Legal News
Product liability, medical negligence focus: medical scope alarms
Duodenoscopes. Gastroscopes. Colonoscopes. Bronchoscopes. What do all these medical devices — used for internal looks and treatment of patients’ body parts and organs, such as lungs, stomachs, bladders and colons — have in common? According to emerging research, these medical devices are often impervious to truly effective post-use cleaning protocols. The result: Many of the…
Read MoreAmong worst summer scenarios: amusement ride accidents
It seems like every summer there is a story like the one we are about to relate, a tale that serves as a truly chilling reminder that even environments where strict safety precautions are stressed can harbor outsized dangers to the public. We’re talking amusement parks and, of course, their myriad rides that cater to…
Read MoreConcerns regarding Medtronic’s device royalty scheme, Part 2
We noted in our earlier blog post of this week that Medtronic, which describes itself online as “the world’s premier medical technology and services company,” is front and center in a recent media expose that denotes it as “a flash point in a national debate about the role of money in medicine.” In a nutshell,…
Read MoreWorkplace sexual harassment: immoral, unethical and illegal
Here’s a quasi-truism regarding sexual harassment in the workplace: It is often relegated to something minor in the overall scheme of unwanted sexual contact, where obvious and explicit acts of sexual assault and other forms of abuse command more attention. That is the wrong view to take, of course, given that harassing sexual behavior aimed…
Read MoreEmpirical evidence backs motorcycle lane-splitting
Although it might be a bit cumbersome, motorcyclists throughout Los Angeles County and Southern California might want to consider toting a copy of a UC-Berkeley study on motorcycle safety as they traverse area roads and freeways. And they might want to resolutely stick it in the hands of the next irate motorist that yells at…
Read MoreFamily says Sacramento nursing home tried to cover up fatal medication error
Nursing homes and assisted care facilities advertise their services in glowing terms, but the reality is that the care at many of these places is extremely lacking. Problems include understaffing, poor training of employees, and poor supervision. All of these factors can lead to neglect and abuse of vulnerable adults. As we discussed in a…
Read MoreWitness: Car bumper ‘literally touching’ motorcycle prior to crash
An apparent road rage incident recently took the life of a Navy officer as he drove his motorcycle on a highway in San Diego, and video recorded by a witness moments before the fatal collision has emerged. The video shows a car traveling close behind a motorcycle, and according to the witness, the car came…
Read MoreDespite increased risk to mothers, rates of unnecessary C-sections remain high
Due to a variety of factors, cesarean section deliveries have become more common in the last few decades. Many women in the U.S. are waiting until later in life to give birth; in vitro fertilization has increased the incidence of multiple births; a C-section may be necessary because of obesity or diabetes; and there are…
Read More‘Coughing fit’ blamed for fatal big rig accident in Pacoima
Multi-vehicle auto accidents involving large commercial vehicles require detailed investigations to determine exactly what happened. Truck drivers and trucking companies are subject to regulations that do not apply to passenger vehicles, and unfortunately violations of trucking industry regulations are to blame for many crashes. Police are looking into the cause of a recent series of…
Read MoreLess than 1 percent of imported products, including toys, inspected for safety issues
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is the federal agency responsible for inspecting consumer products, including those imported from other countries. You might assume that this is a big agency, with lots of resources and legislation to back it up, but the truth is that the commission regulates very few of the thousands of products…
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