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WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2004

By Harriet Chiang
CHRONICLE LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER

Ben Fernandez was walking in downtown San Francisco recently when he saw what has become a common occurrence: the poles on a San Francisco Municipal Railway trolley bus becoming disconnected from the overhanging power lines.

What happened next was anything but common. One of the cables fell on top of Fernandez, sending 600 volts of electricity through his body, the 46-year-old San Francisco man said Tuesday

Fernandez was hospitalized for three days, but he lived to tell about the June 25 incident at Fourth and Market streets. Now, though, he says he is paying a price. In a claim filed Tuesday against the city, Fernandez says he now suffers from seizures, double vision, headaches and pain in his right leg, making it difficult for him to walk–all a result of being jolted by electricity.

"I'm pretty blessed to be living," he said as he prepared to see yet another doctor about his condition. But he said that he had decided to waste no time in filing his claim because he needed help. "I can't drive, I can't see that well, I can't walk on my own," said Fernandez, a full-time instructor in pharmacy technology at the Bryman College. "It's depressing."

In his claim, he says he has incurred more than $50,000 in medical bills and has been told by doctors not to return to work for another week. San Francisco lawyer Arnold Laub, who filed the claim for Fernandez, said the incident illustrated the systemwide problems with the Muni. "We don't even have pedestrian safety in the city," he said. "We have cables falling off the line."

Matt Dorsey, spokesman for the San Francisco city attorney's office, said he hadn't seen Fernandez's claim but promised that it would be investigated thoroughly. "We take every claim seriously," he said.

Overhead wires occasionally do break, for a variety of reasons., according to Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch. She couldn't go into specifics because of the pending claim, but she said that the wires were regularly maintained and checked.

Fernandez said he was taking a break from his job around 3 p.m. and had gone out to get a soda when he was struck by the cable as he was crossing Fourth Street.

He recalls falling to the ground and people screaming at him not to move because of the cables on the ground next to him. An ambulance rushed him to San Francisco General Hospital, where he said he had spent three days being treated. Before the incident, he said, he was independent and active. Now, with all his pain and neurological problems, he said, "I get frustrated. I get sad."

In the very heart of San Francisco, at 807 Montgomery Street, in a beautiful old-fashioned building, you will find one of the most reputable private law firms in the country. Above the entrance reads "Law Offices of Arnold Laub".

So what makes this renowned attorney and successful businessman so famous? Is it his ability to assemble a selected circle of like-minded colleagues and friends of high professional and ethical standards, filled with compassion to their clients' pains and anxieties, and thus passionately devoted to defending their rights and interests?

Arnold Laub is a mega-star in the legal universe extending beyond the boundaries of California to the rest of the country. He labored to his Olympus for several decades. It is now more than 40 years as he steers the firm towards thousands of legal victories amounting to hundreds of million of dollars in awards to his clients. Arnold meticulously applies knowledge acquired at the Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkley. Only few succeed on the long thorny road from a student bench to an attorney of prominence. "Ultimate wisdom is to distinguish between evil and good" by the famous ancient philosopher Socrates, describes best of his many talents.

By Michael Dougan
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

A San Francisco sheriff's deputy has filed a lawsuit charging that her male former supervisor sexually harassed her and routinely violated procedure by watching female prisoners being strip-searched.

Deputy Stephina Waldon, 32, charged Tuesday that the supervisor, Lt. Richard Bignardi, "from the beginning...was a pig" in his dealings with female deputies and jail inmates.

The lawsuit, filed against The City in San Francisco Superior Court by Waldon's attorney, Arnold Laub, seeks unspecified damages to compensate for the mental and physical suffering she says she suffered.

In her suit, Waldon claims Bignardi touched her inappropriately, often commented on her bra size and told sexual jokes in her presence. She further alleges that he routinely watched female prisoners as they were strip-searched and sometimes looked through a window opening onto a special cell where violent or dangerous prisoners were held naked. When challenged on these actions, she said, Bignardi said it was his job to observe the strip-searches.

Bignardi could not be reached for comment.

The intent of the suit is "to bring about a charge in the actions of the Sheriff's Department so people can work there safely and without harassment, Laub said.

Waldon, who worked the midnight watch at County Jail No. 1, said the harassment had begun in late 1994 and continued through February 1996.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Eileen Hirst said the department had immediately transferred Bignardi when Waldon complained about him.

Following an investigation into Bignardi's behavior, which brought other complaints to light, the lieutenant was given a termination notice but resigned before his termination hearing could be held, she said.

Waldon, who is on leave without pay, said she had been subjected to other forms of harassment since bringing up her complaints."Someone slashed my tires...(and I received) threatening phone calls," she said.

She alleged that Bignardi's harassment caused her to experience migraines, vomiting and diarrhea. Since she is earning no salary, "I'm basically homeless right now," she said.

Waldon said that she intended to return to her job when her health problems were resolved, but that that might take some time since she was receiving no health benefits while on leave.

"She is welcome to come back to work at any time," Hirst said.

SAN FRANCISCO

1390 Market Street, Suite 1210, San Francisco, California 94102
415-252-0500

PRODUCT LIABILITY

Fraud Seen in Diet Pills' Marketing

'Fen-phen' and Redux have been advertised without regard for their safety,
Laub and Lieff Cabraser allege

By Pamela A. MacLean
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Less than 24 hours after the release of a Mayo Clinic report warning of potential heart problems linked to diet pills known as "fen-phen" and Redux, two San Francisco firms on Wednesday filed a federal class action against nine manufacturers of the drugs.

The suit by attorney Arnold Laub, joined by Fabrice Nijhof of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, alleged the companies "fraudulently misrepresented" the severity and frequency of potential adverse health effects and failed to properly test fenfluramine and phentermine, diet drugs commonly called fen-phen. Also identified as an alleged health risk was dexfenfluramine, known as Redux.

More than 18 million monthly prescriptions were issued by doctors last year for the fen-phen combination involving tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in sales, according to the lawsuit, Gardner v. Gate Pharmaceuticals, C97-2542SBA.

Laub said he expects the filing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco will make the two firms lead counsel in the case. He was aware of only one other lawsuit against makers of fen-phen and that is a state court action in Massachusetts filed May 5.

The suit was filed late in the day and none of the defendants could be reached for comment.

The release Tuesday of Mayo Clinic report suggests unusual valve heart disease in patients who had taken a combination of fen-phen. Although the Food and Drug Administration has approved each drug separately for use, the FDA has not approved them for use in combination, according to Laub.

Some patients have shown signs of pulmonary hypertension, which is a sometimes fatal disease of the heart and lungs, according to the suit. Two named plaintiffs include Natalie Gardner of San Diego, who suffers from hypertension and may have to take medication as a result of fen-phen use, and Edward G. Baker of Zephyr Cove, Nev., who has exhibited less serious side effects allegedly related to Redux use, according to Laub.

In August 1996, The New England Journal of Medicine released results of an international primary pulmonary hypertension study that suggested the use of fenfluramine-based diet drugs increased the risk of primary pulmonary hypertension 30 times.

The drug makers were allegedly aware of the results of the study by November 1995 but, according to the lawsuit, "failed to apprise the public or physicians that the risk of contracting PPH has many, many multiples of that previously reported by the defendant companies in their literature."

The lawsuit seeks medical monitoring of people who used the drug and may suffer adverse effects in the future. It also seeks general and punitive damages.

The suit makes seven tort claims, including failure to warn, negligence, and breach of express and implied warranty, and seeks revised patient warnings along with monitoring.

The pharmaceutical manufacturers named in the complaint include SmithKline Beecham Crp., A.H. Robins Co., Gate Pharmaceuticals, Richwood Pharmaceuticals, Ion Laboratories Inc., Medeva Pharmaceuticals and WyethAyerst Laboratories Co.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong in Oakland.

Toddler's case is 8th in past year filed by S.F. attorney against transit agency

By Martha Ginsburg
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Saying "bus drivers should not be permitted to endanger the public's safety," the family of a 2-year-old girl whose skull was crushed by a Muni bus in May has filed a claim against transit agency.

Attorney Arnold Laub, representing the child's family, said the claim, and an anticipated multimillion-dollar lawsuit to follow, is his eigth case of negligence against Muni in the past year.

Attorney Arnold Laub, representing the child's family, said the claim, and an anticipated multimillion-dollar lawsuit to follow, is his eigth case of negligence against Muni in the past year.

"Bus drivers should not be permitted to endanger the public's safety," said Laub, of San Francisco. "This lawsuit is being filed to force the city leadership to aggressively tackle the problems of bus drivers' negligence and to gain control of a bus system out of control."

A Muni spokeswoman said the claim, filed June 5, is still under investigation. The agency has 45 days to respond, said Laub. However, he said most claims are rejected, and he expects to file suit following Muni's response.

Muni's mission is "safe and reliable transit service to the passengers of San Francisco," Muni spokeswoman Anne Milner said. Laub said Elizabeth Camacho was 2 years old when she rode a 9AX San Bruno Express bus about 5 p.m. on May 6. As she and her grandparents stepped off the bus on Geneva Avenue near Santos, the toddler tripped, Laub said.

Laub said the driver was inattentive and "without regard for the safety of others," failed to note the child's proximity to the bus, and sped away from the curb, striking the child's head.

Elizabeth, who turns 3 in September, suffered a fractured skull and cuts, but doctors have not determined the extent of brain injury, Laub said. But she requires daily home care and will likely need it for the rest of her life, he said.

Laub said the girl's father has noted her reduced ability to speak.

Other Muni victims whose cases Laub is handling include:

Victoria Lee, a 13-year-old girl who was struck as the doors closed on her the same day Elizabeth was injured. Laub said the driver proceeded to drag her, drop her onto the ground and drive over her body. The girl suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured hip and internal injuries. She also required home care after a month in the hospital, Laub said.

Troylene Trammel was dragged three blocks on the 14-Mission April 1 when the driver closed the door on the passenger, Laub said, causing shoulder strain injuries.

Ardette Yvonne Phillips was hurt in her leg and lower back in January when the 23-Monterey struck a car on Palou Street.

David Adams, 26, who was beaten by 12 drunk young men on the 48-Quintara in the Potrero district in September 1995. Adams suffered severe brain damage. Although the driver unsuccessfully tried to help Adams, Laub contends that Muni acted irresponsibly by having drivers untrained in such emergencies and by failing to have video cameras or rapid alarms on board.

Wai Shim Lau, 58, who suffered a fractured wrist in September 1995 when she fell after the bus started rapidly.

Shek Yiu Chan, a 55-year-old man dragged by the 9-San Bruno Express in Chinatown in August 1995 after the door closed on his left arm and leg. An investigation ruled it was driver inattention, Laub said.

Soo Kyoen Lieu, 71, who suffered neck and back injuries in July 1995 on the 47-Potrero after a chair with no screws collapsed and dropped the passenger to the floor.

In fiscal year 1994-95 Muni had 2,015 claims filed against it -- 900 of them personal injury cases, Milner said. Another 974 were property claims; the remaining 141 were a combination of both she said.

About 1,007 claims were settled out of court, Milner said, and another 342 were settled as a result of litigation. The others were rejected, she added.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A third class-action lawsuit has been filed against the pilot who allegedly stockpiled thousands of boxes of human ashes instead of scattering the from his plane.

Attorneys filed suit on behalf of 13 families Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court against the Vieira Flying Service, accused of failing to scatter nearly 5,200 boxes of human ashes.

Owner Allan Vieira, 52, has disappeared.

"It was a heartless act by Vieira in that he not only failed to scatter the cremains, but compounded this malicious act by misrepresentation to the next of kin, by certifying to them that he, in fact, scattered the remains as requested," said attorney Arnold Laub.

The suit also names numerous mortuaries, saying they negligently failed to follow up to make sure the remains were scattered as requested.

Authorities discovered the boxes in storage on June 5 after one of the facility's walls began to collapse. It was later revealed that Vieira did not have a pilot's license or a business license for the service.

It was the third lawsuit filed against Vieira in a little over a week. Laub said several more suits probably would be filed and eventually consolidated.

The claims could ultimately represent as many as 7,000 people asking for more than $30 million, he said. Contra Costa sheriff's officials have indentified almost 4,500 of the remains so far. Officials will attempt to identify the other approximately 700 unlabeled boxes by searching for metal medallions with personal information. But many will ultimately go unidentified.

The remains are being held by the sheriff's office because a temporary restraining order prevents their being released to the mortuaries.

Many relatives and their lawyers do not want the mortuaries to get them back. A hearing on July 3 is scheduled on a request for a permanent restraining order, and the recent suit calls for the remains to be returned to the families.

Vieira disappeared shortly after the discovery of the boxes. He is wanted on suspicion of felony grand theft.

By Nanci Hellmich
USA TODAY

Two widely prescribed diet drugs were pulled off the market Monday because of a high incidence of heart problems among patients who take them.

Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories announced voluntary withdrawal of fenfluramine, half of the popular combination drug known as fen-phen, and of dexfenfluramine, marketed as Redux, at the request of the Food and Drug administration.

The FDA asked for the action late Friday based on a collection of findings from doctors who used echocardiograms to view the hearts of patients taking the drugs.

Abnormalities in the valves, which let blood in and out of the heart, were found in 92 of 291 patientes evaluated.

The agency recommended that dieters using the drugs stop taking them and contact their doctors. "These (heart-valve) findings call for prompt action," says the FDA's Michael Friedman.

Wyeth-Ayerst's Marc Deitch says the company agreed.

He says the company has set up a panel of experts to thoroughly evaluate the data and recommend additional action. At this time, Deitch says, the company has no plans to reintroduce the medicines.

Sales of Redux and fen=phen(phentermine, the "phen" in the combination is not being withdrawn) totaled an estimated 20.6 million prescriptions last year, according to IMS America, a market research firm.

Fenfluramine has been on the market for more than 20 years but only became widely popular in the past several years. Redux was OK'd in 1996.

The drugs have been the subject of heated controversy in recent months as cases of heart problems began to surface and various studies linked them to disruption of brain function in animals.

Some doctors are encouraging patients who've taken the drugs to get echocardiograms.

The test is expensive, ranging from $500 to $1,000, and some people may have to pay at least part of the cost out of pocket.

The decision to halt sales of the drugs hurt two companies' stocks. Stock in American Home Products, parent company of Wyeth-Ayerst, which makes fenfluramine and markets Redux, fell 3.89 to 73.25. Shares of Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, which licenses Redux, slid 1.06 to 16.89.

Analysts say prescriptions of the drug already had plunged before Monday's news, but the real danger to the companies is future legal liability.

Lawyers started filing suits in July after the heart-valve problems were first reported. Among them: Two San Francisco firms, Arnold Laub and Lief, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, filed one suit against eight pharmaceutical companies involved in making or selling the drugs on behalf of patients nationwide.

Meat Cutter with a broken ankle wants $2 million

A San Francisco meat cutter has filed a $2 million claim against the San Francisco Municipal Railway for injuries he suffered when he was dragged by a bus after the driver closed the door on him.

With his leg still in a case, Shek Yiu Chan met with reporters at his attorney's office yesterday and described the injuries that have kept him off the job since the August 22 incident.

Chan, 54, said he had just gotten off work and went to catch a 9 Express bus on Stockton Street about 5:45 p/m. He was the last person waiting to board.

"The bus driver just closed the door on me," Chan said, speaking through an interpreter. "My left arm and my left leg were caught inside the bus. My right hand was pounding on the door, trying to get him to stop."

Chan's lawyer, Arnold Laub, said Chan was dragged 50 feet before he fell breaking his ankle.

A crowd of angry pedestrians swarmed around the bus and pounded on it to prevent it from moving, shouting in English and Cantonese. Laub said that when the police officers arrived, they were unable to communicate with many witnesses and arrested a bystander who had jumped in front of the bus to stop it.

"When you send into an area such as Chinatown, officers incapable of speaking Cantonese or Mandarin, you're not really attempting to communicate with the people who live (there)," Laub said.

But police Sergeant Pat Tobin said the communication problem was minor. There were witnesses who spoke English, he said, and bystanders volunteered to act as interpreters for those who did not.

Tobin said one witness, a store owner, was detained -- not arrested -- because he was interfering with police. The crowd, he said, many have mistakenly thought that police believed the shopkeeper was responsible for the accident.

The crowd misunderstood the police officers' intention for detaining the man, "Tobin said. "It was a plain old misunderstanding, not a cultural problem."

Police identified the driver as Marcus Corcran, 28. Investogators said the cause of the accident was "driver inattention."

A Muni spokesman said Corcran has been charged with "an avoidable accident" and faces a disciplinary hearing next week.

A Sonoma County carpenter severely injured in a car crash on the Golden Gate Bridge last year has filed suit demanding that the bridge be closed.

The suit filed Monday in Marin County Superior Court, which also seeks several million dollars in damages, asks that the bridge be declared a "nuisance and threat to public safety," said Arnold Laub, one of three attorneys representing David Sutton.

Sutton lost his left leg and much of his right hand and suffered severe burns last November when his northbound truck was forced by an errant motorist into the southbound lane, where it collided head-on with another vehicle.

The driver of the other car was killed.

"We're asking for a restraining oder to close the bridge," Laub said. "We have to get some action here."

Laub said the real intent of the suit was to force the Golden Gate Bridge District to install movable barriers between opposing traffic lanes to prevent head-on collisions.

"We have to get somebody's attention," he said. "The only way to get anybody's attention is to close the bridge."

Laub said closure of the bridge "may be an inconvenience for the public temporarily, but I'll tell you something, it would sure get a reaction."

Laub said he hoped an irate public would then demand that the bridge district install median barriers so that the span would reopen.

"I know it sounds drastic," he said.

Bridge district officials have siad a median divider -- by squeezing cards even closer together -- could cause more accidents than it would prevent.

But Police say help arrived in 8 minutes for Muni rider

The attorney for a San Francisco Municipal Railway passenger who was dragged off a bus and beaten charged yesterday that police responded too slowly to 911 calls for help.

The incident occured last month in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. David Adams, 26, was on a 48-Quintara line bus about 8 p.m. when he was attacked by a group of young men who pulled him out of the vehicle and continued to hit him.

Adam' attorney, Arnold Laub, said his client suffered severe brain damage in the attack. Laub claims it took police approximately 20 minutes to reach the scene after a neighbor called 911. The assault took place about 10 blocks from the Potrero police station.

"Why so long?" he said. "Either 911 isn't working properly or the police department better come up with an explanation."

Police Captain Richard Hesselroth disputed Laub's time line. According to police records, officers were at the scene eight minutes after dispatchers received the first of several 911 calls.

Hesselroth said the amount of time it takes officers to reach a crime scene depends on where they are when the call comes in. In Adam's case, the 911 calls were given top priority.

"I've seen it take longer (than eight minutes), and I've seen it take shorter," he said. "Certainly we like to see officers on the scene a lot sooner on A-priority runs, but we do the best we can."

Police said the Muni driver was also beaten after he tried to help Adams but was not seriously hurt. Three suspects were later arrested in connections with the attacks.

Yesterday was not the first time the city's 911 emergency sustem was harshly criticized after the 1990 slaying of Scott Quackenbush, who was beaten to death after his 911 call was given a low priority.

That and other tragedies -- including the system's handling of emergency calls in connection with the 101 California Street massacer -- prompted city officials to call for an overhaul of the system. Plans have been approved for the construction of a new high-tech emergency communication center, but the complex has yet to be built.

Laub, who is representing other Muni passengers in their legal fights against the city, said Muni does not take adequate security precautions or properly train drivers on how to react in situations in which passengers are threatened.

Muni spokesperson Gordon Smith said he cannot discuss the case while it is under investigation.

SAN FRANCISCO

1390 Market Street, Suite 1210, San Francisco, California 94102 415/252-0500

Official Newspaper of the
San Francisco Municipal, Superior and
United States Northern District Courts

Boalt Hall alumnus Arnold Laub is being accorded perhaps the ultimate accolade from his old school: They're naming a piece of it after him. On Thursday, the law school will christen the Arnold Laub Lobby, recognizing Laub for his 33 years of professional and community service in the field of law.