On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Wrongful Death on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Whenever a loved one passes away, it is a sad and tumultuous time for the surviving family members. However, this grief is compounded when negligent actions on the part of another party contributed to the person's death. Those who are legally responsible for your loved one's death can be held accountable in the court of law by the surviving family through a wrongful death suit.
Such action can justly compensate a family's pain and suffering following their unnecessary loss. For one Pottsville, Pennsylvania family, their five-year-old wrongful death suit has been given clearance by a federal judge.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, February 16, 2012
A Pittsburgh sanitation worker was hit by a vehicle last week and suffered serious, albeit undisclosed, injuries. The man was picking up a trash can and preparing to throw it in the back of a garbage truck when the car accident occurred. He was crushed between the vehicle and the truck and was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
The director of Public Works seemed to indicate that the injuries sustained by the 55-year-old man in the car accident were very severe. "He's doing better than we initially thought, but he's still not out of the woods yet," he said. "He will have a long road to recovery."
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Motorcycle Accidents on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A 39-year-old man from suburban Philadelphia has been arrested and charged with a variety of DUI and homicide by vehicle offenses after being connected with a hit-and-run incident last Sunday. The fatal motorcycle accident caused catastrophic harm to a 26-year-old rider who died from his injuries the next day.
Police tracked down the 39-year-old after discovering his damaged truck abandoned off the side of a road with no license plates. The man, who had bruising that indicated he had been struck by a deploying airbag, told police that he had no details about the condition of the truck or the accident because he had sold the vehicle recently. The seemingly suspicious scenario led investigators to comb over the 39-year-old's family, friends and people who last saw him prior to the motorcycle accident.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Medical Malpractice on Thursday, February 9, 2012
Pittsburgh residents will be interested to hear about a medical malpractice case that was recently resolved in New Jersey. A man went to the emergency room with shortness of breath and chest pains, but the doctor discharged him the same day after diagnosing him with nothing more than a virus. The man wasn't even given any prescriptions to help with the apparent virus.
Just hours later though, the man's health rapidly declined and he began to fear for his life. He was so scared that he put together a will in case he passed away, giving execution of his estate to a friend. Unfortunately, the man's instincts were correct, and he died of a pulmonary embolism the next day.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Wrongful Death on Monday, February 6, 2012
Just outside of Philadelphia, an industrial plant worker was killed by a falling hay bale. The unfortunate accident has rocked the small town of Avondale, Pennsylvania, and questions have now turned on the mushroom plant where the 40-year-old victim worked.
Workplace accidents are usually sensitive matters, and while nothing can be confirmed about this incident until an investigation is completed, some will wonder how a fatal workplace accident could have happened. If it is found that the hay bale was not properly secured or if the company violated any safety measures that contributed to the accident, the mushroom plant could be held liable in a wrongful death suit.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Wrongful Death on Thursday, February 2, 2012
The families of two victims killed by a drunk driver in 2010 have filed wrongful death suits against the man behind the wheel. The wrongful death suits were filed in Philadelphia County, where one of the victims is from, and seek more than $50,000 in damages.
The driver in the crash that claimed three lives had his blood alcohol content measured at 0.23. According to a Virginia Tech study, that level of inebriation can cause severe motor impairment and the loss of memory. Sure enough, the drunk driver had to give an account of the night leading up to the car crash as part of his plea deal, and he did not remember part of the evening. He also stated he had 15 to 20 beers over the course of the night.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Car Accidents on Monday, January 30, 2012
It was supposed to be the happiest of times for four Pennsylvania teenagers two summers ago. They were celebrating at a friend's high school graduation party in June 2010, with alcohol provided by the mother of the graduated student. When the four teenagers headed home after the party, their vehicle careened off the road and the resulting car accident killed three of them and injured the fourth.
The police said that the 19-year-old driver had a blood alcohol content of 0.147. That is nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08, but for underage drivers in Pennsylvania, the legal limit is 0.02. The driver and another 19-year-old - who had a 0.127 blood alcohol level - died in the car accident, as well as an 18-year-old whose blood alcohol content was not released. The fourth student, who recovered from the injuries sustained in the wreck, had a 0.084 blood alcohol level.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Wrongful Death on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Morgan Corporation, based in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, was hit with 24 health and safety violations that carry $93,000 in fines after an inspection of a manufacturing plant in Georgia. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the plant in July and also discovered a repeat violation from a 2007 inspection of a plant in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
OSHA cited 17 serious violations, an offense that occurs when death or serious injury is a substantial probability due to a hazard that the employer knew about or should have known. The amount of serious violations could have led to myriad workplace accidents, and if a worker had suffered fatal harm from as a direct result of one of these violations, a wrongful death suit could have been brought against Morgan Corp.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Wrongful Death on Monday, January 23, 2012
In June 2009, a Pennsylvania woman was in her backyard when a power line carrying 7,200 volts of electricity unexpectedly fell on her. She died from the resulting electrocution, and her family is filing a wrongful death suit against Allegheny Energy, which merged with FirstEnergy in early 2011.
At the heart of this wrongful death suit is the cleaning practices employed by Allegheny Energy workers to properly maintain their power lines. Conductors on these power lines connect to telephone poles and oxides can build up on these conductors, potentially overheat and then eat through the power lines, causing them to fall from the pole.
On behalf of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky LLP posted in Truck Accidents on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Pittsburgh residents have heard and seen their fair share of the serious, sometimes fatal, consequences that accompany truck accidents. Powerful vehicles such as tractor-trailers and "big-rig" trucks dwarf smaller passenger vehicles, and when the two collide, the results are often unfortunate. Large trucks don't necessarily even have to hit another vehicle - a simple rollover crash can endanger nearby pedestrians or people working around the truck.
The city has tried to address the issue, as the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $1 million to Pittsburgh police over three years to combat the truck accident rate. The police department applied for a further $230,000 in federal grants recently to conduct extra patrols with an eye on truck safety.
