The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

An automobile accident has the capacity to change your life in an instant. Victims of automobile accidents often suffer extensive injuries that bring pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of income, crushing medical expenses, and months of rehabilitative therapy - if you were lucky enough to survive. It is imperative that you contact an experienced, knowledgeable auto accident attorney such as the ones at the Los Angeles office of The Cochran Firm. These cases can be complicated, but we have highly trained accident investigators on our team who have what it takes to fight these cases and win.

Driver distractions, such as cell phone use and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs are just a couple examples of situations that can lead to automobile accidents. Speeding, hazardous road and weather conditions and defective vehicles and tires can also lead to motor vehicle crashes, destruction of property and loss of life in California. Even if you obey the rules of the road and drive defensively and cautiously, the chances of being involved in an automobile accident that is no fault of your own are tremendous.

The experienced Los Angeles automobile accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm can have a major impact on the outcome of your insurance claim or lawsuit if you were involved in an automobile accident. They have the knowledge and resources available to greatly enhance your ability to recover the maximum financial compensation you need and deserve to restore your quality of life.

If you live in the Los Angeles, California area and you or someone you care about was injured or killed in an automobile accident, please contact the experienced automobile accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm today to schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case.

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Truck accidents happen very quickly and for many reasons. A truck accident can be the fault of the truck driver, the truck manufacturer, the government who maintains the roads, or the fault of another driver. In the case of one recent truck accident in Los Angeles, the person at fault was a 36-year-old man who was driving a van.

Authorities do not yet know why the 36-year-old man veered off the road and hit a parked car. The parked car was pushed forward hitting a 50-year-old truck driver and throwing him onto the bed of his broken down truck that he was having towed. The 50-year-old man was airlifted to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The 36-year-old driver of the van suffered minor personal injuries. This Los Angeles truck accident was caused by the negligent actions of the 36-year-old and resulted in the truck driver’s wrongful death.

If you have suffered personal injuries or lost a loved one in a truck accident in Los Angeles due to the negligent behavior of someone else, please contact the Los Angeles truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm to schedule an evaluation of your case. You are entitled to compensation for your injuries and loss.

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A slip and fall accident is a term used to describe an accident in which a person is injured by slipping and falling on someone else’s property. Property owners such as businesses of all kinds, theaters, restaurants and others are obligated by law to provide a safe environment for their customers. Anything that could cause someone to slip and fall must be removed or clearly marked if it cannot be removed. The failure to take cautionary measures makes the property owner liable for legal action in the case of a slip and fall accident.

Common causes of slip and fall accidents involve wet and slippery floors, cracked cement in a sidewalk, and poorly lit stairways. The victim of a slip and fall accident may sustain only scrapes and bruises or suffer a traumatic brain injury that results in death.

The slip and fall accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm have extensive experience in handling slip and fall accidents in the Los Angeles area and have been very successful in securing financial compensation for their injured clients for their present and future medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, income losses and their pain and suffering.

Please contact the experienced slip and fall accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm in Los Angeles, California today if you or someone you care about has been injured in a slip and fall accident and learn how to proceed to protect your legal rights.

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In the year 2010, most women in the United States give birth in modern hospitals surrounded by highly-trained medical professionals and state-of-the-art medical equipment. Still, seven of every one thousand babies born in these modern, up-to-date medical facilities surrounded by highly qualified medical professionals will suffer a birth injury.

Newborn babies are fragile little human beings with soft bones and newly developed organs that are very susceptible to injury and infection at the critical time of their birth that can leave them with devastating, permanent disabilities for life.

Sadly, these injuries and infections are too often the result of a healthcare professional's negligence. Birth injuries are more likely to occur with a large baby or premature baby, during a prolonged or difficult labor or a breech delivery. Birth injuries can have a devastating and permanent effect on your child’s development and life experiences. Many birth injuries are irreversible and require expensive, long-term medical care and treatment.

You may be eligible to receive financial compensation for your medical expenses, mental anguish and more if your child was injured at birth. The qualified birth injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm can answer all your questions, evaluate the circumstances of your case and make sure you get the financial compensation you need to provide a safe and comfortable future for your child.

If you live in the Los Angeles, California area and you feel your baby was harmed as a result of a healthcare professional's negligence, please contact the experienced birth injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm today.

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In operating rooms all over the state of California surgical medical malpractice is leaving patients physically hurting, emotionally scarred and possibly disabled for life, and those are the lucky ones. Thousands of people lose their lives to injuries inflicted on them before, during or after surgical procedures that were performed on the wrong body part, wrong organ, or wrong person.

In addition, anesthesia errors that are responsible for brain damage, surgical instruments left in the body cavities of patients, fatal infections contracted during the surgeries and inadequate pre-operative and post operative care are responsible for countless numbers of deaths that largely go unreported or are considered to be the expected risks involved in surgical procedures.

Though every bad outcome in surgery is not surgical malpractice, the circumstances involved in an unsuccessful surgical outcome must be investigated and evaluated by a medical and legal team of medical malpractice attorneys and investigators who will use their expertise to determine the exact circumstances that caused your injury or the death of a loved one before, during or after a surgical procedure.

The surgical medical malpractice attorneys at The Cochran Firm will work diligently for you to obtain financial compensation for your pain and suffering, lost income, medical expenses and any other costs related to the injuries inflicted by your healthcare provider.

If you live in Los Angeles, California or the surrounding area and you or someone you love has been a victim of surgical medical malpractice, please contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at The Cochran Firm today to protect your legal rights and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

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Somewhere near 50% of all automobile accidents are reportedly caused by driver distractions. Driver distractions are cell phone use and texting, driver fatigue, passenger behaviors that interfere with driver concentration, reading, and adjusting dashboard controls for the various functions displayed.

Other major causes of automobile accidents are driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding and adverse weather and road conditions. There are over six million car accidents nationwide annually with over three million injuries and over forty-five thousand deaths, so it makes sense to be prepared for the eventuality of a car accident. Car accidents are unexpected, stressful and frightening occurrences that often happen to very cautious drivers who have the misfortune to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is important to have an experienced automobile accident attorney on your side to deal with insurance companies that routinely deny or delay legitimate accident claims or refuse to settle your claim fairly and honestly.

If you live in Las Vegas, Nevada and you or someone you care about was involved in an automobile accident and you are getting no satisfaction from the insurance company involved in your claim, please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to obtain the help you need to protect your legal rights and get the financial compensation you are entitled to.

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Usually, prescription medications are miracles of modern science. Over the years, however, many drugs have harmed instead of helped those who were prescribed some medications although they were taken as directed by the pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Drugs for arthritis, for lowering cholesterol levels, diet drugs, anti-depressants, vaccines and oral contraceptives are only a few of the categories of prescription medications that have been responsible for injuries and deaths perpetrated on an unsuspecting public. Defective drugs have caused liver and kidney damage, heart damage, pulmonary dysfunction, stroke and heart attacks.

The law cannot turn back the clock and undo the harm that was done, but the law can help victims of defective drugs and their families recover damages to help cover the financial costs incurred as a result of their injuries.

The defective drug attorneys at The Cochran Firm have many years experience in product liability litigation and a well-deserved reputation for the successful litigation and negotiation of claims against drug manufacturers because our top priority is the welfare of our clients.

If you live in the Los Angeles, California area and you or someone you love has been the victim of a defective drug, please contact the defective drug attorneys at The Cochran Firm today to schedule an evaluation and investigation of the facts of your case so you can obtain the financial compensation you deserve.

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When a person dies as a result of the negligence or misconduct of another individual, that death is legally considered to be a wrongful death. A wrongful death entitles the deceased’s survivors and beneficiaries to be financially compensated for their losses.

Though no amount of money can replace the loss of a loved one, the legal system has only this one recourse to bring justice and accountability to the victim’s family and that is the assessing of monetary damages on the responsible party or parties.

The laws governing wrongful death claims are very complex, but the wrongful death attorneys at The Cochran Firm have years of experience and knowledge to our credit in handling these complicated cases. We understand the devastation a wrongful death can inflict on a family because we have seen firsthand the suffering these acts of negligence have caused to others.

You are entitled to be compensated for medical, funeral and burial expenses, the pain and suffering of the victim prior to their death, the loss of financial support for the survivors and possible future earning potential. Our attorneys will evaluate the scope of your loss and guide you through the procedures to obtain justice in the loss of your loved one.

If you live in the Los Angeles, California area, please contact the wrongful death attorneys at The Cochran Firm today to schedule a confidential consultation at no cost to you to evaluate your claim and begin the process of assessing accountability and justice for your family.

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Train travel is thought to be safer than plane or automobile travel by many people, especially those who are afraid to fly and think highways are dangerous places. The record high gasoline prices in California are causing the residents of the Los Angeles area to consider train travel as their primary mode of transportation.

Unfortunately, train accidents are more common than we are led to believe and are caused by driver distraction, excessive speed, lack of adequate training and equipment failures. In the state of California, over 48% of all train accidents are caused by human error.

A train accident can result in catastrophic injuries such as, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries that can lead to paralysis, amputations, burns, broken bones and wrongful death.

If you have been injured in a train accident in the Los Angeles area, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation from those responsible for your injuries. The Los Angeles train accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm will investigate the circumstances of your train accident and assist you in recovering financial compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, rehabilitation costs and any other accident related expenses you may incur.

Please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today if you or someone you love has been injured in a train accident to protect your legal rights and hold those responsible for your injuries legally and financially accountable.

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Every time you go to a store you take your life in your own hands. Does that sound like a true and rational statement? What if you went shopping knowing a few items in every store could cause you serious harm, but you did not know which ones?

That is exactly what happens every day in the United States as millions of Americans buy products and bring them into their homes, a sort of consumer- based game of Russian roulette. Most products are tested by their manufacturers, but in some cases dangerous flaws are either allowed to remain or go undetected until it is too late.

Defective or dangerous consumer products cause devastating injuries and deaths to thousands of unsuspecting consumers every year. Defective and dangerous products cause severe burns, brain injuries, paralysis, lost limbs or debilitating illnesses and even deaths. The parties responsible must be held legally culpable and financially liable for the damages they inflict on an unsuspecting public.

Some typical defective consumer products have included food items, toothpaste, toys, household appliances, automobiles, airbags, tires, cribs, strollers, pet foods, smoke detectors, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, flammable fabrics, the list is endless.

If you or someone you love has been injured by the use of a defective consumer product, please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to learn about your legal rights and how an experienced product liability attorney can get you the financial compensation you deserve.

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Many patients sustain serious injuries and need support, physical, emotional and financial, for the remainder of their lives due to surgical medical malpractice. Families and survivors whose loved ones have died as a result of surgical medical malpractice have emotional and financial needs that have to be met as well.

Many instances of surgical medical malpractice occur as a result of poor post-operative care, including the failure to recognize a complication from the surgery itself. Surgeons are reluctant to admit surgical error until it is too late and the surgical error becomes a wrongful death.

A surgical procedure can cause life-saving healing or cause great harm if the surgeon does not provide a certain standard of knowledge and skill expected in the medical community. A poor surgical outcome caused by poor surgical care and treatment must be investigated and evaluated by an experienced surgical medical malpractice attorney to discover if you or a family member were the victims of surgical medical malpractice.

Surgical procedures commonly involved in surgical medical malpractice lawsuits are cosmetic surgical procedures such as face lifts and breast augmentations, LASIK eye surgery, gastric bypass surgery and back and orthopedic surgery.

If you live in the Los Angeles, California area and you or someone you love has been injured or died as a result of a surgical error, please contact The Cochran Firm today to schedule a private consultation at no cost to you to protect your legal rights and get the compensation you deserve.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sounded the alarm regarding the popular weight loss drugs, Xenical and Alli which contain orlistat because of the possibility these drugs may cause serious liver damage. Millions of people have unknowingly been exposed to the dangers inherent in these two drugs simply because they wanted help in losing a few unwanted pounds. Now they are faced with life-threatening liver damage.

Xenical is a prescripton medication that contains 120 mg. of orlistat that is manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals and Alli is an over-the-counter medication that contains 60 mg. of orlistat and is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

There have been reports of serious liver damage with the use of the defective weight loss drugs Xenical and Alli that include liver failure, with users exhibiting the symptoms of fatigue and weakness, fever, jaundice, abdominal pain, brown urine, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and light-colored stools.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with liver failure, liver damage, liver inflammation, lesions on the liver or hepatitis after taking the defective weight loss drugs Xenical or Alli, you are advised to seek the counsel of The Cochran Firm's attorneys who are experienced in pursuing defective drug lawsuits to a successful conclusion.

We encourage you to contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to protect your legal rights and secure the financial compensation you are entitled to if you have been the victim of a defective drug.

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At one of the most famous hospitals in Los Angeles, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 206 patients were exposed to 8 times the normal dose of radiation during CT (Computed Tomography) brain scans. The patients were given scans over an 18-month period from February 2008 to August 2009 on a CT machine set to a higher dose than normally used. The report prompted the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to issue a nationwide warning to hospitals to review their safety and quality assurance protocols for CT scans. Included is a basic reminder that dose indices are displayed on the control panel and that people performing scans should know what an expected dose should be.

During the 18 months that this machine was used at its elevated setting, more than one patient experienced signs of high radiation doses, including reddened skin and hair loss. It was the latter symptom which finally lead hospital officials to investigate the machine and discover it had been set to a higher dose.

As a result of the higher dosing, patients were exposed to as many as 4 grays of radiation to the head, instead of the expected 0.5 grays. A gray is a measure of radiation absorbed per kilogram. For comparison, a set of dental x-rays typically results in a brain exposure of 0.005 milligrays, or 0.000005 grays. A full-body exposure of 8 grays is considered lethal.

At this point, no medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed, but if they are, they will most likely be for what is known as hospital malpractice. In this type of lawsuit, an entire facility is held responsible because systematic errors by numerous persons contributed to the error. If any person during the 18 months that these 206 scans were conducted had actually checked the dosage, further patients could have been saved from dangerous radiation exposure.

When you undergo a CT scan, it is worthwhile to ask your doctor how much radiation you will be exposed to, and even to ask that they check the dosage on the machine. Also, you should look for signs of acute radiation exposure, including:

• Nausea and vomiting: the closer to the scan, the higher the dose
• Red skin
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Hair loss
• Bloody stool or vomit
• Poor wound healing

These symptoms may be delayed by several days. If you experience any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor right away.

If you believe you have been exposed to excessive doses of radiation or otherwise been injured through medical malpractice, the medical malpractice attorneys at the Los Angeles office of The Cochran Firm stand ready to help. Please contact us today for a free case evaluation.

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Most people are not aware of the abuse and neglect that happens on a daily basis in nursing homes and assisted living facilities around the country. With over 65 million people over the age of sixty-five years nationwide, nursing home and assisted living abuse and neglect should be a subject we are all aware of.

Sometime soon you or someone you are close to may find themselves in a precarious position as far as health and the ability to care for themselves is concerned. Hopefully, you will encounter a positive experience and find a facility staffed with hardworking, dedicated and caring people. More than likely, you will encounter facilities staffed by uncaring, undertrained and frustrated staff.

The signs of physical abuse in a nursing home or assisted living setting are relatively easy to recognize, such as open sores, cuts, bruises, malnutrition, and poor hygiene. Emotional abuse behaviors such as continuous rocking, agitation and depression are also less recognizable signs of abuse and neglect.

Visiting family and friends find the nursing home and assisted living residents reluctant to speak out about the abuse or unable to communicate their concerns. Residents of these facilities are guaranteed certain rights under the law and at the very least should be treated with respect and dignity in a safe and clean environment.

If you suspect someone you care about is a victim of nursing home or assisted living abuse and neglect, please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to protect their legal rights.

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Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca, has called for an investigation into an incident that occurred on September 14, 2009 in Athens, CA. Athens is an area just south of downtown Los Angeles.

The Events So Far Known
That night, there was an armed robbery in this area and sheriff's deputies from the Lennox station were looking for two suspects. They were near 120th St. and Budlong Ave. when they saw two men who matched the suspects' descriptions. According to Sgt. Diane Hecht, the deputies approached to speak to them but one of the men ran and the deputies chased him. When he reached into his waistband, a deputy fired at him, thinking him to be armed. By this time they were in the 1200 block of Poindexter St.

The man was hit in the upper body and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. He was one Darrick Collins, aged 36, who had apparently been playing a video game with a friend. He is reported to be the father of two and one of them, a daughter, lives in L.A. with her mother. The other child is a boy of 16 months whose mother is one Kendra Dean.

According to Sheriff's Lt. Dave Dolson, who spoke with reporters at the scene, the deputies called out to Collins to "Freeze!" but as the man then ran, they did not get to question him about the armed robbery. The Sheriff’s office is still looking into whether Collins might have been involved with the robbery.

The other man was not detained and no weapons have been yet found at the scene. So far there are no details available about the armed robbery. Collins' uncle, brother, and other family members are much grieved and angry at this sudden loss - perhaps a wrongful death.

An Expedited Investigation
The President of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, will be meeting with Sheriff Lee Baca and various community leaders to discuss this incident. Baca has called for an expedited investigation. Usually such investigations take up to twelve months to complete, but Baca would like this one to be finished within 90 days.

Pending the investigation results, the true facts of Collins' death cannot be certain. It is well known that one should never run when a police officer wants to speak to you - it suggests guilt. On the other hand, Collins was apparently planning to attend barber school and could have been an innocent citizen mistaken for the suspect. Police brutality is never acceptable; yet the police and sheriff's deputies risk their lives daily to protect the innocent and must often make snap decisions under a lot of stress. Genuine mistakes can happen.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a law enforcement officer and are wondering about legal rights and options, please contact our personal injury attorneys today for a free case review. The Cochran Firm has offices nationwide and we are here to serve you regardless of where you live.

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Many businesses in this country rely on the trucking industry for their livelihoods. There are over 3,000,000 trucks on American highways on any given day. Statistics reveal within the span of one year over 144,000 trucks were involved in accidents and over 5,000 of those accidents involved fatalities.

In 80% of those accidents, the non-commercial driver was not at fault, but suffered the injuries and deaths as a result of those accidents. Statistics like those reveal how important it is to keep a safe distance from trucks when you are on the highways, to take extra precautions during hazardous driving conditions and to expect the unexpected and be ready for anything.

The most common causes of truck accidents include speeding, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, fatigue, reckless or aggressive driving behaviors and mechanical failure.

If you have the misfortune to be involved in an accident with a truck, you need an experienced truck accident attorney representing you from the minute the accident happens. You should be fully compensated for any medical expenses due to the accident, for your pain and suffering and for lost income and other expenses you incur due to the accident. The attorneys representing the trucking company will be doing all in their power to see you get as little as possible, if anything.

If you live in Los Angeles, California or the surrounding area and you have been involved in an accident with a truck, please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to schedule a confidential consultation with an experienced truck accident attorney who will protect your legal rights while obtaining justice for you and the compensation you deserve.

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Eight to ten birth injuries or birth traumas occur for every one thousand live births in this country because of medical malpractice or negligence. Injuries can also involve the mother as well as the baby in some cases.

Birth injuries occur when a healthcare professional such as a doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, anesthesiologist or a healthcare facility, a hospital, urgent care center or birthing center, fails to maintain an accepted standard of care and treatment for patients under their care.

Birth injuries can have wide ranging effects from mild to severe. Minor superficial bruising to brain damage can occur. Common birth injuries may include bruising from the use of instruments, swelling of the head, facial paralysis, Erb's palsy, cerebral palsy, fractured bones and traumatic brain injury.

The burden of caring for a child injured at birth can be emotionally, physically and financially devastating. Many instances of birth injuries are preventable. An experienced birth injury lawyer is able to study the labor and delivery records and determine if medical malpractice and negligence were involved.

If you live in Los Angeles, California or the surrounding area and you suspect you or someone you care about has a child that has suffered a birth injury, please contact the Los Angeles, California office of The Cochran Firm today to schedule a confidential consultation at no cost to you with an experienced birth injury attorney to protect your legal rights.

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