PG&E Criminal Investigation Could Slow Victims' Lawsuits

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Mike Danko

The Blue Ribbon panel appointed by the CPUC has blasted PG&E, suggesting that PG&E knew about the weaknesses in its system for years before the explosion but did essentially nothing.  According to Steve Johnson, writing for the San Mateo Times, the panel noted:

that an internal PG&E review three years before the San Bruno explosion had listed the company's gas system as among several catastrophic risks facing the utility. . .Yet, when the expert panel checked to see how PG&E responded to the red flags, it was dismayed.

The panel's finding really isn't much of a surprise.  Weeks after the explosion, I wrote here that PG&E knew about a potential catastrophe, but failed to warn its customers.  Martin Ricard published that story way back on September 23.

Now the Department of Justice and the San Mateo County District Attorney's office are launching a criminal investigation.  What does that mean for the victims?  Generally, criminal investigations mean delay for civil lawsuits.  Management representatives, when questioned under oath, tend to assert their 5th amendment rights against self-incrimination and refuse to testify until the criminal proceedings are concluded.

We'll see what PG&E management does here.

The panel's full report is here.

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Parents' Liability for the Acts of Their Child

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Mike Danko

A parent can sometimes be liable for the harm his or her minor child causes to others.

Here are some situations in which, in California, a parent is automatically liable:

  • When the parent has signed  the child’s driver’s license application, and the child’s driving hurts someone (but the parent’s liability is limited to $15,000 per person and $30,000 per incident);
  • When the child drives the parent’s car with the parent’s permission, regardless of whether the parent has signed the license application (liability limited to $15,000 and $30,000 Mug Shot per incident);
  • When the child hurts someone with a firearm supplied by a parent (liability limited to $30,000 per victim and $60,000 per incident); and
  • When the child willfully injures someone (liability limited to $37,100).

In the situations listed above, the parent is liable even though he or she was acting responsibility. But if the parent was not acting responsibility, his or her liability for the harm the child causes will be unlimited. Thus, a parent will be liable for the full amount of the harm  the child causes in the following situations:

  • When the parent provides the child alcohol and the child harms someone as a result;
  • When the parent entrusts a car, weapon, or other dangerous instrumentality to a child who the parent should have known was not experienced enough to use it safely; and
  • When the parent fails to properly supervise or control a child who the parent knew, due to the child’s prior misconduct, could harm others.
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Hospitals Fined for Errors

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Kristine Meredith

Last month several California hospitals were praised by the federal Health and Human Services Agency. This month a dozen hospitals were penalized for significant errors. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced twelve California hospitals have been assessed administrative penalties after it was determined the facilities’ noncompliance with licensing requirements caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury or death to patients. The department levied a total of $650,000 in fines for errors that occurred between 2008 and 2010. Most of the errors involved medication mistakes or surgical tools left inside patients after operations.

1. AHMC Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Anaheim, Orange County.
2. Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Martinez, Contra Costa County.
3. Dominican Hospital, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County.
4. Emanuel Medical Center, Turlock, Stanislaus County.
5. Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco, San Francisco County.
6. Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, Burlingame, San Mateo County.
7. Palomar Medical Center, Escondido, San Diego County.
8. Pomerado Hospital, Poway, San Diego County.
9. Promise Hospital of East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County.
10. Scripps Memorial Hospital – Encinitas, Encinitas, San Diego County.
11. Scripps Memorial Hospital – La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County.
12. Sharp Memorial Hospital, San Diego, San Diego County.

California law requires hospitals to report to the CDHP their noncompliance with their own policies and procedures. The CDPH investigates the reports and issues fines. If problems persist, the hospitals could lose their state operating license or their reimbursements from Medicare and Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.

In addition to administrative penalties, hospitals may be held responsible by the injured patient. When it is suspected that a hospital’s error injured a patient, the hospital’s policies and procedures are crucial to showing the hospital's accountability.  

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FDA Taking Another Look at Dangers of Yaz and Yasmin

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Mike Danko

The Food and Drug Administration approved Yaz and Yasmin based on research that Bayer provided saying that the drugs were safe. We've been saying all along that the research was suspect and that, in fact, the drug is more risky than other birth control pills with no added benefits. The danger, we said, was the drugs' unique ingredient, drospirenone.

In April, two independent studies were published concluding that Yaz and Yasmin are, in fact, two to three times more likely to cause potentially lethal blood clots than competing birth control pills. The studies can be found here and here.

Now the FDA has taken notice. Yesterday, it released a "safety announcement" concerning the drugs. As part of it's "ongoing safety review of birth control pills that contain drospirenone" (Yaz and Yasmin were the first and hold the largest market share), the FDA says it will take another look at the risks the drugs carry. It will look most closely at the risk of death resulting from blood clots:

A blood clot that forms in a deep vein in the body is called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A DVT is a rare side effect of taking birth control pills. A blood clot can break loose from the vein, move through the body to the lung, and cause a serious problem in the lung, called a pulmonary embolism (PE). This can lead to death.

The FDA says that it will do two things to see whether Yaz and Yasmin do, in fact, have a higher risk of blood clots and death. First, it will be looking closely at the new studies. Second, it has commissioned its own "large study exploring the association of blood clots with hormonal contraception." It says that the results of that study are "currently being finalized and reviewed."

Depending on what it determines, the FDA could (1) do nothing, (2) work to take the drugs off the market, or (3) order a stronger warning so that women who use the drugs know the risks.

Meanwhile, the 6000 lawsuits brought by women injured after using the drugs march toward trial. The first cases will be tried next year.
 

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