Wrongful Death

March 16, 2009

Medtronic Links Device for Heart to 13 Deaths

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.

March 15, 2009

Family of Football Player Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against UCF

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

March 10, 2009

Missouri Jury Orders Electric Company to Pay $2.3 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

March 9, 2009

Peanut Processor Has No Money For Injuries

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

March 6, 2009

Jury Awards $11M to New Jersey Family in Oral Surgery Malpractice Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.”

March 5, 2009

Texas Jury Awards $3 M in Houston Death Involving Excessive Force

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

March 4, 2009

Florida Smokers’ $580 M Trust Fund and Justice Department Settles for $18 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

February 25, 2009

Detroit to Pay $2 M for Wrongful Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

February 24, 2009

Cleburne Texas Family and Atmos Settle in Gas Explosion

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.

February 21, 2009

Indiana Jury Awards $157M in Tree Stand Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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.