According to the Huffington Post, actor James Woods, along with his nephew Peyton, is suing a hospital for the wrongful death of his brother, Michael Woods, 49, who died from heart disease at Kent Hospital in Warwick, Rhode Island, on July 26, 2006, after going into cardiac arrest on a gurney.  At the wrongful death trial, James Woods’ lawyer told jurors that the hospital did not do enough to care for Michael Woods when he went to the emergency room complaining of a sore throat and vomiting in 2006.  

According to the attorney, Michael Woods wasn’t seen by a doctor until an hour after he arrived and was initally treated in a section of the emergency room generally reserved for less-urgent cases.  The results of an EKG came back abnormal but he was not given oxygen, aspirin or hooked up to heart monitoring to track further deterioration.  These procedures are all part of the standard of care in treating someone in Woods’ condition, according to Mark Decof, James Woods’ attorney.

Michael Woods was instead taken for additional X-rays and afterward was left on a gurney in a hallway near a nurse’s station because no room was available.  He went into cardiac arrest and died nearly three hours after his arrival at the hospital.

The hospital’s lawyers said that Michael’s symptoms were inconsistent with someone having a heart attack.  They said that he tried to downplay his illness by assuring her that he was fine and didn’t need so much attention.  Further, the lawyers said that he denied to the nurse that he was having more typical symptoms like chest pain. 

Decof said the death could have been prevented had hospital staff recognized Woods’ condition early enough, but lawyers for the hospital say that his heart and arteries were already so diseased that there ws no way to save him and that he died before any potentially lifesaving measures could even have been taken.  Woods was overweight, had high blood pressure, an artery severely narrowed by plaque, and also suffered from myocardial ischemia, a condition caused by lack of blood flow to the heart.  According to the hospital, they ordered tests and “didn’t rule anything in and didn’t rule anything out.” 

Michael Woods, a businessman who lived in Warwick, was also an actor who appeared in several of his brother’s movies and ran twice unsuccessfully for mayor of the city, which is several miles south of Providence.

According to ConsumerAffairs.com, Zero Motorcycles Inc. is recalling about 200 off-road motorcycles.  The recall involves model year 2009 Zero X and Zero MX electric motorcycles.  The motorcycles were sold by Zero Motorcycles dealers nationwide from December 2008 through August 2009 for between $7,500 and $8,300.

The throttle can become stuck in the open position or become disconnected. In the “Easy” or the “0-25” mode, this can unexpectedly lead to full power, resulting in a loss of control and serious injury to the rider.  Zero Motorcycles has received three reports of unexpected acceleration, one including report of minor injuries.

According to KTVU.com, San Jose residents, Lorenzo Garcia, 27, and Jesus Guzman, 29, were arrested in connection with the attack on an animal care officer on November 3.  They were arrested under a California law that applies to owners or caretakers who let their dogs out of custody, resulting in great harm or death.  The dog owners are facing charges stemming from a law enacted a few years ago after a San Francisco woman was killed by two dogs running loose.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Ronnie Lopez, the attack happened at about 7 a.m., after the dogs broke out of a nearby home and made their way to a house in the 2300 block of Pentland Way.  The homeowner called police to report a vicious animal and police responded, along with a city animal care officer.  As the animal care officer entered the home’s backyard to try and contain the dogs, according to police, both dogs attacked her.  A police officer shot and killed one dog and wounded the other while attempting to rescue her.  San Jose fire Captain Barry Stallard said the dogs were extremely aggressive and officers had to fire 11 rounds before they were incapacitated.

Julie St. Gregory, a San Jose animal care spokeswoman said that the second dog was euthanized later on November 3.  The dogs, named Chief and Sharkey, were a mix of pitbull and American bulldog.  Neither of the dogs were neutered.  St. Gregory blames the owners.  She said, “If you’re going to get these dogs you need to neuter them, you need to train them and you need to keep them confined.  They can be dangerous.”

St. Gregory also stated that last year the dogs’ owner was cited five times before the incident occurred after the city received six complaints about the dogs.

The animal service officer suffered nine bites, some of them very severe.  She was released after receiving many stitches.  The officer was bit in the arms, legs, buttocks and hips before the dogs were controlled.  The officer was taken to a hospital and will require surgery.  Fire Captain Stallard said that the dogs took a sizeable chunk of flesh out of the officer’s right arm but he was relieved that the dogs did not bite her face or neck.  “She was fighting them, kicking them, trying to fight them with her baton,” he said.

The dogs bit the officer in the arms, legs, buttocks and hips before they were controlled, Stallard said. The officer was taken to a hospital and will require surgery, he said. While the dogs took a sizeable chunk of flesh out of the officer’s right arm, Stallard was relieved that the dogs did not bite her face or neck.

The homeowner told officers he usually keeps the sliding door to the backyard open in the mornings, but it happened to be closed Tuesday, Stallard said.  The homeowner also stated that he was about to feed his 6- and 8-year-old kids breakfast and those dogs were jumping against the sliding door.  Stallard stated “”Those kids would have been torn to pieces.”

According to ContactMusic.com, Stacy Rowles, 54, a celebrated jazz musician, passed away on October 27, 2009 at her home in Burbank, California following a car accident. Rowles died from complications follwing the collision that occurred on October 13, 2009.

Rowles was a jazz trumpeter, fluegelhorn player and singer. She played regularly in several all-female jazz groups, including the Jazz Birds and Maiden Voyage. She was the daugher of jazz legend Jimmy Rowles and gained prominence on the Los Angeles jazz scene in the 1980s.

Stacy and her father recorded her 1984 album Tell It Like It Is and their 1992 duet album, Looking Back, among others. They also played together often until shortly before his death in 1996. Stacy is survived by her sister Stephanie Rowles and her brother Gary.

According to the Press Democrat, Eunice Peterson, a 91-year-old Burnside Road resident will most likely have no criminal charges pressed against her after she apparently struck and injured Sally Wong, a 43-year-old cyclist on Friday, October 16, and kept on driving.  Wong was struck from behind, knocked off her bike and sustained moderate injuries.  Her bike helmet was reportedly cracked in the mishap.  She was taken to the hospital, treated and released.

According to the CHP, it seems as though there was no intent on her part to flee the scene intentionally.  Peterson read about the incident in The Press Democrat and then contacted the CHP on Saturday stating that she thought she was the one who hit Wong.  Investigators said that it did not appear Peterson knew she hit someone.  Peterson’s driver’s license could be revoked if it appears she has eyesight or hearing issues, or cannot drive safely any longer.

According to the CHP, the front right corner of Peterson’s Corolla hit the rear wheel of Wong’s bicycle.  There was only minor damage to the Corolla.  The CHP said that it is possible that Peterson drove by, clipped Wong’s bicycle, sent the cyclist tumbling and wasn’t aware.  It is uncertain how fast the car was going when it struck the cyclist.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Cannon Hoops, a 4-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, received $1.75 million up front and will receive another $4 million in annuities that are expected to pay for his medical and assistive care as well as future lost earnings over the rest of his life.  The $5.75 million settlement was approved on Friday by a judge on his behalf.  The money was awarded by the University of California Board of Regents as a result of injuries the boy suffered when he was born in the UC Davis Medical Center.  Cannon undergoes speech, physical, aqua and several other forms of therapy.

Cannon’s parents also have been awarded $250,000 to waive any future wrongful death claims in the event their only son does not survive. The total of $6 million is the largest amount the university has ever agreed to pay to settle a medical malpractice case.

The attorney for the university declined to comment but in his court papers, he compiled a list of denials and defenses in his answer to the Hoops family’s complaint.  One of them was that the “comparative negligence” of the boy’s parents contributed to his injuries and that they gave their “informed consent” to the hospital’s practices at the time their son was born.

Sacramento attorney Leo H. Schuering Jr., who represented the university, declined to comment. In his court papers, Schuering compiled a list of denials and defenses in his answer to the Hoops family’s complaint. One of them was that the “comparative negligence” of the boy’s parents contributed to his injuries and that they gave their “informed consent” to the hospital’s practices at the time their son was born.

The family’s attorney stated that Cannon suffered “severe and permanent” neurological injuries as a result of a lack of oxygen to his brain during his December 1, 2004 birth at the medical center.  He said that Cannon’s fetal monitor strip “showed distress in the baby” just before he was born but that the attending medical personnel “all ignored or didn’t recognize or realize it, no one spoke up or said anything, and they all blindly proceeded to go through with a normal vaginal delivery.”

He went on to say that “the baby came out blue, not breathing, and it then took a while for the physicians to recognize there was a problem.”  He alleges that if the doctors had delivered the baby by Caesarean section, it “would have prevented the whole problem.”

The original complaint in the case named three doctors as defendants.  Richard Clement Graves’ license has not been renewed and “no practice is permitted” on his part.  Cheryl Ann Walker was placed on five years probation by the medical board for failing to note on her license application that she has twice been convicted of misdemeanor petty theft, in 1983 and 1998, records showed.  Bhoomi Manoj Brahmbhatt has had no actions taken against him.  He left UC Davis in 2007 and is practicing in San Diego.

All three were later dropped from the legal action.

According to the Washington Post, USA soccer player Charlie Davies, was badly injured in a car accident early Tuesday, October 13.  He was stable through the night at Washington Hospital Center.  He had extensive operations for fractures to his right leg, left elbow and face, as well as for a lacerated bladder.

Davies was transported via helicopter to Washington Hospital Center due to the extent of his injuries.  The driver was transported via ambulance.  According the U.S. Park Police, the investigation into the accident will take at least one to two weeks.  They are not identifying the survivors at this time. 

Davies plays for the French club Sochaux.  Alexandre Lacombe, president of the club indicated that they are all in shock.  According to Lacombe, Davies had dreams of playing in World Cup 2010 in South Africa.  However, due to the severity of his injuries, these dreams are unlikely.  Furthermore, his career may now be in jeopardy.

According to the Contra Costa Times, a Santa Clara County jury awarded Drew Bianchi, a former college student, more $49 million in damages this week.  The jury found that two truckers and state transportation officials were to blame for a 2007 accident on Highway 152 that left him permanently brain damaged.  At the time of the accident, Bianchi was finishing up community college in Bakersfield and preparing to start at the University of California, Davis .  He planned to attend medical school.  He’s now in a full-time neurological treatment center in Bakersfield and will need round-the-clock medical care for the rest of his life.

The verdict is one of the largest personal injury verdicts in years for the county.  Late Monday, the jury sided with plaintiff Drew Bianchi, 23-years-old, from Bakersfield.  In a five week trial, Bianchi’s attorney presented evidence that reckless driving by truckers on the perilous Pacheco Pass was to blame for the accident.  The collision occurred on May 3, 2007, when Bianchi was in the back seat of a Toyota Avalon with three other men heading for a camping trip.  Two trucks collided near the center line of the two-lane highway, with one veering into the rear of the Toyota and directly crushing the part of the car where Bianchi was riding.

The jury divvied up blame in the verdict, assessing 60 percent of the damages on Samuel Bimbela, the trucker who allegedly first drifted across the center line and triggered the accident; and 35 percent to Gordon Trucking and its driver, Michael Demma, who was accused of recklessly driving his truck by talking on a cell phone just before crashing into Bimbela. The jury found the state 5 percent at fault. Salazar Trucking, Bimbela’s employer, settled for the $2 million, so its driver faced trial alone.  Bimbela denied responsibility, saying it was Demma who crossed the center line.

The California Department of Transportation settled with Bianchi for $10 million prior to the trial to settle claims against the state based on allegations that they failed to correct safety issues on Highway 152.  Bimbela’s attorneys denied liability, saying that Caltrans’ failure to improve safety conditions along Pacheco Pass’s “bloody alley” were a significant cause of the accident.  The total damages in the case amounted to more than $60 million.

According to East County Magazine, on October 10, 2009 Debra Louise Allen, 42, died after being run over by a bus that struck the motorcycle on which she was a passenger.

The accident occurred at 10 a.m. east of Tecate Road in Dulzura.  According to the San Diego Coroner’s office, Allen was a passenger on a 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle which tried to pass the bus on a steep, windy grade.  Allen was run over and crushed by the bus.  The male driver and his motorcycle were pushed to the side of the road. 

CHP and Border Patrol agents responded to a 911 call and confirmed Allen’s death at the scene.  Allen resided with her mother in La Mesa.

According to Bloomberg, Toyota Motor Corp., its units, lawyers and any other employees were ordered by a U.S. judge to preserve all documents relating to any make model or year platform vehicle, crashworthiness data, and research projects related to product liability or crashworthiness of its vehicles.  Toyota was accused of destroying lawsuit evidence.

District Judge T. John Ward wrote, “The court finds an immediate threat of irreparable harm in that, under the allegations, a threat exists that evidence material to this case would be destroyed or altered.”  The judges order stems from a federal lawsuit filed in July in Los Angeles by Dimitrios Biller, a former in-house attorney for Toyota.  Biller claims Toyota destroyed documents that should have been retained as possible evidence in personal injury claims.  He further claims that he suffered a mental breakdown and is unable to work after he was forced to perform unethical and illegal tasks and finally resigned from Toyota, receiving a $3.7 million settlement when he left the company in 2007.

Todd Tracy, a Texas attorney is representing families of crash victims (some who died and others who were paralyzed) who’d resolved their product liability claims with the company.  Tracy sought Ward’s permission to reopen his clients’ cases in light of Biller’s claims because some suits were dropped due to lack of evidence.  Tracy sued Toyota after Biller made his claims and is seeking unspecified damages and sanctions against the company on their behalf.

Ward set a hearing for Oct. 7 to decide whether to extend his order.