California Injury Lawyers Blog

Amanda Mitchell has filed an Orange County, California personal injury claim against the Ocean View School District on behalf of her son. Mitchell is the Huntington Beach mother of an 8-year-old special-needs boy.

In her Orange County, California injuries to a minor claim, she is contending that her son suffered multiple head injuries on more than 10 occasions while under his school's supervision. She says that the alleged injuries occurred during a seven-month period in 2009.

Mitchell claims that she told school administrators and teachers that her son, who is eligible for special education, needed additional supervision while at school. Yet despite her request, she says that the school did not do enough to take care of her child.

Mitchell sites numerous incidents involving her son hitting his head while under the school's charge, including those involving him striking his head against school walls, tables, the floor, a bathroom urinal, and a school bus seat. She says that as a result, her child suffered abrasions, bruises, and a knot on his forehead. She also contends that a decision by the district to make her son use a helmet in school was ineffective.

Last month, members of the District School Board denied her claim. However, an Orange County, California injury claim can serve as a precursor to a Huntington Beach personal injury lawsuit.

Schools and school districts are responsible for protecting children under their care from personal injuries and wrongful death. When failure to act or remove hazards or any other type of negligence causes a child to get hurt, parents may be able to seek Huntington Beach injury recovery on their child's behalf.

Some reasons why parents have filed personal injury claims against schools and school districts for damages:

• Drowning accidents
• Fall accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• School bus injuries
• Sports-related accidents
• Violent crimes
• Sexual assault
• Inadequate security
• Premises liability

Mother alleges school was negligent with special-needs son, OC Register, July 9, 2010

Injury lawsuits increasingly common in schools, Bakersfield.com, March 20, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Ocean View School District

The state of California has approved a $20 million payout for Jaycee Dugard and her two daughters. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the California injury settlement on Friday.

Dugard, now 30, was just 11 when she was abducted in 1991 by Phillip Garrido, who held her hostage in his backyard compound until last August. She bore him two daughters, who are now ages 15 and 12.

Police have said that Dugard was raped, kidnapped and held captive by Garrido. His wife, Nancy is awaiting trial for kidnapping and other charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Phillip Garrido was already a convicted sex offender for a 1976 rape crime prior to abducting Dugard. California's inspector general has criticized the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for failing to properly monitor Garrido. Also, the California attorney general's office has alleged that state parole agents may have interacted with Dugard and her older daughter but did not follow up on her relationship with Garrido.

Last February, Dugard and her family filed a California personal injury claim against the Department of Corrections. Over the years, the agency missed opportunities that might have allowed them to locate her sooner. The Dugards contend that they suffered physical, psychological, and emotional harm from being held captive for nearly twenty years.

The California attorney general's office has said that the "the uniquely tragic circumstances" surrounding the Dugard case justifies the $20 million settlement. Dugard and her two girls will likely require millions of dollars in therapy and at least $450,000 to educate all three of them.

Report Says California Parole Agents Spoke with Jaycee Dugard in Captivity, FoxNews, July 7, 2010

Jaycee Dugard to get $20 million in settlement, SFGate, July 2, 2010

Kidnap Victim Wins Settlement, NY Times, July 1, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Timeline and Map, Jaycee Dugard Case, San Jose Mercury News

The Santa Ana Unified School District is seeking to dismiss the Orange County, California injuries to a minor lawsuit filed by the parents of a special-ed student who was molested by a teacher's aide in 2008. The former special-ed aide, Alonso Manuel Gonzalez, pleaded guilty last year to the misdemeanor charge of child abuse and endangerment. The original charge against him prior to the plea agreement was a felony for a lewd act with a dependent adult. He was sentenced to four years of probation, 240 hours of community service, one day in jail, and restitution. The teenager's family is also suing him for her Santa Ana, California personal injury.

In their Orange County, California injury lawsuit, the girl's family is seeking damages for the physical and mental trauma that she suffered from the molestation. They are also accusing the school district of negligence because they kept Gonzales on as an employee even though parents had complained about him for years. Among the complaints was that he behaved inappropriately with female students.

Now, however, some media are reporting that not only is the school district using 40 separate affirmative defenses in an attempt to dismiss the complaint, but it is also contending that the victim's negligence caused her trauma and injuries because she did not exercise enough care to protect herself from Gonzales. The victim, who was 17 at the time, has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, is wheelchair bound, and cannot communicate verbally. Yet, according to the school district's attorneys, she consented to the molestation. They are also accusing the girl's parents of reckless, negligent, and careless supervision of the girl, which caused and contributed to her damages and injuries from the sex abuse.

The Santa Ana Unified School District is asking that all charges be dismissed. The defendant also want the victim's family to compensate it for legal feels.

Orange County, California Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse, molestation, and rape are crimes. The trauma caused by any type of sexual assault, especially by trusted adults on minors, cannot be quantified. A sex abuse victim may suffer from nightmares, relationship issues, eating disorders, depression, suicidal tendencies, mood swings, and other injuries. Children that are placed under the authority of abusive adults are especially vulnerable. Tens of thousands of children in the US are the victims of sexual abuse every year. Parents may be entitled to seek Santa Ana, California sex abuse damages on their child's behalf.

Santa Ana Unified School District Blames Disabled Student for Her Molestation by School Worker, Demands She Pay Their Legal Bills!, OC Weekly, June 24, 2010

School district blames disabled student for own molestation, The Raw Story, June 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Santa Ana Unified School District

Child Sex Abuse, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet for Parents, Teachers and Other Caregivers, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Nearly six years after Jacqueline and Raechel Houck were killed in a California car accident, a jury has awarded their parents $15 million for their wrongful deaths. The sisters were riding a rented 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser on Highway 101 N on October 7, 2004 when the vehicle went over the median, struck a big rig truck, and burst into flames. Raechel, 24, and Jacqueline, 20, died from their injuries. According to experts for the plaintiffs, Houck was unable to steer the car because of a power-steering fluid leak.

A few weeks after the tragic car wreck, the girls' parents found out that the vehicle their daughters had rented was one of 435,000 PT Cruisers that Daimler Chrysler had recalled just a month before because the power steering hose was at risk of leaking and posed a possible car fire hazard. Enterprise records indicate that the Houck sisters' rental had not been repaired after the recall was announced. It had, however, been rented out four times.

Mark Matias, the Enterprise Northern California manager at the time, has sworn that he didn't know that the vehicle had been recalled until after the women's deaths. He also said that it was not against company policy to rent out a recalled vehicle.

The plaintiffs' California wrongful death attorney says the car rental company which had contested the civil complaint for five years--initially blaming the car crash on Raechel's driving. It wasn't until last month that Enterprise finally admitted its negligence in the sisters' deaths. The rental company tried to settle with the siblings' parents for $3 million if they would keep the details surrounding the traffic accident confidential. They refused to make a deal.

Automakers go to the trouble of recalling vehicles because they may have defective parts that could cause a vehicle to malfunction. If you or someone you love was injured in an Orange County, California car accident because of an auto defect, you may have grounds for a case. Even if a recall was never issued, you still may have sufficient reason to file an Orange County, California products liability lawsuit.

Jury awards $15 million in Santa Cruz wrongful death case against Enterprise car rental, Mercury News, June 22, 2010

CLOSURE: Couple wins lawsuit over rental car company blamed for daughters, Contra Costa Times, June 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Enterprise

California Department of Transportation

Safercar.gov

A 16-year-old girl was taken to a local hospital after she nearly drowned in an apartment complex pool. The Huntington Beach pool drowning accident happened on Thursday morning.

Police officers that arrived at Ocean Air Apartment Homes found a group of teenagers at the pool. All of them had been drinking alcohol. The teen reportedly went underwater and wasn't breathing when she was pulled out. Fortunately, someone was able to get her to start breathing again.

The pool was marked off as a crime scene and investigators talked to witnesses. Police are now saying that the Orange County, California pool drowning incident was an accident. There were no adults at the pool when the accident happened.

Pool Drowning
With summer underway, it is important that pool owners make sure that they have the proper safety measures in place to make sure that drowning accidents don't happen. Steps for ensuring that your pool is a safe place for swimmers, especially kids, include:

• Don't leave kids at a pool alone without supervision.
• Make sure there is an emergency phone, life vests, or other rescue equipment in the vicinity.
• Make sure that your pool drain is one that meets federal safety standards so as to prevent entrapment accidents from happening.
• During off hours, make sure that the pool is fenced off or covered so that no one can get into the pool without permission.

Drowning claims the lives of more than 900 kids every year in the 1-14 age group alone. For those that are fortunate enough to survive drowning accidents, they may be left with serious traumatic brain injuries for life.

Teens drinking around pool, girl nearly drowns, OC Register, June 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Pay Attention Around The Pool, KVUE

Swimming Pool Safety Act, CDPH.Ca.Gov (PDF)

Continue reading "Teen Injured in Huntington Beach Pool Drowning Accident " »

John Gerrity, the widower of Deborah Johnson, is speaking out about the tragic bicycle accident that killed his wife because he wants to prevent other cyclists from suffering the same fate. Gerrity settled his $2.4 million California wrongful death settlement with the city of Menlo Park several months ago.

Johnson sustained fatal head injuries when she was fell off her bike on Sandhill Road on July 22, 2007. She died two days after the tragic California bicycle accident.

According to Johnson's friend, the 54-year-old cyclist fell because her bike hit the base of a "candlestick" delineator that had become separated from its orange pole. Johnson's husband, John Gerrity, says the lane divide should not have been there at all.

Just two days before the tragic bicycle accident, Menlo Park Public Works Department had just completed paving the road. They had set up dividers to mark the bike lane. The divers were removed soon after the California traffic crash.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices says that raised pavement markers and posts should not be used to separate travel lanes from bike lanes. The federal manual noted that raised devices are a bicycle crash hazard. Gerrity, who has researched traffic safety practices and codes since his wife death, says that after a road is repaved it is standard practice to leave it unmarked while the asphalt is drying. After that, a temporary line or strip is painted onto the road until permanent markings are created.

Entities in charge of maintaining roads must make sure there are no road hazards, related defects, or debris on the road that can cause injuries or deaths. Not only must they put warnings sign up when any kind of road improvements are being done to indicate to motorists and bicyclists that they must proceed with caution as they enter a road construction zone, but also they must make sure to clear up all debris, machinery, and equipment after the project is over so that drivers and cyclists don't end up striking any objects that have now become safety hazards.

Orange County, California Traffic Crashes
Unfortunately, road debris can cause serious Orange County, California personal injuries and wrongful deaths. According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 25,000 of US auto crashes and 90 traffic fatalities a year were at least partially caused by road debris. Road debris refers to objects that shouldn't be on the road, such as fallen tree branches, broken class, furniture items that may have fallen out of trucks, and other items. Road debris and defects can cause a trucker, the driver of a car, bicyclist, or motorcyclist to lose control of his/her vehicle, which can result in tragic Orange County, California traffic crashes.

$2.4 million settlement reached in wrongful death suit over fatal bike accident on Menlo Park's Sand Hill Road, Mercury News, June 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

California Bicycle Coalition

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

Seven years after 17-year-old Dillon Elkins became a quadriplegic when he jumped from a truck and struck his head on the pavement, a Barstow jury has awarded his family $32.2 million for his San Bernardino County personal injury lawsuit. Because jury members found Elkins to be 20% at fault and Robert Murchison, the driver of the truck, to be 80% at fault, Dillon's family will receive 80% of the verdict.

The tragic San Bernardino County car accident happened in 2003 when Elkins, then 10, asked high school football player Robert Murchison to give him a ride from the homecoming football game. Murchison, then 18, has said that not only did he tell Dillon and another boy that he couldn't drive them because the truck's cab was full, but also that the two boys ignored him and jumped on the truck bed. Witnesses have said that Murchison told the boys that if a cop appeared, they were to jump out of the truck.

According to the family's San Bernardino County motor vehicle accident lawsuit, while on California 127, Murchison saw a police car and told the boys to jump out, which is exactly what Elkins did. Following the tragic accident, Elkins fell into a coma for three weeks and sustained severe brain injuries that left him a spastic quadriplegic. He is no longer able to walk, speak, or eat anything that isn't fed through a gastric tube.

Now, Elkins' mother Sherry Setter says that her son will have the funds to receive the medical care that he needs.

Spastic Quadriplegia
Spastic quadriplegia usually affects all four limbs of the body and can result in mental retardation, hearing impairment, and visual problems. Complications may include cognitive difficulties, seizures, bladder dysfunction, scoliosis, bowel dysfunction, skin sores, hip dislocation, and other health issues. Spastic quadriplegia can occur as a result of a spinal cord injury or brain damage.

If someone you love now has spastic quadriplegia because another party was negligent, you may be able to pursue Orange County, California personal injury recovery. Living as a spastic quadriplegia can be very expensive and you will likely need financial resources to cover medical expenses, round-the-clock care, specialized equipment, rehabilitation, and other services.

Jury awards damages to Baker youth badly injured in '03 accident, Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2010

Jury Awards $32M To I.E. Boy Left Quadriplegic, CBS/AP, June 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
The National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page, National Institutes of Health

The parents of John Erlanson are seeking California wrongful death compensation from the Atascadero Unified School District. Erlanson, then 17, drowned on May 7, 2008 in the Atascadero High School swimming pool during a physical education class.

The 17-year-old was in the school's swimming pool during class when the teacher stepped away from the pool deck and left the pool without adult supervision. It was the teenager's fellow students who noticed that he was at the bottom of the pool. They swam down 12 feet to retrieve him.

It is unknown whether Erlanson, who was diagnosed with a seizure disorder years before, suffered a seizure before drowning. Some students say that while the teenager was in the pool's shallow end, he started to exhibit signs of someone who was about to have one.

The plaintiffs' wrongful death lawsuit accuses the school district of inadequate supervision, observation, staff training, and safeguards. Their injury attorney contends that because staffers knew that Erlanson suffered from a seizure disorder, they should have done more to protect him from becoming involved in a California drowning accident.

After Erlanson's death, the school district started working with the Red Cross to train high school students to become certified lifeguards that could supervise PE classes. The school district also updated its pool safety policy and got new safety equipment.

Schools are responsible for properly supervising students and making sure that there are no dangers or hazards on the school grounds that can cause serious injury or death. If your child was injured or died because school officials were reckless or negligent in any way, you may reason for filing an Orange County, California personal injury case.

Parents of teen who died in Atascadero High School pool sue school district, SanLuisObispo.com, June 11, 2010

AHS junior drowns Wednesday, Atascadero News, May 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Atascadero Unified School District

Unintentional Drowning: Fact Sheet, CDC

Actor Dennis Quaid has filed a Los Angeles products liability lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corp. This is the second dangerous drug complaint that the movie star has filed against the pharmaceutical company over the Heparin overdose that nearly killed his then-newborn twins. His earlier injuries to minor lawsuit, filed in Illinois, was dismissed and upheld on appeal twice.

On May 22, in Los Angeles Superior Court, Quaid is seeking unspecified damages. His dangerous drug complaint contends that the twins were administered the fatal overdose because of a labeling issue that contributed to a medication mix-up.

Quaid's twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, nearly died after they were each given 10,000 units of Heparin instead of 10 units. The medication error caused them to bleed out and landed them in the ICU.

Now, the movie star is claiming that Baxter should have recalled the Heparin vials with 10,000 units and issued a warning to medical providers because this type of mix-up had occurred before and resulted in serious consequences. He also says that the twins may have sustained permanent injuries and there could be serious health complications later on.

Quaid is seeking punitive damages and compensation for medical expenses. He would also like the healthcare company set up a fund for any medical expenses the medication mistake may cause his son and daughter to incur in the future.

In 2008, Quaid and his wife Kimberly settled their Los Angeles medical malpractice lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center over their twins' Heparin overdose for $750,000. Each twin also was to receive another $250,000 each.

Medication mix-ups can prove fatal or result in serious health complications. You may have grounds for a Los Angeles personal injury lawsuit if your doctor prescribed the wrong medication, a medical professional administered you the wrong dose of the correct drug, the pharmacy gave you the wrong medicine, or a pharmaceutical company manufactured a dangerous drug, incorrectly packaged the medication, failed to warn of serious side effects, or provided unclear instructions.

Dennis Quaid sues again over twins drug overdose, Reuters, May 25, 2010

Quaid sues healthcare company, Toronto Sun, May 24, 2010

Heparin Overdose Suspected In Texas Hospital Baby Death, 16 Others Affected, Medical News Today, July 9, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Baxter

Cedars-Sinai

A 4-year-old boy was hurt on Friday when he was hit by a hit-and-run driver. The Anaheim car accident happened on the 900 block of North Topeka Street and La Palma Avenue while the boy and his 14-year-old sister crossed the street. He sustained abrasions to his face.

The driver of the dark-colored Sedan that struck him stopped and asked the kids if they were okay. The 14-year-old told the motorist to pull over but he drove off.

Police are searching for a man with dark skin, a mustache, and a beard. He could face misdemeanor hit-and-run charges.

Hit-and-Run Accidents
It is illegal for a motorist to hit-and-run. Drivers are supposed to stop at the car accident site and when there are injuries call for help. If you or someone you love was injured in a hit-and-run car accident, an Anaheim personal injury lawyer can help you explore your legal options regardless of whether or not the motorist is apprehended.

Hit-and-run crashes can prove fatal. A driver leaving a crash site can delay much needed medical care for the victim, who could end up dying instead of being saved.

Yesterday, a married couple were sentenced to time in prison for their involvement in a 2009 hit-and-run car accident that killed a USC student and seriously injured her friend. Claudia Cabrera was sentenced to eight years behind bars while her husband Josue Luna received a prison sentence of seven years for their role in the Los Angeles car accident. The two of them pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter, hit and run, and leaving an accident scene.

Police say Cabrera was driving the car that hit Adrianna Bachan, 18, and Marcus Garfinkle, 19, last March. The two of them were crossing the street at around 3am when the Los Angeles pedestrian accident happened. Cabrera, who was driving on a suspended license, also ran a red light.

The vehicle kept going some 400 feet with Garfinkle riding on the windshield. Luna then pulled him off and left him in the street. The 19-year-old broke his legs during the Los Angeles car accident and has had to undergo multiple surgeries. He owes his health insurance company over $200,000 in medical costs. Garfinkle says that the couple treated him like an animal and he may never be able to run again.

4-year-old injured by hit-and-run driver, Orange County Register, May 24, 2010

Couple Sentenced to Maximum for Deadly USC Hit-and-Run, KTLA, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Hit and Run Accidents, Deadly Roads

Pedestrian Safety, SafeKids.org

The parents of a 13-year-old girl are suing the San Bernardino Unified School District for her California sex abuse injuries inflicted by a convicted sex offender who seduced and raped her in 2006. They are seeking over $5 million for their daughter's personal injuries.

According to the San Bernardino sexual abuse complaint, Darold Hecht started talking to the girl while working for his father-in-law's construction company. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., which is also a defendant in the family's lawsuit, was making the new facilities at Cesar E. Chavez Middle School at the time.

Hecht would go on to repeatedly battered, raped, and sexually abused the girl. Last year, he was convicted of sexually abusing the girl and was sentenced to 24 years in state prison.

Her family's San Bernardino injuries to a child lawsuit blames school officials for allowing the convicted sex offender on school grounds and then failing to properly investigate once they found out about the sexual abuse. The complaint accuses the Rancho Cucamonga construction company of allowing Hecht to work on school property despite knowing about his criminal past.

Child Sex Abuse
If your child was sexually abused while under the supervision of another party, you may have grounds for pursing a San Bernardino County child sexual abuse claim against the assailant, as well as any other persons that allowed the sexual abuse to occur. Your civil case would be separate from any criminal charges filed by prosecutors against the abuser.

Unlike physical injuries, the emotional and mental injuries that are caused by molestation, sexual assault, inappropriate fondling, and rape can be hard to identify. However, the damages that they inflict are very real and can last a lifetime. A sex abuse victim may have a hard time trusting others and maintaining healthy relationships. He or she may be more prone to depression, eating disorders, acting out sexually, drug addiction, sleep problems, academic difficulties, unusual aggressiveness, and suicidal tendencies. Not only can this wreak havoc on the victim's life but also he/she may have to undergo years of counseling, which can be very costly.

Lawsuit filed in 2006 sexual abuse case involving 13-year-old girl at San Bernardino middle school, Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2010

Parents sue construction firm in rape, San Bernardino County Sun, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

The California Department of Public Health has fined Mission Hospital $50,000 for giving morphine to a newborn. The medication was intended for the infant's mother.

The medication mix-up happened on April 2009. A nurse accidentally injected the morphine into the baby's IV instead of his mother's IV. Luckily, the Orange County, California medication mistake was detected in time and the baby has made a full recovery.

Mission has submitted a correction plan that prohibits the hospital from administering medications to mothers in the neonatal intensive unit. In this case, the mom had just given birth to triplets and she was in the NICU for "skin-to-skin" bonding with the baby who was accidentally given the morphine dose.

According to an article published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy in 2008, neonatal medication-dispensing errors have been known to occur. That year, there were five cases involving medication-dispensing mistakes that took place at the same institution. Three of the five errors involved near misses that could have resulted in harm. Four of the five incidents involved mix-ups between neonatal and pediatric or adult products.

The mistakes reflected weaknesses in the system set in place for neonatal medication labeling, storage, knowledge, delivery, and administration documentation. Solutions to the problems included reorganizing medication shelves, setting up a color labeling scheme, and changes to vaccine storage, ordering, dispensing, and documentation systems.

Examples of reasons why medication errors might occur at a hospital:

• Exhausted staff members, inadequate staff training
• A worker who is in a hurry and forgets to double-check that the correct medication (and the right dosage) is being administered
• Lack of proper medication administering system that includes adequate safety measures

According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2006, nearly 1.5 million people a year are injured because of medication mistakes. About 400,000 of these preventable medication errors took place in hospitals.

If you or someone you love was injured because of a medication mistake, you may be able to file an Orange County, California medical malpractice lawsuit against the negligent medical center, worker, or other liable parties.

Mission Hospital fined after newborn gets morphine, OC Register, May 20, 2010

Medication Mistakes Can Be Deadly But Preventable, OneMedSentinel

Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually;
Report Offers Comprehensive Strategies for Reducing Drug-Related Mistakes, Office of News and Public Information, July 20, 2006

Related Web Resource:
Medical Malpractice: When can patients sue a hospital for negligence?, Nolo

This week is Teen Driving Safety Week in California. Throughout the week, law enforcement groups, parents, teenagers, and teachers and the IMPACT Teen Driver's Campaign have been holding activities to promote safe driving among teenagers.

Considering that teen drivers get more tickets and are killed and injured in larger numbers than any other driver demographic, this initiative is necessary. Some common causes of teen driver accidents:

• Drunk driving
• Distracted driving, including texting, talking on the cell phone, and chatting with other passengers
• Driving under the influence
• Speeding
• Driver inexperience
• Lack of driving skill
• Low risk perception
• Poor hazard detection
• Drugged driving
• Driving at night

Also, it doesn't help that teenagers are less likely than adult drivers to wear their seat belts.

When teen drivers engage in negligent or careless driving, they place themselves and others at risk of serious injury or death. Just last February, 17-year-old Brent Sirignano sustained catastrophic injuries when the 2006 Scion he was a passenger in, driven by 17-year-old Parker Kalmen, crashed into a tree. Both teens are from Lake Forest.

Sirignano had to be placed into a medically induced coma following the Mission Viejo car accident and he has had to undergo multiple surgeries. It wasn't until this week that he was brought out of the coma and transferred out of the critical-care unit. Today, police are confirming that Kalmen's blood test results show that there was THC in his system when the collision happened.

Pot drug found in teen driver's blood, Orange County-Register, March 26, 2010

Teen Driving Safety Week, DMV.ca.gov

Related Web Resources:
Teen Drivers, NHTSA

Teen Drivers, CDC

IMPACT Teen Driver's Campaign

Continue reading "Attention Orange County, California Teenagers: It's Teen Driving Safety Week" »

Fall accidents can cause serious injuries to anyone--especially babies and toddlers, who are at high risk of breaking their bones and sustaining head injuries. It is the responsibility of product manufacturers to make sure that they don't design any defective products that could make the chances of a fall injury more likely, which is why Graco Children's Products, along with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, is recalling approximately 1.2 million Graco Harmony™ High Chairs.

The possible fall hazard can occur if the screws that hold the chair's front legs come lose or fall out or the plastic bracket on the back legs crack. When either of these product flaws are present, the high chair becomes unstable and is at risk of tipping over without warning. This is a product defect and our Orange County, California products liability lawyers want to join the CPSC and Graco in warning parents and guardians to stop using this high chair immediately.

Already, there have been 24 reports of related injuries, as well as 464 reports of the brackets cracking or the screws falling or coming loose. All Harmony™ High Chairs are affected by the recall. These chairs are no longer being manufactured.

According to a 2008 Podcast presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Fall accidents is the number one cause of injuries to children.
• About 8,000 kids/day are seen in US ER's for fall injuries--that's nearly 2.8 children annually.

Fall accidents involving kids can lead to head injuries, traumatic brain injuries, back injuries, broken bones, bruises, cuts, and sprains, while causing unnecessary pain and suffering to your child. Unfortunately, even if parents and guardians take preventive steps to prevent fall accidents from happening to their children, there are product manufacturers that continue to make furniture that are a fall hazard.

Graco Recalls Harmony™ High Chairs Due to Fall Hazard, Consumer Product Safety Commission, March 18, 2010

Podcasts at CDC

Related Web Resources:
Head injuries, KidsHealth.org

Graco

Consumer Reports

Continue reading "CPSC and Graco Recall Harmony™ High Chairs After Product Defect Causes Fall Injuries" »

A Temecula boy is seeking over $500,000 in Orange County, California personal injury compensation from the city of Huntington Beach. Chad Kanon claims that he tripped and fell on a sand covered-fire pit at the Huntington State Beach last September.

As a result of the accident, Kanon, who sustained third- and second-degree burn injuries on his foot, suffered disfigurement and permanent scarring. He is accusing the city of failing to clean, maintain, and landscape the beach and the fire pits.

City officials say they will turn down the Huntington Beach trip and fall claim. They contend that the accident happened on a state beach, which the city is not required to maintain.

Kanon is not the first person to allege that a beach fire pit caused his injuries. The parents of a 2-year-old boy filed their Huntington Beach injury claim last February after their son climbed into a fire pit and suffered serious burns. Autumn Williams, the 13-year-old girl who rescued the toddler from the pit, also sustained burns. Her parents, Lesslie and Lisa, are seeking Orange County, California injuries to children damages on her behalf.

Premise owners must make sure that there are no hazards on a property that can cause injury. Otherwise, they can be sued for Orange County, California premises liability.

Burn Injuries
Fire, heat, hot liquids, sunlight, chemicals, fire, steam, electricity, flammable liquids/gas, or radiation can cause burn injuries.

Kinds of Burn Injuries:

First-Degree Burns
Second-Degree Burns
Third-Degree Burns

Third-degree burns are the most serious kind of burn injury and involve damage to the skin and tissue. Blistering, scarring, swelling, shock, disfigurement, and death can occur from burn injuries, which can be extremely painful. Serious burn injuries may require skin grafts and other painful treatments.

If your injury occurred because you believe another party was negligent, you may have grounds for an Orange County, California burn injury lawsuit.

Boy burned in H.B. fire pit wants $500,000, Orange County Register, March 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Burn Injuries, Burn-Recovery.org

City of Huntington Beach, California