On June 28, 2010, CNN reported that 162 cases of illness have been reported in Louisiana, linked to exposure to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Louisiana state health department, released a report, which stated of those cases, 128 involved workers on oil rigs or individuals involved in the oil spill cleanup efforts.
The most common reported symptoms included throat irritation, shortness of breath, cough, eye irritation, nausea and headaches, according to the department’s oil spill surveillance report.
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said in a letter to BP’s COO, “There exists anger, anxiety and uncertainty among the families and communities affected by the spill, which will easily manifest into addiction and various forms of mental health crisis if not confronted.”
If you or a loved one has been affected by the oil spill, call Cellino & Barnes now at 800-249-7320 or use our CLAIM FORM online.
Read more at CNN.com
Summer Safety – Part 1 – Bike Accident Safety
June 30, 2010
Bike riding is a fun and fairly safe way to: commute to work, get some great exercise, or just spend time outdoors. Biking can be dangerous and we urge you to use caution and please be safe this summer.
Below is a list of some basic things you can do to keep yourself safer this season.
Wear your bicycle helmet.
In the United States, there are over 300,000 children who visit the emergency room each year as a result of being involved in bicycle accidents. Many of these children suffer brain injuries. The basic habit of wearing a helmet with the straps securely locked, could have prevented many of these injuries.
Keep yourself well lit.
If you enjoy cycling at night, keep yourself well-lit. Make sure you have reflectors facing in all directions and try to wear reflective safety-gear. Also, for less than $15 dollars, you can purchase red blinking lights for the front and back of your bike. These lights will alert motorists to your presence long before they have the chance to cause you any harm.
Avoid texting while biking and other distractions.
Texting while biking is just as dangerous as texting while driving, perhaps even more so. Teenagers attempt to text with one hand, while trying to steer with the other. This is a recipe for disaster.
Listening to music and talking on your cell phone is also very dangerous. If you’re not listening to the vehicles around you, it will be difficult to react when something unexpected happens.
Just pay attention.
The best overall advice is to stay alert and be aware of your surroundings. Regardless of how much safety equipment you are wearing, if you don’t pay attention, you increase your risk of being injured, or causing someone else to be injured.
So to protect you and your children while riding a bike pay attention, use reflectors and lights and wear a helmet!
This post is part 1 of 5, presented by Cellino and Barnes. Our firm is committed to keeping our community safe this summer.
Ocean Therapy Solutions – Status of Program
June 24, 2010
Ocean Therapy Solutions (Kevin Costner’s company) and BP held a news conference to update us on the ongoing efforts to deploy Ocean Therapy’s oil separating centrifuge devices in the Gulf of Mexico to clean up the Horizon oil spill.
Kevin Costner explained that BP ordered 32 of his oil cleaning machines. Three of the units are currently aboard ships in the Gulf, but it will take about approximately 1 to 1.5 months for the remaining units to be built.
Officials advised that skimmer vessels will pump oily water onto the ships where the centrifuges can process a total of 600,000 gallons per day, separating oil and debris from water. Costner said he is gratified the technology is being deployed.
VIDEO – Ocean Therapy Solutions and BP News Conference.
VIDEO – Costner Centrifuge Technology. In this video, Brian Musselman, Director of Operations for Hornbeck Offshore and Lance Ortemond, General Manager at D&L Salvage explain the centrifuge technology and how it will affect the Gulf Coast.
While state legislation punishes drivers for driving while texting, many still often fail to do so.
Watch texting accident – YouTube
While authorities don’t have the capability to always be watching over everybody’s shoulder. Some possible solutions may be to encourage the creation of technologies that will prevent drivers from accessing their text messaging while driving. For instance, Textecution is a mobile phone application that blocks text messaging functions on your children’s phones while they drive. Essentially, how the program works is that it links into the phone’s GPS system and disables the text messaging function if a vehicle is moving more than 10 mph.
Similarly, Xuesong Zhou, a University of Utah researcher, has developed a device that disables cell phones entirely when a specially engineered car key is inserted into the car’s ignition.
Finally, several states have outlawed texting while driving, and others are moving to ban the practice. Additionally, legislators are trying to move bills to create federal legislation to keep drivers from texting while driving.
Obama’s Promise to the Gulf Coast
June 16, 2010
In a speech today, President Obama stated that he “will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to deal with the oil spill. He further promises that “We’re going to fight back with everything that we’ve got.”
President Obama is scheduled to address the nation tonight to lay out plans for dealing with the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
So how much oil has leaked into the gulf?
No one can say for certain how much oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, however, some experts are now estimating that between 1 million and 2 million barrels. That converts to bewteen 42 million and 84 million gallons of oil. The lowest estimate is nearly four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.
During the 2009-2010 hockey season, personal injury attorneys, Cellino & Barnes, once again, partnered with Derek Roy to help support Juvenile Diabetes. Each time Derek scored a goal during the regular season, Cellino & Barnes agreed to donate $1,000 to help fight Juvenile Diabetes.
Cellino & Barnes is proud to announce that Derek Roy scored 26 goals this season, which resulted in $26,000 being donated to Juvenile Diabetes.
Ross Cellino delivered checks to Mary Ann Fox, Executive Director of the Rochester Chapter and Karen Swierski, Executive Director of the WNY Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes. Each Chapter received a check in the amount of $13,000.
Cellino & Barnes – Morphine Sulfate Recall
April 8, 2010
A voluntary recall was issued today for one lot of Ethex Morphine Sulfate 60 mg Extended Release tablets. The manufacturer discovered that some pills sold since April 16, 2008 may be twice as thick as they are supposed to be and contain double the morphine. This could lead to life-threatening risks of a morphine overdose.
To learn more click on Morphine Recall