Wrongful Death

November 2, 2009

Firefighter’s Widow Alleges Department Failed to Properly Maintain Equipment.

The widow of a LA firefighter who was killed last year while on duty has sued the fire department and the city for allegedly causing his death by refusing to replace outdated equipment.

Ralph Arabie, a 30-year veteran of the David Crockett Steam Fire Company No. 1, was killed in September 2008 at the station when the hydraulic boom of a 1965 aerial device struck and pinned his head to the back of one of the station’s trucks. He was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma to the head.

The lawsuit, filed alleges that Arabie was killed because the city and station failed to “properly maintain an already over aged fire truck,” and “replace overly-aged hydraulic components.”

Jan Arabie is suing for damages including the loss of her spouse, loss of support, mental anguish and emotional distress.

October 30, 2009

Appeals Court Reverses $24.2 M Verdict in Asbestos Mesothelioma Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The 3rd District Court of Appeal reversed a $24.2 million verdict Wednesday, striking a Miami-Dade jury award to a Weston, Fla., surgeon who claimed asbestos exposure caused his terminal cancer.

In a unanimous unsigned opinion, the three-judge panel remanded the products liability lawsuit by Dr. Stephen Guilder against Honeywell International and ordered a new trial.

Guilder won one of the highest compensatory damage awards against a single defendant in a mesothelioma case in April 2008. He died before the appeal was decided.

He claimed he developed the rare peritoneal mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos by remodeling an attic, working in road construction and repairing cars in the 1970s and 1980s.

October 30, 2009

Lawsuit Claims That Company is Liabe for Drunk Employee Car Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Trial is set to begin in Michigan in a lawsuit that claims a company is liable for three deaths caused by a company employee who was driving drunk.

Thomas Wellinger, who had been sent from his office at UGS Corp. to seek medical attention, drove his vehicle at 70 mph into a car driven by Judith Weinstein, killing her and her two sons, ages 9 and 12. Her husband, Gary Weinstein of Farmington Hills, Mich., claims in a wrongful-death suit that USG Corp. had a duty not to let Wellinger leave the premises.

October 27, 2009

Pfizer Unit’s Prempro Punitive Damages Verdict Remains Secret

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Pfizer Inc. unit must pay an undisclosed amount of punitive damages to an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after taking one of the drugmaker’s menopause treatments, according to a Philadelphia jury.

Jurors deliberated 25 minutes before finding Pfizer’s Wyeth subsidiary was responsible for paying an award to Connie Barton. The specific amount of the award was sealed by the trial judge immediately after it was returned.

October 27, 2009

Philip Morris Has to Fund Medical Monitoring Tests for Smokers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The state’s high court said that cigarette maker Philip Morris USA may have to pay for diagnostic chest exams so smokers can get early warning they have developed lung cancer, possibly opening a new front in tobacco liability lawsuits.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said Massachusetts law has an antiquated definition of negligence. Historically, plaintiffs had to show explicit injury, such as a broken leg, before the other party can be ordered to pay for diagnostic tests.

Writing for the court, Justice Spina said that such legal thinking must change. “We must adapt to the growing recognition that exposure to toxic substances and radiation may cause substantial injury, which should be compensable, even if the full effects are not immediately apparent,’’ he wrote.

October 26, 2009

Toyota’s runaway-car worries may not stop at floor mats

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A fatal accident in San Diego raises the question: Might a vehicle’s complex electronic features make it hard for drivers to react quickly when accelerating out of control?
The 2009 Lexus ES 350 shot through suburban San Diego like a runaway missile, weaving at 120 miles an hour through rush hour freeway traffic as flames flashed from under the car.

At the wheel, veteran California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor desperately tried to control the 272-horsepower engine that was roaring at full throttle as his wife, teenage daughter and brother-in-law were gripped by fear.

“We’re in trouble. . . . There’s no brakes,” Saylor’s brother-in-law Chris Lastrella told a police dispatcher over a cellphone. Moments later, frantic shrieks filled the car as it slammed into another vehicle and then careened into a dirt embankment, killing all four aboard.

October 26, 2009

Illinois Supreme Court Rules Doctors Owed no Duty to Nonpatient

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling is a victory for patient-physician confidentiality and protects doctors from unwarranted liability exposure, according to physicians.

On Sept. 24, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a group of physicians and other health care professionals did not have a duty to prevent the murder of the wife of a mentally ill patient they treated.

October 25, 2009

$14 M Settlement in Wrongful Death Case From EMS Copter Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A $14M settlement has been reached with family members of a flight nurse and a paramedic who died last year when an emergency medical services helicopter crashed into the Laguna Madre, Texas.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit that family members of Raul Garcia, 40, and Michael Sanchez, 39, filed against Metro Aviation Inc., the company that operated the Eurocopter AS350, and South Texas Emergency Care Foundation.

October 23, 2009

Jury Awards $13.5 M in Product Liability Faulty-Fan Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Philadelphia jury has issued a $13.5 million verdict against Lasko Products Inc., a West Chester fan manufacturer, after a defective fan motor sparked a 2005 house fire in Mount Airy that killed a 7-year-old boy.

The award was issued after a 13-day trial in the death of Joshua Foster, who was killed on June 14, 2005, when a fan in his mother’s bedroom triggered a blaze in the home. The child died of burns and smoke inhalation.

The fire was caused by a faulty Chinese-made motor in the portable fan, built in 2000, and the defect in the model was discovered in 1999.

October 22, 2009

BNSF Railroad’s Penalty of $25.6 M for Trial Misconduct

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. engaged in a “staggering” pattern of misconduct aimed at covering up its role in the deaths of four young people whose car collided with a train largely because a crossing gate wasn’t working properly.

To punish the railroad, which allegedly began destroying evidence within minutes of the 2003 accident, Judge Maas awarded $4 million to the victims’ families and their attorneys. The award comes on top of $21.6 million from a jury that placed 90 percent of the blame for the accident on Burlington Northern.

“When encountering conduct as egregious as that of BNSF, this court … has a duty to impose sanctions of a sufficient severity in order to deter future misconduct of the same caliber,” Maas ruled.