Grand Junction Personal Injury Lawyer

Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Salami Products

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:05:00 GMT

Health officials from the FDA, CDC and USDA are working closely with the Rhode Island Department of Health and other states in the investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo that has been linked to certain salami products.

According to the CDC, at least 202 people have been sickened with a matching strain of Salmonella Montevideo in 42 states. The CDC and health officials in several states conducted a study by comparing foods. Preliminary findings suggest pepper-coated salami is a possible source of illness.

Consumers are advised to check the USDA list of recalled products regularly to ensure they do not have any of them in their home. And if so, discard of them in a safe matter.

This is considered a Class I recall presenting a health hazard where there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Train Destroys Tour Bus In Accident; No One Injured

Chrissie Cole — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:16:00 GMT

A bus vs. train accident in Colorado Springs late Tuesday night left the tour bus destroyed, but no one injured.

The accident happened near the intersection of East Las Vegas and Royer after the tour bus got stuck on the train tracks. The bus caught fire after the crash but fire rescue was able to extinguish the flames shortly after.

According to police, the bus belongs to a band. But the name of the band is not known at this time.

No one was on the bus when it was struck by the train. There were no reports of injury.

During the accident, the train did not derail and according to police there were no hazardous materials onboard.

Officials are still investigating the crash.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Six Teens Injured In Rollover Accident In Grand Junction

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:57:00 GMT

Three teens are in critical condition at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction following a single-car accident on Wednesday.

In total, six teenagers, all from Glenwood Springs, were injured.

It appears a westbound Nissan Sentra driven by a teen, 17, veered off the roadway and through a deer fence, according to Colorado State Patrol troopers.

The vehicle then went airborne over a dry creekbed before hitting the side of an embankment and rolling over.

The kids range in age from 15 to 19. Four of them were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the car.

Speed is being investigated as a possible contributing factor, but alcohol and/or drugs are not thought to be involved. The investigation is ongoing.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Rollover Accident Kills One In Grand Junction

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:36:00 GMT

A truck rolled over into a median on I-70, in Grand Junction, on Thursday night, killing one.

The accident happened just before 8 p.m. about a mile east of the 24 Road exit. According to State Patrol, there were no other vehicles involved in the accident.

At this time officials are still working to piece together the cause of the accident and it is unknown how many people were occupying the truck when it crashed. But State Patrol did confirm one person died.

Patrol verified the truck had California plates but no further information was available The investigation is ongoing.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury in a car or truck accident, use the form to the right to contact one of our lawyers for a free and confidential consultation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Crane Removes SUV From Backyard Following Crash

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Thankfully no one was injured when a Grand Junction woman crashed her SUV through her garage and into her neighbor’s backyard.

Following the accident, the big question was how to remove the vehicle from the backyard without causing more damage.

The woman hired a crane to lift the SUV up and over her neighbor’s house. The action -- which took a little more than an hour -- drew the attention of several onlookers.

The home, where the SUV came to rest, has no structural damage, according to the home owner. A freezer from the drivers' garage stopped the Jeep from driving through their neighbor's house.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Two Car Accident on F Road Leaves Three Injured

Margaret Embry — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:05:16 GMT

On July 23^rd a two-vehicle accident occurred at the F Road and Meander Drive intersection in Grand Junction, leaving three people hospitalized, as reported by The Daily Sentinel. According to the Grand Junction Police Department, a Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck struck a Ford passenger car when turning in front of the Ford. The Ford was traveling west and the Dodge was trying to turn north onto Meander Drive.

The driver of the Ford was hospitalized with several injuries, including multiple broken bones. The passenger of the Ford was also treated for injuries. The driver of the Dodge suffered minor injuries. He will face charges related to the accident.

Grand Junction Police closed one westbound lane of traffic on F Road for several hours while investigating the accident.

Below are road traffic accident statistics for Grand Junction in 2008, according to City-Data:

Fatal accident count: 6
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents: 13
Fatal accidents caused by drunken drivers: 3
Fatalities: 7
Persons involved in fatal accidents: 19
Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents: 0

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Margaret Embry

EMS Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:11:00 GMT

Maryland emergency works have agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, according to court records.

A lawyer for Smithsburg Emergency Medical Services said the case, which was scheduled for trial on May 26, has been settled, although he declined to further discuss the settlement terms.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of volunteer firefighter Christina Hess. She and her unborn child died in 2003 from pregnancy complications while the former chief of the ambulance company mocked the call for help and belittled the fire company in a tape-recorded conversation with a dispatcher.

The suit contended what ill will toward the fire company caused EMS workers to respond too slowly to the emergency.

To explore how the law determines wrongful death and to learn more about the legal process and a family’s rights, please visit our wrongful death help center.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Amtrak

Chrissie Cole — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:15:00 GMT

The family of a Denver man killed by a train near Las Vegas in September is suing Amtrak in state district court for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional stress.

The family contends his line of sight was blocked by vegetation and he was therefore unable to see a fast approaching Amtrak train.

Fred Stark was killed on September 11 as he crossed the tracks near a city garbage station.

Amtrak, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, the City of Las Vegas, San Miguel County and Ride to Pride Partnership are listed as defendants in the suit filed in state district court last week.

A spokesman for Amtrak had no comment.

Another man was killed at the same crossing on Jan. 15.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Former justice O'Connor urges changes in judicial elections

Kyle Bachus — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:25:28 GMT

When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor spoke to CU law students this April, she praised Colorado for being one of the few states in the country that has done away with electing state court judges, choosing instead to have them appointed by judicial nominating committees. Justice O’Conner’s belief that popular election of judges leads to a politicization of the judicial process, leading to less independent and impartial decision-making. With special interest groups donating large sums to campaigns and voters generally unaware of judge’s professional abilities, it is little wonder that the United States is one of only a handful of places that utilizes a political ticket for choosing worthy judges.

Justice O’Connor’s concerns are pointedly illustrated by the recent campaign for a Supreme Court in my home state of Wisconsin. In a campaign that cost $5 million, “a small-town trial judge with thin credentials ran a television advertisement falsely suggesting that the only black justice on the state Supreme Court had helped free a black rapist.” The idea that this process lends itself to healthy judiciary by making judges accountable to public opinion, is foolish because 1) the public control over the process is illusory: most voters aren’t making informed decisions, but instead relying on misleading or outright false advertisements like the above, designed and paid for by special interest groups and 2) insulating judges from often capricious public opinion allows them to maintain a distance and independence crucial to well-functioning judiciary.

The co-opting of the very worst aspects of our partisan political process has lead to predictable results. The University of Chicago “found that elected judges wrote more opinions, while appointed judges wrote opinions of higher quality.”

If we as Americans decide that we will prize quantity over quality, as it appears we do, we will get the judiciary we deserve, and our society will be the worse for it.

Thomas Connell

Summer Intern 2008

JD Candidate, 2010

University of Colorado

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Kyle Bachus

The Heparin Debacle Part Three - The FDA Falls Flat

Linda Snyder — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:00:00 GMT

“Protecting and Promoting Your Health.” That’s the tag line posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration web site. Protecting and promoting your health, doesn’t seem to have the same meaning to the FDA as it does to the U.S. consumer.

Putting it very simplistically, the FDA is charged with ensuring that the food and drugs we consume are safe before they are made available to the public. Recent news has shown that many of the drugs that the FDA has approved have not only not failed to "protect and promote our health," but in fact have deadly consequences.

Consider these facts:

• FDA approved drugs, Oxycodone, Fentanyl and Clozapine, are on the list of top 10 deadliest drugs and are responsible for over 12,000 deaths from 1998 to 2005.
• The American College of Cardiology has recommended that the popular FDA approved drugs, Vytorin and Zetia should only be used after all other cholesterol lowering drugs fail.
• A recently published article in the Journal American Medical Association (JAMA) claims the drug maker Merck drafted many of the research studies for their best selling FDA approved drug Vioxx, then had prestigious doctors put their names on the reports prior to publication.

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the FDA would need to spend at least an additional $56 million next year in order to fully inspect foreign plants. The FDA would need at least $15 million a year to inspect Chinese drug plants every two years to comply with US standards.

At its present pace, it would take the FDA nearly 27 years to inspect every foreign manufacturer that exports medical devices to the US. It would take 13 years to inspect every foreign drug plant and 1,900 years to inspect every foreign food plant.

Although the Bush administration acknowledges the problem, President Bush’s budget does not provide the FDA with the funds to hire additional inspectors. There are proposals in motion to increase the FDA’s budget and to shift some of the financial burden onto the domestic and foreign manufacturers to pay fees for inspections.

I don’t know about you, but now when I go to my medicine cabinet and take out that bottle of FDA approved prescription medication that I assumed was safe, because the FDA’s motto is “Protecting and Promoting Your Health”, I get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that no medication can fix.

Up Next: The Heparin Debacle Part Four – Is Baxter International Getting Away with Murder?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Linda Snyder