A listeria outbreak caused by contaminated cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado has claimed the lives of 21 people.  The farm issued a recall of the cantaloupes last month.

The recall covered Illinois and 23 other states.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received reports of 109 illnesses caused by the cantaloupes.

The listeria bacteria found in the cantaloupes can cause listeriosis.  Most often the bacteria affects those with compromised immune systems and the elderly.

Symptoms of listeriosis — which include fever, headache, muscle pains, and digestive problems — can take up to 2 months to appear.  Officials expect to receive more reports of illness over the next few weeks.

Contact the Champaign personal injury attorneys of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000, if you or someone you love has become ill from consuming a recalled food product.

Last week, engineering contractors began looking into the tragic stage collapse in Indianapolis that killed 7 and injured 40 earlier this month.  The accident occurred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds before a Sugarland concert.

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration will also be conducting investigations into the stage collapse.  At least 2 event workers were killed in the devastating accident.

In the first premises liability lawsuits concerning the stage collapse, attorneys suggest that there were no permits or inspections involved in the setting up of the stage.  One lawyer said of the accident, “This was a terrible tragedy that could and should have been prevented; the responsible parties must be held to account.”

Approximately 30 percent of medical malpractice payments are made to victims of a wrongly diagnosed heart attack.  Furthermore, around 2 to 5 percent of patients experiencing a heart attack at a hospital are inappropriately sent home because hospital staff failed to recognize that they were having a heart attack.

A recent study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that chest pain severity is not an indicator of heart attack.  In addition, researchers found that chest pain duration was not an indicator either.

The study analyzed the severity of the pain and the duration of the pain experienced by 3,300 patients entering the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with chest pain.  Researchers followed the patients for 30 days after their arrival at the hospital.

In examining the patients, the researchers concluded that patients experiencing more severe chest pain were not more likely to suffer a heart attack than patients experiencing less severe chest pain.  Also, patients experiencing longer-lasting chest pain were not more likely to suffer a heart attack than patients experiencing chest pain for shorter durations.

If someone you love has been the victim of a wrong diagnosis or other form of medical malpractice, contact the Champaign personal injury lawyers of Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 today.

Champaign police officers are charging a Paxton man for leaving the scene of an accident involving injury.  The accident occurred at around 10:30 p.m. last Thursday north of Bradley Avenue on North Mattis Avenue.

Police reports indicate that the 37-year old Paxton driver rear-ended a 32-year old Champaign woman’s vehicle when it was stopped in the southbound lanes of North Mattis.

After the accident, witnesses told police they saw the man get out of his vehicle and hop a fence into a nearby apartment complex.  Officers were able to find and arrest the driver shortly after he fled the scene of the accident.

The Champaign woman suffered head, neck, and arm injuries and was taken to Carle Hospital for treatment.

If you or someone you love has suffered injuries due to another party’s negligence, contact the Champaign personal injury lawyers of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 to learn more about your rights.

Four people suffered burn injures after an accident caused a fire at a restaurant in Florida this weekend.  According to county police officers, the fire started when a waiter at the Ozona Blue Grilling Co. was making an order of bananas foster tableside.

The dessert is made by pouring liquor over the top and the lighting it on fire.  Reports indicate that the waiter held the bottle of 151-proof liquor too close to the dessert after lighting it on fire and the fire crept up towards the bottle.  The liquor bottle caught firecausing the waiter to lose control and spill the flaming liquid onto a table of restaurant patrons.

One 25-year old woman at the table suffered serious burn injuries including third degree burns.  She was taken to Tampa General Hospital via helicopter.  Another woman at the table suffered respiratory burns and two men at the table suffered minor burn injuries.

If you or someone you love has been injured on another’s property, contact the Champaign injury lawyers of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 to learn more about our premises liability experience and discuss your situation.

“Dooring” accidents occur when a door on a parked vehicle is opened into the path of a bicyclist; these accidents often inflict serious pain and injury on bicyclists.  The Illinois Department of Transportation did not include these accidents in their annual summaries of accident statistics because they do not involve vehicles in motion.

However, Governor Pat Quinn recently changed this and ordered all police departments to report dooring accidents on the state’s crash forms.  As a result, dooring accidents will now be included in IDOT’s accident data.

Quinn stated, “Anyone who rides a bike can tell you that dooring is a serious issue.  One of the best ways we can increase public safety is by making sure we’ve got the best and most comprehensive data possible.  That’s why we’ve made this change.”

If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident caused by another’s negligence or wrongdoing, contact the Champaign injury lawyers of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 and we can help you receive the financial compensation you deserve.

State Representative John Bradley recently introduced a bill that he created that would allow cities and communities to ban certain dog breeds.  House Bill 1080 proposes lifting the ban from determining if a dog is vicious or dangerous based on its breed from Illinois’ Animal Control Act.

Currently, the Animal Control Act uses a variety of factors to classify a dog as dangerous, but bans doing so based on a dog’s breed.  Bradley says he created the bill so that smaller municipalities could have the power to completely ban a certain breed of dog.

Proponents of banning certain dog breeds mostly support this idea to reduce the chances of someone being bitten or attacked by a dangerous dog and believe that certain dog breeds are more likely to be aggressive.  ”Everyone says that their particular dog is just wonderful…if that were truly the case in every case, many children would not have the scars of dog attacks,” said one supporter of the legislation.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of a dog bite or animal attack and would like to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney, contact the Champaign injury lawyers of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 today.

According to the Champaign Public Work’s Department, since December 29th the city has repaired more than 946 potholes.  In addition, officials from the department say that they receive an average of 2 requests a day for pothole repairs.  City officials say that they are still encouraging residents to report potholes and that they will try to repair them within two business days.

During the winter months, pothole repair can be hard to keep up with.  Potholes are formed from a combination of factors including freezing and thawing, poor base support and traffic.  It is very common for potholes to damage vehicles, especially to the rim or bumpers of the car.  Even worse, potholes have been known to cause car accidents, typically because a driver either loses control of their vehicle after driving through a pothole or because a vehicle becomes stuck in a pothole and is struck by another vehicle.

To discuss filing a personal injury lawsuit in Champaign, contact the Champaign personal injury attorneys of Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 today.