Authorities have identified two persons who were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident the afternoon of June 30, 2010 as Bryan Mucke, 56, and Deborah Mucke, 52. The Patterson Irrigator reports that the couple was heading on the 5 Freeway southbound when they hit tire debris that had been dropped, possibly, by a tractor-trailer. Both suffered major, but non-life-threatening injuries, and were taken to an area hospital. Read full story »

City officials in El Monte are saying that an intersection where 40-year-old Agueda Quezadas-Gomez died in a June 20, 2010 car accident is among the city's most dangerous. According to a news report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, just over the last three years, there have been at least 16 crashes at the intersection of Peck Road and Rush Street. Quezadas-Gomez died when the car in which she was a passenger crashed into a traffic signal pole at the intersection. Officials say this was the third time since 2007 that someone has crashed into that very same pole at the intersection. Read full story »

California Highway Patrol officials say an Alhambra police officer was injured the morning of July 1, 2010, in a motorcycle accident after crashing into a big-rig. The officer was off-duty and riding his own Honda CBR 1000 motorcycle at the time, according to a news report in the Pasadena Star-News. The accident occurred on the 605 Freeway at the Whittier Boulevard on-ramp. The injured motorcyclist was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. The extent of his injuries is not known. Read full story »

An accident at the Sonoma-Marin Fair resulted in serious personal injuries for a worker the afternoon of June 23, 2010. CBS News reports that the man, who works for the company that runs the fair, stepped in front of a ride that was in operation. His leg was severed below the knee. Cal/OSHA officials are investigating the cause of this horrific accident and who was responsible for it. So far, fair officials have said that the ride was working well and that there seems to have been no operator error. The worker was taken to an area medical center for treatment. An investigation is ongoing. Read full story »

A car accident in Fresno caused serious injuries to a man and a child after they were hit by an out-of-control vehicle. The Fresno Bee reports that the accident occurred the afternoon of June 9, 2010 on San Jose Avenue near First Street. A driver lost control of her pickup truck and struck another vehicle. Read full story »

Imagine that you have just been involved in a horrendous accident. Your life hangs in the balance and you must have emergency surgery to survive. Now imagine that you are at a rural hospital with no surgeon on staff. The closest on-call surgeon lives 20 miles away. Do you really want the surgeon to travel 35 mph on winding country roads to get to the hospital? If the surgeon has to get dressed, run to the car, drive the speed limit, and then run to the operating room before helping you it could take as much as 45 minutes for you to get help. Read full story »

An Orange County man who was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles has been identified as 52-year-old Luis Magana. The fatal crash also seriously injured three other members of Magana's family – Jamie Magana, 38, Manuel Magana, 89, and Maria Magana, 83. The crash occurred on the westbound 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar the morning of May 24, 2010, according to a news report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Read full story »

Omnicare, the nation's largest pharmacy which dispenses drugs to nursing home patients, was paid millions of dollars in kickbacks by Johnson & Johnson.

Payments to Omnicare took a variety of forms, including funds for data that was never fulfilled. Rebates were escalated for Johnson & Johnson products and money distributed for programs intended to educate customers.

The money paid to Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries, however, was intended to “to induce the nursing home pharmacy company to purchase and recommend J&J drugs, including the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal,” as the lawsuit claims.

These funds promote the wealth of huge corporations and pharmacies, the ones who the public depends on for safe medical advice and drugs. The suit claims that the kickbacks "distort the judgments of healthcare professionals and put profits ahead of sound medical treatment.”

Though a $98-million settlement was found in 2009 between the United States, various states and Omnicare, it seems the elderly and those in nursing homes were the real victims.

Johnson & Johnson and Omnicare are among the largest in their respective fields, with many consumers relying on their products and services. They have taken advantage of this status and tried to further increase their wealth at the misfortune of the sick and old.

If these companies have done this, can we even trust their products?

Are other drug makers or insurance companies any different and how can we know?

At least six people sustained injuries in a San Francisco car accident the morning of May 20, 2010 after a Muni light rail vehicle crashed into a passenger transport van. Bay City News reports that the injury collision occurred at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Judah Street in the city's Inner Sunset neighborhood. The injured victims were taken to local hospitals, but none of the injuries seem to have been life-threatening. Officials are looking into what caused this crash. Read full story »

A construction worker sustained serious job injuries after he was struck by a vehicle at a Newport Beach work site. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the pedestrian collision happened in the 8800 block of Pacific Coast Highway in the Newport Coast area the morning of May 13, 2010. The construction worker was transported to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Read full story »