Stockton Personal Injury Lawyer

Sizzler Settlement relates to Current Tomato Scare

Howard Knapp — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:39:23 GMT

After eight years of battling insurance companies and mega corporations, the Kriefall family has finally held Sizzler responsible for their 3-year old daughter's death. In 2000, the girl died of E-coli exposure when a piece of the watermelon she was eating came into contact with tainted meat in a Sizzler restaurant. A week later she died of several complications including kidney failure.

This case can be related to the current tomato salmonella scare taking place across the U.S. While the 13.5 million dollar settlement agreement only happened a few days ago, restaurants and supermarkets globally may have already taken note of the dangers of selling a tainted product. I have already seen these precautions in local delis and sandwich shops in the Stockton area, where tomatoes, as much as I plead, are not being put on my sandwich. This is an example of how the legal system can direct and influence how companies act in society, whether it is a Sizzler, or a local deli.

I sincerely hope that the reason supermarkets and delis are no longer serving tomatoes is because they are looking out for the consumer's well being, not their own backs. But, either way the purpose of the civil justice system is achieved by protecting the public through encouraging safer practices.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Howard Knapp

LeBron James Vitamin Water Commercial Denigrates Judicial Branch

Larry Knapp — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:19:50 GMT

I was talking with a friend regarding a recent incident that has been the hot topic in the Stockton local news recently. My friend is a rancher and employs migrant workers to pick and prune his orchards and vineyards. He was upset about all the attention the death of the 17-year-oldfarm worker had been receiving in the news. Hewas afraid that allthepublicity would negatively reflect on his profession and cause folks to want to change theexisting lawsmaking it more difficult andexpensive to do business. Don'tget me wrong, he was concerned aboutthecircumstances of the girl'sdeath andsympathized with those effected, howeverpart of the conversation included the impact to his profession.

I could not help pointing out the type of reaction the publichas every time astrange personal injury case is publicized. The difference is that the agricultural industry does not face the billiondollar effortcorporateamerica has put into persuading the public thatthe Judicial Branch of the government is run amok. If you do not believe that there is an insidious pervasive effort to change public opinion regarding those who are injured and bring lawsuits take a look at the LeBron James Vitamin Water commercial that has been running during the NBA playoffs?While this type of judicial humor may seem innocent enough, try picking a jury sometime with a panel full of folks who have beenconstantly bombarded with this stuff. Take it from someone who has done it before,it has an effect. I just believe that corporate ethics and responsibility should cause the folks that put this ad campaign together to pause and say: Are we really doing the country any good by casting the judicial branch of our government in such a poor light?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Ritter Case Demonstrates Value of Jury

Larry Knapp — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:57:58 GMT

For those who are down on the Civil Justice System for whatever reason, consider the opinion of John Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck. Ms. Yasbeck's husband died under circumstances that led to medical malpractice claims. Several of the defendants, after evaluating their chances in front of a jury, chose to settle their claims. Apparently, there must have been enough merit in the claims that the settling defendants believed that choosing to face a jury would not be a wise choice. The defendants that chose to take the case before a jury were recently vindicated in as much as the jury found they were not liable.

Rather than blast the jury system that Thomas Jefferson and our other founding fathers set down for our benefit, John Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck was reported as saying "she disagrees with the jury's decision that two doctors were not to blame for John Ritter's death. But, she says she believes in the system and respects it." Too bad all the corporate tortfeasors in this country aren't willing to do the same. Rather, they spend billions trying to immunize themselves from it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Northern California Tiger Attack Akin to Dog Bite?

Larry Knapp — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:44:21 GMT

Finally the media has printed an article that purports to report an admission on the part of on of the victims in this awful tragedy. Prior to this article, all we really had were reports of accusations from talking heads that had no reliability. This latest article however,

states that the decedent's father has reported that one of the Dahliwal boys admitted to him that they had been standing on the wall and waiving at the tiger prior to the attack.

Now that we have that bit of evidence, what does it really affect? A tiger attack is like a dog attack. The owner is strictly liable for the damages caused by the attack. There should be no question about the owner's responsibility for the injuries in this case either.

The jury is also allowed to consider the comparative negligence of the person or persons attacked. However, is that what we have in this case? Does the public really believe that this is the first time zoo officials were aware that people go to their facility and make fun of the animals? Kids making faces at whatever is on the other side of the cage. Perhaps that is why the acceptable standards for containing a tiger require a much taller wall than the San Francisco Zoo was using.

For more information, please refer to the section on Premises Liability / Slip & Fall.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Medical Malpracticed Stockton Californians Cannot Receive Justice

Larry Knapp — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:27:27 GMT

This is a great video on the outdated laws in the state of California regarding medical malpractice. While it advocates amending the 1975 cap that was established on non-economic damages so long ago and has not changed since, it does not go far enough. MICRA was established by coercive means, under circumstances whereby the insurance industry held the legislature hostage, using doctors to threaten to leave the state. The lies that were told to the law makers to get MICRA past have been repeatedly been exposed as false. An artificial cap on damages is and should be unconstitutional (several other states have so declared). Unfortunately, the judiciary in this state saw fit to endorse the cap. Hopefully, the public will become enlightened through efforts like this video and the cap will be removed from the books.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Civil Justice System Causes Bayer Corporation to Protect the Public

Larry Knapp — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:37:45 GMT

This is the kind of publicity the civil justice system routinely fails to garner. While it is easy to target lawyers and lawsuits as the bane of all of society's problems, actions like the recent decision by Bayer to pull its drug Trasylol from the market demonstrate how important it is to have a system of redress that causes powerful corporations to consider

the potential penalty of making money on a product that is dangerous. Here the drug at issue can cause extremely gruesome problems to those who are prescribed it:

Joseph Randone, 53, died at Stony Brook University Medical Center on Aug. 8, 2006, eight months after he entered the hospital for a heart valve replacement. Bern said Randone was given Trasylol and that during surgery he suffered kidney failure - a known complication of the drug. This led to clots in both legs, which had to be amputated shortly thereafter, he said. As a result of fluid buildup Randone's corneas became severely swollen, Bern said, and his eyes had to be sewn shut. He was on dialysis because of the kidney failure and eventually also needed a ventilator and a feeding tube.

While corporate interests will continue to attack what is frankly a very easy target, the civil justice system. Hopefully the general public will be able to wade through the muck and recognize the benefit of having this type of protection. Certainly the FDA can not be expected to police these industries alone.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Rain Leads to More Automobile Accidents

Larry Knapp — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:47:45 GMT

I had to take my car into the shop for some maintenance work this week. On the way, as I was driving on Highway 26, I watched a pick-up truck with a rack on it (clearly a contractor) get rear-ended by a small Honda. I could see as the truck was struck how unexpectedly violent and severe the impact was to the driver. It was hard to tell whether

the driver had been injured. However, it was notable how much damage that the Honda had in comparison to the truck.

As I dropped my car off and prepared to get a rental from Enterprise, the sales representative commented about how many cars they had out. He said that due to the rain a lot of people had their cars in the body shops for repair and were renting cars as a result. I hadn't really thought about the connection rain caused automobile accidents have to the car rental business before, but apparently Enterprise does quite well when the first fall rains arrive.

I decided to do an internet search to see if a rise in rainfall correlated to any news of increase in traffic accidents. I expected I would find something and sure enough the Mother Lode has been reporting wet roads leading to accidents. No surprise there.

"If the rain keeps up, this could be a very busy afternoon for all of the units on the road," says CHP Officer Brad Schultz. "This is one of the most significant rainfalls so far, so all the roads are going to be very slick, so everyone has to slow down today and really pay attention."

The best thing to do this time of year to prevent injury is slow down and keep a respectable distance between yourself and the vehicle in front of you.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Food Poisoning can lead to Injury and Death

Larry Knapp — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:17:27 GMT

Conagra Foods, Inc. is pulling its pot pies from store shelves due to injuries that are hospitalizing people. While the company is not recalling its product, it is offering to reimburse the consumer for the cost of the pie. Food poisoning can lead to system wide infection and organ failure. Thus far there have been no deaths reported.

Our office once represented an elderly gentleman who was poisoned by a local restaurant in the San Joaquin Valley. As a result of the infection, his lungs reacted by building scar tissue (a phenomena known as pulmonary fibrosis) causing him to become short of breath and requiring 24 hour oxygen.

The pot pies made by ConAgra have been linked to at least 152 cases of salmonella in 31 states. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 20 people have been hospitalized as part of the ongoing outbreak, but so far no deaths have been linked to the pot pies.

Conagra suggests that with proper cooking their product is safe.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Electrocution Injures Worker in Downtown Stockton Accident

Larry Knapp — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:07:58 GMT

A jackhammer punctured a downtown electrical cable Wednesday afternoon. More than 700 homes and businesses lost power, and the worker using the tool was electrocuted.

St. Joseph's Medical Center and Stockton City Hall were among the facilities in the dark since about 11:30 a.m. The hospital was relying on emergency generators and functioning normally, a spokeswoman said, although visitors were asked to stay away until power could be restored.

The electrocuted worker was an employee of Crutchfield Construction, according to a Pacific Gas and Electric spokesperson.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Worksite Injuries and Workers Compensation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp

Report of Three Injured on Pershing Avenue

Larry Knapp — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:12:22 GMT

Stockton is a busy place and it's not unusual for motor vehicles to come in contact with each other causing injury to the occupants. Certain arterial roadways have a hirer volume of traffic and thus a higher likelihood of injury or death. Pershing Avenue and Pacific Avenue are excellent examples of these high volume arterial roadways that have a higher likelihood of car crashes. Its imperative for every Stockton driver to practice safe driving habits in order to avoid these potentially life threatening situations, particularly when attempting to cross a major roadway.

For more information on this subject matter please refer to our section on Automobile & Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Larry Knapp