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Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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markus-spiske-197281-copy-200x300Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing, it is more important than ever for parents, guardians, and other family members and friends to be aware of dangerous toys that could result in child injuries. While we should not have to worry about product defects when we visit a retail store in San Marcos or elsewhere in San Diego County to shop for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts for kids, it is necessary to know that a variety of children’s products may pose injury risks. According to a recent report from CBS News, the consumer safety group World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) has just released its 2019 list of toys that could injure kids. 

WATCH List of 2019 Hazardous Toys

Just because a product poses an injury risk does not necessarily mean it will be subject to a recall. As such, it is important to know about recalled children’s products in addition to toys that have not been recalled but could cause injuries. Often, children’s products are not recalled until someone gets hurt. Many product recalls occur as a result of a marketing error, or a failure to warn. For example, if a toy maker fails to warn consumers about certain risks associated with using a product (or even fails to warn about risks associated with using the product in an improper but foreseeable manner), anyone who is injured may be able to file a product defect claim.

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anja-137284-300x225If you are in a car accident in Vista and file a lawsuit against the negligent driver, how will your case be impacted if the defendant says you are partially to blame for the accident? This question concerns “comparative fault,” which is sometimes known as contributory negligence or contributory fault. In short, when a plaintiff files an accident claim against the responsible party, that defendant can raise the issue of comparative fault as a defense to avoid paying the plaintiff the full amount of compensation he or she is seeking. While each state has its own laws concerning comparative fault, it is important to know that a plaintiff in California can still recover damages even if the court says the plaintiff is partially to blame.

We want to tell you more about California’s comparative fault law, and to explain how it may affect a car accident lawsuit in Vista.

California Follows a Pure Comparative Fault Rule

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perry-grone-WgXd5cMYVyM-unsplash-copy-300x200Whether you are a San Diego County resident with kids who enjoy zip lining, or if you live in another part of the country and are planning a trip with your family to an area of Southern California where zip lining is popular, it is important to understand that zip lining can come with injury risk. Indeed, zip line accidents happen more often than you might think, and these accidents frequently happen because of another party’s negligence. As an article in HealthyChildren.org explains, zip lines are a “common attraction at camps, amusement parks, and in backyards . . . across the U.S.,” yet not all zip lines are created equal in terms of their safety ratings.

 
Whether your kids are planning to zip line, whether it is close to home or on a zip lining adventure on vacation or at camp, you should learn more about the activity and ways to avoid zip line injuries.

 
Zip Line Injuries are Becoming an “Epidemic”

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ryan-wilson-18905-copy-300x300The San Diego area is full of swimming pools, from the private Rancho Bernardo Swim & Tennis Club to public pools managed by San Diego Parks & Recreation. When you visit a hotel pool, a public pool, or a swimming pool at the home of a friend or family member in or around San Diego County, it is important to be aware of slip and fall risks. People who own or manage properties including swimming pools owe a duty of care to customers (for private club and public pools) and to friends and family members (for private residential pools) who are on the property. 

Sometimes swimming pool slips and falls happen when nobody plans to swim but the area near the pool is slick from water, while slips and falls also happen to swimmers and sunbathers. We want to say more about preventing slip and fall injuries and provide clarification about liability in swimming pool slips and falls.

Keeping Areas Around Pools Safe

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the-climate-reality-project-zr3bLNw1Ccs-unsplash-copy-300x200Nobody wants to think about toxic substances that may exist in the drinking water in Encinitas or elsewhere in Southern California. However, companies have disposed of toxic and otherwise harmful substances in ways that result in serious and fatal harms to consumers in California and throughout the country, giving rise to a category of personal injury lawsuits known as toxic tort claims. Toxic tort injuries in a small town in Southern California made national news back in 1996, yet as a recent article in Grist highlights, those toxic substances continue to have relevance. 

Toxic Torts Legislation in Hinkley, California

Anyone who has seen the film Erin Brockovich (2000) probably remembers the name Hinkley, a town in Southern California made famous in 1996 when, as the article explains, “a group of residents famously won a massive direct-action arbitration against Pacific Gas and Electric.” The case involved allegations against Pacific Gas and Electric, which ultimately was found responsible for “dumping hexavalent chromium (aka chromium-6), a carcinogen used to suppress rust formation at the Hinkley gas compressor station, into an unlined pond in the ‘50s and ‘60s.” By the 1990s, the chromium-6 had seeped into the groundwater in Hinkley, and many people suffered serious injuries.

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hush-naidoo-382152-copy-300x200Patients in Vista and elsewhere in Southern California who have suffered injuries as a result of defective medical devices may have been the victims of an outdated medical device approval process. According to a recent article from Global Data Healthcare, patients across the U.S. received medical devices that ended up being dangerous for use and may not have been assessed as well as they could have been by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

Now, in response to a report on tens of thousands of deaths caused by dangerous medical devices, the FDA has plans to change the way it approves medical devices for patient use.

Investigative Report Exposes Tens of Thousands of Medical Device-Related Fatalities

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angelo-pantazis-690601-unsplash-copy-300x200Although the weather is warm year-round in Valley Center and throughout San Diego County, summer remains a popular time for taking vacations and for getting out of the house for weekend trips. With the school year also nearing its end, parents in Valley Center should get prepared for summer and should be thinking about ways to prevent personal injuries. According to a recent article in Reader’s Digest, there are many different ways in which personal injuries can happen during the summer months, and a lot of them are unexpected. We have a list of some of the most common yet unexpected dangers that typically affect people over the summer. By knowing about injury risks, residents of and visitors to San Diego County can better avoid them.

Common Injury Risks You May be Ignoring

What are some of the most frequent summer injury risks that many people tend to ignore? Take a look at the following:

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janko-ferlic-161104-unsplash-copy-300x188According to a recent article in USA Today, maternal death rates in the US are the highest in the developed world. Every year more than 50,000 women suffer serious birth-related injuries—700 of those fatal—that could be prevented if healthcare providers followed safety protocols. As the article explains, doctors and nurses often ignore safety recommendations that can prevent birth-related injuries, such as “weighing bloody pads to track blood loss,” or “giving medication within an hour of spotting dangerously high blood pressure to fend off strokes.” As a result of medical negligence, pregnant women suffer severe and sometimes fatal injuries during childbirth, including blood clots and infections.

However, according to an article in Self Magazine, California is doing much better than the rest of the country when it comes to preventing birth-related injuries and maternal deaths. What is different about healthcare in California?

Maternal Death Rate in California is Half That of the Rest of the Country

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ryan-wilson-18905-copy-300x300One of the great features of any hotel when you are on vacation with your family is an outdoor pool. Even for visitors to Rancho Bernardo who are planning to spend much of their time at the beach, if you are staying at a hotel with a pool, there is a good chance that you and your children will enjoy some time by the poolside. However, pools can be extremely dangerous, and children especially can sustain serious hotel injuries at a pool. While drowning due to swimming inexperience or slipping and falling typically is the primary concern when it comes to hotel pool injuries, there are other ways that guests can get hurt while enjoying the water. Specifically, pool drain accidents and pool filter accidents happen more often than you might think.

Hotel Pools and Circulation Entrapments in Drains

Pools and hot tubs at hotels have drain systems and filter systems that are designed to clean the water and to create circulation. While these systems help to ensure that hotel guests are swimming in clean water, they can also lead to serious personal injuries if proper safety precautions are not taken or if these devices do not undergo regular maintenance. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) refers to many of these injuries that lead to drowning deaths as “circulation entrapments.” In such situations, an injured guest may be able to file a hotel negligence claim.

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nathan-dumlao-1064615-unsplash-copy-200x300Whether you live in San Marcos or elsewhere in the San Diego County area, it is important to know about electric scooters and the personal injury risks they pose. According to a recent news release from the University of California, new research suggests that e-scooters are tied to high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI), broken bones, and dislocated joints. Those who sustain these types of injuries on e-scooters require medical attention, and some seemingly less serious injuries also require riders to seek treatment in an emergency department.

Why are e-scooters dangerous, and how should residents around San Diego County respond?

New Study Ties Electric Scooters to Serious Personal Injuries

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