Archive for the ‘ Uncategorized ’ Category

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5
Mar

Parents Added As Defendants In California Personal Injury Lawsuit

March 5, 2012

Two more defendants have been named in a California personal injury lawsuit filed on behalf of a man who was injured when three intoxicated teens began throwing rocks from a Canyon Way overpass and onto passing I-80 traffic on July 26, 2010. According to reports from The Sacramento Bee, the parents of one of the boys’ friends have been named in the lawsuit after they allegedly supplied alcohol for the teens.

The lawsuit claims that a truck driver from Sacramento, California, suffered severe facial injuries that required several reconstructive surgeries after a basketball-sized rock, allegedly thrown by the drunken teens, came crashing through the windshield of the man’s Ford Expedition as he traveled along I-80. Attorneys for the victim say that he also suffers from headaches and sleeplessness as a result of the incident.

The state of California and the Department of Transportation are also named as defendants in the lawsuit because of their negligence to have protective barriers, which are standard on most highway overpasses, installed.

The parents who allegedly supplied the alcohol have publicly denied the accusations.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages for the victim.

The California Personal Injury Lawyers with Berg Injury Lawyers say that making sure to identify all negligent parties in a claim is vital to filing a successful personal injury lawsuit. If you have questions regarding an injury you suffered because of someone else’s negligence, our firm is available to help.

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6
Feb

Construction Worker Killed By Trench Collapse

February 6, 2012

A bay-area contracting company is in trouble after an on-the-job fatality this past Saturday uncovered numerous building code violations. According to reports from The Oakland Tribune, a 39-year-old carpenter died after a trench he was working in at the work site collapsed and buried him alive.

Three days prior to the accident, construction inspectors issued a cease work order to the contractors on the site of a new home being built in Milpitas, California, because of failure to apply for a permit to dig a trench more than five feet deep. Besides the lack of a permit, the walls to the trench were not properly shored up.

The contracting company ignored the order and put workers back on the job anyway. Within hours the walls of the trench gave way, and the body of the worker was recovered several hours later.

In the days following the accident, the Contractors State License Board has discovered that the company also falsified paperwork in 2008 regarding workers’ compensation insurance, claiming they had no employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that the contracting company may face both civil and criminal charges for failing to heed the cease work orders.

The California wrongful death attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers may be able to help if a loved was killed on a job site accident at no fault of their own. Contact an experienced attorney today to get the help you need.

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23
Jan

California Database Tracks Deadbeat Doctors

January 23, 2012

The state of California has created a database of information that has offered residents a way to monitor which doctors in the state have been reprimanded for crimes or malpractice. The database was created in order to make information about doctors who do not properly care for patients public knowledge so that others are not hurt by their mistakes.

The database can be accessed by anyone via the Medical Board of California website and can show users information regarding a doctors educational history, license information, and public records of any complaints or charges filed against the individual doctor.

Doctors are searchable by name and license number and type. If you are having trouble finding your doctor in the system, it could be good or a bad. Doctors who have not ever been disciplined are not listed in the system; however, the database in only current through 2010, so if action has been taken against the doctor in recent years, it will not be listed either.

A quick search of the city of Alameda, California, turned up the names of nine doctors who had been disciplined as far back as eighteen years ago, and as recently as two. Several were for notices to surrender a license, while another showed information regarding a $2,000,000 medical malpractice lawsuit.

The California medical malpractice attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers would encourage all California residents to check their doctor’s names against the system to ensure the person you get your medical advice from has not made a costly, and sometimes fatal, mistake in the past.

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9
Jan

San Jose Students Receive 2,500 Free Bicycle Helmets and Safety Lessons

January 9, 2012

From the moment a child first peddles their bike down the driveway for the first time, it is vital to begin teaching them the importance of wearing a helmet and following safety rules. Unfortunately, not all children are taught these lessons early on. That is why, according to CBS-San Francisco News, the San Jose Department of Transportation and the Franklin-McKinley school district have partnered in a new campaign.

The pair has joined forces to give away approximately 2,500 bicycle helmets to children within the school district. A spokesman for the groups and associate transportation specialist with the City of San Jose, Devin Gianchandani, said the helmets were made possible by a $55,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.  He added that the children would receive a helmet along with, “Pedestrian-bicycle safety education through the city’s nationally recognized street smart program.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that every year, approximately 1,000 die in bicycle-related accidents. Of those accident victims, 62 percent suffered from a traumatic head injury. The agency states that the most effective way to prevent such injuries is to wear a helmet.

The California brain injury attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers understand that traumatic brain injuries can have a full spectrum of effects on a victim. Founding Attorney William Berg recently discussed how and why diagnosing brain injuries can be difficult and what steps to take in a recent news interview.

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19
Dec

Torture Victim Files Claim For Damages Against State Schools And Agencies

December 19, 2011

A 19-year-old woman from Sacramento, California, who escaped from the home of her adoptive mother where she was held against her will and tortured, has filed a claim for damages against the Sacramento County Child Protective Services and the Sacramento City Unified School District. According to The Sacramento Bee, the claim alleges that several employees of the agency and school district failed to protect the girl against the suspected abuse.

The girl was born addicted to cocaine because of her birth mother’s drug abuse problems, and she suffered beatings, burnings, and solitary confinement later in life by her adoptive mother. And yet, authority figures from teachers to case workers have been documented at their own hand as doing nothing to stop it.

One key factor may hold the case back. California State law requires a personal injury case to be filed within six months of the injury, with very few exceptions. The abuse in this case ended around two years ago, which may keep the case out of the courtroom. Prosecutors allege the woman suffered from a mental illness from the abuse know as Stockholm Syndrome, which held her back from filing the claim.

That’s why the California Personal Injury Attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers say it is important to file your claim as soon as you can after an accident occurs. If you have questions regarding a claim you need to file, we have answers.

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17
Oct

Free Health Care At Alameda County Fire Stations In The Works

October 17, 2011

A pilot program to provide healthcare for the uninsured and underinsured in Alameda County at five fire stations is in the planning stages and could be in place as early as fall of next year. The Oakland Tribune reports that the nearly $10 million dollar project would offer free primary and preventative healthcare to those in need.

The project, called the Fire Station Health Care Portal pilot program, which is headed by Alameda County Fire Chief, Sheldon Gilbert, and Alameda County Health Care Services Agency Director, Alex Briscoe, has a list of seven stations in the area that are contenders to host the program. That list will be narrowed to five participants by January. Then, those five stations will be overhauled to accommodate three full-time employees: A firefighter/paramedic, a care coordinator, and a nurse practitioner. They will be responsible for giving non-emergency, primary care to the public as well as responding to non-emergency 911 calls, giving medical advice for 211 calls, and providing follow-up care.

Gilbert and Briscoe believe the idea could offer local solutions for a nation-wide health care crisis. Briscoe commented, “We’re proposing a solution to a health care system where costs are running wild.” If enacted, the program would run for three years before assessment of its impact.

The California Personal Injury Attorneys at Berg Injury Lawyers would like to applaud local officials for making such great efforts to ensure everyone in our area gets the health care that they deserve.

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10
Oct

California Bans The Use Of Tanning Beds For Minors

October 10, 2011

When Governor Jerry Brown signed State Bill 746 into law Sunday, California became the first state to ban the use of tanning beds for children under 18 years of age. The Oakland Tribune reports that the new law will take effect January 1st of next year.

Under current law, the state of California says that it is illegal for children 14-years-old and younger to use the beds, while teens between the age of 15 and 17 need only their parent’s permission to tan.

The author of the bill, Senator Ted Lieu, remarked after the bill passed that although 30 other states have restrictions on the age in which children can use indoor tanning facilities, the new law gives California the highest age limit in the country.

Every year, as many as 2.5 million teens tan indoors in the United States, increasing their risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent. Research by the Skin Cancer Foundation has uncovered that those who use tanning beds are also 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.

The California Defective Product Attorney with Berg Injury Lawyers are happy to see that law makers are taking steps to keep our youth safe and healthy. They would also like to encourage current tanning bed users to consider the health risks involved in tanning.

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3
Oct

Governor Jerry Brown Enacts New Laws In California

October 3, 2011

Governor Jerry Brown enacted several pieces of legislature on Sunday that will directly impact the health care and insurance Californians receive. One of these new laws, which removed the ban on male circumcisions, has caused quite a stir.

According to The Oakland Tribune, the new law prohibits cities and counties from banning male circumcisions. Those supporting the legislature say the law will protect religious freedoms, as the procedure is a religious tradition most Jewish and Muslim males have performed. Also, experts say the procedure reduces the risk for infections, such as HIV and cancer.

Those against the bill likened the procedure to that of female circumcision, which has long been outlawed in the United States because of the negative impact on a woman’s mental and physical health, neither which are problems linked to male circumcision.

The California Accident Attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers want to hear your opinions on the recently passed bill. Will the new law protecting circumcision rights also protect basic first amendment rights to freedom of religion, or is the procedure barbaric, out of date, and/or unethical? Post what you think on our Facebook wall.

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26
Sep

Mistake By Temp Nurse The Cause Of Oakland Patient’s Death?

September 26, 2011

A 66-year-old Oakland, California, woman who was a patient at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center died Saturday while under the care of a nurse who was temporarily hired by the hospital to cover for nurses who were on strike. According to The Oakland Tribune, hospital officials are calling the accident one of the worst mistakes in the hospital’s history.

The hospital had hired 500 contract nurses to cover for a one-day strike on Thursday. Administrators then sent staff who participated in the strike home on Friday when they arrived for work. Under one of the temporary nurse’s care, the patient was given an improper dose of medication and later died as a result.

One nurse who works in the unit where the patient was placed believes their replacements were, “Not familiar with the policies and procedures, or with the equipment.”

Dr. Steve O’Brien, the hospital’s chief medical officer, issued an apology soon after, stating that the incident was being fully investigated.

Since 2007, the California Department of Public Health has collected more than $4.6 million dollars in fines from hospitals in cases where one in twenty-eight medical mistakes that occurred was deemed inexcusable.

The California Wrongful Death Attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers would urge patients who have suffered at the hands of under- or un-qualified medical staff to contact them at 1-800-400-BERG, or by filling out an online consultation form, for a free evaluation of your case.

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6
Sep

California Veteran Dies After Contracting Rabies Overseas

September 5, 2011

It doesn’t always have to be a traumatic injury to warrant a soldier needing disability benefits. Some debilitating or fatal illnesses, as invisible as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or as obvious as HIV, can inhibit as soldier’s ability to do their job as much as an amputation can. In one such case, a soldier who called Livermore, California, home recently died after contracting rabies while overseas.

CBS-San Francisco reported the 24-year-old Army Specialist was based out of Fort Drum in New York, with the 10th Mountain Division. He had returned home in May following deployment to Afghanistan with the 615th Military Police Company, when he began to show signs of the disease. It is unclear how and where the soldier contracted the illness, but military officials have said they have determined the man did not become infected while in New York.

Rabies is a disease contracted normally through the bite of an infected animal. It causes death through creating swelling in the brain and, in human cases, can take several months before seeing signs of the disease. Symptoms start out very much like the flu, but gradually worsen to the point of paralysis and hallucinations. If untreated, lmost all cases are fatal, with death coming within a week.

The California Veterans Disability Attorneys with Berg Injury Lawyers understand traumatic injuries aren’t the only cause for a soldier, or their family, to need benefits. Contact them today by filling out a free online consultation form to take a closer look at your case.