The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week that nearly half of the nation’s 16,000 truck driving schools may not be complying with federal safety requirements. This revelation has significant implications for road safety and anyone who has been injured in a commercial truck crash.

According to the federal review reported by the Chicago Tribune, approximately 3,000 trucking schools may have their certifications revoked in early 2026 unless they can demonstrate compliance with training standards. An additional 4,500 schools have been warned they may face ...

On June 12, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, an aircraft widely praised for its safety, became a danger to its passengers and those on the ground. Despite what began as a textbook takeoff and an experienced pilot with over 8,000 flight hours at the controls, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude, caught fire and crashed into residential buildings below.

Of the 242 people on board, only one person survived.

Now, investigators and aviation experts are looking into a concerning possibility: that the aircraft may have failed mechanically.

What We Know So Far

The 11-year-old aircraft ...

Being sick or injured is an intimidating experience, and placing your life in the hands of doctors is not only scary but can also be dangerous. Medical doctors in specialty training (residents) routinely work 80-hour weeks. Now, there are efforts to unionize these residents to improve working conditions. Will it also lead to better patient outcomes?

As a medical malpractice attorney, I see troubling errors by doctors who move too quickly and don’t read the patient’s chart carefully (or at all) or who are spread too thin and don’t take the time to truly listen to their patients… ...

Hospital ownership should not affect a patient’s potential outcomes after admission. However, a study of 51 hospitals’ data shows that private equity investment has been associated with a significant increase in adverse events among Medicare patients during treatment at those facilities.

According to research by Dr. Zirui Song from Harvard and Joseph Dov Bruch from the University of Chicago, hospitals owned by private equity firms between 2009 and 2019 experienced the following outcomes:

• a 25% increase in surgical infections and bed sores;
• 38% more central line ...

Guns were made to kill. And now, we are learning that they are killing children with greater regularity. A recent New York Times article highlighted a study published last week, which found “firearm fatalities among children under 18 increased by 87 percent from 2011 through 2021 in the United States,” making firearm injuries “the leading cause of death among Americans under 20[.]” Even more disturbing is the lack of modifications to these weapons to include safety features such as trigger locks and fingerprint identification. The firearms industry has yet to take steps ...

Plaintiffs Can Now Obtain Punitive Damages

On Friday, August 11, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed HB0219, which amends the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and allows Plaintiffs to pursue punitive damages in most wrongful death cases. Prior to this amendment, only injured Plaintiffs who were alive had the opportunity for punitive damages. The changes found in HB0219 now provide an opportunity for the estates of those who have died to pursue punitive damages for wrongful conduct.  

This new law will no longer give a corporation or individual who wrongfully killed someone a discount on ...

A year ago on the Fourth of July, like many of us, I was happily sitting at a parade in my hometown of Highland Park, Illinois, with my family, including two of my young sons, watching the procession begin. What I thought was fireworks turned out to be a maelstrom of bullets from an AR-15 assault weapon, fired by a 21-year-old on a rooftop above. I was shot twice. The bullets ripped through my skin, and I could feel them burning. I was fortunate to survive one of the worst shootings in Illinois history — but seven others lost their lives.

A year has passed — and I still think about the shooting ...

It is my hope as a trial lawyer that problems our clients face can be overcome, and our law firm works hard to solve problems in our communities, whether they involve poor policy, corporate or municipal negligence, or the lack of oversight of a bad doctor or otherwise dangerous person.

The hope is to see a reduction in certain types of cases. We’ve accomplished this by removing dangerous drugs from the shelves, ending dangerous environmental practices, and making transportation safer. However, the ongoing tragedy of being a mass shooting attorney is that the exact opposite has ...

It has been another agonizing week in America. Blood in the streets of a Chicago suburb on the Fourth of July has given way to funerals and rallies, including an outpouring of support for two little boys, one a toddler orphaned as his two parents died in the shooting and another 8-year-old boy fighting for his life in the hospital with his spine severed by a bullet. This, among dozens of other families grieving and treating injuries both physical and mental from the traumatic event. Is this what you want, NRA? How can the supporters and manufacturers of assault weapons sleep at night knowing ...

Columbine. Parkland. Sandy Hook. Santa Fe. Uvalde. This is no longer tolerable. All of these schools are now ingloriously known for the massacres that took the lives of so many precious children, causing a lifetime of grieving families and losing generations of talent, love, brainpower and smiles. I know so many people who are sick of hearing that action must be taken, but by the time we are blue in the face debating the change that NEVER comes, another act of carnage happens. And this disgusting cycle repeats. Everyone needs to wake up and demand change.  

This rhetoric about our inability ...

In 2019, more than 36,000 people died in motor vehicle collisions in the United States. Then, in March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut the country down and dramatically changed people’s daily lives for the better part of 2 years. While Americans drove less in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)  estimates that fatalities from motor vehicle collisions are increasing at a rate not seen since World War II ended.

Between the late 1960s and 2019, fatalities from motor vehicle collisions had been falling ...

In recent weeks, our team at Romanucci & Blandin filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, for permanent vision damage caused by the prescription medication Elmiron (pentosan polysulfate sodium, or PPS). It is just the latest of lawsuits against one of America’s most notorious lawbreakers and its subsidiaries, like Janssen Pharmaceuticals, whose products have caused cancer (Talc), addiction (Opioids), bleeding events (Xarelto), kidney damage (Invokana), metal poisoning (hip implants), and male breast growth ...

On June 5, 2020, Governor Pritzker signed into law the COVID-19 Presumption Bill which stated that for purposes of the Illinois Workers Compensation Act or Occupational Disease Act, for front-line Workers and first responders who were exposed to and contracted COVID-19, there will be a rebuttable presumption that the exposure and contraction of the virus arose out of and was in the course of their employment, and that the disease was causally related to their employment – meaning it will be presumed that it was contracted at work, and no further proof will be necessary. This ...

Workplace injuries are commonplace in our country, regardless of industry or occupation. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were over 2.8 million workplace injuries reported in the United States in 2019. Included in that number are over 5,000 fatal injuries and over 850,000 nonfatal injuries that caused a worker to miss at least one day of work. The most common types of workplace injuries are overexertion, falls/slips/trips, contact with objects or machinery, workplace violence, and transportation accidents.

Workplace injuries can happen for a number of reasons ...

With everyone staying closer to home this summer, it’s important to be aware of the dangers at/on playgrounds and other common places that could cause children to be injured. Stay safe this summer by following our proposed safety guidelines below:

• Adult Supervision
  • Adult Supervision is a MUST. Young children are not always able to measure distances and have difficulty foreseeing dangerous situations.
• Playground Design Safety
  • The most important factors in evaluating the safety of any playground are proper surface, design and spacing, and equipment inspection and maintenance.

Having recently crossed the 30-year line as a practicing attorney and staying committed throughout my career representing only criminal defendants and victims injured through the wrongs of others, I have learned quite a bit about our city streets, both literally and figuratively. Coupled with my love of politics and the fact that I have lived and worked in Chicago almost my entire life, I feel viscerally connected to the city I love and the one I call home.

Because I am now considered old by law school grads and anyone under the age of 40, many of these young lawyers come to me for counseling ...

On July 22, the Chicago Tribune reported that a small experimental plane crashed near Chicago’s lakefront on the Southeast Side. Fortunately, the pilot – who lives in St. Joseph, Mich. – was able to stand and talk to emergency crews after the accident.

The pilot had taken off from Oshkosh, Wis., and was headed to Benton Harbor, Mich., when the crash occurred. He suffered head injuries and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition. No one else was inside the aircraft, which was intact, lying upside down in a marsh.

According to the Federal Aviation ...

Supposedly a sport where the whole family can enjoy the thrill of zipping along in their all-terrain vehicles, ATV rides can instead turn from fun and togetherness into nightmares of injury and death.

MSNBC recently posted a video describing the fatal ride of a 14-year-old boy who died following an accident on an ATV that weighed 700 pounds.

The report cited these numbers: “In 2010, at least 55 kids younger than 16 were killed in ATV accidents. More than 28,000 were seriously injured, leading the American Academy of Pediatrics to warn... ATVs are dangerous to children, and the ...

When people go to a hospital, they assume the medical professionals there will treat their illnesses skillfully, and they will return home in better health than before they left.

Sadly, this is not always the case. In fact, sometimes patients not only leave with new ailments and must be readmitted, but an unfortunate number die from their hospitalization.

According to a 2010 government study, published by Consumer Reports, “mistakes and other medical harm contribute to an estimated 15,000 deaths each month. And that’s just among Medicare patients.”

The nonprofit ...

One day after a 16-year-old boy fell to his death from a second-floor window of the old Ravenswood Hospital, the owner of the vacant building said he received a permit “to secure or take down the fire escape that police said the boy used to sneak into the structure.” While a welcome development, it may be a case of too little too late.

In the Chicago Tribune report, Lycee Francais, which purchased the property in November 2011, also said it has applied for a permit to demolish the entire building.

The old hospital, at 1931 W. Wilson Ave. in Chicago, had been an eyesore and a danger since ...

A new national consumer safety law, first introduced in 2008, was finally passed on June 27 of this year. It is titled “Danny’s Law” in honor of the 16-month-old child who tragically died after a defective playpen collapsed on him.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., announced the new, stricter safety rules for children’s products. She was joined at the Capitol by Danny’s mother, Linda Ginzel, who, with her husband, Boaz Keysar, campaigned unrelentingly for the new law.

In 1998, little Danny was strangled at a day care center in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood while ...

When we think of life on the farm, our thoughts typically go to green pastures, grazing animals, and crops being harvested for market. But those green acres can also be scenes of deadly accidents.

Lest you think that farms are disappearing, think again. Illinois’ 76,000 farms cover more than 28 million acres -- nearly 80 percent of the state’s total land area. The average size of an Illinois farm is 368 acres, most of which is devoted to grain, mainly corn and soybeans. Nearly 10 percent have swine, with beef cows on about 23 percent of farms, and 3 percent have dairy cows.

Stop for a minute ...

The SUV is packed. Inner tubes, water wings, beach towels, and other equipment to guarantee fun in the sun and water are stowed. All riders are strapped in their seat belts. Accidents and injuries are the furthest thing from your mind.

We hate to spoil this idyllic picture, but are impelled to share these sobering statistics: According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), “a projection of traffic fatalities in 2011 shows that of an estimated 32,310 people who died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2011, the largest number – 8,970 – occurred during the July-August ...

Anthony Cutrano’s untimely death is a tragedy. The 52-year-old Palos Heights resident was co-founder of the Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run and one of the creators of a memorial wall dedicated to military personnel killed in the Middle East conflicts. Cutrano, who for the past ten years had dedicated himself to raising awareness of the contributions of U.S. armed forces, died of injuries from a motorcycle crash in Grundy County. He lost control of his Harley-Davidson on an inclined curve.

According to a Chicago Tribune article on May 28, Cutrano was not wearing a helmet when he ...

A 55-year-old man from Itasca, IL, was killed May 22 in Arlington Heights and 17 others were injured when an explosion in a factory tore through a testing area. The blast also sent potassium hydroxide fumes into the air and launched rocks from the roof to the parking lot, where 20 cars were damaged.

Initial examinations by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have called the blast “probably accidental.” The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has now taken over the investigation.

The ...

A young Colorado mother died after suffering a head injury and a broken neck, the result of a water slide experience gone awry. The Banzai Falls slide she was on deflated.

This tragic accident, plus another when a camp counselor in Missouri was left a person quadriplegic after hitting his head in the same maneuver, and other reports of serious injuries, spurred the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on May 10, 2012, to recall the 21,000 inflatable Banzai in-ground pool water slides sold by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Toys R Us, Inc.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs in one of ...

Suicide is an overwhelming tragedy. It leaves heartbreak and questions in its wake. In some cases, there is a note, which may do little to ease loved ones’ pain but can help solve the mystery of “why.” Junior Seau, 43, the former New England Patriots linebacker, who recently died of a gunshot to the chest, left no note. But could there be clues?

Chicago Bears football player Dave Duerson killed himself last year, in the very same manner as Seau. But Duerson answered the “why.” He had been convinced his years on the field had damaged his brain and left instructions to have it studied.

As long-time advocates of safer sports for kids, we have repeatedly called for a ban on all metal baseball bats. It was with sadness that we learned about the young suburban Chicago 12-year-old who died in a freak accident from a brain injury while playing the sport he loved.

Eric Lederman, of Oswego, collapsed last week after a baseball hit him in the neck during a game.  He suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage and died within 24 hours. The situation is a reminder of just how dangerous youth sports can be.

While deaths in youth baseball are rare, so are studies on the matter. One study ...

Your cruise ship contract could be taking you for a ride. While most cruises are safe and pleasantly memorable ones, there are cases where passengers have suffered injuries and even death, such as the Costa Concordia shipwreck on January 13.

Many passengers on that boat ride are just now beginning to realize that there was a legal structure in place that shelters cruise operators from big-money lawsuits. The situation gets more complicated in remote jurisdictions. The Costa Concordia, a subsidiary of industry giant Carnival Corp., is located in Italy.

Many cruise ship passengers ...

The meter is ticking on Chicago’s dangerous taxi drivers. Come this summer, taxicab companies that allow careless drivers to use their vehicles will be held more accountable. Hopefully, the move will prevent taxicab accidents that could lead to serious injuries and even death.

The Emanuel administration is focusing on a new ordinance that they say will be easier to enforce than the current one. It will hold cab companies accountable for repeat offenders.

Imagine this: a taxicab driver who has been cited by city regulators 46 times in five years and found liable in 33 cases, yet he is ...

Imagine that you had hip replacement surgery only to discover that your new, all-metal hip had been recalled. That is the nightmare facing virtually 30,000 patients right now in the U.S., leading to thousands of medical malpractice lawsuits.

The real issue in this case is that the hip manufacturer appears to have withheld the findings in a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) report about safety issues with the hip. This happened long before the recall.

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, DePuy Orthopaedics, made a decision not to publicize the agency’s findings to doctors, patients and ...

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a report on February 14, 2012, finding a Canadian railroad at fault for a train derailment in 2009 near Rockford, Illinois, that led to a woman’s death.

In the report, the Canadian National Railway was cited for its “inadequate emergency communication procedures,” which prevented it from notifying one of its trains about a track washout. The train derailed, causing 19 of its ethanol-laden tank cars to slide off the tracks and explode. A Rockford woman who was in a car nearby died, and her pregnant daughter lost her unborn child.

The ...

If you’re among the thousands of Chicago renters who prefer high-rise living, you’ll be glad to know that the city has posted fire safety information online for hundreds of older residential towers.

The step was taken in the wake of a Lake Shore Drive high-rise fire in December that took the life of a young woman. The owners of the building where she lived had not submitted an acceptable plan to the city that would meet tougher safety standards enacted after a 2003 fire killed six people locked in a stairwell in the Cook County Administration Building.

The decision to post the reports ...

You’re a parent who wants to strengthen the ties with your newborn by bringing the baby into bed with you. The last thing you want or expect is for the baby to die, but records show that accidental bed-sharing deaths due to strangulation and suffocation are increasing.

We applaud the Chicago Tribune for its front-page feature on this important issue. The story reveals that between 1984 and 2004, these accidental deaths quadrupled nationally. In Illinois, of the 320 sleep-related infant deaths investigated by state Child Death Review Teams between 2008 and 2010, almost 60 percent ...

We all know that skiing, sledding and skating are fun, healthy winter sports, but they have the potential to cause severe personal injuries unless proper safety precautions are practiced. Common injuries from falls include sprains and muscle strains, dislocations, fractures and even brain injuries.

The U.S. Product Safety Commission reports that in 2010, more than 440,000 people were treated in hospitals, doctors’ offices and emergency rooms for winter sports-related injuries.

Snow-skiing and snowboarding injuries accounted for the most injuries. Sledding and ...

We at Romanucci & Blandin were saddened to learn about the recent deaths of two Chicago-area children who died when TV sets tipped over and crushed them. Those deaths may never have happened if the TV sets in their homes had been secured to the wall with inexpensive nylon straps.

We agree with some experts that TV manufacturers should include the safety straps as part of the sale. Electronic retailers seldom mention the straps when they are closing the sale. It can also be difficult to find mounting kits that include straps and brackets.

In addition to the safety straps, here are some tips to ...

We agree with child safety advocates who have called for a stronger federal law to make agricultural jobs for youths safer. But sadly, strengthened laws are too late to protect the two Whiteside County 14-year-old girls who suffered a wrongful death in a Whiteside County, Illinois, cornfield last week when they were electrocuted while detasseling corn.

The Child Labor Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., announced in June 2011 that it supported a bill introduced in the House to amend the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act). Currently, the law permits young teens ...

If you’re ever injured in a car accident, you have a better chance of receiving restitution for your injuries, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling late last week, and Chicago personal injury firm Romanucci & Blandin applauds the ruling.

The court held that a federal regulation that gives carmakers the option of installing either lap belts or lap-and-shoulder belts in rear-inner seats does not preempt state law.

In reaching this result, and by correcting the misreading of a previous case, the court has deprived car manufacturers of one of their most readily used defenses to ...

A wrongful death lawsuit claims that the victim was killed as a result of negligence (or another type of unjust action) on the part of the person or entity being sued, and that the victim’s survivors are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the improper conduct. The wrongful act may be a negligent or careless act, such as careless driving, a reckless act or an intentional act, such as a deliberate murder.

Almost every state has enacted a statute permitting a lawsuit to be brought by the relatives of a person who died as a result of a wrongful act. The attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin ...

Ronald Kuiper, who was being treated at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City and had less than 30 percent breathing capacity, was felled by flavoring commonly found on microwave popcorn. Kuiper died of the so-called ’popcorn lung disease.’

The key to Kuiper’s demise is a chemical known as diacetyl. While it is generally felt that the chemical poses little threat to consumers, the fumes from diacetyl used in flavoring manufacturing are said to be harmful to factory workers exposed to large quantities in the workplace.

Those of us at Romanucci & Blandin were stunned to read about the death of a 16-month-old boy who died from a severe brain fracture on January 12, the result of his being thrown to the floor by a 22-year-old teacher’s assistant in a Lincolnshire, Illinois, daycare center. Any catastrophic injury is tragic, but when the victim is a baby, it’s all the more egregious.

Initially, it was believed that the child died from a seizure, but further investigation by authorities revealed that the assistant, who was supposed to be caring for him, allegedly threw the child to the floor because she ...