Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

March 21, 2009

Frat Hazing Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled

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.

March 20, 2009

California Woman Paralyzed in Crash Gets $45 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A judge has awarded $45 million in damages to a San Mateo woman who was paralyzed when a wrecking and demolition company’s truck ran a red light and hit her car.

Tricia Roth, now 41, a former software developer for Microsoft Corp., suffered a broken neck and spinal injuries in the September 2006 accident, according to her lawyer. Her doctors said she requires full-time attendant care and will never walk again.

The driver, Roman Pantoja, failed to see the light on East Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo near Highway 101 and admitted that he was at fault, according to a court hearing.

March 19, 2009

Florida Jury Awards Woman $65 M in Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A jury awarded a 21-year-old Florida woman $65 million for her injuries in a 2007 crash. The verdict is considered to be one of the largest by a Polk County jury.

The verdict stemmed from a traffic crash in Zolfo Springs that left Kendra Lymon in a coma and hospitalized for months.

Lymon had been driving her Dodge Neon on Aug. 21, 2007, when a tractor-trailer owned by Bynum Transport, struck her car at State Road 35 and State Road 64, according to the lawsuit naming Bynum and the driver.

The truck’s driver, Robert Bohn, a battalion chief for Polk County Fire Services, was working part-time for the trucking company.

March 18, 2009

Miami Beach Woman Awarded $38 M For Botched Spinal Surgery

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Miami Beach woman left bedridden and in excruciating pain following spinal surgery in 2003 at Mount Sinai Medical Center was awarded $38 million by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury.

The six-person jury deliberated nine hours over two days before finding that neurosurgeon Mario Nanes, Mount Sinai and the hospital’s pharmacy management firm caused Amanda Slavin’s debilitating injuries.

Mount Sinai settled before the case went to trial, so it is not on the hook to pay any part of the award. The hospital’s pharmacy management firm at the time, McKesson Medication Management, vowed to appeal.

March 17, 2009

Family of Chimp Attack Victim Seeks $50M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages against the primate’s owner, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control “a wild animal with violent propensities.”

The suit also alleges that Herold had given the chimp medication that further upset the animal. Herold has made conflicting public statements about whether she gave Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, to Travis on the day of the attack. The drug had not been prescribed for the animal, police said.

Herold knew the 200-pound chimp, Travis, was agitated when she asked Nash to come to her house on Feb. 16, the lawsuit said. The suit accuses Herold of negligence and recklessness for owning “a wild animal with violent propensities, even though she lacked sufficient skill, strength and/or experience to subdue the chimpanzee when necessary.”

March 16, 2009

Medtronic Links Device for Heart to 13 Deaths

by Dr. Shezad Malik

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 14, 2009

Paralyzed Seattle Wrestler And School Settle

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A former Seattle High School wrestler who was paralyzed at a practice two years ago was awarded $15 million in a settlement with Seattle Public Schools.

Mac Clay, then a senior, was at wrestling practice in the school cafeteria when he was driven backward into two wrestlers going in the opposite direction. The accident left him with limited use of his arms and no movement in his fingers and triceps, according to his attorney.

At the time, 13 wrestling team members were practicing using one mat on the concrete floor, although there were extra mats nearby, his attorneys said.

“They didn’t follow the normal safety rules,” said one of Clay’s lawyers, Jack Connelly. “The coaches weren’t certified and hadn’t attended safety classes required” by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

March 13, 2009

Exxon Found Liable in Maryland Gas Leak

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Maryland jury awarded more than $150 million to the neighbors of a northern Baltimore County service station, finding Exxon Mobil Corp. liable for the damage caused when thousands of gallons of gasoline seeped into the groundwater from a leaking pipe.

The Baltimore County jury’s verdict — delivered after five months of testimony and nearly two weeks of deliberations — directed the oil giant to compensate about 90 Jacksonville families for the lost value of their homes. It also requires Exxon to pay for cancer screenings, and it acknowledged the upheaval caused by the huge spill by awarding millions for emotional distress.

March 12, 2009

FDA issues peanut safety guidelines for foodmakers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued safety guidelines for companies that use peanut products today and said it may seize products that test positive for salmonella bacteria.

While heat-sensitive, salmonella bacteria become heat-resistant in high-fat environments such as peanut butter, according to the FDA guidance.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention government said 683 people in 46 states have been sickened in the outbreak linked to foods that used peanut ingredients made by the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp of America.