In this Issue — April 2010
- Health Care: My Prediction/Guarantee
The recent passage of the health care law is going to seriously cut into the profits of the insurance industry. They are going to pass those costs off to us in the form of higher auto insurance premiums and higher homeowners insurance costs. I don’t know if the new law will be good or bad for our Country. But I do know that the cost on anything you insure are going to increase. What can you do about it? Go online and get the lowest rate you can find and then ask your current insurance company to match it. They don’t want to lose you as a customer, so that puts you in a good negotiating position!!
- Toyota Recalls – Family of Officer Killed In Crash Sues Toyota
The relatives of a California Highway Patrol officer killed along with three family members when their Lexus crashed in San Diego County, California, have sued Toyota for product liability and negligence. CHP Officer Mark Saylor, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed in August, 2009. Their vehicle reached speeds of more than 120 mph, hit a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. Investigators found that a wrong-sized floor mat, that trapped the accelerator was the cause of the crash.
- Jury Awards $12M To Woman With Brain Injury
A jury has awarded $12 million to a California woman who was left in a vegetative state after the hospital had her wait in the Emergency Room for several hours before they sent her elsewhere for surgery to remove an air rifle pellet from her brain in 2007. What were they thinking? She comes into a hospital with a pellet in her brain and they tell her to have a seat and we will get to you!! The jury found that Greater El Monte Community Hospital in California was negligent in treating Jessica Ramirez, 22. Her mother, Ofelia Reynaga, brought suit on behalf of her daughter. Ramirez, who was studying to be a police officer, was shot in the head with an air gun at a family member’s house in September, 2007. She was conscious and walked herself into the emergency room. She waited for five hours before being flown by helicopter to a Pasadena hospital where she was rushed into surgery. Bleeding and pressure on Ramirez’s brain caused permanent damage and she now requires 24 hour care.
- Lap Dance Club Sued By Injured Businessman
A businessman has filed suit against the Hot Lap Dance Club in Manhattan, saying he was injured when a lap dancer swiveled and struck him in the face with the heel of her shoe. The victim, a securities trader, alleged that he received serious injuries from the November 2, 2007 incident. I wonder if the jury is going to be able to keep a straight face on this one!!
- Criminal Murder Case Testimony on cell phone location admissible
The state can introduce testimony from a cell phone company radio frequency engineer that purported to place the defendant’s cell phone in the area of a murder during the relevant time period a Court has ruled. At the defendant’s murder trial, the state sought to introduce evidence based on the location of his cell phone. A radio frequency engineer testified based on the cell phone company’s records, which showed the vectors and the cell towers that were involved for every call or text message received by the defendant’s phone.
- $19M In Malpractice Case
A jury awarded $19 million to a woman whose 10 year-old son was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. A judge could reduce the award since the jury found there was a chance the child would have suffered some harm anyway. Bonnie Kowalski claimed that Dr. Aravind Palav didn’t immediately notice her abdominal bleeding when she arrived at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and didn’t act promptly to deliver the baby by C-section.