Washington Injury Attorney Blog

The Seattle Times reports that the U.S. District Court in Spokane has awarded a man who was held in Grant County Jail for seven months $3 million dollars for legal malpractice in a civil suit. In making the award, the jury found that the public defender for Felipe G. Vargas, who was falsely accused of child molestation, did not mount a proper defense.

Vargas was arrested and placed in jail in November 2003 where he remained for seven months although his accuser recanted three days later. Vargas' court-appointed attorney was Grant County Public Defender Thomas Earl. Earl was working under a contract which paid him $500,000 annually. In finding Earl negligent in his representation of Vargas, the court heard testimony that Earl did not hire experts and investigators to clear Vargas, in part because of his case load, but also because he had a financial incentive not to spend money on services to defend Vargas. Earl was eventually disbarred.

A legal ethics professor at Seattle University, John Strait, testified in the trial calling flat fee contracts, "illegal and unethical for any attorney to enter into." Court watchers across Washington State believe that flat fee contracts for people needing court-appointed lawyers does not provide indigents a fair representation because defenders like Earl may not properly defend a client due to their own profit motive. In September, the Washington State Supreme Court barred any Washington lawyer from working under a contract such as Earl's.

In an ineffective assistance of counsel case the suit can proceed if it can be prove that an attorney's negligence deprived their client of their civil rights.

This information is provided by the Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury firm that represent clients for medical malpractice, hospital malpractice and for legal malpractice. If your damages are serious, then you need to contact a skilled attorney. At The Farber Law Group we have more than 30 years experience in representing malpractice cases. We often partner with co-counsel to make sure you have the best legal representation available.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The family of Shirley Mae Almer, age 72, whose death may have been as a direct result of the salmonella- tainted peanut butter she ate, have filed a wrongful death suit in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis. The family is asking for damages of more than $50,000 according to Forbes.com.

In filing the lawsuit, Almer's family says that the negligence of Peanut Corporation of America, the manufacturer, and King Nut, the distributor, caused Almer's death.

More than 390 products containing peanut butter or peanut paste manufactured at Peanut Corporation of America's Georgia plant have been recalled including snack cakes, ice cream, cookies and dog biscuits. The CDC has found four separate strains of salmonella bacteria at the plant and have traced one strain in common with 501 people in 43 states who have been sickened after consuming peanut butter products manufactured at the plant. For a complete list of recalls, check the FDA's web-site here: "Search for Peanut Butter Product Recalls."

Salmonella is a foodborne illness which causes abdominal cramping and severe diarrhea in infected people. It can be deadly to the young, the elderly or people with compromised immune systems. According to the report, Almer was recovering from cancer treatments and other ailments when she became sickened because of salmonella.

A wrongful death suit can be filed on behalf of a deceased person by their family. A family may be able to recover damages if it can be proved that a person or entity's negligence caused their loved ones death.

The Farber Law Group, an experienced personal injury attorney firm with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, may be able to help you if you have had a family member die due to someone else's negligence. Wrongful death can arise from car accidents, work-related injuries, falls at property that was not properly maintained or due to foodborne illness provided by a food manufacturer or restaurant.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

A few months ago we wrote about the several states considering legislature regarding installing hidden cameras in nursing homes. We first became aware of these cameras -- dubbed "granny cams" -- when Elliot Spitzer announced that hidden cameras in New York nursing homes led to the arrest of 19 nursing home employees for serious cases of abuse.

I recently came across a posting on The Famous Nursing Blog which discussed the merits of installing cameras "Security cameras in Nursing Homes -- Useful or Wasteful?" Here's what the article discusses:

Pros:

• May provide confidence in the care a loved one is receiving in a nursing home
• Monitors care of loved ones
• Cost can be factored into other necessary overhead costs.
• Security cameras minimize the nursing home owner's liability when an employee performs a wrong act, thus decreasing an owner's liability.
• Provides evidence of wrong-doing.
• State legislatures may mandate cameras so they may be legal.

Cons:

• Cost -- cameras cost between $630 and $1,590 with monthly fees which charge at least 20-30$ monthly. Adds to overhead.
• Nursing home staff and operators believe cameras are an invasion of privacy
• Nursing home staff believe that "compromise a patients dignity", filming private acts like toilet and bathing activities.
• Unless legislatures mandate them, they may be illegal.

Whatever your feelings are about cameras, if you are evaluating nursing homes for your loved one, you might check our Nursing Home Resources. We have lists of agencies which might help you in making your decision.

If you have a loved one who has been seriously injured in a nursing home due to abuse or neglect, contact The Farber Law Group. We have more than 30 years experience in representing victims of nursing home abuse and their families. Injuries can include pressure sores, falls, over medication, broken bones, medication errors, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. We will provide you with a free and confidential case evaluation.

Parents of a high school football player who died this summer of heat exhaustion have filed a wrongful death suit against the football coach. In addition, the Pleasure Ridge Park football Coach, Jason Stinson, has been charged with reckless homicide in the 15-hear-old teenager's death. Stinson has plead not guilty.

According to a report in the Courier-Journal.com, a newspaper serving Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana, the player, Max Gilpan, collapsed on August 20th of heat stroke and died three days later. His core body temperature was 107 degrees.

The coach was not allowed to testify before the Jefferson County Grand jury, however, the grand jury did not find Stinson's actions intentional or malicious. They indicted him for reckless homicide because he "failed to perceive a risk that a reasonable person in that situation would have seen."

The report said that Gilpan and another player collapsed during a training run when the heat index was 94 degrees. The other player spent two days in the hospital. Witnesses say that the players were denied water and that they were told they had to run until someone quit the team.

This case will certainly be one that many coaches, players and parents of young athletes will be watching.

Washington State has a wrongful death statute which allows surviving relatives such as a parent, spouse or child to bring a civil suit on behalf of their deceased loved one. In wrongful death cases, the family of the deceased may recover damages against the person whose negligence caused the family member's death.

Most wrongful death cases, like this one, are fairly complex. One requires an experienced personal injury attorney to navigate the statutes. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience in representing people with serious personal injuries and wrongful death claims. With offices in Bellevue and Seattle, we are here to help you.

Contact The Farber Law Group for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The Seattle Times reports that dog treats sold in Washington State and seven other states are being recalled due to fear that they might contain peanut paste or peanut butter. Peanut butter and paste and products that contain it have been linked with over 486 cases of salmonella infection in humans in the last few months including six deaths. More than 100 people have had to be hospitalized as well. There have been at least three cases in King County linked to the outbreak.

The article says that Albertson is voluntarily recalling a pet treat called Happy Tails. PetSmart is recalling varieties of its Great Choice dog biscuits. The fear is that the pet food treats might contain salmonella contaminated with the peanut butter or peanut paste. While veterinarians don't think that pets are in danger because most of them are immune, their owners who feed them the dog treat might get infected with the bacteria.

Salmonella is a foodborne bacteria which can cause severe stomach cramping and diarrhea in people who come in contact with it. The elderly, young children and people with compromised immune systems may contract severe illness requiring hospitalization and some cases even result in death.

For a list of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Peanut Butter Product Recalls, click here:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm/ .

If you or a loved one has become seriously ill or a loved one has died due to foodborne illness, you should contact a personal injury attorney. The Farber Law Group, with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, has more than 30 years experience representing victims of food poisoning. With our help, you may recover compensation for medical costs, loss of wages and damages caused by the food poisoning.

Washington State has settled a wrongful death suit for $1.75 million with the family of an Omak woman who was brutally murdered in her own home several years ago. wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the four children of Marcille Robbins. Robbins was in her own home when Todd Marsh, who had been released from Eastern State Hospital, broke into her house and bludgeoned her to death with several household objects. The lawyer for Robbins children said that Robbins murder was "the worst he had ever seen in terms of sheer violence and brutality."

The lawsuit claimed that the State should never have released Marsh from the hospital because he was clearly mentally ill and dangerous. He had been placed in Eastern State Hospital by Okanogan County mental health workers after he had said he was hearing voices and he was going to kill someone. The hospital released him in less than the 72 hour observation period without medication or a treatment plan. A few hours later, Marcille Robbins was murdered.

Marsh pleaded guilty to first degree murder and is serving a 60 year sentence. The report said that he takes heavy doses of anti-psychotic medication in prison.

Washington State has a wrongful death statute which allows surviving family members to recover damages in a civil action when a person's death is caused by the negligent or wrongful act of another. In this case, the Robbins' children — Janie Milbrandt, Tommye Robbins, Katheryn Petersen and the family of the late Gary Robbins — filed the suit shortly after their mother's death. Their lawyer said that they filed the suit, not because they needed the money but to help make sure that no other family would ever have to" go through what they went through."

This information is provided by the Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a Washington law firm with more than 30 years experience in handling wrongful death cases.

Contact The Farber Law Group to discuss your case.

The largest O111 E-coli outbreak in U.S. history happened this past year in northeastern Oklahoma. In this outbreak, more than 300 people became ill after eating at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove. Locust Grove is about an hours drive from Tulsa. Now, five months later, scientists are saying they will probably never be able to pinpoint how the bacteria got into the restaurant reports The Tulsa World.

In this outbreak, of the 300 sickened, one man died and more than 70 people became so ill that they had to be hospitalized. The outbreak caused millions of pounds of beef products to be recalled, most distributed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd. The beef was recalled because it is often the source of E-coli infections along with leafy greens and unpasteurized dairy products and apple juice.

Department of Health scientists have been pretty smart in tracking down the culprit in an E-coli outbreak. With advances in DNA testing, a single source of infection can often be identified. However in this case, the state epidemiologist for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Dr. Kristy Bradley, says they believe they will never be able to pinpoint exactly how the bacteria got into the restaurant. She says, “We feel we did a very complete epidemiological investigation. We looked at numerous specimens from employees who had fallen ill to water to the food and environmental surfaces.”

E-coli O111 is a form of bacteria that is usually foodborne. It can cause mild illness in some including stomach cramping, fever and diarrhea. In others -- especially the very young, the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions -- the bacteria can be very serious leading to complications which can result in death.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We have experience in representing people who have serious illness due to foodborne illness. In one case, we recovered over a million dollars for a young boy who contracted E-coli from a Washington fast food restaurant.

Contact The Farber Law Group for a free case evaluation.

Seventeen people were injured including five passengers on a Trailways bus after a chain-reaction accident involving a Trailways bus, a semi truck and four passenger cars on Highway 2 nine miles northwest of Leavenworth, Washington.

According to the Wenatchee World, the multi-car accident occurred near the Tumwater campground where there was a construction site. Apparently, a few cars and a semi truck were stopped for a dump truck pulling out of the construction area when they were rear-ended by the Trailways bus and another vehicle. The impact of the rear-end collision caused the semi truck to hit two other vehicles.

Injuries included sore backs, head injuries, a chipped tooth, banged up knee and a chipped tooth. Accident victims were taken to the hospital. Luckily, no one was killed in the accident. Victims ranged in age from 6 months to 62 years of age.

People writing in the Comments section on the newspaper web-site wondered if the construction flaggers were doing their job properly and if the Trailways bus was traveling at too high rate of speed. Washington State Patrol have not cited anyone at this time.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of car accidents and their families. With our help, you may be able to recover compensation for your damages including pain and suffering. With offices in Bellevue and Seattle, we represent people all over the Northwest including Lynnwood, Spokane, and Wenatchee.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that The Land of Nod is recalling toy xylophones they sell due to a potential choking hazard. The toy is both a pull toy and a musical instrument. The CPSC says that the xylophone "notes" are attached with pegs, and the pegs could potentially come unattached and a child could choke on them.

Consumers are urged to return the toys because they may be dangerous and, in turn, The Land of Nod, will issue a $45 refund and a $10 gift. They have sold about 500 of the toys have been solad and the have 22 reports of broken pegs with no injuries reported.

The Land of Nod sold the toys through their web-site and their stores. In the greater Seattle area, their store is located in University Village near the University of Washington campus.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of serious injury due to faulty or dangerous products. With offices in Seattle and Bellevue, we will work hard to help you recover compensation for your damages.

Contact us today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

A report on KNDO.com reports that Darla Atkins, age 40, lost control of her vehicle and crashed into another on State Route 97 near Toppenish around 6 pm on Friday and was killed in the car accident.

Washington State Troopers are concerned about the increase they see in the number of motor vehicle accidents on this stretch of road. Most fatalities have one or both of two things in common: the drivers and passengers are failing to wear seat belts and alcohol is involved. They say in this fatality, alcohol was definitely a factor and no one in both cars were wearing seat belts.

This information was brought to you By Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been injured and the families of those killed in car accidents.

Contact us today.

An article in The Seattle Times reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to avoid foods that contain peanut butter including cookies, crackers, snack cakes and ice cream. This warning comes after one strain of salmonella bacteria is suspect in making at least 500 people sick across the United States, three of them in King County, Washington.

The spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Health, Donn Moyer, says of those made sick in our state, none have had to be hospitalized.

For now, the FDA is saying that the cause of the salmonella traces back to a production facility in Blakely, Georgia and the Peanut Corporation of America. While the salmonella does not appear to be in jars of peanut butter sold through grocery stores, it has been traced to peanut paste and peanut butter which is used in an ingredients in other products including Perry's Ice Cream products, Little Debbie sandwich crackers, Keebler cookies and crackers, and other products made by Kellogg. To see the complete list of recalled products, click here: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph/products.html If you have any of these products in your house, the FDA urges you to throw them away.

In our previous blog posting, we discussed that the Salmonella Bacterium, of type Typhimurium has been conclusively linked to the King Nut brand of peanut butter through genetic testing. Since then, the FDA has widened the brands and types of foods they are scrutinizing as the contamination seems more widespread.

For more information about the recall,you may want to read the FDA web-site http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

Salmonella is a bacterium which can cause severe stomach cramping, diarrhea, high fever and illness in people. In the very young, elderly and those with compromised immune systems, the infection can even cause severe illness and even death if not treated correctly and promptly with antibiotics.

This information is provided by The Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury firm in Seattle and Bellevue and we have successful recovered compensation for clients who have become seriously ill due to foodborne illness. The effects of foodborne illness can be seriously debilitating and have impact that compromises a person's health for a life time. We help our client recover compensation for medical costs and for pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group if you or a loved one has become seriously ill due to a foodborne contaminant.

A six year old boy, Sebastian Hizey of Puyallup, was killed on Friday night around 9:40 pm at a monster truck show held at the Tacoma Dome when a piece of metal flew off of a truck 30-50 feet and hit him in the head. Hizey was taken to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma where he was pronounced dead. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's office will perform an autopsy but it appears as if Hizey was killed after a severe brain trauma reports The Seattle Times.

Another spectator, a man, was also struck by flying debris and suffered unknown injuries. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Field Motor Sports, promoter of the Monster Jam event said that in 25 years, there has never been a history of an accident of this nature.

According to the report, a truck was turning tight circles when it experienced some sort of mechanical failure and debris went flying.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney, a service of The Farber Law Group. A personal injury firm with offices in Bellevue and Seattle, Washington, we represent people who have suffered serious injuries due to the negligence of another. We also represent families who have lost a loved one. In wrongful death suits, parents, spouses or children may file a civil case on behalf of their deceased family member.

Beacon News on-line reports that the family of Roberto Morales, Jr. has been awarded $6.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The settlement is a result of a brain injury that Roberto received during his delivery at Provena Mercy Medical Center. The lawsuit claimed that Roberto's cerebral palsy was as a result of reduced oxygen flow due to the administration of the drug Pitocin during labor and childbirth..

The Medical Malpractice Settlement was made in Cook County Circuit Court.

Negligence during child birth can result in very severe injuries. While medical malpractice awards can seem very large in these cases, they are necessary to support a family with enormous educational and medical expenses caused by a child's injury. In this case the child has cerebral palsy with very limited mobility.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington. If your child was injured during birth due to the negligence of the hospital, physician or nursing staff, we will work to help you receive compensation so that your child can receive the treatment and care that he or she needs now and in the future.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a thorough and confidential case evaluation.

Seattle's King5.com reports that a US Airways Flight 1549 headed for Seattle has crash landed in the Hudson River in New York. The plane, an Airbus 320, left LaGuardia and hit the water about three minutes later. Luckily, the plane did not break up in the water and it appears that everyone survived the accident. The water in New York is below 20 degrees.

Experts theorize that the cause of the accident may have been a bird strike.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury attorney law firm based in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington.

Contact The Farber Law Group for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The Seattle Times reports that King Nut Companies of Salon, Ohio has issued a re-call of their "King Nut" and "Parnell's Pride" brand of peanut butter because of salmonella infection, a foodborne illness, linked to the brand. According to the Centers for Disease Control, they have "conclusively linked" these brand of peanut betters to the salmonella outbreak. While these brands are not sold at the retail level, they are available to institutions such as restaurants, schools, universities and hospitals. King Nut is the distributor of the brands which are manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America. To read about the FDA recall, click here: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/kingnut01_09.html

The salmonella outbreak may be nationwide but so far the outbreak seems to be affecting seven states with approximately 400 people with illness. Heidi Kassenborg of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture recommends that anyone with a King Nut or Parnell's Pride brands with a lot code beginning with the number "8" to "throw it out."

CDC officials can trace salmonella back to its source by making a genetic match. The salmonella in this peanut butter case is of type Typhimurium which has been linked to 11 cases in Washington State in 2008.

Salmonella infection can cause fever, severe diarrhea and abdominal cramping, usually 12-72 hours after exposure. Physicians diagnose the infection through a stool sample. The illness can last four to seven days and most people recover without any treatment. However, the elderly, small children, infants and those with impaired immune systems may become severely ill. If the infection spreads to a person's bloodstream it can cause death unless antibiotic treatment is initiated promptly.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury firm with locations in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington with experience representing people who have serious illness due to foodborne illness. With our help, you may recover compensation for your injuries including medical costs and pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group today.

The Washington Courts announced that three justices were sworn in this morning at 9:30 am to begin serving their new six-year terms of office on the Washington State Supreme Court. Sworn in at the Temple of Justice in Olympia were Justices Charles W. Johnson, Mary Fairhurst and Debra L. Stephens.

Gerry Alexander was sworn in as the Chief Justice. Alexander is the longest serving Chief Justice in Washington State history and he was reelected by a unanimous vote by his fellow justices.

The Associate Chief Justice is Charles Johnson who was a classmate of Herbert G. Farber, founder of The Farber Law Group, at Seattle University School of Law.

Mr. Farber congratulates these fine jurists on their new terms.

In a horrifying pedestrian accident, two pedestrians have been seriously injured, one losing her leg, after two suspected DUII drivers collided with each other on MLK Boulevard in Portland, Oregon and crashed into a sidewalk full of pedestrians.

Injured in the pedestrian accident was Laure Rasmussen, 27, lost a leg and sustained serious injuries in her other leg. She is in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. The other person injured is Austin Putnam, 37, who is listed in fair condition at OHSU Hospital with injuries to both of his legs.

The accident occurred when a Zoe T. Hoeltzel, 30, turned her Volvo onto MLK Boulevard in front of a Dodge Charger driven by Lee Percy Brown, 21. The Charger crashed into the Volvo and pushed it into a crowd of pedestrians.

Brown is charged with DUII, one count of reckless driving, one count of assault in the third degree and one count of assault in the fourth degree.

Hoeltzel is charged with DUII, one count of vehicle assault of a pedestrian, one count of assault in the third degree and one count of assault in fourth degree.

In Oregon, a DUII charge is for "Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants" and it is a Class A misdemeanor or a Class C felony. Punishment can be up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $6,250.

In Washington State, approximately 45% of all traffic related fatalities in 2007 were alcohol-related. Drunken driving and driving while intoxicated leaves victims seriously injured and victims deserve compensation for their injuries including pain and suffering.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured due to a drunken driver, you need to contact a personal injury law firm who will work to insure your rights are protected. At The Farber law Group, we have more than 30 years representing victims with serious injuries.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a free case evaluation.

Washington State Traffic Safety Commission just released a news release that finds -- based upon their observational survey of seat belt use -- compliance with seat belt laws is up to 96.5%. This is the fifth year in a row that seat belt usage has gone up.

John Moffat, Regional Administration of NHTSA's Region 10 says:

In 1986 only 36% of vehicle occupants were using seat belts. In 2002 when Washington’s primary seat belt law went into effect, the rate was at 83%. Since then, year after year improvement has made Washington one of the top three states in the nation. "

The Traffic Safety Commission will now work with law enforcement and concentrate seat belt education programs to nighttime drivers. Traffic fatalities at nighttime are four times higher than day time and that is, in part due, to lower compliance to seat belt laws at night time.

This information was brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm that represents victims of car accidents with serious injuries. With our help, you may recover compensation for your injuries including loss of wages and pain and suffering.

Call The Farber Law Group today or fill in the contact form and one of our knowledgeable staff members will call you.

Vincent Farler, 43, has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for the boating accident on the Nisqually river last June that resulted in the deaths of two children, Sean (age 5) and Cameron (age 9) McCartney, and Bryan Pierce, an adult. Farler made an Alford plea which, while not admitting guilt, concedes that there is enough evidence to convict.

According to the report in The Olympian, Farler offered to give Erin McCartney, her two children and her friend Bryan Pierce a ride on his flat-bottomed boat. The boat capsized after making a u-turn against the current, running into a logjam. Erin McCartney and Farler were able to make it to shore. Farler's blood alcohol level was 0.193 percent after the accident which is more than twice the legal limit. None of the five people on the boat was wearing a life vest.

Driving under the influence, either while boating or driving a car, is a very serious offense. If someone dies while one is driving under the influence, which in Washington state is a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08% or greater, then a person can be charged with Vehicular Homicide.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. The Farber Law Group welcomes clients who have suffered losses or injuries as a result of a boating accident. We have more than 30 years experience in representing clients for personal injury. With our help, you may be able to recover compensation for our damages, including pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group today.

See our Boating Resources.

A jury has awarded the daughter of Melvin Raybon $1.25 million in a nursing home neglect lawsuit reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In providing the award, the jury found that the Tucker Nursing Center provided "inadequate attention" and care of Raybon which led to his death after he developed a bedsore that became badly infected and other complications.

According to the story, Raybon, who died four years ago, was admitted to the Tucker Nursing Center at the age of 67. Raybon was only in the nursing center nine months when he developed a bedsore (decubitus ulcer) so severe that the infection went all the way to the bone of his left buttock. Nursing orders said that Raybon was to be turned every two hours to alleviate pressure on his backside but records showed that he was only turned every four.

In the law suit, the attorney for Raybon's estate, Benjamin Land, said that there was not enough staff at the nursing home to provide adequate care. In his argument, he told about the bedsores and infections that Raybon experienced in the last year of his life:

“The last 12 months of his life were miserable,” Land said. “Our argument to the jury was basically that no man should spend his last year on Earth like this.”

Bedsores or pressures sores are common names for decubitus ulcers. Developing bedsores is one of the most ubiquitous injuries suffered by elderly and infirm patients at nursing homes. It is a sign that the person has not been properly cared for and and has lacked proper medical treatment. In the early stages, bedsores are totally treatable but without treatment, they can become infected and even enter the bone which can cause death.

If one of your loved ones such as a paren has suffered a serious bedsore or other serious injury while in the care of a nursing home, you may have a claim against the nursing home for neglect or abuse. Contact The Farber Law Group, a law firm with offices in Seattle and Bellevue with more than 30 years experience in representing clients who have suffered nursing home neglect.

Are you trying to decide on a nursing home for an elderly loved one? It can be a very difficult and costly decision. You want your elderly mother or father to have the best care possible. For sure you will check out the basics including:

• Cleanliness
  
• Food
  
• Beds
  
• Room size
  
• Lighting
  
• Activities
  
• Amenities
  
• Appearance -- furniture and decor

These are the obvious things you will be looking for in a nursing home but many people don't know how to dig deeper and find out the true quality of the nursing home.

Importance of CNAs

The person who will be caring for your loved -- the one who will do the hands on care giving -- is the CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). The CNA's job is very important. They are the staff member who dresses, feeds, and bathes the elderly and infirm residents of a nursing home and perform the activities of daily living. They provide the routine and daily care to free up Registered Nurses (RNs) for tasks that only an RN can can perform including administering medications, dressing and wounding wounds and assessing patients and providing a liaison with the physician.

CNA's are federally mandated to have completed a minimum 75 hours of training and 16 hours of training under supervision. Once the CNA has the training, they are placed on a state registry of nursing aides. Over the course of a year, a CNA must also complete 12 hours of continuing education.

In nursing homes, the turnover of CNAs is huge with some nursing homes experiencing 100% turnover in a single year. The reason for this is that the job is traditionally low paid, high stress and many times the CNA is overworked. Often, a nursing home that is for-profit, will save money by not hiring enough CNAs.

We recommend that the most important questions you ask the nursing home have to do with CNAs:

• What is your CNA turnover/retention
• What kind of training do you provide your CNAs
• What is the ratio of CNA-to-patient in the day time and the night time?

Try to talk to the CNAs one-on-one and ask questions like, "What do you like best about your job?" "How long have you been at this job?" The true quality of a nursing home is its CNAs.

This information was provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury firm that specializes in cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect. We work tirelessly to help people who have suffered neglect or injury due to substandard care at nursing homes including serious falls and bed sores.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a confidential case evaluation.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that, while daytime seat belt use has increased to almost 86% over the past ten years, nighttime seatbelt use is much lower than daytime use, especially among teenage drivers and their passengers.

In 2006, 4,842 teenage passengers died in car accidents. Of the teenagers killed at night, 68% were not wearing seat belts. Among fatal accidents during the daytime hours, 57% killed were not wearing seat belts.

The NHTSA will focus their efforts this year on increasing nighttime seat belt use, especially among teenage drivers and their passengers. Citing their successful "Click It or Ticket" campaign, the NHTSA will concentrate on media campaigns and law enforcement especially during the months of May and June. This year the campaign will bee "Day or Night -- Buckle Up or Pay Up."

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have sustained serious injuries in car accidents through no fault of their own. With our help, you may be able to recover compensation for your property damage, medical costs and for pain and suffering.

Call us at 1-800-244-9087 (toll free) or (425) 455-9087 to set up your free and confidential case evaluation.

Bob Calkins, Community and Media Relations Officer for the Washington State Patrol says that the patrol can ticket motorists for "unsecured loads" if a motorist fails to clean the snow off of their car reports King5.com.

After a snow storm, it is not uncommon to see a vehicle with several inches to a foot of snow on their car. Motorists don't realize that ice and snow on top of a car can pose a serious hazard and cause car accidents.

It is not unknown for snow and ice from a car top to fly off and crack another motorist's windshield. Sometimes, motorists swerve to avoid flying snow and ice and cause an accident.

While you may or may not get a ticket, you are liable for any damages that snow falling from the top of your car causes. You can be found negligent and have to pay for another person's damages.

If you have been involved in a car accident due to another person's negligence, you should contact The Farber Law Group. We represent people with serious injuries due to car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents.

Use the contact form or call The Farber Law Group today.

In a Seattle Times editorial, the piece asked for support of the King County Elder Abuse Project. King County, Washington, has nearly 30% of Washington State's 85 and over adults. It is predicted that by the year 2025, this community will increase by 53%. In 2002, 2,637 case of adult abuse were reported and this was, in part, the impetus to create the King County Elder Abuse Project.

The King County Elder Abuse Project has three goals:

1. Prosecute cases of neglect of elderly and disabled adults
   
2. Enhance collaboration between agencies and medical professionals to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse and neglect
   
3. Provide training to first responders to recognize and respond to cases of abuse.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on an elderly dementia patient who was taken from his nursing home by a masseuse who married him and then attempted to empty his bank account. The clerk at the Bellevue Bank of America alerted the man's guardian and police were called. The 78-year-old man did not remember meeting the woman who presented herself at his bank as his wife nor did he remember their "marriage." Now, 56-year-old Sujinda Yahatta and her accomplice, 29-year-old Kulany Roeksbutr face kidnapping, attempted theft and obtaining a signature by deception or duress.

This story is illustrative of why we all need to work together to protect the elderly and infirm from abuse. We wondered why the nursing home allowed an unlicensed massage therapist to remove the patient from the nursing home. One also wonders how a judge could marry this unlikely couple when the 78-year-old man clearly was suffering from dementia. That is why we support the King County Elder Abuse Project and its goal of training people to recognize and respond to cases of abuse. In this case, we were glad that the Bank of America's employee was vigilant.

If your loved one has been the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, you should contact The Farber Law Group. We take nursing home abuse and neglect very seriously and we will work to insure your loved one's rights are protected and we will help them receive compensation for the damage done to them.

See our Nursing Home Resources.

The Columbia Basin Herald reports that Brooks Sansaver, 46, pled not guilty to one count of watercraft assault and one count of failing to render assistance in Grant Superior Court. The charges stem from a boating accident on the Columbia River on August 17 that injured Cody McDaniel, 20, and Tristan Gorringe, 23, both of Ellensburg.

According to witnesses, Sansaver may have been drinking alcohol and driving his boat at high speeds when he crashed the boat onto the shore, throwing McDaniel and Gorringe onto rocks. Gorringe suffered head injuries and a fractured pelvis along with other injuries. McDaniel was treated for a fracture and cuts.

The "failing to render assistance" charge is made because Sansaver apparently did not call 9-1-1 or contact local police authorities after the accident. According to the law, if you are involved in a boating accident and someone is injured beyond needing just first aid, you must contact the local authorities.

A charge of "watercraft assault" can be made if a person was under the influence of alcohol and a person was seriously injured in a boating accident.

The Farber Law Group welcomes clients who have been seriously injured in a Washington Boating Accident. With offices in Seattle and Bellevue, you may be able to recover compensation for your damages including medical costs, lost wages, and for pain and suffering.

For more information, read, "When should I report a boating accident?" and see our "Boating Resources."

Contact The Farber Law Group for a free case evaluation.

The Washington State law banning the use of cell phones while driving without using a blue tooth or hands-free device went into effect July 1st. According to a report in The Seattle Times, a little more than six months later, many drivers are ignoring the ban. Currently cell phone usage is a "secondary offense" meaning that police can only give you a ticket if they catch you doing something else wrong.

Police are enforcing the ban: the Washington State Patrol has issued 746 tickets for illegal cell phone use and they have also given 1,345 written and verbal warnings. Here in Seattle, 247 tickets have been written.

Even though the ban is being enforced, many motorists mostly just ignore the law. I was walking around town after a snow storm and saw half a dozen motorists with their phone to their ear even though road conditions were icy and driving was treacherous.

Some motorists, however, have taken heed of the law and the State Patrol says that car accidents are down 11% since the ban. Although the State Patrol admit that this decrease might also be attributed to motorists driving less when gas prices spiked.

If you have been involved in a car accident and you believe it was caused by the other driver using a cell phone, be sure to ask the police officer to check the person's cell phone for the their number and the times of the last calls made. After you have been treated for your injuries, contact a personal injury attorney who may ask the court to preserve the cell phone records of the motorist whose negligence caused your accident.

This information was brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been injured in car accidents due to another driver's negligence. If you have serious injuries or severe whiplash, you are going to want to contact an experienced lawyer.

Call us today for a free case evaluation.

For more information read, What if my accident was caused by someone using a cell phone?

Seattle's KOMO News.com reports that the 16-year-old driver has life-threatening head injuries after a New Year's Eve car accident in which the driver ran into a tree. The passenger, age 23, suffered a broken arm in the South Seattle car accident.

According to the report, the single car crash occurred on Rainier Avenue South near 42nd Avenue South next to the Greater New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church around 9:15 pm when the car struck a tree.

Police say that alcohol may have been involved in the automobile accident and that the driver and passenger may have been fighting.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of drunken drivers and people who have serious injuries due to car accidents. We have helped our clients recovers millions of dollars of compensation for their injuries.

Contact The Farber Law Group today for a free and confidential case evaluation.