The recent Supreme Court ruling to allow the wrongful death case against Mazda to proceed, may have a strong impact on the auto industry and auto defect victims, according to the attorneys of BISNAR | CHASE. The case stems from a 2002 accident where a woman was killed, allegedly because of the substandard seatbelt that was installed in the Mazda minivan. Until now, this case was rejected from California courts because Mazda claims the seat belt met safety standards.

Thanh Williamson, a mother from Utah, was restrained in her family’s 1993 Mazda MPV when the vehicle was involved in a car accident. Williamson was sitting in the second row of the minivan, wearing the single lap belt, but the force of the accident caused her body to jackknife around the lap belt, and she suffered fatal internal injuries.

The Williamson family claims that the automaker was negligent by choosing an unsafe restraining system, and that installing a lap and shoulder seat belt in the minivan might have saved their loved one’s life. Lawyers representing Mazda Motor of America, Inc. say that their choice to install the lap belt was legal, and California courts had previously dismissed the case. (more…)

The reality is that traumatic brain injuries can lead to brain damage. If a person suffers a serious brain injury, the resulting concussion can show physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms that could possibly last, off-and-on, for 30 years or longer. Repeated concussions put the individual in a very serious, dangerous state.

Being aware of short and long-term symptoms of concussions can help people make smart life decisions after suffering an injury or in order to avoid injury. Here are some guidelines to short-term concussion-related symptoms: (more…)

According to the California personal injury attorneys of BISNAR | CHASE, the recent Supreme Court ruling that will allow a wrongful death case to proceed against Mazda may have a significant effect on U.S. Automakers and auto defect victims alike.

In 2002, Thanh Williamson, of Utah, was wearing her seatbelt in the second row of her family’s 1993 Mazda MPV minivan when the vehicle was involved in a car accident. Despite being properly restrained in the lap seat belt at the time of the accident, Williamson sustained fatal internal injuries that seem to be caused by the force on her body against the single lap belt. The case alleges that the seat belt installed in the Mazda, that was supposed to protect Williamson, was ineffective, and a safer lap-and-shoulder seat belt should have been installed instead.

Mazda has since argued that the single lap belt complies with federal safety standards, and that they are not responsible for the wrongful death of Williamson. Lawyers representing Mazda Motor of America, Inc., explained that the automaker was given a choice as to which seat belt would be installed in the minivan rear inner seat, and their choice was legal. (more…)

With many defective medical products out there today, one has to be careful with the products they choose. One such product, the Bard Avaulta device has been known to cause many different problems among women. In some cases, personal injury lawsuits have been filed and some products have been recalled.

Some Common Side Effects In Lawsuits

1. Pelvic Pain
2. Extrusion of the Mesh Device
3. Infection
4. Removal of the Mesh Device
5. Scarring
6. Hardening of the Mesh Device
7. Difficulties during sex

A Case From Cabell Circuit Court In West Virginia

One such case involved a woman using Bard Avaulta vaginal sling which caused her significant pain and to suffer permanent and disfiguring damage. The lawsuit was actually filed by her husband. The complaint was that the mesh implant eroded through the vaginal wall causing permanent damage. Most of the other complaints against Bard Avaulta are similar in nature but varying in outcome. (more…)

Head trauma can be common among children, as they tend to fall often. Yet, some of these accidents lead to very serious injuries. There are actions you can take to help your injured child if it be a bump or a bruise on the head or a possibly fatal injury.

Steps to Follow to Deal with Brain Injury

It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents contact their child’s heath care provider for assistance with any injury more severe than a light bump on the head.

If your child shows any of the following symptoms, they should be seen by a healthcare provider as soon as possible: (more…)

Head injuries can occur in a variety of ways. Falls, crashes, bicycle or car accidents, and sport-related injuries are some of the events that could leave a victim with a minor or severe brain injury. Head injuries also manifest as anything as small as a bump to severe injuries like contusions, hematoma, intracranial hemorrhages, or edema. The first step to dealing with these different kinds of injuries, is to know the wide-range of symptoms to look for.

Here are some steps you can follow to begin treating a head injury:

- First, check to see if the heady injury is open. If the injury has resulted in the skull being broken open, you must call 911 immediately. A closed brain injury may also be very severe, but further inquiry is needed to determine if it is an emergency. If you are in doubt about how serious the head injury is, call 911. If the head injury has resulted in bleeding, hold a cloth firmly to the wound and stay that way. It is important to keep the cloth over even excessive bleeding. It may be hard to know what has happened, but try to dress the wound appropriately. If the skull has been fractured, do not put pressure on the head. If there is an object extending from the skull, do not try to remove it. Allow emergency personnel to deal with the injury. (more…)

If you haven’t heard that Johnson & Johnson has put out a defective hip replacement implant, then I would like to also inform you that we have our first African American president, and that O.J. Simpson is no longer popular. This implant has dominated product defect news and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. This is because the injuries that have resulted from these products are starting to surface and they aren’t pretty.

Metallosis isn’t exactly on the public’s list of conditions you wouldn’t mind being afflicted with. This defective product symptom basically consists of metal particles that buildup in the tissue surrounding the implanted joint. This leaves the patient with a variety of different aches and pains which, in many cases, surpass mild and moderate and are more prone to being severe. (more…)

The Journal of Athletic Training released a study recently that suggests differences between the ways boys and girls show concussion symptoms. The study highlights the need for health care professionals, clinicians, athletic trainers, parents, and coaches to be aware of nontraditional symptoms that may be signs of brain injury.

What to Look For

Athletes of both sexes reported headaches more than 95% of the time during or after a traumatic brain injury, making headaches the most obvious primary symptom. Secondary symptoms, however, are harder to decipher as they differ between boys and girls, and person to person. In many cases, boys have reported confusion, disorientation, and amnesia after a head injury, whereas girls reported drowsiness and sensitivity to noise. (more…)

If you were to imagine the top ten major causes of death for people in America, what do you imagine would be on that list? Would you put preventable medical errors, which are made by people, possibly in nursing homes, tasked with keeping you healthy on the list? According to a recent report by the American Association for Justice’s recent report entitled “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” preventable medical errors is sixth on the list of major causes of death. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are killed or seriously injured by preventable medical errors every year!

Errors are a problem that affect everyone, but seniors are particularly vulnerable, especially seniors neglected in nursing homes. While representing just 13% of the population, senior citizens account for 34% of all adverse drug reactions. And of the 1.9 million adverse drug effects suffered every year by those in long term care, 70% are preventable! These problems are exacerbated when hospital administrators, who often put profits over people, and fail to make necessary changes because they deem these changes too costly. (more…)

According to pbs.org, in 2008 the average cost for a semi-private room in a nursing home was $5,448 per month ($65,385 a year). What kind of care, respect and attention would you expect for yourself or your beloved grandparent, parent, aunt, or uncle if you are spending $179 per day for care? The last thing you would expect would be physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, but unfortunately that is exactly what is happening to many seniors in nursing homes throughout the state. According to a recent report from the American Association for Justice, entitled “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” instead of receiving the loving care and attention you’d expect from these nursing homes, seniors are often ending up victims of nursing home abuse.

The abuse facing seniors is often the result of nursing homes negligent staff hiring. Many nursing homes fail to properly check the criminal records of its staff, or they run checks and ignore the results. This negligent hiring or employees with criminal records has devastating consequences leading to abuse for seniors. (more…)