5 out of 5 on
California High Court Ruling Assigns Liability to Hosts in Liquor Cases Involving Underage Minors
The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week that hosts who charge admission to parties may be held legally responsible if a drunken underage guest is hurt or injures someone else. The cover charge amounts to a sale of alcohol and state law creates liability for those who sell alcohol to obviously intoxicated minors. The court erred on the side of permitting liability in order to provide a strong deterrent against the provision of alcohol to minors. This ruling could open the way for lawsuits against minors as long as cover charges were involved.
In the 1970s, the California Supreme Court made social hosts who serve alcohol to intoxicated guests legally liable for their harmful behavior. The Legislature responded by creating immunity for hosts, but later carved out an exception for individuals who sell alcohol, whether or not they are licensed. The Legislature has further expanded liability, making parents, guardians and “any adult: responsible if they knowingly serve alcohol at their homes to minors.” That law affects only adult hosts.
Compounding Pharmacy Owners Agree to $100M Settlement Over Fungal Meningitis Outbreak
CNN has reported that the owners of a now defunct New England compounding pharmacy responsible for a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 have agreed to establish a $100 million fund for victims.
This settlement is only preliminary and must be approved by a judge before it is finalized.
In a statement, the owners of the bankrupt pharmacy said that the establishment of this fund is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing. They claim they are willing to make the money available to help the families of those who died and individuals who suffered injuries “as a result of this tragic outbreak.”
Santa Barbara Family Says It Will File Claim with Congress in Daughter’s Hit-and-Run Death
The family of a 27-year-old Santa Barbara woman who was hit and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street says they will file a wrongful death claim with the House of Representatives.
The family contends that the driver, who was working as a congressional aide for Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) at the time of the accident, was on official business when he attended a holiday party, became intoxicated, and allegedly slammed into the victim while driving home.
He allegedly did not stop at the scene of the fatal accident at the 500 block of Anacapa Street and was only arrested after he crashed into a tree on Cabrillo Boulevard a few blocks away.
Johnson & Johnson Offers $2.5 Billion to Settle DePuy Hip Lawsuits
Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson said that the medical device manufacturing giant will pay approximately $2.5 billion to settle some 8,000 lawsuits brought by plaintiffs, who claim they have suffered serious complications from defective DePuy ASR hip implants.
The proposed settlement is less than what Bloomberg News had speculated in late November when it reported that J&J was prepared to pay out a record $4 billion to settle those same cases.
The agreement, which was announced in the Federal District Court in Toledo, specifies that $2 billion will be set aside for basic awards. An additional $475 million has been reserved for people who suffered more extensive injuries. J&J also announced that medical costs for those patients would be paid under a separate $3 billion dollar fund.
When It Comes to Teen Driving Habits, the Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
Teens are always an easy target when it comes to talk about unsafe or distracted drivers.
Of course, the statistics seem to bear this out. In 2011, teens accounted for 10 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report in 2012 that indicated that the risk of a 16 to 17 year old driver being killed in a crash increased with each additional teen passenger. The risk actually quadruples with three or more passengers.
And teens continue to have the highest crash rate of any group.
But, according to research studies also conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, teenagers learn by example and the more parents work with their teens on driving before they go solo, the better and safer those teen drivers will be. Parents teaching teens safe driving techniques in a wide variety of situations tends to rub off.
Santa Barbara District Attorney Files Felony DUI Charges in Pedestrian Injury
A Los Angeles man has been charged with felony DUI in connection with an October 11 Santa Barbara automobile accident that left a pedestrian with critical and life-threatening injuries.
The 23-year-old man is accused making a left turn into a 24-year-old pedestrian who was crossing at the 300 block of Carrillo Street. Initial blood tests determined that the driver of the automobile had a blood alcohol content of 0.11. It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or above.
Patients with Injuries Turning More to Online Support Groups
It is no stretch to say that the Internet has changed the way we live our lives and the way we communicate. So it is not surprising that people who have suffered injuries from defective medical devices or have experienced adverse affects from a prescription drug are turning more and more to online support groups to help them deal with the mental and physical pain they must endure.
Santa Barbara Cyclists Laud New Safety Law
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law that will require motorists to give bicyclists three feet of leeway when passing them on roads and highways. Assembly Bill 1371, also known as the “Three Feet For Safety Act,” is slated to take effect in September 2014.
Ed France, the executive director of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, told Noozhawk.com that the new law is important because it makes drivers aware that the act of “buzzing” bicyclists or intimidating them on the road is now considered a criminal act.
“It is a meaningful step forward for respectful roadway behavior,” he told Noozhawk.
Santa Barbara County Man Killed in Goleta Industrial Accident
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, a 21-year-old man died while working at a Goleta dairy after he was pinned between a truck and a loading dock by a person driving a tractor trailer.
A report filed with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) said that a tractor-trailer owned by Alta Dena Dairy was delivering milk when the worker was pinned. The worker was rushed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he died. Cal/OSHA is investigating the cause of the accident.
Preventing Workplace Injuries and Deaths
According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, a U.S. worker is injured on the job every seven seconds. These workplace accidents cost the nation billions of dollars each year. Therefore, safety experts say that companies need to educate their workers and implement strict safety precautions in order to prevent workplace injuries and fatalities.
Jury Awards Nearly $800,000 in Santa Barbara Premises Liability Case
In March of this year, Reneé J. Nordstrand helped a client gain a favorable jury verdict in a case in which the client was harmed in a trip-and-fall accident. The woman tripped over a raised brick adjacent to an inadequately lit walkway in a Santa Barbara apartment complex. As a result, the woman fell and broke her left hip.
The fall and injury resulted in severe medical consequences for the client, who suffered four hip dislocations during the course of recovery and had to undergo three hip surgeries, including a partial hip replacement.
Ms. Nordstrand contended — and was able to prove — that the property owners had violated several building codes. That led the jury to conclude that those violations had most likely contributed directly to the woman’s fall and injury. The jury consequently awarded the client a total of $794,380.61. The award was reduced by 74% because the jury found that the client was under the influence of narcotic medications at the time of the fall.