Posted on September 08, 2012 in Uncategorized

According to a recent San Antonio Express-News article, a Corpus Christi woman who participated in an experimental hepatitis drug trial sponsored by drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb and drug trial administrator Alamo Medical Research suffered such serious heart damage due to the drug that she is now in need of a heart transplant. Janet Schaefer Vella, a nurse at Bay Area Hospital, found out that she was infected with Hepatitis C in spring, 2012. Seeking to remain a pediatric nurse, Vella sought a cure for the disease through the clinic drug trial. The drug trial involved an experimental hepatitis drug commonly referred to as BMS-986094.

Soon after Vella began taking the drug, her test results became abnormal, but Alamo doctors advised her to continue taking the drug. On July 28, 2012, however, Vella became ill, and she discovered that she was on the verge of both heart and kidney failure.

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 Posted on September 05, 2012 in Uncategorized

The fate of a 12-year-old boy who was injured by a gunshot to the head has yet to be determined after his mother, who is refusing to let doctors remove the boy’s organs for donation, had discovered that his food and water supply had been stopped by the doctors who were caring for him after the gunshot.

The boy, Zach McDaniel, suffered a severe head injury two weeks before the story was published when he was caught in the crossfire of an alleged drug dispute in Abilene, Texas. He was placed on life support under heavy sedation at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Rachel Bohannon of Texas Right to Life said her group was first contacted by Zach’s mother for help when she learned last Thursday that doctors had placed a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order in the boy’s medical files and stopped giving him food and water.

Bohannon told LSN that doctors removed the DNR and restored McDaniel’s food and water at his mother’s request, but reinforced that they would not provide treatment for the boy.

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 Posted on September 02, 2012 in Uncategorized

Two men, 28-year-old Nicholas Flores and 31-year-old Edward Lagunas were wounded in a shooting outside of Big Al’s Bier Garden in New Braunfels in mid-August, according to KGNB News. The station reports that “police officials say that they believe members of two rival gangs began exchanging gunfire just before midnight,” and that the two men wounded in the incident are believed to be members of those rival gangs. Police have not reported that either of the wounded men was involved with the shooting.

According to DisasterCenter.com, the rate of violent crime in Texas has actually decreased in recent years, with only 113,231 incidents reported in 2010, opposed to 121,694 the previous year. The issue of gun violence in Texas was raised this month last year with the shooting at Texas A&M University, in which a gunman killed three people. The gunman was then shot by police. Though the isolated incident paled in comparison to previous and subsequent school shootings, the gun debate in Texas has always been a heated one.

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 Posted on August 30, 2012 in Uncategorized

New Braunfels resident Clovis Douglas Cooper Jr. was indicted last month by a grand jury on a “2nd degree felony count of Indecency with a Child by Sexual Contact and a 3rd degree felony count of Indecensy with a Child by Exposure,” according to KGNB News. Cooper’s first offense was alleged to have happened as far back as 2004, followed by another in February of this year.

After Cooper’s arrest, his father managed to post a $25,000 bail. His father is the president of Cooper’s Country Day School on County Line Road in New Braunfels. While the accused man has stated that is a self-employed caterer, New Braunfels police have reported that, “he did work at a local daycare facility at the time of his arrest.” Since posting bail, it’s unsure if Cooper has been hired again at a daycare facility.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “in 1999 an estimated 285,400 children were victims of a sexual assault and 35,000 were victims of some other type of sex offense.” Most of these victims were assaulted by a mail, and 71 percent were assaulted by someone they were acquainted with, or knew on sight—such as a daycare employee. Only 30 percent of sexually assaulted children ever have their incidents reported to police.

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 Posted on August 27, 2012 in Uncategorized

In conjunction with its annual nationwide anti-drunk-driving campaign, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its 2010 statistics on fatal crashes involving alcohol-impaired driving. NHTSA promotes its annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” event in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), and the National Center for DWI Courts. More than 10,000 law enforcement agencies are expected to participate in this endeavor, many by significantly stepping up drunk driving patrols and enforcement between the end of the summer season and Labor Day weekend. NHTSA also will air a series of advertisements designed to warn alcohol-impaired individuals of the potential for arrest and other legal consequences if they attempt to drive. According to an article in The Trucker, a national trucking newspaper, three percent of drivers of large trucks involved in fatal accidents in 2010 had consumed alcohol prior to their accidents. Of that three percent, two percent of those drivers had a blood alcohol content of between .08 and .14. About half of those drivers had a blood alcohol content of .15 or greater. The legal limit for driving in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia is .08. These percentages are quite positive as far as these statistics go, as the percentage of intoxicated truck drivers involved in fatal accidents in 2010 was less than the percentages for any other major group of drivers, including passenger vehicles, light trucks, motorcycles, and buses. Furthermore, new NHTSA statistics show that 70 percent of fatal drunk driving accidents overall involved a driver with a blood alcohol content of almost twice the legal limit of .08. If, however, you are involved in a trucking accident that causes serious or fatal injuries, you will need assistance from a qualified New Braunfels personal injury attorney. With an experienced personal injury and car accident lawyer on your side, you will have the best chance of receiving a full and fair recovery in your personal injury case.

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 Posted on August 23, 2012 in Uncategorized

KEYE TV reported a story about how accidents with trains are leading to changes in requirements for private railroad crossings. Thirteen incidents have been reported involving trains and motor vehicles on the rail lines since 2011, says Capital Metro, and they are changing their requirements because of this. These incidents involve four drivers hitting trains, four were struck by trains, and five were involved in near misses. The accident that caused Capital Metro to make this decision was when a man was killed in Northwest Austin by a train slamming into his car. He was driving his two sons to school when his car stalled on the tracks. The children survived the crash. The new requirements will have a minimum of flashing lights with a bell at private crossings, and the crossings will also have to be concrete from now on. An assessment by Capital Metro says 14 crossings need to be changed. Out of the fourteen, ten will have flashing lights with bells and four will be closed by 2018. The changes at crossings will cost approximately $1 million. Capital Metro will also implement a rail safety campaign that will focus on drivers in rural areas. Chambers of commerce, community newspapers, and cities will be spreading the message as well. Any accident leading to personal injury might make you eligible for compensation. Your injury might not be caused by a train slamming into you or a crash of any kind, but you should still see if it is possible to receive compensation. To get the help you need when dealing with personal injury, an experienced New Braunfels personal injury attorney today.

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 Posted on August 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

According to the Chicago Tribune, a 40-year-old Steger woman who allegedly drove over her child in Crete Wednesday evening was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility today on two counts of aggravated DUI.

Yvette Y. Guerrero-Silva of the 400 block of Richton Road is charged with aggravated DUI leading to the death of another – a Class 2 felony – and aggravated DUI causing injury to another – a Class 4 felony. Bond was set at $1 million, police said.

Crete police said Guerrero-Silva was backing out of the driveway of a family business on the 1100 block of Main Street around 7:10 p.m. Wednesday when the vehicle rolled over Holly Silva, causing massive head injuries to the 19-month-old, who had been playing in the immediate area.

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 Posted on August 17, 2012 in Uncategorized

Two people were thrown from a motorcycle in mid-August, and airlifted to a San Antonio hospital, according to KGNB.am News. The man and woman on the bike hit a pickup truck on Seguin Avenue on a Saturday afternoon, almost directly in front of the New Braunfels Police Department headquarters, according to KGNB radio. They were initially treated by New Braunfels EMS for injuries sustained in the accident that occurred when “a truck pulled out from a nearby side street.” The motorcycle struck the truck, not the other way around.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and Motorcycleaccident.org, “motorcyclists are 25 times more likely to experience a deadly accident on the road than those in passenger cars.” Not surprisingly, head injuries are the leading cause of death in a motorcycle accident, and a rider who does not a helmet is 40 percent more likely to die than one who does.

Interestingly, nearly half of all accidents involving a motorcycle happen because the motorcycle can presumably be in a car’s blind spot at any given moment. According to a 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report, “42 percent of two-vehicle fatal motorcycle crashes involved a vehicle turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing, or overtaking the vehicle.” The recent New Braunfels motorcycle crash is not one of the highest statistically probable motorcycle accidents.

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 Posted on August 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

According to the Austin Statesman, a San Antonio couple “died in motorcycle accident in New Braunfels” in early August when they crossed into oncoming traffic. Both Raul Guerrero, 34, and his wife Rebecca Guerrero, 37, were killed with they collided with the front of a Dodge pickup truck at about 7pm in the evening, according to New Braunfels police. She died instantly and was pronounced dead at the scene. Raul was driving the motorcycle, and was initially “taken to Christus New Braunfels Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.” According to the Statesman, neither were wearing helmets. A recent CDC study found that “between 2001 and 2008, more than 34,000 motorcyclists were killed, and an estimated 1,222,000 persons were treated in a U.S. emergency department for a non-fatal motorcycle-related injury.” Not surprisingly, the highest death and injury rates were for drivers and passengers 20–29 years old. Wearing a helmet can save a motorcyclist’s life in the event of a crash, and “the most effective way to get people to wear helmets is by passing and enforcing a universal helmet law,” according to the CDC. A universal law such as this requires all riders and passengers to wear a helmet, no matter how far they’re riding or how far from home. Passing a helmet law such as this is in the jurisdiction of individual states. “As of May 2012, 19 states and the District of Columbia had universal helmet laws, 28 states had a partial helmet law, and 3 states had no helmet law.” According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, The only three states with no motorcycle helmet use law are Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire. Texas, however, has only a partial helmet use law, requiring only riders 20 years old and younger to wear a helmet. Police have speculated that if the San Antonio drivers killed in New Braunfels were wearing helmets they may not have died. If you or someone you know has been injured in a motorcycle accident—either because of a motorcycle or as a rider—don’t go through it alone. Contact an experienced New Braunfels injury attorney today.

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 Posted on August 11, 2012 in Uncategorized

USA Today reported a story about a truck crash in Texas that killed at least 14 and injured 9. The reason for such a high number of victims was the nature of the crash, involving 23 illegal immigrants crammed into a single pickup truck. The pickup went off a highway and crashed into trees in rural areas of McAllen, Texas. The incident was being looked into by federal immigration agents on the human smuggling aspect of the case, while the cause of the crash was investigated by public safety authorities. The crash took place about 150 miles northeast of the border with Mexico. Among the three females and 11 men that died in the crash were citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Greg Palmore said. ”This is the most people I’ve seen in any passenger vehicle, and I’ve been an officer for 38 years,” Spokesman Gerald Bryant of the Texas Department of Public Safety said. According to Bryant, the driver of the truck was among the 11 found dead at the scene. Bryant said he saw at least two young children among the dead. Some of the passengers were inside the cab of the vehicle, some of them on the truck’s bed, and others scattered in a ditch and on the road. The scene did not have much belongings or identification. You or your loved ones are probably not cramming yourselves into a pickup with 22 other people, but accidents happen regardless. If you find yourself in a situation where you are injured because of reckless driving or otherwise, make sure to find out if you are eligible for compensation. Do not go through your ordeal alone, contact an experienced New Braunfels personal injury attorney today, and get the assistance you need.

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