The New York Times recently published an article about a new phenomenon. We are all familiar with the dangers of drinking and driving, but they say authorities are concerned about a new type of driving under the influence. Police say they are seeing an increased number of drivers impaired by prescription drugs. While these drugs are legal when prescribed to a person, a lot of these drugs can seriously interfere with your ability to operate a motor vehicle.

Police are having trouble convicting these drivers in the courtroom. Prescription drugs affect everyone differently, so it is hard to come up with a limit like the one used for alcohol. Also, some people require the medication for essential survival. Law enforcement says that, at the end of the day, they are having trouble determining when a precription drug is too much of a danger to other drivers on the road.

The New York Times brings up a Wisconsin accident to demonstrate the dangers of prescription drugs.  “A former physician slammed his S.U.V. into a Honda Accord in April 2008, killing the pregnant driver and her 10-year-old daughter. Prosecutors said the physician, Mark Benson, had high levels of the sleep aid Ambien in his system, as well as Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and oxycodone, an opiate painkiller. Mr. Benson was sentenced to 30 years in prison.”

This was an easier case for police to prove because this combination of drugs should not be taken together.

Taking precription pills that impair driving and getting behind the wheel, is negligent and can put other drivers in harm’s way. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident as a result of someone else’s nelgigence, contact a Lake Geneva Motor Vehicle Accidents Lawyer at Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®, by dialing 1-800-2-HABUSH.

Dr. Saul Weiner realized, after having an elderly patient with rapid weight loss which presented as cancer but turned out to be from homelessness, that there is a shortcoming in the medical field. He calls them, “‘contextual errors,’ or the failure by doctors to consider an individual’s social or economic circumstances when diagnosing illness or prescribing treatment,” reports The Los Angeles Times.

Weiner decided to conduct a study using the “secret shopper” method. He would disguise several doctors as patients participating in a medical study. These sessions were audiotaped. It was the largest “mystery doctor” study on record.

According to the study, when a diagnosis involved a socioeconomic factor, the error rate was 78 percent. Weiner says this a wake-up call to doctors. They need to be asking the right questions and be able to speak in the same simple language of their patients. They also need to have a list of social services on hand.

Medical errors can leave you seriously hurt or sick. If you or someone you know has suffered as the result of a medical error, contact a Lake Geneva Medical Malpractice Lawyer at Habush Habush &  Rottier, S.C., by dialing 1-800-2-HABUSH.

According to The Los Angeles Times, “The Medical Board of California has accused the Beverly Hills fertility doctor who treated octuplets mother Nadya Suleman of transferring too many embryos in a second woman and failing to order additional tests for a patient suffering from stage 3 ovarian cancer.”

Dr. Michael Kamrava implanted seven embryos in a 48-year-old patient. The medically accepted number is two. The woman then found out she was having quadruplets. Problems with the pregnancy caused the babies to be delivered six weeks early in a C-section. The L.A. Times reports, “The mother lost one fetus during the pregnancy, and another was born with ‘profound developmental delays.’”

Another incident revealed that Kamrava impanted an embryo into a woman with a history of cancer. An ultrasound revealed signs of cancer, but the doctor implanted the embryo anyway. She was unable to become pregnant and decided to try another doctor. That doctor diagnosed her with stage 3 ovarian cancer.

You trust doctors with your life. When they violate that trust, you can suffer from severe consequences, including becoming injured or sick, your condition worsening, even death. If you or someone you know has suffered from medical malpractice, contact a Lake Geneva medical malpractice lawyer from Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®

Tri-Union Seafoods, which produces Chicken of the Sea, recalled certain 12-ounce tuna cans in an announcement July 1st. The company reported that there was a production error that could have resulted in improper sealing of the cans.

Improper seals could result in the growth of botulism spores. When infected with Foodborne Botulism, the muscles begin paralysis. If not treated in time, the lungs will become paralyzed, resulting in the inability to breathe and, eventually, death.

These cans have been distributed to ten states including Wisconsin, California, Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

So far, no one has fallen ill from these defective products.

If you or someone you know has suffered as the result of a defective food product, call the Lake Geneva defective food product attorneys at Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®, S.C by dialing 1-800-2-HABUSH

Police are hopeful that new drunk driving laws and harsher punishments will deter people from getting behind the wheel after a couple of drinks. Fox 11 reports that the new law will contain harsher penalties for fourth-time offenders. This would make the fourth time a felony if it occurred within five years of another drunk driving citation.

The law also states that ignition interlocks will be required for any offender with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or above. Fox 11 writes that, currently, a judge can choose whether to order the device which prevents your from starting a vehicle if you have alcohol on your breath.

Fox 11 reports that, “Wisconsin remains the only state that doesn’t always criminalize first offense drunken driving. It’s still a traffic ticket under the new law, unless you have a minor in the car.”

Drunk driving can seriously impair one’s ability to drive and can cause needless accidents. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, call a Lake Geneva motor vehicle accident lawyer from Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®, at 1-800-2-HABUSH.