In an interview with a Knoxville television station, Lieff Cabraser attorney Todd Walburg stated the Yaris “had not been recalled by Toyota, even though it had the same kind of electronic throttle system as the other vehicles that had been recalled.” The complaint alleges:

“The subject 2008 Toyota Yaris was not equipped with a brake override system, also known as smart-throttle technology. Ironically, earlier models of the Toyota Yaris that were sold in Europe were equipped with the Bosch brake override system. Toyota elected not to use the Bosch brake override system in the vehicles that it sold in the United States. ”

Learn why Toyota is legally responsible for the damage and injuries cause by its cars suddenly accelerating.

Join us for a free showing with director Susan Saladoff of

HOT COFFEE

Thursday, November 10th, 12:30 p.m.
Palace Hotel, Gold Room
2 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA

Space is limited.
Please RSVP to HotCoffeeSF@lchb.com

About Hot Coffee

The documentary reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses this infamous case to investigate what’s behind the push for tort reform – which threatens to restrict the legal rights of everyday citizens and undermine the entire justice system.

Hot Coffee challenges viewers to reexamine their beliefs that the courts are flooded with frivolous lawsuits that lead to “jackpot justice.” The documentary shows how Americans are giving up their Constitutional rights without knowing it by voting for limitations on damages or agreeing to mandatory arbitration embedded in the fine print of contracts and waiving their right to a jury trial.

Susan Saladoff, director of “Hot Coffee The Movie”, appeared on the October 25, 2011 Colbert Report to discuss the civil justice system and tort reform. It is a informative interview wherein Ms. Saladoff explains tort reform and discusses the myth of frivolous lawsuits that everyone should see and share.

As described in a review by the Washington Post, “Unlike so many documentaries these days, ‘Hot Coffee’ is refreshingly unadorned or manipulated for artistic or tear-jerking effect. It winnows down complicated legal arguments and anecdotal cases with compassion and clarity.”

Sponsored by

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
Girard & Gibbs, LLP
Consumer Attorneys of California
Public Justice

At a scoping meeting last week in Biloxi, Miss., Vietnamese shrimpers said they have pulled up nets full of oil from the seafloor and have had to decide whether to report the oil to the Coast Guard, which would mean dumping their day’s catch, or pretend they don’t see the oil.

John Lliff, a supervisor with NOAA’s Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program, said no one knows how much of the seafloor is covered in oil. Simply lowering a camera to the Gulf floor can take as long as 4 hours. The oil may have sunk in part because of dispersants. Other factors such as sediment might also have caused it to sink, Lliff said.

Shrimpers in Biloxi also said that in places where shrimp have been plentiful, there are no shrimp now.

Fishermen in Pensacola and Panama City, Fla. brought a day’s catch to a scoping meeting to show that several fish had lesions. The fishermen were concerned the lesions were a result of the oil spill.

“Lesions do occur in fish,” Lliff said. “Typically, they are a low occurrence, but fishermen there are saying they are coming up every catch.”

Kathleen Recinos of Panorama City, was killed Dec. 19, 2008, when a 2009 Toyota Scion driven by her boyfriend, Brian Martinez, “suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated,” crossed into oncoming traffic on Tampa Avenue in Northridge, California, and struck two oncoming vehicles, according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Santa Ana. Recinos was pregnant at the time and Martinez was also killed in the accident.

Lieff Cabraser represents the parents in the wrongful death lawsuit. The complaint alleges that electronic throttle control systems contained in many Toyota models are faulty and have caused hundreds of crashes. The parents also faulted Toyota for failing to include a brake override system that would have cut off the accelerator if the brake and gas pedals were applied simultaneously.

Read the full story on the LA Times website. You can also read a copy of the complaint filed in the case or read more about the lawsuit and similar Toyota sudden acceleration incidents.

Paxil, Paxil Oral Suspension, and Paxil-CR are trade names of the drug Paroxetine, which is a member of a class of drugs known as “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs). A 2005 study based on 3,500 pregnant women, linked Paxil to twice as many birth defects compared to other antidepressants when taken during the first three months of pregnancy.

The birth defects identified in the study included congenital defects, heart defects and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a potentially fatal disease.

If your child was born with birth defects and you were prescribed Paxil or other antidepressant drugs while pregnant, please contact our law firm to learn about your rights for no charge or obligation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday proposed a record civil penalty of $16.4 million, less than 2 percent of Toyota projected net profit for the year ending March 31, related to a January recall of 2.3 million U.S. autos for accelerator pedals that allegedly stick. Toyota failed to act in a timely manner after knowing of the problem since at least September 2009, LaHood said.

“It certainly bolsters our cases,” said Robert J. Nelson, a lawyer at San Francisco-based Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, who has filed 20 lawsuits on behalf of individual clients claiming personal injuries or deaths caused by sudden- acceleration incidents. “It demonstrates Toyota has been less than forthright with the U.S. government and with consumers.”

The Japanese automaker waited at least four months before telling the agency that accelerator pedals might stick, LaHood said yesterday in a statement. Companies have five business days to report safety defects, the agency said.

In their lawsuits, Andrew Flury of Pasadena and retired Army Col. Harry Williams of Woodbridge say they suffered severe injuries after the cars they were driving suddenly accelerated — an issue that generated a major recall of millions of Toyotas.

Their attorney, Todd Walburg of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, blamed an electronic throttle system for the unintended acceleration and said the system also operated without a brake override system that could have prevented throttle problems.

Read the full article on the Washington Post website. Learn more about Toyota sudden acceleration accidents and the rights of victims.

When the Sprint Fidelis leads fracture, the defibrillator can fail to send a needed electrical jolt, and the patient can die. Or the defibrillator can send repeated, massive shocks, which can themselves be fatal.

In March 2009, Medtronic disclosed that at least 13 Sprint Fidelis patients may have died, including four patients whose deaths were related to efforts by doctors to surgically remove the product. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FDA database includes at least 12 additional deaths allegedly linked to the recalled device.

“The hazard of [Sprint] Fidelis lead fracture is increasing exponentially with time and, based on our data, occurring at a higher rate than the latest manufacturer’s performance update,” doctors at the University of Rochester concluded in findings published in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology [abstract only].

The study found that the three-year survival rate of 426 Medtronic leads inserted in the hospital’s patients was 90.8%, meaning 9.2% failed. In December 2009, one report estimated the failure rate of the Sprint Fidelis lead may eventually reach 30% of all patients.

Medtronic Heart Device Lawsuits

In lawsuits against Medtronic, patients represented by Lieff Cabraser have alleged that a design defect is responsible for their lead fractures. The complaints also allege that Medtronic failed to act timely as it knew of large numbers of failures of the device at least a year prior to issuing the recall. Learn more about the Medtronic heart lead recall.

Just over a year ago, one billion tons of toxic coal sludge broke loose from a containment pond belonging to the Tennessee Valley Authority, burying hundreds of acres of Roane County and threatening local water supplies and air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency immediately promised new national standards to replace a patchwork of uneven — and in many cases weak — state toxic materials regulations.

Unfortunately, the agency’s (non-public) recommendations are now the focus of a huge dispute inside the Obama administration, with industry lobbying hard for changes that would essentially preserve the status quo. The Times opines that the dispute should be resolved in favor of the environment and public safety.

Click here to read the full piece on the New York Times website. You can learn more about lawsuits relating to the Tennessee coal sludge spill here.

Ms. Fleishman also discusses the risks of these drugs in a YouTube video entitled:  Yaz | Yasmin Drug Side Effects & Dangers Explained

If you or a loved one have been injured or died as a result of taking Yaz or Yasmin, please visit Lieff Cabraser online at http://lieffcabraser.com/personal-injury-mass-torts/case/249/yasmin-yaz-ocella-lawsuit or call us toll-free at 1-800-541-7358. Our personal injury attorneys and legal nurse consultants will promptly review your case for no charge or obligation on your part.