Med Mal News

Pre-Fall Health Influences Recovery

A new study conducted by Yale researchers finds that the prognosis for elderly fall victims is strongly tied to their pre-fall physical health. “The Course of Disability Before and After a Serious Fall Injury,” Thomas M. Gill, MD1, et al., JAMA Intern Med. 2013; 173(19):1780-1786. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.9063. The study's authors followed 754 non-disabled people, all over the age of 70 and living independently at the study's start, for about 14 years. During that time, 130 of the participants experienced a fall that was serious enough to require hospitalization. Sixty-two percent of these injuries were hip fractures. Each of the participants who fell had been was grouped into an overall health category pre-fall: 1) No disability (16 participants); 2) Mild disability (23 participants); 3) Moderate disability (34 participants); 4) Progressive disability (23 participants); and 5) Severe disability (23 participants). After their falls, only those in first two groups had rapid recoveries; those in the last two categories were likely to make no substantive recovery, whether rapid or gradual. The study's results suggest that, for those already in bad physical condition before their falls, it may be better to concentrate efforts less on rehabilitation and more on making the patient as comfortable as is possible.

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Court Calls for Better Disaster Plans to Protect Disabled

A federal judge has found New York City liable for discriminating against the disabled during evacuation and sheltering in times of disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. Southern District Judge Jesse Furman ruled in Nov. 2013 that the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights Law in how it plans to respond to severe storms and power outages. Furman issued a 119-page ruling in which he had praised the city's response, but said more needs to be done to meet the needs of the disabled in the future, especially in the evacuation of people stuck in high-rise buildings after a storm. At the same time, the judge made it clear that none of the failures in the evacuation and sheltering of the disabled “are a result of intentional discrimination by the City against people with disabilities.” The next step in the suit, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled v. Bloomberg, 11-cv-06690, is for the parties to negotiate a remedy. ' Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

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Pre-Fall Health Influences Recovery

A new study conducted by Yale researchers finds that the prognosis for elderly fall victims is strongly tied to their pre-fall physical health. “The Course of Disability Before and After a Serious Fall Injury,” Thomas M. Gill, MD1, et al., JAMA Intern Med. 2013; 173(19):1780-1786. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.9063. The study's authors followed 754 non-disabled people, all over the age of 70 and living independently at the study's start, for about 14 years. During that time, 130 of the participants experienced a fall that was serious enough to require hospitalization. Sixty-two percent of these injuries were hip fractures. Each of the participants who fell had been was grouped into an overall health category pre-fall: 1) No disability (16 participants); 2) Mild disability (23 participants); 3) Moderate disability (34 participants); 4) Progressive disability (23 participants); and 5) Severe disability (23 participants). After their falls, only those in first two groups had rapid recoveries; those in the last two categories were likely to make no substantive recovery, whether rapid or gradual. The study's results suggest that, for those already in bad physical condition before their falls, it may be better to concentrate efforts less on rehabilitation and more on making the patient as comfortable as is possible.

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Court Calls for Better Disaster Plans to Protect Disabled

A federal judge has found New York City liable for discriminating against the disabled during evacuation and sheltering in times of disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. Southern District Judge Jesse Furman ruled in Nov. 2013 that the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights Law in how it plans to respond to severe storms and power outages. Furman issued a 119-page ruling in which he had praised the city's response, but said more needs to be done to meet the needs of the disabled in the future, especially in the evacuation of people stuck in high-rise buildings after a storm. At the same time, the judge made it clear that none of the failures in the evacuation and sheltering of the disabled “are a result of intentional discrimination by the City against people with disabilities.” The next step in the suit, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled v. Bloomberg, 11-cv-06690, is for the parties to negotiate a remedy. ' Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

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