Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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According to newly unsealed court documents, the parents of Phoebe Prince have settled their Massachusetts civil complaint with the South Hadley Public School District for $225,000. The case was resolved more than a year ago, but the financial figure reached was just revealed after a journalist went through the courts to obtain access to the information. Prince, whose family moved to the US from Ireland in 2009, hanged herself in January 2010 after spending months being bullied by other students at South Hadley High School. The 15-year-old became a target after she dated Sean Mulveyhill. The 18-year-old was the ex-of Kayla Narey, who was one of Prince’s bullies. Even after Prince and Mulveyhill. stopped seeing each other, the bullying continued online and in person.

After her death, Prince’s parents filed a complaint against the school district with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Anne O’Brien and Jeremy Prince claimed the district of not doing enough to protect their daughter. The civil settlement was reached in November 2010.

It is the responsibility of school officials to make sure that students are not placed in harm’s way while under their watch. Fortunately, bullying, which has been known to occur at schools, is now being seen as a serious threat to a child’s safety and a potential cause of serious injury or death.

Thankfully, hazing is now also receiving attention as a dangerous activity among students that can cause serious injuries and even death. As our Boston injury lawyers reported in an earlier blog post, last month, police looked into allegations of hazing involving Andover High School students that attended a basketball camp this summer. Two of the participants were allegedly forced to eat a cookie covered in semen. Two other students have since been expelled because of the alleged incident.

Phoebe Prince’s Parents Settled School District Lawsuit for $225,000, ABC News, December 28, 2011
Expulsion, suspensions meted out in Andover hazing case, Eagle-Tribune, December 1, 2011
Bullied girl’s suicide has ongoing impact, MSNBC, December 27, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Andover High School Confirms Hazing Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, November 30, 2011
Salem, Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Revere Van Company for Four Children, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 30, 2011
Boston Playground Accidents Can Cause Serious Massachusetts Child Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 10, 2011 Continue reading

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Senator John Kerry wants the families of Brian Halloran and Michael Donahue to receive the $8.5 million in Massachusetts wrongful death damages that a US district judge had awarded them in 2009. Donahue and Halloran were both victims of James “Whitey” Bulger, the infamous Boston mafia head of the Winter Hill Gang.

Unfortunately, an appeals court threw out their Boston wrongful death cases and made the awards invalid on the grounds that the families should have filed their civil lawsuits sooner. Now, Senator Kerry is trying to get around that decision with legislation that would mandate that the US Treasury pay the families of the two men the damages they are owed. While Kerry asked for Congress’s help in this matter, Rep. William Keating, also of Massachusetts, filed a similar measure in the US House.

According to the Boston wrongful death lawsuits, Donahue and Halloran were murdered in 1982 after John Connolly Jr. a former government agent, warned Bulger that Halloran was going to name the mob head in a murder. Bulger and another mobster are accused of shooting Halloran 22 times. Donahue, who was there to drive Halloran, sustained bullet wounds to the head.

The families had brought their Massachusetts wrongful death cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to recover damages for the harm they suffered under the hands of the government. Per the act, claims must be brought within two years, but this limitation doesn’t stand if a victim does not know or has been prevented from knowing that he/she has grounds for a claim.

The appeals court said that given that there was extensive media coverage blaming Bulger and Stephen Flemmi for the shootings, the families should have filed its claims by September 2000. Donahue’s widow, however, argued that for almost two decades the FBI had told her that someone else had killed her husband.

Kerry filing bill to pay $8.5M to families of men allegedly killed by ‘Whitey’ Bulger, Washington Post/AP, November 1, 2011
‘What Kind of Government?’, The New York Times, October 23, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Whitey Bulger Biography

Federal Tort Claims Act, Legal Information Institute

More Blog Posts:
Deutsche Bank and Domino’s Pizza Sued in $15M Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Pizza Delivery Man’s Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 27, 2011
Gangsters “Whitey” Bulger and “The Rifleman” Flemmi Ordered to Pay Victim’s Family $30 Million for Her Massachusetts Wrongful Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 18, 2009
Appeals Court Upholds Quincy Family’s $3.1 Million Award For FBI Leak that Led to Fisherman’s Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 20, 2008 Continue reading

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In Sisson et al. v Lhowe et al., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a plaintiff can modifiya medical malpractice lawsuit to seek damages for wrongful death rather than personal injury even though the expiration date to make the claim has already passed. However, this change can only be made if the civil trial has not started, the original lawsuit was filed during the state’s allowed statute of limitations, and the liability allegations for wrongful death are the same as the ones for personal injury.

The Massachusetts medical malpractice case that the court ruled on was filed in 2006 prior to the death of Dawn Sisson from osteosarcoma. The complaint accused one of Dawn’s doctors of providing her with substandard care. Dawn died in 2007. A year later, the Massachusetts wrongful death claims were added to the lawsuit. This was after the 7 under the law allowed to file such a claim had passed.

In its 4-1 ruling, the state’s highest court overturned a lower court’s ruling throwing out the claims. It said that the wrongful death claims could be included because the circumstances surrounding the case were not in alignment with the reasons why the Legislature chose to have a law limiting how much time plaintiffs can seek such damages. The court also noted that the damages sought after and before Dawn’s passing were not very different in their amount or nature.

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice
Medical mistakes can cause serious injury, including death. Sometimes, a person who gets sick or hurt because of medical negligence may not pass away immediately. However, that doesn’t mean that the medical errors did not cause the death. Surviving loved ones should be allowed to obtain Massachusetts wrongful death recovery.

Lawsuit can be amended after deadline to include wrongful death, American Medical News, October 26, 2011
Sisson et al. v Lhowe et al. (PDF)


More Blog Posts:
Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Accuses Hospital and Wareham Hospital and Nurse of Massachusetts Medical Malpractice, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 24, 2011
$7M Boston Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded in Newborn’s Massachusetts Wrongful Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 31, 2011
Framingham Woman Dies A Day After Undergoing Breast Augmentation Procedure, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 12, 2011 Continue reading

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The family of 58-year-old delivery man who was murdered in 2010 is trying to hold Domino’s Pizza and Deutsche Bank liable for his Boston wrongful death. Nova was dispatched by a franchisee of Domino’s to a broken down residential structure on September 1, 2010. Deutsche Bank owns that property.

Nova, a father of three was stabbed 16 times after he entered the building. His assailants also robbed him of $143, as well as stole the pizzas, chicken wings, and drinks that the murderers had ordered.

In their Boston wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiffs contend that a a co-worker at Domino’s responded in the affirmative when the people placing the order tasked if Nova would be carrying cash. The co-worker also did not confirm the callback number, which the family believes increased the chances of an assault crime happening. They say that sending Nova to the back of the building where no one could see him also placed him at risk. Per the family’s Boston injury lawyer, Domino’s didn’t have in place addressing security for delivery drivers and that this was a “proximate cause” of Richel Nova’s assault, false imprisonment, and murder.

The civil complaint accuses Deutsche of negligent security. The building, which had been vacant for the two years before Nova’s death, did not have any Do Not Trespass signs.

Meantime, three people have confessed to the murders. They have, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder.

Boston Wrongful Death
As you can see, with this Boston wrongful death complaint, the family is suing two parties. Domino’s, which is accused of failing to provide adequate security and the necessary safety protocols for delivery drivers, and Deutsche Bank, as the premise owner of the property where the crime occurred. While both parties played no direct role in Nova’s murder, the plaintiffs contend that the defendants’ negligence allowed for his death to occur.

Domino’s Pizza and Deutsche Bank sued for $15 million by family of murdered pizza delivery man, Boston.com, October 26, 2011
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino suggests ‘torture’ for pizza delivery murder suspects, AP/Mass Live, September 23, 2010

More Blog Posts:
Massachusetts Products Liability: $20.6M Andover Wrongful Death Verdict Awarded Against Toys “R’ Us in Fatal Swimming Pool Slide Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 15, 2011
Revere Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed by Family of Mental Health Counselor Allegedly Murdered by Patient at Massachusetts Group Home, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 21, 2011
Taylor Meyer’s Family Settles Norfolk Wrongful Death Lawsuit with Two of the Defendants, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 6, 2011 Continue reading

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A jury has awarded the family of Robin Aleo $20.6M in its Essex County, Massachusetts wrongful death verdict against Toys “R” Us. Aleo died after she hit her head on the end of a swimming pool. The injury accident occurred in 2006 when the Banzai Falls in-ground slide she was going down headfirst bottomed out.

The Andover swimming pool accident caused her to break her neck and sustain spinal cord injury that left her a quadriplegic who couldn’t breathe on her own. Aleo later was taken off life support and died at age 29. Her 18-month-old daughter witnessed her mother being rescued while unconscious from the pool.

In their Andover wrongful death lawsuit, the family claimed that Toyquest Banzai slide, which was made in China, hadn’t been tested to see if met federal standards. The slide had been purchased at Toys “R” US, which had imported it.

Lawyers for the toy company had argued that because the Banzai Falls slide was inflatable, Toys “R” Us was not required to test the product to make sure it complied with federal regulations. Per federal safety standards, pool slides must be able to support 350 pounds without giving way or deforming. According to an expert witness for the plaintiffs, not only does the Banzai Falls slide deform under any weight, but as a person’s weight shifts on the slide while going down it, the air becomes displaced and renders the slide unable to support any load.

The $20.6 million products liability verdict included $18 million in punitive damages, $100,000 for Aleo’s pain and suffering before she died, and $2.5 million in lost income. The other defendants in this Massachusetts products liability lawsuit, Amazon.com and SLB Toys USA, have already settled with Aleo’s husband Michael.

Aleo is not the first person to allegedly become paralyzed after riding down a Banzai Falls slide. One man claims he became a paraplegic after going down one. The slide he got hurt on was bought at Walmart. He is suing the retailer and the Chinese manufacturers for his spinal cord injury.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission established minimum standards for swimming pool slides because they have been linked with so many serious injuries, including paraplegia, quadriplegia, leg fractures, and deaths. Examples of common defects involving pool slides include material failures, environmental incompatibilities, and surface material flaws.

$20.6M award in pool slide death, Eagle Tribune, October 15, 2011
Toys ‘R’ Us hit with Mass. lawsuit damages, UPI, October 16, 2011
Safety Standards for Pool Slides, Consumer Watch

Related Web Resources:

Toys ‘R’ Us

Consumer Product Safety Commission

More Blog Posts:
Boston Playground Accidents Can Cause Serious Massachusetts Child Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 10, 2011
Massachusetts Products Liability: CPSC Recalls More Pourable Gel Fuels Following Burn Injuries and Two Deaths, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 9, 2011
Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Toddler’s Fatal North Attleboro Crib Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 12, 2011 Continue reading

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The family of Edward P. Harrigan is suing Tobey Hospital and nurse Susan Spaulding for Wareham, Massachusetts medical malpractice and wrongful death. The civil complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.

The 87-year-old man was treated at the Wareham hospital in 2008. According to the federal lawsuit, even though his electrocardiogram showed a flat line for over two hours because his heart monitor’s battery had run out, no one at the hospital replaced the battery.

Harrigan’s heart then stopped. However, because his monitor had shut down, an alarm didn’t go off so hospital staff did not know he had gone into cardiac arrest. By the time they went back to him, he no longer had a pulse.

Alarm Fatigue
According to the family’s Boston medical malpractice complaint, alarm fatigue is what caused Harrigan’s death. This term refers to people becoming desensitized to monitor alarms. One reason for this is that so many “false alarms” happen at hospitals it can be hard to take each one that goes off seriously.

Unfortunately, alarm-related deaths are not uncommon. According to the Food and Drug Administration, some 566 alarm-related deaths occurred in this country alone between 2005 and 2008.

In August 2010, alarm fatigue” was a factor in the death of a patient at Umass Memorial Medical Center. This is the second alarm fatigue-related death to occur at that Worcester hospital in four years.

Some are asking whether medical device manufacturers are doing enough to make sure that the alarms they design sound off in a manner that nurses and other medical staff can’t help but pay attention. If not, then could a medical device maker be held liable for Massachusetts products liability if the company knew that alarm fatigue could pose a problem and didn’t design its product to combat it?

At Hospitals, Patient Alarms Often Ignored, ABC News, September 23, 2011
‘Alarm fatigue’ a factor in 2d death, Boston.com, September 21, 2011
Tobey, nurse sued in patient’s death, SouthCoast Today, September 23, 2011

More Blog Posts:
$7M Boston Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded in Newborn’s Massachusetts Wrongful Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 31, 2011
$2.6M Worcester, Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded to Man Who Ended Up with Surgical Tack Inside His Small Bowel, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 23, 2011
Medication Overdose: Boston Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Claims Massachusetts General Hospital Gave 76-Year-Old Woman the Wrong Blood Thinner, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 10, 2011 Continue reading

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10 years after terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes on September 11, 2011, the family of Mark Bavis has settled their wrongful death lawsuit. Bavis, 31, died when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the World Trade Center. The wrongful death complaint, filed by Bavis’s Boston family, was the only lawsuit over the 9/11 terrorist attacks that hadn’t yet been resolved.

Bavis’s loved ones had held back on settling their complaint, which they filed in 2002, because they wanted to go to trial and hold defendants United Airlines and Huntleigh USA, the security company in charge of the checkpoint at the Boston airport, publicly responsible. Attorneys for the Bavis family have said the gross negligence is what allowed five terrorists to get onto the United airplane. Last week, they submitted a compendium detailing their evidence about the alleged security failures on that tragic day.

Both defendants, however, contended that the shouldn’t be held liable for not being able to prevent a terrorist assault that even the federal government couldn’t have predicted or made plans to prevent. They have said that United’s security system was implemented at the direction of the government and was never designed to stop the 9/11 attacks. The compendium was a response to their motion to have the case dismissed.

The Bavis family believes that the details provided in their compendium achieves their goal of holding United and Huntleigh USA publicly accountable However, Bavis’s twin brother, Michael Bavis, says that the “only reason” a settlement was reached was that “rulings and manipulations of the law” impairs his family’s ability during a trial to tell what happened. The terms of the wrongful death settlement are confidential.

Massachusetts Wrongful Death
If someone you love died because of what you feel was negligence on another party’s part, you may have reason for filing a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against them. The defendant doesn’t need to have been the direct cause of your loved one’s death, but may have acted or failed to act in a way that allowed the death to happen.

Family and United Airlines Settle Last 9/11 Wrongful-Death Lawsuit, NY Times, September 19, 2011
Bavis family settles 9/11 lawsuit, Boston.com, September 19, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Logan International Airport

September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2011

More Blog Posts:
Wrongful Death: Family of 9/11 Victim Claims Security Screeners at Logan International Airport Did Poor Job, Boston Injury Lawyer, June 21, 2011
Massport Asked to Be Released from Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed by Family of Man Killed Aboard United Airlines Flight 175 on 9/11, Boston Injury Lawyer, July 7, 2011
Boston’s Logan Airport Is Scene Of Mystery Passenger And Pending Warrant, Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, March 22, 2010 Continue reading

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The family of Catherine “Kate” Gill is trying to determine whether they have grounds for a Massachusetts wrongful death claim against the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office. Gill died after choking on a marshmallow on September 4, 2010.

Her fiance, Brett McFarland, says he woke up in the middle of the night and found Gill on the floor choking. He called 911 for help, but claims that the call lasted 12 minutes and that the dispatcher didn’t provide him with any instructions on how to save Gill’s life. In a recording of the conversation, McFarland can be heard screaming during periods when the dispatcher was silent. Emergency workers eventually arrived at the scene but they were unable to revive Gill.

Dispatcher Sgt. Rhonda Colburn of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office’s handled McFarland’s emergency call. She left her job last December after the sheriff acknowledged that she failed to follow protocol during McFarland’s 911 call.

An investigation into what happened during the call and what went wrong is under way. Gill’s parents also want to know what training the dispatcher received and what procedures should have been implemented/weren’t followed on the night of their daughter’s accident.

Unfortunately, 911 dispatchers can make mistake, and in cases where an emergency is involved this can make the difference between life and death. Failure to take down the right information (such as the address where the emergency is taking place), delayed response in contacting and police, firefighters, or medical emergency workers, failure to obey protocol and procedures, operator inexperience, failure to provide instructions that may keep the incident from becoming worse, and other errors or oversights can contribute to serious Boston personal injury or wrongful deaths that could have been otherwise prevented (if only the dispatcher or others involved had done their jobs correctly).

Mashpee choking death one year ago, Cape Cod Times, September 4, 2011
Dispatcher Who Fielded Mashpee 911 Choking Call Resigns From County Sheriff Department, CapeNews.net, January 31, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office

More Blog Posts:
Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit To Be Filed By Family of Worcester Man Made to Walk Down Stairs by Paramedics, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 27, 2009
Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against American Medical Response After Ambulance Patient is Dropped on Her Head, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 16, 2011
$7M Boston Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded in Newborn’s Massachusetts Wrongful Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 31, 2011 Continue reading

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A jury has awarded the South Hamilton family of Katherine Bellerose $7 million in Boston wrongful death damages. Bellerose, a newborn twin, passed away 8 days after being born two months premature at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her parents, John and Danielle, claimed she died because of inadequate staffing and the negligent medicare care she received while the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Katherine and her sister Alexis were born on June 13, 2004. She soon developed necrotizing enterocolitis, which is a bowel condition that kills internal tissue.

Her family’s Boston medical malpractice lawyer contends that seeing as babies that are born premature are at greater risk for developing the bowel condition, the staff at the hospital should have been monitoring Katherine more closely for possible signs. Instead, it wasn’t until they went to visit their girls on June 20 and noticed that she was unresponsive and discolored and the monitors showed that there were problems with her oxygen levels and heart that anything was done. Even then, they say it took an hour for anyone to act on their concerns and over four hours before surgeons were contacted. Katherine died the following morning.

The jury awarded each of Katherine’s parents $3.5 million each and $50,000 was allotted for the suffering she went through prior to her death. A nurse and four doctors found not responsible for Katherine’s Massachusetts wrongful death.

Premature Birth Risks
Premature births can come with significant risks, which is why it is so important that preemies are properly monitored after delivery. Complications that can occur when a baby is born too soon:

• Respiratory distress • Developmental disabilities • Cerebral palsy • Increased risk of diabetes • Increased risk of heart disease • Brain bleed • Brain injury
Medical errors that occur before, during, and after delivery can cause serious injury or health complications to any baby, which is why all necessary precautions must be taken to prevent these. When medical mistakes or failure to provide adequate care causes injuries, the baby’s family may be able to pursue Boston medical malpractice compensation.

Jury finds Beth Israel at fault in baby death, Boston Herald, September 1, 2011
Parents awarded $7 million in death of newborn, Boston.com, August 31, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Care for Premature Babies, American Pregnancy.org
Premature Birth Complications, Mayo Clinic

More Blog Posts:
$7M Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Settlement Awarded to Parents Whose Child Was Born with a Genetic Defect, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, May 6, 2011
Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse of Child Patients, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 17, 2011
Boston Medical Malpractice?: Three Wrong-Site Surgeries Performed at Beth Israel, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 11, 2011 Continue reading

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Our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog occasionally covers accidents and lawsuits that occurred outside the state of Massachusetts. In this post, we bring the latest on a tragic accident that made national headlines two years ago:

Daniel Schuler, the husband of Diane Schuler, is suing the state of New York and his brother-in-law for wrongful death. Diane, 36, and seven others, including their 2-year-old daughter Erin and her three nieces, were killed in 2009 after she drove her minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and collided in a head-on crash with another vehicle on July 26, 2009. Now, Daniel is seeking compensation for Erin and her brother Bryan, 5, who survived the collision with serious, permanent, serious injuries.

Toxicologists later said that Diane was drunk and high that day. Test results indicate that she had marijuana and the equivalent of 10 shots of vodka in her system. Daniel, however, believes the findings are a mistake. In his wrongful death complaint against NY State, he says that the highway is inadequately designed and had poor signage.

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