Articles Posted in Children’s Injuries

By refusing to hear an appeal from the Vatican, the US Supreme Court has allowed a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Holy See to move forward. The clergy sexual abuse complaint accuses the Vatican of working with US church officials to transfer a priest to different cities in the wake of allegations that he was abusing a number of young people.

The sexual abuse complaint, John V. Doe v. Holy See, was filed in 2002. The plaintiff, who is now a grown male, says that Rev. Andrew Roman molested him on a number of occasions during the 1960’s. He claims that that the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Portland, and others protected the priest from having to be held accountable for his crimes by transferring him to different locations.

Per the clergy sex abuse complaint, Ronan starting molesting boys in the mid-1950’s when he was a priest in Ireland. He was then sent to Chicago and later transferred to St. Albert’s Church in Portland, Oregon, where he allegedly sexually abused the plaintiff. Prior to Ronan’s passing in 1992, the priest admitted that he molested three boys while in Illinois.

The Vatican’s US attorney has attempted to have the federal courts toss out the complaint on the grounds of sovereign immunity. Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, sovereign states are immune from lawsuits. However, the lower federal courts have ruled that there may be an exception in this case. One judge ruled that the connection between Ronan and the Holy See was strong enough that under state law he could be considered an employee of the Vatican. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling. Meantime, the Vatican continues to maintain that it should not be held responsible for priests’ individual actions.

Massachusetts Sexual Abuse
Victims of sexual abuse are often left with permanent emotional and psychological scars for life. Sexual abuse is a crime. Over the years, the clergy sex abuse has injured many across the globe. In many cases, the Church looked away, and did not protect the victims-most of them children. Instead, the priests that were the abusers were the ones who were protected, which allowed many of them to continue molesting more people.

Court lets Vatican-sex abuse lawsuit move forward, Washington Post, June 28, 2010
Vatican Bid to Dismiss Suit On Abuse Won’t Get Review, The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Abuse in the Catholic Church, Boston Globe
John V. Doe v. Holy See, C9uscourts.gov (PDF)

Vatican: The Holy See
Continue reading

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Ikea are recalling 3.4 million shades and window blinds. The recall, which involves Roman shades, roll-up blinds, and roller blinds that were sold at IKEA stores in the US between January 1998 and June 2009, comes following news that an 18-month Lowell, Massachusetts boy nearly died from strangulation.

The blinds are a strangulation hazard for young kids because their necks can get tangled in the cords or chains. The roller blinds have a beaded chain that isn’t always attached to the floor or wall with a tension device. Meantime, the roll-up blinds have adjustment loops that can prove dangerous in the event that they end up sliding off the blind. As for the Roman shades, the inner cord and the back of the shade is a place where a young child’s neck can get easily caught. Some of the shades may have pull chains that are not attached to the floor or wall.

According to the CPSC, about 500 children have been strangled on the cords of shades and blinds in the last two decades. It was just last year that retailers voluntarily recalled all Roman shades and roll-up blinds-that’s about 50 million products.

On Monday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a bill that would outlaw the manufacturer and sale of drop-side cribs. Meantime, US Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman Inez Tenenbaum is pledging to ban the sale and manufacturer of drop-side cribs by the end of 2010. The CPSC intends to establish a new standard that would make it mandatory that all cribs have fixed-sides.

These actions come because the dangers posed by drop-side cribs that have yet to be recalled can no longer be ignored. Poor design, hardware malfunctions, deformities, or breakage, dangerously large openings created between the side rail and mattress, improper installation, and screws coming off are some of the crib defects reported that have resulted in serious injuries. In the last decade alone, at least 32 baby deaths have involved drop-side cribs. Crib drop sides may also be a factor in 14 infant crib entrapment deaths.

Granted, the CPSC has already recalled some seven million drop-side cribs in the last five years and the industry has started phasing out cribs with drop sides. Some large retailers won’t even allow them on sale floors anymore. However, many of these cribs can still be bought online and they continue to be used in residences and daycares.

According to a Texas Transportation Institute report, from 1999 to 2008 there has been a 10% increase in the proportion of deadly nighttime traffic crashes involving US teen drivers. This increase can be largely attributed to cell phone use and text messaging that, combined with the risks already posed by driving in the dark, can create “a perfect storm,” says Senior Research Specialist Bernie Fette.

Granted, distracted driving, poor visibility, and slower responses due to fatigue can negatively impact drivers of any age group regardless of the time of day or night. However, add to these hazards the fact that teen drivers are less experienced, easily distracted to begin with, and not as skilled as their more experienced adult counterparts when it comes to avoiding becoming involved in a car crash, and its easy to understand why teenagers’ car crash fatality risk at night has gone up.

Currently, in Massachusetts only school bus drivers are banned from using cell phones while driving and the state doesn’t have a ban on text messaging. This means that unlike in a number of other US states, where new drivers (if not all motorists) are not allowed to talk on the phone and drive at the same time, even the most inexperienced drivers are allowed to text/talk on the phone and drive here. This makes them a danger not only to themselves but to others.

Two years after a 1-year-old North Attleboro baby died from suffocation while entrapped between the frame and mattress of his crib, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling the Simplicity full-size cribs (both drop-side and fixed-side cribs) that come with mattress support frames that are made with tubular metal. The crib defect may prove fatal if the frame detaches or bends, causing an area of the mattress to cave, which can then become an opening that a toddler or infant can get entrapped or stuck in or fall through.

The CPSC knows of 13 other incidents involving these cribs that have resulted in the infant furniture collapsing. Another child who became entrapped was lucky enough to survive without physical injuries. One child that fell from the crib sustained minor cuts to his head.

The CPSC is warning parents to stop using the recalled cribs immediately. The agency does not know how many cribs are included in the recall. It also doesn’t have a list of all the affected models because Simplicity and SFCA Inc., its successor company, are not in business any longer.

Crib Entrapment
Crib entrapment is frequently caused by poorly designed and manufactured cribs. Suffocation, strangulation, fall injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and deaths are among the catastrophic results.

If your child died or was seriously injured because of a crib defect or another product flaw, you may have grounds for filing a Massachusetts products liability lawsuit against the negligent manufacturer, seller, and/or other liable parties.

In the last few years, the CPSC has recalled millions of cribs over product defects that are a serious injuries to children risk. The CPSC announced its latest Simplicity recall (It has recalled other Simplicity products in the past) on the same day it recalled, along with LaJobi Inc., approximately 217, 000 Graco drop-side cribs. If the drop side fails, breaks, doesn’t lock, or detaches from the crib, a baby or toddler can become entrapped between the mattress (this can lead to strangulation or suffocation) or fall to the ground.

99 drop-side failure incidents have been reported. Two children became entrapped and six children fell out of their respective cribs. None of them were seriously injured, although one child did suffer a mild concussion.

Simplicity Crib and Graco Crib Recall, Modern Mom, April 30, 2010
CPSC announces 2 big crib recalls, Associated Press/Boston.com, April 29, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Product Liability FAQ, Nolo Continue reading

Bob Oliva, a former high school boy’s basketball coach has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child rape and one count of disseminating pornography to a minor. Oliva, 65, is charged with raping sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy, who was a family friend, at the Boston Sheraton in 1976.

The alleged victim, Jimmy Carlino, is now 48-years-old. He reported the alleged sex crime to Boston police last year. Massachusetts prosecutors can prosecute Oliva for the 34-year-old sex assault case because the statute of limitations stayed frozen as long as the former coach lived outside the state.

Oliva, considered one of the top high school coaches in New York for almost 30 years, won more than 540 games and five city championships while coaching basketball at a high school in Queens.

Boston Sexual Assault Lawsuits
In addition to reporting a sex crime to the authorities, you may be able to file a Boston sexual assault lawsuit against your assailant or the entity that employed your perpetrator. Sexual assault can consist of rape, inappropriate fondling, molestation, unwelcome kissing, or other sexual acts.

Just last week, a jury awarded Kerry Lewis $1.4 million for the sex abuse he experienced at the hands of Timur Dykes during the 80’s. The 38-year-old former Boy Scout sued the Boy Scouts of America for his personal injuries. The jury will determine next week whether to order the defendant to pay up to $25 million in punitive damages. Dykes admitted to molesting 16 other boy scouts in addition to Lewis.

Sexual assault can be painful, traumatic, and may lead to lasting scars that can impede the victim’s ability to lead a normal, healthy, and happy life. The victim may end up with medical and therapy expenses because of physical, emotional, and psychological injuries brought about by the sex crime. Many instances involving Boston sexual abuse involve attackers that the victim knows or trusts, such as a family friend, a relative, a teacher, a priest, a coach, a doctor, a group leader.

Ex-high school coach pleads not guilty, ESPN, April 13, 2010
Former Christ the King coach Bob Oliva indicted on two counts of child rape by Mass. grand jury, NY Daily News, March 25, 2010 Former Boy Scout Kerry Lewis Wins Sex Abuse Case Against Boy Scouts, Gets $1.4 Million, CBS News, April 14, 2010
Related Web Resources:
U.S. courts allow sex abuse cases against Vatican to proceed in rare legal move, Washington Post, March 27, 2010
Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Continue reading

Kayla Lackey’s mother Erin has reached a $1.8 million wrongful death agreement with Community Health Care Inc., a for-profit Massachusetts methadone clinic in Chicopee. Kayla was just 8 when she died in a Marlboro truck accident in April 2005 on Route 9. Stephen Fairchild, the driver of the pickup truck that struck the truck that Erin, Kayla, and two of her cousins were riding, was a patient at the clinic. He died from injuries he sustained during the truck crash.

Autopsy findings indicate that at the time of the head-on truck crash, Fairchild’s methadone level was “peaking.” He also had recently used marijuana and cocaine.

In 2007, Kayla’s estate sued the clinic and Putney doctor Walter Slowinski over the truck crash that claimed the young girl’s life. Slowinski, who prescribed anti-anxiety medication to the Fairchild while he was taking methadone, settled with the estate earlier this year.

Now that Rebecca Riley’s parents have been convicted of her murder, the Boston wrongful death lawsuit accusing Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Massachusetts psychiatric malpractice will move forward. Rebecca, 4, died after her parents overmedicated her with psychotropic drugs.

The drugs were prescribed by Kifuji who, in exchange for immunity, testified at the criminal trials of Carolyn and Michael Riley. During Michael’s trial, Kifuji said that she does not question the diagnosis she made that Rebecca, then 2, was suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.

Kifuji said her diagnosis was based primarily on Carolyn’s accounts of her daughter’s conduct. The psychiatrist prescribed Depakote and clonidine for Rebecca. She had prescribed the same drugs to Rebecca’s two older siblings, who were diagnosed with the same conditions.

Fall accidents and suffocation are two of the leading causes of injuries to young children. This is why in the last seven days, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with three manufacturers, have announced recalls of products that pose serious injuries to children. If your son or daughter is one of these victims, do not hesitate to request your free consultation with our Boston products liability lawyers. We are committed to making sure that child injury victims and their families receive the Massachusetts personal injury compensation that they are owed.

On March 18, the CPSC and Graco recalled approximately 1.2 million Harmony™ High Chairs following 24 reports of injuries to children, which included bruises, bumps, and scratches to the body and head, as well as an arm hairline fracture. At least 464 reports of screws coming loose and plastic brackets cracking have been reported to Graco. These defects can make the high chairs unstable.

If a chair tips over and a child is in it, a fall accident can occur. All Harmony™ High Chairs are affected by the recall and the CPSC wants people to stop using them right away.

Here is a warning for Massachusetts parents and guardians. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, baby slings can be deadly for your infants. Over the years, this carrier has proved to be a popular accessory, allowing parents to “wear” their kids while keeping them close so that they can bond or breastfeed. Yet the CPSC says that in the last 20 years, it has looked into at least 13 deaths that have been linked to these sling carriers.

12 of the babies that died were under the age of four months. Three of the fatalities happened last year. Consumer Reports noted in 2008 that there had been about two dozen serious injuries to children involving the baby slings.

The main hazards associated with the baby slings are fall accidents, which can lead to skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries, and suffocation, which can happen if the baby ends up in a “C-like” position close to the mom’s belly or chest or if the sling’s fabric ends up covering the infant’s mouth and nose. Both can make it hard for the baby to breath properly.

If your child died because of a defective product, you may want to consider filing a Boston, Massachusetts products liability lawsuit so that you can obtain compensation for the injuries to your child caused by a negligent manufacturer.

If you are going to continue to use your child’s baby sling, then it is important that you:

• Check with the doctor to make sure the sling is the right carrier to use for your baby.
• Follow directions for proper use.
• Make sure that your baby is securely in the sling and isn’t at risk of falling.
• Make sure that the sling fabric doesn’t cover your baby’s face.
• After feeding the infant, shift his/her position so that the head is facing up.
• Frequently check your baby’s position in the sling.

Unfortunately, there are furniture, clothing, accessories, toys, and other children’s products that are either defectively designed or poorly made to the point that they can cause serious injuries to children. Choking, strangulation, lead poisoning, fingertip amputation, and eye hazards are just some of the potential dangers that can cause Boston, Massachusetts injuries to minors.

Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC Warning About Sling Carriers for Babies, CPSC, March 12, 2010
Infant deaths prompt gov’t warning on slings, Associated Press/The Boston Globe, March 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Strangulation and Suffocation, Parents.com
Child Injuries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Continue reading

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