Washington Injury Attorney Blog

Juanita Langley, the mother of Jonathan Langley, who was attacked by a pit bull in the family's yard has filled a lawsuit against the dog's owner, Denyse Winters. The lawsuit asks for compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and for disfiguring scars.

According to a report on the NWA online, Jonathan was playing in the yard when the black and white pit bull that was running loose attacked him. The boy suffered injuries to his hand and the back of his head. The boy's father, Christopher, was also bitten in the hand as he tried to free his son.

Langley's lawsuit claims that the there had been many complaints filed against Denyse Winters for allowing the dog to run loose. The lawsuit also names the property owner, Rhino Investment Company, for knowingly allowing a dangerous dog to be kept on the premises despite it being a violation of the lease.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent dog bite victims and their families. Attacks by dogs can leave victims seriously injured. Many victims require between 2-5 surgeries, some suffer permanent nerve damage and permanent disfigurement, often to the face. Attacks by dog surpasses playground accidents in the number of injuries to children.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Dublin Energy Solution Roman Shades which are sold locally in Washington state by IKEA and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. are being recalled because they pose a strangulation risk. There have been two reports of children who were nearly strangled after they became entangled by the cords.

The blinds are imported by Louis Hornick & Co. Inc, of New York, N.Y. All sizes and colors of the blinds are being recalled and were sold between August 2007 through September 2007. Contact Louis Hornick & company at 800-517-3612 for more information.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by dangerous products and the family of those who have been killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Olympian reports that Andy Zapolski, a 13-year-old boy from Idaho has died from injuries he sustained last week in a go-cart accident. John E. Kautz, age 39, has been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter in the boy's death.

The go-cart accident occurred on October 23rd when the two were driving go-carts on a city street. Kautz, who was intoxicated at the time of the accident, rear-ended the go-cart driven by Andy Zapolski. Zapolski suffered severe head trauma and died three days later at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kautz is charged with vehicular manslaughter which is equivalent to vehicular homicide in Washington state. It can be charged if a person is killed and a person was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In this case, the motor vehicle was a go-cart but the same charges apply if the person was operating a motorcycle, boat, auto or truck.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Sunday, November 1st, is the appointed date to change your clocks for daylight savings time. The Washington State Fire Marshal's Office also reminds people that this is the time to change batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Operational smoke alarms allows people to get out their homes safely and cut the risk of dying in a fire by half.

According to the Fire Marshall:

• 67% of fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms.
  
• Peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11pm and 7am
  
• Burn injuries are the fifth leading cause of accidental or preventable death.

Most vulnerable to fire-related deaths are young children, adults over the age of 75 and low-income families who do not have smoke alarms or are using portable or area heating equipment for heat.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have suffered burn injuries due to car accidents, construction accidents or due to the negligence of another.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The National Transportation Safety Board recently held hearings as part of the investigation into the August 2008 bus accident that killed 17 passengers and injured dozens more. One of the findings of the investigation was that the bus had an under inflated tire caused by a puncture. The NTSB is emphasizing to all buses and truck drivers to check their tire pressure.

The bus was carrying 55 Vietnamese pilgrims when it went off a major highway overpass bridge around midnight near Sherman, Texas. The daughter of one of the pilgrims who died, Yen-Chi Le, a Houston psychologist became enraged after attending the NTSB hearings because she found out that the accident was preventable. She said, "It was a perfect storm of gross negligence on the part of multiple parties."
After the hearing, the NTSB says that the motor coach industry is "lax" in their overnight of trucks and buses. The bus driver was found to have used cocaine6-8 hours before the accident and he had lost a previous job as a driver for Greyhound because of cocaine usage.

It was also found that the tire that was under inflated was illegal because it was a retread. Federal law prohibits retread tires to be installed on the front wheels of buses. The NTSB found that the bus had not been properly inspected thought it had been inspected for five minutes eight days before the accident. The inspector did not identify that the front tire was a retread.

After the investigation the NTSB made recommendations to many national and state agencies highlighting safety issues which include tire pressure, bridge railings, oversight of commercial vehicle inspections, bus protection systems like seat belts and oversight of motor carriers.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the families of those killed. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages including pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The relative of a woman who was sexually abused in a La Salle, Illinois nursing home has filed a lawsuit against the nursing home for negligence seeking damages because the nursing home failed to protect the woman from abuse.

According to a report in the News Tribune serving North Central Illinois, the unidentified woman suffered a fractured pelvic bone in the sexual attack. In the suit, Henry Elzer also seeks damages for his relative because his relative also suffered a broken leg when she was dropped.

This poor woman seems to have suffered some extreme abuse at this nursing home with both a sexual abuse and an injury from being dropped.

If you suspect a friend or a relative has sustained injuries due to nursing home abuse or neglect, you should contact a personal injury attorney. At The Farber Law Group, we have more than 30 years experience representing the victims of nursing home abuse and neglect and their families and we will work to protect your loved one's rights. Signs of nursing home abuse can include bedsores, broken bones, malnutrition, urinary tract infections and medication errors.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Yakima Herald Net.com reports that Lucille G. Martin of Yakima died of injuries she sustained in a two-car accident 10 miles west of Wapato, Washington. Her fetus also died.

The car accident occurred when a Ford Edge driven by Lance Wilson, age 19 of Harrah, ran a stop sign at the intersection of Brownstown and Progressive road around 12:25 am, hitting Martin who was driving a Dodge Neon.

According to the report, both drivers were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. The accident Is currently being investigated but it is not believe that alcohol or drugs were involved.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The daughter of Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawk's quarterback, was injured when she was hit by a dirt bike while the family was vacationing in Lake Chelan, Washington reports The Seattle Post Intelligencer.

According to the report, Hasselbeck's daughter who is six years old, was treated at Central Washington University in Wenatchee and then Children's Hospital in Seattle for her injuries. Hasselbeck said that his daughter will miss basketball season but that she would recover from her injuries.

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This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm with offices in Seattle in Bellevue.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Tri City Herald.com reports that Audrey Ulrich, 34, has died of her injuries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle around 4:00 this afternoon, a day after she was involved in a single-car accident that killed her son and injured her husband, infant son and mother.

Ulrich, who made her home in Richland, was described as a "dedicated community member." She was an animal lover and dog park advocate and owned The Barking Lot Pet Grooming business with her husband, Matthew. She was also the president of the Tri-City Dog Park Society.

Investigators are trying to figure out the cause of the motor vehicle accident but driver fatigue may have been a factor.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Last week, a Northwest Airlines commercial flight overview its destination by 150 miles. Fortunately, this was not a terrorist incident, the pilots were not asleep nor fighting. However, they were very distracted -- they were using a laptop computer -- and did not notice that it was time to land the plane.

According to The Seattle Times, the pilots Richard Cole of Salem, Oregon and Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Washington will lose their pilot's licenses because of the incident .

Recently in Washington DC, the National Transportation Safety Board held a summit on distracted driving which addressed the dangers of text-messaging and using other electronic devices while driving. The summit revealed data that said almost 6,000 people were killed and about 500,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents linked to driver distraction.

Data tells us that distracted driving kills. Hopefully, we will not have any more pilots so distracted that they don't realize where they are or that people are talking to them over radios.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed. If you believe your auto accident was caused by someone using a cell phone, you might want to read our article, "What if my accident was caused by someone using a cell phone?"

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

It's time to winterize your car in Seattle as the first snow storm of the winter is predicted in the local mountains. Here are some tips:

• Check your windshield wipers and make sure that the rubber is not cracked on the blades.
• Check your wiper fluid to make sure it is full.
• Check your car battery because old batteries often fail during winter months.
• Top off your anitifreeze to make sure your engine runs at a consistent temperature.
• Check your headlights and taillights.
• Clean the interior windshields because dust can attract fog.
• Check your tires to make sure you have tread enough to gain traction in the winter.

Some items you might want to carry around for emergency include:

• A deicer like salt.
  
• A snow shovel.
  
• Lock de-icer as locks on older cars can stick.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Seattle Times reports that Gertrude L. Thompson, 86, of Bremerton who was seriously injured in August when she accidentally left her car in reverse, got out of the car to look at a demolished building and was run over, has died.

Thompson's motor vehicle accident occurred on August 20th near Gorst and she succumbed to her injuries on October 24 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

This information has been provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the families of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that Blair LLC, of Warren, PA is expanding their recall of chenille bathrobe after nine fire-related deaths have been linked to the product. The CPSC recalled 162,000 robes manufactured by A-One Textile & Towel, of Karachi, Pakistan. They say the robes failed to meet federal flammability standards and people who use the product have a serious risk of burns if the product is exposed to flame.

The recall includes women's full length chenille robes, women's chenille jacket, women's chenille lounge jacket and women's chenille top.

There have been reports of deaths of women who were wearing the chenille products and were cooking or tending a pellet stove. Nine deaths have been linked to the products prior to April 2009.

See the CPSC web-site for more information.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured, including burn injuries, and the families of those who have been killed to defective or dangerous products.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

An unidentified Auburn man in his 70s was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle when the vehicle he was working on slipped on the jack and fell on him, crushing his chest reports The Seattle Times.

King County Medic One and Valley fighters extricated the man from underneath his car. There was no report on his current condition.

Car jack accidents are in the news occasionally. These type of accidents are horrific and can cause severe injury and death. Injuries can include asphyxia, head injury, spinal injuries, brain injury, and hemorrhage.

It is recommended that if a person is working on a car that they do not rely solely on a jack to hold the weight of the car; there are axle stands and other devices which are designed to support the weight of the car.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm that represents people who have been seriously injured in accidents due to the negligence of another.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Medical malpractice victims and their families traveled to Washington DC this week to pressure Congress not to take away their rights as work is being done on a national health-care bill. The victims -- many of them seriously injured by medical negligence -- are asking Congress not to limit their ability to redress wrongs that have been done to them.

An article on the Common Dreams.org web-site told about the families from nine states, including victims of catastrophic injury due to medical malpractice, who met with lawmakers. Congress has been attempting to reduce malpractice awards of patients in an effort to reduce health care costs. Says David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, "Congress should work on curing this epidemic [medical malpractice and negligence], not compounding the damage by shielding bad doctors and limiting the rights of victims."

Every year 98,000 people die of medical errors. Obstetrics and birth injury malpractice can be some of the most noteworthy because the damages last a life time. Parents who have severely damaged or injured child due to negligence during child birth may have a life time of educational and medical expenses and putting caps on awards can severely limit the care a family obtains for their child.

You might want to read the full article, Injured Medical Malpractice Survivors Travel to Washington, D.C., to Protect Patients' Rights here.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by medical malpractice and their families. We will fight the big insurance companies to obtain the compensation you deserve.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Washington State Fire Marshal Melissa Gannie, in a press release, warns of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. As we approach the winter months, the incidence of carbon monoxide poisoning is increased. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention estimates that every year 500 people die and another 20,000 are sickened in the United States because of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Causes of CO poisoning include gas-fired appliance including ranges and heaters, gas-powered tools, charcoal grills, wood-burning furnaces or fireplaces and motor vehicles. Some times a defect in a product, improper installation or misuse can cause the release of this deadly gas.

CO poisoning is a silent killer as the fumes cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. The Fire Marshall recommends that all homes have carbon monoxide detectors installed.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by dangerous and defective products and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The National Transportation Safety Board has made recommendations to the Federal Aviation Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and other governmental agencies regarding operator fatigue and a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. The NTSB presented "Fatigue and Sleep Disorders in Transportation Accidents" at the Washington D.C. Sleep Society and their data reveals that fatigue and sleep apnea has been a factor in thousands of transportation accidents since 1967 including railroad, marine, intermodal, highway, and aviation.

The NTSB recommends that pilots and other operators or motor vehicles be evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea if they have other risk factors for that disorder.

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which a person has pauses in their breathing during a sleep cycle. Each episode is termed apnea, and it means "failure to breath." When people have the condition, their breathing is obstructed during the night which affects their body, causing daytime sleepiness and fatigue.

THE NTSB gave examples of when sleep apnea was a factor in a bus accident, a train accident, a cruise ship accident and a case when two pilots fell asleep during a flight.

See the Seattle Times for a full report by the Associated Press on the condition.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Olympia police have arrested Brandon J. Roth, 26, on multiple charges including DUI, assault and hit and run with injury after he hit a couple of pedestrians with his car in the Olympia Town Tavern early Sunday morning. One victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital for treatment of injuries and the other victim left the scene.

Police were called to the Town Tavern around 12:30 am Sunday after 911 calls reported a black Mitsubishi striking pedestrians reports The Olympian. Roth fled the Tavern parking lot but police pursued him and arrested him at Kaiser Road and 13th Avenue Southwest.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol reports that Mandalynn E Summers, 18, of Buckley was seriously injured in a car accident when the car she was driving was rear-ended and she was involved in a four-car pile-up just west of the Puyallup fairgrounds.

According to the WSP media patrol, Cynthia S. Rice of Enumclaw was driving too fast for road conditions and she rear-ended the car driven by Summers causing a chain reaction car accident which involved two other cars. Luckily, the people in the other two cars were not injured.

The WSP report says that Rice may have under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. They arrested her and may charge her with her with Vehicular Assault. According to vehicle code RCW 46.61.522, Vehicular Assault can be charged if a person was seriously injured in a car accident and the driver was driving recklessly, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or driving without the regard for the safety of others.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Last year, 4,378 people were killed in pedestrian accidents. Fatal accidents between motor vehicles and young pedestrians most often occur between 4pm and 8pm, the time when most children will be trick-or-treating.

Halloween can be a dangerous time for young pedestrians. Often children are so excited that they dart out into traffic. 84% of pedestrian deaths among young pedestrians occur at non-intersection locations. Drivers need to be hyper-vigilant on Halloween. The following are some tips for drivers to insure that a pedestrian accident does not occur:

• Don't use a cell phone while driving because being distracted can lead to an accident.
  
• Watch for children darting across streets and from between parked cars.
  
• Stay below the posted speed limit during trick-or-treating hours and in neighborhoods.
  
• Do not attempt to pass stopped cars. They could be stopped for children crossing the street or to drop off children.
  
• Stay alert at intersections.
  
• Pay attention to children on sidewalks as they may suddenly run across a street.
  
• Don't assume that a child approaching your car sees you; A mask or excitement might obscure their vision.
  
• If you are dropping off a child, when you pull to the curb, turn on your hazard lights to alert other drivers.
  
• If you attend a Halloween party, do not drive with a mask on.

If you are a parent with a child who will be trick-or-treating, follow these safety tips:

• Accompany your child to insure their safety.
  
• Give your child flashlights or glow sticks so they can be seen.
  
• Sew reflective tape on their costumes.
  
• Make sure your child knows how and where to cross a street for safety. Teach them to cross at cross walks and to look left and right and left again and make eye contact with drivers.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents, including pedestrians.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The State Fire Marshal's office released a press release today that said that fire fatalities are up by 35% this year over last year. In the same period last year, there were 31 fire-related deaths; This year, there have been 42 deaths.

According to the Center for Disease Control, fire and burn injuries are the leading cause of preventable and accidental death. Almost 50% of all burn victims are children under the age of four.

The State Fire Marshall, Melissa Gannie, recommends that homeowners install fire sprinklers as a life-saving measure. In addition, it is required that homes and apartments have smoke alarms installed and operational. Twice a year, you should test existing alarms, maintain them with fresh batteries and vacuum and clean them. Smoke alarms should be replaced at least every 10 years.

It is also recommended that everyone have a home escape plan. This includes testing all smoke alarms so that everyone in the household knows what the alarm sounds like. A home escape plan also insures that everyone knows two ways out of each room, that there is an established meeting place outside of the home and that everyone in the home practice the plan.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have suffered serious burn injuries due to car accidents, explosions or fires caused by someone's negligence or a defective product.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles admitted Monday that more than 200 brain scans performed at the hospital in the past 18 months resulted in patients receiving more than 8 times the normal dose or radiation.

According to a report in The Los Angeles Times, the hospital made a mistake in setting a CT scan machine for a test called CT brain prefusion scan. The test was done on approximately 206 patients since February 2008. The hospital discovered their error when a stroke patient contacted the hospital and told them about hair loss after the scan. The hospital then contacted 206 patients who had undergone the CT brain perfusion scan and they found that 40% had patch hair loss and some also mentioned reddening of the skin.

The CT scan machine was manufactured by GE. GE said that there were no malfunctions or defects in the machine but the mistake was made when the radiologist did an override on the pre-programmed instructions. Usually, when radiologists override pre-programmed settings, it is to lower the radiation settings for children and small adults. Too much radiation can raise a person's cancer risk.

Since the error was discovered, the Food and Drug Administration has asked that all hospitals check their CT scan protocols.

Cedars-Sinai provided a written statement that said:

"There was a misunderstanding about an embedded default setting applied by the machine. As a result, the use of this protocol resulted in a higher than expected amount of radiation."

A CT scan is a medical imaging method which allows radiologists to generate a three-dimensional image to supplement x-rays. It used to diagnose a large number of diseases and for screening for disease. CT scans of the head are commonly used to scan for brain injury, skull fractures, bleeding in the brain, brain tumors or after a stroke. The patients at Cedars-Sinai that underwent the CT brain perfusion were potential stroke patients.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by medical errors including surgical error, hospital error and physician negligence. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that McGraw Center of the Seattle Children's Home has reached a wrongful death settlement agreement with the family of a Sultan teenager who committed suicide at the center.

The family of Ashlie Bunch, who was 15 at the time of her death, sued the Children's home claiming negligence because the home failed to check on Ashlie every five minutes as her treatment plan required because she was on a suicide watch.

According to the report, the McGraw center is changing some of their staff training programs and they also fired three people on their staff after Ashlie died.

Washington state has a wrongful death statute which allows the family of a person who died as a result of negligence or the wrongful act of another to recover damages. Wrongful death lawsuits are usually brought on behalf of a loved one by a spouse, parent or child.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber law Group. We have more than 30 years experience representing families in their wrongful death claims including those called by auto accidents, medical negligence and malpractice and work-related injuries.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Seattle Times reports that a teacher was killed and 40-50 students were injured, 14 seriously, when a bus carrying members of a high school band from Utah crashed near Pocatello, Idaho around 7pm MDT on Interstate 15.

The teacher that was killed was Heather Christensen, 33, the band's woodwind instructor.

According to the report, two students were airlifted to Portneuf Regional Medical Center in Pocatello and 12 students with serious injuries were taken to the Pocatello hospital by ambulance; Another 30 injured students were taken there by bus.

The bus driver, Debra Jarvis, was hospitalized with injuries and is reported to be in stable condition.

The band was from American Fork High School in Utah and was returning from a band competition in Pocatello at the time of the bus accident. 54 students were on the bus that crashed and other band members were divided among three other buses.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and their families.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

A 31-year-old Monroe man was critically injured when an SUV fell on him in a Lynnwood auto parts yard on Thursday morning reports Seattle's King 5.com.

According to the report, the man was a customer at Best Auto & Truck Parts on Highway 99 and was searching for auto parts when the accident occurred. Apparently, an SUV held up by a forklift collapsed on the man. Customers in the auto yard at the time ran to his rescue and pulled the SUV off.

The injured man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment of his injuries.

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This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in accidents due to the negligence of another. We have considerable experience in premises liability which is the body of law that says the property owner or person in possession of land or premises may be responsible for injuries suffered by a person on said premises. The law states that the property or business owners must keep their property free from any hazard and in a reasonably safe condition.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

A mental health worker, Maritza Dowe, has been awarded a $5.5 settlement by insurers of the Community Psychiatric Clinic in Seattle after a schizophrenic patient brutally attacked her, blinded her and nearly killed her reports Seattle's KOMO News.com.

Dowe was attacked in July 2006 by Marilyn Walker, a patient of Community Psychiatric Clinic. Walker had been confined to Western State Hospital in 2001 after being psychotic and violent and attacking her roommate and threatening to kill another person. She was released by Western in 2003 and was being treated at the Community Psychiatric Clinic.

In her negligence lawsuit, Dowe claimed that Community Psychiatric Clinic was responsible for her injuries because the Clinic had not carefully reviewed Walker's file and lowered her antipsychotic medications.

Dowe's co-worker, Ramona Garza, was awarded 500K for severe post traumatic stress after witnessing Dowe's attack.

Walker was acquitted in the attack on Dowe and Garza due to insanity. The court has given her a life stay at Western State Hospital.

A negligence lawsuit can be brought if a person in injured because of the negligence and carelessness of another person. An injured person is eligible to receive compensation for the injuries and also for property, pain and suffering and loss of income. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience representing people who have been injured through no fault of their own.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

We are glad to see that Issaquah-based Costco is taking a lead in food safety by checking beef trimmings for E-coli before they grind it into hamburger. Costco is one of the few meat grinders to test ingredients for E-coli and other pathogens as they arrive at its plant reports an article in The Seattle Times.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has encouraged testing practices like Costco's to ensure that hamburger is safe to eat. Costco has recently reached an agreement with Tyson foods which allows Costco to test the meat trimmings that Tyson provides to Costco.

According to The Times, hamburger patties made by meat processor Cargill was responsible for 16 outbreaks of E-coli O157:H7 since 2007. This type of E-coli can have serious healthy consequences which can be irreversible or result in death.

Foodborne illness including E-coli and salmonella sicken hundreds of thousands of people every year and kill about 5,000 people. Safety by food handlers and manufacturers is paramount to keep people safe.

If you or a loved one has suffered serious illness due to a foodborne disease because of the negligence of a food handler, you should contact a personal injury attorney. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience representing food poisoning victims and their families.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

We came across an article on a British news web-site, Mail Online, which detailed a study by the British Department of Health which examined prescription errors in nursing homes. The study found that half of all nursing home and care home residents had been the victims of prescription mistakes.

The study looked at 55 residential and nursing homes for two and a half years. Researchers found that a typical nursing home resident takes between seven and eight medications. They found that minor errors some times had a ripple effect with one error compounding by others.

Medication errors were made by nursing home staff, pharmacists and physicians. Common mistakes for physicians to make was prescribing the wrong medication or not taking into account the potential interaction of one medication with other medications a patient was taking.

Transcription errors were also causes of mistakes. One patient in the study died after he received a massive morphine overdose after a faxed prescription had a missing decimal point. Another nursing home patient was given 10 times the correct dose of a blood thinning medication and the error was only discovered after the patient began bleeding profusely.

Medication errors can be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit if a patient was severely injured or died. If you or a loved one has had this happen to you, you might want to contact a personal injury attorney for a case consultation. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience representing medical malpractice victims and people who have been injured in nursing homes.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

A Wisconsin jury awarded the family of Gustavo Espinal-Santos, who died of blastomycosis, a $3.7 million medical malpractice award against Bellin Family Medical Center, for failing to diagnose and treat his illness reports the Greenbay Press Gazette.com.

Espinal-Santos went to the Bellin Family Medical Center in Bonduel twice in December of 2003 for treatment of his illness. Two physician assistants evaluated and treated Espinal-Santos for pneumonia. However the PAs did not order basic X-rays other diagnostic tests which would have revealed that Espinal-Santos had contracted blastomycosis, a fungal infection not uncommon to farm workers as it is transmitted by water and soil.

Espinal-Santos was later admitted to St. Vincent Hospital where he was diagnosed and treated for the fungal infection but it was too late for the treatment to save his life and he succumbed to the illness in January 1, 2004. Cure rates for the blastomycosis is usually quite high and mortality rates in treated cases are usually between 0-2% in otherwise healthy patients.

Espinal-Santos is survived by his wife, Maria Zavala McDaniel and two daughters.

A health care provider can be negligent if his or her conduct falls below the "standard of care" one usually should expect of a reasonably prudent health care provider in that class of which he or she belongs.

Washington State has a "wrongful death" statute which allows the family of deceased medical malpractice victim make a negligence claim on behalf of their loved one. Medical malpractice lawsuits can be brought against any health care provider including dentists, pathologists, neurologist, oncologist, cardiologist, toxicologist, pharmacologist, technician, nursing homre or staff, hospital or hospital worker, physician other health care providers.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest lists the top 10 foods regulated by the FDA that provide the greatest risk of causing foodborne illness. The irony of this list is that many of the foods on the list have the most nutritive value. Foodborne illnesses are usually caused by pathogens such as Salmonella and E-coli O157:H7 and less common pathogens including Campylobacter, Scornbrotoxi, Norovirus and Vibrio. Illness caused by these pathogens can be mild such as stomach pain and diarrhea or serious illness such as kidney failure or death.

List of Riskiest Foods

These 10 foods are responsible for 40% of all foodborne illness outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated foods since 1990. The number of reported cases is based on data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and collected between 1990 to 2006.

1. Leafy greens - 13,568 reported cases of illness
2. Eggs - 11,163 reported cases of illness
3. Tuna - 2, 341 reported cases of illness
4. Oysters - 3,409 reported cases of illness
5. Potatoes - 3,659 reported cases of illness
6. Cheese - 2,761 reported cases of illness
7. Ice cream - 2,594 reported cases of illness
8. Tomatoes - 3,292 report cases of illness
9. Sprouts - 2,022 reported cases of illness
10. Berries - 3,397 reported cases of illness

One has to realize that this data only relates to reported and investigated cases. Most people do not seek treatment by a physician for a foodborne illness nor do they have the testing which is required to determine the cause of the illness. There, these cases reported are only a sampling of the actual number of people who became ill. Health officials estimate that unsafe food causes more than 10 million illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths in the United States each year.

See the complete CSPI Report.

If you or a loved one have become severely ill due to a foodborne illness, or a loved one has died, you should contact a personal injury attorney with experience in representing food poisoning victims and their families. At The Farber Law Group, we have more than 30 years experience representing foodborne illness victims and helping them obtain compensation for their medical costs and damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Two Richland girls, ages 11 and 12, suffered critical head injuries when the car they were riding in was involved in a car accident on Interstate 182 in Pasco today. The Tri-City Herald identified the girls as two cousins, Alexandria Hatley, age 12, and Taylor Taft, age 11. Both girls were reportedly taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and then transferred by air ambulance to Children's Hospital in Seattle.

The car accident occurred around 5:30pm today when a Suburban driven by Melinda Mae Ish, age 38, of Richland developed mechanical problems and Ish attempted to maneuver it from the center lane to the shoulder. She was rear-ended by Timothy C. Woodall, age 43 of Richland. Passengers in Woodall's vehicle, were his six year old son, Zach, and the two girls identified as his nieces.

After the collision, the two vehicles caught fire and were later engulfed with flames. Good samaritans passing by the accident scene reacted quickly and pulled some of the accident victims from the vehicles before the vehicles were engulfed with flames.

Ish was taken to Kennewick General Hospital for treatment of her injuries. One of the police officers who was involved in the rescue received burn injuries. Woodall and his son were also taken to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

After the accident, many people wrote on the internet blogs praising the Good Samaritans who came to the aid of the accident victims.

Approximately 20,000 Washingtonians receive traumatic brain injuries every year and the leading cause is motor vehicle accidents. For many patients it can take a minimum of six months to a year to recover and sadly, some patients die of the injury or never fully recover.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in auto accidents and the families of those killed. With our help, you may recover just compensation for yoru injuries.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

a 12-year-old girl was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after she was injured in a pedestrian accident in Sunnyside on Monday morning.

The girl was walking on the Yakima Valley Highway around 7am with two boys, ages 10 and 7, when she was hit by a pickup truck, according to a report in The Seattle Times. The truck driver said that he did not see the children because sunlight was in his eyes. The boys apparently suffered minor accidents in the accident.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in pedestrian accidents and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

A 23-year-old Seattle man was injured in a car accident on Whidbey Island around 5:40 pm on Friday Evening.

According to a report in the Everett Herald Net, the man was a passenger in a Dodge Caravan that hit a Jeep Cherokee that was making a left hand turn.

Washington State Troopers are investigating the accident to determine if any charges should be made. Vehicle Code RCW 46.61.185 places the burden for safety on the driver turning left. It says that a driver turning left must yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or so close as to constitute a hazard.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the family of those killed. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages, including pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.