California Injury Blog

Published on: December 15, 2007

Auto Defect in Nissan Infiniti Suspected in Highway Death

By Brian Chase

A defective seat mounting or restraint system is now suspected to be the cause of death of Gavin Fletcher, a popular Times Colonist sports editor, who was ejected from his Nissan Infiniti along with his driver’s seat when the Nissan crashed last year according to an article in the Times Colonist.

The Times Colonist quotes British Columbia coroner Rose Stanton, as saying their investigation has centered on mechanical issues and ” … that the cause of death may be partially as a result of a mechanical failure in Mr. Fletcher’s car.” The report goes on to say that Stanton is waiting on a response from experts who have been analyzing Fletcher’s Nissan Infiniti.

Reports of the accident investigation indicate that Fletcher was wearing his seatbelt and traveling the speed limit at the time of the accident. He apparently lost control of his vehicle, slid backwards striking a rock wall and that he and the driver’s seat were violently ejected through the rear windshield. Fletcher died instantly.
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Published on: December 14, 2007

AAJ Successfully Lobbies Against Restrictions On Medical Malpractice Claims

By Brian Chase

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) scored an important victory this week. According to the group’s President, Kathleen Flynn Peterson, the Senate with a 53-41 vote beat back a proposal to preempt state law and put sweeping limits on medical malpractice actions involving OB/GYN care.

Of all the issues before our country today, the Senate was in a way forced to vote on this issue, which was tacked on to – of all things – the Farm Bill! Although medical malpractice had nothing to do with farming, agriculture or biodiesel, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg insisted on “offering a draconian 30-page amendment that would have imposed every tort restriction imaginable in cases involving OB/GYN care in rural America,” Peterson explains.

These proposed restrictions would include everything from caps on damages to limits on fees to special protections for drug manufacturers. Isn’t that nice? To sneak in such an amendment as part of a Farm Bill that has nothing to do with tort reform. Had this legislation been passed, it would’ve seriously hurt mothers and babies who have already been hurt by medical malpractice. This would’ve seriously affected their legal rights and their rights as Americans to get justice.
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Published on: December 13, 2007

Napa Nursing Home Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Brian Chase

A Napa family is suing a local nursing home alleging that caregivers did not follow the care plan specified for the resident, which resulted in her death. According to an article in the Napa Valley Register, Eulalia Grimoldi died within a couple of months of being admitted to the Napa Nursing Center because of acute dehydration. Family members, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit, say they had specifically told the nursing home to “encourage Grimoldi to drink fluids.”

Grimoldi had been diagnosed with dementia when she was admitted into the nursing home in May 2006. In less than a month, nursing home staff had her admitted to a local hospital because they saw she had a “decreased level of consciousness.” However, hospital staff noted in their records that Grimoldi suffered from acute dehydration.

What is interesting is that the nursing home was fined $15,000 by the Department of Public Health “for failing to follow a care plan that called for staff to encourage Grimoldi to drink fluids.” According to the documents cited by the newspaper, health department officials had noted that this violation by the nursing home staff “presented imminent danger that death or serious harm would (or could) result.”
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Published on: December 12, 2007

Bicyclist Killed in Fatal Hemet DUI Accident, Driver Arrested

By Brian Chase

A 28-year-old female driver was arrested in Hemet on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence after she fatally struck a bicyclist on a city street, the local NBC news station reports. The 38-year-old bicyclist was reportedly riding on North Yale Street at about 8 p.m. Dec. 9 when the accident occurred, police told Channel 4.

The driver, Desiree Bliss, told officers that she was “distracted by something behind her” and turned to look back. She said she hit Danny Walton just as she turned her attention back to the road. Walton was taken to Hemet Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
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Published on: December 12, 2007

3 Killed, 4 Injured In Head-On Collision Near Indio

By Brian Chase

A head-on crash involving two vehicles on Highway 111 near Indio left three people, including an infant, dead and four others injured, according to a news report in The Desert Sun newspaper. Officials are still trying to determine what caused the early morning crash, which occurred in a farming community in small-town Mecca.

From this article, it seems as if not many people might have witnesses it. Neighbors told the newspaper they came out after hearing a loud noise. Apparently one of the vehicles drifted over to oncoming traffic causing the fatal collision. Those killed in the crash were Rafael Hernandez, 47, of Long Beach; Aileen Gutierrez, a 3-month old girl from Somerton, Ariz. and a third victim yet to be identified, the article said.

The four passengers, who suffered severe injuries, were reportedly airlifted to local hospitals. The injured victims’ names were not released either. The crash reportedly caused significant delays on the highway.
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Published on: December 11, 2007

Man Dies In Trailer Fire Possibly Sparked By A Remote-Control Car Battery

By Brian Chase

A man was dead in Norco after his trailer caught on fire sparked off by an electrical short from a remote-control car battery, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Donald Lee Moss, 38, was asleep in his trailer when flames ripped through the RV he was staying in, the article stated.

Moss had reportedly gone to bed just before the fire broke out and was apparently planning to race his remote-control cars the next day. The battery for the cars was charging as he slept, the newspaper reported.

The fire was so intense and so powerful that that the heat caused the windows to burst out, the article said. Neighbors tried to help Moss, but they didn’t know if he was inside or had made it out. Finally, one neighbor smashed open a window using a hammer. Moss had suffered severe burns and died at the Corona Regional Medical Center shortly after he was taken there.
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Published on: December 10, 2007

Vallejo Tanker Truck Accident Kills One, Three Injured

By Brian Chase

A 2006 Honda Civic collided with a Freightliner tanker truck on Highway 37 Friday morning killing Micheal McIntosh, 24, of Travis Air Force Base according to Vallejo, California fire officials, as reported on the Times-Herald website.

The big rig accident occurred at about 2:30 a.m. when the Honda spun into the path of the oncoming Freightliner tanker truck, just west of the Mare Island Bridge the California Highway Patrol said. The driver of the Honda, Hannah Johnson, 20, of Fairfield allegedly lost control while traveling about 60 mph, east bound on Highway 37. Johnson sustained moderate injuries.

Jonathan Dinisio, 27, of Solvang, another passenger in the Honda, was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center with major injuries. According to the Times-Herald news report, fire officials said it took 19 minutes to extract Dinisio from the Honda after the 14 minutes it took to get McIntosh out. McIntosh died on the way to the hospital from major head injuries, fire officials said.
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Published on: December 10, 2007

Lead-Tainted Toys Take the Fun Out of Christmas Shopping for Anxious Parents

By Brian Chase

While it’s not necessarily a quick fix, there may be a way parents can protect their children from unsafe toys containing lead-based paint this holiday season. According to National Public Radio, there are a few inexpensive testing kits out there that will allow parents to test toys for lead before putting them under the tree.

The test sets usually call for a Q-tip-type instrument (think CSI), to be dipped into a clear solution, which is then applied and rubbed onto the toy for approximately 30 seconds. Apparently, the more lead on the toy’s surface the faster the solution will react. According to Dave Lachance, developer of one of the lead test kits, Abotex Lead Inspector (which sells for $13), if the color changes to dark black it is indicative of high levels of lead. The solution can take up to 10 minutes plus to react to lower lead concentrations, Lachance said. Not surprisingly, the toy Lachance tested for his story came from China, from which many lead-based toys have been recalled this year.
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Published on: December 9, 2007

Jury Awards $36.5 Million to Family Of Man Killed In a Big Rig Crash

By Brian Chase

An Arizona jury awarded $36.5 million this week to the family of a man who was killed in a Kansas big rig crash. According to an article in the Arizona Republic, the four-week trial ended the way it did because the trucking company did not want to hand over driver logs that the company is required to maintain under federal regulations.

The verdict included more than $13.5 million in punitive damages. The logs, which Swift Transportation Co. said it could not produce, would have helped plaintiff’s attorneys and jurors determine whether the big rig driver was driving more hours than he was legally permitted or whether he was fatigued at the time of the crash. The jury not only considered the truck company’s attitude in this case but also the fact that the accident victim, 57-year-old Thomas Steven, was survived by his wife and eight children, ranging in age from 13 to 26, the newspaper reported. Steven was reportedly the owner of a plumbing supply business in Wichita.

The crash happened in April 2004 when the big rig driver did not slow down on a Kansas highway intersection. He reportedly cruised over three sets of rumble strips meant to caution drivers about an approaching stop sign. Then, he drove right through the stop sign and slammed into Steven’s Chevy Suburban, killing him. Steven’s two passengers suffered serious injuries. After the crash, the big rig driver, Kevin Jones, was not able to explain why he did not stop.
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Published on: December 8, 2007

State Officials Slap $100,000 Fine On Fontana Nursing Home

By Brian Chase

State officials have imposed a $100,000 fine on a Fontana nursing home in connection with the death of a resident in March, the Riverside Press Enterprise reports. As it turns out, it is the second death for which Citrus Nursing Center has been blamed for in the last three years, the newspaper article says.

The nursing home was cited most recently in October for not taking care of a 91-year-old woman who was dropped on her head. A staff member reportedly did not follow proper procedure while moving the woman from a wheelchair to a bed, according to California Department of Public Health records. The woman died nine days after taking the fall. Interestingly enough, this incident happened Feb. 24, only two weeks after the staff member was trained on how to use the portable lift she attempted to use to transfer the resident in question.

The citation given to Citrus is termed an “AA” citation – which means, it is the most severe penalty that can be issued by law. The nursing home is yet to pay the fine, officials told the newspaper. And apparently, this is not the company’s first violation. Previously, they’ve been cited for failing to contact a doctor about a patient’s worsening condition from a deadly bacterial infection. In another instance, they did not contact the doctor of a diabetic patient, whose blood sugar levels were unsafe.
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