Defective Drain Covers Not Protecting Swimmers

July 2nd, 2011

The heat of summer is in full swing.  As our children head into the pool to cool off, keep in mind that modern pool and spa drains generally contain direct suction.  Powerful suction can trap swimmers under water causing serious brain injury and death.  According to statistics reported in the Los Angeles Times, “Between 1999 and 2008, 12 people were killed in pool and spa entrapments and 72 were injured, according to a CPSC report released Thursday.”  Fortunately, at the end of 2008, federal legislation went into effect to prevent powerful suction from trapping swimmers at the bottom of pools and spas. In response, public and private pool owners invested in drain covers intended to mitigate the dangerous effects of direct suction drains.  However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a massive voluntary recall just as the summer swimming season starts to heat up.  As reported by the Los Angeles Times on May 27, 2011, “About 1 million covers made by eight manufacturers, some among the largest, were being voluntarily pulled after a confidential report revealed the products had failed safety tests. Officials with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said public pools and spas with direct suction systems and recalled covers should close until replacement covers could be installed.”  http://www.latimes.com/health/fl-cpsc-recall-florida-pools-20110526,0,5231496.story.

Safety Standards Continue to Fail our Families

January 13th, 2011

Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board held a meeting discussing child safety in motor vehicles and airplanes.  Unfortunately, the laws designed to protect our children seem to fall short once again.  For example, Oregon law allows parents to discontinue use of car seats before their child’s body is capable of protection from the standard seat belt in most cars.  In fact, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, placement of the lap belt over the abdomen is a major cause of internal organ and spinal injury in children, while the lap belt over the neck is a major cause of disabling or fatal neck injury in children weighing under 80 pounds or less than 4′ 9″ in height.  To read more about the concerns stemming from last month’s meeting, read here.

California Medical Doctors Charged with Fraud and Conspiracy

December 13th, 2010

According to the American Association for Justice:  “The AP (10/29, Risling) reported two doctors ‘led a $5 million scam in which mentally ill homeless patients were paid $100 each for unnecessary treatments that were fraudulently billed to Medicare and Medi-Cal,’ Los Angeles prosecutors said Friday. Drs. Rodney Barron and Eleanor Arthur ‘were arrested Friday and along with five others charged with misdemeanor conspiracy, fraud and taking illegal kickbacks. If convicted, they each could face up to seven years in prison.'”

Major Safety Recall of Infant and Toddler Products

September 30th, 2010

Today, Fisher-Price announced a safety recall of more than 11 million products sold for use by infants and toddlers.  This giant in the world of manufacturing products for millions of young children worldwide was clearly under pressure from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, which warns parents to “immediately” stop using products due to risk of significant harm.  For more information about the recall, here is an article posted on msnbc.com.

Trimet Admits Pedestrian Deaths Were “Preventable”

September 1st, 2010

In an article published in the Oregonian last Saturday, it’s reported that an independent consultant found deficiencies in Trimet’s safety training procedures.  In the wake of an obviously poorly trained driver killing two pedestrians in a Portland crosswalk, Trimet admits pedestrian deaths were “preventable”.  The driver, Sandi Day, faces six traffic infraction charges.  Trimet and its driver must both take responsibility for the tragic and wrongful deaths that never should have happened.  In addition, Trimet clearly needs a major overhaul of its training practices.

Lake Oswego Teenager Recklessly Injures Passenger in Weekend Street Race

August 30th, 2010

Over the weekend, a Lake Oswego teenager, Cameron Rathmanner, crashed during an illegal street race in Washington County.  The crash sent Mr. Rathmanner’s teenage passenger to OHSU with critical injuries as reported in the Oregonian. The reckless driving of Mr. Rathmanner is clearly grounds for punitive damages by his teenage passenger and her family.  While there is no amount of money that can truly compensate a victim in this type of preventable tragedy, hopefully there is enough automobile insurance coverage to pay all past and future medical expenses as well as begin to make up a little bit for the pain, suffering, and rehabilitative challenges that undoubtedly lay ahead for the young passenger-victim.  In addition, punitive damages are society’s way of deterring future reckless conduct through the civil justice system.

Oregonians Should Check Their Freezers for Contaminated Ground Beef

August 9th, 2010

On Friday, the FDA recalled a substantial amount of ground beef, including some distributed in Oregon.  Although the recall just happened, the ground beef was sold between October 2, 2009 and January 12, 2010.  Thus, some of this ground beef could still be in freezers throughout Oregon and other states.  Fortunately, there is a simple way to check if your ground beef is subject to recall.  According to the FDA, if the ground beef is subject to the recall, the package will bear establishment number “EST. 8268” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

This is a troubling recall because it’s reportedly prompted by e-coli illness contracted by at least seven people to date.  E-coli is extremely dangerous and can cause permanent organ damage and death.  It is highly recommended that Oregonians check the USDA labels for “EST. 8268” before defrosting any ground beef.  You can view the complete FDA recall notice here.

Elena Kagan Confirmed as U.S. Supreme Court Justice

August 5th, 2010

Today, the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.  The vote total was 63-37.  Justice Kagan will serve on the country’s highest court with two other female justices.  In terms of access to justice and consumer protection issues, it is presumed by most, but not really known publicly, that Justice Kagan will be a strong advocate for the civil justice system.  If so, she will appropriately replace one of the Supreme Court’s greatest plaintiff/consumer advocates, Justice John Paul Stevens.


People Can Be Proud of the Work Done by Catastrophic Injury Attorneys

July 11th, 2010

When people get seriously hurt by the dangerous choices of others, a chain of events follows that devastates victims and their family, friends, and even communities.  Serious personal injuries force people out of good jobs, cost families many thousands of dollars in medical expenses, strain and sometimes ruin family relationships, cause irreversible and permanent damage to lifestyle and ordinary activities, inflict daily pain and numerous personal burdens, as well as burden our community’s workforce, government services, and health care system.  Make no mistake, insurance companies have spent millions of advertising dollars to distract the public from these crushing realities that result from catastrophic and preventable injuries.  Notwithstanding the propaganda pushed by the insurance industry, it is my personal and everyday experience that a primary job of the catastrophic injury attorney is to help put the injured person’s life back together and, in turn, also help repair families and communities.  When this happens, I’m proud of the job done by my fellow catastrophic injury attorneys.  While it would be nice if the public thought so too, it doesn’t really matter as long as a dedicated and caring personal injury attorney still keeps working hard for the “little guy” who gets hurt through no fault of his (or her) own.

Corporate “Personal Responsibility” for Bad Choices

July 6th, 2010

Bad choices can cause devastating harm to families.  Corporations know this already.  Unfortunately, some corporations still  intentionally take chances with people’s safety in order to increase the “bottom line”.  When corporate choices result in harm to individuals, the offending corporation must take responsibility.  Under law, a corporation is treated as a “person”.  “Person” status benefits corporations in many respects, including giving them the right to contract and reap certain tax benefits.  By the same token, “person” status requires corporations to take “personal responsibility” for their harmful actions.  If they refuse to take personal responsibility, ordinary people can bring corporations to justice in court.