Wrongful Death

July 30, 2010

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Wrongful Death?: Jail Waited Too Long to Send Immigrant Detainee to the Hospital, Says Federal Report

According to the Boston Globe, a federal immigration agency report examining the death of immigrant detainee Pedro Tavarez accuses Suffolk County Jail medical staff of waiting too long to get the 49-year-old man the proper medical help. Tavarez, who was suffering from diabetes and hypertension, was being held at the jail so he could be deported back to the Dominican Republic. He died of heart failure on October 19.
after a deadly bacterial infection ravaged his body.

The 98-page report by the ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility claims that Tavarez did not receive the proper medical care while at the jail. Prison Health Services Inc. runs the jail infirmary.

Tavarez’s medical condition grew worse and although Boston Medical Center is closer to the jail, he was taken to Shattuck Hospital where he suffered a heart attack. Unfortunately, the Jamaica Plain hospital lacks medical emergency services, so he was transported to Faulkner Hospital. Due to the unavailability of an intensive-care bed, he was sent to Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The report says language barriers, incomplete medical records, and staff that failed to check his vitals and get him to the right hospital immediately contributed to Tavarez not getting the proper medical care that he needed. He was initially treated for a cold but after his condition deteriorated he was admitted to an infirmary where staff was supposed to check his vitals every four hours. The report says that this did not always happen. Also, the Bureau of Prisons doctor has said that Tavarez should have been transported to a hospital sooner. Instead, he stayed at the jail infirmary for another day.

Prisons and jails owe prisoners, detainees, and suspects a duty of care to protect them from Boston police brutality and crimes committed by other inmates. The law enforcement officers must also must provide them with the proper emergency and medical care when warranted and make sure that they are fed and given enough to drink. Unfortunately, there are people who end up hurt or dead while in police custody because other parties were negligent or reckless. Injured suspects and prisoners have been known to file Boston injury lawsuits seeking compensation for the harm that they suffered.

Suffolk jail is faulted in death of detainee, Boston, July 30, 2010
Report faults care in death of Boston detainee, Boston Herald, July 30, 2010
Read the Government’s Federal Report (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility

Suffolk County Jail
Continue reading

June 18, 2010

David Woodman’s Family Reaches $3 Million Massachusetts Wrongful Death Settlement with Boston Police

by Altman & Altman

Nearly two years after David Woodman’s death, his family have reached a $3 million Massachusetts wrongful death settlement with Boston police. Woodman, a 22-year-old Celtics fan, stopped breathing after police apprehended him for drinking in public during the 2008 NBA championship festivities on June 18, 2008.

Reportedly, after police wrestled Woodman from the wrought-iron fence he was clinging to, he lay on the ground and for the five minutes or so that no one, including the nine cops at the scene, was in charge of him, this was when he may have stopped breathing.

The medical examiner says that Woodman’s heart stopped because he suffered an arrhythmia and that this occurred not because of Boston police brutality but due to his preexisting heat condition. At the hospital, Woodman suffered another arrhythmia before dying.

June 4, 2010

Family of East Boston Man Shot by Cop During Standoff Sues City of Lynn for Massachusetts Wrongful Death

by Altman & Altman

The family of Michael Addesa has filed a Lynn wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The 34-year-old was shot to death by Lynn Police Officer Paul Holey on the evening of May 27, 2008.

According to the Lynn Police Department, Holey saw the East Boston man behaving strangely at the intersection of Commercial and Alley streets. The police officer exited the vehicle and told him to stop. Addesa ignored the order and the police officer began chasing him on foot. At some point, Addesa stopped when he was some distance ahead of Holey and turned around to face him with a knife in hand. Holey ordered Addesa to drop the knife but, according to the authorities, the suspect ignored the order and kept advancing toward the police officer. It was at this point that Holey shot him in the chest.

The family’s Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit is accusing Holey of failing to employ alternative approaches when dealing with Addesa that didn’t have to result in his shooting death. Other measures could have included Inflicting a gunshot wound that didn’t have to be fatal, calling for police backup, or abandoning the pursuit at that time and waiting to make an arrest later.

April 28, 2010

Death of Mashpee man who was inappropriately restrained at Cape Cod Hospital is under investigation

by Altman & Altman

An inquest will take place in the death of Daniel Ryan. The Mashpee man died three weeks after he was restrained at Cape Cod Hospital on October 9, 2009. The 35-year-old was there to visit his wife, who was a patient.

The hospital claims that they had to restrain him because he was a danger to patients, staffers, and himself. He fell into a coma before passing away. The state’s medical examiner’s office representative is calling Ryan’s death a homicide, and the Department of Public Health cited Cape Cod Hospital for violating his rights and using inappropriate restraint methods, which led to his death.

Ryan reportedly was walking through the hospital without authorization and was stopped by a security worker. The hospital says that Ryan turned violent and tried to break away and run off. Their account is different from the video surveillance footage that shows him tripping on a sheet that was placed over his head and falling forward. A security officer escorting Ryan also fell before placing him in a headlock, flipping him over, and sitting on him in what looked like an attempt to restrain him.

According to the state’s report, at least two other hospital workers helped keep Ryan immobile. The state also says that it wasn’t until he needed emergency attention that the workers loosened his restraints or checked his condition. The state determined that security staff at the hospital hadn’t been trained in appropriate and proper restraints.

Massachusetts Wrongful Death
If you believe that your loved one died because a party behaved negligently, recklessly, or carelessly, you may be entitled to obtain Massachusetts wrongful death compensation.It doesn’t matter whether the negligence was accidental or intentional.

ME Rules Death a Homicide, Cape Cod Times, April 27, 2010
Inquest set in fatal conflict at Cape Cod Hospital, Boston.com, April 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Cape Cod Hospital

Wrongful Death Action, Law.Cornell.Edu Continue reading

April 15, 2010

$1.8 Million Wrongful Death Settlement Reached Between Massachusetts Methadone Clinic and Mother of 8-Year-Old Girl Killed in Marlboro Truck Crash

by Altman & Altman

Kayla Lackey’s mother Erin has reached a $1.8 million wrongful death agreement with Community Health Care Inc., a for-profit Massachusetts methadone clinic in Chicopee. Kayla was just 8 when she died in a Marlboro truck accident in April 2005 on Route 9. Stephen Fairchild, the driver of the pickup truck that struck the truck that Erin, Kayla, and two of her cousins were riding, was a patient at the clinic. He died from injuries he sustained during the truck crash.

Autopsy findings indicate that at the time of the head-on truck crash, Fairchild’s methadone level was “peaking.” He also had recently used marijuana and cocaine.

In 2007, Kayla’s estate sued the clinic and Putney doctor Walter Slowinski over the truck crash that claimed the young girl’s life. Slowinski, who prescribed anti-anxiety medication to the Fairchild while he was taking methadone, settled with the estate earlier this year.

April 13, 2010

Suffolk County Jury Awards $2.4 Million Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict in Wrongful Death of College Basketball Player

by Altman & Altman

A Massachusetts jury has awarded the parents of Antwoine Key $2.4 million for his Worcester wrongful death. The college basketball player died in 2005 after collapsing during the first quarter of a game at Worcester State College.

A Boston Doctor had examined the 22-year-old Eastern Connecticut State University student in 2001. According to the plaintiffs’ Boston medical malpractice lawyers, the doctor was supposed to determine whether Key was medically eligible to take part in college sports.

While examining Key at a Dorchester health center, the doctor discovered that there was a “slight systolic murmur” in his heart. Yet she signed a form clearing him to play sports. She noted that Key was in “excellent health” and did not impose any physical restrictions on him.

April 8, 2010

Father Files Salem Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Teen Daughter’s Death in Lynn, Massachusetts Car Accident

by Altman & Altman

The dad of 19-year-old Julia Gauthier is suing her boyfriend and his mom for Massachusetts wrongful death. Gauthier died in a Lynn car accident on March 21 when the Toyota 4Runner SUV that her boyfriend, 19-year-old Christopher Maxson, was driving flipped over.

Maxson is accused of speeding, driving drunk, and driving through a stop sign before crashing his mother’s sport utility vehicle into three parked cars, which caused his vehicle to flip over. Gauthier was thrown from the Toyota. She went through the sunroof before landing on the pavement. Gauthier was pronounced dead at the Massachusetts car accident site.

Maxson, a Marblehead resident, has pleaded not guilty to charges of drunken driving, motor vehicle homicide while driving drunk, failing to stop, and driving to endanger.

March 30, 2010

Boston Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Against Rebecca Riley’s Psychiatrist to Move Forward

by Altman & Altman

Now that Rebecca Riley’s parents have been convicted of her murder, the Boston wrongful death lawsuit accusing Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Massachusetts psychiatric malpractice will move forward. Rebecca, 4, died after her parents overmedicated her with psychotropic drugs.

The drugs were prescribed by Kifuji who, in exchange for immunity, testified at the criminal trials of Carolyn and Michael Riley. During Michael’s trial, Kifuji said that she does not question the diagnosis she made that Rebecca, then 2, was suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.

Kifuji said her diagnosis was based primarily on Carolyn’s accounts of her daughter’s conduct. The psychiatrist prescribed Depakote and clonidine for Rebecca. She had prescribed the same drugs to Rebecca’s two older siblings, who were diagnosed with the same conditions.

March 18, 2010

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeking $10 Million for Wheelchair Fatality

by Altman & Altman

The family of Jeffrey Thompson is suing National Seating & Mobility Inc. for $10 million. They filed their Boston, Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence in Suffolk Superior Court. Thompson, who is a quadriplegic, died after his wheelchair malfunctioned while it was being repaired in 3007. The 29-year-old broke his leg and went into “uncontrollable seizures.”

The plaintiffs contend that the repair technicians should have removed Thompson from the chair and taken out the device’s battery before beginning routine repairs on the electrical wiring. The chair malfunctioned and “jumped,” and the movement caused his legs to get pinned under a table.

The repairmen contacted Thomson’s personal care assistant, who told them to call 911. He was transported to a hospital and died the next day. The Boston wrongful death complaint contends that the technicians were inadequately trained.

According to Thompson’s father Charles, another technician that had come to do maintenance on the wheelchair had always removed his son from the $15,000 wheelchair before beginning to work.

Wheelchair Maintenance
Wheelchairs require regular maintenance to ensure full functionality. Axles, nuts, bolts, legrests, armrests, footrests, backrests, pivot points, ball bearings, the chair frame, and any electrical components need to be in proper working condition. Damaged parts should be replaced, certain parts should be properly lubricated, and any necessary repairs should be made. This is not a process that should cause injury to anyone.

Disability advocate’s family sues after he dies during repairs to his wheelchair, StarTribune, March 17, 2010
Activist’s family sues over wheelchair death, Boston.com/AP, March 18, 2010

Related Web Resource:
National Seating & Mobility Inc.

Wrongful Death, Nolo Continue reading

March 11, 2010

Family to File Plymouth County Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Psychiatric Patient’s Homicide

by Altman & Altman

The family of Joshua Messier intends to file a Massachusetts wrongful death complaint against the state now that the medical examiner’s officer has issued a homicide ruling. Messier died from blunt head impact and “compression of the chest” last May after he was restrained by guards at Bridgewater State Hospital.

The 23-year-old psychiatric patient was treated at the Brockton Hospital ER on May 4 for heart failure. There was dried blood in his hair and nostrils. He also had facial bruises and ligature marks on his body. The Plymouth District Attorney’s Office is investigating Messier’s death.

Meantime, the officers involve claim that after patient assaulted two cops, other officers helped restrain him. Messier then went into cardiac arrest. According to The Boston Globe, Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union Steve Kenneway is calling the incident a “clean use of force.” He says that that the examiner’s finding that Messier’s death was a homicide is just a legal term noting that another person was involved in the fatality.