Auto Accidents/Truck Accidents
Automobile Accidents: Given the amount of time we necessarily spend in our cars – commuting to work, running errands, taking the kids to school, or just driving around town – auto accidents are bound to happen. According to the National Safety Council, there are millions of motor vehicle accidents resulting in millions of non-fatal but disabling injuries, as well as tens of thousands of deaths every year in the United States. Unfortunately, chances are you or someone you know will be involved in an auto accident. If the accident results in a serious or disabling injury, you should speak to an attorney. An experienced personal injury attorney will look out for your best interests and protect your legal rights.
Do not sign your rights away to an insurance company. Many times insurance companies try to settle your case quickly and cheaply. Without an attorney, you may be selling yourself short. You can be sure that the insurance companies have lawyers working for them.
The attorneys at Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande have over 100 years of combined legal experience helping people injured in auto accidents. Put us to work for you. Contact us for a free initial consultation. If we accept your case, there is no fee unless we are successful.
Trucking Accidents: Why are so many people killed or seriously injured by trucks each year? Simply, trucks are bigger and heavier than cars. An 18 wheeler weighs as much as 80,000 pounds, compared to the average car that weighs a little over 3,000 pounds. Trucks are also harder to control and take longer to slow down and stop.
While most professional truck drivers are skilled and careful, some take shortcuts that compromise highway safety. Unsafe driving practices like driving improperly maintained trucks (particularly those with brake defects), lacking mandatory or adequate guards that prevent cars from fitting under the truck body, driver fatigue from driving longer than the permitted number of daily hours, overloaded cargo and driving in a manner that is unsafe for the current weather conditions, cause the majority of truck crashes.
Retaining the right attorney, preferably soon after the crash, is an important step in obtaining compensation for a victim of a truck accident. While victims are busy dealing with doctors, hospitals, and their own insurance companies, the trucking company is preparing its defense.
The lawyers at Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande work with nationally renowned co-counsel and leading national experts to provide effective representation to trucking accident victims. Contact us for a free, no obligation, legal consultation. If we accept your case, there is no fee unless we are successful.
Trip/Slip/Falls
“Slip and fall” and “trip and fall” injury cases belong to an area of personal injury litigation that lawyers call “premises liability.” “Premises liability” refers to the liability resulting when property owners and operators fail to ensure their entire property (inside and outside) is reasonably safe. Premises liability cases include, but are not limited to, unsafe conditions caused by uneven sidewalks, walkways, floors, snow/ice, poorly removed snow/ice, inadequate security, poor lighting conditions, staircases that violate applicable building codes, debris or liquid on sidewalks, walkways, floors; and alcohol/intoxication related accidents (“Dram Shop”). If, for any reason, a property is unsafe, a visible warning must be posted. When property is unsafe, or the failure to warn of unsafe conditions, causes a person to suffer an injury, the victim may seek damages against the premises’ owner, operator, or both.
Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande has extensive experience representing and trying cases for people seriously injured because of property owners and operators’ failure to maintain a safe premises.
Construction Accidents
Construction is the largest industry in the United States. Despite the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) enactment and enforcement of health and safety standards on construction sites, the construction industry continues to be plagued with accidents. Construction sites expose workers to a greater variety of hazards and greater risk of injury or fatality than employees in other industries.
Injuries or fatalities related to roof falls, crane accidents, scaffolding failures, being run-over by construction machinery, electrical shock, trench collapses, fires and explosions, elevator failures, gas poisonings, machinery misuse or malfunction, and welding accidents, are all unfortunate but common at construction sites. Many of these actions are controlled by specific laws.
Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande has extensive experience representing victims of construction accidents. If you have been injured in a construction accident, contact us for a free initial consultation. There is no fee unless we are successful.
Wrongful Death
A “wrongful death” is a death that is caused as a result of the negligence of another.
Wrongful death cases can result from any type of negligence such as automobile accidents, slip/trip and fall, premises liability, construction site accidents, medical malpractice, product liability, and inadequate security. New York Law limits recoveries in wrongful death cases to the deceased’s conscious pain before death and the economic loss of the deceased’s heirs or distributees. A wrongful death recovery often requires the testimony of an economist to project the past and future economic loss to the deceased’s heirs or distributees.
Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande has extensive experience recovering compensation for the families of those whose lives were taken by the negligence of another. There is no fee unless we are successful. To learn more about wrongful death cases, please contact us today.
Medical Malpractice
Medical Malpractice is the failure of a medical professional or medical facility to meet minimum accepted standards in the medical field in which they specialize. Medical malpractice kills tens of thousands of people every year in the United States. Hundreds of thousands more are seriously injured, permanently disabled, caused to suffer unnecessary pain, or caused to endure unnecessary treatments/procedures.
Medical malpractice cases include, but are not limited to situations where medical professionals and/or facilities cause birth injuries, fail to properly or timely diagnose a medical condition like cancer, heart disease or kidney failure, delay treatment, prescribe the wrong medication or dosage, improperly perform medical procedures, perform medical procedures on the wrong area of the body, perform unnecessary medical procedures, and/or fail to adequately prevent infection during medical procedures. Medical malpractice also includes the abuse or neglect of nursing home residents/patients.
If the medical services you or a loved one were provided failed to meet the standard of good medical practice and resulted in injury or death, you should immediately contact the Law Firm of Scamardella, Gervasi & Kasegrande for a free confidential evaluation of your case. There is no fee unless we are successful.
Asbestos & Mesothelioma
Asbestos Information
Asbestos is a fibrous, naturally occurring mineral that was commonly used in the manufacture of industrial products – such as fireproofing materials, brake linings, chemical filters, and electrical insulation – through the 1970’s. Once touted for its durability and effectiveness, asbestos has since been linked to a number of serious health problems, most notably, mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.
Asbestos is hazardous because, once inhaled, its fibers become entrapped in the lungs, causing severe physiological damage, the buildup of scar tissue, breathing difficulty, and any one of a number of lung diseases.
Between 1940 and 1970, hundreds of thousands of laborers – such as shipyard workers, construction workers, floor covering installers, pipe fitters, drywallers, auto repair workers, sheet metal workers, cement finishers and installers, and those in similar fields – were exposed to asbestos, unaware of the dangers. According to research many manufacturers and suppliers: 1) were fully aware of the risks of asbestos exposure; and 2) actively hid the facts so that they could keep selling their products and not lose money.
Justifiably, many such companies are now being held responsible and punished for the thousands of asbestos-related deaths and illnesses they have caused. However, several of the larger corporations filed for bankruptcy in the 1980’s and 1990’s to avoid having to pay damages to victims of asbestos-related diseases. Our goal is to bring these corporations to justice and to see that victims of asbestos exposure receive the compensation they deserve.
If you have developed mesothelioma or another disease as a result of asbestos exposure, you may be entitled to compensation.
Mesothelioma Information
Pleural mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer that primarily affects the pleura – the thin sac surrounding the outer edges of the lungs. It is caused exclusively by exposure to the mineral asbestos, a naturally occurring, fibrous, lethal substance widely used through the 1970’s for insulation and industrial products. When asbestos is inhaled, its fibers become entrapped in the pleura, causing scarring and lesions. They also trigger the development of cancerous tumors.
Peritoneal mesothelioma (also called abdominal mesothelioma) is a similar form of cancer; however, it develops in the abdominal cavity rather than in the lungs and is caused by the ingestion, rather than the inhalation, of asbestos fibers. Both types of the disease are equally dangerous.
Who’s at Risk
Mesothelioma primarily affects those who have worked in high-risk industries. This typically includes shipbuilders, pipefitters, insulation installers, tile workers, welders, refinery workers, and sanders. Exposure need not be long term in order to cause lung problems, In fact, some workers have fallen victim to mesothelioma after working just one summer in a high-risk job location. Further, symptoms of mesothelioma sometimes do not surface until up to 40 years after exposure, leaving some patients in the dark as to why they developed the disease.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of mesothelioma include prolonged coughing, coughing up or expectorating blood, severe abdominal pain, difficult breathing or shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, chest pain, and significant weight loss.
Treatments
Mesothelioma, for which there is no cure, is most often fatal. Most patients pass away within two years of diagnosis. However, as more advances are made in the medical field, more effective treatments become available. Current options include minimal medical cancer treatment, aggressive medical cancer treatment, gene therapy and experimental treatments.
Minimal Medical Cancer Treatment
Minimally invasive cancer treatment is intended to make the patient more physically comfortable rather than to treat the disease. It includes pain-relieving narcotics, removal of accumulated fluid in the chest, hospice care or nursing support, and psychological support from family and friends.
Aggressive Medical Cancer Treatment
Aggressive medical cancer treatment refers to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. During cases of very advanced mesothelioma, an extrapleural pneumonectomy may be performed, in which the entire pleura is removed. In some cases, the diaphragm or pericardium (the heart’s lining) may also be removed and replaced with synthetic replicas. Chemotherapy, a strong combination of cancer-fighting drugs administered in pill form or intravenously, is believed to be rather ineffective alone but somewhat successful when given in conjunction with surgery. Therefore, chemotherapy is typically reserved for patients who have undergone extrapleural pneumonectomy. Finally, radiation therapy is primarily administered as a follow-up to surgery. As with chemotherapy, research suggests this treatment is somewhat ineffective alone.
Gene Therapy and Photodynamic Therapy
Gene therapy and photodynamic therapy are currently being evaluated as alternatives to more traditional mesothelioma treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. These methods include gene therapy, photodynamic therapy, and immunotherapy. Gene therapy involves the injection of specially formulated genetic material into the cancer; the genetic material then attacks the cancerous genes and kills the cancerous cells. During photodynamic therapy, a special drug is injected into the body, and illuminated with a red light. The combination of the drug and the light causes a localized chemical reaction, which kills the cancerous tumors and nearby infectious cells.
For Legal Assistance
If you or a loved one has developed mesothelioma, it is imperative to seek legal counsel. Our attorneys can provide you with the effective representation you need to win the compensation you deserve. Please contact us today to learn more.