Wrongful Death

April 24, 2013

Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Sues Facility for the Developmentally Disabled After Man Swallows Latex Glove

In Bristol County Superior Court, the family of Grant Pearson is suing Crystal Springs, a Freetown school for the severely disabled for his Massachusetts wrongful death. They contend that staff failed to keep the 21-year-old Assonet resident safe and they did not provide him with the medical care he needed after he swallowed a latex glove in 2011.The facility provides specialized therapeutic, residential, and educational services to adults and kids that are severely disabled.

Pearson, who lived at Crystal Springs at the time of the fatal accident, suffered from pica. This disorder involves a compulsive craving to eat nonedible items.

Per the Bristol County, MA wrongful death lawsuit, on October 25, 2011, Pearson swallowed a glove that had been left in the bathroom where an attendant gave him a shower. Soon after, he began throwing up and exhibited difficulty breathing. Although other staff members were called in, there was purportedly a delay before an oxygen bag was assembled for him and by then he was unresponsive and foaming at the mouth.

April 18, 2013

Family of Teen Girl Who Committed Suicide Following Sexual Assault and Cyberbullying, Intends to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Her Alleged Teen Assailants

by Altman & Altman

The family of Audrie Pott says that they will file a wrongful death lawsuit against her alleged assailants. The 15-year-old killed herself after the three 16-year-old boys allegedly sexually assaulted her at a Labor Day coed overnight party last year and then circulated a photo of the incident via text message, making her the target of cyberbullying. She hanged herself several days later. Her loved ones say that she was unconscious while she was being raped and didn’t know what happened until she saw the picture.

According to the family’s lawyer, her alleged assailants even drew and wrote words on her private parts. They plan to sue the parents that own the home where the unsupervised sleepover occurred. Meantime, they have already filed a negligence claim against the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District, blaming it for negligence.

Their attorney tells ABCNews.com that in Spring 2012, Pott complained about being bullied to the school but that did not document her statements. The school also had determined, soon after her death, that bullying had not been a factor leading to her suicide. The negligence claim opens the doorway to a wrongful death lawsuit later.

April 16, 2013

FDA Chastised For Failing to Go After New England Compounding Center Years Before the Deadly Meningitis Outbreak

by Altman & Altman

Republicans and Democrats in the US House say that the US Food and Drug Administration failed to better police compounding pharmacies prior to the deadly meningitis outbreak that killed over 50 people and afflicted more than 700 others with the virus, spinal infections, joint infections, stroke, and other health issues. Many of the victims still don’t know if they will ever fully recover, and their medical bills have been racking up in the tens of thousands of dollars. The approximately 17,000 tainted vials of methylprednisolone acetate came from the New England Compounding Center (NECC), which is located in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Already, dozens of products liability, drug injury, wrongful death, and dangerous drug lawsuits have been filed by victims and their families seeking to recover compensation for their health issues or the deaths of loved ones. In Massachusetts, contact our Boston personal injury lawyers at Altman & Altman to find out if you have grounds for a case. In addition to drug defect claims, you also may have reason to pursue medical malpractice damages from the doctor and/or medical facility that administered the contaminated steroid injections.

According to lawmakers, the FDA should have been doing more to police compounding pharmacies, including shutting down the NECC before the outbreak happened. Reportedly, it had received numerous complaints from hospitals, patients, doctors, anonymous whistleblowers, and state pharmacy regulators about the pharmacy over a nearly 10-year period.

March 30, 2013

Not All Boston Child Injuries in Cars Involve Actual Massachusetts Traffic Crashes

by Altman & Altman

At Altman & Altman, LLP, our Boston personal injury lawyers also represent the families of kids injured in non-traffic related Massachusetts car accidents that were caused by another negligent party, including incidents involving:

Backover Accidents

This type of car accident often occurs when a vehicle is backing out of a parking space or driveway. The motorist may not realize that a child is behind the car. According to KidsandCars.org, about 50 kids are involved in US backover incidents every week, resulting in about 48 injuries to minors and two deaths. Boston backover accidents are more likely to occur when there is a larger size vehicle involved, such as an SUV, van, or truck. The bigger size can make rear visibility harder for the driver.

February 25, 2013

Ex-Inmate’s Family Files Essex County, Massachusetts $2M Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Jail

by Altman & Altman

In Salem Superior Court, the loved ones of former inmate Jeddy Darryl Warner is suing the Essex County jail for Massachusetts wrongful death. According to the plaintiffs, the jail allegedly kept Warner from taking the medications that he needed for several days. Now his family is seeking $2 million in damages.

Warner had been suffering from gastrointestinal stromal tumor, which is a rare form of cancer that he as diagnosed with while serving time in a New York prison for check fraud. After having surgery and getting additional care at hospitals located close to where he was being detained, Warner was paroled and transferred to Massachusetts. However, a few years later, he was behind bars again, then later on probation, and again back in custody in 2010.

Per the Essex County, MA wrongful death complaint, when Warner’s sister attempted to ensure he received his medications, she was notified that he was only allowed to get drugs that came from the jail and not through any outside sources. One drug that he needed, in particular, but could not get was Gleevec. Several days after he was allegedly deprived of this needed med, Warner was discovered unconscious on the jail infirmary floor and placed on life support for several days.

February 19, 2013

Cambridge, MA Truck Accident Lawsuit Filed by Family of Lobbyist James Holway is Settled for $750,000

by Altman & Altman

The family of lobbyist James “Jimmy” W. Holway has settled its Cambridge truck accident lawsuit over his 2006 Massachusetts wrongful death. Holway was killed on September 11, 2006 after a construction vehicle that didn’t have working rear brakes in West Yarmouth hit his car.

According to the Holway family’s Cambridge motor vehicle crash lawyers, not only did the truck owner insist that the 26,000 vehicle continue to be used to deliver materials despite its advanced age of 18 years, but also the truck’s rear brakes and a number of warnings and instruments, including a disconnected odometer, were not working.

The 63-year-old lobbyist had been leaving a restaurant parking lot on Route 28 and crossing the roadway in his car to head home when the construction truck went over a solid double yellow line to strike his car. Investigators confirmed that only the front brakes of the truck were in operation at the time.

January 18, 2013

Toyota Settles Sudden Acceleration Lawsuit Over Two Wrongful Deaths

by Altman & Altman

One month after reaching a $1.1B settlement with hundreds of plaintiffs claiming that auto defects linked to sudden unintended acceleration caused the value of their vehicles to drop, Toyota Motor Corp. has reached confidential settlements in two wrongful deaths involving the same safety issue.

This auto defect, which can cause a vehicle to suddenly speed up without warning while causing the driver to lose the ability to slow it down or stop the car, has been linked to hundreds of motor vehicle injuries and fatalities. In this latest wrongful death case, Charlene Jones Lloyd and Paul Van Alfen, died in 2010 when the Camry they were riding crashed into a wall. Van Alfen’s wife and his son, who was engaged to Jones Lloyd, were also injured. Investigators report that skid marks on the interstate showed that Van Alfen tried to stop the Camry as it accelerated out of control.

The police say that the vehicle suddenly accelerated after the gas pedal got stuck. Sticky gas pedals and ill-fitting floor have both been linked to the Toyota sudden unintended acceleration problem. This safety issue eventually led to a number of recalls involving millions of vehicles and the manufacturer later had to pay tens of millions of dollars in fines to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for not alerting the government about this problem sooner.

January 7, 2013

Holyoke, Winchendon, and Chelmsford, MA Fires Claim Lives

by Altman & Altman

A woman was killed in a Holyoke fire at her home on Saturday. Investigators believe that the blaze may have started close to a wood-burning stove. Firefighters that rushed to the scene were able to extricate another woman and her dog from the roof of the bungalow’s front porch. Following the fire, the whereabouts of two other dogs were in question.

Also on Saturday, an elderly couple was killed in a three-alarm Chelmsford blaze that caused a significant portion of a 24-unit condo complex to collapse. A seven-year-old boy who sustained third-degree burns is reportedly fighting to survive. The cause of this fire is also under investigation.

And in yet another fire, this one in Winchendon on Friday, a 70-year-old man died in a two-alarm blaze that destroyed his residence. Icy conditions and strong winds impeded firefighter efforts.

December 26, 2012

$6.7M Massachusetts Wrongful Death Award Over Northeastern University’s 2007 Boston Fall Accident in Bar Goes to State’s Supreme Judicial Court

by Altman & Altman

On January 7, oral arguments are scheduled to begin in the appeal of Our House East bar and its owners over a $6.7M Boston stairwell accident death award granted to the family of Northeastern University student Jacob Freeman. The 21-year-old died in 2007 two days after he fell down the stairs leading to the basement of the popular pub and restaurant and sustained a serious head injury. The case is before Massachusetts’s Supreme Judicial Court.

Although the jury found the defendants not liable in Freeman’s fatal Boston fall accident, Judge Elizabeth Fahey ordered the bar and its owners to pay $6.7M in damages. She said that the pub’s failure to get the necessary permit for the stairs was a violation of Massachusett’s consumer protection laws and that there had been a lack of compliance with state building code.

The defendants, however, are appealing the award. They contend that seeing as jury did not find them liable for Freeman’s fatal fall, Fahey’s decision to impose damages was a mistake. They also maintain that customers were not allowed on the stairs. Meantime, the Massachusetts premises liability lawyers of Freeman’s family remain adamant that the judge’s decision to issue the award was a well-thought-out ruling.

December 19, 2012

Massachusetts Wrongful Death/Personal Injury Lawsuit Blaming Lax Supervision at Gillette Stadium for Drunken Driving Crash Will Go to Trial

by Altman & Altman

Nearly four and a half years after a Massachusetts car crash killed two friends and injured a third on the night of the 2008 New England County Music Festival, a Norfolk Superior Court judge says that the families’ Foxborough, MA persona injury/wrongful death lawsuit can go to trial. The defendants had sought to have the case dismissed.

The catastrophic crash occurred after the three women, 24-year-old Norton resident Nina Houlihan, 19-year-old Mansfield resident Alexa Latteo, and 20-year-old Milton resident Debra Davis drank alcohol at the Gillette Stadium parking lot during the music event. They later crashed their car into a tree about a mile away from the site.

Latteo, who had been driving, died from her Foxborough, Massachusetts motor vehicle accident injuries, as did Milton. Houlihan survived with injuries. She and the Davis family later filed a civil case against Kraft Group, which owns the stadium, as well as several affiliated entities, including security firm TeamOps LLC, NPS LLC, and FXP LLC. The friends reportedly were tailgating “all day” at the Stadium even though they didn’t have tickets to the event.