Dallas Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Jury Finds Hospital Liable For Failure to Monitor

 

A hospital must pay $591,581 to the family of a deceased patient after a jury found it partially responsible for the woman's death. In June 2006, Melissa Dorriety, 54, was admitted to Christus St. Catherine Health and Wellness Center in Katy for treatment of low blood sodium. On her third day of admission, Dorriety's husband found her comatose and non-responsive. She died three weeks later. Her family alleged hospital staff and attending physician Dr. Mukesh Mehta failed to monitor her and didn't notice that she had urinated excessively over a 16-hour period, which led to dehydration, brain damage and eventually her death. Christus blamed Dorriety's endocrinologist, Dr. Lorie Shapiro, alleging her treatment decisions led to the patient's death. Jurors found Christus 40 percent and Shapiro 60 percent negligent; Mehta was exonerated. The jury found that the family's damages were $1,478,949, but they will only recover Christus' share since Shapiro was not a party to the lawsuit.

Family of Driver Killed By Falling Equipment Gets 16 Million

 

The family of a woman who was fatally crushed when a piece of equipment fell off of a tractor-trailer received a $16 million settlement in a Johnson County district court.

On Sept. 11, 2008, Rhonda Henson was driving on F.M. 157 in Venus. Ahead of her, Daniel Armstrong, an employee of Pioneer Drilling Services Ltd., was hauling oil field equipment in a tractor-trailer. Henson's family claimed the equipment was not properly secured, causing it to fall onto Henson's car, crushing it.

Henson, a married mother of three, was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition to alleging the defendants failed to secure the load, Henson's family also alleged Armstrong wasn't legally qualified to drive the tractor-trailer and accused Pioneer of falsifying his qualification documents.

Pioneer blamed the incident on a defect in the road, but the company and its insurance carriers ultimately agreed to the settlement.

5.5 Million Window Covers Recalled Due to Child Deaths

 

In the wake of three child deaths and the near strangulation of seven other children, federal authorities and several businesses announced Wednesday that nearly 5.5 million hazardous window shades and blinds are being recalled immediately.

The window coverings include Roman shades, roll-up blinds, cellular shades and traditional blinds that provide young children with relatively easy access to exposed cords and loops that could strangle them.

The businesses participating in the recall are Pottery Barn Kids, IKEA, Vertical Land Inc., Lewis Hyman Inc., Lutron Electronics Co. Inc. and Victoria Classics. Victoria Classics’ Roman shades and many of Lewis Hyman’s window shades were sold exclusively at Target stores.

Recall of Simplicity Bassinets

 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is once again urging all parents and caregivers to immediately stop using convertible "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" bassinets manufactured by Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa. CPSC has learned of two additional infant deaths since the August 2008 announcements  that notified consumers of two infants who had strangled in their Simplicity bassinets. To date, CPSC is aware of four infants who have died in the close-sleeper bassinets.

CPSC learned that in September 2008, a two-month old female in Demorest, Georgia suffocated when she rolled into the adjustable fabric siding of the bassinet, pressing her face into a "pocket" which formed near the Velcro© fasteners. In another incident in January 2009, a six-month old female in Fort Worth, Texas appears to have been fatally entrapped in the bassinet’s bar opening created when the Velcro© fasteners were not secured. An investigation into this infant’s death is ongoing.

In addition, CPSC has received two separate reports involving a 10-week old and a 3-month old whose heads became entrapped between the lower bassinet bar and the mattress support. The infants were freed by their caregivers without injury.

The Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible bassinets, including bassinets with the Graco logo and “Winnie the Pooh” motif licensed by Disney Consumer Products, contain metal bars that are covered by an adjustable fabric flap. This fabric flap is secured by Velcro© fasteners, which are intended to be partially removed when the bassinet is converted into the bedside/close-sleeper mode. If the Velcro© fasteners are not properly re-secured when the fabric flap is adjusted, or if the consumer entirely removes the fabric flap exposing the metal bars, an infant can slip through the opening between the lower metal bar and the mattress support and become entrapped and suffocate or strangle. Consumers are urged to check their bassinets to ensure they are not using one of the recalled Simplicity bassinets.

Parents and caregivers are advised to return these bassinets to the retail store where they were purchased. All of the recalled bassinets can pose a danger to infants.

Car Crash Victims Recover $140,000 At Trial

 

Two men injured in a car accident recovered $140,155 in a jury trial despite police findings that there was alcohol and a marijuana pipe in their vehicle at the time of the crash. In 2007, Juan Reveles Jr., then 20, and his passenger, Jose Rascon, then 19, were traveling in Houston when their car was struck by a sport utility vehicle driven by William Earl Storment. Rascon sustained femur and finger fractures, as well as a concussion. Reveles suffered a sprained ankle and bruises. Both men blamed Storment, alleging he turned into their car. Storment admitted he was partially liable, but argued Reveles was speeding and driving with a suspended license. The defense also noted that police found alcohol and a pipe in Reveles' vehicle; Rascon admitted to consuming alcohol in the car. The jury found Storment 57 percent, Reveles 35 percent and Rascon 8 percent liable. The plaintiffs' $170,292 award was reduced due to the jury's finding of comparative negligence.

Family Killed By Falling Equipment Gets 16 Million

 

The family of a woman who was fatally crushed when a piece of equipment fell off of a tractor-trailer received a $16 million settlement. On Sept. 11, 2008, Rhonda Henson, 41, was driving on F.M. 157 in Venus. Ahead of her, Daniel Armstrong, an employee of Pioneer Drilling Services Ltd., was hauling oil field equipment in a tractor-trailer. Henson's family claimed the equipment was not properly secured, causing it to fall onto Henson's car, crushing it. Henson, a married mother of three, was pronounced dead at the scene. In addition to failing to secure the load, Henson's family also alleged Armstrong wasn't legally qualified to drive the tractor-trailer and accused Pioneer of falsifying his qualification documents. Pioneer blamed the incident on a defect in the road, but the company and its insurance carriers ultimately agreed to the settlement.