Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

It was just another work day for Rafael Jimenez, a veteran tree trimmer in his 24th year on the job.

But as he stuffed branches from a Chinese elm tree into a wood chipper, his right hand became entangled in the branches and Jimenez found himself being jerked toward the steel knives.

The machine, which devours a 20-inch branch in a second, consumed nearly his entire body.

His wife and four children filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that the manufacturer of the machine, Michigan-based Morbark, knew for years that its safety features were insufficient and had done nothing to prevent injuries and deaths like Jimenez's.

Continue reading "Family of Tree Trimmer Killed by Wood Chipper Sues Manufacturer" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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A class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles accuses recalled Hydroxycut weight-loss products of causing deadly liver damage and other severe complications.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of anyone who consumed the now-banned supplements, claims the company failed to warn users of the risks of injury.

The Hydroxycut products were recalled May 1 after being linked to dozens of cases of liver damage, jaundice, and other related injuries. In one case, a 19-year-old Hydroxycut user died in 2007 after developing liver failure, but the death was not reported to the Food and Drug Administration until last March, according to the complaint.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Weight-loss Products Sued" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Product Liability , Toxic Injury , Wrongful Death

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A lawsuit was filed in Allegheny County Court by the mother of a 28-year-old woman who died after a utility pole struck by a tractor-trailer fell on her head.

Filed by Gloria Grate on behalf of her daughter, Marquetta Grate, the lawsuit names as defendants the city of Pittsburgh, Levin Furniture, Christopher Caudill and Penske Trucking.

According to attorney Michael Rosenzweig, who filed the complaint, Marquetta Grate was waiting for a bus on May 15 after dropping off her 3-year-old daughter at an East Liberty pre-school.

Continue reading "Suit Filed Over Death of Woman Struck by Utility Pole " »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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The Environmental Protection Agency declared its first-ever "public health emergency," saying the federal government will funnel $6 million to provide medical care for people sickened by asbestos from a mine in northwest Montana.

The declaration applies to the towns of Libby and Troy, where for decades workers dug for vermiculite, a mineral used in insulation. They were unknowingly poisoning themselves: The vermiculite was contaminated with a toxic form of asbestos, which workers carried home on their clothes.

Continue reading "EPA to Pay Medical Bills for People Sickened by Asbestos From Montana Mine" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Toxic Injury , Wrongful Death

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The wrongful death civil trial over a 2005 fatal brawl in a McDonald's parking lot hit a stumbling block when the judge dismissed the jury picked to hear the case.

Attorneys agreed on a six-member jury, but since then lawyers on the plaintiff's side uncovered facts about three of the jurors, including old arrests the jurors did not list on their questionnaires.

Continue reading "Judge Dismisses Jury in Wrongful Death Lawsuit From McDonald's Brawl" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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While investigators scour the Atlantic for clues to the cause of the crash of Air France Flight 447, lawyers in Brazil, France and the U.S. are taking steps to determine the proper forum for any lawsuits.

Sophie Bottai, whose client was the first granted victim status in a French criminal probe, said the nation’s courts should review any claims as many passengers were French as were the airline and the airplane, an Airbus SAS A330-200.

“The plane is French, the carrier is French,” said Bottai, representing a 38-year-old Frenchman’s family, who she said wishes to remain anonymous. “The jurisdiction is French.”

Debate over jurisdiction issues may get even more heated with families making the ultimate decision based on where they can receive the most compensation. In addition to where the claims are filed, the amount of any award depends on the victim’s age, family status and work situation, according to lawyers specializing in aviation disasters.

Continue reading "Air France Crash Spurs Debate Over Lawsuit Locations " »

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The family of a retired Navy sailor who died of cancer triggered by asbestos fibers he inhaled on the job decades ago has won $1.2 million in its lawsuit against a ship-parts manufacturer.

Gerald Gray died in April after suffering from mesothelioma. His death, at age 75, came five weeks before the trial was to begin against John Crane Inc., an Illinois maker of gaskets and other parts used on ships Gray repaired.

The Newport News Circuit Court jury ruled against five manufacturers for a total of $4 million, assigning a percentage of blame to each. John Crane fought the case, and was apportioned 30 percent, or $1.2 million.

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A Darlington County SC jury returned a verdict of $9 million after finding Progress Energy responsible in the wrongful death of 21-year-old Allen Toney of Hartsville.

According to a press release, the jury awarded Mary Washington, the victim’s mother, $3.5 million in actual damages and $5.5 million in punitive damages. Toney died as the result of being electrocuted by a downed power line.

According to testimony, on May 2, 2003, a storm in the Hartsville area caused a utility pole, owned and maintained by Progress Energy, to fail. The pole, fell at approximately 6:30 p.m., leaving a live power line carrying 13200 volts hanging chest high across the driveway. According to witnesses, at around 9:20 p.m. Toney arrived at the home where he came into contact with the energized power line.

Continue reading "SC Jury Awards $9M Settlement Wrongful Death Case" »

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Posted In: Burns and Electrocutions , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Nearly four years after 23 Bellaire nursing home residents died in a fiery bus while evacuating from Hurricane Rita, their families have reached a settlement awarding them $80 million.

In the chaotic week leading up to Hurricane Rita, Brighton Gardens, a Bellaire nursing home owned by Sunrise Senior Living Services of McLean, Va., quickly ordered buses for its residents and staff so they could evacuate to a sister facility in Dallas. As Rita churned through the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 23, 2005, nursing home residents and staff boarded two buses provided by Global Limo Inc. of Pharr, Texas.

Continue reading "Texas Hurricane Rita Bus Fire Settlement " »

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Posted In: Burns and Electrocutions , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Two trucking companies and their drivers are being sued over a 2008 accident on I-15 in Las Vegas in which two honeymooners outside their stranded vehicle were struck and killed.

Attorneys for the parents of one of the victims, Lisa Lynn Prock-Hills, filed a negligence suit in Clark County District Court against truck driver Stanislaw Masalski of Clearwater, Fla., and his company, Stan Trucking Inc.

Also sued were driver Sam Montalvo Martinez and his employer at the time of the accident, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. of Lowell, Ark.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said Kevin Edward Hills, 38, and Prock-Hills, 41, were killed on Interstate 15 just south of Silverado Ranch Boulevard on March 13, 2008.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed in I-15 Wrongful Death of Stranded Honeymooners" »

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Posted In: Car Accidents , Personal Injury , Traumatic Brain Injury , Trucking Accidents , Wrongful Death

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A Florida mother sued Fort Lauderdale Hospital and a psychiatrist who worked there, saying they overmedicated her teenage son with a cocktail of mental health drugs -- some of which have not been approved for the treatment of children.

The boy, Emilio Villamar, died of a sudden heart attack. He was 16.

Emilio, a swimmer and water polo player, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by Dr. Sohail Punjwani in March 2002. Within the next year, the teen was given 16 different psychiatric drugs, six of which were still being administered when he died, said Michael S. Freedland, who is representing Emilio's mother, Norma L. Tringali.

Punjwani had also been treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers, a foster child who had been prescribed several psychiatric drugs before he hanged himself in April. In the wake of Gabriel's death, the Department of Children & Families has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the agency's dispensing of mental health drugs.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Links Psychiatric Drugs to Florida Child's Death" »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Toxic Injury , Wrongful Death

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A Pennslyvania jury awarded a woman $1.88 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed on behalf of her husband, who died of cancer in 2008.

Christine Golden sued urologist Milan J. Smolko, pathologist Lillian Longendorfer and Wayne Memorial Hospital for failing to diagnose her husband's bladder cancer despite several consultations and examinations between Sept. 18, 2002, and January 2004.

Before the verdict was returned last month, however, Dr. Longendorfer and the hospital reached a confidential settlement with Mrs. Golden.

Mrs. Golden's lawyer, said Terrence Golden saw Dr. Smolko multiple times in those 16 months, each time complaining of urinary problems. Dr. Smolko said he had an inflamed and enlarged prostate, but did not investigate further until July 2003. Then, he did a bladder biopsy and sent the information to Dr. Longendorfer, who worked at Wayne Memorial Hospital.

Continue reading "PA Woman Gets $1.88 M in Medical Malpractice Case" »

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Nearly three of 10 teenage Florida foster children have been prescribed a mental-health drug, and 73 foster kids younger than 6 are taking mind-altering drugs, according to a recent study released in response to the death of a Broward foster child who was taking such medications.

In all, 2,669 children -- or 13 percent of Florida foster children -- are being given powerful psychiatric drugs, said the study, commissioned last month by Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon. The largest group, almost 60 percent, are teens ages 13 to 17.

The 2,669 children represent about one-third more kids than a DCF database had reported as taking mental-health drugs -- meaning electronic state records had significantly underestimated the use of mind-altering drugs.

Child-welfare administrators are investigating the use of mental-health drugs by children in state care in the wake of the April 16 death of Gabriel Myers, a troubled 7-year-old boy who hanged himself in the shower of his Margate foster home.

Continue reading "More Florida Foster Kids Are Given Mental-Health Drugs" »

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New York City has agreed to pay $2 million to the family of a woman who died last year on the floor of the psychiatric emergency room at Kings County Hospital Center after waiting more than 24 hours to be treated.

A video showed the woman on the floor for more than an hour while workers at the city-run hospital did nothing to help her.

The city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation accepted full responsibility for the death of the woman, Esmin Elizabeth Green, 49, and said it had taken steps to relieve crowding and increase the size of the staff to provide mental health services at the hospital.

Continue reading "New York City to Pay $2 M in Death After Hospital Wait " »

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Zachary James died at at a North Philadelphia hospital when his heart stopped beating on April 20, 2006.

The next day, his wife learned that his death may have been preventable, if someone had just looked at his X-rays before he died.

Following a 10-day trial, a jury awarded Rosalyn James, Zachary's widow, $2.185 million in a malpractice suit against St. Joseph's Hospital and two emergency-room physicians.

"I know it would never bring him back," she said. "But now he's at peace because I fought for him."

Continue reading "Unread X-ray leads to $2 M Malpractice Award" »

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A Texas court petition seeking answers in a Cameron County teacher's swine flu death accuses a Virginia-based company of having "horrifically unsanitary conditions" at its pig farm in Mexico and wants to discover what role the farm might have played in the outbreak.

The petition was filed in Texas state District Court in Cameron County by Steven Trunnell of Harlingen on behalf of his wife, Judy Dominguez Trunnell, a 33-year-old special education teacher who died May 5 after delivering a healthy baby girl by cesarean section days earlier.

She was the first U.S. citizen to die of swine flu; a toddler from Mexico City died in Houston on April 27.

Continue reading "Texas Widower Seeks to sue Operator of Pig Farm" »

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The family of an 11-year-old boy killed when a 1,600-pound metal gate fell on him while he played at a Boston, Methuen school will receive a $600,000 settlement from the city.

The city had previously admitted that it was liable for leaving the unsecured iron gate in an area children could access. The settlement is the maximum amount allowed under state law.

Timothy DiLeo was killed and his younger brother injured when the unhinged gate at the Tenney Grammar School fell on them on Labor Day 2007.

Continue reading "Family of Child Killed by Falling Gate Settles Lawsuit" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Premises Liability , Wrongful Death

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc agreed to improve its post-Thanksgiving Day crowd control as a condition of avoiding criminal prosecution in the fatal stampede of frenzied holiday shoppers at a Long Island store.

In a settlement made public with the district attorney of New York's Nassau County and the world's largest retailer also agreed to set up a $400,000 victims' compensation fund, donate $1.5 million to the community and provide 50 jobs annually to high school students in the area.

The deal came as a result of the DA's investigation into the death of a 34-year-old security guard, Jdimytai Damour, who was knocked to the ground and trampled to death in the early morning hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving as shoppers stormed a Wal-Mart.

The retailer did not admit guilt or wrongdoing in its settlement with DA Kathleen Rice. It did agree to have independent safety experts review its crowd management plans for post-Thanksgiving events at all 92 of its New York stores.

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Federal drug regulators warned consumers to stop using the popular Hydroxycut line of weight-loss products, citing reports of a death due to liver failure and other instances of serious health problems.

In all, the Food and Drug Administration said it had received 23 reports of significant adverse health effects in people who used Hydroxycut, including one person who required a liver transplant. Other complications included heart problems and a kind of muscle damage that could lead to kidney failure, the agency said.

Continue reading "Hydroxycut Diet Aids Recalled After FDA Warning" »

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After three days of deliberation, a McLean County jury awarded the family of a deceased Bloomington woman more than $2 million related to her exposure to asbestos.

Juanita Rodarmel contracted mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos when she laundered the clothing of her first husband, Leslie Corry, a worker at the former Union Asbestos & Rubber Company.

Corry worked at the Bloomington plant, later called UNARCO Industries Inc., during the 1950s.

The jury also awarded $100,000 in punitive damages against Pneumo Abex, LLC and $400,000 against Honeywell International, Inc.

Continue reading "Jury Awards More Than $2 M in Illinois Asbestos Case" »

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Just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court decided patients can sue drugmakers over injuries from medicines approved by the government, long-stalled lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are again moving toward trials.

The March 4 decision in a case on Wyeth’s nausea treatment Phenergan broke a logjam of cases in state and federal courts. Federal regulatory approval of a medicine and information about side effects does not shield drugmakers from claims that patients and doctors were not adequately warned, the high court ruled. The decision already affected more than 250 lawsuits involving at least 10 companies that were in limbo before the ruling.

Continue reading "Wyeth Supreme Court Loss Restarts Drug Lawsuits " »

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The family of a 19-year-old man, whose death on a Seattle street in 2007 triggered a community outpouring for better bike-safety measures, has settled a lawsuit against the company that owned the dump truck that crushed him.

The parents of Bryce Lewis, Marc and Laura Paolicelli of Colorado, have agreed to an undisclosed sum of money from Nelson & Sons Construction of Woodinville.

Continue reading "Family of Seattle Cyclist Killed by Dump Truck Settles Lawsuit" »

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A Santa Barbara jury has awarded Oded and Anat Gottesman nearly $14 million in compensatory economic and non-economic damages for the loss of their child Yoni, who drowned in a Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club swimming pool in 2005.

The total will undoubtedly climb, however, as punitive damages have not yet been determined. That second phase begins Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. with brief opening statements by both parties followed by testimony. Because punitive damages must still be discussed in court and decided by the jury, the judge kept in place a gag order restricting comments to the media by involved parties.

Continue reading "$14M Awarded in California Drowning Lawsuit" »

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The families of three men killed in a 2007 crash on the Bay Bridge are suing a Maryland agency and several drivers over the accident. James Hewitt Ingle and Randall and Jonathan Orff died and five people were injured in May 2007 when a trailer being hauled behind a sport utility vehicle came loose and caused a multiple-vehicle crash.

The Ingle and Orff families are suing the Maryland Transportation Authority, the driver of the SUV, the owner of the trailer and two truck drivers and their employers for $19 million. Attorney Paul Bekman said his clients are suing the state because the authority knew accidents had happened before during two-way traffic on one span of the bridge. Officials have said the two-way traffic wasn't a factor in the accident. The lawsuit was filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

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It has been a year since Lauren Chang collapsed during a cheerleading competition and died, leaving behind her smiling portrait as a grim testament to the dangers of her sport.

That tragedy, as well as another death and a serious injury suffered by cheerleaders in recent years, has placed Massachusetts in a pivotal point in the crusade to make cheerleading safer.

Last fall, the mother of Ashley Burns, a Medford 14-year-old who died in a 2005 cheerleading accident, filed a lawsuit in her death. In addition to seeking damages, Ruth Burns is also asking a judge to force national groups that sanction cheerleading competitions and oversee the sport to adopt more stringent safety rules.

Continue reading "Raising Alarm at Cheerleading's Dangers" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Spinal Cord Injury , Traumatic Brain Injury , Wrongful Death

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A Illinois Cook County jury has found in favor of the family of a BMW salesman in its wrongful death suit against a man who took a test drive and crashed the car, killing the salesman.

The jury awarded Roger Czapski's family $13.7 million, concluding that Christopher Maher was liable for Czapski's death Aug. 4, 2004 in South Barrington, Illinois.

Continue reading "$13.7M Awarded in Illinois Car Crash Lawsuit" »

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The investigation into the cause of brain tumors near Cameron, Mo., lead to the filing of a lawsuit which accused a tannery of being at fault.

Sludge from Prime Tanning Corp., in St. Joseph contains high levels of hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, the lawsuit filed in Clinton County alleged.

For years, farmers in at least four counties in northwest Missouri have gotten the sludge for free to use as an agriculture fertilizer for their crops, according to the lawsuit.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Blaming Tannery for Missouri Brain Cancer" »

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Two Seattle companies involved in erecting a construction crane that collapsed in Bellevue in 2006 have settled with the parents of a man who was killed when the crane crushed him as he sat in his apartment.

Continue reading "Companies Settle Lawsuit Over Seattle Crane Collapse" »

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Dozens of plant workers who claim their health was damaged by exposure to a chemical used to give a buttery flavor to microwave popcorn have filed lawsuits in Cincinnati against makers of the flavoring.

At least 43 workers filed lawsuits claiming their lungs were irreversibly damaged by inhaling fumes from the chemical diacetyl, which provides the buttery taste. Some work at a local plant of Cincinnati-based Givaudan Flavors Corp. Many others are from a plant in Marion owned by Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods.

Givaudan supplies flavorings to food manufacturers, including popcorn makers. ConAgra and other leading makers of microwave popcorn removed the flavoring chemical from their products after it was linked to cases of bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare life-threatening disease often referred to as “popcorn lung.”

Continue reading "Popcorn Lung Lawsuits on the Increase." »

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The state of Minnesota closed a chapter on the Interstate 35W bridge collapse by reaching final settlements with all 179 eligible victims of the disaster in downtown Minneapolis two years ago.

The settlements ranged from $4,500 to each of five survivors to more than $2.2 million for a woman who required extensive therapy for brain damage. Five other settlements were worth over $1 million.

Susan Holden, the attorney who led the court-appointed panel administering the state's $36.6 million compensation fund, said the settlements covered both survivors of the collapse and family members of those killed.

Continue reading "All Minn. Bridge Victims Accept Settlements" »

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Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims on behalf of five patients alleging that the HMO mishandled its kidney transplant program, endangering lives and causing deaths.

The arbitration claims were filed in 2006, found that Kaiser's Northern California kidney transplant program jeopardized hundreds of patients by forcing them into a new program unprepared to handle an enormous caseload.

Continue reading "Kaiser Permanente to Settle Kidney Transplant Claims For $1 M" »

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After a 19-year-old Orange County, Calif., man killed two neighbors in 2005, the victim's survivors sued the murderer's psychiatrist, accusing him of causing the rampage by giving his client an unstable mix of antidepressants.

But California's 4th District Court of Appeal ordered summary judgment for the doctor, saying that the patient had a pre-existing mental disorder that "necessitated" treatment.

"As early as 2001, [William] Freund had exhibited violent tendencies toward his parents," Justice Raymond Ikola wrote. "And when he later became [the doctor's] patient, he already suffered from Asperger's syndrome and the consequent frustration about his extreme social problems.

Continue reading "Calif. Appeals Court: Psychiatrist Not Liable to Patient's Victims, " »

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Los Angeles County supervisors have agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the children of Edith Rodriguez, the woman who died after writhing in pain for 45 minutes on the waiting-room floor of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Medical Center, according to an attorney representing the family.

Rodriguez's death nearly two years ago attracted national attention, becoming a symbol of an indifferent emergency system. A triage nurse had dismissed her complaints in the early morning of May 9, 2007. A security videotape showed a janitor mopping around Rodriguez and other staff walking past.

Continue reading "King Harbor Medical Center Settles Wrongful Death Case" »

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A Michigan hospital can be sued for releasing a man who killed his estranged wife with an ax 10 days later, a federal appeals court ruled.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates a lawsuit filed by the estate of Marie Moses Irons against Providence Hospital.

The panel cited a federal law that requires hospitals to stabilize patients if an emergency condition exists, though it couldn't find any precedent for allowing a non-patient who alleges harm to sue.

Continue reading "Mich. Hospital That Released Man Who Killed His Wife Can be Sued" »

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A federal judge denied an Army contractor KBR's motion requesting dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the mother of a soldier who was electrocuted in the shower while serving in Iraq.

The lawsuit, filed by Cheryl Harris of Cranberry, accuses Houston-based contractor KBR of failing to maintain the electrical infrastructure in Baghdad. Ms. Harris' son, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, an Army Ranger and Green Beret, was electrocuted as he showered on Jan. 2, 2008, while stationed there.

KBR attorneys had argued that decisions made by the Army insulated the private military contractor from prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer disagreed.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Against KBR Army Contractor Upheld" »

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Pfizer Inc. resolved all but three of 35,000 claims over its withdrawn diabetes drug Rezulin for a total of about $750 million.

Pfizer, which is acquiring rival Wyeth for almost $64 billion, paid about $500 million to settle Rezulin cases consolidated in federal court in New York, according to court filings. The company also paid as much as $250 million to resolve state-court suits.

Continue reading "Pfizer Settles Rezulin Product Liabilty Cases " »

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A Palm Beach County jury has awarded $4 million on behalf of a child suffering from severe mental retardation that the family blamed on a delayed delivery in a West Palm Beach hospital more than 11 years ago.

Stephanie Preshong Brown, of Palm City, was carrying twins in July 1997 when she was admitted to Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach for premature contractions. One of the twins, Sydney Preshong Brown, died in utero.

A few weeks later, doctors determined that the other twin, Jordan Preshong Brown, was in distress and decided to deliver by Cesarean section.

The lawsuit contended that problems securing an operating room led to several hours of delay.

Continue reading "Jurors Award $4 M in Brain-Damaged Baby" »

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Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA unit and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said they won a verdict in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf of a Florida smoker.

A state court jury in St. Petersburg, Florida, found the two biggest U.S. cigarette makers not liable in the case. The verdict is the first defense win in a so-called “post-Engle” tobacco suit in Florida.

The case is the third of its kind to be tried since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 ruled that smokers could not sue as a class on behalf of smokers statewide. The court said smokers could sue individually and extended the time for them to do so. Thousands of such cases are pending across Florida.

Continue reading "Altria, R.J. Reynolds Win Verdict in Florida Suit " »

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City and police officials have agreed to pay a man $75,000 to settle a lawsuit filed after his fiancee was killed and he was seriously injured when a driver fleeing police crashed into his car.

Richard Garman’s settlement, allows the city of Indianapolis to avoid a costly trial without admitting liability in the fatal 1999 crash.

Garman’s case stemmed from a 50-second chase that reached 80 mph on city streets and ended when a fleeing driver struck the then 21-year-old Garman’s car, injuring him and killing his fiancee, J. Elizabeth Foster, 19.

Garman, now 30, sued based on his own injuries, which included broken ribs and collapsed lungs, as well as emotional distress and clinical depression spurred by Foster’s death. Garman’s injuries left him with more than $280,000 in medical bills.

Continue reading "Indiana Police Settle Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Crash" »

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The mother of University of Colorado student Lynn "Gordie" Bailey, who died of acute alcohol poisoning in September 2004 after a fraternity-initiation ritual, has settled her lawsuit with the fraternity on the eve of the trial.

According to the lawyer who represented Leslie Lanahan, Bailey's mother, said a settlement was reached with both the Chi Psi fraternity and the Alpha Psi Delta Corporation of Chi Psi, which owned the fraternity house in Boulder.

Bailey died the morning of Sept. 17, 2004, of acute alcohol poisoning. His blood-alcohol level was 0.328 percent.

Continue reading "Frat Hazing Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled " »

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Medtronic said that at least 13 people might have died in connection with a heart device that it recalled in 2007 but was still in widespread use, including four patients whose deaths were related to efforts by doctors to surgically remove the product.

The new data reflect the first fatality update by Medtronic since October 2007, when it recalled the device — a thin electrical cable that connects an implanted defibrillator to a patient’s heart. The company cited five deaths when it recalled the product, saying fractures in the cable could cause a defibrillator to fail to deliver a lifesaving shock to an erratically beating heart, or to fire for no reason.

Separately, a previously undisclosed Food and Drug Administration report indicates that Medtronic began receiving reports soon after the device reached the market in late 2004 that the cable, known as the Sprint Fidelis, was fracturing. The company also revised its manufacturing process in the months before withdrawing the Sprint Fidelis from the market, according to the F.D.A. report.

Continue reading "Medtronic Links Device for Heart to 13 Deaths " »

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The family of UCF football player Plancher, a 19-year-old freshman wide receiver who died March 18, 2008, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after an offseason conditioning workout on the UCF campus.

An autopsy found that the extreme stress of the workout triggered Plancher's sickle-cell trait, a blood disorder that caused his body to shut down.

UCF officials said they tested Plancher for the trait in 2007 and were aware he had the genetic condition.

Enock and Giselle Plancher, Ereck's parents, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the UCF Athletics Association alleging coaches and athletic trainers were negligent in their treatment of Plancher.

Continue reading "Family of Football Player Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against UCF" »

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A Missouri jury recommended that AmerenUE electric company pay the families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago for a combined $2.3 million.

On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into Spring Lake. Shortly after hitting the water, the teens became immoblized by an electric current.

Nic Harbison drowned, the others were resucitated.

Harbison's father, Jerry Harbison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against AmerenUE the electric company.

Continue reading "Missouri Jury Orders Electric Company to Pay $2.3 M " »

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Sickened consumers who sued the peanut processor blamed for a national salmonella outbreak could have trouble recovering damages from company accounts because assets listed in a bankruptcy filing will likely go to other businesses that bought its products.

Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America filed documents listing nearly $11.4 M in assets and debts of $4.8 M in U.S. Bankruptcy court. However, more than $7 M listed as assets was in insurance that covers the company's products and will not be used for claims by consumers. Among the uses for that money would be compensating businesses that had bought Peanut Corp. products that were recalled, trustee Roy V. Creasy said.

Continue reading "Peanut Processor Has No Money For Injuries" »

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A jury in New Jersey ruled that a Perth Amboy oral surgeon committed medical malpractice in the death of patient the morning after having his wisdom teeth removed.

The jury deliberated less than three hours over two days before finding that George Flugrad committed medical malpractice when he failed to get clearance from Woodbridge patient Francis Keller's medical doctor to remove his wisdom teeth after Keller told him he had an impaired immune system.

Keller's family and his estate were awarded $11 million in damages. With interest combined with other settlements reached in the case, Keller's parents will received more than $12 million, according to their attorney.

"The money will never bring my son back no matter how much I get," Helen Keller said. "I only hope it prevents someone else from going through this heartache."

Continue reading "Jury Awards $11M to New Jersey Family in Oral Surgery Malpractice Case" »

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A Harris County jury awarded $3 million to the Houston mother of a schizophrenic man who was shocked, hogtied and later died as Precinct 1 constable’s deputies took him into custody on a mental health warrant four years ago.

After a three-week trial, the jury concluded by a 10-2 vote that three of the four deputies named in Shirley Nagel’s lawsuit used unreasonable and excessive force as the deputies detained Nagel’s son, Joel Don Casey.

Casey’s death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy found the 52-year-old man died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.

He also suffered fractures to his seventh cervical vertebrae and to his thyroid cartilage.

Continue reading "Texas Jury Awards $3 M in Houston Death Involving Excessive Force" »

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The trustee of a trust fund for sick Florida smokers is prepared to settle some claims by the federal government for $18 million, freeing up the rest of the $580 million fund for smokers and their attorneys.

"We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice in full settlement of all claims for reimbursement of Medicare and Veterans Administration benefits received by beneficiaries" of the fund, according to fund trustee Miles McGrane.

When it comes to how the settlement money would be paid, McGrane offered two scenarios -- a quick and easy method dividing the total by about 45,000 authorized claimants for a charge of $400 each or a belabored process of running their Social Security numbers through Medicare and VA databases to check for individual benefit payments.

Continue reading "Florida Smokers' $580 M Trust Fund and Justice Department Settles for $18 M" »

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Detroit has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 67-year-old man in a police lockup.

James Stone, arrested for a parole violation, had a heart attack and died in August 2005 at the police department's Second Precinct. Lawyers for his estate said he complained for hours about chest pain, but no one took him to a hospital.

The case was settled for $2 million before a jury was picked in federal court.

Continue reading "Detroit to Pay $2 M for Wrongful Death " »

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A Cleburne family, the Pawliks, whose house exploded after odorless natural gas seeped into their home through a leaking gas main and a faulty air conditioning condensation line, has reached a settlement with Atmos Energy. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

The lawsuit alleged that Atmos did not inspect or maintain the gas lines.

Officials from Atmos Energy also declined to discuss the terms of the settlement. The man’s wife, Hazel, 64, and daughter, Hazel Sanderson, 44, died after being severely burned.

Continue reading "Cleburne Texas Family and Atmos Settle in Gas Explosion" »

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An Indiana woman has been awarded $157 million in a wrongful death lawsuit she filed against the manufacturers of a tree stand that malfunctioned, killing her husband three years ago.

The substantial default judgment, reached by jurors in about an hour, no one representing the defendants -- L & L Enterprises in Hattiesburg, Miss., Ol' Man Tree Stands in Jay, Fla., and TSR Inc. in Pace, Fla. -- showed for the trial.

Carol Simonton filed the civil tort in February 2006, about four months after her husband, Timothy Simonton, was found hanged to death in Parke County, IN.

Continue reading "Indiana Jury Awards $157M in Tree Stand Death" »

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A South Carolina jury has awarded $4.4 million to the parents of a 4-year-old girl who died after suffering brain injury at birth at Piedmont Medical Center.

The jury found that the hospital was at fault in 2003 when it assigned a nurse trainee to monitor expectant mother Robin Wilson, who had arrived at the hospital three days before her scheduled induction, complaining of nausea and vomiting.

Continue reading "SC Jury Awards $4.4M Against Hospital" »

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Philip Morris has to pay the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer $8 million in damages in a case that could affect about 8,000 similar Florida lawsuits.

The six jurors deliberated over two days before returning the award for Elaine Hess, whose husband Stuart Hess died in 1997 at age 55 after decades as a chain smoker.

The award amounts to $3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages against Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA.

The Hess case was the first to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 voided a $145 billion class-action jury award, which was by far the highest punitive damage award in U.S. history.

Continue reading "Philip Morris to Pay $8 Million to Smoker's Widow " »

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Peanut Corporation of America, the company responsible for the nationwide salmonella outbreak, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will begin liquidating its assets as legal claims pile up against it.

Companies that Lynchburg, Va.-based PCA supplied with peanut products have also filed suit against it, and PCA's insurer, Hartford Casualty Insurance, has filed a lawsuit in an effort to limit its liability.

Continue reading "PCA Peanut Company Files for Bankruptcy Protection" »

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Stacy Rojas was declared brain dead one month before Zoe Rojas' birth. The mother was kept on life support to save their daughter's life. Two days after Zoe was born, Mr. Rojas said goodbye to his wife forever.

Continue reading "Dallas Medical Malpractice Case Settles" »

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Texas health officials ordered a recall of every product ever shipped from a Plainview peanut processing plant since March 2005 after inspectors discovered contamination.

Inspectors found dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in a crawl space above a food production area at the Peanut Corp. of America’s Plainview plant, according to authorities from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The plant’s air handling system was not completely sealed and was pulling debris from the infested crawl space onto exposed food products in production areas.

Continue reading "All Peanut Products From Texas Plant Are Recalled" »

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A federal court has ordered Taser International to pay $1.4 million to lawyers for the family of a California man who died after police officers repeatedly shocked him with stun guns.

Continue reading "Court Awards $1.4M in Taser Lawsuit" »

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The Florida doctor's license was revoked in the case of a teenager who planned to have an abortion but instead gave birth to a baby she says was killed when clinic staffers put it into a plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

The doctor, Pierre Jean-Jacques Renelique, was not present when the baby was born, but the Florida Medical Board upheld Department of Health allegations that he falsified medical records, inappropriately delegated tasks to unlicensed personnel and committed malpractice.

Continue reading "Florida Doctor Loses License in Live Birth Abortion Case" »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Medico-Legal News , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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According to federal drug officials, many doctors may lose their ability to prescribe 24 popular narcotics as part of a new effort to reduce the deaths and injuries that result from these medications inappropriate use.

A new control program will result in restrictions on the prescribing, dispensing and distribution of extended-release opioids like OxyContin, fentanyl patches, methadone tablets and some morphine tablets.

Continue reading "F.D.A. to Restrict Prescriptions of Narcotics " »

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Posted In: Medical Licensing , Medical Malpractice , Medical News , Medico-Legal News , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Toxic Injury , Wrongful Death

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A woman aged 18, went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for the doctor to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated get her ready for the procedure.

The doctor did not arrive in time. According to the woman and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. The woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Continue reading "Botched Abortion Leads to National Shock" »

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A peanut processing plant in Texas run by the Peanut Corp. of America, which is being investigated for a national salmonella outbreak, operated for years uninspected and unlicensed by Texas health officials.

The Peanut Corp. of America plant in Plainview was never inspected until after the company fell under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.

Once inspectors learned about the Texas plant, they found no sign of salmonella there. This finding raises questions; how it could have operated unlicensed for nearly four years and about the adequacy of government efforts to keep the nation's food supply safe. Texas is among states where the FDA relies on state inspectors to oversee food safety.

Continue reading "Texas Peanut Plant Under Investigation" »

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A lawsuit by the widow whose husband died of lung cancer is headed to trial again. Nearly two months after ending in a mistrial, the first of about 8,000 cases against tobacco companies in Florida is scheduled to head to trial again in Florida.

Elaine Hess is suing cigarette maker Philip Morris, alleging her husband's death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes containing nicotine. Stuart Hess, a locksmith, died of lung cancer at age 55 in 1997.

The case originally went to trial in December, but ended on the second day of testimony after an expert witness for Hess used a racial slur.

Continue reading "Florida Tobacco Lawsuit To Restart" »

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In 2004, a 24-year-old mother found blood in her stool and kept having pain when she went to the bathroom. When she went to her local doctor, she was repeatedly told that she was merely suffering from hemorrhoids.

Seven months after she visited the doctor, she was rushed to University Medical Center's emergency room because of major pain. Shortly after that, she was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer. She died in 2007 at the age of 27.

The Las Vegas District Court jury awarded her family $2.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The suit contended that the doctor and a nurse at the family practice, were negligent and did not examine her properly.

The jury determined that the doctor was mostly responsible for the negligence that contributed to the woman's death and that he "fell below the standard of care," according to the verdict.

If she had been properly diagnosed when she first visited her doctor, her chances of surviving the cancer would have been 97 percent. Her chances dropped to 50 percent by the time she was diagnosed in December 2004.

Continue reading "NV Jury Finds For Family $2.5 M in Med Mal Case" »

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High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, according to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.

The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.

At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.

Continue reading "Wisconsin Ruling Limits Cheerleader Injury Suits" »

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The family of a Wisconsin teenager killed on a 2007 amusement park ride will be paid $1 million in the settlement of their lawsuit against the operators.

The girl aged 16, died July 14, 2007, in a fall from a giant swing ride at Lifest 2007 when her safety harness was improperly secured.

The parents, named Life Promotions and Air Glory Inc. in a wrongful-death suit and reached an agreement, according to their attorney.

Continue reading "Amusement Park Operators Settle Wrongful Death Suit" »

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An Army investigation called the electrocution death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq a "negligent homicide" caused by military contractor KBR Inc. and two of its supervisors.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, died as a result of negligent homicide because the contractor failed to ensure that "qualified electricians and plumbers" worked on the barracks where the soldier died.

Continue reading "Report: KBR Negligent in Soldier Electrocution" »

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CA lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would offer greater legal protections to Good Samaritans in light of a recent California Supreme Court decision.

Legislators have introduced three bills to address Van Horn v. Watson, 08 C.D.O.S. 15199, which held that a state statute only shields rescuers from liability if they provide medical care in an emergency situation. The ruling puts at risk aid-givers who inadvertently hurt victims while removing them from a burning building or other potentially dangerous scenarios.

Continue reading "California to Rescue Good Samaritans " »

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Posted In: Car Accidents , Personal Injury , Premises Liability , Spinal Cord Injury , Traumatic Brain Injury , Trucking Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Hospital companies in Texas, many of which collect millions in state and federal funds, operate with minimal public disclosure of deficiencies. The state keeps information on complaints and inspections largely private because influential health care corporations want it that way, and Texas legislators have obliged.

As a result, it is next to impossible for the public to determine whether state enforcement works properly. Hospital lobbyists designed much of this system.

The Texas Department of State Health Services provides, on its Web site, a small amount of data on hospital fines. The department also furnishes limited and heavily redacted violation records to anyone who makes a formal open-records request, pays in advance and sometimes waits months for delivery.

Continue reading "State of Neglect: Texas Law Lets Hospitals Hide Problems" »

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According to city officials the parents of a teenager who was killed in a confrontation with Huntington Beach police in 2006 will receive $125,000 from the city in a settlement of their wrongful-death lawsuit.

The victim aged 18, was shot by two Huntington Beach police officers after they responded to 911 reports of a woman holding a 4-inch knife walking near a park.

The parents filed a lawsuit accusing the two officers of excessive and unreasonable force. The suit sought at least $40 million in compensatory and punitive damages for each parent.

Investigations by the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office cleared the officers of wrongdoing, saying they were forced into a split-second decision to kill a woman they believed to be dangerous.

Continue reading "Huntington Beach CA to pay $125,000 in Wrongful Death Lawsuit" »

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Harris County is the most dangerous county in Texas for railway accidents, according to a recently released report.

There were 1,376 reported incidents including derailments, collisions, pedestrian trespassing and hazardous material releases from 1998 through 2007 in the county, according to the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association. The accidents killed nearly 100 people and left more than 1,100 injured, the group said.

Nationally, Texas — with more railroads than any other state and more miles of track — ranks No. 1 for train-vehicle collisions and deaths at rail crossings, the group said.

There were 12,271 rail accidents in Texas from 1998 to 2007 — the most recent figures available — leading to 853 deaths and 7,203 injuries, according to the association.

Continue reading "Tarrant County Texas Train Accidents" »

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On Sept. 24, a jury rejected a family's claim that its elderly patriarch died as a result of injuries sustained when he fell at a Family Dollar Store.

The family of Warren Tiner, 84, alleged he was shopping at the Tyler store when he tripped over a box left out in an aisle.

Complaining of back pain, he checked into a hospital eight days after the September 2006 incident. His condition worsened, and he developed other health issues, including pneumonia, heart problems and eventually paralysis from spinal cord compression.

Tiner's family claimed his death in July 2008 was related to injuries from the fall. Family Dollar denied that a box was in the aisle and contended that even if it were, Tiner should have seen and avoided it.

The defense also argued that Tiner suffered from chronic health problems prior to the incident.

Tiner v. Family Dollar Stores of Texas L.P., No. 07-1759-C

Court: 241st District Court, Smith County

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Posted In: Paralysis and Amputations , Personal Injury , Premises Liability , Spinal Cord Injury , Traumatic Brain Injury , Wrongful Death

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MARSHALL TEXAS- The family of a man killed while working at a Texas sawmill is suing the company for alleged safety violations.

According to the complaint filed Dec. 28 in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas, the man was employed at Southern Hardwood Co. on Jan. 20, 2007, when he died.
The man was making wooden boards for pallets using a board edger, when the Crosby board edger "shot back" a board into his chest.

The man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead and the cause of death determined to be from a blunt force trauma to the chest.

Continue reading "Texas Wrongful Death Suit Blames Sawmill's Safety Violations" »

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LEONARD TEXAS— An ambulance collided with a car at a rural North Texas intersection, killing all three people inside the sedan.

Police in Leonard say the ambulance driver failed to see the Chevrolet Malibu before turning onto U.S. Highway 69. The car slammed into the ambulance, sending both vehicles off the road and leaving the ambulance on its side in a ditch.

Continue reading "Ambulance And Car Accident in Leonard, North of Dallas" »

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DALLAS — Four people, including a 14-month-old toddler, died in accidents on icy roadways as a wintry storm moved through Texas over the past week.

Authorities blamed icy roads for all four traffic fatalities. In three of the four deadly accidents, Monday night and early Tuesday, the drivers of the vehicles were speeding on slick roads, officials said.

Continue reading "4 Die On Icy North Texas Roads " »

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Driver fatigue is responsible for up to 40% of all accidents caused by semi-truck drivers. Data from the Deptartment of Transportation show that driver fatigue causes as many as 750 deaths and nearly 200,000 injuries on an annual basis.

Under the current rules, a driver must be allowed 10 hours off duty is he has been driving for more than 11 hours and/or has been "on duty" for up to 14 hours. In addition to this daily rule is a weekly rule that requires drivers to stop operating their truck if they have been "on-duty" for either 60 hours in a 7 day period or 70 hours in an 8 day period.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has fought unsuccesfuly to tighten these rules and avoid the driver fatigue that has caused so many accidents and injured so many people.

Continue reading "Heavy Truck Accidents Caused By Fatigue" »

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The family of a man who died at a San Francisco jail has filed a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, saying sheriff's officials ignored prisoners' pleas that he needed medical help in the hours before he died.

The 48 year old man, died in his cell, a day after he was booked on suspicion of possession of drugs for sale following his arrest.

Five inmates have alleged that jail staffers did not respond to prisoners' pleas for the man to be treated by a doctor after he complained of feeling ill.

The man's death was listed as accidental, the result of a heart attack caused by acute drug intoxication, the medical examiner's office said.

The wrongful-death suit filed on behalf of man's family Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claims that jail staffers failed to recognize that the man was undergoing opiate withdrawal. He told staffers and other inmates that he "felt like he was dying," the suit said.

Continue reading "Family of Inmate Who Died Sues S.F. for $10 M" »

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The family of a child who died in a Winnie the Pooh bassinet has sued the Walt Disney Co., alleging the company allowed sales of the bassinets despite a flawed design that had been linked to another baby's death.

The bassinet had a drop-down side for easy access, but the design created a gap where babies could slide through and hang to death. The child was 6 months old when she was strangled.

Shortly after the child's death, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission directed retailers to stop selling the bassinets, which were manufactured by Simplicity Inc. Disney's consumer products division licensed its Winnie the Pooh name and image to Simplicity.

The suit, filed in California state court in Los Angeles, raises questions about a common practice in the nursery products industry: Are companies that license their names and characters to other manufacturers responsible when those products turn out to be deadly?

Continue reading "Family Sues Disney Over Defective Product Death" »

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The family of a man killed in a stampede by holiday shoppers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, seeking unspecified damages.

Shoppers on New York's Long Island broke down doors and surged into the Valley Stream Wal-Mart, the day after Thanksgiving, known as "Black Friday," traditionally the busiest retail shopping day of the year.

The 34 year old man, was knocked to the ground and trampled to death. He had been assigned to cover security as an independent contractor.

Continue reading "Wal-Mart Sued by Family of Trampled Man" »

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The parents of a 7-year-old boy who died after contracting West Nile virus from a transfusion of tainted blood asked the Florida Supreme Court to restore an $8 million jury verdict against a blood bank.

The Court have been asked to decide whether all blood banks are covered by Florida's medical malpractice statutes, which include special procedures and limits on damages and attorney fees, rather than general negligence laws.

The American Red Cross and two national blood bank associations are participating in the case through a written "friend-of-the-court" argument that sided with the defendant, LifeSouth Community Blood Centers Inc.

Continue reading "Lawsuit in Florida Blood Bank Death " »