California Injury Attorney Blog

Seat belts are intended for safety and most states require their use. But many people are not aware that seatbelts actually can cause injury, especially to children and the elderly, in auto accidents.

Recently, Ford announced that it has taken steps to improve rear seatbelt safety in auto accidents while also encouraging their use. To accomplish this, the company is introducing new inflatable seatbelts in the rear seat of the next generation Ford Explorer.

According to Ford, the new seatbelts will go into production in 2010. Ford also notes the new seat belts will be beneficial to passengers as they are designed to spread crash forces over five times more area of the body. This, they say, also reduces pressure on the chest and controls motion of the head and neck.

The company plans to introduce this technology in vehicles globally. Here's how it works.

Sensors first determine whether the collision is severe. If so, the belts inflate with cold compressed gas. The inflatable belt has an accordion bag that expands through the flat seatbelt fabric. These belts use cold air and inflate more slowly than a regular air bag. After they have been deployed, they slowly deflate.

Ford has been testing these belts for nearly a decade and believes they are ready to be used by the general public. We hope the new seatbelts will be successful in avoiding injury in motor vehicle accidents and will serve to protect the young and the elderly from seatbelt injury.

Related Web Resources

For more information on seat belt use and other motor vehicle safety issues, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Continue reading "When it comes to rear seat belts, Ford says inflation is good. " »

All over the United States, fertility clinics help individuals in their desire to become parents. Some are very successful. Some are not.

But one thing these clinics have in common is they are subject to very little regulation, if any, with regard to the handling of egg fertilization in the laboratory. The result of mishandling is often disastrous. In a case just filed by Hersh & Hersh on behalf of a San Francisco couple, a San Francisco fertility clinic created anguish by doing just that.

The National Law Journal online and law.com's newswire report on this recently-filed action, as well as a $1 million settlement in another case filed by Hersh & Hersh several years ago.

One of the plaintiffs in the case filed went through a great deal to get her eggs harvested for fertilization. Her husband donated his sperm. The harvesting was successful. The fertilization was thought to have been as well.

Then came the horrors. The couple was told that the lab had mistakenly fertilized some of the wife's eggs with another man's sperm. After the couple was told about this, the lab destroyed the embryos without the couple's consent and in violation of their agreement with the couple. The fact is, there were a limited number of eggs and resulting embryos that were viable at all.

With the high stakes and consequences of such actions, one wonders when fertility clinics will be regulated to ensure they properly handle all aspects of the process of fertilization. Hersh & Hersh hopes this will happen before more families suffer from avoidable errors in the laboratory.

Read more about the Aschero matter at nlj.com and lawyersandsettlements.com.

Continue reading "Fertility Clinic Sued for Heartbreaking Lab Mistakes, Embryo Destruction " »

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is putting all drivers on notice that they must "buckle up, or prepare to pay up" if stopped by a California Highway Patrol
(CHP) officer on September 17, 2009. In fact, the entire week is devoted to ensuring that adults and children are properly buckled up in their cars.

Without restraint, there is serious risk of personal injury in the event of an auto accident of any kind.

The CHP has named the day: "Vehicle Occupant Restraint Day." It should be a very interesting day on the state's highways as officers will be paying specific attention to whether drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts.

"Seat belts are your first line of defense against injuries or death," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. "If you're not buckled up during a crash, you could be thrown through a window or even crushed by a vehicle."

The statistics are very clear. Nearly one-third of passengers who were killed in automobile accidents in 2007-2008 did not use their seat belts. Wearing a seat belt has been shown time and time again to be a very significant factor in saving lives.

In 2008, the CHP wrote about 500 citations per day to drivers and their passengers who were not wearing seat belts.

This citation figure does not include the thousands of tickets written to motorists who did not have children restrained as is required by California law. Children younger than the age of six or who weigh less than 60 pounds, must also be properly buckled up in a child safety seat in the rear of the vehicle.

According to Commissioner Farrow, "The goal is to get motorists to buckle up, not just today, everyday." He urges motorists to make it a habit whenever they get into a vehicle, as a driver or as a passenger.

The Office of Traffic Safety made the funds available to the CHP for these efforts, including overtime for officers to focus on unbuckled drivers -- which in turn it is hoped will educate the public about the dangers of riding in any vehicle without a safety belt.

Continue reading "It's No Accident -- the CHP Looks for the Unbuckled This Week " »

When you think about it, you wouldn't try to balance your check book while driving, or catch up on your summer reading either. But we all see other drivers engaging in dangerous behaviors that are likely to cause accidents, including applying make-up or texting while driving.

Many states, including California have outlawed the use of handheld cellular phones and text messaging while driving. But some lag behind and allow this dangerous behavior to continue.

A great deal has been said and written about this subject recently. That discussion was prompted, in part, by studies performed by Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute. This institute is one of the preeminent transportation research institutions in the nation and it is dedicated to conducting research to save lives, save time and save money in the transportation field.

The study on the use of cellular phones included light vehicle and truck drivers and their manual use of these devices. It concluded that "manual manipulation of phones such as dialing and texting of the cell phone lead to a substantial increase in the risk of being involved in a safety-critical event (e.g., crash or near crash). However, talking or listening increased risk much less for light vehicles and not at all for trucks. Text messaging on a cell phone was associated with the highest risk of all cell phone related tasks."

The risks for light vehicles and cars is summarized as follows:

-- Dialing a cell phone makes the risk of crash or near-crash 2.8 times as high as non-distracted driving;
-- Talking or listening to a cell phone makes the risk of crash or near-crash 1.3 times as high as non-distracted driving; and
-- Reaching for an object such as an electronic device makes the risk of crash or near-crash 1.4 times as high as non-distracted driving.

The evidence is in. Don't risk your safety or the safety of others by engaging in these dangerous behaviors while behind the wheel.

Continue reading "Dangerous Behaviors -- Texting While Driving Can Be Catastrophic" »

In a very understated press release, Pfizer, Inc (no, it's not a typo there is no period after Inc in the Pfizer name) has just announced its settlement with the Justice Department. The headline reads "Pfizer Concludes Previously Disclosed Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice Regarding Past Promotional Practices."

Contrast that with the AP headline "Pfizer to Pay Record $2.3 Billion Penalty Over Off-Label Promotions."

This is big. And no matter how the facts are spun, this is big.

As part of this settlement, Pfizer will pay a $1.2 billion criminal penalty. The largest criminal fine in United States history.

What happened? The government found that the company engaged in the promotion of four prescription drugs to treat medical conditions that had not been approved by federal regulators.

This meant that the company was selling these drugs, including Bextra, for uses that had not been approved by the FDA. Off-label use of drugs is not an uncommon practice. But drug companies are not allowed to promote their drugs for medical conditions for which those drugs have not been approved -- as occurred in this case.

Pfizer senior vice president and general counsel, Amy Shulman, stated that "corporate integrity is an absolute priority..."

But New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had some choice words to describe the company's actions in this case. "Pfizer ripped off New Yorkers and taxpayers across the country to pad its bottom line," he said. "Pfizer's corrupt practices went so far as sending physicians on exotic junkets as well as wining and dining health care professionals to persuade them to prescribe the company's drugs for patients in taxpayer-funded programs."

As part of this settlement, Pfizer will pay $1 billion to compensate government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Six whistleblowers who first brought these practices to light will also share in the recovery in this matter.

Continue reading "What Price Off-Label? For Pfizer -- It's a Huge Penalty " »