Over the past several years defective cribs have been released to the public by the following manufacturers:

• Graco
• Child Craft
• C&T International/Sorell
• Simmons
• Million Dollar Baby
• LaJobi
• Jardine
• Evenflo
• Delta
• Pottery Barn Kids

The Heller Law Firm is looking for families who have purchased one of these cribs and would like to be class representative.  The only requirement you need to be a class representative is to have purchased one of these defective cribs.  There are no costs associated with being a class representative and you may even be entitled to some compensation for your time.  If you would like to discuss your options with an experienced attorney, call the Heller Law Firm at 800-992-9947 or visit their website at www.unsafecribs.com.

Driving in California

California, contains the largest population in the USA and is ranked third when you compared overall land area. It has the unlikeliest ecological communities and natural views that attract tourists from all over the world. The state has an excellent transportation network containing freeways, expressways and highways. California is famous for its car culture and residents are likely to use cars for vacation, long trips etc, that give Californian cities a reputation for traffic congestion. Recent data shows, over 33 million vehicles are registered in city centers of California. The huge number of vehicle is affecting the accident rate in the state. However, 6 interstate highways and 7 US routes create a huge pressure of traffic in cities of the state.

Car Accident trends in Californian Cities

Recent data shows, there were a total of 4,236 major vehicle accidents in California and over 198,708 were injuries were reported.  The rate has increased in last five years.  Los Angeles is the city where most of the accidents occurred and lowest car accident rate is in Beverly Hills.

A search for finding out America’s most dangerous highways shows that the most dangerous highway is in Southern California, its state road 138, which is directed to Las Vegas with mountain roads, no barriers and deep valleys.  Another road can be listed which is I-10, both in Arizona and California.

Reasons for Accidents:

• Disobeying traffic laws
• Safety lack in roads and highways
• Careless driving
• Distracted driving
• Defects in vehicles
• Weather problem

Preventing Car Accidents:

For preventing car accidents and saving lives, different awareness organizations and bodies have helped to make drivers aware of some issues.  Drivers should drive in the central and right lane because it allows other drivers more options if trouble occurs.  A study shows most of the accidents occur in the left lane. If drivers drive in the right or center lane they can easily change lanes if necessary.  Drivers should use “defensive” driving tactics.  Drive carefully and keep your eyes on the road.  Always scanning for trouble ahead.  Drivers need to obey transportation rules and regulations, wear seat belts while driving and avoid using mobile or electronic devices that interrupt concentration while driving.  Also, before driving a driver should check the vehicle for any defects and gather information about road conditions, because these are some elements that are causes for road accidents.

Life is more valuable than time, so drivers need to be carful while driving, especially on busy roads in California.  So be careful while driving and always watch out for others.

Brain injuries are one of the most concerning issues in the U.S.  A recent study in shows, almost 1.5 million people suffer from brain injuries which is huge in number compared with deadly physical problems like multiple sclerosis (10,400), Spinal cord Injuries (11,000), HIV/AIDS (51,334), and Breast Cancer (176,300).

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) can be defined as damage of brain or functional disabilities of the brain due to a direct or indirect hit in head or skull that protects the brain from all possible threats. In such cases, the brain can be bruised, stretched or torn to cause bleeding. The problems for a brain injury may start from mild and turn into severe in a shortest period of time.

Types of Brain Injury:

Nerve Damage: Nerve damage is the basic type of brain injury that may occur when receives a blow to the head.  In first stage, you may not be aware of the injury & your doctor may also describe the problems as mild. But one important thing you should keep in mind is that a mild problem can turn into a serious problem that leads to loss of consciousness, known as a coma, losing control over sensory organs or arms or legs.

Bruising: It can be defined as bleeding inside of the brain due to a direct hit to the head.  This can lead to functional disability of the brain, Coma, Seizures, brain damage or higher pressure inside the skull.

Oxygen supply interruption: Oxygen is a human’s lifeline and fuels the brain so it can fulfill its responsibilities. Blood flow within the brain can be interrupted due to an injury. This may creaate obstacles or decrease sufficient oxygen supply to brain that can lead to brain damage. This problem is popularly known as Anoxia.

Hematoma: Hematoma means blood pools inside of the brain. There are three types of hematoma including Epidural hematoma (outer layer of the brain, between the brain & skull), Subdural hematoma (middle layer of the brain), Intracerebral hematoma (the inner part of the brain). Hematomas also causes similar problems like nerve damage, bruising or oxygen deprivation

Cerebral hemorrhage: This is bleeding inside the head. It may occur in three areas of the brain including the outer surface, inside the spaces of the brain, or into the tissues.

Causes & Risk Groups of people

Researchers identified leading causes of brain injury which are, falls (28%), motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%), struck by/against (19%), Assaults (11%), Blasts or certain military duties for Military personnel. Also, the highest risk age group is identified as children 0-4 years of age or 15-19 years old.

Treatment of brain injury is based on the depth of the problem; it may include surgery, therapy, or a rehabilitation process that helps to overcome the problems. Finally, awareness and head protection is the best way to avoid incidents like brain injuries.



Neurontin, an antiseizure drug manufactured by New York-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is yet another highly prescribed medication with deadly side effects. Approved in 1994 by the Food and Drug Administration to help sufferers of epilepsy with pain and partial seizure prevention, Neurontin has been found to increase suicidal thoughts and actions among patients who use the medication. In fact, the FDA found a startling 80 percent rise in suicidal thoughts and behaviors in data from nearly two hundred studies conducted by the agency.  These studies show Neurontin to be a harmful drug to a certain percentage of the population.

Last July, the first lawsuit against Pfizer went to trial. There are roughly 1200 other cases pending involving Neurontin. The most recent was brought to trial last week in a federal court in Boston, Mass., but both parties reached an agreement before the trial had ended.

Pfizer Inc. also announced that a settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit was reached for an undisclosed amount on Monday. Linda Shearer, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, claimed her husband Hartley Shearer was prescribed Neurontin to control the effects of his paralysis and that his use of the drug caused him to commit suicide in 2002. The lawsuit also alleged that Pfizer promoted the use of Neurontin even though it was not approved by U.S. regulators and that Pfizer also knew of the suicide risks linked to the product but failed to warn consumers. While the exact details of the settlement are unknown, sources close to the case estimate the final number at no less than $400,000.

This settlement is another setback for Neurontin, a product with a history of legal woes and high-priced lawsuits. Last month, a federal jury found Pfizer guilty of violating an antiracketeering law by marketing Neurontin for off-label uses and awarded damages of $47 million, which is to be automatically tripled under the law. Pfizer said that it plans on filing an appeal and is currently pursuing a postmotion trial. The company also shelled out $430 million to settle a governmental investigation after pleading guilty to a criminal charge linked to the promotion of Neurontin.

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is one of America’s largest military training facilities in the country. It is also has a toxic history due to contaminated water that was found in the drinking supply. Nearly half a million people may have been exposed to contaminated water at the base during the last thirty years. Former residents of Camp Lejeune suffer from an abnormally high rate of cancer and various other diseases. Children born at Camp Lejeune also show signs of leukemia and brain cancer.

From the late 1950′s to around 1987, Marines and their families drank, bathed in and cooked with contaminated water. The families at Camp Lejeune were unknowingly consuming toxins with concentrations up to 240-3400 times permitted by federal safety standards. Lymphoma, lower intestinal disorders, still born births, birth defects, reproductive disorders have been mentioned in lawsuits related to the consumption of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

Perchloroethylene or PCE is thought to be the cause of the contamination. PCE is a deadly chemical found in dry cleaning facilities. In fact, the armed forces internally blamed the tainted water on an off-base dry cleaners. Scientists with the National Research Council confirmed that residents who lived on the base and consumed the water between the 1950′s and the 1980′s had most likely been exposed to PCE or tricholorethlene (TCE). A lawsuit filed last July states claims that the government knowingly exposed servicemen, civilians, and their families to dangerous chemicals while minimizing the effects exposure to the water could have on their health in a series of public statements riddled with misinformation. Similar lawsuits involving those whose health and lives have been affected by Camp Lejeune continue to pop up around the country. The military, however, claims that the results of the tests have been inconclusive making it impossible to the link the thousands of cancer cases with the water at Camp Lejeune.

Phone bills, credit card statements and just about every invoice we receive on a daily basis seems to get more and more confusing.  For the language in these documents is written by the companies legal team to outline exactly what services you are being provided.

In some cases telecommunications companies are over billing their customers and collecting money for service they did not sign up for or are not receiving at all.  Several of these companies have been caught and sued successfully for charging their clients a fee without their knowledge.

Talk America has a class action law suit against them for adding four provisions to the service contract without adequately informing its clients.  Joe Douglas brought the class action law suit against Talk America after being charged for services he didn’t agree to.  Mr. Douglas paid these extra charges for 4 years.

For antidepressant drug Paxil, there seems to be little happy news these days. The drug, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, has faced a plethora of pharmaceutical negligence legal battles since it became available to the public in 1992. Nearly 150 suicide cases involving individuals who took Paxil have been settled for an average of $2 million, while another 300 cases involving attempted suicides have been settled for an average of $300,000. Adding to these legal woes are the claims that the drug’s manufacturer failed to warn users of its addictive characteristics for which there have been roughly 3,200 cases settled at around $50,000 apiece. Including legal disputes over design claims, fraud, and antitrust, GlaxoSmithKline has paid out nearly $1 billion in total to settled Paxil-related lawsuits.

The latest round of high-priced Paxil suits involves the company’s failure to warn pregnant Paxil users of potential birth defects. The first birth defect trial resulted in a verdict that awarded the family of Lyam Kilker, an infant born with cardiac birth defects, $2.5 million in compensatory damages. Settled last October, this is just one case filed against the company in a number that has reached 600 and is still growing.

With more cases headed to the courtroom, questions of what GlaxoSmithKline did to prevent possible birth defects amongst its pregnant users are swirling throughout the media. Glaxo did add a warning to the precautions section on the Paxil label advising users that two studies showed an increased risk of birth defects for infants of pregnant women using the drug. However, the majority of the cases currently reaching court took place before the warning was put into place. Despite the results of the studies held by Glaxo, which are now published in its own literature, the company contends that the links between Paxil and birth defects are inconclusive.

The next Paxil case, scheduled for June, involves one Delaney Novak who was born with heart defects seemingly resulting from her mother having been prescribed the drug to treat migraine headaches.

California personal injury attorneys have filed a product liability wrongful death suit against Subaru of America. The suit alleges that the 2001 Subaru Forester — in particular, the vehicle’s restraint system — failed to properly protect Lisa Ann Thayer in a 2006 accident. Thayer was thrown from the vehicle and suffered horrific, ultimately life-ending injuries.

The suit was brought through Thayer’s daughter, Emma, and Emma’s father, Gregory Jones. Specifically, they allege that the vehicle had a number of deficiencies that ultimately contributed to Thayer’s death as well as injuries sustained by Emma who was also a passenger in the car. They focus on the restraint system for much of the argument but, in addition, stress that the vehicle had improper window structures, insufficient strength in a rollover accident, and insufficient structural integrity to resist a catastrophic roof impact. They further assert that Subaru and its parent companies knew about the defects and failed to either warn the public or correct the problem.

Ms. Thayer’s accident was in October 2006, about three-and-a-half years ago, and one unfortunate aspect of a case such as this is the sheer amount of time involved. Years often pass in the course of personal injury or class action cases. Investigations have to be pursued, motions filed and witnesses interviewed; paperwork gets shuffled, companies wall up behind lawyers, and victims struggle for years hoping for rulings.

With no easy answers and few quick results, it’s advisable that people make efforts to protect themselves by taking note of their rights and recording any safety concerns they have about products. Additionally, personal injury advocates exist to help people make sense of the chaos and headache that comes in the wake of a tragic event. Given the knowledge that such cases often drag on for years, strong representation is also a top priority.

The right to sue is a tricky one that must always receive proper consideration. It is not a simple issue; there are extraordinary costs involved in any lawsuit that goes beyond small claims, including attorney’s fees, court costs, the cost of investigations and research, and many others. Any lawsuit, regardless of whether the court deems it frivolous, is an exceedingly serious undertaking.

On one hand, it is important that lawsuits do not waste society’s time and money. Few people benefit from lawsuits such as that of the infamous criminal who filed for injury claims against the homeowner whose residence he’d broken into. These suits take up time and money without merit, and there is a legitimate need to be sure these cases are not crowding out genuine ones.

On the other hand, people must have the right to bring lawsuits forward when they genuinely believe their interests have been harmed. Apologies and explanations are nice, but when negligence or incompetence cause serious harm, the costs can be high and people need recourse to protect themselves and those they love.

These issues and more are at stake in the case of Hannah Bruesewitz. Bruesewitz developed mental impairments after receiving a vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. Her parents have been working through the court system, attempting to receive leave to file a pharmaceutical negligence suit against the makers of the vaccine, the pharmaceutical lab Wyeth. Thus far their efforts have been denied, and the case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices of the Supreme Court have agreed to consider the case. Hearings are expected to begin this fall.

The case is complex. Wyeth pulled the vaccine from the market in 1998, but two tiers of courts have rejected the appeal already. Neither side has a definitive claim that makes the case clear on the face of it, so it is comforting that the Supreme Court has agreed to review the matter. The highest US Court rejects many cases each year, and hears many others. Regardless of the ultimate decision, victims can at least draw comfort that the highest legal authority in the land is willing to give their cases the same regard as others.