Dayton Personal Injury Lawyer - General Personal Injury

Ohio Supreme Court; Damages Law

Richard Schulte — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:36:09 GMT

The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a state law last Thursday that limits how much a person injured by a defective product can collect in pain-and-suffering damages, reversing its stance on this important issue.

Attorneys representing injured people and companies that support the concept of caps have followed the lawsuit filed by Melisa Arbino, a Cincinnati property manager, over the Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch made by New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson. She contended the product caused her permanent physical damage and threatened her ability to have children, and her lawyer argued that limits on damages were unconstitutional.
The majority opinion in the 5-2 ruling, written by Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, said the Ohio law revised did not violate the constitutional rights of injured parties to trial by jury, to a remedy for their injuries or to due process and equal protection

In one of its challenged provisions, the law caps awards at $250,000 or three times the amount of economic damages, whichever is greater, up to an absolute limit of $350,000. The exception is when a plaintiff suffers permanent disability or loss of a limb or bodily organ system.

The Ohio Association for Justice (formerly The Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers) have been working tirelessly to overturn this cap which may cause great harm to the amounts that injured plaintiffs deserve.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Stun Gun Used on Pregnant Woman

Richard Schulte — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:46:30 GMT

TROTWOOD, Ohio (AP) -- The FBI is investigating whether a policeman violated a pregnant woman's civil rights when he used a stun gun to subdue her, authorities in this Dayton suburb said Thursday.

The woman had gone to the police department Nov. 18 asking police to take custody of her 1-year-old son, but tried to leave with the child after the officer started asking her questions, said Michael Etter, Trotwood public safety director. He added that the woman wore a winter coat and did not tell the officer she was pregnant.

Etter said the officer feared the boy could have been harmed had the woman been allowed to leave with him.

"I don't think any of this would have happened had she cooperated with us," Etter said. "We probably would have called her a minister, called a crisis counselor, but you've got somebody telling you, 'I'm not telling you anything, and now I'm going to leave.'"

Valreca Redden, 33, was arrested and taken to jail; Etter said charges of obstruction and resisting arrest are pending. When she arrived at the jail, it was discovered that she was pregnant, and an officer took her to Good Samaritan Hospital.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Lead recalls

Richard Schulte — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:39:48 GMT

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall of three products containing excessive levels of lead. The products, which are being voluntarily recalled, include tabletop puppet theatres, bookmarks, and Halloween skull pails.

The CPSC warns that paint used on parts of these products contain excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard and that consumers should immediately take these products away from children.

According to the National Safety Council, children under 6 are most susceptible to lead poisoning. High levels of exposure can cause numerous complications up to and including death. Continued exposure to low levels of lead can also cause a number of health problems including IQ and learning problems, stunted growth, behavioral and attention problems, hearing problems and kidney problems.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Heart Attacks in Kids

Richard Schulte — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:50:29 GMT

A report from Ohio doctors documenting nine cases over 11 years in kids as young as 12 says heart attacks in children are a rare but under-recognized problem.

Dan Meter was among nine children included in a report by Drs. John Lane and Giora Ben-Shachar at Akron Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio. All were stricken between 1995 and 2006 and most were treated at the Akron hospital. Lane treated a few of the earlier patients when he was at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

All lacked common risk factors for heart problems, such as obesity, family history, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and drug abuse.

The cause of their heart attacks was most likely a heart spasm that briefly cut off blood supply, Lane said. It is also a rare cause of heart attacks in adults.

All but one of Lane's patients were boys. Doctors are uncertain whether girls face a lower risk because there's little in medical literature about this type of heart attack.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Tainted-Beef Recalled for E. coli

Richard Schulte — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:39:12 GMT

The Topps Meat Co.'s massive recall of frozen hamburger beef, it may have sickened 25 people in eight states.
The food recall is the latest in a rash of E. coli-related callbacks this year, including tainted spinach and salad mixes. The USDA said it is unable to explain why there have been so many outbreaks.

If you find any of the recalled meat in your freezer, the safest thing to do is throw it away. Of the nine brands recalled, the ones affected have a sell-by date between Sept. 25, 2007, and Sept. 25, 2008, along with a package number of 9748.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Thai air crash kills 88

Richard Schulte — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:57:29 GMT

A budget airliner crashed while trying to land in driving rain and swirling wind, killing 89 people, 55 of them foreigners. A Forensic team from Israel will be arriving Tuesday.

Three years after Phuket saw the largest forensic operation in history, Thai and foreign experts will join forces to identify the charred bodies from Sunday's plane crash on the Thai resort island.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Airline, Cruise, Bus and Other Mass Transit Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Update: 3 Rescue workers killed in second cave-in

Richard Schulte — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:08:35 GMT

The search for six missing miners was abruptly halted after a second cave-in killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach them.

The cave-in at 6:39 p.m. was believed to be caused by what seismologists call a "mountain bump," in which shifting ground forces chunks of rock from the walls. Seismologists say such a bump caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped the six men more than 3 miles inside the central Utah mine.
The force from the bump registered a 1.6 at the University of Utah seismograph stations in Salt Lake City, said university spokesman Lee Siegel. It was the 20th reading at the university since the original collapse, which registered a 3.9 on Aug. 6.
"These events seem to be related to ongoing settling of the rock mass following the main event," Siegel said Friday morning. "I don't think I'm going too far to say that this mountain is collapsing in slow motion."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Miners still not found after 3rd hole drilled

Richard Schulte — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:24:07 GMT

Another attempt to sink a video camera inside a coal mine where six miners have been trapped since a collapse a week ago yielded no signs of life. The camera was paired with better lighting, but still only saw about 15 feet when it was lowered into the mine.

Two holes have already been drilled about 1,800 feet down into the mountain containing the mine. The first is a 2Â½-inch wide hole that rescue crews initially believed drifted during the drilling process into a neighboring sealed chamber. A microphone dropped into that first hole heard no sign of the miners and air samples recorded an atmosphere of only 7 percent oxygen _ measurements similar to those known to exist in a sealed area of the mine and an oxygen level that would not sustain life.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Potential Botulism Risk from Canned French Cut Green Beans

Richard Schulte — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 13:22:02 GMT

Certain brands of French Cut Green Beans in 14.5 ounce cans manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin may not have been processed adequately to eliminate the potential for botulism toxin. This warning is not related to the chili sauce recall for botulism.

The affected Lakeside cut green beans are sold nationwide under the following labels: Albertson's, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid. The specific codes (top line of can code) involved are: EAA5247, EAA5257, EAA5267, EAA5277, EAB5247, EAB5257, ECA5207, ECA5217, ECA5227, ECA5297, ECB5207, ECB5217, ECB5227, ECB5307.
Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should dispose of them immediately. If the code on an affected can is missing or unreadable, consumers should throw the product out.
Lakeside Foods has informed FDA that it is voluntarily recalling all of the potentially contaminated products.
Lakeside Foods recommends that consumers with any questions or concerns about the recall should call the company at 800-466-3834 ext. 4090.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte

Ohio High Court Strikes Down Veto of Lead Paint Bill

Richard Schulte — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 09:21:55 GMT

In a 5-2 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down Gov. Ted Strickland's veto of a bill prohibiting lawsuits against the the manufactures of lead paint.

The legislation says paint manufacturers can't be sued under public nuisance laws, which some U.S. cities have used to try to force companies to help pay for the removal of lead-based paint in older homes. Strickland vetoed the bill because he felt it stripped consumers of the right to seek damages from the companies, his spokesman said.
In his majority opinion, Justice Robert R. Cupp said the 10-day time limit for vetoes laid out in the Constitution begins ticking when a legislative session is adjourned rather than when a bill is delivered to the governor. By that count, the opportunity to veto the bill expired on Jan. 6, two days before Strickland acted.
"The governor has concerns about the potential impact on all future governors of this decision on the constitutional veto authority invested in the Office of the Governor," he said.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Richard Schulte