California Injury Blog

Halloween’s here and our little ghosts, witches, goblins and superheroes tonight will be parading the streets, malls and parks in their costumes with one goal in mind – candy. Well, Halloween after all, is mostly about costumes and candy. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a federal safety agency, warns that costumes, candy and decorations, while fun, can also cause injuries if not properly checked and used.

According to the federal agency, the most serious Halloween-related injuries relate to burns from flammable costumes and decorations. Candles and open flames in Jack O’ Lanterns are a leading cause of such injuries, the CPSC has found. The biggest danger is in home-made costumes because they are usually not made with flame-resistant material such as nylon or polyester. Children could also get nicked by sharp objects attached to masks or costumes.

Continue reading "Be Careful and Injury-Free This Halloween" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Information/Personal Interest

Bookmark:

In 1991 John Henton won the Johnny Walker National Comedy Search and then he captured a coveted spot on the Johnny Carson show. In April of 1993, John Henton was cast, and lauded as a ‘break-out’ star, in the FOX-TV series Living Single starring Queen Latifah and Kim Fields Freeman. Then, came a starring role on “The Hughleys”.

However, in September 2000 Henton starred in his very own horror story when he was involved in a near-fatal car accident that destroyed his left eye socket, shattered both of his legs, broke nine teeth and ripped up his stomach. Henton, who had been drinking and doesn’t remember the crash, was driving at least 100 mph at the time of the accident, which happened shortly after he finished partying with friends and co-stars to celebrate the filming of “The Hughleys” Halloween segment. Henton’s injuries were so severe and deformed his features so badly that his agent went to Henton’s home to retrieve pictures to be used by plastic surgeons to rebuild Henton’s face.

A year later, in June of 2001, Henton, still hobbling around, had this to say: “There's no time for a pity party. I have too much stuff to do.” As of 2006, it looks like Henton is still performing despite his horrible car accident. He calls his drunk driving accident his ‘a wake-up call’.
Henton was one of the few involved in such a horrific crash to be lucky enough to “wake up.”

Continue reading "DUI Crash Was A Halloween Horror Story Comedian Couldn’t Laugh About" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Auto & Car Accidents

Bookmark:

October was a horrible, nightmarish month when it came to fatal big rig crashes in California. The fiery Santa Clarita multi-big rig crash topped all others as the most horrific one, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen people. Then, there was the most recent one last week when a speeding big rig driver slammed into two cars on Pacific Coast Highway. Two people died in that crash.

Here is a list of truck and big rig accidents this month from around the country although an overwhelming majority of recent truck accidents seemed to be in California:

Fiery Westchester Crash: One person was killed in this explosive crash this morning that snarled traffic for miles during the morning rush hour. It blocked several lanes on the 405 Freeway in Westchester near LAX. The driver of the truck reportedly died in the crash. No other fatalities or injuries were reported.

Continue reading "Big Rig Accident Round-Up" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (2)

Posted In: Truck Accidents

Bookmark:

Lately, the newspapers have been filled with articles about children’s toys tainted with lead paint. Most of these products were made in China. Now, we’re almost on Halloween Day and it’s interesting to note that last year at this time the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of “Creepy Capes” sold by Family Dollar, Inc. It seems that these products failed to meet the standards for the flammability of vinyl plastic film, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers. And yup, you guessed right. They were made in China too.

So far, China has been recognized as importing dangerous foods and toys and they are promising tighter safety controls on what they export, but the proof is ‘in the pudding’. This year U.S. inspectors have banned or turned away a growing number of Chinese exports including wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine, which has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America. And, Monkfish containing life-threatening levels of toxins were discovered. Further, drug-laced frozen eel, and juice made with unsafe color additives have been banned in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ceased all imports of Chinese toothpaste too to test for a deadly chemical reportedly found in tubes sold in Australia, the Dominican Republic and Panama.

Continue reading "Defective Products Made in China – Just Plain Creepy?" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Product Liability

Bookmark:

A trucking company in Montana reached a $1 million settlement with a driver who was severely injured in an accident involving one of the company’s dump trucks. According to the article on Lawyers USA’s Web site, the accident occurred on April 30, 2004 when Lucy Jones-Parker, 54, was driving with her 10-year-old daughter, Arianna, asleep on the front passenger seat.

Jones-Parker’s attorney said that two dump trucks operated by Dave’s Trucking tried to cross a highway at an intersection and when one of the trucks pulled directly in front of Jones-Parker’s van, she hit the truck’s rear axle. She was pinned against the steering wheel with her chin on the dash, unable to breathe until a passer-by helped extricate her. Her daughter fortunately suffered only minor injuries.

But Jones-Parker suffered a fractured pelvis. She needed to undergo a lot of surgery, which put her out of a job. The trucking company claimed that their driver stopped at the stop sign at that intersection. But the plaintiff’s attorney cited eyewitness reports, which stated that the dump truck driver did not stop at the posted sign.

Continue reading "Montana Trucking Company Reaches $1 Million Settlement With Injured Motorist" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Truck Accidents

Bookmark:

A South Africa-based company has recalled about 1 million infant baby seats because there were several reports of children falling out of these seats and getting badly hurt. According to a Reuters news report, the seats were sold by many large retailers in the United States including Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears and Babies’R’ Us.

The article states that of the 28 young children who fell out of these “sitter” seats, three suffered skull fractures because the seats were kept on table tops. The company, Bumbo International, is voluntarily recalling the products so it can update its safety label to include the warning that the seats should never be placed on a table, counter top, chair or any other elevated surface. The company states the product is otherwise safe and does not consist of any defective parts that will compromise a child’s safety when used correctly.

The company has also announced on its Web site http://www.bumbo.co.za/ that it will stop selling these seats until the safety information and packaging have been updated. The company stresses that there are no product defects. More information about the recall may also be found on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Web site.

Continue reading "1 Million Baby Seats Recalled For Lack of Safety Information" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Product Liability

Bookmark:

Two people were killed and a firefighter was injured in a fiery three-vehicle collision caused by a big rig that was traveling illegally on the Kanan Dume Road in Malibu, which is usually closed to truck traffic. According to an article in the Los Angeles Daily News, the crash occurred at Pacific Coast Highway at Kanan Dume and both victims died at the scene.

Officials told the newspaper that this was not the only big rig driver who used that route illegally during last week’s wildfires that shut down Malibu Canyon Road. But this truck driver, it turned out, was speeding downhill at 70 mph, hauling his load of gravel and then ran through the red light at PCH and crashed into two cars.

The truck driver was struck by the gravel in his own big rig, causing his death. The driver of a Mercedes was killed on impact and a county firefighter, who was in another vehicle on his way to work, suffered a broken ankle. Fortunately, he was pulled out of his car by a passer-by before the vehicle burst into flames, the newspaper reported.

Continue reading "2 Killed and 1 Injured in Fiery Malibu Truck Accident" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (2)

Posted In: Truck Accidents

Bookmark:

This week, I was one of many attorneys who received an e-mail from Richard Alexander, a very accomplished and knowledgeable personal injury attorney from San Jose. The subject of Alexander’s e-mail was very relevant especially at this time when the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California are subsiding and people affected by the fire are starting to look for adjusters and attorneys to help file claims and rebuild their lives.

Here’s the crux of Alexander’s advice to personal injury attorneys. If you don’t know much about what it takes to handle a fire claim, don’t touch it. Sure, it is natural for us personal injury lawyers to want to go to the rescue of those in need. We are natural consumer advocates. But Alexander rightly warns us about the pitfalls that are involved in handling fire claims, especially when we do not have the depth of knowledge, experience or expertise to get into these issues.
Here’s his main advice on the matter: “If you don’t have experience and clearly do not know how much work it is to process a property damage claim, the last thing anyone should do is take on a fire damage case on a pro bono basis. You are looking at a major tar baby. Don’t doubt that for a minute.”

To read the complete article, click here.

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Information/Personal Interest

Bookmark:

The Southern California wildfires, which have been raging since Sunday, have now consumed thousands of homes. About 1 million people were asked to leave their homes. Lives have been disrupted, property ruined. When the smoke clears or even before that, homeowners will have to get started on the rebuilding process, which is bound to be long and exhausting.

Consumers must be extremely watchful and vigilant at this time so they are not exploited by unethical contractors, insurance adjusters or even attorneys who falsely claim they can help with insurance claims. I can tell you right now that people will approach you, try to take advantage of your vulnerability and try to take you for a ride – be it with your insurance claim or repairs to your home. It happened with Hurricane Katrina. It could very well happen in Southern California.

Here are some very useful tips for consumers from Jonathan Stein, a Bay Area attorney, who has extensive experience helping people affected by fires and helping them deal with insurance. Take extreme care and caution when you hire an adjuster or contractor. They need to be state licensed.
And remember, NEVER EVER sign any papers with information you don’t understand.

Here are some other resources where you can check whether the people you hire are legitimate:

State Contractor Licensing Board
California Department of Insurance

To read the complete article, click here.

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Information/Personal Interest

Bookmark:

By: A Staff Writer

A watchdog group is questioning a New Jersey court’s decision to seal documents in a high-profile personal injury lawsuit involving a drunk driving incident that left a young girl paralyzed. According to a news release posted on Public Citizen’s Web site, the 1999 case, which brought the issue of holding alcohol vendors and establishments liable in DUI accidents, is now completely buried under this veil of secrecy created by the courts.

The case basically involves an auto accident caused by a drunken fan who left a Giants football game and crashed into a car paralyzing a little girl. The girl’s family filed a personal injury case against the driver as well as the stadium’s beer vendor and won a $105 million jury verdict.

Last year, an appellate court overturned that verdict and everybody watching the case was waiting for the case to go back to trial. But apparently it never got there. And no one knows why or how because the court ordered that all future proceedings in the case be sealed, which means neither the public nor the media can look at the filings.

Continue reading "Watchdog Group Demands Documents Be Made Public In DUI Crash Case" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Information/Personal Interest

Bookmark:

By: A Staff Writer

An Illinois family is suing Manor Care for the nursing home death of an elderly resident who was at the nursing home for rehabilitation after she fractured her hip and was diagnosed with dementia. According to a news report in the Southwest News-Herald, the suit seeks $200,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.

The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home completely neglected to take care of 75-year-old Helen Edwards’ physical needs including cleaning and dressing her bed sores and infections. The complaint also says Edwards suffered “unrelieved pain associated with both her hip fracture and wounds.”

According to the report when Edwards’ daughter came to visit her at the nursing home, Edwards complained of severe discomfort. When her daughter took her mother to the hospital to see what was wrong, doctors told her Edwards suffered from pneumonia, dehydration, severe malnutrition and infection. Edwards had lost 13 pounds during her stay at the nursing home. She died shortly afterward from severe infection that could not be cured, the article stated.

Continue reading "Family Files Negligence and Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Illinois Nursing Home" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect

Bookmark:

By: A Staff Writer

A recent investigation by the Kansas City Star newspaper has found that 1,400 people may have died in head-on or frontal collisions because their front air bags did not deploy. According to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it was a phenomenon that baffled traffic accident investigators.

For example, when Atlanta wife and mother Brooke Katz died three months pregnant, police officers who recall that violent crash also say that they thought it was “curious” that Katz’s 2005 Dodge Caravan’s air bags had not deployed. The Kansas City Star’s investigation reportedly found that this didn’t only happen in Katz’s accident, but happened in hundreds of traffic accidents. In fact, here’s an interesting statistic.

The newspaper found that more people had died over the last six years from air bags not deploying than all those who died from injuries caused by air bags that deployed easily or forcefully. Not only that – the newspaper also reports that only 300 people died since 1990 from forceful deployment of airbags. But the body count is a whopping 1,400 when it came to those who died because their front airbags did not deploy at all. What’s more, the death count rose to 1,900 when the Star took into account side and rear impact crashes.

Continue reading "Defective Air Bags May Have Caused 1,400 Deaths Over the Last 6 Years" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Information/Personal Interest

Bookmark:

Five people, including three children, died Saturday afternoon after their 1999 Ford 15-passenger van crashed on the Interstate 69 in Indianapolis. According to a news article in The Star Press newspaper, officials investigating the accident believe that a blown tire started the accident sequence. The three children who died ranged in age from infant to 12 years old and in addition to the five dead, 11 others were injured, the newspaper reported.

The accident happened when the van’s left tire blew. The vehicle crossed over the median into the other side and rolled over. No other vehicles were involved. Four people were ejected the report said. Apparently, some of the children were in car seats, but investigators don’t know if everyone was wearing his or her seat belt. All victims were transported to local hospitals.

According to another report in The Indianapolis Star, some of the victims came from the Amish community in the Fort Wayne area, not far from where the accident happened. The report also said the van could’ve had as many as 17 passengers. This accident happened only about 20 miles away from the site of an April 2006 crash between a Taylor university van and a big rig that killed four students, a university employee and injured five other people.

Continue reading "Indiana 15-Passenger Van Accident Kills 5 Including 3 Children" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: 15 Passenger Van Accidents

Bookmark:

A Georgia couple is suing their insurance company, Progressive, saying that the company spied on them by having their investigators, undercover, join their private church confessional group. The investigators joined the group in the hopes of getting information to use against the couple in an auto accident claim according to a news article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

An attorney for the couple, Bill and Leandra Pitts, told the newspaper that Progressive tried these tactics to avoid paying the couple’s claim. What’s more, Progressive’s CEO, who had previously admitted on the company’s Web site that their spying was “appalling”, has now issued a statement that those actions were in fact “reasonable.”

According to one of Progressive’s spokespersons quoted in the newspaper article: “While we believe what occurred was wrong, we don't believe it provides the basis for a legal claim seeking a monetary judgment.” At least Progressive is consistent. It is like saying, “While your insurance policy covers you for the injuries you sustained, we don’t believe it is our best interest to pay your claim.”

Continue reading "Insurance Investigators Join Policy Holders’ Church Group Looking For Dirt" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (2)

Posted In: Auto & Car Accidents

Bookmark:

By: Staff Writer

A state appeals court has ruled that victims of a crash at the Santa Monica farmer’s market when an elderly driver drove into a crowd of shoppers, may sue the city for failing to adequately protect the people at the market.

According to an Associated Press news report, this ruling reinstates victims’ allegations that the city’s wooden barricades were not sufficient to protect them from the crash caused by 86-year-old George Rusell Weller on July 16, 2006. That crash killed 10 people and injured more than 70. Weller, who was convicted on 10 counts of manslaughter last year, was sentenced to five years of probation.

Many of the people who suffered injuries in this horrific accident, filed personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against the city of Santa Monica, but a judge ruled in favor of the city, which claimed immunity from liability citing a traffic control map for the market, which officials said showed that they had taken traffic safety into consideration. The appellate court’s reversal of that decision was based on its assertion that the traffic map the city cited was not the same plan approved by the city’s traffic engineer 20 years ago.

Continue reading "Appellate Court Sides With Victims of Santa Monica Farmers Market Crash" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Auto & Car Accidents

Bookmark:

Sometimes, especially in dog bite cases involving young children, it’s hard to tell what’s scarier – the thought of a large dog viciously attacking the child or the denial of the dog owner who vehemently refuses to believe that his or her “pet” could do something like that. Take the example of this dog owner in Honolulu who denies that her dogs are vicious in spite of the fact that the animals repeatedly attacked children on the beach and she was even sentenced to jail time and ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines in connection with those incidents!

According to an article in The Boston Globe, a jury in Hawaii made a decision against this particular dog owner, Mariko Bereday, and in favor of Keeton Manguso, a 2-year-old boy, giving the boy $856,000 in damages for injuries he suffered when Bereday’s unrestrained Rottweiler attacked the toddler on the beach.

Keeton’s mother, Veronica Tomooka, told the newspaper that she sued not for money, but to have a jury judge this particular dog owner and tell her that she is in fact negligent and liable for injuries her dog caused. And here’s the not-so-surprising part of this story – the dog owner is appealing the jury verdict saying that her dog did not bite the boy and that the photo of the injuries was phony.

Continue reading "Dog Owner Denies Her Dog is Vicious – After Two Attacks On Toddlers" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Dog Bites

Bookmark:

An Alabama family has filed a federal lawsuit stating that a cremation company gave them the ashes of the wrong person. The family later found that the error was the result of a three-way mix-up, according to a news report in the Knoxville News Sentinel. That means two other deceased people’s ashes were interred in the wrong place as well!

The family is seeking $500,000 in damages from Littlebrook Cremation Co. and its owner, the newspaper reported. The remains in question were those of Mark Gibson who died April 29. The family reportedly discovered the error just before a scheduled memorial service when family members noticed that the ashes came labeled under a different name, the article stated.

So the family, which was already in grief, was sent on this most unnecessary quest to find their loved one’s remains. They first thought the ashes were buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Alabama, but later found that another woman’s remains were interred there, also by mistake. An anthropologist determined that the remains sent to the family were not of Gibson, but another man, Keith Vincent.

Continue reading "Cremation Errors Result In Grief and a Lawsuit" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (2)

Posted In: Funeral Home Negligence

Bookmark:

An award against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been upheld by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court to the tune of $16.8 million. The money was awarded to an 86-year-old man who was paralyzed as a result of negligent driving by a church volunteer, according to an Associated Press news report.

Members of the state’s high court deadlocked 3-3, which meant that the appellate court decision to uphold the award to Hjalmer Heikkinen, was good. A diocese spokeswoman told AP that the money will be paid entirely by the church’s insurer, The Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America.

According to the article, the church member, Margaret Morse, while running an errand for the church, ran a red light and hit Heikkinen. Heikkinen was severely injured and paralyzed from the neck down. He sued Morse. Morse in turn sued the archdiocese and its insurer. A jury in 2005 found the church liable for the incident, awarding Heikkinen $15 million for past and future pain and suffering, $1.3 million for medical expenses and $500,000 to Heikkinen’s wife for loss of consortium.

Continue reading "Church and Insurance Company Lose Auto Accident Case Appeal" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Auto & Car Accidents

Bookmark:

Authorities in Pineville, Missouri, are saying that a baby bassinet that was not part of Simplicity Inc.’s recall of 1 million defective cribs, is as much a death trap as the recalled cribs. How do they know? Because a 4-month old girl died in one of those 4-in-one bassinets. Little Katelynn Marie Simon died Sept. 29 of “accident positional asphyxiation,” after she was caught between the rail of the bassinet and the mattress, according to an article in The Joplin Globe.

The article states local officials contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) right away to make sure the bassinets are included in the recall list of defective products as well. These bassinets now join the long list of defective and dangerous children’s products that were made in China. The bassinets have a model number of 3112DOH6 with Winnie the Pooh decorations. CPSC or Simplicity have not yet recalled the product. Last month the com