Wrongful Death

May 2, 2009

$14M Awarded in California Drowning Lawsuit

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.

May 1, 2009

Families Sue Over Fatal MD Bay Bridge Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 29, 2009

Raising Alarm at Cheerleading’s Dangers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 28, 2009

Bayer Settles Gadolinium Contrast Agent Injury Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Bayer AG has begun the process of settling medical injury lawsuits regarding its Magnevist contrast agent; Magnevist contains gadolinium.

The company is one among several, including General Electric Company and Tyco International Limited, being sued over complaints that the gadolinium-containing contrast agent was responsible for causing a potentially fatal organ hardening disease, called Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Since May 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required that gadolinium-containing contrast agents carry a black box warning.

April 27, 2009

$13.7M Awarded in Illinois Car Crash Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 26, 2009

Lawsuit Blaming Tannery for Missouri Brain Cancer

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 24, 2009

Companies Settle Lawsuit Over Seattle Crane Collapse

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 23, 2009

Popcorn Lung Lawsuits on the Increase.

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.”

April 19, 2009

All Minn. Bridge Victims Accept Settlements

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

April 18, 2009

Kaiser Permanente to Settle Kidney Transplant Claims For $1 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.