California Injury Blog

Published on: March 14, 2007

Activists Push for Tougher Truck Regulation

By Brian Chase

Several safety groups urged the federal government to toughen rules for big-rig and truck companies, stating that more than 100 people a week in this country are killed in large truck crashes, according to an Associated Press article posted in the Houston Chronicle.

The article states that Wyoming, Arkansas and Oklahoma are the deadliest states for big truck crashes while Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut are the safest, according to The Truck Safety Coalition. California saw a moderate increase in truck crashes – from 378 in 2001 to 428 in 2005. The group released state rankings, based on the number of fatalities per 100,000 residents during 2005, the most recent year with complete figures.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration “has failed miserably,” said Joan Claybrook, chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, which is part of the Truck Safety Coalition.

“It is shortchanging safety for the productivity and economic interests of the trucking industry.”

In 1999, when the agency was created, 5,380 people died in crashes with big trucks. Deaths in crashes of large trucks numbered 5,212 in 2005, plus 114,000 injured. Large trucks account for 3 percent of registered vehicles but 12-13 percent of traffic fatalities.

Victims say they are completely put off by the agency’s lack of action. Jane Mathis, of St. Augustine, Fla., complained that the motor carrier agency is proposing to require on-board electronic recorders that monitor hours of service on only about 465 of the more than 702,000 registered interstate motor carriers.
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Published on: March 13, 2007

Jury Reverses Vioxx Verdict, Merck Ordered to Fork out $20 Million

By Brian Chase

Merck & Company’s painkiller, Vioxx, contributed to an Idaho postal worker’s heart attack, a jury in Atlantic City ruled Monday, reversing the verdict in the man’s first trial and awarding him and his wife $20 million in damages, according an Associated Press article published in the New York Times on Monday.

The jury came back with the verdict in favor of Frederick Humeston, who lost his first trial in 2005 against the pharmaceutical giant, but was granted a second trial in light of new evidence that short-term use of Vioxx could cause significant harm as well. Merck insists Vioxx did not increase cardiac risks until after 18 months of use, but many doctors say research disproves that.

According to the Associated Press article, Merck has now won nine cases and lost five in the ever-increasing litigation over Vioxx, formerly a blockbuster arthritis pill.

Humeston, 61, of Boise, Idaho, suffered a heart attack in September 2001. But that was several months before Merck, under pressure from federal regulators, put a stronger warning about the cardiovascular risks of Vioxx on the drug’s detailed package insert.

Humeston had taken Vioxx intermittently for knee pain from a Vietnam War shrapnel wound. Merck removed Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after its own research showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The five-man, three-woman jury ruled on March 2 that Merck was negligent and did not provide adequate warning about the risks before Humeston suffered the heart attack. That set the stage for a second phase of the trial, with the jury last week hearing evidence on whether Vioxx contributed to the man’s heart attack, entitling him to damages.
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Published on: March 10, 2007

$50 Million Punitive Damages Award for Auto Defect Fatality

By Brian Chase

A San Pedro woman and her three children were awarded $50 million in punitive damages Wednesday in a wrongful death lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler Corp. in an auto product defect case.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that the auto maker knowingly and intentionally failed to correct an automatic transmission defect in the Dodge Dakota that led to the May 1, 2004 death of 38-year-old Richard Mraz, according to a news article based on wire reports published in the Daily Breeze.

The jury awarded the $50 million to Mraz’s widow, Adriana, and her children.

On March 2, the same jury found DaimlerChrysler liable for the death of Richard Mraz and returned a verdict of $5.2 million in compensatory damages for the family, the article said. Two of the children were Richard Mraz’s stepchildren and one was his biological child, according to the plaintiff’s attorney who was quoted in the article.

Richard Mraz suffered fatal head injuries when the 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup truck he was driving at his work site, the San Pedro/Long Beach Maritime Terminal, ran him over after he got out of the vehicle believing it was in park, the article stated. He died 17 days after the accident.

The jury found that a defect in the transmission was a substantial factor in Mraz’s death, and that DaimlerChrysler was negligent in the design of the vehicle.
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Published on: March 9, 2007

Seven Injured in Pomona Bus Crash

By Brian Chase

Seven people were injured, two critically, when a transit bus and pickup truck collided Monday in East Pomona, according to an Associated Press article posted on the San Jose Mercury News’ Web site.

Los Angeles County fire officials responded to the crash a little before 10 a.m. Monday.
According to news reports, one victim was in critical condition and was flown to a trauma center and another victim, who was originally listed in moderate condition was downgraded to “critical,” officials said.

Five other victims with mild to moderate injuries were treated and transported to local hospitals.

The names of the victims were not immediately released and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

The bus was operated by Foothill Transit, which provides bus service in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys.

As mentioned, the incident is still under investigation and we don’t know who was at fault. But we at Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys have dealt with hundreds of bus accident cases over the years that ended up in serious personal injuries or death.
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Published on: March 7, 2007

“Bad” Chicken puts Six Cardinals Players out of Commission

By Brian Chase

Apparently, food poisoning spares no one. Not even if you’re a ball player.

This is a story is reminiscent of the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings basketball rivalry. Lakers come to town, get food poisoning and then play their arch rivals to a close game. This time it’s Stanford and Arizona State.

Stanford went into its game Saturday against Arizona State with a handicap after six players came down with food poisoning, according to an article in the Tucson Citizen. As expected, the Cardinals lost to Arizona, playing without two of their starters – Mitch Johnson and Fred Washington — who were among the six afflicted players.

Well, it was close and the game went into overtime, but still, Arizona won 85-80 in overtime.

Many of the sick players were on IVs for most of Friday, according to the Tucson Citizen article. Apparently, they and others “ate bad chicken.” Many played despite their illness.

“I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. What can you do?” said Stanford coach Trent Johnson. “The game is going to be played no matter what…We’re like boxers. We get knocked down, but we get back up.”
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Published on: March 5, 2007

Dog Bites – A Crime?

By Brian Chase

A dog owner, who shirks responsibility when his or her pet bites someone, could end up in some hot water, according to a bill that passed in the Michigan State House on Thursday.

An Associated Press news report states that this bill proposes criminal penalties for dog owners who leave the scene of a biting incident without providing vaccination information and assistance to the bite victim.

A violation will be considered a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. The Bill is sponsored by Rep. Jee Mayes, a Democrat from Bay City, Mich.
The bill passed the House by a 98-5 vote. It now goes to the Senate.

Normally, bite victims can file civil lawsuits against dog owners. We should know. Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys has dealt with numerous dog bite injury cases, many of them horrific incidents involving small children, who have required plastic surgery.

But I agree that criminal prosecution should be an option as well. Dogs bite more than 4.7 million people a year in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of dog bites requiring medical attention has increased 15 times faster than the increase in dog ownership. In addition, there are 850,000 dog bites requiring medical attention in the U.S. annually and letter carriers suffer about 3,000 bites annually as they attempt to do their jobs.

These are alarming numbers and this is a problem that is getting worse, not better. Victims of dog bite attacks undergo a lot of pain and life-altering injuries, including deep skin wounds, loss of fingers, infections and scarring.
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Published on: March 3, 2007

Crash Leaves Boy in Critical Condition

By Brian Chase

A two-vehicle accident in Tustin left a 7-year-old boy in critical condition Wednesday, according to a news report in the Orange County Register.

The driver was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, the article stated.

The father of the injured boy, Patrick Fleury, and his other son aged 9, were also hospitalized for moderate injuries The accident occurred when a 2000 Chevrolet 1500 truck broadsided their Lincoln Town Car around 3:45 p.m. on 17th Street at the intersection of Holt Avenue in Tustin, traveling westbound, according to reports from the California Highway Patrol .

All three were transported to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for treatment, the article said.

The driver of the truck, Brian Cherrett, 32, had tried to turn left from the eastbound lanes of 17th Street onto Holt, striking the left side of Fleury’s vehicle, CHP reports said. Cherrett, of Orange, is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

The collision is under investigation by the CHP. Any witnesses with information are asked to call the CHP Santa Ana area office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 714-567-6000.
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Published on: March 2, 2007

Salmonella in Tainted Peanut Butter linked to Processing Plant

By Brian Chase

Federal health officials on Thursday confirmed that the salmonella in samples taken from the Georgia processing plant is consistent with the bacteria found in the contaminated Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, according to a news article in Healthday’s Website.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, inspections of ConAgra’s plant in Sylvester revealed the same strain of salmonella found in the peanut butter jars, which sickened 370 people across 42 states.

The article quotes Dr. David Acheson, FDA’s Director of Food Safety:

“All we know is that we’ve got salmonella bacteria that we found in the environment in the facility that matched the same strain that we found in patients that the states found in jars of peanut butter.”

He said the peanut butter became contaminated some time during the production process – between roasting and putting the product in the jar.

Experts say how the bacteria entered the plant will remain a mystery.

“How it got into the environment we’ll never know,” he said. “It may have come in on somebody’s feet; it’s possible there was somebody in the plant who was sick and didn’t know it. But that’s pure speculation.”
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Published on: March 2, 2007

241 Toll Road Auto Accident Claims Teenager’s Life

By Brian Chase

Why is an OC teenager not with us anymore?

The Orange County Register published a story about a Ladera Ranch teenager, Nicole Catsouras, 18, who apparently lost control of a Porsche 911 Carrera while attempting to pass another vehicle at more than 100 mph on the 241 Toll road, according to California Highway Patrol officials. Apparently the teenager clipped a Honda Civic, while attempting to pass it, lost control, crossed the center median, traveled across the north lanes and the Alton Parkway southbound on-ramp and crashed into a toll booth building.

The Honda Civic hit the center median. The driver, a twenty year old Rancho Santa Margarita man, was injured and taken to Mission Hospital. An open alcoholic beverage container was found by the police in the Honda Civic, according to the CHP.

An 18 year old driving a Porsche, 100 mph. Twenty year old, driving with open container. They barely met. One dies and one goes to the hospital. There are many things wrong with this picture.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of theses young people. God bless Nicole’s soul!
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Published on: March 1, 2007

Supreme Court Considers Liability In Police Chases

By Brian Chase

Are the police free from liability when a pursuit kills or maims the innocent?

Here’s an interesting question that is before the U.S. Supreme Court: “Can a police officer be sued for hitting a fleeing car during a high-speed police chase and causing an automobile accident that leaves the driver badly injured or dead?”

The answer to this question and the high court’s decision could change the way things work on Southern California freeways, as explained by a Feb. 26 article in the Los Angeles Times.

According to Times writer David Savage, the court’s answer appeared to be “no.” Our television stations must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. These chases do after all attract a large number of viewers who can’t wait to find out how it all ended.

This case has drawn a lot of attention because it could lay the foundation for national rules to limit police chases. According to the Times article, more than 300 people are killed every year in police chases. A majority of the victims are those who flee the police, but a large number of victims are also innocent bystanders. Several police officers are also injured or killed in these crashes.

But during arguments this week, most of the Supreme Court justices said they were not inclined to tie the hands of police and restrict them from using force when they are pursuing a person, who could pose substantial danger to the public.
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