Exactly a year after a coal ash spill that caused various illnesses to residents nearby, hundreds filed personal injury claims against the company responsible for the said incident.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is facing hundreds of lawsuits in connection with last year’s December 22 incident wherein a wall protecting around a billion gallon of coal ash collapsed which led to the contamination of the nearby Tennessee River with toxic substances found in coal.
These dangerous substances include mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals commonly found in coal could cause illnesses and poisoning to those who would inhale or intake the contaminated air and water.
Until now, the company is yet to finish cleaning up the site of the spill.
TVA has contended in courts that they are immune from such lawsuits involving negligence since they are providing their services to the government. Nonetheless, the utility is expected to protect itself from personal injury cases filed against them.
The company has a coal-burning power plant that releases gallons of coal ashes that are potentially harmful to those around it. They should have exercised extra caution in dealing with these harmful substances in order to evade product and/or property liability.
Two Californians died in a rollover accident in Interstate 10 east of California Border.
The I-10 is a major route from California to Phoenix, AZ.
The victims were identified as Jose Pacheco, unknown age, and Aidan Perez-Pacheco, 3.
The reports did not specify the victims’ relationship with each other but both are residents of Salinas.
It looks like the two were not wearing seatbelts as they were thrown out of the vehicle after the driver lost control of the vehicle.
Since the car accident happened within the jurisdiction of Arizona, it would follow its state rules.
According to Arizona state laws, those above 15 years old are not required to wear a seatbelt so assuming that Jose is aged above 15, he cannot be held liable for not wearing one.
However, since Aidan is just 3, Jose was required to secure him with child restraints while riding the car.
In that regard, Jose is liable for the car accident.
The family of the victims should consult a car accident attorney to help them sort out their legal options especially in this situation where the incident happened on a state outside their own.
An experienced attorney should be able to help them find out what really caused this tragedy so that they can have some form of closure.
One of President Obama’s thrusts when he became president was to combat Medicare fraud. Obama promised to crackdown on criminals who steal millions of dollars from Medicare through fraudulent claims.
To pursue this commitment, the joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force had been tasked to combat Medicare fraud by using Medicare data analysis techniques and increasing focus on community policing. The strike force operated in various cities like Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, Brooklyn, Houston, Tampa and Baton Rouge.
In one of the major crackdowns in Medical fraud, the strike force was able to arrest 26 suspects including one doctor and several nurses. The suspects were accused of running a scam to tap a Medicare program that paid very high rates to patients. Moreover, these suspects allegedly billed Medicare for unnecessary medical equipment, physical therapy and HIV infusions.
With Medicare fraud, the cost of health care had been raised causing additional burden to American taxpayers. Consequently, when the healthcare system had been defrauded, all Americans were being defrauded. Thus, this issue should be a concern for everyone.
The above suspects were still presumed innocent until proven otherwise. To prove their innocence, they need to hire a Medicare fraud defense lawyer.
Following the car crash of a CHP officer and his family, Toyota was prompted to recall about 4.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. This recall was considered the largest recall ever in the company’s history.
With the recall came the complaints from various Toyota car owners. Consequently, Toyota was listed as the company with the most acceleration complaints.
A study conducted by Consumer Reports revealed that Toyota received 41% of all consumer complaints concerning runaway acceleration. Ford got the second most complaints followed by Chrysler with 9%, General Motors’ 5%, Honda’s 4% and Nissan with 2%.
The study covered only 2008 model-year vehicles. Consumer Reports limited the study to acceleration incidents that could threaten safety issue.
A recall proceeding would not only ruin a car manufacturer’s reputation but also subject itself to numerous complaints. In turn, tort laws entitle the victims the right to file a product liability case against a negligent car manufacturer. With the assistance of a personal injury attorney, injuries sustained from defective cars could be compensated.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now investigating the several reported cases of over-radiation at California hospitals because of potentially defective CT scans.
Two California hospitals, Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, are under scrutiny for excessive radiation and unsafe medical scans.
The investigation on other hospitals came right on the heels of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after patients reported lost their hair or experienced skin redness. 260 patients were reported by the hospital to have been exposed to excess radiation.
Glendale Adventist claimed that its radiation problem was related to a specialty scan which has already been discontinued by the hospital. However, the FDA is still trying to determine whether the over radiation was caused by human error or a problem with CT equipment.
Both Cedars and Glendale use scanners from General Electric but the FDA has also received reports over problems with different brands of scanners, including models from Toshiba.
While brain scans were originally used to diagnose strokes, CT scans have become popular because they offer a cheap, quick and painless way for doctors to evaluate trauma, belly pain, seizures, chronic headaches and other ailments.
Medical errors is one of the leading causes of death and injury, around 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year because of medical errors.
Medical treatment, even if it is cheap should have the same quality of care and efficacy as any other treatment. Likewise, the hospital staff owes their patients a duty of care and diligence when running medical tests or other forms of treatment.
If you had the misfortune of being a victim of medical error or malpractice, you have the right to file for damages against the medical facility. If it is also proven that the manufacturer of the medical equipments if to blame for the cause of the injury, such as excessive radiation, a product liability claim may also be instituted against them.
Police chase often leads to two things: arrests and injuries.
In Indianapolis, a fleeing SUV crashed into a day care center following an armed robbery at a nearby Family Dollar store. The crash injured four children and one employee. Another person was also injured during the course of the chase.
Lieutenant Jef Duhamell confirmed that there were 18 children inside the Stepping Stones Child Care Center when the crash happened. He added that one of the four children was in a critical condition while all others sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Robbers often engage in negligent driving to evade the authorities. While some of them get way with the chasing police officers, some end up in a more serious situation.
In this particular case, the driver could be held liable for all the resulting damages of his act. A personal injury case may be pursued by the victims through the help of a car accident lawyer.
The family of Beth Amstone is grieving the loss of a person who they say doesn’t have an evil or bad bone in her body.
Amstone died after the car she was riding with her boyfriend, 17-year-old Deshawn Johnson, overturned in a single car crash in the 605 Freeway.
She was only 18.
The police are still investigating the cause of the rollover accident.
As of the moment, Police doesn’t believe that alcohol was a factor in the accident.
They are also trying to discover the speed Johnson was driving the car or if Amstone was wearing a seatbelt during the crash.
According to reports, Amstone got ejected from the car and partially fell onto the roadway in the far right lane.
Johnson, on the other hand, sustained minor injuries to his left hand and right leg.
The Amstone family should talk to a wrongful death attorney to know their legal options.
Although Johnson was only doing Amstone a favor by driving her to the bus station where she will be riding a bus going to Cal State, it does not remove the fact that he was the one behind the wheel when the tragedy happened.
He does not have to be criminally prosecuted but at least he can be held civilly liable for her death.
It would not hurt his finances either because the damages will be paid through his insurance company.
It is not about the money but about what the family lost in Amstone’s death.
They lost a loving daughter who was a scholar in high school and was on her way to becoming a nurse.
The tragedy has taken her opportunity to contribute to her family and become a productive citizen in the community.
People in charge of operating public transport such as trains, buses and cabs are generally required by law to follow different rules for the safety of passengers. Ignoring these rules will not only endanger their jobs, but also the lives of innocent people.
Metrolink faces another problem brought about by a recent accident where a train engineer reportedly failed to stop at a red light as another train approaches.
The incident happened about 2 ½ miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
According to officials, no one was injured and both trains were able to stop hundreds of feet apart. If investigations finally reveal that the engineer was negligent, it would be Metrolink’s fourth violation after the Chatsworth accident wherein 25 people were killed and 135 others were injured.
In addition, the recent train accident stirred up safety issues against Metrolink. A number of the agency’s members voiced out their exasperation concerning a possible breach of a basic safety rule, despite of the reform efforts that are being done over the previous months.
The engineer was removed from his service due to the pending probe that was being done by the agency and U.S. regulators.
A need for a deeper assessment of the problem and strict discipline of engineers who ignore red lights were also voiced out due to the incident.
Agencies should be careful in hiring people who will operate common carriers because a little negligence can result to a deadly accident. A stricter screening process may guarantee that only eligible people will be given the responsibility of doing it, thus protecting the lives of passengers and the agency’s name.
