Tag: unsanitary conditions

MTA’s Own Study Confirms Decrepit Conditions of NYC’s Subway Stations

A study conducted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s own advocacy organization for transit riders, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, found that nearly half of the subway stations examined (23 out of 50) need more attention, and that the worst stations had decrepit conditions, including water damage, exposed wires, rodents, foul odors, clogged track drains and general filth.

The report, cleverly titled Unwelcome Mats New York’s Subway Stations in Disrepair , identified the five worst stations surveyed as the Beach 90th Street on the A and Rockaway Shuttle lines in Queens; the 149th Street-Grand Concourse station on the No. 4 … Read the rest

New York “Passenger Bill of Rights” Struck Down by Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals court this past Tuesday struck down New York’s so-called Passenger Bill of Rights, which requires airlines to provide food, water, working toilet facilities and fresh air to passengers stuck on the ground for more than three hours. The law, which took effect January 1, 2008, and signed by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, was supported by consumer groups angered by lengthy delays that they said trapped passengers on airplanes for hours, sometimes without food or water. It was the first law in the nation of its kind.

The decision of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a … Read the rest

Suspension of Heparin Sales More than a Matter of Products Liability; Described as “a National Security Issue.”

Since Baxter International announced recently that it was suspending sales of its multidose vials of heparin after four patients died and 350 suffered complications including allergic reactions, many of them serious and potentially life-threatening, significant concerns have arisen as to the effectiveness of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of imported drugs. Baxter bought the active ingredient for heparin, which is derived from an enzyme in pig intestines, from Scientific Protein Laboratories, which produces heparin’s active ingredient in its factory in Changzhou, China.

Scientific Protein moved production to China three years ago because the country is the world’s largest … Read the rest

New York’s Passenger Bill of Rights Survives Challenge by Airline Industry Trade Group

Now that we are moving past the holiday season and into the heart of winter, it is warming to know that the New York “airline passenger bill of rights” has survived an industry trade group’s challenge to the law, which requires airlines, after a pre-takeoff delay of more than three hours, to ensure passengers, as needed, get electric generating service for fresh air and lights, waste removal to service restroom holding tanks and adequate food, drinking water and other refreshments. The law also creates an advocate for airline passengers within the Consumer Protection Board and empowers the state attorney general … Read the rest

Possible Statute of Limitations Bar to Over 600 People Who Doctor Might Have Exposed to Hepatitis B and C and HIV Illustrates Gross Unfairness of Lack of “Discovery Rule”

Earlier this week, 628 people were sent letters by the New York State Health Department urging them to get tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV, all blood borne diseases, because they had received epidural injections from Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, who used re-used syringes, from January 1, 2000 to January 15, 2005.

Even though the victims would have had no way of knowing that they had been exposed to the diseases until now, it may be too late for them to sue the doctor. This is because under New York law, the time period to bring suit (2 1/2 … Read the rest