Archive for October, 2009

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Nursing Home CEO Charged with Elder Abuse

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

A recent San Jose Mercury News article claims that a former chief executive officer of a Kern County nursing home has entered a not guilty plea to criminal charges. The charges involve her alleged consent to allowing staff members at the nursing home to forcibly drug elderly patients, including three who died. The woman entered her not guilty plea recently after the California Attorney General’s office charged her with eight felony counts of elder abuse. The state claims that she knew the nursing director at the Kern Valley Health Care District’s nursing facility in Lake Isabella had ordered high doses of drugs for dementia patients to make them more tranquil and easy to manage.

According to the charges, the alleged drugging and elder abuse occurred from September 2006 to January 2007. Also charged in connection with the case of elder abuse in February 2009, was the director of nursing, a pharmacist and a staff physician. The woman, released on her recognizance, is now the CEO of a hospital in Fresno County.

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Nine People Hospitalized in California Truck Accident

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

A recent article in the Tracy Press claims that nine people were sent to various hospitals on September 28, 2009, in a California trucking accident that involved a semi truck rear-ending a passenger van. According to police officials investigating the accident, the rear-end collision occurred on Interstate 205 by 11th Street. A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol said that the trucking accident occurred just after 6 a.m., sending nine people to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. The drivers of both vehicles were not injured.

Emergency response personnel say that the 2007 Ford E-350 van’s driver was a 60-year-old Stockton woman; she was heading west on I-205 at around 20 mph in heavy traffic. A tractor-trailer driven by a 52-year-old Modesto man traveling behind the van at around the same speed rear-ended the van. The truck driver said that he had looked to his right momentarily and failed to see the slowing van in front of him. CHP accident investigators said that alcohol was not a factor in the trucking accident.

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Children’s Tylenol Recalled

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

This Newsday article claims that the McNeil unit of Johnson & Johnson has voluntarily recalled 57 lots of infants and children’s liquid Tylenol products due to the possibility of bacterial contamination. The Tylenol products manufactured between April and June 2009 included almost two dozen varieties subject to the recall. Johnson & Johnson has said publicly that an inactive ingredient in the various types of product did not meet the company’s internal testing requirements and B. cepacia bacteria was found in a part of the unused material.

The company composed a letter that stated they found no bacteria in the finished product sold to the public, and the possibility of someone becoming seriously ill from contamination of their product was very remote. However, after a consultation with the Food and Drug Administration, the company decided that they would recall the products.

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How to Enforce Collection of a Lawsuit Settlement

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Collection of a lawsuit settlement is a civil matter and while a court will not collect on someone’s behalf, it will issue orders to force the debtor to pay. If a judgment is issued in California, enforcement of the judgment is delayed for 30 days until the period of time that the debtor can appeal has passed. A court’s judgment is enforceable for 10 years, renewable for another ten years, and renewable after that but with conditions that apply.

If the debtor refuses to make payments, a wage garnishment may be filed. Paperwork for the garnishment must be filed and if the court approves the garnishment, the debtor must be served via registered mail or another means approved by the court. The wage garnishment order must also be sent to the debtor’s employer. Each time the period of garnishment has expired, it must be reviewed and renewed by the court.

If the debtor is unemployed and has no wages to be garnished, an asset search may be conducted to determine if claims may be made against possessions regarded as disposable assets, such as extra cars, watercraft, recreational vehicles, motorcycles and other items deemed unnecessary.

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California's Boating Accident Program

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

California’s Boating Accident Program was created to provide a database for boating accident analysis and make the state’s waterways safer for people using all sorts of watercraft. Each year, California releases a comprehensive study of the different types of boating accidents that occurred in the state the previous year. The study provides information on the types of accidents, the number of fatalities caused in accidents and the number and types of injuries. The California Boating Accident Report provides information on personal watercraft, young people operating watercraft and alcohol-related boating accidents that cause fatalities.

Under California state law, a boater involved in a boating accident must fill out and file an accident report with the California Department of Boating and Waterways. A report must be filed when someone is killed, disappears or suffers an injury that requires medical attention beyond basic first aid. A report is required when a vessel sinks, is destroyed, incurs damage or damages property worth $500 or more.

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