Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
David Copperfield Assistant Seriously Injured During Performance - Friday, December 19, 2008
One of illusionist/magician David Copperfield's assistants was pulled into a rotating industrial fan during the finale performance of the MGM Grand Las Vegas show on Wednesday. The 12-foot high fan and its platform were being rotated by a technician just prior to Copperfield walking through it when the accident occurred. The technician, named Brandon, was pulled into the whirling blades and sustained injuries to his arm and face.
Eyewitness accounts say there was a "thump" and the assistant fell to the floor. The curtain was partially dropped, but blood could be seen all over the area of the stage where the assistant was injured. Other assistants came out to drag the injured person away from the fan and the curtain was dropped completely. Copperfield then came out to notify the audience that the show was cancelled.
Doctors performed surgery and inserted pins and bolts into Brandon's arm, which was broken in several places. He also required stitches in his face. The crew waited throughout the surgery, and Copperfield was there when Brandon woke up.
While stage injuries like this are rare, and most employees injured on the job are due to construction accidents, occupational accidents can happen anywhere. If you or a loved one is injured on the job, please contact Personal Injury.com to find an experienced occupational injury lawyer in your area.
High Chair Recall - Thursday, December 18, 2008
Nearly 100,000 Evenflo Majestic High Chairs have been recalled due to caps and screws that can fall off. When these fall off, the back of the seat can collapse. Evenflo Co. Inc. and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall early Thursday morning, and that the high chairs are sold nationwide at Toys 'R Us, Babies 'R Us, Burlington Coat Factory and more.
There have been over a thousand reports of the plastic caps and screws falling off and almost 150 reports of the seatbacks detaching sent in to Evenflo. These malfunctions have caused mostly bumps and bruises, but there have been two reports of broken bones and dozens of others detailing other injures. Evenflo has also said children can choke on the parts that have fallen off, but there have been no reports of choking.
These chairs were made before January 23, 2007 and have the following model numbers:
- 3001395A
- 3001583
- 3001633A
- 3001669
- 3001700A
- 3001713
- 3001713A
- 3001730A
- 3001732
- 3001732A
- 3001733
- 3001742
- 3001742A
- 3001756
The model number can be found on a white label located on the seatback.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 in Trouble Again - Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Those who have family members or friends with a Microsoft Xbox 360, or who may own one their selves, may be familiar with the news that the gaming console isn't all it was cracked up to be. Add to this that when the Xbox 360 first came out it cost hundreds of dollars (its current low, low price of $199 now seems like a bargain). So, when the console's failure rate came in at an astonishing 16%, and two-thirds of the consoles that came out around the November 2005 launch date have some kind of fault, should anyone have been surprised that Microsoft probably knew about this? Rushed design, cost-cutting, and the complexity of its parts have all been blamed for the infamous "Red Ring of Death" that many consumers faced during those early days.
Now Microsoft is facing a product liability lawsuit due to the Xbox 360 scratching the DVDs placed inside. An Illinois man is seeking $50,000 in punitive damages after his console allegedly scratched three games he bought in-store. Documents that have been unsealed during his case have revealed Microsoft knew about this and had been considering three different fixes before they pushed the 360 to consumers in 2005. The fixes considered are:
- Slowing the rotational speed of the discs
- Increasing the strength of the magnets that hold the discs in place
- Installing rubber bumpers to cushion the discs
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft rejected all three, even though the bumpers could be installed for as little as fifty cents per console. At this juncture, is it really any surprise to anyone that a massive corporation, like Microsoft, will find a way to push a defective product onto an unsuspecting public? At this juncture, shouldn't the public simply expect it?
For those who still want an Xbox 360 for their selves or their family member for the holidays, consider the potential defects and hang onto that warranty. Or go with a Sony PlayStation 3.
Settlement Reached in Quaid Twin Heparin Case - Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, have reached a $750,000 settlement with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the heparin overdose of their now one-year-old twins last year. The hospital had already taken responsibility for the action which nearly killed the Quaid infants.
The overdose of heparin, a blood thinner, came when an employee gave the newborns dosages of the drug that were a thousand times more than required (10,000 units instead of ten). As a result, the California Department of Public Health fined Cedars-Sinai $25,000 for multiple failures to adhere to policies for the use of safe medication. Dennis Quaid also testified before Congress last spring to discuss his twins' case, as well as to disagree with a statute that will make it harder for individuals to take pharmaceutical companies to courts – an action called pre-emption.
The Quaids blame poorly labeled bottles, and sued Baxter Healthcare, the manufacturer of heparin, rather than the hospital. The settlement reached with Cedars-Sinai will now keep the Quaids from pursuing further litigation against the hospital, unless there are complications in the future suffered by the children as a result of the overdose, but does not affect their case against Baxter.
SUVs: Theater vs. Functionality - Monday, December 15, 2008
According to Robert Lutz, the vice chairman of General Motors, automobile design during the heyday of the SUV was, "art, entertainment, and mobile sculpture, which coincidentally, also happens to provide transportation." Basically, something that is everything else before it's what it was supposed to be. It's a little reminiscent of the neighborhood in Poltergeist: Great new homes, but they didn't move the bodies when they built over the cemetery. At the end of that movie as we watch angry spirits destroy the central family's home. Now, an article by Charles L. Mauro, Certified Human Factors Engineering Professional, and founder of MauroNewMedia, says the destruction of Detroit can be put squarely onto the shoulders of the SUV. All those drivers of all those millions of SUVs got caught up in driving something slick with all sorts of extras ("Television for the kids in the back seat? Sign me up.") on a low-tech truck model with bad gas mileage, a model that hasn't changed in over a decade, and was based on an even older model when the first Ford Expedition rolled out of the factory in Wayne, Michigan in 1996.
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of what Mauro alludes to in "How the SUV User Experience Trashed Detroit" is the way SUV drivers felt when driving them - to many people's eventual tragic dismay. Mauro says SUV customers based their decision to buy on the following:
- Belief that driving an SUV made them safer than driving a car or minivan
- Belief that they had more control in driving an SUV than other vehicles
- Belief that "rough road conditions" were not going to be a problem when driving an SUV
All of these beliefs, says Mauro, are wrong. And if you read or watch the news, every week someone overestimates their SUV's ability, as well as their own driving experience, when they drive on roads that are icy, have gravel patches, road debris, or something else. This overcompensation and belief that their SUV can handle anything may go flying out the window as that SUV flips - and if the passengers are not wearing seatbelts, as is sometimes the case, they also go flying out the window.
How many times have we seen SUVs go flying down the highway with little regard for those around them? Mauro says this is part of the "user experience," and what might explain why rational and educated people get sucked into the myth of the SUV being the safest, best handling vehicle on the road. After all, we've trusted Detroit all these years to make great American cars, so why not now? Well, one part of the proverbial poll group realizes we got played as dupes. Detroit sells cars, we like entertainment, so why not combine the two? Another part of the group seems to be flabbergasted that SUVs can flip so easily since they're supposed to be able to handle anything and everything. Finally, there is that group that will never doubt all they've read and experienced in their SUVs, and will argue about the superiority of the SUV over all other vehicles no matter what.
Regardless, SUVs have been subject to several structural problems resulting in lawsuits, such as a narrow wheel base that can cause the SUV to rollover, and tops that, when the vehicle flips, crush their occupants. Is the driver to blame because they believed that their SUV was the most powerful passenger vehicle on the road, or is it the responsibility of the makers of these SUVs?
Contact our Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys today to find an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer near you.
