Wrongful Death

August 26, 2010

Firm to Pay $52.4M in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Victims of the deadly 2007 Minneapolis Interstate 35W bridge collapse reached the end of their legal fight after an engineering firm agreed to pay $52.4 million to settle scores of lawsuits.

The settlement by San Francisco-based URS Corp. resolves the last major piece of litigation brought by victims. All told, the state and two of its contractors will have paid out $100 million to the families of the 13 people who died and the 145 people who were injured when the Mississippi River bridge broke apart during rush hour.

BRIAN BAKST, AP, The Washington Post 08/24/2010
Read Article: The Washington Post

August 21, 2010

Witnesses Raise Questions About Death at Fort Worth Hospital Pharmacy

by Dr. Shezad Malik

John Peter Smith Hospital (Ft Worth) officials will review the medical response to a man who collapsed and died in the hospital pharmacy after witnesses complained that help was slow to arrive and that emergency equipment did not appear to work properly.

Jeff Dickerson, who was picking up a prescription at the pharmacy, said it took medical workers nearly 10 minutes to get there. Once there, he said that two defibrillators the workers tried to use did not appear to work.

Alex Branch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 08/19/2010
Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

August 19, 2010

Settlement Reached In Fatal Texas Tanker Truck Explosion

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Brownsville, Texas, woman has reached a $3.2 million settlement in a lawsuit she filed over the death of her husband in an explosion in 2006.

Juan Perez was filling up a tanker truck at a RTW Properties L.P. terminal when the truck exploded, killing him. Perez’s wife, Live Lara Gutierrez, RTW Properties was negligent in providing proper safety measures at the terminal which could have prevented her husband’s death.

Ildefonso Ortiz, Brownsville Herald 08/19/2010
Read Article: Brownsville Herald

August 15, 2010

Chicago Strip Club Reaches Settlement

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Chicago strip club has agreed to a $1 million settlement after a patron left the club and got into a car accident, killing two other people.

John Homatas was kicked out of Diamond’s Gentlemen’s Club for being too drunk in January 2006. According to the lawsuit, he and John Chiariello got into Homatas’ car and left the club.

Homatas crashed into an SUV driven by April Simmons. Simmons, who was pregnant, and Chiariello were killed in the accident. Homatas is serving a 12-year sentence for DUI and reckless homicide. Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune 08/12/2010
Read Article: Chicago Tribune

August 14, 2010

Texas Medical Update: Stevens Johnson Syndrome

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is an extremely rare disorder characterized by a severe skin reaction to medication
Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a rare but serious and potentially life-threatening condition. SJS is defined as a hypersensitivity disorder affecting the skin and mucous membranes.

The most severe form of Stevens Johnson Syndrome is Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TENS).

It can be caused by adverse effects of drugs (allopurinol, diclofenac, etravirine, Isotretinoin, aka Accutane, fluconazole, valdecoxib, sitagliptin, oseltamivir, penicillins, barbiturates, sulfonamides, phenytoin, azithromycin, oxcarbazepine, zonisamide, modafinil, lamotrigine, nevirapine, pyrimethamine, ibuprofen, ethosuximide, carbamazepine, nystatin, and gout medications).

Medications that have traditionally been known to lead to SJS, erythema multiforme and toxic epidermal necrolysis include sulfonamides (antibiotics), penicillins (antibiotics), barbiturates (sedatives), lamotrigine and phenytoin (e.g. Dilantin) (anticonvulsants). Combining lamotrigine with sodium valproate increases the risk of SJS.

Texas CEQ Report Accuses BP in Texas City Refinery Explosion.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The AP (8/4) reported, “A BP Texas City refinery that was the site of a massive 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers has a pattern of poor operation and maintenance practices, Texas environmental regulators reported after investigating a 46-day release of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals from the plant this spring.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality handed its findings over to the state’s attorney general because BP’s violations are ‘egregious,’ the company has a poor compliance history and the courts have the power to hand down greater monetary fines, said John Sadlier, deputy director of TCEQ’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement.”

August 11, 2010

Jury Awards Widow $2.2M in Tobacco Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Palm Beach County widow has been awarded over $2 million in a tobacco case over the death of her husband.

The jury on Thursday found R. J. Reynolds and Philip Morris had acted recklessly. The same jurors will now decide how much the companies should pay 60-year-old Liz Piendle in punitive damages. AP, Miami Herald 08/06/2010
Read Article: Miami Herald

August 10, 2010

Widow Files Lawsuit Against Ford In Husband’s Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A woman in Florida has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motors over the death of her husband in a fiery car accident. Patrick Ambroise, a Florida Highway Patrol, died in his Ford Crown Victoria cruiser when the rear end burst into flames when it was rear-ended.

The suit claims that Ford poorly designed the vehicle and placed the gas tank in an unsafe position to where it may ignite of the car was hit from behind. The seeks unspecified damages. Staff Report, Miami Herald 08/06/2010
Read Article: Miami Herald

August 9, 2010

Residents Suspect Cancer Cluster Near Fort Detrick, MD.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

In a column in the Washington Post (8/6), Petula Dvorak writes, “Over their fences, at community picnics but mostly at funerals, the people of one Frederick neighborhood near Fort Detrick wondered whether it was just a horrible coincidence that so many of them had cancer.”

They “immediately looked to their former next-door neighbor, Fort Detrick, where anthrax and Agent Orange were studied for decades and where about 400 acres known as Area B were used for storage and dumping.”

Scientists “determined that vapors rising through the ground from the discarded chemicals had seeped into the” home of Randy White. White “is considering a class-action lawsuit against the Army.”

August 8, 2010

Yaz Texas Update: Bayer’s Yaz Birth Control Lawsuits Now at 2,000

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Bayer drug companies have produced more than 10 million pages of documents to women suing over oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz.

U.S. District Judge David Herndon, is handling about 2,000 Yasmin and Yaz suits from around the nation, and he has posted an order on July 9, reminding plaintiffs of their obligation to provide name, social security number, basic facts of their claims, and authority to release medical records.

Bayer had moved a day earlier to dismiss claims of 11 plaintiffs in six suits, for lack of fact sheets.

Read full story here.