Portland Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous

Paricon Recalls Children's Snow and Sand Castle Kits Because of Sharp Edges

Jenny Albano — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:48:05 GMT

Paricon, in conjunction with the CPSC, is recalling about 800 Children's Snow and Sand Castle Kits because the largest plastic castle block maker in the kit can crack at the handle during when being used, which creates sharp edges that pose a laceration hazard to children.

The recall castle kit consists of three red plastic block makers. Only the largest block maker in the set is included in the recall. The largest block maker measures about 19 inches in length and 5 inches in width. Smaller block maker blocks and castle kits with the letter "A" on the inside of the large block maker are not included in this recall.

So far no injuries have been reported to Paricon. The castle kits were sold at L.L. Bean retail stores across the country from September 2007 to October 2007.

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

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Certain Models of Triple-Channel Infusion Pumps Recalled

Jenny Albano — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:54:56 GMT

On Friday, the FDA alerted healthcare professionals of a class 1 recall of certain models of an upgraded triple-channel volumetric infusion pump made by Colleague and Colleague CX. A software malfunction may sound an alarm in the device, showing an error code 16:310:867:0002, which will stop infusing.

An electronic infusion pump delivers controlled amounts of medicine or other fluids to patients through a direct line into the bloodstream (intravenously, intra-arterially, or through an epidural).

"The error occurs when all three channels are in use and a healthcare professional initiates a user interface-intensive command such as overriding the Guardian dose limit feature, displaying the dose mode window, performing dose calculations or performing running rate changes," the company says in a news release.

So far there have been sixteen injuries reported. All the affected users have been contacted and have had their infusion pumps replaced with alternate devices, such as non-upgraded triple-channel and upgraded single-channel pumps.

From May 14 to June 18, 2007 there have been 4512 defective infusion pumps administered to 427 customers, according to an alert from the FDA's MedWatch.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Three More Chinese Toy Recalls

Jenny Albano — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:42:02 GMT

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced three more Chinese toy recalls. Children's jewelry sets were recalled because they contained lead, and a magnetic building set and plastic castles were recalled because they could be a choking hazard to children.

Around 20,000 sets of Essentials for Kids Jewelry were recalled because they were found to have high levels of lead in them, which can be very toxic to children.

800 Mag Stix Magnetic Building Sets and 68,000 Shape Sorting Toy Castles were pulled from the market because they had many small parts that could pose a choking hazard to young kids.

These new recalls are adding to the growing list of drug and product recalls from China recently. So far all 24 toy recalls from this year have been products from China. Since the FDA has been more strict with regulations in the last few months, there have been many more product defects found.

China says they are increasing regulation and enforcement of health and safety rules for their exports. But many Chinese officials think that the recent safety warnings on their products are driven by protectionism.

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

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

The Law Says He's Nobody's Daddy

Brad Brad — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:38:39 GMT

When a fertility clinic mistakenly placed a client's sperm in the wrong woman, the man sued for the right to be called the baby's father. Trouble is, the law says he's nobody's daddy.

After a man's sperm is used to inseminate the wrong patient, he files a lawsuit against the fertility clinic that made the mistake.

Matthew Hayes and Nico Swift went to the fertility clinic in Portland, Oregon and, like many Americans, were having trouble conceiving the natural way, They spent thousands of dollars for the chance to be parents.

The mistake was made. Indeed the woman, who had arranged for the frozen sperm from an anonymous donor did get pregnant as she had hoped.

Hayes has sued because he believes he has parental rights. But the hospital has refused to release any information about the mother to Hayes.

The matter remains unresolved and it will be interesting to see whether the law will recognize him as the father or not and what type of settlement if any the couple might receive.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brad Brad

Property Owners Still Struggle with Measure 37

Brad Brad — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:03:22 GMT

Washington voters will decide Nov. 7 on one of those proposals, Initiative 933. Supporters and foes alike are pointing to Oregon's experience as they troll for votes.

I came across this article which should be of interest to Washington voters as they vote on their own property-rights initiative.

A recent article in Seattle Times about Measure 37, the property-rights initiative overwhelmingly passed by Oregon voters in 2004,gives voters in Washington some useful information to use when decing how they will vote on Initiative I-933, Washington's own property-rights bill as supporters of the intiative try to persuade voters.

According to the writer, nothing has changed. Property owners in Oregon are still facing an uphill battle in dealing property-rights.

Oregon property owners have filed more than 3,300 Measure 37 claims.
In total, they involve about 218,000 scattered acres. Put together, that's an area nearly as large as Mount Rainier National Park.
The claims range from proposals to build single houses on farmland to plans for a pumice mine, geothermal-energy test wells and as many as 100 vacation homes on private property inside Newberry Volcanic National Monument.

Two years after Measure 37 was passed, Oregon courts are still sorting through more than 80 lawsuits dealing with Measure 37.

All the property owners can do in the meantime is wait.

Read the entire article:
Oregon property rights still in legal limbo
By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times staff reporter

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brad Brad

Drunk Driver Who Caused Automobile Accident Pleads Guilty

Staff Writer — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:29:04 GMT

On December 21, 2004, a young woman got behind the wheel of her car drunk. While driving drunk she caused an accident killing a young man and seriously injurying his brother. On August 8, 2006, she pled guilty and was sentenced to 60 months in jail for her crimes and causing the drunk driving accident. The drunk driver's blood alcohol level was more than two times the legal limit in Oregon (.08). Our firm represents the boys' family.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Report Finds Heavy Toll From Medication Errors

Staff Writer — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:15:38 GMT

Medication errors harm 1.5 million people and kill several thousand each year in the United States, costing the nation at least $3.5 billion annually, the Institute of Medicine concluded in a report released on Thursday.

The report is the fourth in a series done by the institute, the nation's most prestigious medical advisory organization, that has called attention to the enormous health and financial burdens brought about by medical errors.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Convention Helps Lawyers Win Cases For Injured

Staff Writer — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:55:31 GMT

The Oregon Trial Lawyer Convention will be held August 3-5, 2006 in Oregon. Jane Paulson and Charles Paulson are both past Presidents of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. The group helps protect the rights of those injured by drunk drivers, car accidents, premises liability, medical malpractice, delayed diagnosis of cancer, trucking accidents, product liability and wrongful death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Oregon Trial Lawyers Association completes home

Scott Hendison — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:28:02 GMT

Wednesday July 26, 2006 will be the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association ("OTLA") last scheduled build day at the Portland Habitat for Humanity project in SE Portland.

When she was President of OTLA, Jane Paulson wanted to help Habitat by contributing and raising funds from OTLA members to help build a Habitat home. Paulson raised $20,000 from OTLA members to help build the Chanocua's home. The homes are scheduled to be completed in August 2006.

Miguel and Monica Chanocua have two small children, 3-year-old Nathan and 5-year-old McKanzie. They currently live in a small 2-bedroom apartment that still has extensive damage from the previous tenant who moved out two years ago. There are holes in the doors and the flooring, and most of the kitchen cabinets and drawers don't work. The apartment complex's sprinkler system is also broken -- there is always a large pool of stagnant water in the back yard, so the children have no place to play. Miguel works swing-shift full-time during the week, and Monica works on the weekends. The picture gallery is here -

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Hendison

Why the Employer and Others are Responsible--Vicarious Liability

Staff Writer — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:57:56 GMT

Vicarious liability is liability which the law places on someone because of their relationship to the bad actor. The basic rationale is that when a bad actor is working for another within the course and scope of his employment, then the employer is benefitting from the bad actor's conduct and has to take the good with the bad.

In most cases, the employer is not responsible for the conduct of an independent contractor. Employees are subject to the employer's control over how the work is done, among other things, while independent contractors are generally free to accomplish the work as they see fit. The employer's liability for employee's conduct is sometimes referred to as respondeat superior. Oregon courts have even found employers liable for some intentional torts (employee stabbed and killed someone) if they are tied closely enough to the employee's duties.

The Family Purpose Doctrine is also a form of vicarious liability. It developed because of problems arising from auto insurance in the mid 20th century. A family would have a car for the parents with relatively high coverage limits, and have a car for the kids with relatively low coverage limits because insuring teenagers is expensive. The teenager would get into a wreck and the insurance company would only pay out on the lower coverage limits. What the family purpose doctrine says is that the higher limits of the parents' insurance coverage is available for the kids car when the kids car is furnished for the pleasure and convenience of the family, i.e. for a family purpose. Sometimes there will be questions of fact about whether the vehicle was provided for a family purpose, for example, one Oregon court found that a jury trial was needed to resolve that issue where the insured's daughter's fiancee was the bad actor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer