hotel room blaze in Australia.

 

What Went Wrong?

The official explanation from Samsung is that a manufacturing process defect allowed the positive and negative terminals of the battery to come into contact with each other, which is a recipe for disaster. That sort of contact can allow a battery to discharge all of its stored energy quickly. In the case of the new Galaxy Note 7, which uses a battery 17 percent more powerful than the previous version, that’s a lot of power.

If a consumer product bursting into flames because of a battery problem sounds familiar, you’re right. You probably remember the coverage surrounding one of last year’s “hottest” holiday gift items: hoverboards. There were numerous reports of these mini-Segway-like devices catching fire or exploding. In most cases, the problem was with bad lithium-based batteries or with problems related to the battery charging electronics—that’s the same problem experienced by the Galaxy Note 7. In July, the CPSC finally announced the recall of more than a half-million of them.

 

Unsafe at Any Altitude

In addition to the CPSC recall notices, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has advised passengers not to turn on or charge Galaxy Note 7s while onboard an aircraft and not to stow them in checked baggage. While some reports cited the FAA warning as unusual or even extraordinary, it’s actually in line with previous guidelines: The FAA has recommended caution in the air transport of lithium batteries since at least 2010. The recent notice seems meant more as a reminder to the airlines of safety concerns and an urging to tighten their own standards. The largest US airlines, at least so far, have not issued an outright ban.

 

New York Defective Product Lawyers

When a manufacturer releases a product which turns out to be harmful to its users or others, the affected consumers have a right to compensation for any property damage or physical injury caused. They may also be entitled to additional damages for other reasons, which might be the case if a defective product causes the user to lose income or wages or to suffer distress (which seems quite likely for unsuspecting users whose phones suddenly burst into flames).

If you’ve been harmed in any way by a defective product, turn to a team with experience in product liability cases. Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP knows what’s involved in claims of this kind, and we can help you move your case forward. Call us today at 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) or submit the form below to schedule a free consultation to discuss your unique situation.

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Street Racing Dangerous to All

From chariot races to The Fast and the Furious, the lure of besting another driver in a race has played out in movies and on the road for eons. But the ancient Romans have nothing on today’s street racers, who can hit 150 miles per hour if they disable speed limiters and make other tweaks to their tricked-out cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that speed-related crashes cost the country $40.4 billion dollars. In 2014, 28 percent of fatal crashes were speed related, and 9,262 people died. Another alarming statistic is that with males between the ages of fifteen and twenty, 36 percent of those who were in deadly accidents were speeding.

 

Open Roads

Whether street races are planned at night in industrial parks or a race happens spontaneously when two drivers catch each other’s eye, a thrill ride can easily turn deadly. When a car speeds, it needs increased braking distance and quicker driver reaction time.

Kinetic energy’s relationship between mass and velocity causes the severity of impact to be greater the faster a car is travelling. As with any type of speeding accident, multiple vehicles can be involved when they swerve into another lane and stop short to avoid the wreckage. And in the case of street races, unwilling bystanders can easily get hurt.

 

New York City Street-Racing Crash

According to the accounts of witnesses, this fatal accident on the Long Island Expressway in New York City may have been caused by two cars racing. Whether or not this is true, what proved fatal was the speed involved: A witness estimated the vehicles were travelling at 100 miles per hour.

After 4 a.m., two cars allegedly began racing in the midst of highway drivers, and one crashed into a median and broke in two. Another car hit some of the wreckage, and then a dump truck failed to stop quickly enough and plowed into five other cars that were stopped behind the tragic crash.

 

Rear-End Rights

Although the back driver in a rear-end collision is most often found responsible because they are required to leave enough room to respond to the actions of the driver in front of them, there are exceptions. If you crashed into someone because they were violating driving laws—such as by street racing—you have legal options.

If negligence can be proven, you may be eligible for a financial settlement to cover your injuries and damages. If the driver was speeding and endangering others, that is a reckless act, and you should not suffer for someone else’s selfishness and cheap thrills.

 

Experienced New York City Car Accident Attorneys

New York is a comparative negligence state, which means that percentages of fault can be assigned to more than one party. If you were involved in an accident with someone you believe was speeding or street racing, an experienced car accident attorney will know how to uncover evidence and build a case to present your side in the most convincing way possible. Depending on the conditions of your crash, you may be able to recover lost wages and get compensation for loss of quality of life and other damages.

Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP is here to help you through the difficult time after a car wreck and fight for your rights. Call 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) toll free, and speak with us about what we can do for you. Alternatively, you can also reach us by completing the form at the bottom of this page. We have extensive experience litigating New York car accidents and battling insurance companies to get our clients what they deserve.

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“Pokémon Go” Players Posing Problems

New Yorkers are used to seeing things on a daily basis that residents of other cities don’t witness in a lifetime. Some of the country’s greatest museums, such as the Met and the MoMA, are so taken for granted that they blend into the background, along with some of the world’s most famous monuments, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Unique people like the Naked Cowboy roam Times Square, and there’s unique public art such as the small airplane which was suspended above the sidewalk at the edge of Central Park for a few weeks in 2012.

But something unprecedented happened a few weeks ago, just down the block from where that airplane had hung: Crowds of New Yorkers flooded into Central Park, recklessly abandoning cars in the street and stopping traffic in a scene some have compared to a disaster movie. The reason? They were all playing “Pokémon Go.”

 

A Genuine Cultural Phenomenon

“Pokémon Go,” an augmented reality game which overlays game maps and components onto the real world as viewed through a player’s smartphone camera, was only just made available to the public in early July but has already shattered records for app downloads. The game, in which players try to catch and train cartoon monsters, already has more than 75 million players—and it’s only been released in a handful of countries.

 

Play Carries Risks

From the moment it was launched, some have worried that the nature of “Pokémon Go”—an arguably addictive game that takes the extra step of mixing its world with the real one—carried enormous potential for risk. Public safety officials warned players to be responsible, to not lose track of where they were, and especially to not play the game in risky situations—the most dangerous of which is while behind the wheel.

It took only a few days for the predictions of accidents and injuries to come true. The sillier incidents reported in New York include a Brooklyn man who fell into a pond in Prospect Park and the upstate resident who stumbled into a mud pit while playing late at night and had to be rescued. Another Brooklyn man received a ticket for trespassing in a closed park.

It’s easy to laugh at these incidents, but others have placed players in danger. A Long Island man fell from his skateboard and suffered minor injuries while playing. Numerous reports have circulated of players being robbed, including a Long Island teen held up at gunpoint. The game has directed players to potentially unsafe or inappropriate locations, such as areas with known high levels of drug crime and the entrance to Rikers Island.

 

Distracted Driving Fears Escalate

The biggest worry has been about what could happen if people play “Pokémon Go” while driving. Distracted driving is already a huge problem: It’s now the number one cause of property damage and injury crashes in New York State. We were the first state to pass a law against phone and other mobile device use while driving, yet Manhattan alone saw more than 42,000 cell phone and texting tickets issued in 2014 (with a better than 91 percent conviction rate).

“Pokémon Go” and other games like it tempt players to drive while distracted, and some players do exactly that. An upstate New York man was the first driver known to have crashed while playing. Other wrecks have followed, but so far the drivers have received only minor injuries and no bystanders have been hurt (although a player in Pennsylvania was injured by a car while crossing a busy street, and a fourteen-year old in Minnesota was killed when he rode his bicycle into the street while playing the game).

 

With Great Gaming Comes Great Responsibility

“Pokémon Go” players could update a line from a fictional New Yorker—Spiderman—and commit to playing responsibly, for their own safety and that of others. At Greenstein & Milbauer, we’ve been handling distracted driving cases for years. We don’t want to see anyone injured simply because a game was played recklessly, but if it happens to you, our team of experienced personal injury lawyers will be ready to take your call. Call us today at 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) or complete our online form at the bottom of this page to arrange a free consultation with one of our attorneys.

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Memorial Day 2016

In addition to being a founding partner at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP, Rob Greenstein is the Town Supervisor of New Castle – home of President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton and Governor Andrew Cuomo. 
 Rob Greenstein and Governor Andrew Cuomo at their annual Memorial Day parade.

Rob Greenstein with President Bill and Hilary Rodham Clinton during this year's Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua.