San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

http://www.brodfirm.comAccording to the californiabeat.com, three major traffic incidents that involved MUNI vehicles left one man dead, several passengers injured and delayed service for hours in different parts of San Francisco Saturday. The first accident happened in Chinatown after a 8X-Bayshore Express bus collided with a 30-Stockton trolley coach near Stockton and Clay Streets at around 11:00 a.m. The driver of the 8X bus left the coach to inspect a faulty wheelchair lift when the bus suddenly rolled backwards down Stockton St. until it collided into the side of the 30-Stockton bus. The bus rolled into a collection of street-side newspaper racks and a mailbox before it came to a complete stop on a sidewalk. Several passengers aboard both buses were treated for minor abrasions. No one was seriously injured in the accident.

Then at approximately 3:00 p.m., Pacific Gas and Electric crews reported a downed wire that fell onto MUNI’s overhead trolley wires at 25th & Mission Sts. in the Mission District. The failure of the wire caused a large power outage that knocked out electricity to approximately 6,500 customers in the neighborhood. No one was injured in the power line collapse. The third incident happened around 6:00 p.m. when a 47-Van Ness MUNI bus struck a pedestrian as it was pulling into the northbound bus stop outside a Walgreens drug store at Van Ness and Market Sts. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses claim the man intentionally stepped in front of the bus when it approached the bus stop.

Injuries sustained in city bus accidents are frequently caused by passengers being thrown around in the bus, due to the fact that passengers are not appropriately restrained, and can range from cuts and bruises, whiplash and fractures, to serious head injuries and injuries that result in brain damage, paralysis, loss of limbs and even death. If you or a loved one has been injured as a passenger in a city bus accident, then you have the right to make a claim for personal injury compensation on a no win no fee basis. As a victim, you can obtain personal injury compensation for your injuries and for any costs incurred. If you have questions regarding how California law protects public transport passengers, please call our firm.

According to Streetsblog.com, at least eleven states have laws requiring drivers to leave three feet between their vehicle and cyclists while passing. Right now mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles is pushing for California to join those states before the year ends. At a Tuesday press conference, Villaraigosa, surrounded by leaders of the LADOT, LAPD, Los Angeles Councy Bicycle Coalition, and Midnight Ridazz, stated his support and promised his advocacy for a state law requiring drivers to give those three feet. Villaraigosa has vowed to push forward with this proposed legislation no matter what. At a press conference he promised to keep pushing for it until it becomes part of the California Vehicle Code. The website "3 Feet Please" has been monitoring the national movement to bring this law to every state. It provides a policy paper from the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, which covers the local issues and provides guidance for activists with similar goals in other states.

State patrol officials in several of the 11 states that have passed the three-feet law emphasize that the law is used more as an education tool to provide safe practices than as an enforcement tool to punish law breakers. It gives officers, government officials, and civic groups the opportunity to inform drivers what a safe minimum distance is by use of a common measure (3 feet or one yard). Accordingly, if the law passes, the police probably won’t go around with measuring tape and measure passing distance between cars and bikes, but the law could give cyclists legal leverage when passing cars drive dangerously close, even when there's no actual collision. While cyclists are waiting for a legislator to emerge to champion a "3 Feet Passing Law" in Sacramento, activists have high hopes for the campaign and for the future of cycling advocacy under the city's Mayor. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we are glad to see initiatives such as this (as we have helped many cyclists who have been doored), and we hope to see this become law. Ensuring the safety of cyclists is an issue that can’t be ignored or pushed aside any longer, considering the death of 22-year-old Nils Yannick Linke, a German tourist, who was killed by a drunk driver while riding his bicycle on Masonic two weeks ago. Bicyclists and pedestrians should not feel like they are risking their lives every time they take to the streets.

Due to the recent bicycle fatality on Masonic Avenue, the pedestrian fatality last month at 19th and Folsom, and all the other numerous dangers pedestrians and cyclists face, pedestrian advocates and city health professionals are urging city leaders to develop a comprehensive action plan for the streets of San Francisco. Just today, a driver coming down a hill in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood Tuesday, lost power and her SUV careened out of control, striking five pedestrians near a Muni bus stop. Currently the SFMTA doesn’t have a concrete target for reducing pedestrian collisions, nor a comprehensive plan to reach a target; however, the Sustainable Streets division is dedicated to making San Francisco streets safer for all modes of transportation to co-exist. It has developed a comprehensive action plan, whereby it conducts corridor and program-specific studies and tries to mitigate problem areas like Market and Octavia streets. The agency’s signal re-timing and other engineering work on Valencia Street are a success story. Even though these changes are benefitial, San Francisco needs to push to make it easier to implement changes that benefit both pedestrians and cyclists. Right now, most state departments of transportation, including Caltrans, make it extremely difficult to implement "design exemptions" like slower speed zones, traffic calming, and separated bicycle tracks. Despite the good news, city and state agencies responsible for making the roads safer haven't implemented serious engineering solutions such as putting in traffic circles or more bulb outs at intersections. San Francisco needs to get serious about pedestrian safety and develop a plan and start by targeting the areas with the highest incidences of injury collisions.
According to missionlocal.org, Chris Cochran, a spokesman for the California Office of Traffic Safety, said San Francisco has had a chronic problem with pedestrian safety for years. He said that every year the traffic safety office suggests California cities apply for its pedestrian safety grants and that they usually don’t need to tell San Francisco to apply—San Francisco knows it has a problem. San Francisco ranks first in pedestrian fatalities statewide, with the highest number of deaths each year since 2003, and it’s currently fourth on the national level, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Roughly 48 percent of all fatal collisions in the city involve pedestrians, which is four times higher than the national average of 11.3 percent. At a recent Board of Supervisors meeting the board accepted a $200,000 grant awarded by state traffic safety office to the city health department for citywide pedestrian safety research. The grant will be used to evaluate streets and intersections that are dangerous for pedestrians. The health department will research and develop a list of recommended improvements for pedestrian safety between October 2010 and June 2011. The funds won’t be used to make any physical changes to improve safety in the city, but rather to study key safety improvements to be added to the city’s general plan by September 2011. If you or a loved one has been injured as pedestrian or cyclist, please contact our office. We have the experience to win you the compensation you deserve.

The recent recall of eggs is largest in years. Last week Wright Country Egg of Iowa recalled 228 million eggs after a traceback investigation by the CDC linked a salmonella outbreak to the firm’s eggs. As of yesterday, the recall has expanded to 300 million. The Food and Drug Administration has activated an emergency operations command center in response to the outbreak. FDA investigators are still trying to determine the source of the contamination. They are performing environmental assessments of farming conditions and practices such as pest and rodent controls, biosecurity plans, environmental monitoring, sanitary controls, and feed sources. The FDA is also initiating effectiveness checks of the recall, conducting checks at retail stores, wholesalers, and distributors to make sure the recalled shell eggs are being removed from the market. Since July 17, the CDC has received around 2,000 reports of illness due to Salmonella. Recalled eggs affected by the recall are packaged under the brand names: Albertsons, Farm Fresh, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Lucerne, Kemps, Pacific Coast, Ralph’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Shoreland, and Dutch Farms.

The symptoms associated with Salmonella are fever, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, a Salmonella infection can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis, and arthritis. Salmonella can cause serious or fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. The FDA is reminding people to discard the recalled eggs or return them for a refund, not to eat raw eggs, avoid restaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Here at the Brod Law Firm we want to remind consumers to always investigate the sources of the food products they are buying. We have heard numerous stories of consumers placing blind faith in the products they purchase—and then falling victim to injury due to use of those products. That said, the manufacturer is ultimately responsible for false advertising and defective or contaminated products sold to the unsuspecting consumer. If you or a loved one has been injured from a defective product, please contact our office.

With so many people in the Bay Area commuting to and from jobs in every part of the area, there is really no longer any typical or even “reverse” commute. Many people commute via car, however in some places, including the City of San Francisco, people commute on bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, and even skateboard. Hazards for drivers, particularly in San Francisco, are plenty, as there are several devices that can power people at a relatively high speed without the visibility of the mass of another vehicle. This is one of many reasons why it’s so important to drive, ride, or walk defensively. In most instances, one really needs to expect a driver who is not paying attention, particularly with cell phones, text messaging, and other distractions. Keep aware and keep safe.

At the Brod Law Firm, we have been advocating on behalf of injured cyclists for over ten years, and have helped clients who have suffered minor injuries to catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of someone else, please contact us for a free consultation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the recent outbreak of typhoid fever in the United States is linked to recalled packages of frozen mamey, a sweet, reddish tropical fruit grown mainly in Central and South America, pulp product, also known as zapote or sapote, used to make smoothies or milkshakes. Five people have been hospitalized due to the outbreak. The CDC reported five of those hospitalized drank milkshakes or smoothies made with frozen mamey—four of which were sold by Goya Foods Inc. On Aug. 12, Goya Foods issued a recall of 14-ounce plastic packages of Goya brand mamey pulp distributed to retailers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Washington, UPC number 041331090803. The recall was initiated because one package of mamey pulp collected in Las Vegas and tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was found to contain Salmonella.

According to the CDC Typhoid is a serious disease caused by the Salmonella germ. Most people associate Salmonella with diarrhea; however, the typhoid germ is a different type of Salmonella germ. Instead of causing primarily diarrhea, this one causes primarily a fever. The most distinctive sign of the infection is a sustained, high fever - as high as 103-104 degrees. Also, a person with typhoid can develop a rash with flat, rose colored, speckled blotches on the skin. Not everyone has a typical course, though. In some cases, people who do have a typical, sustained fever, the fever can, after several days, go away on its own, then return later and stay for days. The CDC's website states that typhoid fever's danger doesn't end when symptoms disappear. It can become a cyclical fever. In fact, the person suffering from the infection can become a chronic carrier too, even without symptoms. If you ingest tainted food, hand washing won't protect you, but hand washing is still crucial in preventing the spread of the infection, as an infected person can shed the S. Typhi bacteria.

Here at the Brod Law firm, we believe the best way of preventing injury form illness is to stay informed. If you, or a loved one has become sick due to tainted food products, please call our office.

Just the other day, we brought up the subjuct of Nursing home abuse as it pertained to an incident, and today we have different incident to discuss. According to newsobserver.com, Britthaven, a North Carolina nursing home, faces charges in civil malpractice lawsuits related to serious injuries of two residents, and a nurse at the home faces murder charges in the morphine related death of her patient. According to the complaint in one of suits, Dr. Marion Orlowski, a former professor of pharmacology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and previous nominee for a Nobel Prize in 2004 for his pioneering drug treatment for blood-plasma cancer, was found on the floor of his room with a hip fracture and other serious injuries. The suit accuses the nursing home of negligence, which includes failure to monitor Mr. Orlowski’s dementia and not providing a bed with side rails. The nurse accused of murder faced charges of second-degree murder and patient abuse related to the death of a patient and the morphine-induced injuries of six other residents.
Last year, Britthaven was ordered to pay $216,400 in fines because it was out of compliance with Medicare requirement. Those penalties stemmed from the case of Mary Lou Barthazon, a 95-year old who broke thigh bones, when a nursing assistant dropped her while trying to lift her from a chair to her bed. The nursing home’s lawyer had tried to dismiss the lawsuit, denying that they had a duty to supervise or control the clinical care, treatment or judgment of any healthcare provider. Their motion to dismiss also denied that either state or federal nursing home standards, policies, regulations or standards of participation establish the standards of the health care applicable to the nursing home. The motion also states that even if the staff were negligent, the alleged but denied negligence was not a proximate cause of any injury or damage to Barthazon. Here at the Brod Law Firm we find this type flagrant disregard of elders’ rights by the nursing home, as well their denial, truly unconscionable. If you have question regarding elder rights and the laws surrounding nursing home, please contact our firm. Or if you would like to discuss a potential elder abuse case, please call to set up a free consultation.

We are always following issues of nursing home abuse and think it’s important to talk about cases from time to time. We look at it as a way to remind our readers about the dangerous issues seniors face when they are in a nursing home. Last month a Superior Court Judge in Sacramento upheld a $29 million verdict in a nursing home abuse case. Judge Roland Candee rejected Horizon West Healthcare’s arguments seeking a new trial or significantly reduced damages in the case involving Frances Tanner, a 79 year old retiree who worked for the FBI and the IRS. Tanner suffered from mild dementia when she moved into Colonial Healthcare. During her time there she fractured her hip, which was left undiagnosed, and seven Months later she died due to an infected bedsore. Testimony revealed that Horizon illegally understaffs its sites and conducted business based predominantly on a concern for the bottom line, not on sympathetic patient care. The jury awarded tanner’s daughter $28 million in punitive damages and $1.1 million for pain and suffering, which the judge reduced to $800,000.

In addition to neglect, some nursing homes give residents medications for seemingly no reason. Antidepressants, antipsychotic and sedatives are sometimes given without consent and without valid diagnosis. Some facilities actually use these kinds of drugs as a chemical restraint to silence residents. As a consequence some seniors suffer a variety of adverse responses that include tremors, dangerous lethargy and a higher risk for falling or even death. According to Medicine Net, the risk of a senior dying increases by more than double when they are abused through neglect, physically, financially, sexually, or emotionally. If someone close to you is the victim of nursing home abuse, please contact the Brod Law Firm. Or if you have questions regarding nursing home abuse laws, feel free to contact our office.

The recent controversy over the safety of drugs and the rise in drug recalls prompted Colorado’s Senator Michael Bennet to introduce the Drug Safety and Accountability Act of 2010. The bill would give the FDA additional recall power and other investigative and enforcement options in the following ways: grant the FDA the authority to assess civil penalties for violations of the food Drug and Cosmetic Act and to subpoena documents and witnesses, facilitate the exchange of information between the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and protect the industry whistleblowers that wish to bring information to the FDA. The bill would also impose higher manufacturing standards by requiring companies to institute quality management plans to ensure the quality of safety of their drugs and drug components, including strong supplier oversight; and ensuring companies are able to document which entities are involved in the manufacturing supply chain for their drugs. Under the bill over the counter drugs (OTC’s) would be more closely scrutinized. Up until now the FDA has focused on prescription drugs and not OTC’s.
Medicine cabinets are full of pharmaceuticals and over the counter drugs, as most people have come to expect that the drugs they take will improve their health. They do not expect drugs to cause harm or death. Unfortunately the FDA’s approval of drugs has been called into question by a series of unfortunate events and created a crisis of confidence. During the past few years the FDA’s lack of oversight all the products that are marked under their regulation has placed American lives in jeopardy. This new bill would definitely help rebuild the FDA’s reputation. The bill would also force drug makers to bear a bigger regulatory burden. As such, pharmaceutical companies would have to documents their supply chains from start to finish—a prospect that probably isn’t happy about, since they believe their current efforts to protect consumer safety are sufficient. Here at the Brod Law Firm we are sure there will be plenty of debate over this bill and wonder if it will go anywhere. If you or a loved one has been injured from over the counter or prescription drugs, please contact us.

Several elderly patients at Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility in Ukiah, California were covered with a greasy, ointment cream by nursing home staff as part of an apparent “prank”. The patient-victims suffered from dementia, and were unable to protest about the way they were treated. Six former employees of Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility were arrested, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the alleged abuse of the elderly patients "despicable behavior." The former employees are being charged by Mendocino County with misdemeanor counts of an injury to an elder or dependent adult; battery committed on elder or a dependent adult; conspiracy; and battery committed while on hospital property. In addition to the criminal charges against the nursing home staff, the California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act provides a civil remedy for those who have been a victim of this kind of physical abuse.

If you or an elderly member of your family has been the victim of ) Financial Abuse; 2) Physical Abuse and Neglect; and 3) Abduction, please call the Brod Law Firm at (800) 427-7020 for a free consultation. If you prefer to send us an email with an inquiry, please email us.

According to Consumer Reports, supplement manufacturers sell their products without first having to demonstrate that they are safe and effective. Consumer Reports has been working with experts from the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, an independent research group, and have identified a dozen supplement ingredients that it thinks consumers should avoid because they’ve been linked by clinical research or case reports to serious adverse events. Other factors were also evaluated, including evidence of effectiveness for their purported uses, and the extent to which the ingredients are readily available, either alone or in combination products.

What does all of this mean? It means, despite Americans spending billions of dollars annually on supplements, ingredients in supplements can be hazardous, even when they tout being natural. Consumer Reports also noted that the FDA has repeatedly found synthetic prescription drugs in supplements claiming to contain natural ingredients. Some supplements even claim they can cure cancer or replace prescription medication, even though it is against the law for companies to claim that any supplement can prevent, treat, or cure any disease except some nutrient-deficient conditions. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe the FDA needs to use the same strict standards to regulate supplements as it uses for drugs. Lack of oversight leaves unsuspecting consumers vulnerable.
Consumer Reports recommends consumers follow steps listed below before buying or taking supplements.
1. Beware of certain categories. Supplements for weight loss, sexual enhancement and bodybuilding have been problematic, according to the FDA, because some contain steroids and prescription drugs.
2. Look for the “USP Verified” mark. It indicates that the supplement manufacturer has voluntarily asked U.S. Pharmacopia, a trusted nonprofit, standards-setting authority, to verify the quality, purity, and potency of its raw ingredients or finished products. USP maintains a list of verified products at http://www.uspverfied.org.
3. Don’t assume more is better. It is possible to overdose even on beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Report problems. Let your doctor know if you experience any symptoms after you start taking a supplement. And if you end up with a serious side effect, ask your doctor or pharmacist to report it to the FDA, or do it yourself at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch or by calling 800-332-1088.
5. Research the right places. Be skeptical about claims made for supplements n ads, on TV and by sals staff. If a claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Instead try these sources:

The National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements.
The FDA, for alerts, advisories, and other actions.
Consumer Reports Health's dietary supplements and natural health products information.

The FDA has updated the warnings and precautions sections of the prescribing information for Afluria to inform healthcare professionals that the Afluria vaccine has been associated with an increased incidence of fever and febrile seizure among young children (according to confirmed reports in Australia), mainly among those younger than 5 years. Also according to the FDA, various investigations into the cause of the febrile seizures seen with Afluria vaccine are still ongoing. The FDA is collaborating with Australia’s regulatory authority, other international regulatory counterparts, and CSL to obtain additional information, stay apprised and take part in the investigations. The FDA and the CDC are working together and are closely monitoring the continued safety of influenza vaccines. Both Healthcare professionals and patients are being encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use the influenza vaccines to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting system, the national vaccine safety surveillance program co-sponsored by the CDC and FDA.

In 1986 Congress created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) to award compensation to individuals who suffer vaccine injury. Even though vaccines undergo rigorous reviews to ensure safety, numerous lawsuits have been filed alleging injuries from vaccines. These types of lawsuits typically allege either that the drug manufacturer failed to properly warn of side effects, that the drugs were inherently unsafe, or that the manufacturer or the FDA was negligent in testing the vaccine safety. There is still much debate about whether flu vaccines helps or not, or even if it is safe. Any person not sure about whether or not they should take the flu vaccine should talk with a health care professional about their concerns and the risks involved, and if they decide to be vaccinated, they should take the flu vaccine from a licensed healthcare professional.
If you believe you have been injured by a vaccine or a prescription drug, you may be able to file a claim seeking compensation for related medical expenses, pain and suffering and future lost earnings. Contact the Brod Law firm for more information about legal claims that may be available to you.