April 30, 2007

Pit Bull Kills 1 Year Old

South Carolina authorities say they are likely to charge a local mom with negligent homicide charges in connection with the death of her 1-year-old son who died after being mauled by the family’s Pit Bull Monday morning, according to a news article posted on the First Coast News Website.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the family’s apartment after getting reports that a Pit Bull got out of a laundry room and killed 1-year-old Brian Palmer. According to investigators, the dog showed clear signs of aggressive behavior before the attack, killing a cat and attacking other dogs. The boy died in a local hospital Wednesday morning. Initial cause of death was reported as “lacerations to the throat.”

“When you have small children in the house, you may have to exercise better judgment,” Sgt. Michael Miller told the newspaper. “And it's going to be our job to investigate to see if this judgment was proper or not.”

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April 29, 2007

Drowning Accident Claims the Life of a 4 Year Old Boy

A 4-year-old Stanton boy drowned in his backyard pool Tuesday night after wandering away from the rest of the family, according to an article published in The Orange County Register.

Jose Ornelas went missing just before 9 p.m. while at least one of the boy’s parents and several other children were in the home in the 7700 block of Yorkshire Avenue, officials told the Register. Family members began searching the house and back yard and found the boy at the bottom of the pool. Firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County sheriff's deputies went to the home but were unable to revive the boy, who wasn’t breathing when he left the house, according to the article.

Jose was taken to the West Anaheim Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials said that there was no fence around the pool. The Sheriff's Department homicide unit is investigating the death, which is a standard procedure for any suspicious death, but officials said that it was most likely an accidental drowning. This is the third Orange County pool drowning in two months. Last month, a 2-year-old boy and his 21-month-old cousin died after falling in a murky backyard pool in Garden Grove.

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April 28, 2007

Nursing Homes - How To Make An Informed Decision

Many of us find ourselves in the ‘sandwich’ generation, so described because while we may still be parenting our own almost grown children we are also faced with the responsibility of caring for our parents. While for most of us it is an honor to help our parents find the very best lifestyle and living arrangements available it can still be a challenge to help our parents continue to enjoy independence and dignity while ensuring their safety and their health.

This subject is close to home for me. My mother was hospitalized this week due to a fainting episode, the origin of which is not yet diagnosed. This isn’t the first time she has had a fainting/falling incident. She has been living on her own in another state where she has her entire network of friends. She now is of the opinion that she needs to be close to her family, here in Orange County. However, she wants her independence and her own space. By fall we will have all three children in college.

Orange County, California is one of the most magnificent places to live whether you are 1 or 100, so it is no surprise that the OC also offers a variety of living arrangements for the feistiest senior, like my mom, as well as for those who may need various degrees of assistance.

In starting the process of finding the best place for my mom, we first had to determine, what level of care does she need? Handling this can be sticky, because it can surely cause hurt feelings and a feeling of the loss of independence, dignity and control on her part.

There are several options available. There are independent living apartment-style arrangements in an activity filled senior setting with meals provided. Then there are various degrees of assisted living where seniors retain their own living space and have whatever combination of other daily living assistance and monitoring is appropriate.

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April 27, 2007

SUV Rollover Victim Paralyzed - Ford Ordered to Pay Damages

A New Jersey jury last week awarded $10.6 million in compensatory damages and $42,500 in punitive damages to a driver who became paralyzed in an accident caused by a defective throttle design in her 1997 Ford Explorer, according to an article in the New Jersey Law Journal posted on the Yahoo Business News Website.

The article also states that Ford Motor Co. may have been spared a monster punitive damages verdict in the SUV rollover case because its lawyer was allowed to tell jurors about the carmaker’s financial troubles and recent mass layoffs.

The lawsuit claimed that the 2000 accident was caused by a defective throttle design in the 1997 Ford Explorer that made its accelerator stick in the closed position. According to the lawsuit, when plaintiff Rebekah Zakrocki, then 21 years old, pressed hard on the gas as she was driving, the vehicle lurched forward. Panicked, she turned the wheel to the left, causing the vehicle to roll onto its roof.

The suit also charged that the “design of the vehicle’s suspension, brakes and geometry gave it a heightened propensity to tip over.” Zakrocki's right hand was nearly severed in the crash, but doctors reattached it in surgery. She also suffered torn nerves in her brachial plexus, leaving her with only 10 percent use of her right arm, and she can no longer work as a cosmetics salesperson, the article said. After the four-week trial, the jury awarded $8.5 million for pain and suffering, $1.5 million for medical expenses and $1 million for lost wages.

However, the jury reduced the award by 28 percent, factoring in evidence that Zakrocki was speeding and not wearing a seatbelt. After those deductions, the woman will receive about $7 million in compensatory damages. The judge also did not allow the plaintiff’s attorney to present evidence to the jury about Ford’s recall of Explorers for throttle plate problems. Zakrocki received notice of the recall a few months after the crash. Ford plans to appeal the verdict, the article said.

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April 26, 2007

Nursing Home Neglect Results in $1,500 Fine

A woman suffering from schizophrenia and other serious medical problems fell nine times in seven months before anyone at her nursing home acted to prevent further falls, according to an article published in The Arizona Daily Star posted on the Fox News Web site. That nursing home was fined $1,500 by the local health care agency that provides permits for nursing homes.

The woman’s chart also describes six weeks last fall when she was behaving wildly — yelling, pacing, threatening staff and taking off her clothes, among other things. But none of her caregivers connected that to the fact that they failed during those same weeks to give her, her medication 22 times. For failing to provide that necessary care, Santa Rosa Care Center paid a $1,500 fine, a minuscule amount in my opinion, considering the pain they’ve caused the victim and their family.

The woman was not identified in the health department’s report, released to the newspaper last week. In the health department's online listing of nursing homes, Santa Rosa has a current quality rating of “B,” which means the center is 80 percent to 90 percent compliant with the department's minimum quality standards. But the center’s violations illustrate the need for improvement at all levels of the elder-care system, said Stewart Grabel, ombudsman and director of elder rights and benefits at Pima Council on Aging.

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April 25, 2007

E. Coli Tainted Meat Recalled

A Merced company has recalled year-old hamburger meat distributed in California and elsewhere after at least three Napa County children became ill with a virulent strain of E. coli, health officials said Friday, according to an article Saturday in the Los Angeles Times. The meat was reportedly produced by Richwood Meat Co. on April 28, 2006, dated either “4-28-06” or “118-6,” for the 118th day of the year, company officials said. Although the product was manufactured a year ago, the patties still may be present in freezers at home or in stores, officials said.

The products were distributed to institutional food services, food distributors, discount grocers and retail outlets such as WinCo and Vons, officials said. The recalled meat also was shipped to Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The tainted hamburger patties were served at a concession stand at a Little League field in St. Helena, Calif., about 65 miles north of San Francisco. Health officials found the E. coli strain in remaining frozen hamburger stored by the stand and by the store that sold it the meat, Salami Lady's Cash & Carry.

Health officials urged the public to throw away any of the recalled meat or return it to the store where it was purchased. It is dangerous to consume even if cooked until black, health officials say. The ill children suffered from bloody diarrhea for three to five days, but none developed the more serious complications of E. coli infection that result in kidney failure, the Times reported. All three children confirmed to have contracted E. coli have recovered, as well as two additional children who showed similar symptoms. No new illnesses have been reported since April 4. The recalled products carry the brand names Fireriver, Ritz Food Service, Chef's Pride, Blackwood Farms, California Pacific Associates, C&C Distributing, Golbon and Richwood.

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April 24, 2007

Elder Abuse - Intentional and Negligent - Let the Jury Decide!

You better hope you don’t have any elderly relatives residing at the Rainbow Health Care Center in Bristow, Oklahoma! Why? Because Rainbow requires each resident to sign away their right to a jury trial, which means that even if Rainbow intentionally or negligently acts to harm your relativethey must have their injuries evaluated by ,arbitration.

As it turns out, maybe you don’t have to worry - yet, because U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy denied Rainbow’s request that they should legally be able to force all new residents to sign an agreement stating that they will not take Rainbow to court regardless of any intentional or negligent treatment they might receive from Rainbow’s staff.

There are a growing number of these types of cases, because nursing homes argue that they should be able to limit their liability to those who have been injured, and that arbitration is the way to go. But, as the baby boomers continue to occupy a larger percentage of the senior population, issues of reasonable and competent care and nursing homes seeking to avoid liability will only continue to loom over the courthouse steps.

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April 22, 2007

Defective Toys Recalled After Injuries Are Reported

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Mega Brands America have recalled more than 4 million units of Magnetix Magnetic building sets after one death and 27 intestinal injuries were reported after small children swallowed loose parts, according to an article posted on the Watchdog Website.

Not included in this recall are the company’s products sold since March 31, 2006 that are labeled 6+ and sets that contain the warning: “CAUTION: Do not ingest or inhale magnets. Attraction of magnets in the body may cause serious injury and require immediate medical care.”

Several children were reportedly seriously injured before the company launched the recall. Emergency surgical intervention was needed in all but one case. At least 1,500 incidents of magnets separating from the building pieces have been reported. Although the hazard was initially thought to be a problem primarily for children younger than six, it has since been learned that at least 10 injuries involved children between the ages of 6 and 11.

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April 22, 2007

Four Child Drownings Occur in Three Days

Two toddlers, an 18-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, drowned Wednesday night in a family pool in Mesa, Ariz., according to a news report in The Arizona Republic Newspaper Friday. These are the third and fourth child drowning victims in three days in Mesa. The double tragedy happened a little before 7 p.m. when the children were found by the girl’s aunt and uncle, who said they had been watching television and lost track of time, officials told the newspaper.

The boy was found floating in the pool and the girl was submerged. They were not immediately identified. The boy was described as a family friend. Police said the pool had a fence and a gate, but that officials are still unsure about how the children got to the pool.

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April 21, 2007

Pedestrian Injury Results After Driver Runs Red Light

A driver running a red light at a Gardena intersection hit a 3-year-old boy and his mother -- severely injuring the child -- as they were crossing Crenshaw Boulevard at 135th Street, according to an article published in the Daily Breeze. The driver, 75-year-old Eldon Davis of Inglewood, struck the pair as they were walking on a marked crosswalk after failing to stop for a red light, according to a California Highway Patrol official.

The car then veered off the road and hit a power pole near the intersection's northeast corner, pushing the young boy into a storm drain, he said. Emergency crews responding to the 5:30 a.m. accident freed Jeffery Mathelus from the ditch and transported him with his mother, 26-year-old Guirlaine Bonhomme of Hawthorne, to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, according to the report. Bonhomme suffered moderate injuries, while her other child, a 5-year-old who was crossing the street at the same time, was not struck or injured. Officials say they are “worried” about the 3-year-old’s condition.

Hospital spokeswoman Julie Rees said the family requested that no information be released about their conditions. Davis, who suffered minor injuries, was taken to Centinela Freeman hospital in Inglewood. Highway Patrol officers were continuing to investigate the accident Friday afternoon and had not determined whether the morning rain showers contributed to the crash. But CHP officials said it wasn’t raining when they got there but that the roadway was damp. Davis has not yet been arrested in connection with the accident because the investigation is pending.

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April 20, 2007

Elder 'Sexual' Abuse and Neglect in San Bernardino

Larry Hoover used to be one of the managers of the Leisure Pointe Retirement Center in San BERNARDINO, and he lived at the complex with his wife. But on January 31st Hoover resigned his job and left Leisure Pointe, after admitting that he had used his master key to enter the apartments of two elderly women-then sexually assaulting them, as reported by The Press Enterprise.

Two lawsuits, which stem from Hoover’s despicable behavior, have been filed. The lawsuits are against a Salem, Oregon based company, Holiday Retirement Corporation, and allege that company knew that Hoover had been harming two elderly women-one 87 and one 101 years of age since December of 2005. And, while it is utterly unbelievable, no one called the police regarding Hoover’s abuse of these women until February 6th a full 6 days after Hoover resigned his job on January 31st. In fact, after complaints by the women’s care givers to another one of the managers, that manager failed to do anything but order Hoover to stay in his own apartment-he did not call the police! While San BERNARDINO police are still investigating these cases, Hoover has not been charged.

Now Leisure Pointe Retirement Center has also been issued a type ‘A’ citation, the most serious type of citation, but not for the sexual abuse, but because officials allege that Leisure Pointe Retirement Center is caring for residents without a license, according to The Press Enterprise.

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April 19, 2007

Foodborne Illness Victim Sues Local Souplantation

A 72-year-old woman who said she ate at a Souplantation in Lake Forest during the recent E. coli outbreak has sued the company for allegedly serving contaminated food that caused her kidneys to fail, according to an April 17 article in the Los Angeles Times story. Alice Secrist was reportedly hospitalized April 3 at Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center with abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, dehydration and fatigue, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

Secrist, who needed dialysis, did not test positive for the bacteria because she was taking antibiotics before she was hospitalized, her attorney told the newspaper. It is possible to be infected with E. Coli and yet not test positive, stated Orange County health officials. The woman’s doctors also told her that she was suffering from a “classic case of E. Coli,” her lawyer said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation for medical expenses, loss of income, legal fees and other damages.

Secrist, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, ate at the restaurant’s salad bar on March 23 with a friend, according to the article. A few days later, she went to a clinic with “intense abdominal cramping and was prescribed antibiotics.” Her attorney said she was still sick and returned to a doctor who sent her to a hospital. He said Secrist was only recently released from the hospital and that “her digestive system will be completely in turmoil for at least a few months.”

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April 18, 2007

Swimming Pool Accident Proves Fatal for Young Boy

Two young brothers were pulled unconscious from a murky backyard pool Saturday, and one died later while the other was hospitalized in critical condition, according to a news report by the Associated Press posted on Newsday’s Web site.

The boys’ grandmother found the 5-year-old boy floating in the pool Saturday afternoon at the family home in the Walnut Park area south of downtown, sheriff’s officials said. The boys’ father pulled him out and tried to resuscitate him, before realizing his 3-year-old son was also missing. The father eventually found the younger boy, Jonathon Verdugo, just below the surface, but he and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him, sheriff's officials said. Jonathan died Sunday and the 5-year-old, whose name was not released, was in critical condition, the sheriff’s department said.

A swimming pool in the yard can be very dangerous for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you do not put a swimming pool in your yard until your children are older than 5 years. If you already have a pool, protect your children from drowning by doing the following:

• Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment.
• You must put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around all 4 sides of the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach.
• A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) adds to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drowning accidents.
• Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd's hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.
• Do not let your child use air-filled "swimming aids" because they are not a substitute for approved life vests and can be dangerous.
• Anyone watching young children around a pool should learn CPR and be able to rescue a child if needed. Stay within an arm's length of your child.
• Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren't tempted to reach for them.
• After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can't get back into it.

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April 18, 2007

Disability Insurance Company Refuses to Pay Victim's Benefits

This is the story of a friend and a client and a classic case of how insurance companies can let you down very badly when you need them the most.

Mary Nehrlich was a top insurance saleswoman. She was as good as they got. Mary was a top producer in insurance sales and received many awards and accolades for her sales volume.

Mary thought she had prepared herself for every eventuality that insurance could cover, and she had. In selling insurance, she was a total believer. She had purchased, for herself and her family, every type of insurance she sold, including disability insurance. What she wasn’t prepared for was the way the insurance companies whose products she sold would show her the door when she was down and out.

Mary was severely injured in a horrible car crash on Oct. 18, 1995. She was driving near the intersection of McFadden and Springdale streets in Huntington Beach when a speeding motorist ran the red light and struck her vehicle. The other driver had been drinking.

The car was totaled and she suffered traumatic head, shoulder, hip and back injuries. She underwent knee and shoulder surgeries and later rehab at UCI Medical Center for three years. But, quite unexpectedly, she was also diagnosed with a brain injury months after the incident. The man who hit her also turned out to be an uninsured motorist. Her disability insurance carrier, for whom she was a top salesperson, declined to pay her the benefits promised in her policy.

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April 17, 2007

Brain Injury Results From ATV Accident

A 12-year-old girl died last week after she suffered brain injuries in an all-terrain vehicle accident in a dirt field on April 8. Two days after the accident, Arlene Marie Ochoa’s family was forced to take her off life support because of the severity of her brain injuries, according to an article published in The Bakersfield Californian.

Arlene was a passenger of an ATV driven by her 13-year-old aunt, her best friend, as they traveled through a dirt field in the 2300 block of Macau and Areili streets, according to a Kern County coroner’s office release. She fell off the ATV and struck her head.

According to eyewitness reports, Arlene had been having so much fun on the vehicle that she kept letting go and holding her hands up, her father Robert Ochoa told the newspaper. Some of Arlene’s relatives were also present when the incident happened, but were facing the other way when the accident happened, he said. Arlene was a spirited girl who played soccer and had numerous friends and a beautiful heart, her grieving father said.

At first the Ochoas thought their daughter would make it through the injuries, but tests revealed that Arlene was in fact, brain-dead. Bakersfield police detectives are investigating the accident and still don’t know whether any California vehicle codes were broken. Under California law, anyone driving an ATV off-road must wear a helmet and anyone under 18 must secure a safety certificate to operate an ATV, Terry said.

It is not clear from this article whether the young girl was wearing a helmet. But here’s what we know about ATVs. Although ATVs are toys, they are powerful toys that can turn deadly. They are powerful vehicles that can travel at speeds of 70 mph. They are not designed to carry passengers.

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April 16, 2007

Nursing Homes in California Get Off Easy

The California Department of Health Services has been negligently slow to respond to complaints regarding nursing home safety and has been understating the severity of the problems they do find, according to a state auditor report released last week. The audit, which looked at about 17,000 complaints lodged over a recent two-year period, found that the department failed to respond within legal time limits to almost half, and failed to complete about six in 10 investigations promptly, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Auditors also cited instances where state health investigators did not take safety violations seriously. For example, in one case, the inspectors issued a low-level citation to a home that failed to provide oxygen to residents with breathing problems. Auditors pointed out that the home should have faced a much higher penalty for putting its residents in immediate jeopardy, the article stated. According to the auditor in 20% of the cases reviewed in which the state inspectors cited a nursing home for violations, the penalty imposed was too light.

Our California Department of Health is sick. It is under a San Francisco Superior Court order to improve its speed in response to complaints. Advocates filed a lawsuit last year, alleging that the department was too slow in processing and investigating complaints and the Court agreed.

The article also cites a recent report by the California Health Care Foundation that found the total number of complaints against nursing homes rose from about 8,000 in the year 2000 to 12,000 in the year 2005. But at the same time, the portion of complaints that were substantiated by investigators fell dramatically, from 41 percent to 16 percent. The report cited the slow response time as a factor hampering investigators’ ability to determine what happened. Last year, the federal Government Accountability Office also issued a report saying that California's inspectors often overlooked or downplayed serious safety violations.

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April 15, 2007

Rottweiler Attack Injures Local Resident

Two Rottweilers attacked an Inland Empire woman while she was taking a morning stroll, last Friday morning. Gail Theurer, 66, of San Antonio Heights was severely injured in the dog bite attack. She was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton where she was hospitalized in serious condition, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Apparently Theurer used a can of Mace or pepper spray on the dogs to protect herself after the initial attack. It did not stop them however. According to Beth Les, community-resource officer for the Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona, neither dog was licensed. The Humane Society took possession of dogs. The owners of the dogs have not been located.

The dogs will be quarantined for 10 days, per state code, because the bites broke Theurer’s skin, said Brian Sampson, supervisor of animal services for the Inland Valley Humane Society. He said that vicious-dog charges will be filed against the owners due to the severity of the attack.

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April 15, 2007

Ford recalls 527,000 Crossovers over Fire Hazard

Ford Motor Co. is recalling 527,000 Ford Escape crossovers from the 2001-04 model years because the antilock brake system in the small truck can catch on fire, according to a news report posted on consumer watchdog Web site, Consumeraffairs.com.

According to a statement issued by Ford, missing or incorrectly installed seals on the wiring harness could lead to corrosion when water or road salt gets into an electrical connector. The corrosion could cause the ABS warning light to come on and lead to melting or burning of the electrical ABS connector. The recall does not include the hybrid version of the Escape.

The article states that the Ford Escape fires have prompted several reports to ConsumerAffairs.Com. Ford has not reported any accidents or injuries as a result of the Escape fire, but according to the article, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received complaints of at least 50 engine fires connected to the problems. The federal agency is also reportedly actively investigating the Ford Escape.

The article also talks about a Ford Escape owner in Jacksonville, Fla., whose 2001 Escape burned last month. This is what the woman had to say to consumeraffairs.com:

“I saw smoke rolling out of the engine compartment. The car had not moved in two days and my brother came to the truck with me. We popped the hood and smoke was everywhere, but primarily coming from underneath the brake reservoir.”

She said she could tell by the smell that it was an electrical issue as the wires were melting and burning. She got through to Ford after repeated efforts to contact a company spokesperson, who only told her that they had never heard about the problem before but that several factors could have caused the fire.

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April 14, 2007

Fatal Motorcycle Accident Caused by Poor Visibility

A motorcycle accident in Southern California takes the life of a Vista man who was hit and killed early Tuesday morning after he crashed his motorcycle into the back of a slow-moving truck and was then run over by an oncoming van, according to a news report posted on the San Diego Union Tribune’s Web site.

Mark Anthony Blecher, 37, was riding eastbound on Sycamore Avenue in Vista and was just east of Hot Springs Way when he came up on a cement truck that was having mechanical problems and emitting black smoke, which limited visibility, according to San Diego Sheriff’s officials.

The truck was being driven slowly uphill when Blecher crashed into the back of it. He was thrown to the ground and was then hit by a van being driven by a 49-year-old man from Vista who was also heading eastbound, according to the article. That driver stopped after the accident but the truck's driver, apparently unaware that someone hit him, continued on to his workplace, a company in Vista, and didn’t learn about the accident until he got there, according to the article.

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