California Injury Blog

Published on: November 10, 2007

Investigators Catch Unlicensed Embalmer At Well-Known San Diego Mortuary

By Brian Chase

A San Diego area mortuary has been put on probation and a former director’s license has been revoked because he allowed an employee to embalm bodies without a California license. According to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Poway-Bernardo Mortuary, recently featured on A & E Channel’s program called “Family Plots,” has been accused of engaging in unlicensed embalming, fraud, negligence, incompetence and unprofessional conduct.

An investigator at the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau reportedly got a tip from a staff member at the mortuary that director, Richard Sadler, was allowing an unlicensed employee to embalm remains. Sadler no longer works there, the newspaper reported. The mortuary may still operate, but under the careful observation of state officials. It could take up to three years to restore its good standing with officials, the article said.

An investigator reportedly caught the mortuary “in the act” of violation on July 27, 2006 when he paid an unannounced visit and found an employee wearing an apron with blood on it. The employee at first told the investigator he hadn’t done any embalming, but later recanted his story and admitted to doing it. Sadler reportedly paid this man $100 per embalming under the table and told employees to “keep it quiet.”
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Published on: November 9, 2007

Merck Approves $4.85 Billion Settlement for Vioxx Victims

By Brian Chase

The big news this morning is that pharmaceutical giant Merck is handing out Vioxx claimants what could well be the biggest payout in the history of civil cases. Company officials today approved a $4.85 billion settlement to make payments out to almost 50,000 claims filed against the company involving the drug Vioxx, which many claim had disastrous side effects such as strokes and heart attacks.

The deal will take effect only if 85 percent of all plaintiffs agree to drop their cases, according to an Associated Press news report this morning. Eventually, Merck pulled the defective drug off the shelves, but many say that was too little too late. The damage had already been done. The giant settlement means that Merck will just pay out the money without admitting any fault or that it manufactured, marketed or sold a defective drug.

The deal has reportedly been in the works for several days now, according to the AP report. Those who have been following the trial will no doubt be surprised by this sudden announcement. So far, Merck has successfully defended many of these Vioxx cases. But company officials made the decision because their legal bills would run into billions over the many years this process takes to complete itself.
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Published on: November 8, 2007

Jury Awards $3.6 Million to Parents of Florida Girl Who Died in ATV Crash

By Brian Chase

A Florida jury has awarded $3.6 million to the family of a 13-year-old who was killed in an ATV accident four years ago. Jurors found that the family that owned the all-terrain vehicle was negligent in the September 2003 crash that happened in a gated Delray beach community, according to an article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Parents of the teenager – Duane and Cathy Hennarichs – sued Roger and Karen Fina, owners of the ATV. The Hennarichs’ daughter, Sara, died riding an ATV that was meant for those 16 and older, the article stated. Jurors ruled that the Finas along with their 17-year-old son were negligent and hence liable for Sara’s death. Jurors assigned most of the liability to the Finas, 15 percent to a third party and 5 percent to Sara herself.

Sara’s parents reportedly heaved a sigh of relief because they said it was a confirmation of what they believed all along – that it was not their daughter’s fault that she died. The decision and the award will not bring their daughter back or fill the void in their lives, but will help them move on to some extent, an attorney for the Hennarichs told the Sun-Sentinel.
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Published on: November 7, 2007

Dad Who Lost Wife and 2 Kids In Street Racing Crash Files $100-million Lawsuit

By Brian Chase

An El Monte dad has filed a $100-million lawsuit against two men whose street-racing caused the deaths of his wife and two young children. The Whittier Daily News reports that Stephen Groce has also named Nissan North America in the product liability lawsuit stating that the 2002 Nissan Altima Dora Groce was driving at the time of the fiery crash on Oct. 16 had a defective fuel tank that exploded and caused the deaths.

The lawsuit announcement came on Tuesday, only two hours after the two men suspected of causing the crash – Martin Marones, 21 and Robert Canizalez, 19 – were charged with three counts of murder and face 15 years to life in prison for each one of those counts. Canizalez was arrested at the scene, but Marones fled, crossed the border and went into hiding at an aunt’s place in Mexico. He was arrested and brought back to the United States earlier this week, according to news reports.

Dora Groce was reportedly driving her children, ages 8 and 4, to a doctor’s appointment when the two men, who were involved in a street race on a residential street, broadsided her Altima. Groce’s car was pushed into a stopped pickup truck and burst into flames with the family inside. According to the article, autopsy reports show the mom died on impact, but that the children died because of the fire.
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Published on: November 6, 2007

BLOG EXTRA: Violent Head-On Collision Kills One In Huntington Beach

By Brian Chase

This is the kind of accident that you may only see on screen. In Huntington Beach, one person was left dead after a horrific head-on collision that ripped a compact car in half. According to The Orange County Register, the fatal auto accident occurred at the intersection of Edinger Avenue and Newland Street Monday afternoon.

The Honda Accord and Toyota 4Runner rammed into each other after one of the vehicles lost control, hurtling toward oncoming traffic. One man riding in the Accord managed to escape with minor injuries even after that car was torn apart. The driver of the 4Runner is also listed in fair condition.

Published on: November 6, 2007

Biker Killed By Elderly Driver – Family Awarded $12.5 Million

By Brian Chase

A jury on Friday awarded $12.5 million to a Thousand Oaks family of a local bicyclist who was hit and killed by a woman whose eyesight was impaired by cataracts, according to an Associated Press news report. The family of the deceased man Glenn Garvin, 49, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the 82-year-old driver, the report said.

Norma Seigel was reportedly driving a new Lexus Sept. 16, 2006, when she struck Garvin from behind. Garvin was riding in the bicycle lane. According to the lawsuit Seigel had not only recently found out that she had cataracts in both eyes, but had also been involved in a rear-end crash six months before this fatal crash.

Garvin’s widow, Pamela, told reporters that her late husband was a city traffic safety commissioner who educated people about bicycle safety. Seigel reportedly acknowledged even before the trial that she was responsible for Garvin’s death.
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Published on: November 5, 2007

What Can Victimized Borrowers Do About Predatory Lenders?

By Brian Chase

The term “predatory lending” is used to describe a variety of fraudulent lending practices. In other words, these unethical lenders try to shove a mortgage down your throat that you cannot afford and usually succeed at doing it. They give you misinformation, lure you with false promises and use all sorts of sales tactics not considering for a minute whether the borrower has the income, assets or the ability to make the scheduled payments.

So what can victims of such fraudulent lending schemes do to right this wrong? Can they be rescued from a mortgage that threatens to put them on the path to foreclosure and financial ruin? The answer is – yes, it is possible. The legal remedies available to victims of predatory lending depend quite a bit on what kind of documented evidence the defrauded homebuyer has in his or her hands. These loans also include high fees piled on top of the mortgage, which makes it worse.

The best legal remedy for such a borrower is to seek what is known as “rescission” of the bad loan. What does this mean? Basically, that the bad loan will be erased and replaced with a loan that the buyer can afford. Not only that, but the principal owed will be drastically reduced because the fraudulent lender will be asked to pay a portion of the interest and the unjustified fees plus attorney’s fees.

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Published on: November 4, 2007

Massive Pileup on Fresno Highway Leaves Two Dead and Many Injured

By Brian Chase

A whopping 108 vehicles, including 18 big rigs, were involved in a massive pileup on the California 99 Highway in Fresno Saturday that killed at least two people and snarled traffic on one of the state’s major north-south routes, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

While authorities investigating the crash believe that thick fog and excessive and unsafe speeds by several vehicles were major factors in the crash, police also arrested a 62-year old man on suspicion of drunk driving. This man’s car was reportedly near the front of the pile-up and authorities believe he may have contributed to one of the most horrific chain-reaction crashes in recent times. In fact, officials say it is one of the worst accidents on Highway 99 in the last decade.

Travis Rogers, 26 and an unidentified 5-year-old boy were killed in a separate vehicle, the article said. More than 35 people were transported by paramedics to various local hospitals. It was reportedly chaos on the highway. Many were trapped in their vehicles and had to be extricated. One car slid under a big rig. Hazmat crews were mopping up diesel fuel leaked from all the trucks involved in the crash.
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Published on: November 3, 2007

Passengers Of DUI Driver Pay Ultimate Price in Santa Barbara Auto Accident

By Brian Chase

Sara, 21 and Kelly, 26 must have been having the time of their lives riding around in Beau James Robertson’s 2002 Chevrolet Camaro! In fact, as it turns out, Sara, Beau’s girlfriend, was in town to celebrate Beau’s 29th birthday. But, the celebration came to an abrupt end when Beau drove his Camaro off an overpass and onto U.S. Highway 101 where it was struck by an oncoming vehicle killing both Sara and Kelly, according to a news article posted on NBC’s Web site.

According to witnesses, Beau was speeding and attempted to make a right turn onto San Ysidro Road in Montecito, an area adjacent to Santa Barbara, the article states. Beau lost control of the car and crossed into the opposite lane, jumping the curb and blasting through the overpass’s metal guardrail.

The car dropped roughly 40 feet and landed on the passenger side atop the southbound side of Highway 101, with its roof facing oncoming traffic. According to NBC’s report, almost immediately, a family of five in a 1996 Silver Honda Sedan crashed into the Camaro at normal freeway speeds, sending it somersaulting. Sara and Kelly, neither of whom wore seat belts, were ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.
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Published on: November 2, 2007

Massachusetts Nursing Home Indicted On Manslaughter Charges

By Brian Chase

Life Care Centers of America, a nursing home chain based in Tennessee that operates 13 nursing homes here in California, was recently indicted by a Middlesex, Mass. grand jury on charges of manslaughter, abuse and neglect of a long-term facility resident. According to the Boston Globe, this is the first time in Massachusetts that a national corporation has faced criminal manslaughter charges, said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

The charges stemmed from the death of Julia McCauley, a patient at the home who was prone to wandering the facility in her wheelchair. So her worried doctors had McCauley fitted with a tan plastic bracelet, called WanderGuard, that would set off an alarm and lock the doors if she wandered too close to the exits. So, how is it that McCauley was found in her overturned wheelchair dead at the bottom of the nursing home’s front stairs with a 3-inch gash in her forehead?

And where was the Wanderguard bracelet mandated by her doctor? McCauley’s WanderGuard was nowhere to be found! Her doctor’s orders required that the WanderGuard be checked once a day to ensure that it was on the patient and fully operating, but strangely those orders were not ever entered into her chart and she had not been wearing the bracelet for 2 ½ months prior to the fall that led to her death.
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