As patients, we trust medical professionals to act as, well, professionals. With lives quite literally on the line, we assume that doctors will take their obligations seriously and adhere to the highest standards of professional responsibility. Unfortunately, as a new report by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PPSA) indicates, this trust is sometimes misplaced. In…

Another in an occasional series of behind-the-scenes profiles on the staff attorneys of MyPhillyLawyer Attorney Robert S. Nix joined MyPhillyLawyer in September – but it isn’t the first time he’s been with the firm. In fact, Nix, who has been practicing law for more than 13 years in the Philadelphia area, actually has returned to…

Police departments around the nation routinely use TASER and other brands of  “stun gun”  devices to temporarily disable suspects who are aggressive or combative when authorities try to arrest or question them. For police, the devices are seen as equalizers that allow officers to get the upper hand over dangerous suspects in difficult situations when…

The PLCB asks retailers to stop selling Four Loko and other energy drinks containing alcohol and caffeine until health impacts are understood In an unusual move last week, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) asked every one of the 17,000 beer distributors, restaurants, bars and other organizations that sell alcoholic beverages in the Commonwealth to…

It’s 2010, and still across the United States, people are stopped by police for no other reasons than the color of their skin or that they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. The problem is that police departments and cities across the nation still insist on stopping people based on “profiles” of observable…

The introduction last week of the first full body security scanners in Terminal F at Philadelphia International Airport means that air travelers here will have more decisions to make in balancing convenience, privacy and personal security when they fly. The full body scanners – which produce detailed images that allow Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel…