Lawton Oklahoma Personal Injury Law Blog

Liver injuries are a common and potentially deadly consequence of traffic accidents. However, car crash victims in Oklahoma and elsewhere are less likely to suffer a severe liver injury if they wear a seat belt, according to a recent study.

Researchers from New York University Langone Hospital-Brooklyn analyzed data from the National Trauma Data Bank on car accident patients from 2010 through 2015. The patients were all age 18 or older and were admitted to a hospital or died at or en route to a hospital. Of 51,202 patients with liver injuries, around 15 percent had severe liver injuries, which means the liver was ruptured with uncontrollable bleeding, had deep lacerations or had other types of severe wounds that required emergency surgery. The remaining patients had mild or moderate liver injuries, which means the liver had blood clots, shallow lacerations or other wounds that did not require immediate surgery.

When parents in Oklahoma take their children to the doctor's office or the hospital for treatment, they may be very concerned about the potential for inaccurate or mistaken diagnoses and treatments. When medical mistakes and safety errors affect children, the results can be devastating and long-lasting. According to one study, over half of the safety errors that took place in pediatric treatment were related to the use of electronic health records (EHRs) and medication. The study examined 9,000 patient safety reports gathered at three hospitals over a five-year period.

In some cases, EHRs would not provide alerts if medication was prescribed to an allergic patient. In other cases, the EHR display was confusing, making it difficult to enter information correctly. The most common type of medication error was a dosage error, in which patients received the wrong amount of medicine. These became safety issues when patients were overdosed, leading to side effects or requiring monitoring. Researchers found that around 36 percent of these reports involved difficulties using the EHR due to its design.

There are a lot of wonderful things about the winter, including multiple holidays, festive gatherings and the company of friends and family. However, one of the major downsides of winter is the weather. Snow and ice can make driving stressful and dangerous. Luckily, there are several things Oklahoma drivers can do to ensure they stay safe during the coldest months of the year.

One thing of the best things that drivers can do is take advantage of all the advanced safety technologies now available on new cars and trucks. In fact, the National Safety Council and the University of Iowa have joined together to educate drivers on how to properly use these new technologies. For instance, traction control, which is now standard on all new vehicles, can help drivers maintain control of their vehicle when roadways are covered with snow or ice. It is particularly useful when accelerating from a stop or trying to get up an icy hill.

Many commercial truckers in Oklahoma and across the U.S. have complained about a federal rule requiring them to take a 30-minute rest break after driving for eight consecutive hours. The thrust of the argument is that the break creates delays, forces truckers to speed in order to meet deadlines and gives rise to fatigue sooner in the shift.

This is an important concern because some even believe that the inflexibility of federal hours-of-service guidelines is partly to blame for the recent surge in large-truck fatalities. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows a 9 percent increase in 2017 with a total of 4,761 people killed. The number has not been this high in 29 years.