2010 June Archive

Within the last two months, Toyota has recalled several models of its vehicles for defects in its accelerator gas pedal as well as defects related to its floor mats jamming the brake pedals. According to the Toyota USA Newsroom, the most recent recall has involved the luxury Lexus LS 460 and the LS 600h L models for a steering problem that causes temporary off-centered driving.

The recall affects nearly 4000 Lexus vehicles manufactured in 2009 and 2010 nationwide, which may cause an off-centering condition that may develop under a specific driving maneuver. According to Toyota, the defect in the Lexus vehicles should not occur during normal driving circumstances, including changing lanes or turning at intersections.

Given the current state of the economy, some drivers may not be able to avoid driving their Toyota vehicles as suggested, because of a lack of alternative forms of transportation to reach their places of work. In this instance, drivers should first consult the Toyota recall site to determine the severity of the risk that results from their recall.

While it is recommended that drivers avoid driving Toyota vehicles affected by a gas pedal accelerator defect, some drivers may be able to continue driving if their vehicle is affected by the power steering recall.

With the power steering issue, a driver may still be able to drive, but the driver may have to exert more force in steering the vehicle if the defect becomes active. If the power steering should fail, the driver is advised to pull over to the side of the road and to reduce driving speed to avoid other vehicles.

On the other hand, some Toyota vehicles that are on the recall list may not have experienced the harm as indicated by the recall. Some vehicles may never become defective as indicated by the recall; however, drivers should drive more cautiously and be more alert of potential indicators of Toyota vehicle problems.

The most important method of handling a recall is to repair the defective Toyota vehicle as soon as possible. Depending on the type of recall that affects your Toyota vehicle, Toyota has a duty to repair the defect free of charge. If you are unable to have the vehicle recall repaired for free, you may contact your nearest Toyota manufacturer, or contact the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration for further assistance, or to file a complaint.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident involving a recalled Toyota vehicle, our Oklahoma City Toyota recall attorneys may be able to help you obtain compensation from negligent parties. For more information and a free legal consultation, contact our office at 1-888-429-0609.

Choosing to place an elderly loved one into a nursing facility or to relocate to a nursing home as a senior citizen can be a difficult decision. The choice can be further complicated by the risk of abuse in some nursing home facilities that may not maintain an expected quality and standard of care.

The National Institute of Health defines elder abuse as “doing something or failing to do something that results in harm of an elderly person, or puts a helpless older person at risk of harm.” The Elder Abuse Daily states that every 5 seconds, an elderly person is abused. Some families must cope with the harshest of information when they discover that their loved ones have become a part of that statistic.

Elderly abuse can be recognized through extensive observation of nursing home facility practices. Families or senior citizens looking to live in a nursing home should research the facility prior to entering a contract for a living arrangement. Oklahoma residents can check for compliance with nursing home certifications and reports based on treatment from staff members in online resources, such as the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Prior to placing a loved one in a nursing home, or enrolling in a nursing facility as a senior resident, observe the quality of current elderly patients. Nursing homes have a responsibility to ensure that residents are clean, comfortable, and provided with attentive care and assistance.

Studies suggest that visible signs of elder abuse can include frequent abandonment, consistent emergency room visits, and physical neglect. If you notice that other current patients are constantly left in solitude, dressed improperly, or with multiple wounds that appear untreated, more than likely this nursing home facility may be engaged in elderly abuse or neglect.

It is recommended that families visit their loved ones during different times to check for changes in nursing home facility practices. Families should also speak to their loved ones about the care and treatment that they are receiving, and to observe possible indications of fear and anxiety around nursing home facility staff employees.

If you or a loved one believes nursing home abuse or neglect has taken place, please contact the Oklahoma City elder abuse lawyers of Maples Law Firm at 1-888-429-0609 for a free legal consultation. We will fight to protect your rights and ensure that you receive the compensation that you deserve.

Consumers in Oklahoma and throughout the United States rely on pharmaceutical products to help alleviate illness, medical conditions and other ailments. However, what happens when a prescribed medication or over-the-counter drug causes an individual to suffer severe side effects, endure serious injury, or become afflicted by another health problem altogether?

While the answer to this question may not always be so simple, drug manufacturers are responsible for designing, manufacturing, accurately marketing, and including appropriate warning labels for the pharmaceutical products that they put on the market.

According to a Huffington Post article, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black box warning against Reglan, or Metoclopramide, and its generic forms for being connected to causing tardive dyskinesia. Reglan use has been named the leading cause of tardive dyskinesia among patients with the disorder in the U.S. This may be attributed to the fact that the drug’s labels originally did not contain accurate warnings against the very serious risk of tardive dyskinesia. As a consequence, multiple lawsuits for the dangerous drug were filed across the country against its manufacturer, Wyeth, as well as against the makers of generic forms of the drug.

It has been determined that patients who take Reglan over a long period of time, and often in high dosages, may develop tardive dyskinesia. This condition involves uncontrolled, recurring tick-like movements mainly in the muscles of the face and less commonly in the toes, fingers, limbs, hips and torso. What makes this condition all the more risky is that a person may develop symptoms long after he or she has used Reglan.

While there is no known cure for tardive dyskinesia and the best treatment is said to be prevention, some drugs may help lower symptoms in addition to lowering the dosage of the medication that has caused the condition.

If you or someone you care about has suffered serious side effects or symptoms of tardive dyskinesia after taking Reglan or a generic form of the drug, the Oklahoma defective drug lawyers at Maples Law Firm will protect your rights. We have the legal knowledge and experience to handle product liability litigation relating to dangerous pharmaceuticals, such as Reglan, and other defective products that have caused innocent consumers harm. Call 1-888-429-0609 today for a free consultation of your case.

In 2008, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reported that at least 70% of traffic collisions in Oklahoma involved 2 vehicles. Of the total Oklahoma collisions, 43% resulted in the incapacity of either the driver or vehicle passengers and 37% of the accidents were fatalities.

Although some auto accidents in Oklahoma are unavoidable, drivers can take steps to reduce their risk of auto accidents and to minimize the severity of an auto collision through preventative measures.

First, all drivers and passengers should wear their seatbelts while driving. It is the law in Oklahoma that seatbelts must be worn at all times, when a vehicle is in motion. Since many auto accidents occur when vehicles are traveling at slower speeds, such as 30mph, seat belts should be used even when drivers are not traveling at higher speeds.

Second, drivers should avoid tailgating other vehicles in order to allow enough reaction time for abrupt stops, or unforeseen reactions from other drivers. Tailgating has become an increasingly risky driving behavior that leads to both auto accidents and pedestrian injuries, especially in highway work zones.

Third, drivers should work to minimize distractions while driving. Studies have shown that distracted driving is a growing factor in the risk of automobile accidents. Driving distractions include eating food, cell phone usage, text messaging, and speaking with other car passengers simultaneously while driving. It is safer to find an area to pull over your vehicle, if you feel that outside influences will impose any distraction on your ability to drive. After all, it only takes less than a few seconds to be involved in an automobile collision.

Finally, drivers can limit their risk of auto accidents when they avoid speeding. Not only does speeding in an automobile place a person at risk for traffic citations, but speeding has also been a leading cause of Oklahoma vehicle collision fatalities.

In the event that you or a loved one was unable to avoid a car collision, the Oklahoma City automobile accident attorneys of Maples Law Firm can help you. Contact our office for your free legal consultation at 1-888-429-0609, or submit a free online case evaluation form on our website at http://www.mapleslawokc.com.

An article in The Oklahoman online reported that a former caregiver at a Los Angeles-based nursing home facility was sentenced to life for allegedly beating one nursing home resident to death and abusing many other elderly residents.

Witnesses claimed that the worker body-slammed a 78-year-old mute woman and attacked an elderly man in which the ex-employee crashed his knees into the man’s stomach. In addition, the former caregiver had made sexually explicit comments about the daughter of one of the patients. The widow of one of the former patients who was killed discovered that blunt force trauma and abuse caused her husband to suffer many broken bones and a head injury that eventually killed him.

While employed by the California retirement facility, the ex-caregiver held the responsibility of bathing the nursing home residents and escorting them around the nursing facility. Families paid $70,000 or more each year to leave their relatives under the care of the nursing home facility, which also once awarded the alleged abusive caregiver the employee of the month award.

Although the nursing home facility fired the former caregiver for reasons apart from his arrest for the elder torture and abuse charges, the nursing home denies wrongdoing in the deaths and abuse of the elderly patients.

Our Oklahoma City nursing home abuse attorneys handle numerous nursing home facility neglect cases as well as cases involving wrongful death attributed to elder abuse. The attorneys at Maples Law Firm provide highly skilled, competent legal representation in nursing home neglect and abuse cases to prevent the vulnerabilities of the elderly from being exploited by negligent nursing home employees. If you or a loved one has suffered harm while staying in a nursing home, contact our nursing home neglect and abuse attorneys for a free legal consultation at 1-888-429-0609. We can help.

According to an online article in The Oklahoman, a 30-year-old man was killed in a work related accident at a lime plant. The employee was pulled into a grinder machine used for grinding lime and other minerals for a lime plant corporation as three men performed maintenance on the machine. The employee was killed instantly during the on-the-job accident.

Based on the report, rescue workers had to partially dismantle the machine in order to recover the employee’s body. The cause of the accident is still under investigation by the Mine and Safety Health Administration. Statistics from the Oklahoma State Department of Health indicate that 21% of occupational fatalities were due to machine-related deaths between 1998 and 2006.

Families who lose loved ones in work related accidents caused by another person’s negligence may be able to seek financial assistance through workers’ compensation benefits. However, in some instances, a wrongful death lawsuit may also be filed if a third party is determined to hold accountability.

The wrongful death attorneys of Maples Law Firm have extensive experience in obtaining compensation for family members of wrongful death victims. While no amount of money will ever replace the loss of a loved one, compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and even lost earnings can help a family get back on their feet.

At Maples Law Firm, our Oklahoma wrongful death attorneys handle wrongful death cases caused by workplace accidents, auto accidents, medical malpractice, dangerous products, and more. Wrongful death litigation requires skillful representation and lawyers willing to provide the best possible legal solutions for their clients. While legal compensation may not completely ease the pain of a loved one’s death, our wrongful death attorneys can help families recover a form of peace through holding negligent individuals or groups accountable for unsafe premises.

For a free consultation, contact the wrongful death attorneys of Maples Law Firm today at 1-888-429-0609, or visit our website at http://www.mapleslawokc.com to submit a free online case evaluation.