Articles Posted in Injuries to Children & Minors

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Another child has suffered some serious injuries in Chicago because of a falling TV, according to NBC Chicago.

A large, box-style television set reportedly fell off of a bookshelf and onto a 2-year-old girl. Local police say that the accident happened around 3 p.m. at the little girl’s home on South Union Street in Aurora. The child was transported to Rush-Copley Medical Center. It has not yet been determined how the television fell off the shelf.Our Chicago premises liability understand that there have been an overwhelming number of reports of TVs falling on children in the area in recent years.

Back in November, a 3-year-old was killed after a television fell on her in Hamilton Park. In October, a 6-year-old boy was killed after his television fell on his head. Just last month, a 4-year-old was killed. A 1-year-old and a 2-year-old were also killed earlier this month in similar tip-over situations.

These reports are causing some serious concern nationwide, too. As a matter of fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports there were nearly 250 deaths resulting from tip-over accidents from 2000 to 2010. All of these accident reports involved children under the age of 9. About 90 percent of these cases involved children who were under the age of 6. In nearly 60 percent of these reports, children were crushed by the weight of an appliance, a television or some kind of furniture. Nearly 70 percent of these fatalities were the result of injuries to the head.

The problem gets even worse. Approximately 22,000 children under the age of 9 were sent to emergency rooms from 2008 to 2010 because of injuries sustained in a tip-over accident. Again, a majority of these injuries were sustained to the victim’s head.

“Children like to climb on furniture. Placing TVs on furniture not intended for them or having furniture that is not secured can have tragic consequences,” said Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

Tenenbaum would like to remind parents that these types of accidents can be easily prevented with a few low-cost steps, like anchoring down heavy devices, televisions, dressers, etc.

More Tips to Help Prevent Tip-Over Accidents:

-Anchor furniture to the floor or to the wall.

-Always put television sets on low, sturdy bases.

-Anchor your television to the furniture it’s on and then anchor that furniture to the wall or the floor.

-Push your furniture and television as close to the wall as possible.

-Keep toys, remote controls and other items children may be tempted to play with away from TV stands and other dangerous furniture.

-Remove all cable cords and electrical cords from a child’s reach.

-Always supervise children in rooms with these items.

-Be sure to equip your stoves and ranges with anti-tip brackets.
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As the year winds down, it’s time to start thinking about the holidays and the year’s year-end shopping blitz. It’s also a good time for a reminder to check with the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) for defects and recalls, especially when dealing with products for children.

Recalled items are defective and can result in serious injury in Chicago and elsewhere. It’s important for consumers to check out the recall list from the CPSC year round. Many items on this list are common household products or are popular children’s toys.Our Chicago defective product attorneys understand that consumers may not always know about recalls. The CPSC is charged with protecting consumers from products with known defects. The agency notifies the public about products that pose mechanical, chemical, electrical, fire and other various hazards. But too many defective products go undetected. Others must injure or kill consumers before a recall is issued.


Recent recalls that may affect your family:

Children’s Frog Masks

Nearly 3,500 masks have been recalled from Target stores around the country. When the frog mask is on your child’s face, the CPSC has determined that it poses a serious suffocation threat. This item has the UPC code 06626491474, which can be found on the tag that is attached to the mask. They were sold at Target stores from August to September of 2011.

Lithium-Poly Battery Pack from Electric Motion Systems, LLC

This item has been recalled because it could cause a potential fire hazard because the battery can overheat. About 70 were sold. The batteries that fall under this recall have the EMS# 11819-101 and have a serial number between 10001 and 10200. The items were sold at bike shops around the country and on the company’s website. They were sold from October of 2009 to November of 2010. They cost between $900 and $2,700.

Twist ‘n Sort Toys by Guidecraft

These items were recalled because they can be a choking hazard for small children. Nearly 1,000 were sold from specialty stores, online and from catalogs from September of 2009 to November of 2010. The toys cost about $20.

LittleLife Baby Carriers by Lifemarque

LittleLife Discoverer Child Carriers is recalling carrier because they were sold without the proper bolts used to attach the main frame to the metal stand. Without these bolts, the two can disconnect and pose a fall hazard to children. The items were sold in 40 states and in Canada. The recall applies to models LS55060. This number can be found on the care label. They were sold from January 2011 to July of 2011.

Many more items are on the list and parents and consumers of all ages are urged to check the CPSC website, particularly when making a new purchase.
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Amid the continued fallout at Penn State University over the sexual abuse of minors scandal that has recently come to light, football coach Joe Paterno has been dismissed, according to the Washington Post and many other media outlets. The decision was made last night by the school’s board of trustees and the move was made public at a news conference and a Happy Valley area hotel.

The Board of Trustees also decided to dismiss the university president as well. So far four school administrators have been fired due to the scandal which started when Jerry Sandusky was recently arrested on allegations of sexually abusing at least eight boys between 1994 and 2009. Sandusky was Penn State footfall’s defensive coordinator for many years under Joe Paterno, until he unexpectedly retired in 1999 at age 55.

After the announcement was made, large groups of students took to the streets of campus, tearing down lampposts and knocking over a news van. Another more subdued crowd gathered in front of the coach’s house just off of campus.

Paterno had been head coach at Penn State since 1966 and has won an NCAA record 409 games, including two national titles.

While the horrific events that went on at the University involving sexual abuse are still unclear and many of the reports differ, Chicago sex abuse attorneys at our firm hope the story shines a spotlight on the issue and the tragic consequences for the victims.

According to the American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry, sex abuse of a child has been reported up to 80,000 times per year, however the number of unreported abuse cases is far greater. This is often due to a child being afraid to report what has occurred.

After being abused, a minor can develop many different problems and negative behaviors. Victims often develop low self-esteem, become withdrawn and mistrustful of adults, and can also become suicidal. Later in life abused children are much more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and experience many different issues regarding their sexuality.

The Penn State scandal also highlights the need to come forward and report suspected child sex abuse to the proper authorities. If you see something, say something. Often, the person reporting the abuse will be taking a great step forward in preventing other children from suffering the same consequences. Most often an abuser will not have one victim, but will have many victims over many years.

Illinois priest abuse lawyers at our firm often hear from victims that they feel like their childhoods were taken away from them. Our office is currently working on several sex abuse cases, most of them against the Chicago Archdiocese.
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Halloween is right around the corner and as our little witches and zombies prepare their costumes for the big night, parents are urged to talk with their little ones about the dangers they’ll face on this spooky night. Have fun, but stay safe. It’s important to remember that your child is four times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian accident in Chicago on Halloween night than during any other night out of the year.As children make their rounds through our neighborhoods collecting candy, motorists are asked to be extremely careful on our roadways. Our Chicago car accident attorneys understand that young children are oftentimes unable to understand the dangers they face on our roadways. It is up to adults to make sure that these little goblins make it back to their haunted house safely this Halloween.

Drivers should keep a heads up, drive slowly through neighborhoods and curb all distractions to help keep our trick-or-treaters safe this year.

Here are some simple tips from the Rush University Medical Center to help keep all little monsters safe during this year’s Halloween adventures:

-Make sure everyone is wearing comfortable shoes.

-Alter costumes so that they’re not long enough to cause a trip and fall hazard. The National Safety Council reports that falls are the number one cause of unintentional injury on Halloween.

-Make sure your costume is flame-retardant. All loose ends should be removed to help prevent a fire.

-Try to avoid a costume with a sword or a knife, but if you’re going to carry one with you all night make sure that it’s soft enough to not cause injury.

-You should wear face makeup or paint instead of a mask. Masks are dangerous because they can obstruct a person’s line of vision and could potentially lead them into the line of danger.

-When purchasing costume makeup, be sure to get the kind that’s marked hypoallergenic makeup. Parents are urged to test makeup on a small portion of your child’s skin before covering their face.

-Wear light-colored clothing while trick-or-treating to help make sure that motorists can see you.

-All small children should either carry a flashlight or wear reflective tape on their costume.

-Young children should only be allowed to trick-or-treat under the supervision of a responsible adult.

-Feed your child dinner before going out to trick-or-treat. This way they’re less likely to snack on candy that you haven’t inspected.

-Once you’re all home, inspect everyone’s treats. Throw away any candy that has been opened or appears to have been tampered with.

-Make sure your child knows not to go into a stranger’s house or get into a stranger’s car.

-Remove all candies that may be a choking hazard for your small child.

-Motorists are urged to be extra cautious when pulling into or backing out of a driveway. Children are overlooked in these circumstances all too often.

-If you’re dropping off a child, always to do on the curb side of the sidewalk. Never let someone out of your vehicle on the traffic side of the car.

Our Illinois injury attorneys and the staff at our law offices would like to wish you and your family a safe and Happy Halloween!
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We just concluded National Child Passenger Safety Week, but the enforcement of child-related safety tips doesn’t stop there. At the Loyola University Health System in Maywood, safety experts recently offered up several tips on how to keep your child safe in the car, according to NewsWise.

Now a new animated series is aiming to provide your child with a little more than entertainment — safety tips! Chugginton is partnering with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in an attempt to teach your child important lessons on how to be safe when inside or around cars.

Chuggington will be targeting audiences aged 2- to 7-years-old. The campaign includes activities and downloadable tips for parents to use with children as well as a kid-focused safety pledge for your child to agree to, sign and practice. These tips and activities, if practiced, can help to reduce the risks of child injury in Chicago and elsewhere.”Educating children at an early age about the importance of wearing bicycle helmets, looking both ways when crossing the street and buckling up leads to a lifetime of good traffic safety habits,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers understand that traffic accidents remain the number one cause of death for children under the age of 15. As a matter of fact, there were approximately 1,300 individuals in this age group who were killed because of traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2009. Another 179,000 were injured. According to NHTSA statistics, more than 200 child pedestrians were killed and another 115,000 were injured because of accidents that involved a motor vehicle. The new campaign hopes to improve safety by offering important tips to children about bicycles, school buses, pedestrians and car seats.

According to Dick Rothkopf, a creator of the show, Chuggington and his animated friends will learn important safety tips as they earn safety badges as a reward for practicing safe habits. He and the other creators are pushing the “The ‘Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!’ concept. This theory is the motive of the traffic safety pledge that will be taught to your child.

The announcement of the new series was released to supplement the recent National Child Passenger Safety Week. Child passengers have been the subject of numerous recent studies, including research products from Safe Kids USA and the NHTSA. A number of updates to the child car seat recommendations were recently released to help ensure that parents are properly buckling up children during each and every car ride.

According to NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, child car seats have been proven in numerous studies to have the ability to protect children and save lives in the event of a car accident. But adults need to have the knowledge of how to properly use these devices for the seats to work. As National Child Passenger Safety Week has come and gone, you can still have an inspector check out your car and child’s car seat by simply scheduling a child seat inspection appointment.

Parents are responsible for buckling in child passengers during each car ride. If you’re busted with an unbuckled child in your vehicle by an officer in the state of Illinois, you can face a $75 fine.
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According to MSN, more than 5,000 children in the United States are hospitalized every year after falling out of a window. A quarter of these injuries are serious enough to have the child be admitted. These statistics haven’t seen much of an improvement either. Researchers report that there has only been a slight decrease in the number, making it a significant cause of child injury in Chicago and elsewhere over the last 19 years.”We continue to see this problem, especially in younger kids, despite the fact that we know how to prevent it,” Dr. Gary Smith at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Our Chicago premises liability attorneys are aware that there have been nearly 100,000 children under the age of 18 treated in hospitals in the U.S. because of injuries that were sustained after falling out of a window in recent years. This means that about 7 injuries are sustained for every 100,000 children. These accidents can easily be prevented with proper supervision — particularly when the appropriate precautions are taken by building owners and landlords.

Most of these falls occur from a second-floor window. About half of the children who are injured sustain injuries to their head and face. About two in every 1,000 incidents is fatal.

Toddlers are the most vulnerable for these types of accidents. The young children account for about two-thirds of all of these accidents. This is most likely because they’re so curious and can oftentimes be found wandering around and exploring the unknown and because they’ve got such a high center of gravity. This means that toddlers oftentimes fall head first.

“As they lean over, their high center of gravity will make them topple,” says Smith.

Dr. Smith is encouraging his researchers to look further into the problem. He wants more cities and more locations to be included in the data.

He goes on to encourage parents to take the proper safety precautions to help prevent these accidents from happening to their child or at their home.

Dr. Smith’s safety tips:

-Make sure that kids do not have access to any windows in your home, no matter which floor they may be located on.

-Keep furniture away from windows. This will stop children from climbing on it to gain access to any window nearby.

-Consider window stops or window guards. Some cities already have these guards mandated. In New York, for example, all apartment buildings are required by Health Code to have guards on every window in the home if there is a child under the age of 11 living in it.

-Don’t rely on window screens. Window screens should never be used as a substitute for a window guard. Screens are oftentimes not strong enough to prevent a child from falling out of a window.
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School is back in session and young students are waiting on street corners for the big, yellow bus to come pick them up. As students lace up their new shoes and head out to the bus stop, it’s time for motorists to be watchful to help prevent school bus accidents in Chicago.Our Chicago injury attorneys ask that all motorists use caution on our roadways throughout this school year, but especially through schools zones and residential neighborhoods. Remember that there are a number of laws in our state that drivers must abide by while sharing the roadways with school buses.

Road laws pertaining to school buses, provided by the Illinois State Board of Education:

-If you see that the lights on the bus are flashing red and you see the stop arm extended, then you’re required to stop. These signals mean that students are either getting on or off the bus. You can earn yourself a $150 fine if you neglect to stop for these buses. Do it more than once and you can face fines of roughly $500. In addition to the fines, state law says that drivers who neglect to stop for these buses will have their license suspended for three months on their first conviction and a year for their second.

-When a bus stops to pickup/drop off children on a two-lane road, drivers are required to stop at least 20 feet away from the bus. This will help to allow students to cross the road safely.

-When a bus stops on a four-lane road where two of the lanes travel in the same direction, then only the vehicles heading in the same direction of the bus are required to stop.

-On one-way streets, all motorists are required to stop.

-According to Illinois state law, drivers of school buses must stop at all railroad crossings. They are required to do so even when there are no students riding on the bus.

-Drivers should hold off on using their cell phones while traveling near a bus. As of January 2010, all drivers in the state of Illinois were banned from using a hand-held cell phone while they’re traveling in a school zone. Drivers are still allowed to use hands-free devices.

-Don’t speed through school zones. If you’re busted for having a lead-food in a school zone then you could earn yourself a minimum fine of $150.

The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that approximately 25 million students use a school bus to get to and from school each year. Unfortunately, a number of students are injured and killed in school bus-related accidents every year. In 2005, the NSC recorded more than 130 deaths resulting from school bus-related accidents on U.S. roadways. They also recorded another 11,000 injuries from these incidents during that year.

The number of these injuries and deaths can be reduced with an increased effort from motorists throughout the state. Remember to follow state ruled regarding travel around our schools buses and to be extra cautious when passing through school zones.
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As the school year gets underway, we can expect a large number of students to be walking to school this year. More than 40,000 children in the northwest suburban School District U-46 relied on school buses to get them to and from school each day. But more and more of them will be forced to make the journey to school on foot. As a result of drastic budget cuts, $14 million to be exact, all high school students that ride a bus will be required to walk to the nearest elementary school or middle school to catch a bus ride the rest of the way to school, according to ABC 7. Increasing the number of walking students near our roadways increases the risks for Chicago pedestrian accidents.

Our Chicago personal injury attorneys understand that this plan is expected to save more than $1 million for each school year it’s in effect, but hopefully saving school budgets won’t put any child’s life in danger. Although officials of the school district encourage students to either walk together or to carpool, much of their safety relies on motorists in the area.

“When you’re making these changes, it’s very difficult. This was a last minute change because of a last minute action that affected funding,” said U-46 safety coordinator John Heiderscheidt.

To help keep our students safe, talk with your child about the following safety recommendations for walking to school, provided by the National Safety Council:

-Make sure you walk to school in a group.

-Make sure you always use a sidewalk if one is available.

-If there’s no sidewalk for you to use, make sure you always walk facing traffic.

-Make sure you always cross the street at either an intersection or at a street corner.

-Make sure that no child under the age of 10 walks to school without an adult.

-Look both ways to make sure no cars are coming before stepping off a curb to cross a street.

-Continue looking left and right as you cross the street.

-Always walk across the street. Running makes you more likely to trip and fall.

-Never run out from behind a parked car. Oncoming traffic may not be able to see you.

For students who choose to make the journey by bicycle, follow these safety tips:

-Make sure you always wear a helmet when riding your bike to school.

-Never ride in traffic. Again, travelers under the age of 10 should not bike without a responsible adult.

-Make sure that you ride in a single-file line with your friends and in the same direction as traffic.

-Come to a complete stop before you cross the road.

-Wait for a driver to signal to you that it’s okay to cross the street before doing so.

-Get plenty of biking practice so that you’re more confident while riding.

Budget cuts are also effecting school worker salaries, cutting office jobs, reducing health insurance benefits and cutting funding for school supplies.

The district would like to point out that if there isn’t a school within a mile and a half of your student’s home or if there is a hazard then the district will find a way to make a neighborhood stop for them.
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Late last week officials marked the start of a new generation for child cribs. Back in December of 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to approve a new set of mandatory crib standards. These new standards are the most stringent crib safety standards in the world. All importers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers are now required to offer only cribs that meet the CPSC’s new full-size and non-full-size crib standards.

From now on, cribs should be safer and cause less injury to children in Chicago and elsewhere. For decades, dropside cribs have caused death and injury to hundreds of children – an issue the government was monumentally slow in tackling.Our Illinois personal injury attorneys understand that these regulations are supposed to be some of the strictest rules to date. They reportedly require the manufacturer to stop the sale of dangerous traditional drop-side cribs, to strengthen mattress supports and crib slats, to require that all crib hardware be more durable and to make sure that safety testing is more rigorous.

“A safe crib is the safest place for a baby to sleep. It is for this reason that I am so pleased that parents, grandparents and caregivers now can shop with confidence and purchase cribs that meet the most stringent crib standards in the world,” said Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “From the start, our goal has been to prevent deaths and injuries to babies in cribs, and now the day has come where only stronger and safer cribs are available for consumers to purchase.”

Since 2007, the CPSC has recalled more than 11 million dangerous cribs. Drop-side cribs with detaching side rails were reportedly the cause of approximately 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. A number of other deaths happened because of faulty or defective crib hardware. These new standards look to prevent these fatal accidents and to keep children safer in their cribs.

Starting in December of 2012, a number of places will be required to use only cribs that comply with the new crib standards. This applies to family child care homes and infant Head Start centers, other child care facilities and places of public accommodation, including hotels and motels and rental companies.

Baby cribs aren’t the only product that has been in trouble with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Last month, the CPSC announced that Macy’s Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $750,000.

The settlement is the result of CPSC staff allegations that accused Macy’s of knowingly failing to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it sold children’s sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets that had drawstrings at the neck between 2006 and 2010.

The child clothing that is the subject of the penalty agreement was reportedly sold by Macy’s and Macy’s-owned stores, including Bloomingdale’s and Robinsons-May. According to the CPSC, the store chain knowingly sold the clothing after a recall had been issued.

Back in 1996, the CPSC issued a new set of drawstring guidelines that were meant to help prevent children from strangling themselves or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings of clothing. Once a recall has been issued, all sales of the affected product must be halted.
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A horrific head-on collision devastated a family, killing both parents and leaving the two sons paralyzed from the waist down. Despite intense therapy, doctors are unsure if the boys will ever regain use of their legs. The 9- and 8-year-old boys were on their way home with their family from a road trip when the family suffered a tragic car accident in Colorado. The accident happened on Highway 285 in Fort Stockton when an SUV swerved into the lane that the family’s minivan was traveling in and collided with the vehicle head on. In addition to the brothers injuries, the parents died and their 6-year-old sister’s arm was broken, according to Huffpost Impact.After the accident, the boys were taken to the Covenant Health System’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Lubbock. Later on they were airlifted to the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital because of the severity of their spinal cord injuries. They were then transported to Chicago’s Shriners Hospital. Our Chicago personal injury attorneys understand how fortunate we are to have facilities like this in our area. The Shriners Hospital is a facility renowned for its work in pediatric spinal cord rehab. The boys will continue their treatment here in Illinois. Spinal cord and neck injuries can and do occur in serious car accidents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the spinal cord column consists of more than 31 bones (or vertebrae), 7 cervical vertebrae (neck), 12 thoracic vertebrae (upper and middle back), 5 lumbar vertebrae (lower back), 5 sacral vertebrae (sacrum) and 2 fused coccygeal vertebrae (coccyx). Also in the spinal cord is the central bundle of nerves in charge of sending signals to and from the brain and the rest of the body. Damage to the spinal column can be detrimental to these functions.

Roughly 200,000 people have to live with SCI in our country. It is estimated that there are anywhere between 15 and 40 cases per million people every year. This means anywhere between 12,000 and 20,000 new patients are treated for SCI every year.

Motor-vehicle accidents contribute to nearly 50 percent of these injuries. Men are most likely to be the victim of SCI as they account for 80 percent of all patients. Most of the new SCI cases are of people 30-years-old or younger. It’s estimated that approximately 60 percent of these new cases occur in those ages 15- to 35-years-old.

This is no cheap injury either. The CDC estimated that the lifetime cost for this injury can be more than $3 million. This means a patient could potentially have to fork over anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 a year if they suffer from SCI.

Insurance companies understand the liability and can sometimes move quickly toward a settlement — even offering a check claiming to be the maximum available under the policy limits of the at-fault driver. If a loved one suffers a spinal cord injury, seeking the immediate representation of an Illinois injury lawyer can be vital to protecting your rights. An accident lawyer will charge you nothing for a confidential consultation — and will often come to your home or hospital room.

Do not make any statements to opposing insurance representatives. Do not sign any paperwork and do not accept any payment. Choosing a lawyer can be an important first step toward ensuring that the necessary resources for rehabilitation and long-term care will be made available to you and your family.
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