California Injury Blog

Published on: March 6, 2009

San Diego On-the-Job Accident Kills Postal Service Mechanic

By Brian Chase

Leonard Harders, a 56-year-old postal service mechanic in San Diego, was killed on-the-job after he was run over by a mail truck he was trying to fix. According to the 10 News report for San Diego, Harders was working on the Isuzu delivery vehicle in the 13500 block of Evening Creek Drive North on March 4, 2009 when the truck began to roll way. Harders tried to jump inside the truck to stop it, but slipped and fell. He ended up underneath the vehicle, which ran over him, San Diego Police Department officials said. Harders was pronounced dead at the scene.

What a tragic accident! I offer my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Leonard Harders. Here was a man who was just trying to do his job. Please keep the Harders family in your prayers.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Web site, there were 754,958 employees who worked for the U.S. Postal Service in 2007. During that year USPS reported 50,271 on-the-job injuries out of which nine were fatalities. About 16,800 cases involved injuries where workers had to take time off work.
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Published on: March 6, 2009

California Nursing Home Abuse

By Brian Chase

The family of 79-year-old Shirley Marion Renner has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Yuba City nursing home alleging negligence and abuse. According to this news report in the Appeal Democrat, Renner’s daughter and son – Valeree Espinoza and David Vestal — allege that their mother was horribly neglected at the Yuba Skilled Nursing Center. They say Renner suffered neck and spine injuries, severe bedsores, broken and missing teeth, “physical and emotional pain, desperation, abandonment, feelings of helplessness, anguish, shock, fear of imminent death” and eventually – death.

Although a Placer County death certificate lists heart attack and lung problems as causes of death, the Renner family complains that improperly treated bedsores, malnutrition and dehydration contributed to Renner’s failing health and death in November 2007. Renner has stayed about two years at the Emmanuel Health Care Center, which is now known as the Yuba Skilled Nursing Center and owned by Yuba Care & Rehabilitation Center Inc.

Renner’s son and daughter were also not informed about Renner’s poor condition including the bedsores, missing teeth and bruises on her arms and legs. Renner’s children eventually removed her from the nursing home because their mother thought she would die there. Although medical records have not yet been subpoenaed, Renner was apparently also given inappropriate psychotropic medications to treat dementia and Alzheimer’s. Yuba Skilled Nursing Center gets only a rating of two out of five stars from the Medicare Nursing Home Compare Web site. The nursing home also received eight complaints and two California Department of Public Health deficiencies in 2008.
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Published on: March 5, 2009

Ventura County Pedestrian Accident Injures Elderly Woman

By Brian Chase

Helen Shannon, 87, suffered critical injuries in a Moorpark pedestrian accident after a delivery truck driver backed over her and struck her, the Ventura County Star reports. Shannon was apparently walking down the sidewalk to her senior apartment complex on Park Lane the morning of March 4, 2009 when a truck driver failed to see her as he was backing out of a driveway.

A passerby who saw the Ventura pedestrian accident told the trucker that he had run over the woman. The truck driver then pulled forward, removing the large truck from Shannon’s legs. The injured victim was taken to an area hospital where she was listed in critical condition. Ventura County Sheriff’s Department officials say they don’t suspect the truck driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The 37-year-old driver from Fillmore had just finished making a delivery to a construction site when the pedestrian accident occurred.

What an unfortunate chain of events for this elderly woman! I understand she’s in critical condition and hope and pray she will have a speedy and complete recovery.
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Published on: March 5, 2009

Loose Boat on Interstate 5 in Sacramento Causes Injury Auto Accident

By Brian Chase

Several people were injured February 27, 2009 after an accident involving a boat that came loose from a trailer on the Interstate 5 in Sacramento, according to this KCRA News report. The accident occurred when the boat got unhitched from a pickup truck that was towing it southbound on the freeway, crossed a median into the northbound lanes and smashed into an oncoming car.

I’m relieved that this California auto accident did not result in major injuries or fatalities. There is no question that this could’ve turned out a lot worse. I wish the injured victims the very best for a quick and complete recovery. Please keep them in your prayers.
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Published on: March 4, 2009

Woman Killed in Rancho Mirage Pedestrian Accident

By Brian Chase

Cruz Marina Hurtado, 61, of Palm Desert died in a Rancho Mirage auto versus pedestrian accident after she was hit by a vehicle on Highway 111. According to this news report in The Desert Sun, Hurtado tried to cross Highway 111 at Rancho Las Palmas Drive the afternoon of February 28, 2009 when the accident occurred, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department officials said. Police investigators say Hurtado was not using a crosswalk when she was hit by the vehicle, which was northbound on the highway. The investigation is still continuing and anyone who saw this incident is asked to call the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at 951-836-1600.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Cruz Marina Hurtado for their tragic loss. Please keep them in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2006 Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System, there were two Riverside pedestrian accident fatalities and six injuries involving pedestrians in Rancho Mirage. In Riverside County as a whole, 48 fatalities and 436 injuries were attributed to pedestrian accidents during the same period.
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Published on: March 4, 2009

Los Angeles Distributor of Toxic Toothpaste Pays Penalty

By Brian Chase

Selective Imports, a Los Angeles company that imported 80,000 tubes of toxic toothpaste from China, has pleaded no contest in court and agreed to pay $33,000 in fines to a local charity, according to this news report. The poisonous toothpaste, which was made in China, was apparently sold in the United States as Cooldent. The contaminated Cooldent toothpaste contained diethylene glycol (DEG), which is commonly used to make brake fluid and antifreeze. It is a known liver and kidney toxin. The company continued to sell the toxic toothpaste even after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had issued a product recall warning consumers about this dangerous and toxic toothpaste product.

The biggest concern is that a majority of the 80,000 tubes of the toothpaste remains unaccounted even as the recall remains in effect. A recent investigation by Channel 10 revealed that the toothpaste was on sale and on shelves in three stores in California. Owners apparently were not aware of the recall. Selective Imports pleaded no contest to selling an adulterated drug product and will be placed on three years probation.
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Published on: March 3, 2009

Near-Drowning in Rialto Backyard Swimming Pool

By Brian Chase

A 2-year-old boy nearly drowned after he fell into a backyard swimming pool in Rialto the afternoon of February 27, 2009, the San Bernardino Sun reports in this article. The toddler’s family members told Rialto fire officials that the toddler fell into the pool in the 1900 block of North Joyce Avenue while playing with another child. The other child then got a sibling to pull the toddler out of the swimming pool. An adult started doing CPR on the child. The children apparently got to the pool area through a sliding door.

When paramedics arrived on the scene, the toddler had a pulse, but wasn’t breathing. Thankfully, he started recovering on the way to the hospital. Fire officials told the newspaper that people should be watchful especially in California where good weather keeps families using their pools through the year. San Bernardino swimming pool accidents do not happen only in the summer, especially in California. Swimming pool safety cannot be overemphasized in Southern California.

It is extremely fortunate that this little boy survived this swimming pool accident. Young children, if they do not drown, can be left with catastrophic injuries to the brain after a near-drowning because very often this cuts off oxygen supply to the brain. The cost of treating these brain injuries can be extremely high and could run into millions of dollars. I hope this child in Rialto wasn’t seriously injured and I wish him the very best for a quick and complete recovery.
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Published on: March 2, 2009

Man Killed in San Diego Pedestrian Accident

By Brian Chase

Mohamed Abdirahman Husien, 82, was killed in a San Diego pedestrian accident after he was struck by an unlicensed driver on his way to prayer services at a nearby mosque. According to this news report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Husien was walking across University Avenue in City Heights the morning of February 28, 2009 when he was hit by a Honda sedan. The driver told San Diego police officials that he did not see Husien because it was dark.

Officials are also wondering whether to consider this a hit-and-run because the driver of the Honda did not stop after the accident. He told officers that he drove home soon after the accident, picked up his wife and drove back to the scene of the accident to explain the situation to officers. It is also not clear whether the driver of the Honda had any auto insurance coverage.

My heart goes out to the family of Mohamed Abdirahman Husien, who was tragically killed in this San Diego pedestrian accident. Apparently, he was a beloved and popular member of Masjid Alnasar, a neighborhood mosque. I offer my deepest sympathies to Husien’s family and friends. Please keep them in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2006 Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System, there were 25 fatalities and 518 injuries reported as a result of pedestrian accidents in San Diego. In San Diego County as a whole, there were 65 deaths and 940 injuries related to pedestrian accidents during the same period.
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Published on: March 1, 2009

Scaffolding Company Fined in San Diego Fatal Scaffolding Accident

By Brian Chase

A scaffolding company was responsible for the collapse of a wooden walkway cover in downtown San Diego that killed one man and injured 14 others in August, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has ruled after a lengthy investigation. According to this news report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Paramount Scaffold Inc. will be fined $10,120 for two serious violations of state safety regulations. The company created a hazard when workers stacked scaffolding planks and metal frames against the pedestrian canopy.

The August 28, 2008 San Diego wrongful death scaffolding collapse incident sent many to the hospital and critically injured 49-year-old Taylor Allen, who died February 12, 2009 of injuries he suffered. The company erected the canopy to protect pedestrians from debris from construction of an apartment complex on Imperial Avenue. Cal-OSHA’s report said four Paramount Scaffolding workers stacked planks and frames against the walkway the morning of Aug. 28. Later in the morning a crane operator saw the walkway buckling under the weight of the planks and warned others, but nothing was done about it. At about 12:20 p.m. the walkway collapsed.
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Published on: February 28, 2009

Orange County Nursing Home Negligence

By Brian Chase

An Anaheim nursing home has been fined $75,000 by the California Department of Health for incorrectly reporting that an elderly resident died of a heart attack when he actually choked to death on a tuna sandwich. CBS News reports in this article that California Health and Human Services documents show the Anaheim Crest Nursing Center resident suffered from dementia and was supposed to be given only pureed food.

The incident apparently occurred Sept, 9, but the Orange County nursing home falsely reported that he died of a heart attack. The nursing home did not divulge the fact that the resident had choked on the sandwich until the coroner ruled that the man choked to death. The nursing home’s attorney is saying that this happened because the nursing home conducted a second investigation after the autopsy and learned that the resident had grabbed a sandwich from a food tray. The nursing home is also appealing the $75,000 state fine.

Based on this news report, I get the sense that this was an attempted cover-up by nursing home staff. This man choked on a tuna sandwich. Obviously, someone at this Anaheim nursing home was not telling the truth. They changed the story after the coroner’s autopsy report came out that had a clearly stated cause of death.
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