Fri, 12/10/2021 - 14:12
A $1 million settlement has been approved by the city of Phoenix over a March 2016 wrongful death lawsuit involving a pregnant mother who, along with her unborn baby, died from a blood clot during a medical emergency.
According to the lawsuit filed by the family, the woman went to Dignity Health’s St. Joseph's Westgate in Glendale for a cough and shortness of breath. The young mother was 17 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident and was sent back home after being diagnosed with bronchitis.
The suit further states that the same night the woman fainted twice, following which 911 was notified for a medical emergency. A fire truck reached the home, and two EMTs (Emergency medical technicians) with Phoenix Fire told the family that it was a panic attack and advised them to see the primary care physician the next morning. She met her doctor in the morning and was admitted to the ICU for two weeks, where she and her unborn baby died.
The family had a history of blood clots, which the attorney representing the family believes if Phoenix Fire and Dignity Health would have handled the case differently, then blood thinners could have saved her life.
The family, her husband, and three kids will receive the $1 million settlement amount. Dignity Health is still fighting the lawsuit and did not provide any other information concerning privacy.
A similar medical malpractice lawsuit was settled in a New Mexico hospital in 2013, where the newborn suffered multiple injuries that included hypoxic-ischemic brain damage due to careless medical authorities.
Fri, 12/10/2021 - 14:10
Kelly-Moore Paint Company agreed to pay a $1.43 million settlement to resolve claims brought by 10 Northern California district attorneys led by San Mateo County’s District Attorney (DA) Stephen Wagstaffe over hazardous waste law violations.
According to the lawsuit filed, the San Carlos-based Kelly-Moore paint company regularly and illegally dumped paint, aerosol products, electronic devices, and other hazardous waste into the company's waste bins. The municipal landfills, where the bins were sent, are not authorized to accept hazardous waste. It further claimed that the company did not shred customer records containing confidential information before disposal. The lawsuit was filed by Wagstaffe and the DA’s from Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, Placer, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Yolo counties.
An investigation was initiated by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC), which included a series of undercover inspections of waste bins at 29 different Kelly-Moore locations between March 2016 through December 2018, as per a statement released by Wagstaffe.
The company also agreed to cooperate when they were informed about the unlawful disposals and implemented measures and dedicated additional resources for environmental compliance at its stores.
The settlement was announced in the early weeks of September by the DA. It also requires the company to appoint a compliance officer who will monitor the hazardous waste compliance program and perform waste disposal audits.
Fri, 12/10/2021 - 14:09
On September 15, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors consented to a $5 million settlement over a 2017 lawsuit involving a patrol vehicle that killed two boys, 7 and 9 years old, on a sidewalk.
According to a charge evaluation worksheet provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the tragic incident happened at around 7:25 p.m. on November 16, 2017, when a patrol trainee, along with a veteran by her side, was responding to a call involving a shooting. The trainee was driving a 2015 Ford Explorer SUV about 14 mph when a Honda Accord smashed it and then swung and hit another stopped car. The SUV had its emergency lights on as it rushed through a red light at the intersection of Indiana Street and Whittier Boulevard.
The SUV, after colliding with the Accord, accelerated to about 22 mph, and the driver tried to deviate the vehicle to avoid hitting the pedestrians but struck a 7-year old and his 9-year-old brother, who were going back home from school with their mother, and two other pedestrians, along with a trash bin that hit someone else.
The 7-year old boy died at the scene, and his brother sustained fatal injuries, whereas their mother suffered from a crushed pelvis and broken bones, and six other people were also injured.
A lawsuit was filed against the county and the trainee by the mother and other plaintiffs claiming that the trainee was trained improperly and acted recklessly. Traffic investigators called the action "without due regard for the safety of all persons on the highway" and concluded that the accident happened as the trainee rushed through the red light without having both lights on and a siren to alert pedestrians and other vehicles to make a way.
Criminal charges were declined against the trainee, stating that more would be required to prove that her actions rose to criminal negligence or ordinary negligence.
In a similar incident of 2012, a truck driver who was driving a pickup truck rammed into a school van that was carrying the school basketball team. The crash resulted in the instant death of the truck driver and the two coaches of the team out of which one was driving the van. Even the students suffered injuries due to the crash.
Fri, 12/10/2021 - 14:07
The family of a teenager who endured a brain injury while under anesthesia for a knee operation and an anesthesiologist reached a $9.38 million settlement over a medical malpractice case filed by the family.
According to the lawsuit filed, on December 19, 2014, then 15-year old boy went for surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sustained while playing soccer. Anesthesia service for the knee operation was provided by an MD of Summit Anesthesia Associates (N.J). The boy's heart rate and oxygen level dropped, resulting in a cardiac arrest, soon after the procedure was complete.
The anesthetist and the medical staff performed CPR, but in vain, they had to transfer him from the surgery center to a hospital. The boy was stabilized at the hospital and was diagnosed with chronic static encephalopathy due to a brain injury caused by cardiac arrest. When being discharged, he was semi-awake, non-verbal, had decorticated posture, and did not respond to commands.
The family filed a lawsuit claiming failure to provide the appropriate anesthesia, failure to recognize the emergency when the heart rate and oxygen levels dropped, and failure to recognize the reason for falling vital signs. The suit further claims that the anesthesiologist improperly administered medication while trying to resuscitate the patient and the staff did not respond quickly to the situation.
The anesthetist agreed to the settlement, which was approved in the court on August 18 but denied liability. The boy, now 20, suffers from a motor dysfunction and profuse neurologic compromise.
In January 2020, a similar medical malpractice lawsuit resulted in a severe brain injury to an infant. The family of the child claimed that the medical authorities of the hospital failed to take the necessary precautions. The parents of the affected child received a settlement that included $650,000 that will go to a trust for the kid's medical care. Another $3 million will be used to structure a settlement annuity that will pay $27,000 for 10 years to the kid.
Fri, 12/10/2021 - 14:06
On September 29, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner announced that the county reached a $12.5 million settlement with an insurer over a lawsuit involving a massive sinkhole in Fraser that displaced several families on Christmas Eve in 2016.
According to the lawsuit filed, a sinkhole measuring 50 feet wide, 260 feet long, and 65 feet deep, approximately the size of a football field, was formed at 15 Mile Road at Eberlein Drive due to a crack in the MIDDD sanitary sewer pipe that caused infiltration of sand into the pipe. Nobody was hurt in the incident, but twenty-three homes were evacuated, and three were condemned, including two that were later demolished. The collapse also appeared to have dump raw sewage into thousands of basements in the county through the broken pipe.
The disaster resulted in a $70 million repair, which included an emergency sewage bypass system and the installation of a new sewer pipe. In April 2019, the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District board sued the insurance company of three contractors claiming human error in the construction of the drainage.
The commissioner stated that the county hired a forensic engineer who reported human error is to blame for the cause, and the incident occurred due to the May 2014 work that was being done on the interceptor near the border with Oakland County.
Illinois National Insurance Company, a member of AIG, will make the settlement payment. The settlement also allows the MIDDD to continue to invest in aging infrastructure.