Glendale Personal Injury Lawyer

Toddler Killed in Auto Accident on Golden State Freeway

Greg Owen — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:37:43 GMT

According to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman, the fatal accident occured Saturday around 9:30 a.m. near the San Fernando Blvd. offramp on the southbound 5 Freeway. A 50-year-old woman from Bakersfield was driving her husband and 3-year-old daughter in a Ford pickup when she struck a larger truck and then hit a pole. The toddler was later pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital.

The mother, Mariana Ruiz, was said to be travelling at an unsafe speed on a road still wet from from earlier rain showers. She was treated at Holy Cross for chest pain.

The father, Juan Torres, 43, fractured his arm and may have suffered a concussion.

The condition of the driver of the larger truck was unavailable.

Authorities were continuing to investigate the incident, but said alcohol was not a factor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

FDA Warns Against Use of Some Hand Sanitizers

Greg Owen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Clarcon, a Utah-based company, has issued a voluntary recall of various products as a precautionary measure.

An FDA inspection recently found high levels of disease causing bacteria in some Clarcon products.

The products include; Citrushield Lotion, Dermassentials, DermaBarrier Dermassentials by Clarcon, Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer, and Iron Fist Barrier Hand Treatment.

These findings are particularly concerning because the products are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds, damaged skin, and protect against various infectious diseases. FDA is warning consumers to not use any Clarcon products and should throw these products away in household refuse.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Fatal Accidents Increase in California Over Weekend

Greg Owen — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 GMT

According to the California Highway Patrol, fatal accidents on California highways were up significantly over the Memorial Day weekend compared with last year.

In the first 60 hours of the holiday weekend, which ran through 6 a.m. Monday, the California Highway Patrol reported 32 people killed in crashes statewide compared with just 19 fatal crashes during the same period in 2008. In Los Angeles and Orange counties, there were 13 fatalities this year with only one occuring the year before.

Over the four-day period ending Monday night, 746 people in Los Angeles County were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. That's an increase of about 50 arrests over the same period last year.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Tour Bus Crash Kills 5 Near Soledad, CA

Greg Owen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:25:18 GMT

An Orion Pacific tour bus was travelling south on the 101 Freeway carrying 48 passengers when it overturned at around 3 P.M.

The tourists were from France and were on their way to Santa Maria from San Francisco. Around four passengers were ejected, eight are in critical condition and 40 are being treated at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.

The hospital is asking for French Interpreters.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Trucks Temporarily Banned On Portion of Angeles Crest Highway After Accident Kills Two

Greg Owen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:31:53 GMT

Director Will Kempton, of the California Department of Transportation, ordered on that vehicles with five axles will be barred from a section of Angeles Crest Highway for 90 days.

This three days after the second runaway truck in six months crashed into several cars and finally into the Flintridge Bookstore injuring twelve and killing Angelina Posca, 12, and her father, Angel Jorge Posca, 58, of Palmdale.

In September, a big-rig hauling tons of onions lost control and crashed into a parking lot in the same block as the bookstore, destroying seven cars and slightly injuring one person.

The 90-day ban will allow officials "to put signs in place and notify the trucking associations," Caltrans District Director Doug Failing told a news conference in La Canada Flintridge, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains a dozen miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The alloted time will also give the Legislature the time to pass an emergency bill to permanently ban big-rigs on the highway.

Commercial trucks, those under 3 tons, have been allowed on Angeles Crest Highway, and Failing has said thousands of trucks used it daily without a problem. The route is posted with signs warning that there is a steep 7 percent grade on the straightaway section before La Canada Flintridge and advising longer trucks against using it. An existing escape lane that was built in the 1970s close to Foothill Boulevard had not been maintained. It was not posted and the truck involved in Wednesday's crash did not use it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Man Arrested at Border Involved In USC Hit-and-run

Greg Owen — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:07:59 GMT

The man, Josue Luna, 32, was booked early Saturday as an accessory to a crime. He was attempting to cross back into the US from Mexico. According to the LAPD, he was released after posting $50,000 bail.

Luna was a passenger when his wife, Claudia Cabrera, 30, ran a red light at Jefferson Blvd. and Hoover, near USC, on March 29th. The couple's 2000 Infinity Sedan hit two students, killing Adrianna Bachan and leaving Marcus Garfinkle severely injured.

According to investigators, Marcus Garfinkle, 19, was carried 300-400 feet on the windshield when the car stopped and Luna pulled him off. Luna returned to the car and his wife drive off. The couple's 7-month old baby was in the back seat at the time of the accident.

Garfinkle suffered two broken legs and multiple other injuries. He remains hospitalized.

Claudia Cabrera, 30, was arrested April 2 and has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaugter and hit-and-run. She is being held on one million dollar bail.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Pasadena Delivery Truck Explosion Injures Three

Greg Owen — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

A linen delivery truck exploded at 4p.m. Monday while being filled with natural gas injuring three people, one severely. The incident occured at the CA Linen Service Company in Pasadena, at 40 E. California Blvd.

When the explosion occured, it blew off the doors and windows along with a large hole in the roof of the truck.

According to Pasadena Fire Dept. spokesperson Lisa Derderian, one victim was more severely burned while the other two victims had minor burns. All were transported to Huntington Hospital.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Recall on JumpStart External Defribillators

Greg Owen — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:42:45 GMT

Welch Allen is recalling 14,054 AED 10 and MRL JumpStart exteral defribrillators made between Oct. 3 2002, and Jan 25, 2007. The announcement comes after 39 reported incidents, including two that involved patient deaths.

According to the company the device, available through prescription, may produce low-energy shock, shutdown unexpectedly or be susceptible to electromagnetic noise interference. The issues might prevent defibrillation of a patient in cardiac arrest and could lead to death.

The company had received 20 instances of low-energy shock, eight instances of electromagnetic noise interference, and 11 instances of the device unexpectedly shutting down.

To the company's knowledge, the defects of the device did not contribute to the two deaths, said spokesman Jamie Arnold. "Human factors played a role in each incident: damaged device in one and failure to follow directions in the other," he said in an e-mail.

The company said customers should keep AED 10 or MRL JumpStart units in use until they receive replacements because the chance of malfunction is low.

For more information, consumers can contact the company at 888-345-5356 or visit http://www.welchallyn.com/AED10Recall.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

FDA Advises Patients to Remove Skin Patches Before MRI

Greg Owen — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The FDA released a statement advising patients undergoing an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan to notify their doctor if they are wearing medicated skin patches. Some skin patches contain aluminum in the non-adhesive backing and as a result will conduct electricity causing burns at the patch site.

The FDA reports that fewer than half dozen patients have sustained such burns. All burns were reported by patients wearing nicotine patches, and none of the burns were serious.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen

Company Pleads No Contest to CA Health and Safety Code Violation After Selling Poisonous Toothpaste

Greg Owen — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Selective Imports Corp. of Vernon pleaded no contest on Thursday to a misdemeanor health code violation of selling an adulterated drug product. The company is said to have sold nearly 80,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste containing a poisonous ingredient.

In addition to a $33,000 donation to a local charity, the company will be placed on three years of probation and must follow U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for recalling the toothpaste.

Charges against the company as well as four additional charges against its president and vice president were dropped.

Between December 2005 and May 2007, Selective Imports sold to distributors nationwide about 78,300 tubes of a Chinese-made toothpaste called "Cooldent." The toothpaste contained diethylene glycol, DEG, a thickening agent used in products ranging from cough syrup to antifreeze. DEG can be toxic if ingested in sufficient quantities. In fact, DEG-tainted cough syrup was blamed for the deaths of at least 94 people in Panama in recent years.

Although the U.S. bars its use in all but trace amounts in toothpaste, the imported Cooldent tubes had DEG levels that were twice the amount permitted under U.S. law.

No illnesses have been traced to the toothpaste, but most of the tubes remain unaccounted for and a recall continues.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Greg Owen