Articles Posted in Personal Injury

For several decades, healthcare providers and patient educators have recommended putting ice on an injury as soon as possible. The acronym RICE is commonly used, as it stands for “Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.”  A medical doctor created RICE as a term in 1978, and everyone else just ran with it.  It is now taken as gospel.

However, a recent news feature from Soccer America takes a new look at RICE and whether it is actually a good practice or a faulty concept. The reason for skepticism is because the body will cause the site of trauma to swell as part of the body’s natural healing process.  This is similar to how a person who gets a fever is experiencing a higher body temperature because that is the body’s natural way of killing germs that cause illness. If you take a fever suppressant, it might make you feel better, but it might actually take the body longer to fight the virus.  However, it should be noted that if a fever is very high, medical intervention might be necessary. Continue reading

A recent news feature form Care2.com looks at three types of burn injuries we tend to see more often during the summer months than we do in other months, and it is is important to understand that all three of these types of burn injuries are preventable if the adequate level of care is taken.

As one might expect, we tend to see a lot more fireworks injuries during summer months than we do the rest of year.  While fireworks are also used during New Year’s Eve celebrations and other festivities throughout the year, during non-summer months it is often professionals that are providing the fireworks displays.  This is not to say that even professional shows can’t result in serious personal injury or death, but the chances are much greater that there will be a preventable accident when amateurs are the ones lighting off the fireworks displays. Continue reading

In Morrison v. St. Luke’s RMC, plaintiff was taken to defendant’s emergency department the day after Christmas in 2011.  He was there after complaining of chest pain.  The doctor who examined plaintiff conducted a thorough physical examination after taking the patient’s relevant medical history.

After completing his examination, treating doctor made a determination that plaintiff was not suffering from a heart attack and was stable enough to be discharged from the hospital.  The doctor did tell him that he should see a cardiologist the following morning for a follow up consultation.  He also gave plaintiff the contact information for a cardiologist that he should see if he did not have one already. Continue reading

With what seems like never ending stream of excessively hot days this summer, there is no question that a lot of people will be hitting the water after work and on the weekends. For some this will be rowing or sailing on the Charles River.  For others it will be taking a boat out on the Bay or on the North or South Shores in the Greater Boston area.  While hitting the water can be a lot of fun, it can also result in significant personal injury or death, and extra care must be to take to avoid a serious tragedy.

According to a recent news feature from Action News, an 8-year-old girl was seriously injured in a boating accident that occurred while she and her father were tubing.  For those that are unaware, tubing involves pulling an inner tube behind a fast moving boat with one or more riders in the tube depending on the size of the tube.   Basically, it is like water skiing without a requirement to know how to balance or water ski. All that a rider has to do is hold on and have fun.  However, this activity can also result in serious personal injury. Continue reading

These days, when it is harder to smoke in public places, and due to all of the health problems associated with smoking in general, many are turning to e-cigarettes as an alternative.  Smoking e-cigarettes, or vaping as it often called, involves loading an electronic cigarette with a nicotine and flavor cartridge or filling it with liquid nicotine and then smoking it as normal cigarette without the need to light it.

A small battery inside the device will activate a system designed to vaporize the liquid, so the user can inhale it. The user will inhale and exhale the vapor, and it is claimed that provide the desired effects of nicotine without the dangers of smoking.  In reality, there has not been much testing on the practice of vaping, and there is no long-term usage data, so scientists do not know if these claims are true. Continue reading