Houston Personal Injury Lawyer - Wrongful Death

Staircase Collapse Leaves Two Children Dead

Scott Kappes — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:51:45 GMT

Around 7:40pm last night the sounds of children playing quickly turned into screams when a staircase at a southwest Houston apartment complex collapsed on three children playing underneath it. Two children were killed and another was injured when debris from platform above came crashing down on top of them.

David Vazquez, 10, and 4-year-old Miguel Angel Robledo were crushed to death, officials said. Jose Martin Castro, 9, suffered a broken leg.

Residents of the complex said that the staircase was old and rusted and did not look safe, and investigators have evacuated residents of the building over concerns about other structural problems. City engineers will inspect the building to determine if it meets safety guidelines.

These types of accidents happen all too often. It is the responsibility of the owners of apartment complexes to maintain a safe living environment for their residents; however, many property owners fail to provide proper maintenance. Obviously those in charge at the Westwood Fountains Apartments have not done their job two children are dead because of it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Another Crane Accident Leaves Two Workers Dead

Scott Kappes — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:48:11 GMT

Yesterday two construction workers were killed and five others were injured when a portion of a crane fell 30 stories at a Miami high-rise condominium. The 20-foot portion of the crane that fell smashed through a nearby home being used by the contractor for storage. One worker inside the home was killed. With the terrible Manhattan crane collapse only ten days ago, the all too familiar scene has left the nation rattled and many Americans asking questions about the safety of cranes.

The March 15 collapse of a crane in Manhattan left seven dead and injured many more injured. The 18-story collapse crushed one townhouse and damaged at least seven other buildings. New York authorities have enacted new guidelines that now require a build inspector to be on site whenever a crane is raised or lowered within the city.

This week an attorney representing the family of one of the construction workers who perished in the Manhattan collapse announced plans to sue the city of New York for $30 million, alleging that negligence played a role in the catastrophic accident. Lawsuits will likely surface in the coming months regarding yesterday's tragic crane accident as well.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Teen Dies From Complications During Breast Surgery

Scott Kappes — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:47:09 GMT

An 18 year-old senior at West Boca Raton High School in Florida tragically passed away over the weekend after complications during breast augmentation surgery. Stephanie Kuleba, a well-liked cheerleader, was having corrective surgery to repair a symmetrical breasts and an inverted areola, when she suffered a fatal reaction to anesthesia used during the surgery.

Doctors believe the cause of death was malignant hyperthermia, a relatively rare metabolic condition that can be triggered by certain anesthesia. A patient's heart rate and metabolism rises, causing the body temperature to rise as high as 112 degrees.

The surgery was being preformed by board certified plastic surgeon, Stephen Schuster, at an out patient facility in Boca Raton. He expressed his sadness by saying, ""I am devastated by the loss and I feel for the family."

The grief-stricken family is still awaiting a definitive cause of death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Magnetic Toys Pose Dangerous Health Risk If Swallowed

Scott Kappes — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:18:38 GMT

"Don't swallow magnets," is the advice that four year-old Braden Eberle is giving to other children. Braden recently spent six days in the hospital recovering from surgery to remove magnets from his intestines. Last April Braden swallowed a piece from a Magnetix toy set. Braden somehow had gotten one of the magnets loose from one of the rods and swallowed it. His mother, Jill, was not that concerned and until the following day when it happened again. Braden once again had found a way to get another magnet free and again swallowed it. Jill says that she could not find any loose or broken pieces when examining the toy but still took the toy away and would not allow Braden to play it anymore. Jill thought that was the end of it, but she and Braden were not so lucky as they would soon find out.

Braden woke in the middle of the night with a stomachache. Concerned that the swallowed pieces could possibly be stuck Jill to Braden to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. There, Dr. Sanjeev Dutta examined Braden's aching belly.

"What caught my attention though was the nature of the thing that was swallowed and that made me very concerned," Dutta said.

Dutta was rightfully concerned as an x-ray quickly determined that the two magnetic pieces had in fact become stuck together through the walls of two different sections of Braden's intestines. The strong magnets can squeeze together leading to perforation. This is a very dangerous and even fatal in some cases. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has 27 reported cases of this type of injury, including one death.

Braden underwent immediate surgery to have the pieces removed. He would spend the next six days recovering from surgery and an infection caused by the magnets. Dr. Dutta published this cautionary tale in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, available this week. He aims to warn other physicians about the dangers of ingested magnets and urges them to be vigilant even if a child shows very few symptoms.

Newer Magnetix toys have the small magnets incased in plastic to make them more difficult to remove and later in 2008 plans to release a new design with magnets in plastic pieces that cannot be swallowed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Defibrillator Leads Get More Attention

Scott Kappes — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:20:19 GMT

This week Boston plays host to the ICD Lead Performance Conference. This conference is dedicated to the wires that connect implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) to the heart. These little wires were tossed into the public eye back in October when medical device giant, Medtronic, recalled one of its most popular leads due to an elevated risk of breakage. Reports of the defective wires giving shocks at in appropriate times and failure provide the desired shock to the heart in the time of need prompted the FDA to issue a Class I recall of the leads.

Experts from around the country expressed their concerns about the lack of voluntary reporting of failures by doctors and lab testers. St. Jude Medical representative, Philip Tsung, estimated that as many as 50 percent of all removed leads are sent back to the factory for failure analysis.

Lab tests got criticized, too. Megan Moynahan, chief of the FDA's defibrillator branch, asked why manufacturers only bend leads a limited number of times, simulating heartbeats, so that "all devices pass all tests." Why not flex them until they fail, she asked, to separate stronger leads from weaker ones.

It is nice to see the manufacturers addressing the issues with these devices and making an attempt create more awareness and ultimately make a safer product for everyone.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, medical Devices, and Implants.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Walgreen's Sued for Wrongful Death

Scott Kappes — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:57:46 GMT

A wrongful death case has been filed against drug store giant Walgreen Co. after an allegedly incorrect prescription caused a woman to have a miscarriage. The incident occurred outside St. Louis where Chanda Givens tried to fill a prescription for Materna, a prenatal vitamin, and was allegedly given Matulane, a strong chemotherapy drug, instead. The lawsuit claims that Givens became ill soon after beginning the medication but wrote it off to morning sickness. Her doctor then warned her that the baby was not developing properly and within a few weeks she miscarried.

The lawsuit claims that the defendants failed to adequately supervise those dispensing medication to ensure patient safety, in addition to failure to follow protocol and verify the prescription with Givens doctor. Givens and Walgreen's only realized the mistake when she tried to refill the prescription, believing that it would help if she were to conceive another child. Walgreen's asserts that they have a multi-step process for filling prescription to ensure that these kinds of mistakes do not happen. Walgreen's has not formally admitted any mistake but has offered their condolences for Givens' loss.

This is very scary and unfortunate series of events that has occurred here, and I offer my most sincere blessing to Givens and her family. Hopefully there will be no long term repercussions of the event and justice will be served.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

$1.5 Million Verdict Awarded in Wrongful Death Case

Scott Kappes — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:09:02 GMT

Yesterday a jury handed down a $1.5 million verdict to the family of Aurilano Salas for a wrongful death lawsuit that was filed after his 2001 death. The verdict was only 15 percent of the $10 million that the plantiffs attorney suggested as "reasonable compensation."

Salas was had no spleen and suffered from many life threatening conditions. He became ill at work and was transported to Christus Hospital St. Mary in Beaumont. There he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and prescribed Tylenol for his fever and antibiotics for his sepsis.

According to the plaintiffs' original petition, on Aug. 6, 2001, Aurilano Salas was in Port Arthur driving a dump truck, helping his son Rudy at a work site when he began to experience weakness, nausea, vomiting and pain radiating from his jaw to his left arm and through his back. He has transported to St. Mary Hospital and attended to by defendants Dr. Peterson, Dr. Ghyath Samman and nurse Maryann Guillory.

An autopsy showed a freshly clogged artery in Salas's heart and the family claims that they notified the attending physicians and nurses that the patient had a heart condition and this information was not acted upon. The family claims that the misdiagnosis of Salas's condition lead directly to his death. The hospital denies this claims and asserts that they were negligent in no way shape or form.

The defendant's attorney argued that Salas was not misdiagnosed and that he died of sepsis without a doubt. Therefore the healthcare facility should not be found guilty of negligence. This defense did seem to make some impact as the verdict was lower than expected.

Salas' wife Esmeralda Salas was awarded $343,000 for past and future pecuniary loss, $100,000 for past loss of companionship and $125,000 for past mental anguish damages.
Salas' children were awarded $550,000 for past loss of companion ship and mental anguish.
Aurilano Salas' estate was awarded $10,000 for medical expenses, $10,000 for funeral expenses and $500,000 for pain and mental anguish.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Widow Sues Buffer Maker for Wrongful Death

Scott Kappes — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:46:27 GMT

A southeast Texas woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturers of the floor buffer that she claims killed her husband. She believes that the buffer was unreasonably dangerous and these defects lead directly to the death of her husband. Anne Harper filed the suit against OPC/Floor Blazer and American Honda Motor Co. last Thursday alleging that the propane motor on the buffer did not have adequate safety provisions.

After Archie started his work , "he became overwhelmed by carbon monoxide gas and was rendered unconscious." The complaint continues stating "the LPG engine on the product [floor buffer] continued to run for several hours and emit the deadly carbon monoxide gas which led to the untimely and tragic death of Archie Harper."

American Honda Motor Co. and OPC/Floor Blazer are being accused of negligence, breach of warranty, and violations to the Texas Deceptive Trades Policy Act. There has thus far been no response to the case by the defendants.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Judge Upholds $20 Million Award

Scott Kappes — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Wednesday a Tulsa County Judge upheld a jury decision to award $20 million in wrongful death case. The suit was filed against Deanza Jones, a foster parent for the 7 month old baby. The attorneys in the case claim that the previously healthy baby was grossly neglected in the foster home, which lead directly to her death.

Those lawyers maintained that 17 days after Aurora was placed in Jones' filthy foster home, the previously healthy baby was found in an unchanged feces-filled diaper, surrounded by vomit, with some of her skin eaten away by cockroaches.

The child died from asphyxiation while lying in an attended crib at the roach infested foster home in 2002. Including previously paid settlements the total trial outcome was just over 24 million dollars.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes

Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Teacher's Minister Husband

Scott Kappes — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:23:59 GMT

The parents of a former Waco schoolteacher have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her husband. The widower, Matt Baker, is a former pastor at a Baptist church in Lorena, but has since moved to Kerrville with his two daughters where is an part-time youth minister and teacher. The death of the 31 year-old, Kari Lynn Baker, was originally ruled a suicide; however, her parents claim that new evidence has been discovered that cast a shadow of doubt over her death.

The Justice of the Peace has subpoenaed 11 people to testify in order to gain more information on the event and possibly determine exactly what transpired in the last hours the deceased life. Kari's parents, James and Linda Dulins, allege that the former pastor was having an affair, killed his wife and made her death appear to be a suicide. The Dulins have been in court with the Bakers in the past in order obtain visitation rights for their two grandchildren.

Pathologists found traces of a diet pill, an antihistamine and a sleep aid in Baker's system. But because of embalming, accurate blood concentration levels of the drugs could not be determined, according to the autopsy reports. Investigators found a typewritten "suicide-type note" and a bottle of sleeping pills at the scene, the report states.
Hewitt police reopened the investigation three months after the elementary school teacher died, citing unspecified "suspicious circumstances before and after" Baker's death, according to an affidavit to support the exhumation.

Linda Dulin testified last March that her daughter's husband, Matt, had given her cell phone to another woman within a week of her death. She claims that the two had logged over 6,000 minutes with one another in only 25 days subsequent to Kari's death. No trail date has been set thus far in the case.

IFor more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Scott Kappes