Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

A six-year-old Oregon child was injured in a crosswalk accident in Forest Grove earlier this month – highlighting the need for pedestrians and drivers alike to exercise extra caution whenever children and moving vehicles are present in the same area.

According to an account in the Forest Grove News-Times, “police said the accident happened… as the child walked with a family member across the street in a crosswalk. The child was walking ahead of the adult and was struck by a Ford Explorer.”

The victim was taken to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital and treated for what were described by the paper as “non-life threatening” injuries. The truck’s 33-year old driver “was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian and driving with a suspended license.”

Leaving aside the fairly obvious observation that people whose licenses have been suspended ought not to be behind the wheel of a car in the first place, this incident is a reminder of how easily injuries to Oregon children can occur. Particularly when a child is small, it takes only a moment of inattention for events to move rapidly toward a tragedy.

In this particular case we can all take solace from the reports that the injuries to the six-year-old are not life-threatening. Even that phrase, however, can conceal a tremendous variety of possibilities. An Oregon child injury attorney can help families from Forest Grove, Portland or elsewhere in the state sort through their options in the wake of traumas like these. Obtaining justice is often more easily envisioned than it is accomplished. Families weighing their options require skilled and experienced legal advice as they consider the best ways to proceed in the wake of an Oregon child injury.

Forest Grove News-Times: Child crossing E Street injured by SUV

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a voluntary recall of “Little Tricky” kids bike helmets. See the link below for the original CPSC news release, including pictures of the helmets themselves. Parents should immediately double-check their kids’ helmets to ensure that the children are not using the affected products.

The agency news release says that the helmets “do not comply with CPSC safety standards for impact resistance.” That means that in the event of an Oregon bicycle accident the helmets might fail to offer the required protection. “Customers could suffer impact head injuries in a fall,” the CPSC warns.

According to the CPSC the helmets have been on sale since 2006. The company’s “Triple Eight” and “Sector 9” size “S/M” (for “small/medium”) models are affected by the recall. The government is urging parents to ensure that their children stop using the helmets immediately, and to return the helmets to the manufacturer for a full refund.

The risk of serious traumatic brain injuries cannot be overstated in a case like this. Helmets are especially important when cycling because of the risk of being thrown head-first over the handlebars in the event of a crash. While it is equally true that no helmet can prevent every conceivable accident, it is important for Oregon parents to take pro-active action whenever news of a faulty product, such as this, comes to light.

CPSC: Bicycle Helmets Recalled by Triple Eight Distribution Due to Risk of Head Injury

An article published this week in the New York Times offers details of a “class-action suit that claims the NCAA has been negligent regarding awareness and treatment of brain injuries to athletes.”

According to the newspaper there are currently four plaintiffs involved in the suit – three football players and, unexpectedly, a soccer player. As the newspaper notes, the suit is particularly interesting because it targets the NCAA, the body that oversees most college athletics here in the United States, rather than the individual schools for which the plaintiffs played.

The focus of the article is a former University of Central Arkansas football player, described in the piece as once having been a three-sport athlete, straight-A student and talented trumpet player. Following a severe hit as he was returning a punt last year he has been unable to play. Heeding doctors’ advice he has now permanently abandoned contact sports, the newspaper reports.

As the Times observes, one of the key problems facing those who believe they have suffered traumatic brain injuries here in Oregon or elsewhere while playing a college sport is the unique status of college athletes. They are not, legally speaking, children, like players in High School or Middle School games. But they are not employees either (at least not in a formal sense) like pro players in the NFL. That is one reason why the Washington State brain injury lawyer in charge of the case says he is focused on arranging “insurance that would provide for training and evaluation for players and follow-up care for athletes,” as part of any resolution of the lawsuit. The NCAA, rather than individual schools, is the focus of the suit because the plaintiffs want to change the way severe brain trauma is handled across the world of college sports, not merely in any particular sport or institution.

From an Oregon traumatic brain injury lawyer’s perspective the approach these plaintiffs are taking is particularly interesting. If we start from the premise that the real purpose of going to court is to see justice done, we must also acknowledge that justice that only looks backwards is, philosophically speaking, incomplete. Victims and their families should know that the people responsible for an injury have moved to ensure that the injury will not be repeated. Any suit that seeks to improve the way the world of college sports handles all athletes is a welcome addition to our national discussion of the problem of sports-related head and brain injuries.

New York Times: College Athletes Move Concussions into the Courtroom

A tragic central Oregon car crash has left a teen driver dead and injured four others according to reports in The Oregonian.

The crash took place on US route 26 near Madras, Oregon. According to the newspaper, a 17-year old driver traveling toward the east “drifted off the north shoulder of the road, according to state police. The 17-year-old driver then overcorrected the car and it crossed into the westbound lane where it collided with a westbound 2006 Chrysler van.”

The teen driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Her passenger, also a 17-year-old girl, was transported to a hospital in Madras with what the paper describes as serious injuries. The driver of the van, a 38-year-old Portland man, and his two children all suffered what were described as minor injuries in the Oregon car crash and were released after treatment at the area hospital.

Many questions remain unanswered regarding this Oregon child injury car accident. Taking a broad view, however, we can all agree that any accident involving young drivers is especially tragic because of all the efforts we adults make to teach our children the best way to conduct themselves behind the wheel.

As an Oregon personal injury attorney with expertise in accidents involving injuries to children it is particularly regrettable to see accidents like this which result in deaths and injuries to young people on all sides of a crash. Careful education for young drivers will never prevent every accident, but it remains an essential part of the efforts we must take to keep our children safe.

The Oregonian: Fatal crash on Highway 26 kills 17-year-old girl, injures 4 others

The Oregonian: Police ID 17-year-old Bend girl killed in head-on US-26 crash

All too often I use this blog to write about Oregon auto accidents and Portland pedestrian accidents involving drunk driving. It is useful, however, to be reminded now and then that the most tragic accidents – those involving injured Oregon children – do not necessarily involve impaired drivers.

From Coos Bay comes word of an accident in which a “woman and her young daughter were badly injured when they were struck by a truck while crossing Newmark Avenue” according to the Coos Bay World. The accident is notable for the fact that, according to the paper, the driver, who was uninjured in the Oregon car accident, “was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to a police (news) release,” the paper reports.

The victims in this instance were a 28-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter. Both were badly injured and were transferred to Portland where they were admitted Oregon Health Sciences University hospital.

On one level we have here the most basic sort of traffic accident: a driver who does not appear to have been impaired, according to police and media reports, and who yet managed to hit a young mother and her small child as they were crossing the street.

Incidents like this highlight the most important role a Portland or Coos Bay child injury lawyer can play for a client: being available to help a damaged family rebuild in the wake of a tragedy. Accidents happen, but accountability is also important. Experienced and compassionate legal help is essential for victims who want and need justice but are initially unsure where to turn in the wake of an Oregon accident involving injuries to children.

Coos Bay World: Vehicle hits mother, child pedestrians

A tragic Salem-area car accident this week involving critical injuries to a child offers a sobering lesson in the importance of car and pedestrian safety as the new school year gets into full swing.

According to television station KGW a 16-year old girl suffered life-threatening injuries in an Oregon car accident in the small town of Jefferson, Oregon, south of Salem. “The 16-year-old girl was ‘walking along the side of the road’… when she was hit, according to Tammy Robbins with the Jefferson Fire District,” KGW reports.

The station’s online article goes on to note, also citing Robbins, that “the car that struck her smashed into a power pole after hitting the girl, but the driver was not injured.”

From the perspective of a Portland car and pedestrian accident attorney who handles many cases involving injuries to Oregon children the incident in Jefferson stands as a reminder of the need for drivers to exercise extra caution now that school is back in session. Children and teens are often less cautious than they should be when walking or biking to and from school. As adults and parents, of course, it is incumbent on all of us to impress on kids the importance of safe conduct when they are in or near traffic.

But we all also know that children are impulsive and do not always do what they are told. This places an extra burden on adults to act in a careful and responsible manner at all times. Never assume that a child on a bike, or a teen walking beside the road, will do the logical or safe thing. Slow down, and give kids a wide berth whenever possible, remembering always that safety is everyone’s responsibility.

KGW.com: Teen struck by car while walking to bus stop

A statewide enforcement program officially known as “3 Flags” began in the waning days of August and is scheduled to stretch beyond Labor Day weekend. The initiative hopes to cut traffic-related Oregon child injuries and deaths through a combination of enforcement and education.

“The purpose of 3-Flags is to increase seatbelt use and decrease the number of speeding and/or impaired drivers,” according to MyEugene.org. In addition to people driving too fast, or engaged in Oregon drunk driving, the program also targets child seat use. The goal of this part of the program is both to increase awareness of Oregon’s child restraint laws – and of the resources available to help poorer parents get the child seats they need at a free or reduced price – and to ensure that parents using an approved booster or baby seat install and use it properly.

As the Gresham Outlook notes, in 2009 “observed booster seat use was only 58 percent among children ages 4 to 8… one-third of children in this age group who were killed or injured in crashes last year were not using booster seats.” As I noted in an earlier post, more than one highway safety study over the years has shown that the number of people – as many as ¾ of all drivers using the devices according to some sources – whose children ride in improperly installed child seats is shockingly high.

Enforcement efforts such as this one are excellent ways to cut down on unnecessary Portland, Salem, Eugene and Gresham child deaths resulting from Oregon auto accidents. As an Oregon child injury attorney it is always heartening to see initiatives designed to lessen the harm suffered by children who are unfortunate enough to be involved in an auto accident. Parents are well-intentioned, but sometimes they need a bit of help to ensure that they are taking the proper precautions in the proper manner.

The Oregonian: 3-Flags program to focus on statewide traffic safety enforcement

The Gresham Outlook: Police target seat belt, booster seat usage

MyEugene.org: Oregon traffic enforcement program to run through September 11

In the annals of serious and potentially serious injuries to children this one is as strange as it is frightening. According to the Associated Press, as reprinted in the Chicago Tribune, an 11-year old boy was recently injured at an Indiana amusement park when he “was bitten on the hand by an alligator.”

But wait: it gets stranger. The alligator bit the boy after another guest at the park, using a noose, lifted it out of its pen “and told children they could pet it.” When the animal began biting the man dropped it and ran away, reportedly hopping into a pickup truck along with a woman and four kids, even as he left other children alone with the now-loose animal.

From the standpoint of an Oregon personal injury lawyer with a special interest in injuries to children, where does one begin? Even allowing that the man was breaking the rules by picking up the alligator (not mentioned in the article, but it seems like a fairly safe assumption), what sort of zoo or animal park places potentially dangerous animals – like alligators – in a position where patrons can pick them up in the first place? Granted that someone was able to pick up a gator, one must then ask some tough questions about park security.

The good news, according to the news agency, is that the boy was not seriously injured. This, however, is the sort of situation where even if no lasting physical damage is done serious questions need to be asked and there needs to be real accountability among adults charged with keeping children (and other adults) safe in a public place. Were the proper precautions taken? Have law enforcement officials done enough to try to find the perpetrator, even as park officials work to ensure that something like this never happens again? These are exactly the sort of questions an experienced Portland child injury attorney can help you frame and ask of the appropriate people.

AP via Chicago Tribune: Alligator bites boy at Indiana amusement park

A young child (his exact age was not released by police) was injured in a Salem motorcycle accident involving a pick-up truck earlier this month, according to Salem-News.com.

I have highlighted the dangers of injuries to Oregon children from ATV accidents in previous blogs. The details of this incident – which involved a dirt bike, rather than an ATV, are, however, a reminder that children far too young to drive can be found operating motorized vehicles and that without the exercise of extreme caution tragedy can result in an instant.

According to the newspaper, the accident began with the boy “riding on dirt trails on his grandparents’ property.” The trail in question was apparently next to the road. Though accompanied by his mother, the child “suddenly drove into the roadway in front of the truck.” The Oregon motorcycle accident took place when the child’s dirt bike was struck by a pick-up truck traveling east on Lakeside Drive in Salem. The paper quotes both witnesses to the Oregon child accident and the driver of the truck telling police that “there was no way for the driver to avoid hitting the child.” The paper reports that there is no indication that the driver was “impaired.”

The paper reports that the child suffered serious injuries even though he was wearing a helmet. He was transported to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland following the Oregon motorcycle accident.

From the perspective of a Portland personal injury lawyer, it must be acknowledged that, unfortunately, accidents like these happen far too often. They are the most jarring kind of reminder that motorcycle safety and child safety are intertwined. Vehicle manufacturers need to be aware of the ways their products are used in the real world, parents and other responsible adults need to take proper precautions and motorists, to whatever extent they can, need to be on the lookout at all times.

Salem-News.com: Salem child injured in motorcycle crash flown to OHSU

There are some obvious elements to boating safety – ones we are all aware of: wearing life jackets, for example. But a recent Oregon boating accident at Triangle Lake, which left one child severely injured enough to require evacuation by helicopter, is a reminder that there is much more to a safe summer by the water than life vests.

According to television station KVAL a girl was injured last week when she and “a group of kids on a church outing from the Salem area were being towed behind a 20-foot boat.” The girl “fell off the toy they were being towed on” and later complained of “back and leg pain.” Once at the hospital it was reported that the girl’s injuries are not life-threatening.

It is noteworthy that, according to KVAL, all of the children involved were wearing life jackets. The fact, however, that this precaution still left at least one child open to a potentially serious injury is a sad reminder of the extra precautions we must all take involving boating safety in general and children in particular.

From the perspective of a Portland personal injury lawyer who often handles cases involving injuries to children, it is never pleasant to see summer activities end in this tragic and frightening manner. Courts and lawyers should be the last thing anyone is thinking about while having fun at a beach this summer. For that to be possible, however, responsible adults need to think carefully about the activities they plan for the children and teens entrusted to their care. The ultimate cause of many accidents is thoughtlessness, something that, in an ideal role, it should not require courts and lawyers to reduce.

Tricountylife: Boating accident hospitalized one on Triangle Lake

KVAL: Girl flown to hospital by helicopter after accident at Triangle Lake

According to The Oregonian a shocking number of Portland-area children have been injured in falls from windows since the beginning of the summer. The newspaper recently reported that there have been eight such accidents in recent weeks, the latest one involving a toddler who fell “from the second-floor window of his family’s Southeast Portland home.”

The paper, quoting Portland fire officials, says the injured Oregon child suffered “a skull fracture and broken teeth.” Thankfully, the child is reported to have suffered no Oregon traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident. Such injuries are a particular concern when children fall from windows, as I noted in an earlier post.

In a related article the newspaper reports that there are roughly 4000 such injuries to children nationwide each year, with Oregon averaging “40 to 50.”

These injuries are particularly tragic because they are so easy to prevent. As The Oregonian, citing window safety experts, notes, simple solutions like stops which prevent a window from opening more than four inches are cheap, easy to install and can dramatically cut the number of Oregon children injured each year in accidents like this one.

Tragedies like this are also a reminder of the important role our courts, and Portland child injury attorneys, play in ensuring that people and companies take appropriate precautions to protect kids when they are near windows and in danger of falling. It is, of course, far preferable that accidents never happen, but also reassuring to know that our legal system provides opportunities for victims to seek justice when that becomes necessary.

The Oregonian: Southeast Portland boy recovering from injury after falling out of window

The Oregonian: Simple hardware, common sense can prevent children from falling out of windows

Family and neighbors in Northwest Portland are breathing sighs of relief after a six-year-old boy survived a fall from a second story window without serious injury, according to television station KGW.

It goes without saying that an accident like this could have led to a far more serious Oregon child injury, and will have to serve as a wake-up call for both family members and for many people concerned with kids’ safety. As KGW notes, many parents can easily forget that screens are designed to keep bugs out but are not strong enough to stop even a small child from falling through them.

Teaching children the importance of safety around windows is as crucial as teaching them the dangers of electrical sockets. The link below to the Campaign to Stop Window Falls contains a number of simple safety tips. Many of these amount to basic common sense, such as the group’s admonition to “only allow windows to open 4 inches” by inserting a window stop or similar device into the window track, and a reminder to keep windows locked when they are closed.

According to KGW, “each year 50 children in Oregon are admitted to hospitals after falling out of second story windows.” Two children have died from such falls since 2009.

In the wake of an injury as a resulting from a window fall it is also important that parents speak with a Portland child injury attorney who can help them examine the particulars of the accident and the circumstances surrounding it. I often write about justice issues in this blog, but where children are concerned it is equally, if not more, important to ensure that dangerous situations that have already injured one child are not allowed to continue and to place more children in danger. An Oregon personal injury attorney can help parents improve unsafe situations in the hope of preventing future injuries.

KGW: Boy survives fall from window in NW Portland

The Campaign to Stop Window Falls

A Florida court case involving a defective car seat and a resulting severe spinal cord injury to a child can serve as an important reminder of the crucial role our courts play in holding large companies accountable for the damage they can cause in ordinary people’s lives.

As outlined by the American Association for Justice, the case concerns a Florida girl, now age 7, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury when her father’s car was involved in an accident. Unbeknownst to the father his daughter, then only two years old, “had unfastened the clip (on her child seat) before the collision, leaving her restrained only around the lower torso and permitting a lap-belt-only injury to her spinal cord.”

The article notes that attorneys working for the girl’s parents discovered that the car seat’s manufacturer “had received more than 800 complaints about children unfastening the clip and it had subsequently replaced the clip with a two-piece version that children could not unfasten.” Even so, the manufacturer contended this action on its part was related to “convenience” rather than “safety” and moved to have the suit dismissed. After losing that dismissal motion the company settled with the victim’s family for an undisclosed sum.

From the perspective of a Portland personal injury attorney, cases like this are among the strongest reminders possible of the important role our courts play in protecting the rights of accident victims. A severe Oregon spinal cord or brain injury can be a devastating blow to any family, the moreso when, as in this case, it involves injuries to children.

The accountability our courts demand even of the rich and powerful is one of the most cherished aspects of American life. Helping ordinary people argue for – and win – the justice they deserve is one of the most significant, and gratifying, aspects of an Oregon spinal cord injury lawyer’s job.

American Association for Justice: Defective design of child safety seat’s chest clip leads to girl’s paralyzing injuries

A Clatsop County court has convicted a 45-year old Portland man in a case stemming from a fatal drunk driving car crash last year, according to The Oregonian.

The case of Ken Middleton’s Portland fatal car crash is particularly shocking not only because of the sheer amount of alcohol he consumed in the hours leading up to the accident, but also because he got behind the wheel so completely intoxicated despite having his own 13-year-old daughter riding with him. The Daily Astorian reported that Middleton, at his trial, “admitted he had consumed at least 12 beers that day.” His daughter, mercifully, “suffered only minor injuries,” according to The Oregonian.

In addition to Oregon drunk driving Middleton was convicted of manslaughter, second-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangering, The Oregonian reports. The manslaughter charge stems from the death of Andrew Church, a motorcyclist whom Middleton struck head on when he drifted over the centerline as he and his daughter drove along US-30 in Astoria last May.

It is difficult to know what to say about a crash that takes a man’s life even as it endangers the perpetrator’s own child. Suffice it to say that resolving issues like these and bringing some feeling of justice and closure to victims are one of the main roles our courts – civil and criminal alike – serve in cases such as this.

An Oregon car crash attorney can work with victims and their families, especially those who may feel that criminal courts alone have been unable to see justice properly done in wrenching Oregon drunk driving cases.

The Daily Astorian: Jury convicts driver who had a dozen beers, killed motorcyclist

The Oregonian: Clatsop County jury convicts Portland man on drunk driving, manslaughter charges

An innovative program at a high school in Yamhill recently brought together students and local safety officials to demonstrate the dangers of Oregon drunk driving, according to an account in the Yamhill Valley News-Register.

The program, known as SKID (Stopping Kids Intoxicated Driving) was developed in 1998 by the Sheriff’s Office in Washington County, west of Portland. It encourages students to work with local police and fire officials, the sheriff’s office, state police and a local funeral home to demonstrate Oregon drunk driving car crash scenarios that are, in the paper’s words, “highly realistic but not real.”

The demonstration described by the newspaper was designed to simulate the effects of drunk driving and drug use in the imagined aftermath of prom night. In addition to the students assigned to simulate impaired driving, others were texting in the car, some of them riding without wearing seat belts. Those details were designed to emphasize to teens the importance not just of not driving while impaired, but also of not choosing to ride along with an impaired driver.

The paper reports that “all of the emergency services personnel volunteered their time to make the program possible. They would rather teach teens to make the right choices, State Police Trooper Bridget Taylor explained, than to investigate the aftermath.” Some of the student actors’ families were also present – an experience they described as disconcerting granted the realistic post-accident carnage utilizing large amounts of fake blood and real emergency vehicles.

Programs like this play an important role in cutting down on Oregon drunk driving. Our state’s dram shop laws, designed to hold those who sell or serve alcohol responsible for their actions, can only go so far. Any Portland drunk driving attorney would agree with the emergency personnel quoted above that it is far better to convince teens and young adults that drinking and driving do not mix in the first place than to be forced to deal with its tragic consequences later, via the legal system.

Yamhill Valley News-Register: Mock crash raises awareness

Oregon parents of a 12-year old boy killed in a go-kart accident in Washington state have filed a Washington wrongful death suit against Benton County, the city of Richland (where the accident occurred) “and several other people and organizations whose negligence (the parents) claim contributed to their son’s death,” the Tacoma News-Tribune reports.

Kenneth McKinster died in 2008 “when his kart slid off the track while he was trying to navigate a hairpin turn during a weekend racing event,” the paper reports. His parents believe the kart itself was poorly designed, and was later improperly maintained by the Tri-City Kart Club and by the city and county which, at the time, owned the track itself. According to area TV station KEVW the case is expected to be heard in court before the end of the year.

Go-karts are motorized vehicles capable of traveling at fairly high speeds but including very few of the safety devices we all take for granted in ordinary cars. That places a special responsibility on the owners and operators of go-karts and similar vehicles when it comes to safety. Injuries to children here in Oregon and Washington can easily occur, as this case tragically demonstrates.

Parents should be able to assume when taking their children to a commercial go-kart facility both that the vehicles are properly maintained and that local authorities are enforcing all relevant safety regulations.

If your child or another family member has been injured in a go-karting accident it is important to seek the advice of an experienced Washington and Oregon personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Incidents involving Washington or Oregon injuries to minors or those leading to an Oregon or Washington child’s wrongful death can be especially jarring for families, and require specialized legal attention.

KEVW: Oregon couple files wrongful death lawsuit against Richland

Tacoma News-Tribune: Parents of boy killed at Richland track file suit

A poignant reminder of the long-term effects of concussions on football players cane over the weekend when Terry Bradshaw revealed in a blog post that “he is suffering from deficits in short-term memory and impairments in his hand-eye coordination,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper reports that the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, a long-time NFL commentator on television, attributes his ever-worsening problems to “at least six concussions” sustained during his NFL career.

Bradshaw, of course, played in the 1970s and it might be argued that today’s players are better-trained and use better equipment than their predecessors. Two minutes watching NFL films from that era, however, will show any viewer that while today’s equipment may be better, today’s players are bigger, stronger, play the game faster and hit much, much harder than those of a generation ago.

Bradshaw’s revelations of the ongoing effects of brain injuries come at a time when the league is trying to improve its less-than-stellar record of caring for players once their careers are over. It also, as the paper notes, arrives at a time when team officials and players in the worlds of football and hockey are increasingly aware of the damage lesser hits can cause. The Times cites a doctor at UCLA who mentions the cumulative effects of multiple less-than-concussion-level hits – an issue that the NHL has recently begun paying particular attention to.

The lives and long-term health of professional athletes are important not only for their impact on those individuals’ health and the well-being of their families, but because of the signals they send to young athletes.

As a Portland sports injury lawyer, it is especially heartening to see both professional sports and society at large paying more attention to these issues. As I have said before, the legal system is there to help victims an their families obtain justice in the wake of an Oregon brain or spinal cord injury – but when athletes and their families are forced to go to court to protect their rights that is an unfortunate sign that the system has failed in broader, more important ways.

Los Angeles Times: Football concussions catching up with Terry Bradshaw, he says

A surprising – and heartening – article in the sports section of the New York Times last week revealed that heightened awareness of the serious nature of sports-related concussions and other traumatic brain injuries has turned up in an unexpected forum: video games.

The paper reports that “Madden NFL 12, the coming version of the eerily true-to-life NFL video game played by millions of gamers, will be realistic enough not only to show players receiving concussions, but also to show any player who sustains one being sidelined for the rest of the game – no exceptions.”

Considering the extent of the criticism being weathered by the real-life NFL over head injury issues and the long term health of the league’s players, this development can only be called striking. The article quotes John Madden himself saying that the change in the game’s format was driven partly by the desire for ever-greater realism, but also from a belief that children need to understand how serious a matter concussions can be. “We want that message to be strong,” Madden told the Times.

With parents more focused than ever on safety in school sports this is an important development. Here in Oregon we have seen a rise in concern over head and spinal cord injuries, particularly among football players. As Madden highlights in his interview, children develop their attitudes toward the game – and how it should be played – at an early age. Anything that helps reinforce a message of on-field safety should be welcomed.

In the final analysis, it should be schools and coaches, parents and players who serve as the main defense against Oregon head injuries on the athletic field. When the issue reaches the office of a Portland personal injury lawyer that is a sign, frankly, that the rest of the system has failed. Lawyers and courts play an important role in ensuring that justice is done, but their responsibilities come into play only to right wrongs that arise elsewhere.

New York Times: Madden Puts Concussions in New Light in His Game

Oregonians could learn some lessons about the dangers of drunk driving accidents from an incident unfolding to our south, in Northern California.

A 64-year-old retired La Selva Beach man is facing serious charges after what media reports describe as a classic drunk driving hit-and-run accident. The Santa Cruz Sentinel, quoting police sources, says the alleged perpetrator “was driving a 2006 Camry south on State Park Drive approaching the Highway 1 off ramp just before 2 p.m.” last Sunday when he hit a 12-year-old boy in a crosswalk.

The paper reports that the driver fled, but witnesses at the scene “helped identify him” leading to his arrest just over an hour later. The good news is that the child does not appear to have been seriously injured.

Here in Oregon we, like many other Americans, often fall into the trap of thinking of drunk driving as primarily a young person’s problem. It was, after all, barely a generation ago that curbing drunk driving among teens was cited as the main motivator behind the nationwide campaign to raise the drinking age to 21. Accidents like this one, however, should serve as a reminder that the problem of drinking and driving – and of bars and stores that violate the Oregon dram shop law by selling or serving alcohol to obviously intoxicated people – is not confined to teens and 20-somethings.

It should not take drunk driving injuries to Oregon children to remind us how important these issues are. The California driver in question is now facing serious charges (though the newspaper reports that he was released from custody after his initial arrest pending further legal proceedings), as should anyone foolish enough to get behind the wheel while impaired. Victims and their families should know that our legal system is here to help them and defend their rights. Contacting an Oregon drunk driving injury lawyer can be an essential first step in seeing that justice is done.

Santa Cruz Sentinel via The Silicon Valley Mercury News: La Selva Beach man arrested after child is hit in crosswalk

An important article published in the New York Times last week indicates that the manufacturers of football helmets are moving to address problems in the way their products are used – a move that could benefit many young athletes in a time when traumatic brain injuries stemming from football and other rough sports are an issue of increasing concern.

According to the newspaper, “the National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (Naera) announced (last) Thursday that is would no longer accept helmets more than 10 years old.” As the paper notes, many schools regularly send football helmets in for reconditioning, but concerns have been rising that as the products age it can become difficult if not impossible to bring the gear back to a point where it meets appropriate safety standards. Under current standards, the paper notes, so long as the equipment met applicable safety standards when it was new “helmets of any age and condition can be worn, despite concerns over how the stiffening of foam and the degrading of the polycarbonate shell can leave a player more susceptible to concussions.”

Though the article does not say this, it appears that football helmet manufacturers and reconditioners may be taking a cue from the ski industry. For several decades the manufacturers of ski bindings have indemnified their products for a finite period of years (usually 10 or 12). Once that period expires, skiers quickly discover that few ski techs will agree to make even minor adjustments to the bindings. A cynic might say the companies are forcing skiers to purchase new equipment on a regular basis, but the policy also ensures that the vast majority of skiers are using relatively up-to-date equipment – an important consideration in such a potentially dangerous sport.

The new football helmet standards have the potential to offer significant peace of mind to Portland-area parents who fear concussions and other Oregon traumatic brain injuries when their children participate in contact sports.

Oregon personal injury attorneys are likely to keep a close eye on the new standards. We must all ensure that schools and others running youth sports are paying attention and using the tools the industry is giving them to help fight the battle against Oregon brain injuries.

The New York Times: Group to phase out old football helmets

A Central Point boy is hospitalized with dire injuries following an Oregon dog attack late last month, according to an area newspaper and television station. The Columbian reports that the nine year old “was attacked by three large pit bulls at his father’s home in Central Point.” He is reported to be in “fair” condition at the Rogue Valley Medical Center.

The exact circumstances of the attack are unclear from the available media accounts. Area TV station KPTV reports, however, that the animals were captured in the wake of the Oregon dog attack and “will be held in quarantine by animal control officers… to check for rabies and other problems that might have led to the attack.”

Because the incident involves a serious Oregon child injury the authorities are expected to take special care with their investigation. According to KPTV the “pit bulls appeared to have torn off a large chunk of the nine year old boy’s scalp.”

Serious Oregon dog attacks, such as this one, are of special concern when children are involved. Dog owners have a responsibility to maintain control of their pets – an especially grave responsibility in the case of owners of species generally understood to be violent and potentially dangerous, such as pit bulls.

If you or a member of your family have been the victim of an attack like this one, prompt consultation with a Portland dog attack attorney is one of the best actions you can take to ensure your and your family’s rights are protected. As we see from this incident, dog attacks can cause serious injuries including permanent disfigurement and even death. To obtain justice and make your family whole again expert legal assistance is essential.

The Columbian: Pit Bulls maul, seriously injure S. Oregon boy, 9

Fox 12 Oregon: Oregon boy recovering after dog mauling

A Central Point boy is hospitalized with dire injuries following an Oregon dog attack late last month, according to an area newspaper and television station. The Columbian reports that the nine year old “was attacked by three large pit bulls at his father’s home in Central Point.” He is reported to be in “fair” condition at the Rogue Valley Medical Center.

The exact circumstances of the attack are unclear from the available media accounts. Area TV station KPTV reports, however, that the animals were captured in the wake of the Oregon dog attack and “will be held in quarantine by animal control officers… to check for rabies and other problems that might have led to the attack.”

Because the incident involves a serious Oregon child injury the authorities are expected to take special care with their investigation. According to KPTV the “pit bulls appeared to have torn off a large chunk of the nine year old boy’s scalp.”

Serious Oregon dog attacks, such as this one, are of special concern when children are involved. Dog owners have a responsibility to maintain control of their pets – an especially grave responsibility in the case of owners of species generally understood to be violent and potentially dangerous, such as pit bulls.

If you or a member of your family have been the victim of an attack like this one, prompt consultation with a Portland dog attack attorney is one of the best actions you can take to ensure your and your family’s rights are protected. As we see from this incident, dog attacks can cause serious injuries including permanent disfigurement and even death. To obtain justice and make your family whole again expert legal assistance is essential.

The Columbian: Pit Bulls maul, seriously injure S. Oregon boy, 9

Fox 12 Oregon: Oregon boy recovering after dog mauling

A Florida lawsuit concerning a serious burn suffered by a four year old boy while visiting Disney World raises questions every parent should be concerned about regarding safety and possible injuries to children at theme parks and other recreational areas.

Contrary to what one might think, the case involves food safety – not the safety of amusement park rides (arguably the first thing many parents worry about when visiting a theme park). According to an account of the incident published in USA Today, the boy was severely burned while having dinner in a restaurant at Disney’s Magic Kingdom resort near Orlando “when a paper cup of scalding nacho cheese splashed on his face after he’d grabbed a food tray to keep from falling out of an unsteady chair.” A picture accompanying the newspaper report shows a small child with horrific burns disfiguring his face.

Some commentators have compared this to the famous McDonald’s hot coffee case of the mid-90s. But even if you were among those who thought the coffee case excessive it is important to understand that there are key difference between that case and this one. Aside from the obvious factor that a child is involved, it is (or ought to be) clear that customers have different expectations from different products. Coffee is intended to be consumed hot. Nachos, especially the processed kind one finds at an amusement park or a ballgame, are generally warm, at best. One does not expect the goopy cheese sauce to be cold – but no reasonable customer is expecting it to be scalding hot either.

The Disney case is a useful reminder for us here in Oregon that Portland injuries to minors are a serious concern in many settings we often take for granted. Operators of recreational and entertainment facilities have an obligation to provide their customers – especially children – with a safe environment in which to enjoy their leisure time. When they fail in that duty, parents should consult with an Oregon child injury lawyer at the first available opportunity. Justice is about more than simply gaining compensation for medical bills or for the suffering of your child. It involves holding the powerful to account for their actions – or dangerous inaction.

USA Today: Parents sue over son’s hot nacho cheese injury at Disney World

An article just published by the online magazine Slate raises an intriguing question: is it safer to drive head-first into a parking spot, the way most Americans do? Or to back into it? The question is relevant because if there is strong data suggesting that backing into parking spaces is, by and large, safer that, in turn, would mean that we ought to begin looking at Oregon car accidents in different ways.

We all know, of course, that Portland car accidents can lead to any number of traumas: Oregon brain injuries, injuries to children, even wrongful death. Who among us has not had a near miss either when backing out of a parking space or when passing by (whether in a car or on foot) someone who is doing so without paying sufficient attention.

Though Slate notes that “parking lot crash statistics are a bit hazy,” it goes on to note: “a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in 2001 and 2002 found that 14 percent of all damage claims involved crashes in parking lots (some number of which must have involved vehicles moving in and out of spaces).” Further, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a report to Congress last year estimated that “backover crashes,” as they are officially known, “cause at least 183 fatalities annually” as well as approximately 7000 injuries. The NHTSA is studying new rules that it hopes may lower these numbers by cutting the size of vehicle blind spots.

Pedestrians of all ages are at risk where Oregon backover crashes are concerned, as are Portland cyclists. As the government report notes however, it is children who are particularly vulnerable where backover injuries are concerned.

An Oregon child injury lawyer can help victims and their families as they as they consider their next moves in the aftermath of a backover crash or other Portland car accident. For the moment, it might also be good for the rest of us to at least think about Slate’s advice and consider backing into parking spaces more often. As the magazine notes, when you back in you have the opportunity in driving past the space to glance over and ensure that it is clear before starting to park. Similarly, when pulling out one has a clearer view of the traffic or the rest of the parking lot.

Slate: You’re Parking Wrong

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Vehicle Backover Avoidance Technology Study – Report to Congress

February 6 to 12 is National Burn Awareness Week. Here in Portland, Safe Kids Oregon (a project of the Oregon Public Health Division) opens its website promoting burn awareness with a particularly startling fact related to injuries to Oregon children: a “young child’s skin is thinner than older children and adults, and their skin burns at lower temperatures and more deeply.”

As the site goes on to note there are numerous ways that burns can happen in and around the home. We are all aware, for example, of kitchen dangers: steam, open flames, burners that look cool when they are not, etc. And most people with small children are aware that they should block sockets and replace frayed cords to lessen the risk of electrical burns. It is worth remembering, however, that burns can happen anywhere in the home. Safe Kids Oregon’s Burn Awareness Week web page, for example, includes a very useful section on bathroom hazards.

As the website notes, “accidental childhood injury” is “the leading killer of children 14 and under.”

With that in mind it is important that all of us, as adults, do everything in our power to prevent Oregon bicycle accidents, Oregon car accidents and other potential disasters that can leave children seriously injured – in some cases scarred for life. Taking this time to focus on the particular dangers posed by burns is especially useful.

When tragedy strikes and injuries do occur it is also important that parents understand the choices they face as they attempt to restore a sense of justice and balance to their family lives. A Portland child injury lawyer with expertise in personal injury and burn law can be an invaluable ally for parents coping with a family disaster and seeking a path back to normalcy.

Safe Kids Oregon: Burn Awareness Week

American Burn Association: Burn Awareness Week

Two children are dead and four people, including a child, injured following an Oregon car crash near Mt. Angel last weekend. According to the Salem Statesman-Journal the police are still investigating the circumstances of the accident, which took place at the intersection of Dominic and Meridian Roads in the town, which lies between Salem and Portland.

According to the newspaper, the Salem fatal car accident appears to have occurred when a Saturn traveling east on Dominic Road “was struck broadside by a 1998 Dodge Stratus traveling north on Meridian Road.” It noted that the intersection of Dominic and Meridian has stop signs in both directions.

Two boys, ages 9 and 12, who were traveling in the Saturn were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident while their father, the Saturn’s driver, was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Police said that “a Silverton couple and their 9-year-old daughter in the Stratus were also injured.” None of the injury victims’ exact medical status was available at the time the newspaper went to press. The newspaper reported that crisis counselors were being sent to the schools attended by the younger victims.

The fact that so much destruction could result from a single collision at a single intersection is, indeed, sobering. Regardless of where police eventually determine the fault to lie, this terrible accident is a clear reminder of the importance of safe motoring and the need to hold reckless drivers accountable for their actions. A Portland or Salem car accident lawyer can help victims and survivors alike work through the trauma of a serious auto accident and offer valuable guidance and advice as they seek justice following tragedies such as these.

Salem Statesman-Journal: Two killed, four injured in crash near Mt. Angel

Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) is making headlines this week as the man leading efforts by Senate Democrats to reform rules governing filibusters. As the New Year begins he also, however, is emerging as the congressional point person for a very different issue: traumatic brain injuries, specifically those sustained while playing football.

According to The New York Times, Udall is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to “investigate what he called “misleading safety claims and deceptive practices” among helmet manufacturers and refurbishers.”

As I noted in this post last fall, safety standards for football helmets have not changed meaningfully since the early 1970s. The Times article notes that Udall “took specific aim at Riddell, the official helmet manufacturer of the N.F.L., for its prominent claim that its popular Revolution models decrease concussion risk by 31 percent.” Udall contends that the testing standards used to evaluate helmets – along with much of the advertising based on those tests – are misleading. A spokesman for the company told the Times that Riddell welcomes the scrutiny, but hopes other helmet manufacturers will be subjected to it as well.

Perhaps the most shocking detail of this story, however, is buried far down: the fact that 4.4 million children under 18 play football in America and that they suffer around 500,000 concussions each year. Put another way: 1 in 9 youth football players suffers a concussion in any given year. In a country that is becoming more and more concerned about traumatic brain injuries in general, and TBI among children participating in sports in particular, these are sobering numbers.

Oregon parents concerned about the effect of football and the possibility of Oregon child injuries resulting from games played using inadequately tested or maintained equipment should consider contacting an Oregon traumatic brain injury attorney to discuss the effects the game may be having, especially on younger players.

New York Times: Senator calls for helmet safety investigation

Earlier this month New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed wide-ranging legislation designed to protect student-athletes in his state. As reported by the website Safe Kids New Jersey, the bill will require the state’s Department of Education “to develop an interscholastic athletic head injury safety training program to be completed by school physicians, coaches and athletic trainers” in both public and private schools.

The website goes on to note that the New Jersey program will include teaching school personnel how to recognize “symptoms of head and neck injuries,” how to judge when an athlete should be allowed to return to the field and when someone requires further treatment, including hospitalization. As the organization notes, “currently, there is no uniform method of handling suspected concussions in interscholastic sports.”

As I have noted in previous posts looking at both football and hockey, concern over concussions and other traumatic brain injuries at all levels of competition is rising here in Oregon and nationwide. Parents as well as coaches and trainers are becoming more and more aware of the dangers improperly diagnosed or treated head injuries can pose, especially to younger athletes. Below you’ll find a link to an especially helpful checklist of questions every parent should know to ask when talking to a doctor treating a child for a suspected head injury (the list is compiled by the federal government’s National Institutes of Health).

The issues surrounding Oregon concussions and other traumatic brain injuries are serious, and it is good to see them drawing more attention both here and nationwide. Legislation is a good first step but, ultimately, both parents and the justice system must remain vigilant to ensure that responsible adults act appropriately, particularly when caring for our children. Consulting an Oregon traumatic brain injury attorney can be an important step for parents wondering whether a sports-related injury could, or should, have been avoided.

Safe Kids New Jersey: Governor Christie Signs Comprehensive Concussion Safety Bill to Protect New Jersey’s Student-Athletes

National Institutes of Health: Concussion – what to ask your doctor – child

Back in August I wrote about the dangers posed to children by ATVs, and the effort in Massachusetts to cut the number of deaths and injuries to young riders through a new law banning ATV use by kids 14 and younger. Now we have even more evidence of the need for such laws, and the need for accountability among ATV manufacturers.

According to a recent article in the trade publication The Safety Record, a new study conducted by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Injury Research and Policy looks at ATV-related hospitalizations and injuries to children between 1997 and 2006. The study found a huge spike in both categories among children during that time period. The numbers are particularly noteworthy because, as The Safety Record notes, it was during this time that a 10-year consent agreement between the Consumer Product Safety Commission and ATV manufacturers expired. Under that agreement, reached in 1988, the manufacturers offered “free training for riders, warning labels, a public education campaign and a ban on three-wheeled ATVs,” the publication notes. Once the agreement expired some manufacturers continued to honor it voluntarily, but others did not.

During the 1997-2006 period, the study found, ATV-related injuries to children (defined as 17 years old or younger) increased by 150 percent overall. Some sub-groups showed even more alarming jumps: notably 15-17 year old boys, among whom injuries increased by 260 percent. “All-Terrain vehicles are inherently dangerous to children,” the report quotes Dr. Stephen Bowman, a Johns Hopkins professor and the study’s lead author, saying.

The fact that the industry continues to pitch its products as family-friendly – using advertisements showing adults and children riding together, for example – should give any parent pause. It also calls out for strong legal action when accidents, inevitably, occur.

Massachusetts tough new law was prompted by the death of an 8-year-old boy. Until Oregon moves to enact similar legislation, many parents are likely to find that their best hope for justice in the event of an Oregon ATV injury to a child or other loved-one lies in the courts. An Oregon child injury attorney with specialized knowledge of the law as it relates to Oregon ATV accidents can be a parent’s most important ally in the fight for justice after a preventable tragedy.

The Safety Record (Newsletter & blog): ATVs and Kids: Searching for a Solution

A pick-up truck running a stop sign caused an Oregon two-car crash that left one dead and ten injured, according to a report at MyCentralOregon.com. The crash took place on Highway 361 near Culver, in Central Oregon and was serious enough to require mobilizing troopers from two separate OSP barracks as well as the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office along with emergency medical personnel from both Jefferson County and Warm Springs.

According to the website, the accident took place when a pick-up driven by 28-year-old Andrea Orozco of Madras ran a stop sign and collided with a Toyota driven by Linda Ross, 61, of Metolius. The site reports: “The impact caused the Toyota to travel west where it came to rest off the highway. (Orozco’s) Ford Expedition traveled travelled northwest and overturned before coming to rest on its side.”

A passenger in Ross’ Toyota died from injuries sustained in the Oregon car crash several hours after the accident, while Ross herself was hospitalized with what the website report describes as “serious injuries”. Orozco was carrying eight passengers – two adults and six children ages 2 to 14. She and all of her passengers were transported to area hospitals with what were also described as “serious injuries”.

To top it all off, Orozco is reported to have been driving despite her license being suspended at the time of the accident.

One person dead. Six children injured. Oregon fatal car crashes like these are one of the reasons why our civil courts are so important. An Oregon car accident lawyer can help grieving families make sense of their options at a time like this, examining the specifics of their case and advising on the best ways to obtain justice through our courts. The aftermath of an injury-causing Oregon car crash can be a traumatic time for both survivors and their extended families. Seeking experienced, professional legal assistance is a key first step in putting broken lives back together.

MyCentralOregon.com: One dead, ten injured in two-car crash north of Culver

A few days ago I wrote about new data showing a worrisome rise in traffic accidents leading to Oregon pedestrian deaths. In the most tragic illustration possible of what seems to be a trend, we now have word of the death of a toddler in who was in a stroller as he and his father crossed the street at what TV station KGW describes as “a clearly marked crosswalk.”

According to a detailed account in The Oregonian, the accident took place last Monday in North Portland. The 75-year-old driver of the car that struck and killed 22-month-old Seamus DuBarry, his father and another man told police that he panicked and, in the process, mistook the gas pedal for the brake. The newspaper reports that the elder DuBarry and his small son “were flipped onto the car’s hood and carried for nearly 100 feet. The car slammed into a utility pole and stopped.” Another Oregon pedestrian, Da-Mon McDonald, was left in the middle of the road. Both of the adults suffered what the paper describes as minor injuries in the crash. The child, however, died a short while later at a nearby hospital after surgical attempts to save him failed.

Though police opted not to issue any citations in the incident, McDonald was quoted by The Oregonian saying that the driver “owes that family and that little boy, big time.” According to the paper the accident remains under investigation. Police expect to forward a report on the incident to the Multnomah County DA soon.

The paper also quotes a Portland police officer who works with the city’s Major Crash Team expressing the fear that Portland pedestrian accidents like this one – apparently involving use of the wrong pedal – are rising in number.

As McDonald’s comments illustrate, there is a pressing need for accountability in the wake of a Portland pedestrian accident like this one. As difficult as it can be to turn to the legal system at a moment of pain, our courts are there to enforce accountability and provide justice. The first step is to contact a Portland pedestrian accident and child injury lawyer to discuss the details of your situation, and to consider the best way to move forward.

KGW.com: Victim describes chaos & crash that killed toddler in stroller

The Oregonian:‘He panicked and hit the accelerator,’ police say of elderly driver who fatally struck North Portland toddler

As the nation settles in for another football-filled fall weekend many of the sport’s fans are focusing on new enforcement measures announced by the NFL in the last few days. The league wants to contain the damage being caused by violent, potentially catastrophic, hits. As has been reported just about everywhere, an unusually large number of stomach-churning plays last week led the league to issue fines, threaten suspensions and warn players that enforcement of the sport’s existing rules is going to be tougher from now on.

But as a pair of articles published at opposite ends of the country this week remind us, the dangers of traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, concussions or other serious injuries faced by high school, middle school and youth players are, in some ways, far greater than those confronting the highly-trained, closely monitored athletes of the NFL.

In a wide-ranging article published yesterday, the Los Angeles Times noted that, in Southern California, no baseline set of standards exists for medical care at high school football games. The article dramatically contrasts the situation at private schools that can afford to have a staff of as many as four athletic trainers and a doctor roaming the sidelines to that of poor public schools that make due with an ambulance parked at one end of the field. Such a situation, the paper notes, offers reassurance in the event of a catastrophic brain or spinal cord injury, but does little or nothing for players who suffer milder, harder to diagnose – and far more common – injuries, such as concussions.

Concussions, in turn, are the focus of the New York Times piece, which states bluntly that many parents may be putting far too much faith in the helmets their children wear when playing football. “Helmets both new and used are not – and never have been – tested against the forces believed to cause concussions,” the paper reports. It goes on to note that football helmets – standards for which have “not changed meaningfully” since they were first written in 1973 – are designed mainly “to withstand only the extremely high-level force that would otherwise fracture skulls.” Put another way, football helmets do relatively little to prevent the jarring injuries, such as concussions, which are increasingly being acknowledged as an issue at all levels of football.

These articles raise critical issues that Oregon parents need to consider when deciding whether to allow their children to play football or other sports. Oregon sports injuries can cause damage that permanently alters a child’s life. When such a tragedy occurs, an Oregon sport injury attorney can provide essential counsel to parents considering the best way to achieve justice and restore balance to their family. A Portland traumatic brain and spinal cord injury lawyer can be a traumatized family’s most important ally when school or sports officials fail to live up to their responsibilities to create a properly safe sports environment here in Oregon.

New York Times: As injuries rise, scant oversight of helmet safety

Los Angeles Times: High school football’s medical tightrope

After a seven-year investigation the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced this week that the Graco corporation has agreed to recall an estimated two million strollers manufactured prior to 2007, according to a report in today’s New York Times.

According to the newspaper, the CPSC became concerned that the strollers pose a risk of injuries to children by strangulation, particularly for children under the age of one, because “when left unharnessed, they can crawl through the opening between the seat and stroller tray and become trapped,” the paper reported. In all, four children’s deaths have been linked to the faulty strollers, along with five other incidents in which children were injured after becoming trapped in the strollers. The CPSC, according to the Times, has been investigating the product since the first report of a child’s death in 2003.

Graco is offering customers kits that will allow them to repair the strollers. The company agreed to the voluntary recall at this time “because many more parents were buying and selling secondhand strollers, probably because of the prolonged economic malaise,” the newspaper reported.

Oregon parents who own a Graco stroller should immediately go to the link I’ve provided below to the CPSC’s news release announcing the recall. This gives exact model numbers for the effected strollers, as well as information on the original prices and sale outlets (information that could be crucial in determining whether a 5-8 year old stroller is actually on the list).

While it is good to see the government moving forward, pressing Graco to recall a potentially dangerous product, one might also ask why it took the CPSC seven years to conclude that there was a serious problem with these strollers. Consulting a Portland child injury lawyer should be a top priority for any parent who believes his or her family has been the victim of these faulty strollers. Since the now-recalled strollers have been on the market since 2002, according to the CPSC, it is entirely possible that injuries suffered many years ago can only now be linked to Graco’s defective product. An Oregon personal injury attorney with experience in product recalls and Oregon injuries to children, can help you sort through the complexities of any potential legal action, offering valuable advice as you begin your fight for justice.

AP via The Oregonian: 4 deaths prompt Graco stroller recall

New York Times: Graco Recalls Strollers on Strangulation Concerns

CPSC News Release announcing the recall

An alleged hazing incident involving football players at a Florida high school has rapidly escalated into mutual recriminations between the alleged victim’s parents on the one hand, and school officials and their attorney on the other. The parents are now threatening to sue the school, while a former attorney for the school district has criticized his successor’s handling of the case. Here in Oregon, we can see the case as an example of the sort of behavior schools, teachers and coaches need to be on the lookout for. Oregon bullying can lead to Oregon child injuries. When there is a danger of that happening, parents need to be vigilant, and assure that educators are doing their jobs.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the parents allege that their 15-year-old son was “beaten, choked unconscious and thrown in a garbage can.” Their attorney – who until recently was the school district’s chief counsel – told reporters he believes the school district downplayed the incident because the high school athletes involved are among the top-rated football players in the state. He also criticized the current attorney for the school district for comparing the accused players to the Duke University lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape several years ago.

The school, for its part, says the family has not cooperated with its investigation, and claims the parents have not produced medical records to substantiate their allegations. The parents, in turn, allege that by publicizing the case the school has violated their son's privacy.

The fact that the alleged victim flew to New York to tell his story to CBS on national television and that the family have asked the Rev. Al Sharpton to act as their spokesman has done little to dampen the emotions surrounding the case.

Setting those emotions aside, however, Oregon parents can see clearly that on a basic level the alleged victim’s parents in Florida have done what they felt they had to in terms of protecting their son. Any Oregon child injury is a traumatic experience for the entire family. If there is any suspicion that school officials may not have fulfilled all of their duties and obligations, parents owe it to themselves to contact a Portland child injury lawyer for assistance in considering their options. Justice, unfortunately, cannot be assumed and must often be fought for. An Oregon personal injury attorney with experience both in sports injuries and in injuries to children can be your most important ally in that quest for justice in the days and weeks following an accident.

Orlando Sentinel: Parents say they’ll sue school district over Dr. Phillips locker-room incident

After a spring and summer spent, in part, answering claims that the league may not take brain and spinal cord injuries seriously enough, NFL officials cannot have been pleased that the new season’s first week brought all of these questions back into play. During last Sunday’s season opener, as the New York Times reports, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Stewart Bradley lay motionless on the field for several minutes. Though taken off the field for medical reasons he returned to the game, the paper reports, “less than four minutes later.” At halftime team doctors diagnosed him with a concussion.

As the Times notes, however, the real question is what example all of this is setting for younger players. NFL teams are well-positioned to offer their players immediate and on-going medical care. At the high school level, in particular, that is far less likely to be the case. As the Times notes, “only 42 percent of high schools in the United States have access to a certified athletic trainer, let alone a physician.”

The danger is that youngsters inspired by dreams of NFL glory are taking and giving sharper hits than they should, and that many schools are ill-equipped to deal with the consequences.

It is at such moments – when coaches and schools fail our kids – that the law must step in to hold responsible parties accountable. If your child has suffered a Portland head injury while participating in youth or school sports you owe it to yourself to begin consultations with an Oregon traumatic brain injury lawyer who can help you consider your options.

As the Times reports: “Research suggests that 10 percent to 50 percent of high school football players will sustain a concussion each season, with as many as 75 percent of those injuries going unreported and unnoticed.” Take the time to speak with a Portland child brain injury attorney for an outside opinion on the best way to guarantee justice if your son’s football experience has been neither as safe nor as fun as you had hoped.

New York Times: Eagles’ Handling of Head Injury Draws Spotlight

The Oregonian reports that the 6-year-old survivor of a Labor Day weekend Oregon car crash is still hospitalized in serious condition, even as the operator of the car that caused the accident has been charged with a series of vehicular offenses by the district attorney in Klamath Falls.

The boy was seriously injured, and his great-grandparents killed, when 22-year-old Carrie Ames allegedly slammed into them in a head-on Oregon car crash. Ames and an 18-year old passenger in her car suffered only minor injuries.

According to The Oregonian, Ames has been charged “with two counts of first-degree manslaughter, driving under the influence of intoxicants, second-degree assault in connection with the 6-year-old’s injuries, and third-degree assault in connection with injuries “ to the teenage passenger in her own car.

This is a tragedy on so many levels: an injured Oregon child, drunk driving and, especially, the deaths of the boy’s great-grandparents, who were reportedly visiting from California. Anyone unlucky enough to be faced with such a sea of troubles following a devastating accident should make a point of consulting an Oregon car crash attorney as soon as possible after the accident for assistance in discussing what remedies the law may offer.

The court system does not, by itself, guarantee justice for the victims of tragic Oregon drunk driving accidents like this one. For that, victims often have to go to civil court. Especially when fatalities or an Oregon child injury are involved, it is important that victims seek legal counsel to consider their reaction to any Portland or Klamath Falls auto accident.

AP via Silicon Valley Mercury News: Ore. Woman charged with manslaughter in crash

The Oregonian: 6-year-old survivor of fatal Klamath Falls crash remains in serious condition

Have you ever been to a carnival, or even a child’s birthday party and wondered just how safe those moonwalks, bouncy castles and other portable ‘rides’ are? According to a recent article in the Wichita Eagle, a Kansas court case looks set to bring those issues into focus.

According to the newspaper, the civil lawsuit was filed last month by the parents of a five-year-old boy who died after being thrown from an inflatable ride called King of the Hill. The newspaper describes this as being “designed like a large mattress – flat except for a bulge in the middle – and… surrounded by a 2-foot-high inflatable barrier.” Parents were allegedly told to place a child in the center of the ‘mattress’ and then to jump up and down themselves on the inflatable’s sides, causing the child to fly into the air. Having done this a few days earlier for the boy’s birthday party the five-year-old’s family returned to the same amusement park a few days later, using free passes they had received during the birthday celebration. On this second visit, however, the child was launched over the inflatable barrier. He landed head-first on the facility’s concrete floor, resulting in his death.

The parents also charge that the ride was “underinflated and unsupervised” and that the operator ignored the manufacturer’s recommendation that the ride was for children ages 8 and up.

Any child’s death is, of course, an enormous tragedy. Incidents such as this, however, highlight the importance of tough enforcement mechanisms and the need, here in Oregon, to contact a Portland personal injury lawyer immediately should your child suffer an injury on a carnival ride. Accidents like the one in Kansas are particularly serious because even if they do not result in death they carry significant risk of traumatic brain injury or a spinal cord injury.

It is important that the operators of amusement parks and similar attractions be held accountable when their attractions are operated negligently or in an unsafe manner. Injuries to children are especially difficult for any parent or loved one to think about. If your child has been injured while visiting a carnival or amusement park, prompt consultation with an Oregon child injury lawyer is an essential first step toward protecting your family’s rights and ensuring that justice is done.

Wichita Eagle: Mother sues inflatable company over death of child

Media reports over the last ten days have noted the strange case of nearly 20 Oregon high school football players taken ill after practice with a rare muscle disorder. According to the Associated Press three of the teens needed surgery “and 16 others were treated after suffering muscle damage following a fall camp.” The high schoolers are suffering from a rare condition known as “compartment syndrome” in which high levels of enzymes released after heavy exercise can, in some cases, lead to kidney failure. The constant repetition of the fact that the victims are football players, however, can obscure the fact that they are high schoolers – children, in the eyes of the law – and raises the question of what level of responsibility ought to be assigned to McMinnville High School and its football coach.

According to an article in The Oregonian, doctors familiar with the case say an intense combination of “high heat, dehydration and heavy exercise” may have led to the mass case of compartment syndrome. The doctors are also, however, “waiting for blood tests looking for the presence of creatine, a legal, loosely regulated and widely available bodybuilding supplement present in a number of weight-gain products that has been linked to an increased risk of sports-related injury.”

These Oregon child injuries, taking place at a high school sports practice, raise serious questions about the school’s responsibility – where it should start and where it should end. In particular, if creatine is found in the players’ blood that, in turn, would raise questions about whether the team’s coaches were aware of supplement use among their players and what, if anything, they may have done to warn against it.

Families struggling with questions like these in the wake of a student sports injury are strongly urged to contact an Oregon child injury lawyer with specialized knowledge of Oregon sports injuries at the earliest possible opportunity.

The Oregonian reports that even the McMinnville high school football team’s doctor has questioned the wisdom of team workouts that reportedly took place in temperatures well over 100 degrees. This is the sort of expert analysis that can be a key element of any Oregon child injury or Oregon sports injury case. An Oregon sports injury attorney can be an important guide and advisor as you consider the best path to pursue in the wake of an Oregon child injury suffered as part of school activities.

The Oregonian: Combination of intense drill, heat, dehydration may have sent McMinnville players to hospital

AP: 19 Ore. Football players treated for muscle injury

Luck, and his helmet, appear to have saved the life of a 13-year old Milwaukie, Oregon child injured this week in an Oregon bike accident. According to The Oregonian, the boy “survived a collision with a car”, in part because he was wearing a heavy-duty helmet received as a gift from his mother only days earlier.

The Oregon bicycle accident took place at the intersection of Southeast Thiessen and Oetkin Roads south of Milwaukie’s city center. According to the newspaper, a motorist making a left turn collided with the boy, throwing him off the bike head-first and into the car’s windshield.

The boy “suffered a broken toe, dislocated left hip and fractured femur in the crash,” The Oregonian reported, but, thanks to the helmet, has no serious head injuries. Police officers quoted by the newspaper speculated that the boy was helped by the fact that he was wearing a heavy-duty skateboarding helmet rather than a traditional bike helmet at the time of the accident. The difference in helmets may have been a factor in the boy's avoidance of Oregon traumatic brain injury.

Police cited the car’s driver, a 77 year old Milwaukie woman, at the scene. The fact that her improper left turn resulted in an Oregon child injury accident is serious matter. Most families facing such a situation are well-advised to make immediate contact with a Portland, Oregon personal injury attorney with specialized knowledge of how the law treats both Oregon injuries to children, Oregon bicycle accidents and - when they occur - Oregon traumatic brain injuries. An Oregon child injury lawyer can help parents sort through the legalities of traumatic incidents such as this one and advise them on the best way to pursue justice in the wake of an Oregon injury accident.

The Oregonian: New helmet may have saved life of boy, 13, in bike accident

A new measure signed into law in Massachusetts this week raises questions about whether Oregon has sufficiently strong laws regarding young riders and ATVs. As outlined by Boston TV station WCVB, the measure, known as “Sean’s Law," raises the minimum age for ATV operation in Massachusetts from 10 to 14. The law is named after a 8 year old boy who died in an ATV accident in 2006.

New laws such as this are necessary because of the disturbing ways in which some ATV manufacturers market their products. Advertising materials show families using ATVs - in some cases portraying children who in many states would be breaking the law by being on one. Manufacturers downplay the tendency of ATVs to flip over and the serious consequences that can come from being pinned under one. ATVs are neither small nor light.

Here in Oregon there is no minimum age for operating an ATV, though operators below the age of 30 are required to complete a safety education course (by 2014 that requirement will apply to all Oregon ATV riders regardless of age). The course can be taken either in person or online, though beginning in 2012 the “hands-on” version will be required for Oregonians 15 and younger.

The data that drove passage of the Massachusetts law, however, should lead Oregon parents to ask whether these vehicles are actually safe for younger teens and pre-teens to operate under any circumstances, and whether the resulting Oregon ATV accidents - some leading to death or Oregon traumatic brain injuries - are worth the risk. With ATV use growing the number of deaths associated with the vehicles has grown as well. Federal data shows Oregon with 124 ATV-related deaths between 1982 and 2005 – an average of 5.4 deaths per year. From 2006-2008, however, the figure jumps to 40 for only that three- year period: more than 13 deaths per year – a 247% increase.

According to WCVB, the Boston doctor who treated the fatally injured boy for whom the Massachusetts law is named, and who later became one of the new law’s strongest advocates, says he was swayed by data from Nova Scotia. There, a similar law led to a 50% drop in ATV deaths among children in the first year after it was enacted.

ATVs can be fun, but they are also inherently dangerous vehicles. If you or a loved one have been the victim of an Oregon ATV accident, immediately contacting an Oregon personal injury attorney with a specialization in Oregon ATV injuries to children is a crucial first step in protecting your rights.

WCVB.com: Young victim’s family gets ATV laws changed

Oregon Parks & Recreation Department: ATV page

Consumer Product Safety Commission: ATV Statistics Page

A new public information initiative from the Consumer Product Safety Commission takes hot summer weather as a starting point to highlight the potential danger of open windows. It is an admonition Oregon parents should take to heart.

The CPSC reports that an average of eight children aged five or younger are killed each year after falling from windows, and a shocking 3300 per year require emergency room treatment. As the agency notes, many of these deaths and injuries are eminently preventable. CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum used the news release to call for greater parental responsibility. “It takes active supervision on the part of the parent or caregiver, and a device called a window guard,” she said. “Screens are meant to keep bugs out, not kids in.”

Tenenbaum’s comment refers to the fact that a large number of injuries from window falls begin with children leaning on screens. Small children, of course, do now understand that a screen won’t hold their weight. Parents, however, ought to know better and need to be both vigilant and proactive.

In the unfortunate event that a Oregon child is injured falling from a window, contacting a Portland personal injury attorney should be a parent’s top priority once the medical emergency is taken care of. An Oregon injury lawyer with specialized experience in Oregon injuries to minors can examine the circumstances of your tragedy, help determine if someone else’s negligence contributed to your child’s trauma and then fight to hold the responsible parties accountable.

CPSC News Release on Window Safety

CPSC Safety Poster (pdf)

An enormous recall effort effecting over 2 million baby cribs distributed under the brands of seven different companies was announced this week. The recall action raises issues of liability and responsibility that many Oregon parents would do well to think about in the coming days and weeks.

The recall applies specifically to so-called ‘side-drop’ cribs, in which one of the crib’s long sides is hinged to allow parents easier access to the baby. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the sides of the cribs in question can come loose and drop unexpectedly, creating the danger of trapping children’s heads as they fall. The Associated Press reports that no deaths have been linked to the cribs, but that “at least 16” instances of entrapment have been documented, including one that led to the hospitalization of a child.

The CPSC’s website warns parents not to try to repair the cribs themselves and notes that “new mandatory standards to make cribs safer” are being prepared by the agency. These are expected to be formally issued before the end of this year. The Commission’s website offers links to the manufacturers of the recalled cribs, through which consumers can obtain information on the specific recall procedures for different brands.

Oregon parents who believe their baby may have been injured by one of the recalled cribs or a similar model should immediately contact a Portland product liability lawyer with extensive experience in Oregon personal injury law. It is especially noteworthy that this is not the first recall the CPSC has issued for these kinds of cribs. According to the Commission’s website “nine million drop-side cribs have been recalled over the past five years” – a fact that indicates a long-standing awareness of the problem on the part of both the government and the crib manufacturers.

Portland personal injury lawsuits, especially those involving injuries to children, can be lengthy and unusually complex. They need not, however, be intimidating if you first take the time to consult with an experienced Portland product recall attorney. An Oregon child injury lawyer can help safeguard both your rights and your children’s safety.

AP via The Oregonian: Over 2 million cribs recalled amid safety concerns

Consumer Product Safety Commission – Official press release announcing crib recall

Junction City, midway between Eugene and Salem, was the site of a serious Oregon truck crash last week, one that left a 20 year old father and his infant son both critically injured. According to the Eugene Register-Guard, Cory Jackson and his 9 month old son Eli were driving in the family’s Volkswagen Jetta when their car was struck by a truck. Both father and son were transported to area hospitals.

Police told the Register-Guard that Jackson “drove into the path of the truck.” In the immediate aftermath of the accident, however, they were unable to provide many further details. The accident took place at the intersection of Highway 99 and Milliron Road in Junction City. A portion of Highway 99 was closed for about four hours as police investigators and an accident reconstruction team worked on the accident site, according to TV station KMTR.

Oregon truck accidents can take an horrific toll on ordinary passenger cars. When the crash leads to a Eugene child injury accident the results are especially tragic. In such instances, contacting an Oregon car crash attorney as quickly as possible following the accident can be one of the most important moves you or your loved ones make.

Consulting with a Portland car and truck crash lawyer is the one of the best first steps you can take toward obtaining the justice you deserve in the wake of an Oregon injury car accident. Even if the police do not cite either party at the Oregon car crash site, you still have rights. The assistance of a Portland, Eugene or Salem auto accident attorney is crucial to protecting those rights.

Eugene Register-Guard: Father, son critically injured in car-truck crash

KMTR.com: Springfield man and infant son critically injured in crash

New parents have been told for years to use rear-facing car seats until their babies turn one year old and weigh 20 pounds, after which front-facing child seats are the norm. But data from both Oregon and the federal government are leading medical and safety professionals to reassess this long-held belief, according to state publications and a recent article in the Bend Bulletin.

Expert opinion is coalescing around the idea that children should face backwards until they are at least two years old, the Bulletin reports. Oregon’s Public Health Service adds that “children under the age of two are 75% less likely to be killed or severely injured in a motor vehicle crash is they are riding rear facing rather than forward facing.”

There is an especially great danger of Oregon traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries when young children are not properly restrained in an approved car seat. The Bulletin, citing child emergency physician Dennis Durbin, notes that “young children have weaker neck muscles than older children and adults. Their ligaments are looser. And the bones in the neck aren’t locked together in the same way as an adult’s.” These physiological factors put small children at a significantly higher risk of traumatic brain injuries when they are in a forward-facing car seat. Rear facing seats are safer because in a crash they tend to provide more support for a child’s neck and back.

In the horrifying event that your child suffers an Oregon traumatic brain injury as the result of a Portland, Beaverton or Corvallis auto accident the assistance of a Portland traumatic brain injury lawyer can be essential in helping you sort through the accident’s legal and financial consequences. An Oregon brain injury attorney can help address questions of fault and financial responsibility, and advise on compensation to which you may be entitled.

Bend Bulletin: Rethinking Car Seat Safety

Oregon DHS Public Health Office: Link to August 25, 2009 newsletter on car seats

In what is, perhaps, one of the strangest and most senseless Oregon traffic accident deaths in recent memory, a two year old boy was killed this week after the jogging stroller in which he was riding was struck by a truck near Corvallis.

According to local media reports the Oregon fatal accident took place at the intersection of Highway 99 and Highway 34 just east of Corvallis. The truck reportedly hit the stroller as it was making a turn onto Highway 99 after stopping at a red light. Television station KPIC, quoting state police officials, reports that the toddler’s mother “may have received some minor injuries to her hands and arms” during the accident. Exactly how the stroller came to be in the intersection at the moment the commercial semi-trailer truck was turning is still under investigation.

This unusually tragic Oregon fatal truck accident raises a number of potential legal questions relating to Oregon child injuries, including a potential Corvallis wrongful death claim. Beyond any criminal issues that law enforcement officials may pursue, situations such as this can also give rise to civil claims. Anyone involved in an accident of this type should consult a Corvallis child injury and wrongful death attorney at the earliest possible time following the tragedy.

Establishing liability following a Corvallis traffic accident can be a complex and emotionally draining process. A skilled and compassionate Oregon personal injury lawyer can be an essential guide to our often difficult and confusing legal landscape during moments such as these.

The Oregonian: Child in stroller killed by commercial truck near Corvallis

KPIC.com: Police: Child in stroller hit, killed by truck near Corvallis

Oregon’s Transportation Commission has decided to move up installation of a traffic signal at a dangerous Tualatin Valley Highway intersection in Aloha, following a serious Oregon traffic accident there last month.

An Oregon pedestrian accident on December 20 left three young people, including a 14 year old boy, injured after they were struck by a car while crossing the road at the intersection in the dark. According to a recent report on KATU.com, the accident has prompted the Oregon Transportation Commission to revise its plan to install a pedestrian-activated crossing signal at the location. Installation of the light will now take place next year, rather than in 2012.

Any traffic accident is tragic, but accidents leading to Oregon injuries to children are especially emotional. In the Tualatin incident the 14 year old boy sustained a broken arm, two broken teeth and will require facial reconstruction surgery. He remains in intensive care, according to KATU.

If you, or your child, have been injured in a Portland-area pedestrian accident taking early action to protect your rights is imperative. Consulting with a Portland pedestrian accident attorney is an important first step. Children injured in Oregon child injury accidents may be entitled to substantial compensation to cover necessary medical treatments and ease their recovery. An Oregon traffic accident lawyer can also advise you on whether responsibility for the accident may extend beyond the driver involved to include elements of state or local government because of safety issues involving roads or traffic signals.

KATU.com: Victim of Tualatin Valley crosswalk collision recovers, ODOT plans signal

A Gresham, Oregon man this month became the second consumer to file a product liability lawsuit against the makers of the Amby Baby Motion hammock, according to a recent report published in Insurance Journal. The August death of the man’s five month old son was the second fatality linked to the product by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The CPSC issued a recall of the Amby Baby Motion following the death of the Gresham man’s son, urging “parents to stop using Amby hammocks immediately,” according to the article. The Journal reports that, according to the CPSC, about 24,000 units of the product had been sold in the United States prior to the recall.

Defective products are a worry in all aspects of our lives, but when they injure or kill children their impact is particularly severe. These situations are tragic, and they are times when the advice and assistance of an Oregon child injury lawyer familiar with product liability issues can be invaluable. An experienced Portland or Gresham product liability attorney can help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled to offset medical bills or funeral expenses, lost wages or salary you may have incurred in caring for an injured child and pain and suffering stemming from the accident.

The loss of any child is tragic. Thankfully, our legal system offers a way to ensure that companies manufacturing harmful products are held responsible for their actions.

Insurance Journal: Oregon Man Files Lawsuit Over Defective Baby Hammock

The step-Grandmother of a 16-year-old Eugene girl who died after alleged torture and abuse by her mother and stepfather says she made repeated efforts to warn state child welfare officials of the situation, according to a recent article in The Oregonian. This tragic, and extreme, case of Oregon child injury reminds us all of the importance of accountability whenever the safety of children is in question.

Eugene teenager Jeanette Maples died last week after what court papers describe as “intentional maiming and torturing.” As criminal charges against her mother and stepfather moved forward, the head of Oregon’s Department of Human Services ordered an investigation of the conduct of the caseworkers involved with Maples and her family.

The charges from Maples’ step-grandmother emerged into the media shortly thereafter. Lynn McAnulty says she told child services officials on several occasions over the last few months that she was concerned for Jeanette’s welfare, fearing that the Oregon child’s injuries had been caused by other members of her family.

Torture and child abuse are, first and foremost, criminal matters; but if government officials charged with preventing criminal conduct fail to do their jobs civil liability can also arise. An Oregon child injury lawyer can offer advice on the conduct of government officials and whether it rises to the level of negligence.

Accountability is an important principal of our system of justice. A Portland child injury lawyer can offer important advice on how to proceed if you believe an Oregon child is suffering, in part, because failing to do all he or she can to stop it.

The Oregonian: Grandmother of slain teen says she repeatedly called the state child abuse hotline

Lawyers acting on behalf of a brother and sister who were abused and starved while in foster care are suing Oregon’s Department of Human Services for $32 million. The Oregon child injury case is a reminder that civil as well as criminal legal remedies exist for Oregon child injuries.

An 8 year old girl and her 6 year old brother were removed from their biological mother’s care in 2002 because of drug use, according to an article in yesterday’s Oregonian. By 2004, however, the children (then aged 10 and 8) were being beaten regularly and starved by their foster parents in Clackamas County, a situation DHS failed to pick-up on despite several attempts by the children to alert case workers. Eventually the children had to be evacuated to a hospital – the girl with a broken skull.

The lawsuit filed on their behalf seeks $3.3 million in damages for the boy. The remainder is for the girl, who suffered brain damage and will need lifetime physical and mental care. Both children have since been adopted.

Most foster parents, of course, are loving and supportive. When the system goes badly awry, however, foster parents as well as state officials and agencies who placed children in a clearly dangerous environment can and should be held accountable. According to The Oregonian, attorneys involved in this Oregon child injury case, which has been filed in Portland in Multnomah County Circuit Court, say the state and DHS have not done enough to account for their behavior or to punish the DHS caseworkers and supervisors who allowed the situation to spin out of control. The foster father was sentenced to two to five years in prison for criminal mistreatment, while the foster mother received two years probation.

A Portland child injury attorney can help parents and abused children alike take on abuses and dereliction of duty by state and local officials charged with overseeing child welfare. A comprehensive consultation with an experienced and compassionate Oregon child injury lawyer can be a key step in moving beyond the criminal courts in your effort to protect the rights of an injured child.

The Oregonian: Foster children who were starved file $32 million suit against Oregon

State officials are urging parents to take extra precautions to avoid Oregon child injuries this Halloween. The state Fire Marshall, Randy Simpson, told the Wilsonville Spokesman that “an increase in candle use, combined with decorations, costumes and children adds up to increased fire risk.” The paper noted that 125 Oregon fires causing over $2 million in damage have been recorded over the course of the last four Halloweens.

As much-anticipated as Halloween often is by children and adults alike, it can also be a dangerous holiday. Recommendations for safe trick-or-treating and avoiding Portland child injuries have been issued by the Oregon State Police in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. These include having older children trick-or-treat as a group, making sure younger children are accompanied by an adult at all times and making sure that kids wearing masks can see and breathe properly.

Fire-prevention tips issued by Simpson’s office include purchasing only flame-resistant or flame-retardant costumes, avoiding costumes that drag behind the wearer on the ground (these are more likely to come into unintended contact with a lit jack-o-lantern) and not letting lights and other electrical decorations overload extension cords and electrical sockets.

In the event that a child is injured while trick-or-treating consulting a Portland child injury lawyer is an important step for parents wondering whether the law offers them any recourse.

Wilsonville Spokesman: Keep Halloween Safe

After a ten-day trial, a Lane County Oregon jury cleared John Deere company and a local distributor of liability in a 2006 Oregon riding mower accident that caused a toddler to lose her leg. The Eugene child injury took place when Kurt Norton accidentally backed over his daughter Isabelle, then age 3.

Isabelle and her family sought $11 million in damages, arguing that poor design made the John Deere riding mower unreasonably dangerous. By a series of 9-3 votes the jury did not agree.

Government and academic studies show lawn mower injuries to be surprisingly common, with riding mowers alone accounting for 37,000 injuries each year, according to a government study. The Consumer Product Safety Commission report examined data from the years 2003-2005. A broader study, conducted by Ohio State University, looked at 15 years of data noting that an average of 9400 children were injured each year over the survey period. The researchers concluded that “injuries related to lawn mowers are an important cause of pediatric morbidity” for which “current prevention strategies are inadequate.”

Consulting a Portland child injury lawyer is an important and crucial step to take following any Oregon lawn mower accident involving a child. An experienced Oregon personal injury attorney can help you secure your rights and appropriate compensation in the event of an injury or accident that is not your fault.

Eugene Register-Guard: Jury clears companies in lawn mower lawsuit

Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission: Riding Lawnmowers

National Center for Biotechnology Information: Summary of Ohio State University study

As part of Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs from September 12 – September 18, 2009, parents and caregivers can go to one of many free safety seat inspection stations located throughout Oregon (see link below) to get their child safety seats checked. The inspection allows trained passenger safety technicians to make sure that you are using the correct seat for your child’s size and that the seat is correctly installed in your vehicle.

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the child safety seat use is at its highest rate ever, 75% of the safety restraint devices are not being used correctly. This can be very dangerous for the child, who can get seriously hurt or die in a Portland, Oregon car accident without a properly fitting, or fitted, child car safety seat.

Of course, there are also the child injuries and deaths that can occur during motor vehicle crashes because a child car safety seat was defectively designed or product flaws occurred during the manufacture process. Over the last several years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has had to recall child safety seats when these flaws have proved too dangerous that lives are at risk.

Some examples of child car safety seat defects that may lead to products liability lawsuits involving injuries to minors:

• Defective plastic shells
• Harness defects
• Design flaws involving the buckle or latch
• Failure to warn of possible hazards
• Inadequate instructions

It is devastating for a parent to have his or her child suffer serious injuries in any kind of Oregon auto accident. It can be even more upsetting to know that those injuries could have prevented if only your son or daughter had been properly protected by a child car safety seat, a booster seat, a seat belt, or another safety restraint system.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Launches Child Passenger Safety Week, NHTSA, September 10, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Child Passenger Safety Week

Child Safety Inspection Stations in Oregon offering free inspections this week

Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, American Academy of Pediatrics

Continue reading "Child Car Safety Seats, When Defect-Free and Used Properly, Can Save Children's Lives During Oregon Car Crashes " »

With the new school year beginning to get under way, it is important that motorists remember to watch out for child bicyclists as well as young pedestrians. Injuries sustained by a person during any motor vehicle crash can be serious. They can be especially detrimental to a young boy or girl who is completely unprotected, except for his or her protective gear, from the impact of colliding with a car, a truck, a van, an SUV, or a bus. Unfortunately, Portland, Oregon bicycle accidents resulting in injuries children do happen—especially during the school year.

Per a study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, bicycle-related injuries involving children and adolescents in the United States are greater public health concern than previously thought:

Per the study’s findings:

• Over 50% of the 85 million US bicycle riders are minors.
• Some $200 million in hospital inpatient charges a year are a result of bicycle injuries involving people younger than age 20.
• Bicycle riding is also the child recreational sport that results in the largest number of emergency room visits.
• Some 10,700 kids are hospitalized each year for an average of three days because of their bicycle-related injuries.
• Motor vehicles are a factor in about 30% of bicycle-related hospital stays.
• 1/3 of kids with a bicycle injury serious enough to require hospitalization had sustained a traumatic brain injury.

The study was published in Injury Prevention’s October 2007 issue.

If your child is going to ride a bicycle, it is important that you teach him or her the proper safety precautions to avoid getting involved in an Oregon bicycle accident. Safety measures include:

• Using a helmet.
• Wearing clothing that is close fitting and allows for easy visibility.
• Knowing the traffic laws.
• Staying on the right side of the road even as you flow with traffic.
• Watching the vehicles around you.
• Paying attention.
• Signaling when making turns.
• Making sure that the bike is properly maintained.

In many cases, a bicyclist will get involved in a collision with a motor vehicle because a motorist or another party was negligent. This can cause catastrophic injuries to the minor or adult bicyclist.

Continue reading "Prevent Portland, Oregon Bicycle Accidents This School Year By Watching Out for Child Bicyclists" »

An 11-month-boy had to be taken to the hospital after a plastic nail from a Little Tikes toy got stuck in his throat. Fortunately, he has reportedly made a full recovery.

To prevent more choking accidents from happening, however, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Little Tikes Co. are recalling about 1.6 million Little Tikes Trucks and Workshop Sets. The toys include plastic, oversized toy nails that are about 3 ¼ inches long and 1 ¼ inches in diameter. The CPSC and the toy maker are concerned that other children might choke on one of them. They are asking consumers to remove the nails from the toy and contact the company about getting free replacement parts.

Kids and Choking Hazards
Unfortunately, there are toys out there that pose a choking hazard to children. These toys usually come with small pieces that are tempting for young children to insert in their mouths. Last year, the CPSC reported 292 toy-related child deaths. Choking or asphyxia was involved in 57% of these injuries to a minor fatalities. Many of the victims were children younger than age 5.

Products Liability
It is important that the makers of toys, nursery products, children’s clothing, and infant items make sure that the products don’t contain any parts that could pose a choking hazard to kids and babies.

Babies, toddlers, and infants are more susceptible to choking accidents than adults. Children have smaller airways, which makes it easier for objects that they might put in their mouths to get stuck in their throats, esophagus, or trachea.

Toy makers that design products that pose choking hazards should recall these products immediately. If your son or daughter is seriously injured or died in a choking accident because of a defectively designed toy, you may be able to obtain financial recovery by filing a Portland, Oregon injuries to minor lawsuit.

Little Tikes recalls 1.6 million toys, CNN Money, August 13, 2009

Choosing Safe Toys, Kids Health

Related Web Resources:
Little Tikes

Choking and Choking Hazards, About.com

Continue reading "Little Tikes and CPSC Recall 1.6 Million Trucks and Workshop Sets For Potential Choking Hazard After 11-Month-Old Boy is Injured" »

The parents of a 3-year-old boy that died after surgery have agreed on a $200,000 Portland, Oregon wrongful death settlement with the doctor that performed the procedure. Ian McClellan died from septic shock 8 days after Dr. Jayant Patel perforated the 3-year-old’s bowel while trying to insert a feeding tube inside him. The surgical malpractice incident took place on February 5, 1999.

This is not the first Oregon medical malpractice lawsuit naming Patel as a defendant. Also, in 2000 the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners barred the surgeon from working again in the state. He eventually moved to Australia where he kept performing surgeries. He has been charged with manslaughter in that country over the deaths of three patients. Patel has been called “Dr. Death.”

Per Matthew and Anna Maria McClellan’s Oregon medical malpractice involving fatal injuries to minors lawsuit that they filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Patel discovered the perforation the day after the surgery when he opened up their son again. They say that Patel and the hospitals told them that Ian died because he developed a postoperative infection. It wasn't until April 15, 2005 when the Oregonian began publishing a number of articles about Patel’s work that they discovered the real reason their son died. The McClellans had originally sued Patel and the hospitals for $1.55 million.

Patel was employed by Kaiser Permanente in Portland. However, he operated on the boy at HSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital. According to a 2005 article published on MSNBC.com, Kaiser banned Patel from performing certain operations in 1998 after reviewing 79 of his cases. In addition to no longer being allowed to perform pancreatic and liver surgeries, he had to ask for a second opinion when dealing with more complicated cases.

Surgical Malpractice
Surgical mistakes can be fatal for the patient on the operating table. Some examples of surgical errors that can be grounds for Oregon medical malpractice or wrongful death claims include:

• Operating on the wrong organ or body part
• Using unsanitary surgical tools
• Leaving surgical instruments in the patient’s body
• Puncturing an organ
• Performing the wrong surgery

Parents of Oregon boy settle in surgery lawsuit, Google/AP, July 2, 2009

Australia's 'Dr. Death' linked to 87 fatalities, MSNBC, May 26, 2005

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice and Surgical errors/complications, Wrong Diagnosis

Medical Malpractice, Justia

According to news reports, the Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering its endorsement that it is okay to use ground-up, recycled tires on kids’ playgrounds and sports fields. The tire mulch has been used to cushion the ground in the event of a fall accident.

Now, however, the EPA says there is not enough information to determine whether use of these recycled tires could actually prove a health hazard, and communities in Oregon and other US states are wondering whether they could lead to the inhalation of metals, lead, and chemicals if children touch, inhale, or swallow the material.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says older fields that are more worn down may pose a greater risk for lead exposure. It’s also important to note, however, that not all turf fibers are made with lead.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, many school kids are likely to spend time outdoors playing in local playgrounds or on playground equipments in residential backyards. It’s a good time to note that recycled tires may not be the only issue of concern when it comes to kids’ safety.

Playground Accidents and Injuries
SafeKids USA calls playground accidents the number one cause of injuries to kids ages of 5 to 14—with 150,000 kids each year ending up in US emergency rooms because they were involved in accidents involving playground equipment. About 10 kids die from playground injuries annually, with many injuries caused by fall accidents or strangulation accidents, such as when a piece of clothing gets caught on playground equipment.

Playground equipment that have been known to cause injuries to kids include:

• Swings with metal or wood seats or half-bucket seats
• Adjustable seesaws with chains
• Merry-go-rounds or roundabouts that lack the proper handgrips
• Poorly secured climbing ropes
• Monkey bars
• Lack of a proper playground surface

A defective playground product that causes personal injury can be grounds for an Oregon products liability case involving injuries to children. A premise that has a hazard that causes injury can be grounds for an Oregon premises liability lawsuit.

EPA rethinks play padding, Chicago Tribune, June 5, 2009

No. 1 Cause of Injury in Elementary School: Playground Accidents, Safe Kids USA

Related Web Resources:
Playground Safety, NSC.org

US Environmental Protection Agency

Continue reading "Portland, Oregon Injuries to Minors Law Firm: Are Shredded Tires in Playgrounds Another Kids’ Hazard?" »

Exodus Tyson, the 4-year-old daughter of Mike Tyson, has died. She passed away on Tuesday morning after being placed on life support following a tragic hanging accident that took place on a treadmill in the family’s home.

According to police, Exodus was discovered with her neck wrapped in the cord that hangs from the treadmill console. Her mother pulled the cord off her and tried reviving the 4-year-old before paramedics came to take her to a hospital. Police are calling her death a tragic accident. They say that Exodus was playing on the exercise machine, but it was not in operation when the strangulation accident happened.

Strangulation Accidents
Unfortunately, accidental deaths at home occur more often that we would like to think. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nearly that 900 kids die every year from strangulation accidents. 45% of these child fatalities occur at home. Many of the victims are younger than 4.

While it is important that parents and guardians take the necessary steps to prevent strangulation and choking accidents from happening, it is also up to product manufacturers to make sure that they make products that do not pose an injury or death hazard to consumers—especially children. Sometimes, the products that you least expect to prove dangerous may have been designed in such a way that they have defects that can cause catastrophic injuries, including:

• Clothing with long drawstrings that can get caught in a motor vehicle door or become easily tangled around the neck of a child that is roughhousing.

• Cribs made with defective slats that can easily come off, creating a gap that poses an entrapment or strangulation hazard if a child falls through the opening.

• Extra long drapery or window blind cords that can easily wrap around a toddler’s neck.

Catastrophic strangulation accidents can result in traumatic brain injuries and even death. If your child was seriously injured or died due to a strangulation accident caused by a dangerous toy, or a defective piece of furniture, clothing, or household /recreational appliance, you may be entitled to Portland, Oregon personal injury compensation.

Sad update on accident involving Mike Tyson's daughter, Examiner.com, May 26, 2009

Avoiding Home Health Hazards, CBS News, May 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Preventing strangulation and suffocation, Raising Children Network

Continue reading "Oregon Injuries to Minors: Mike Tyson’s 4-Year-Old Daughter Dies After Treadmill Accident" »

A couple of months ago, our Portland, Oregon personal injury law firm published a blog post discussing how the hot summer months are a time when dogs are more likely to bite kids. This is a concern, considering that statistically the 5-9 year age group has the highest rate of dog bite-related injuries.

This week is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which is meant to remind people that dog attacks do happen and that it is important that owners and parents take the proper preventive measures so that dog bite incidents don't happen.

Dog bite injuries can lead to serious lacerations, physical disfigurement, and even death—in the event of a serious dog mauling. They can also be grounds for an Oregon dog bite lawsuit if someone's pet injures another adult or child.

Each year, about 885,000 dog bite victims will seek medical attention for their injuries. Some of these injuries will require extensive and expensive surgeries. According to American Societies of Plastic Surgeons President John Canady, MD, plastic surgeons performed 16,000 reconstructive surgeries to repair dog bite injuries in 2008. Also, the emotional trauma from a brutal dog attack can last a lifetime.

Steps dog owners can take to prevent Oregon dog attacks:

• Keep your dog safely fenced in if your pet is in a yard without supervision.
• When taking your dog out in public, make sure your pet is on a leash.
• Make sure your dog’s vaccinations (especially for rabies) are current.
• Don’t leave your dog alone with children that your pet may not know.
• Train your dog to behave and obey commands.
• If your dog is prone to biting people, make sure that you avoid situations where that can happen or that you take steps to secure or restrain your dog when he or she is around others.
• If your dog can get aggressive around strangers, post "Beware of Dog" signs around your property.
• If necessary, use a muzzle on your dog.
• If possible, spay or neuter your dog.
• Socialize your dog if you are going to expose your pet to other people.

It's national dog-bite prevention week, Oregon Live, May 18, 2009

Tips to Prevent Dog Bites, American Kennel Club

Related Web Resources:
Famed Hollywood Dog Trainer and Lassie Descendant Unleash National Dog Bite Prevention Week, Plastic Surgery Practice, May 14, 2009

More Dogs Bite Kids in the Summer, Says Study, Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog, March 10, 2009

Continue reading "Preventing Oregon Dog Attacks with Dog Bite Prevention Week" »

The US Department of Transportation is developing a new consumer program that will involve car manufacturers recommending specific child safety seats for each of their cars. Not every child car seat is necessarily the right fit for a specific car—even if the seat is highly rated or reviewed as one of the best or most expensive products in the market. A variety of recommendations will be made to meet different parents’ budgets that can hopefully help them pick the safest seats for their kids.

The US DOT also is ordering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop a new child safety seat standard for side impact safety. 1/3rd of all highway fatalities involving children younger than age 13 occur during side impact auto collisions.

While the current standard requiring child seats to withstand forces stronger than 99.5% of real collisions is good, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood believes that more can be done to improve child safety during auto accidents. He also noted that in order for a properly working child safety seat to do its job, parents and other adults must make sure that kids use them. According to statistics, 50% of kids under 8 years of age that died in auto accidents were not using child safety seats.

That said, it is the job of child safety seat manufacturers to make sure that their seats are free from defects. Parents and guardians rely on child safety seats to keep their kids and babies safe during auto collisions. While a properly working child safety seat can save lives, a defective seat can prove catastrophic.

Examples of defects that can render a child safety seat ineffective:

• Improper padding on the seat
• Defective seat buckle that can unlock at the wrong time, failing to properly secure the child in the seat
• Defective child seat clip
• Improperly designed harness
• Insufficient or hard to understand installation instructions

There is nothing more devastating for a parent than for his or her child to get hurt. If your son or daughter sustained serious or fatal injuries in a Portland, Oregon car accident that were partially caused by a defective child car seat, you may be entitled to recover Oregon personal injury or wrongful death compensation.

U.S. DOT Announces New Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats, NHTSA, April 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Child Passenger Safety, NHTSA

Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, American Academy of Pediatrics

Continue reading "Portland, Oregon Child Injury Attorney: New Child Safety Seat Consumer Program is Designed to Help Parents Pick Product that Best Fits Their Cars" »

A leading cause of pediatric malpractice is a birth defect that isn’t often discussed but occurs more often than one would think: Malrotation, which involves the abnormal alignment of the bowel. This usually happens while the fetus is growing. This birth defect can also be hereditary. Occurring in 1 in 500 live births (like cerebral palsy), most cases are diagnosed by the time the baby turns one.

However, it is not uncommon for pediatricians to misdiagnose or delay diagnosis of this potentially deadly bowel condition and mistake malrotation for a mild illness, such as acid reflux. The only way to untwist the bowels if the malformation is serious is through surgery and when treatment is delayed, the defect can be fatal if blood flow to the intestines is blocked for too long. In many instances involving a misdiagnosed malrotation, a child with this birth defect end up having to be rushed to an emergency room.

Signs of Malrotation:

• Abdominal pain
• Projectile vomit that is green or yellow in color
• A bloody stool
• A swollen abdomen
• Rapid breathing or heart rate
• Drawing up of the legs

Malrotation can also result in other complications, such as Ladd’s bands, volvulus, and obstruction caused by either of these complications. The sooner malrotation is diagnosed, the better the chances that a child will recover fully and develop normally.

Pediatric Malpractice:
Your son or daughter deserves the proper medical care and when a pediatrician or another doctor is careless or makes a mistake that causes injury or death, the medical care provider should be held liable for the injuries to your child. Grounds for pediatric malpractice can include:

• Surgical errors
• Birthing injuries
• Meningitis
• Negligent care
• Delayed diagnosis
• Wrong diagnosis
• Prescription mistakes

Malrotation: Potentially fatal bowel condition often misdiagnosed as mild ailment, Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 2009

Intestinal Malrotation, KidsHealth

Related Web Resources:
Malrotation

Malrotation and Volvulus, The American Pediatric Surgical Association

Continue reading "Malrotation in Children is a Leading Cause of Pediatric Malpractice" »

In Portland, a 16-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was struck by two cars on Interstate 5 on Sunday. The teen pedestrian had just left the Rose Garden where he had been watching the Portland Trail Blazers play against the San Antonio Spurs.

The boy is being treated at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Portland police are investigating the cause of the fatal Oregon pedestrian accident. They think he may have been trying to cross the freeway. One vehicle reportedly hit the boy before he was hit by another car.

Both motorists stopped at the Portland, Oregon traffic accident scene and spoke to local authorities. One woman who had also been watching the basketball game says the boy is not the only one that had been trying to cross Interstate 5.

Oregon Pedestrian Accidents
It is important that pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists take steps to prevent pedestrian accidents from happening. Whenever there is a traffic accident involving a pedestrian, he or she is the one most prone to serious injuries.

The Web site PedestrianSafety.com talks about a list of scenarios on the road that can lead to Portland traffic accidents and resulting pedestrian injuries and deaths:

• A motor vehicle turns into a pedestrian’s path.
• A pedestrian runs onto the street.
• A pedestrian crosses the street in the middle of the road.
• A bus may be obstructing another motorist’s view, making it difficult to see that there is a pedestrian behind a large vehicle unless the driver or motorcyclist is paying close attention.

To prevent pedestrian accidents, a Safety and Consumer Protection Web site advises:
• Yield the right of way to pedestrians whether or not there is a walk signal or pedestrian lane if they have already started crossing the street.
• Do not overtake or try to pass a vehicle that is stopped at an intersection.

Teen Struck By Car After Leaving Rose Garden, Fox 12 Oregon, March 1, 2009

Rules and pointers for pedestrians and drivers, Safety & Consumer Protection

Pedestrian Safety

Related Web Resources:
Bicycle & Pedestrian Program, Oregon.gov

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading "Portland Traffic Accident Injures Oregon Teen Pedestrian After He is Struck by Two Cars on Interstate 5" »

The family of Jakobi Mulgrave, the 10-year-old boy who survived a Eugene drunk driving accident that killed his mother and three other people last month, is suing several plaintiffs on his behalf for personal injury. According to the Oregon car accident lawsuit, which is seeking approximately $13 million, Jakobi sustained a brain injury, a fractured skull, a fractured pelvis, as well as damage to his kidney, spleen, and liver. Mulgrave is being treated at a Portland hospital.

The catastrophic motor vehicle accident took place on the night of January 21 when an Isuzu Rodeo, driven by Matthew Ellmers and the Toyota Highlander carrying Jakobi, his mother Yvonne, Connie Marie Vermilyea, 34, Jaziah Vermilyea, 10, and Nima Gibba, 11, collided, causing the Highlander to turn in the air and hit a utility pole. Ellmers, who is the only other person to survive the crash, also sustained serious injuries. Police say the 24-year-old Eugene driver was driving drunk.

The Mulgrave family’s Oregon personal injury lawsuit involving injuries to minors contends that Jakobi should receive $10 million for noneconomic damages, $2.8 million for lost wages throughout his lifetime, medical expenses, and other costs.

The defendants in the case are Matthew Ellmers who is accused of negligence for causing the auto accident, Kimberly Snyder, who lent her Isuzu Rodeo to him (the lawsuit contends that she either knew or should have known that Ellmers had a history of drinking heavily and that this could result in a fatal Oregon drunk driving accident), and businesses Strike City and The Nile for serving alcohol to Ellmers, who the complaint claims was already noticeably intoxicated.

On February 3, an Oregon grand jury indicted Ellmers with four counts of assault, manslaughter, DUI, and other criminal charges. Ellmers has pleaded not guilty.

Lawsuit seeks $13 million for boy injured in crash, KVAL, February 3, 2009

$12.8 million suit filed in Eugene crash, Oregon Live, February 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Children, 2007 Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Deadly Oregon Motor Vehicle Accident Leaves Four People Dead and a Young Boy in Critical Condition, Matthew D Kaplan, Attorney at Law, January 23, 2009

In Oregon, a Multnomah County jury has awarded the family of an Oregon family $560,000 for injuries sustained by a toddler who fell head first from the second-story duplex that her family was renting in Gresham. The girl, Isabella White, cracked her skull, suffered brain tissue loss, and experienced bleeding in her brain when her head struck the concrete pavement in April 2007. The Oregon premises liability defendants in the case were Keys Rental Management and Keys Rental Holding Co. Only the management company was found liable.

Isabella is now 4, but she was just 2 ½ when the fall accident happened. She fell through a window after her mother had opened it and the window screen gave way.

During the premises liability trial, the family’s Oregon personal injury lawyer argued that the apartment management company should have warned Isabella’s parents that the window in the duplex—just 23 inches off the ground—was a potential injury hazard for kids. Their lawyer also accused the defendant of failing to install safety devices, such as a child-safe screen, that could have prevented Isabella’s fall accident.

Isabella was not the first child to fall through a window managed by Keys Rental Management. In 2004, a 4-year-old boy broke his arm after he fell through a second story window.

Some 4,700 kids in the US end up in emergency rooms each year because of window-related falls. About 18 of them end up dying from their injuries. According to the Oregonian, over six children fell out of Portland windows last summer.

If your child suffered injuries because he or she fell through a window, your family may be entitled to Oregon personal injury compensation. There may have been more a premise owner or manager could have done to prevent the fall accident from happening. Or, a company may have made mistakes during the design or manufacturer of the window and these errors could be grounds for a products liability lawsuit. There also may be more than one party that can be held liable for your Oregon injuries to minor case.

Landlord liable in toddler's fall from window, Oregonlive.com, January 30, 2009

Oregon company to pay in fall from window, Seattle Times, February 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Falls From Heights: Windows, Roofs, and Balconies, American Academy of Pediatrics

Recent accidents show open windows are dangerous to small children, BNET.com, July 6, 2008

Police in Oregon say alcohol may have been a factor in a deadly Eugene auto accident that left 10-year-old Jakobi Mulgrave in serious condition and killed four other people on Wednesday. Injured in the Oregon auto wreck was the boy’s mother, 34-year-old Heather Yvonne Mulgrave, 10-year-old Jaziah Vermilyea, 34-year-old Connie Marie Vermilyea, and 11-year-old Nima Gibba. All of the victims were from Springfield, except for Nima, who is a Eugene resident.

The accident occurred at about 9:16pm at night when the Toyota Highlander carrying the victims and an Isuzu Rodeo collided. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash. The driver of the Isuzu, 24-year-old Eugene motorist Matthew N Ellmers, was listed in serious condition at a Springfield hospital as of yesterday.

The deadly auto crash happened at an intersection where there is a 4-way traffic signal. One teenager says the cement building she was in shook when the vehicles collided. The Highlander reportedly flipped into the air following the crash and drove into a utility pole.

According to The Register-Guard, multi-vehicle crashes don’t happen very often in Eugene. The last time local police investigated an auto accident death involving more than one victim was in 1978.

According to the state's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were five Oregon multi-vehicle accidents involving at least four fatalities in 2007 and 2008.

Multi-Vehicle Collisions
Proving liability and obtaining personal injury or wrongful death recovery in a multi-vehicle crash can be complicated—unless you are working with an experienced Oregon car accident lawyer who knows how to properly investigate your case.

Accident reconstructionists, medical specialists, accident investigators, and other experts may have to be called in to investigate all of the evidence to determine fault and figure out how much compensation you should receive. If you or someone you love was injured in a multi-vehicle Oregon auto accident—do NOT try to negotiate an agreement with the other parties’ insurance companies or their legal representatives without seeking your own legal counsel.

Police need public's help with investigation of crash that killed 4, KVAL, January 23, 2009

Accident Touched Lives of Many, The Register-Guard, January 23, 2009

Continue reading "Deadly Oregon Motor Vehicle Accident Leaves Four People Dead and a Young Boy in Critical Condition " »

Beginning January 1, anyone younger than age 16 is only allowed to operate an all-terrain vehicle while under adult supervision. All ATV operators, regardless of age, must complete an Oregon-approved safety training course. Young ATV operators must also meet rider-fit guidelines, as well as minimum physical size requirements involving leg length, brake reach, handle bars, and grip reach.

The new rules come after an increase in the number of young ATV riders that are injured in accidents. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, from 2001 to 2003:

• 108,724 ATV riders younger than 15 required medical attention at a hospital for nonfatal injuries.
• Male ATV riders, 11 – 15, made up 52% of these visitors.
• Common nonfatal ATV injuries include facial injuries, foot injuries, leg injuries, and fractures.

At least 107 young riders died in ATV accidents in 2007. Last year, the Consumer Product Safety Administration introduced the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which requires ATV manufacturers to comply with ATV standards and develop an ATV Action Plan regarding training, safety, ATV manuals, hang tags, labels, and other requirements.

While there are steps that consumers can take to protect young riders from getting hurt when riding ATV’s, manufacturers must also take steps to prevent injury accidents by making sure that their products are free from defects or flaws that can lead to injury accidents. They must also make sure that they warn users of the potential hazards that coming with riding an ATV. The Oregon Trauma Registry says some 1,200 young ATV riders have been injured in the last five years.

Oregon Imposes New ATV Rules, NewsInferno, January 6, 2009

ATV Injuries and Deaths Continue to Rise, ConsumerAffairs.com, October 28, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008

ATVs, Oregon.gov

Continue reading "New Oregon ATV Rules Bar Operators Younger than Age 16 from Driving Without Adult Supervision" »

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act has finally gone into effect. The new law mandates that all public pools and spas be fitted with a federally approved anti-entrapment drain or grate cover to prevent people from getting caught by the suction and drowning. Children are especially at high risk of suffering a fatal injury when getting caught in a swimming pool, wading pool, or hot tub drain.

The law is named after the granddaughter of former US Secretary of State James Baker. Virginia, 7, drowned in 2002 after she sat on the floor drain of a hot tub. Her mother, Nancy Baker, tried to pull her daughter from the drain but to no avail.

Last March, 6-year-old Abigail Taylor died nearly nine months after the suction from a wading pool drain pulled out part of her intestinal tract. She had to undergo liver, small bowel, and pancreas transplants and suffered complications before her death.

The design of the approved dome shaped drain covers should keep the human body from being suctioned by a pool or hot tub drain. Schools, recreational centers, hotels, health clubs, and apartments are among those affected by the new law. Some pool owners and managers, however, are complaining that drain manufacturers have not been able to keep up with the demand for these federally approved designs, which is making it harder for compliance to occur. Hopefully, these drains should be in place in spas and pools throughout Oregon when the hot weather returns.

Pool Entrapment Accidents
According to Safe Kids USA, about 100 children in the United States sustained serious injuries and at least 33 children younger than 14 died because of entrapment by a pool or spa drain between 1985 and 2004. Serious personal injuries can include body entrapment, massive internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, drowning, and wrongful death.

If you or your child was seriously injured in a pool entrapment accident, you may have grounds to file an Oregon premises liability claim or products liability lawsuit against the liable party.

New Federal Pool Safety Law to Take Effect, KOHD, December 11, 2008

Pool drain safety covers required today, but supply is backlogged, Sacramento Bee, December 20, 2008
Federal drain law forces pool closings, Boston Herald, January 5, 2008

Related Web Resource:
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (PDF)

Continue reading "Preventing Oregon Drowning and Entrapment Accidents with New Pool Safety Law" »

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says auto accidents and fall accidents are the leading causes of accidental teen and child injuries and deaths in this country.

Facts included in the CDC’s report:

• 9.2 million teenagers and children a year are treated in US emergency rooms for accidental injuries.
• 2.8 million teens and young kids are injured in fall accidents annually.
• Over 50% of the nonfatal injuries involving kids younger than 1 occurred during fall accidents.
• About 8,000 minors are killed each year in traffic accidents as pedestrians, vehicle occupants, and pedalcyclists.
• 12,175 people under age 20 die in the US every year because of accidental injuries.
• Approximately 20 kids die every day because of an injury that could have been prevented.
• Some 20 million kids and young adults sustain injuries each year that limit their activity and require medical care.

Leading causes of injury deaths, according to age group:

• Infants – suffocation
• Ages 1 to 4 – drowning
• Ages 5 to 19 – traffic crashes

In addition to fall accidents, other leading causes of nonfatal injuries to kids include:

• Animal bites
• Insect bites
• Getting hit by or falling against an object

Children in the 1 – 4 age group were most likely to suffer nonfatal injuries in fall accidents or due to accidental poisoning. According to CDC Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention Director Grant Baldwin, many of these injuries can be predicted and are preventable.

Many times, these injuries occur while a child or teen is engaged in everyday activities, such as riding in a car, walking to school, or swimming in the neigborhood pool. Such injuries are often caused by reckless motor vehicle drivers, careless property owners, negligent product manufacturers, careless dog owners, or other responsible parties.

Car Crashes, Falls Top List of Accidental Injuries for Kids, US News, December 10, 2008

Childhood Injury Report, CDC

Related Web Resources:

Children Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA (PDF)

World Health Organization

Continue reading "Car Crashes and Fall Accidents are Leading Causes of Accidental Deaths and Injuries to Minors in the US, Says CDC" »

Ecology Center researchers tested over 1,500 popular toys for harmful chemicals, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and PVC, that could cause injuries to minors. Their findings indicate that out of every three toys, one toy usually contains at least one of these chemicals at “medium” or greater levels. The researchers hope their results will push lawmakers and manufacturers to begin phasing out these dangerous chemicals in toys.

Toys that were tested were purchased from Toys R Us, Target, Kmart, TJ Maxx, Babies R Us, Wal-Mart, and in dollar stores, drug stores, and online. The toys and children’s products selected for testing represent the products most often bought for children in the US. Tests were conducted using a handheld X-ray device for detecting chemicals.

Among the study's findings:

• 20% of the toys tested contained lead.
• 3.5% of toys had levels of lead exceeding the federal government’s recall level for lead paint.
• Kids' Jewelry has a greater chance of containing lead greater than 600 ppm.
• Arsenic at levels above 100 ppm was found in 22 products.
• 30 of the products tested had cadmium at levels higher than 100 ppm.

The Toy Industry Association criticized the group’s findings, calling them “misleading” to consumers. The association also maintained that the toy industry is highly regulated and continues to work hard to ensure that all toys for sale in the US exceed toy safety standards.

Toxic and Dangerous Toys
With the holiday shopping season already under way in Oregon and the rest of the United States, it is important that toy manufacturers and retailers make sure that any products they put out into the marketplace are safe for play and use. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been very busy over the past two years issuing recalls for toys and kids’ products deemed defective or dangerous because they contain too much lead, are made with small magnetic pieces that can cause choking hazards, or have another kind of hazardous defect.

Toy manufacturers can be held liable for products liability, personal injury, or wrongful death if a toy causes a child to suffer an injury, get sick, or die.

One in 3 toys is toxic, group says, CNN Money, December 3, 2008

One in Three Children's Toys Tested by Ecology Center's www.HealthyToys.org has Significant Levels of Chemicals, Including Lead, Flame Retardants, and Arsenic, Ecology Center, December 3, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Toy Industry Association

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Continue reading "Researchers Say 1 in 3 Toys Tested Contains Toxic Chemicals that Could be Harmful to Children" »

A Gladstone man and his 7-year-old daughter are recovering from their injuries after a 90-pound pit bull mix attacked them outside a friend’s home. Police later shot and killed the animal.

The Oregon dog attack occurred last Wednesday while 7-year-old Jayda Kempas was playing on a tire swing. Without provocation, Titan reportedly jumped up and clung to her left leg, pulling her off the swing and onto the ground.

Jayda’s father, Steven Hehr, heard screams and rushed to her rescue. The 31-year-old Oregon National Guard sergeant managed to get the pit bull to release his jaw from his daughter’s leg, but then the dog attacked him, biting his leg, hands, and chest in an attempt to grab his throat. Hehr also dislocated his shoulder during the incident.

Neighbors and friends came forward to help him, with two men hitting the dog about 40 times with an aluminum baseball bat. Two other people managed to tie straps around the dog’s hind quarters and get a noose around his neck. Clackamas County Sheriff deputies, who were called to the scene, eventually shot Titan.

Jayda sustained severe lacerations and puncture wounds on her legs. She underwent surgery for her injuries last Thursday. In addition to dislocating his shoulder, Hehr sustained bite wounds on different parts of his body.

At the time of the dog attack, Hehr’s friend Alan Clinansmith was in possession of Titan. He was trying to find a home for the animal. The pit bull belongs to Gresham resident Rick Harrison.

Oregon Dog Bite Incidents
If you or your child was attacked by a dog in Oregon, you may be able to fie a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Oregon’s “one bite rule” holds a dog bite owner strictly liable for personal injuries if he or she knew or should have known that the dog can be dangerous. Dog attacks and dog maulings can lead to serious injuries—even death.

Pit bull mix attacks 7-year-old, her dad in Happy Valley, OregonLive.com, November 20, 2008

Father Fights Pit Bull To Save Daughter, Fox 12 Oregon, November 20, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Dog Bite Liability, Insurance Information Institute, August 2008

National Dog Bite Prevention Week, CDC

Continue reading "7-Year-Old Gladstone Girl and Her Father are Injured in Oregon Dog Attack Involving 90-Pound Pit Bull Mix" »

According to doctors and nurses at Providence Health & Services, newborns at Oregon hospitals appear to be at risk of falling. Hospital records from Providence Hospitals indicate that 20 fall accidents involving newborns occur each year in Oregon hospitals—a figure that some researchers consider a low estimate because parents and hospital staffers don’t always report newborn falls when they occur.

In a scientific study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, reporters noted that some 600 to 700 newborn falls occur at US hospitals each year. Examples of newborn falls include babies:

• Falling out of bassinets while they are being rolled down a hallway or onto an elevator.
• Dropping onto the floor during delivery.
• Slipping through the delivering doctor’s hands and onto the ground.
• Falling out of a sleeping parent's arms.

While the report doesn’t cite any specific fall accidents at hospitals that resulted in infants sustaining serious injuries, one newborn did sustain a skull fracture. However, a 2003 article on the Whitaker Foundation’s Web site found that babies are vulnerable to traumatic brain injuries during falls when the head hits a hard surface. Traumatic brain injuries also happen to be one of the leading causes of childhood deaths.

Dr. Robert Christensen and his colleagues at Intermountain Healthcare says that newborn falls are preventable and that there are measures that hospitals can take to prevent fall accidents from happening. For example, ordering nurses to regularly check on infants that are being held by parents during the night, changing bed designs to minimize fall accidents, and modifying sedative drug use by new mothers.

Oregon hospitals, doctors, and nurses are supposed to provide newborns with the proper care following delivery. This includes implementing the proper safety procedures so that injury accidents do not happen. If medical error, negligence, or carelessness results in serious injuries to your son or daughter, you may have grounds to file an Oregon medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.

Other injuries to newborns that may be grounds for medical malpractice include:

• Birthing injuries
• Forcep injuries
• Facial paralysis
• Brachial palsy
• Cerebral palsy
• Injuries caused by heparin (or another drug) overdose
• Fractures during labor
• Wrongful death

Hospitals look into ways to prevent newborn falls, The Oregonian, November 19, 2008

Infants More Vulnerable to Serious Brain Injury From Falling Than Previously Thought, The Whitaker Foundation, August 12, 2003

Related Web Resources:

Newborn Injuries, Family Practice Notebook

Birth Injuries

Continue reading "Oregon Hospitals Take Steps to Protect Newborns from Fall Injuries" »

In Oregon, A Marion County Circuit Court judge added $3 million in punitive damages to the $1.5 million jury awarded to a woman who filed a sex abuse lawsuit against her stepfather. The woman, now 24, says her stepfather began sexually abusing her when she was 11 or 12.

In her lawsuit, she accuses Edward Webb of sexually molesting her and touching her inappropriately, until she was about 14 years old. While Webb is not facing criminal charges for the alleged abuse because the statute of limitations for child abuse crimes had expired, she was able to sue her stepfather under a state law that allows adults to sue people that abused them when they were children.

Child Sex Abuse
Sexual abuse can cause serious physical and emotional injury to victims. Many children who are the victims of sex abuse are too scared to speak up or may repress the memories of the abuse for years. Regardless, the emotional scars from being sexually abused can last a lifetime.

A sexual abuse victim may suffer from depression, an eating disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction, alcoholism, have problems with sexual intimacy, or find it hard to form intimate relationships. The financial and emotional tolls that these illnesses and issues can wreak on a person's life can be very high. In many cases, the abuser is someone the victim knows, such as a family member, a family friend, a priest, a teacher, a coach, a doctor, a counselor, a daycare supervisor, or another “trusted” adult.

If your son or daughter was the victim of child sexual abuse or you were sexually abused as a child, there are legal options available to you. Not only may you be able to hold the abuser liable in civil court by filing an Oregon sexual abuse lawsuit, but there may be other parties, such as a church, a school district, or another entity that can also be held liable for personal injury.

Woman Awarded $4.5 Million in Sex Abuse Case, The World Link, November 11, 2008

Woman Awarded $4.5 Million in Sex Abuse Case, NRToday.com, November 11, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Oregon Department of Human Services

Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Continue reading "Oregon Woman Awarded $4.5 Million for Child Sex Abuse" »

Police in Oregon are investigating a school bus accident in which Austin Takacs, 11, died while trying to catch the bus in Oregon City. The sixth grader was running next to the school bus, which had left the bus stop, when he tripped on his bag and fell into the road. Takacs, who was struck by the bus’s rear tires, was pronounced dead less than one hour later at St. Charles Mercy Hospital.

Austin’s mother, Nancy, students on the bus, and a few neighbors witnessed the catastrophic accident. The school bus driver, 67-year-old Rita Grivanos, told Oregon police that she did not see Takacs.

A police report, however, indicates that a number of the students on the bus called out to Grivanos that the boy was running next to the vehicle, but she may not have heard them. The bus was moving at approximately 5mph when it struck Takacs.

No citations have been filed against Grivanos, who collapsed after the tragic accident and was treated at St. Charles hospital. A 2006 evaluation rated the 67-year-old driver as “outstanding” and she has regularly received high performance marks for doing her job.

Grivanos is expected to be back at work shortly. Oregon City Schools Superintendent Mike Zalar says the school district did not play a role in causing the crash.

School Bus Accidents
About 17,000 children are treated in US emergency rooms each year for injuries they sustained in bus crashes. Common causes of school bus accidents include driver negligence, inadequate safety measures, defective bus and bus parts, dangerous roads, poor weather conditions, and poorly maintained buses.

Injuries that can be sustained in school bus accidents include broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, internal injuries, and death. School kids can also get hurt while riding a bus even if a traffic collision does not occur. Cuts and bruises can occur to kids roughhousing on the bus—especially when there is a lack of supervision—or from slip and fall accidents when getting on or off the bus.

If your son or daughter was injured in an Oregon school bus accident while riding the bus, getting on or off the bus, crossing the street as a pedestrian, or riding as a passenger in another vehicle, it is important that you explore your legal options as soon as possible.

Grief weighs heavily on boy's family in fatal Oregon bus accident, Toledo Blade, October 23, 2008

Boy, 11, killed trying to catch bus in Oregon, Toledo Blade, October 16, 2008

Related Web Resources:

School bus injuries much higher than thought, MSNBC.com/AP, November 6, 2006

New Federal Rule to Make School Buses Safer, DOT.gov, October 15, 2008

Continue reading "Police Continue to Investigate Accidental Death of 11-Year-Old Boy Run Over by Oregon City School Bus" »

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling almost 1.6 million cribs after reports that two babies died in accidents involving defective crib hardware. In one case, a 5-month-old infant suffocated to death after getting caught between a Playkids USA convertible crib’s drop side rail and its mattress. In the other accident, an 8-month-old baby suffocated to death after becoming entrapped in a Delta Enterprise crib. Also in May 2007, another 8-month baby died in accident involving a Delta crib.

The voluntary recalls involve 2,000 Playkids USA portable convertible cribs and 1,585,000 Delta drop side cribs. The convertible cribs are being recalled because the mesh on the sides of the crib may expand to create a space that an infant might fall into, become entrapped, suffocate, and die.

The Delta drop side cribs were recalled because of safety peg issues. While 985,000 cribs are missing this necessary feature, the spring pegs on 600,000 Delta cribs may be prone to malfunction. The concern is that the missing or defective spring peg could cause the drop side of a crib to become detached and create a space that an infant might fall into. The Delta recall is being called one of the largest crib recalls in US history.

According to Kids in Danger, over 1,000 children have died over the last two decades because of injuries they sustained in cribs. Each year, some 10,000 children are admitted to hospital emergency rooms for crib-related injuries, with 22 kids dying from their injuries.

Examples of injuries caused by defective crib hardware include:

• Suffocation
• Asphyxiation
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Head injuries
• Gaseous poison from the crib mattress
• Entrapment

Federal law requires that all cribs come with warning labels, the correct instructions, and hardware that are free from defects. More details about the recalls can be found on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site (see below).

The manufacturers of nursery furniture and other kids products have a responsibility to produce products that are free from hazardous defects. Failure to do so can be grounds for an Oregon personal injury claim or wrongful death lawsuit if a child is injured or dies because a crib was defective.

Staying Safe: Keeping your baby safe amid largest crib recall in history, KSL.com, October 21, 2008

Delta Recalls 1.6 Million Cribs, KSFY.com, October 21, 2008

Infant Death Prompts Recall of Convertible Cribs by Playkids USA; Crib Poses Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards, Marketwatch, October 16, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Recalls, CPSC.gov

Kids in Danger

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In the wake of last year’s mass recalls of 45 million toys and other products due to the potential hazard they could pose to children, both the US Senate and the House of Representatives have approved a bill banning lead and six kinds of phthalates in products made for kids under age 12. The bill mandates that all toys in the United States undergo testing for dangerous chemicals before they are allowed to enter the marketplace—a definite change from the current approach, which allows untested toys to be sold and then later recalled.

Dangers of Lead
Exposure to high levels of lead can lead to serious health issues for kids, including lead poisoning, seizures, learning disabilities, behavioral issues, brain damage, and death. Many kids’ toys were recalled last year because lead levels in their paints were excessively high. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission made it illegal 30 years ago to use paint with over .06% of lead on toys, most of the toys recalled were made in China.

The bill also increases the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s budget to $118 million in 2010 and $136 million in 2015. The CPSC would also be required to put up a Web site where consumer complaints would be posted.

The Toy Industry Association says the bill will make it easier for manufacturers, who can then follow national guidelines rather than having to look to the different state laws. The measure now goes to President Bush.

Danger of Phthalates
Certain animal tests have indicated that exposure to phthalates may lead to lower testosterone and genetic defects in boys, early puberty in girls, and impaired sperm in men. Phthalates can often be found in baby bottles, rubber ducks, teething rings, and other products for kids.

Not toying around: Congress OKs bill to ban chemicals in some products, USA Today.com, August 2, 2008

Bill targets toy safety, ChicagoTribune.com, July 29, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Phthalates Information Center

Why Is Lead in Toys?, Wnep.com

H.R. 4040 The Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act

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