California Injury Blog

Published on: November 21, 2007

Columnist Who Criticizes Personal Injury Attorneys and the Justice System Fails To See the Big Picture

By Brian Chase

In his Nov. 17 “Talking Business” Column, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera meted out a scathing criticism of personal injury attorneys who represent about 27,000 victims of the defective drug, Vioxx, manufactured and aggressively marketed by pharmaceutical giant, Merck, a few years ago. I am one of those attorneys he criticized.

Nocera’s problem is not only with plaintiffs’ attorneys but with the justice system. His column is titled “Forget Fair; It’s Litigation as Usual.” Nocera asks this question: “Is a mass tort really the right mechanism to settle disputes about product safety, or to punish corporate wrongdoing?”

His answer, if you can guess from that sarcastic headline, is a resounding “no.” Nocera argues that product liability lawsuits make personal injury lawyers rich and leaves the people who were really affected with very little. He calls it an “unfair” system and a “rogue form of regulation.”

Well, Mr. Nocera, when the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t do its job and greedy corporate giants in the pharmaceutical and auto industry flood the market with defective products, who else is there to “regulate”?

The plaintiff’s attorneys of America make it their business to go after wrongdoers and hold them accountable. Mr. Nocera, how would you suggest holding Merck and other corporate giants liable when they have injured the public? Your article didn’t have an answer, it only complained about the only effective process we currently have in this country — a process that works.
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Published on: November 21, 2007

Orange County Girl Dies in DUI Crash When Ford Explorer Rolls Over

By Brian Chase

Natasha Dannov, by all accounts a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky teenager from Fountain Valley, died early Sunday morning in an auto accident on the Interstate 5 when the 2000 Ford Explorer she was a passenger in, rolled over near Oceanside.

According to an article in The Orange County Register, Dannov’s best friend of 10 years, Marian Teri Kahale, also 18, who was driving the Explorer at the time, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter.

The girls had reportedly gone to a party Saturday night at Mission Viejo where they had been drinking, according to Dannov’s mother, Isabelle, who was quoted in the Register article. Around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, the teens were on their way home when Kahale realized she was heading south near Oceanside on the I-5 instead of north. It was around that time that Kahale reportedly lost control of the sport utility vehicle.

The Explorer careened off the freeway, overturned and struck a guardrail ejecting Dannov, who was sleeping in the car without wearing her seatbelt. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Camp Pendleton fire officials, the newspaper reported. Kahale survived with moderate injuries, but was arrested and detained with bail set at $250,000. The state Alcohol Beverages Control Board and the CHP are also reportedly looking into who provided alcohol to the teens over a 24-hour period before the crash. Both were obviously underage.

This is yet another tragic incident that is heartbreaking not only for the Dannov family, but also the Kahale family given how close the two girls were. It seems as if a lot of young people think they are invincible when it comes to drunk driving. There is the general feeling and attitude of: “It won’t happen to me” or “I can handle it.” These are but illusions. An impaired driver is just that – someone who will not be able to handle the vehicle and puts not only his or her life in jeopardy, but also the passengers riding with them as well as other drivers on the road.
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Published on: November 19, 2007

Lawsuits Claim Hospital Knew About Sex Attacks By Male Nursing Assistant

By Brian Chase

Five lawsuits filed against the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center accuse the hospital of knowing that one of the male nursing assistant molested and even sexually assaulted patients at the facility and doing absolutely nothing about it. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Daily News, the complaints filed against the hospital allege that hospital officials knew about the nurse’s despicable conduct toward several female patients before he was suspended in April 2006.

The lawsuits also allege that the hospital did not do enough background checks on Ramon Eduardo Rodas Gaspar, who is now on the run and wanted by police on suspicion of molesting more than 10 women who were sedated after surgery, the newspaper reported. Plaintiffs’ attorneys say the most appalling aspect of the lawsuit is that the hospital did nothing to protect patients even after officials knew what Gaspar was up to.

An attorney for the hospital of course denies that allegation. According to hospital officials, there was only one complaint against Gaspar before 2006 and that was largely unsubstantiated in an internal investigation. But among the complainants is also a female nurse who said Gaspar groped and sexually harassed her soon after he was hired in 2004. She reported it to the hospital, but nothing came out of it.
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Published on: November 18, 2007

Orange County DUI Fatal Crash: An Unnecessary Tragedy

By Brian Chase

Update: Brian Burchfield has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A 21-year-old Yorba Linda woman died in a head-on crash in Orange County, which officials say was possibly caused by two people driving under the influence. According to a news article in The Orange County Register Ashley Knight was a passenger in one of the cars, a 2002 Honda Civic being driven by 23-year-old Samira Bahu.

Investigators, who sifted through evidence at the crash site for nine hours, say Brian Burchfield, 22, of Irvine, was driving his Toyota Tacoma and going the wrong way on the 22 Freeway. Bahu was trying to merge on to the 22 from the 55 Freeway when Burchfield crashed head-on into the Civic, the Register article stated.

Both Bahu and Burchfield reportedly suffered critical injuries. And both were also placed under arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence. Knight, who was riding with Bahu, died at the scene.
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Published on: November 17, 2007

LAPD Officers Shoot Pit-bull To Save Man’s Life

By Brian Chase

This is one of those stories that you cannot even imagine happening to you or someone you know. Two LAPD officers are being honored for saving the life of a man who was being mauled by a pit-bull, according to a news article in the Los Angeles Daily News.

The horrific details of this attack are described in the Daily News article. Detective Mark Hahn and Andy Moody heard the 53-year-old man’s cries for help when they were driving near 97th and Hoover streets. The man was reportedly hiding under a parked car to escape the wrath of a pit-bull.

As the detectives ran to help him, the dog got under the car and bit the man’s leg, then actually dragged him from under the car and mauled him. By this time, people were gathering around to help the poor guy and stop the dog from killing him. Someone threw water on the dog. One of the detectives grabbed a shovel and hit the pit-bull on its head but even that didn’t stop the dog. It continued to maul the man, tearing down the flesh on his face and head!
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Published on: November 16, 2007

Hit-and-Run Auto Accident Causes Anguish to Southern California Family

By Brian Chase

The family of a 21-year-old Carson man is trying to find the person who ran over their loved one on the street and then sped away as if he were nothing more than roadkill, according to an article in the Daily Breeze. The accident occurred Monday in Huntington Park where Jaime Perez was riding motorcycles with his friends, the article reported.

Perez reportedly fell off his motorcycle after he collided with another vehicle. At the time, another car ran him over and the driver sped off without stopping. Perez’s family members who are already grieving the untimely death of Perez are further angered and upset by the manner in which the hit-and-run driver acted.

Perez’s older brother, Doug Sanchez, is quoted in the Breeze article: “He is not roadkill. He is a human being.”
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Published on: November 15, 2007

Car Seats: When Installed Properly Can Save Lives And Prevent Injuries

By Brian Chase

So many infants and toddlers are injured or die every year because of car seats that are not installed properly. Knowledge about car seats and how to install them is freely and widely available on the Internet. But how many parents really know what they’re doing when it comes to their children’s car seats?

Recently volunteers at SafetyBeltSafe USA, a national safety organization, held a free safety seat check up in Whittier. They were not surprised to see what many parents did not know, according to an article in the Whittier Daily News.

At this event, organizers saw parents who found out if their booster seats had been recalled or expired. Many, like Angela Pulido whose child’s car seat kept tilting to one side every time she turned her van, were able to get help with how to install the car seat properly. Volunteers also saw that some people had been given incorrect information about how to install the car seat, the article said. Here’s an amazing number from the group’s director Stephanie Tombrello: About 90 percent of parents who come through SafetyBeltSafe’s checkups make at least one error when installing their car seats – some of them potentially fatal.
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Published on: November 14, 2007

Catholic Church Abuse Victim To Get $ 3 Million From Diocese

By Brian Chase

The Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania has agreed to pay $3 million to a man who brought a federal civil suit against the diocese saying that they didn’t do anything about a priest who abused him as a teen. The man, identified only as John Doe in court filings, said in his lawsuit that former priest Albert M. Liberatore, who is now 42, abused him from 1999 to 2002 when he was pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea, according to a news report in The Times-Tribune.

The complaint also alleged that the diocese, bishop and other higher-ups did nothing to prevent further abuse from happening and didn’t even heed warnings that this was going on in one of their parishes. Liberatore was defrocked only in 2005 when he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing this victim. He was sentenced to 10 years probation, the article said.

While the priest got to remain free, the victim was reportedly living a nightmare. The abuse led to substance abuse and addiction making it impossible for him to get anywhere with his education. The plaintiff’s attorney told the newspaper that this case was all about the Catholic Church taking “legal and moral” responsibility for not doing enough to protect its children and parishioners – the people who look up to them for moral and spiritual guidance.
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Published on: November 13, 2007

Train Crash Victim’s Family Awarded $10.9 Million By Jury

By Brian Chase

A Texas jury has awarded $10.9 million to the family of a woman who was killed after her truck was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Louisiana. According to an Associated Press news report, the family plans to the use the money to care for Patsy Adroin’s 4-year-old daughter, Jasmine Cezar, who survived the horrific accident, but is paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the July 2005 crash.

The crash reportedly occurred when Adroin stopped at a stop sign in front of the said crossing at Vinta, La., which did not have any automatic gates or lights, the article said. When Adroin then drove on over the tracks, she got hit by a passing Union Pacific train. Jurors, who deliberated after a trial that lasted more than two weeks, assigned 65 percent of the blame on Union Pacific, 15 percent on Adroin and 20 percent on the state of Louisiana.

Union Pacific officials say they will appeal the case and are disappointed by the verdict. The company has also sued the town of Vinton and Adroin’s estate, which is still pending.
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Published on: November 12, 2007

Florida Appeals Court Reverses $60 Million Jury Award Against Ford in Explorer Rollover Crash

By Brian Chase

A Florida Appeals Court has overturned a record $60 million jury verdict awarded to the parents of a 17-year-old boy who died after the 1996 Ford Explorer he was a passenger in rolled over, according to a Bloomberg News report. Lance Hall’s parents claimed in their product liability lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. that the Explorer sport utility vehicle’s design defects made it unstable.

A Miami jury in November 2005 awarded the Halls $61 million, making it the largest award against an auto maker that year. The trial court reduced that award by $1 million, the news report said. But last week, the appellate court completely negated the jury award and ordered a new trial because the panel said the trial court erred in allowing the Halls’ attorneys to present evidence of deaths and injuries in other Explorer rollovers without having them show similarities between the different accidents, the Bloomberg report said.

The Hall family reportedly plans to appeal this decision to the Florida Supreme Court. The plaintiff’s attorney said that they are prepared to go back to the trial court and fight Ford all over again if the Supreme Court rejects their appeal or does not consider it. Ford maintains that Hall died not because of defects in the Explorer, but because the driver of the vehicle fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle.
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