California Injury Blog

Published on: January 20, 2009

John Bisnar and Brian Chase named 2009 Orange County Super Lawyers

By Brian Chase

My partner Brian Chase and I have been named once again as “Super Lawyers.” This is the second consecutive year that I have had the honor of being named on this prestigious list and the fourth consecutive time for my partner, Brian Chase. According to Super Lawyers web site, they define themselves as a “listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.”

Being listed on Super Lawyers is particularly valuable to me because it gives recognition from one’s own peers. Also importantly, this list is published as a special supplement in leading newspapers and city and regional magazines across the country. The Super Lawyers magazine, featuring articles about attorneys named to the Super Lawyers list, is distributed to all attorneys in the state or region, the lead corporate counsel of Russell 3000 companies and the ABA-approved law school libraries. The goal of the Super Lawyers selection process is to create a “credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys” that can be used as a resource for consumers and attorneys who are looking for a high caliber of legal counsel.

This year, the organization invited more than 800,000 attorneys to participate in the survey. California is the only state other than New York and Washington D.C. where the survey is conducted by region. The selection process is quite intensive. In the end, only 5 percent of the nation’s attorneys get this distinction of being named a “Super Lawyer.” The organization asks lawyers around the country to nominate the best attorneys they have personally observed in action. Each nomination carries a point value. A nomination from someone outside the lawyer’s firm carries a greater point value. The organization also has a sophisticated database, which helps keep track of who nominates whom to detect lawyers nominating each other or instances where members of the same law firm all cast identical ballots.
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Published on: January 20, 2009

Woman Brain-Injured by LAPD Cop Car Gets $4.5 Million

By Brian Chase

A woman, who suffered severe brain injuries that left her permanently disabled after her car was broadsided by a Los Angeles Police Department vehicle will get $4.5 million in a settlement approved recently by the Los Angeles City Council. According to a news report, Sandra Griffin was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked Nissan Altima just before midnight on September 9, 2006, when an LAPD patrol car driven by Officer Scotty Stevens struck her.

The crash apparently occurred when Stevens swerved to avoid hitting another car that was blocking lanes at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Success Avenue. Griffin and her passenger reportedly suffered “extreme and severe mental anguish, shock, anxiety, severe injuries to their nervous systems as well as severe mental and physical pain and injury,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Personal injury cases that involve traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries that have resulted in permanent disability are extremely tragic. Most of these victims require 24/7 care and become dependent on someone else to perform ordinary functions such as eating, dressing, bathing and moving around. It may seem as if Sandra Griffin “won” a lot of money in this settlement. But this is no victory and the settlement is no jackpot.
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Published on: January 19, 2009

Toddler Critically Injured in Indio Swimming Pool Accident

By Brian Chase

A 2-year-old boy is in critical condition after he nearly drowned in his family pool on January 11, 2009, According to a Desert Sun article. The toddler, whose name was not released, was found after his mother noticed him missing from the house. The child was found submerged in the pool. Emergency personnel performed CPR on the toddler and transported him to a local hospital. The child is said to be hanging on to his life.

My heart goes out to this Riverside County family. I’m extremely glad that the child survived what could have been a fatal Riverside swimming pool accident. I hope the little one makes it out of this nightmare and I will pray for his quick and complete recovery.

This news report does not give any information about how the child got into the pool. Was there a gate around the pool? Was the pool gate closed or locked? These are important questions to ask. Had that child been a neighbor’s child or a visiting child that had fallen into the pool, the homeowners could be held financially responsible for the near drowning.
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Published on: January 18, 2009

Man Killed in San Mateo Pedestrian Accident

By Brian Chase

San Mateo authorities have indentified a 52-year-old man killed in a pedestrian accident as Gus Roubos. According to this news report in the San Mateo County Times, the San Mateo County Coroner is trying to determine whether Roubos died from pre-existing health conditions or as a result of injuries he suffered in the January 9, 2009 pedestrian accident after a suspected drunk driver hit him.

Officials say Roubos was released from the San Mateo Medical Center barely three minutes before the fatal crash. Eyewitnesses say that Roubos was crossing the street and walking in a crosswalk when the driver recklessly hit him. That driver, 57-year-old Louis James Henry of Pacifica, has been arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and driving under the influence.

My heart goes out to the family of Gus Roubos for their tragic loss. I offer my deepest condolences to them. Here’s a man who was just released from a hospital and he gets hit in a marked crosswalk by a driver, who according to this report, was negligent and possibly drunk Continue reading →

Published on: January 17, 2009

Ventura County Hit-and-Run Accident Kills Woman

By Brian Chase

Raquel Fuerte, a 58-year-old Santa Paula woman who had recently been knocked down and left seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in Ventura County, has now died. According to this news report in the Ventura County Star, Fuerte suffered the fatal injuries in a car versus pedestrian collision the evening of January 6, 2009 at Santa Paula Street near Blanchard Avenue.

Apparently Fuerte was walking in the bike lane of Santa Paula Street for reasons not known at this point when she was struck down by what witnesses have described as a dark-colored BMW or Honda Accord. The driver of the vehicle fled the accident scene and is still being sought by authorities. If you have any information about this collision or were a witness to it, please call Sgt. Ismael Cordero or Detective Kenneth Clark at 525-4474. Fuerte, who had been in an area hospital after the incident, has now succumbed to her blunt-force head injuries, said Michael Tellez, a Ventura County deputy medical examiner.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Raquel Fuerte. Judging by the comments to this news article, she was clearly a well known and much loved resident. Please keep this family in your prayers.
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Published on: January 16, 2009

Man Killed in Orange County Pedestrian Accident

By Brian Chase

A 43-year-old man who was struck and killed in a Santa Ana pedestrian accident has been identified as Grzegor Szewczak of Costa Mesa. According to this news report in the Orange County Register, Szewczak was crossing Harbor Boulevard near 17th Street on January 13, 2009 when he was struck by a vehicle traveling south, Santa Ana police officials said.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Grzegor Szewczak. They will certainly be in my prayers.

According to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System, in 2006, in the city of Santa Ana, there were seven Santa Ana pedestrian accident related fatalities and 127 injuries attributed to pedestrian accidents. In Orange County as a whole, there were 45 deaths and 802 injuries attributed to pedestrian accidents during the same year.
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Published on: January 15, 2009

Nationwide Salmonella Outbreak Claims Three Lives

By Brian Chase

Three deaths associated with a nationwide salmonella outbreak occurred in Virginia and Minnesota, officials for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have confirmed. According to this Associated Press news report, health officials are urging nursing homes, hospitals, universities and restaurants to throw out specific five-pound containers of King Nut peanut butter that has been linked to the salmonella outbreak, which has now sickened more than 400 people in 42 states. California has the highest number of afflicted people with 55 victims now. No deaths have been reported yet in California.

The contaminated peanut butter was apparently not supplied to retailers. However, it was distributed to nursing homes, schools, universities and restaurants. Officials fear that hundreds of illnesses and these three deaths were caused by the salmonella-tainted peanut butter. Officials had earlier found a match between samples from a King Nut container and the strains of salmonella bacteria making people sick across the country. King Nut has also recalled its King Nut and Parnell’s Pride brands with a lot code that begins with the number “8.” CDC officials say the salmonella bacteria in the current outbreak have been genetically fingerprinted as the Typhimurium type.

As each day goes by, it is becoming increasingly clear that the contaminated peanut butter triggered this horrendous salmonella outbreak. With food-borne illnesses, there could also be cross-contamination, which helps spread the illness even further. For example, if a knife that was used in the tainted peanut butter is also used in some other food, then that food becomes contaminated as well.
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Published on: January 14, 2009

Orange County Teenager Killed in Lake Elsinore Motorcycle Accident

By Brian Chase

Lucas Robert Reiss, 18, died in a motorcycle accident the afternoon of January 9, 2009 on the Ortega Highway in Lake Elsinore, according to a Orange County Register article. Reiss, a resident of San Juan Capistrano, was riding a 2007 Suzuki on the westbound lanes of the highway near El Cariso Village and 46-year-old Geoffrey Keesey was traveling eastbound in a 2004 Chevy truck. Keesey had crossed into the opposite side of the road to pass another eastbound and slower truck. Reiss had to swerve to avoid Keesey’s truck, steering the motorcycle to the right and hitting a metal guardrail.

California Highway Patrol officials said Keesey did not stop at the scene of the crash, but was located later that day with the help of some eyewitnesses. Reiss was transported to an area hospital where he died an hour after the collision. The crash is still under investigation. No arrests have been made or citations issued pending the investigation.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family of young Lucas Robert Reiss who died in this tragic motorcycle accident. Please keep them in your prayers.
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Published on: January 13, 2009

West Los Angeles School Bus Accident Injures 25

By Brian Chase

At least 23 Lennox Middle School students and two adults were injured in a school bus accident on the 405 (San Diego) Freeway in Los Angeles on January 10, 2009 as the children were returning from a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. According to this news report in the Los Angeles Times, the students were treated for bruises, scratches and pains at local hospitals. The school bus crash occurred on the northbound 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles near Palms Boulevard where road work was going on.

The Times quotes several students including 13-year-old Vanessa Gonzalez, who was apparently knocked several feet out of her seat when the bus was rear-ended. Vanessa says she hurt her hip and her back and was “in a lot of pain.” Both drivers – 22-year-old Ulises Torres and 35-year-old Carmen Gutierrez, were evaluated at the scene for signs of impairment. But California Highway Patrol officials say the drivers were not operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The two buses, operated by Durham School Services, were traveling between 50 to 55 mph in moderate traffic when traffic suddenly slowed to a stop. The lead bus came to an abrupt stop and the second bus crashed into it.

My heart goes out to all these children, who were shaken up by such a traumatic Los Angeles school bus incident as they were enjoying a field trip. I’m extremely relieved that none of them was seriously injured in this Los Angeles school bus crash. I wish the injured victims the very best for a quick and complete recovery.
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Published on: January 13, 2009

California Supreme Court Decides to Say “No” to ER Balance Billing

By Brian Chase

This is a victory for patients and California consumers. I’m talking about the California Supreme Court’s decision, which firmly establishes that emergency room physicians may not go after patients to collect any remaining balance remaining after being paid for their services by the patient’s HMO. Before the court’s decision ER physicians had this practice of hounding patients to pay additional bills for emergency services, often sending collection agencies after them. Our source for this blog was this news report in the San Francisco Business Times.

How big is this problem? A 2007 study by the California Association of Health Plans, an HMO industry group, reports that more than 1.8 million insured Californians who visited emergency rooms between 2005 and 2007, received bills on top of their copayments and deductibles. The average bill was $300, translating to an overall tab (for that two-year period) of $528 million.

State law requires that ER physicians perform emergency services to stabilize a patient. If the patient has HMO, then the HMO is required to pay for such emergency care. The problem, however, is that in emergency situations, HMOs may not have had a prior contract with the physician who is performing that service. So there has been increasing friction between the HMOs and emergency physicians about the discrepancy between what the HMOs will pay and what the physician has billed or will accept. This situation has forced many ER physicians to bill patients directly for the balance.
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