California personal injury attorney

August 5, 2016

Avoiding Pokémon GO Accidents and Injuries

For kids and adults alike, the recent Pokémon GO smartphone game has been an exciting activity around Southern California and throughout the country. However, according to a recent report from Inquisitr.com, the game has also resulted in a number of alarming accidents and injuries. You might have heard about pedestrian accidents caused by distracted walking, but Pokémon GO has taken these collisions to a new level, along with serious distracted driving crashes. The problem is not only one affecting people who play the game. Pokémon GO players—due to extreme distractions from the game—are causing serious accidents that are impacting other pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists who are paying attention to the rules of the road.

What should you know about this new smartphone game, and how can you avoid serious accidents and injuries?

Pokémon GO Causes Accidents in Southern California and Across the U.S.

June 24, 2016

California Senate Rejects Legislation Concerning Doctors on Probation

by Walton Law Firm

If your doctor is on probation due to medical negligence or for committing a serious surgical error, how will you know? According to a recent report from KQED News and California Healthline, proposed legislation “would have required doctors and other medical [professionals] to notify their patients if they were on probation for serious infractions.” However, as the report explains, the California Senate rejected the legislation, meaning that there will be no law in place—at least not in the very near future—that will require physicians to inform their patients about their severe mistakes.

Details of the Proposed Legislation and its Limited Application

As the report explains, the proposed legislation did not aim to require all doctors and other healthcare professionals who have been cited for any and all forms of medical negligence to tell their patients. The bill only “would have applied to a tiny pool of practitioners—those disciplined for serious offenses such as gross negligence, sexual misconduct, substance abuse, or a felony conviction related to patient care.”

May 15, 2016

Brain Injury Markers Present in Former NFL Players

by Walton Law Firm

Just how pervasive are concussions and other forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among professional athletes? According to a recent article in MedPage Today, a recent study determined that more than 40% of all former NFL players show signs of having experienced TBI. In other words, many—if not all—of those former players could be at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease of the brain that results from a “history of repetitive brain trauma,” according to an information sheet from the Boston University CTE Center.

Will these new findings impact the ways in which players approach the game? Or do we need even more evidence of the severity of football injuries in order to change the way the sport is played?

MRI Scans Showed Signs of Brain Injury

May 14, 2014

Summer Weather and Heat Illness at Work

by Walton Law Firm

Cal/OSHA’s Campaign to Prevent Heat-Related Work Injuries

Do you have a job that requires you to work outside? While the weather in Southern California is often warm, summertime and its heat waves can result in serious heat illness injuries to construction workers, roofers, agricultural workers, landscapers, athletes, and others who work in particularly hot temperatures. According to a recent article in Digital Journal, this time of year means that California employers and employees alike “should take steps to prevent heat-related illnesses and injuries.”

Awareness about heat-related workplace injuries is important in our state, and Cal/OSHA has “launched a campaign to educate workers and employers about the risks of heat illness and ways to stay safe while working outside in hot weather.” According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the campaign is part of a nationwide one that aims to educate employers and employees about the dangers of working outside in hot weather, particularly in the summertime.