Parents sue New Mexico county in shooting death of daughter

Paul and Debra Wayne, parents of a 20-year-old woman shot to death by county deputies in New Mexico two years ago, are suing two deputies, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White and county commissioners. The Waynes claim their daughter, who was suicidal, was wrongfully shot to death. They claim the deputies could have used Tazers or some other non-lethal means. The young woman, Brittany Wayne, was shot to death in her bedroom about 20 seconds after deputies arrived at her home. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, and demands that the department change the way it trains deputies for dealing with people with mental health problems.
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Suit filed in death of young man with cystic fibrosis

The family of a young South Dakota man has brought a wrongful death suit against a local doctor who they claim negligently prescribed. Dr. Jeffrey Buckau is the osteopath named in the suit, brought by the family of Andrew Scott Vermillion. The suit claims Bucklau prescribed methadone, hydromorphone, Suboxone and alprazolam to Vermillion, even though he suffered from cystic fibrosis. The suit claims those drugs can cause respiratory failure in cystic fibrosis patients. Dr. Bucklau’s medical license is already suspended because of allegations that he over-prescribed addictive drugs to patients.

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Parents sue college for wrongful death

The parents of Gary DeVercelly Jr. have sued Rider University, alleging the school failed to adequately supervise a fraternity house where excessive drinking took place during an alleged hazing incident in which the student died. Gary and Julie DeVercelly filed a wrongful death suit in the case. Their son died after a party at the Phi Kappa Tau house where pledges allegedly drank large amounts of alcohol. DeVercelly, a freshman, was pronounced dead at a Trenton, N.J. hospital two days after the party. He had a blood alcohol content of .426, more than five times New Jersey’s limit for drunk driving.

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Woman sues ex-husband’s brother

A $50,000 wrongful death suit has been filed by the former wife of a Pekin, Ill. man who was allegedly murdered by his brother. Robert A. Harmon of Chillicothe, Ill. is accused of murdering his brother, Jason Harmon. Police say Robert told them he and his brother began fighting. After hitting Jason in the jaw and knocking him down, Robert told police he left the house with his girlfriend. But a Tazewell County Coroner’s report says Jason died of asphyxiation. Angela Eldridge, Jason’s ex-wife, filed the civil lawsuit after she was appointed special administrator of Jason’s estate. She said, “I filed the lawsuit for my kids. I think they deserve something.” Eldridge was married to Jason for seven years before they divorced in 2001.
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Wrongful death suit filed against girl’s classmate

The mother of a high school sophomore in New Castle, Penn. has filed a wrongful death suit against a classmate who may have given the girl drugs. Veronica Million-Passerrello, administratrix of the estate of her 16-year-old daughter, Erica Jo Million, filed the lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial and damages in excess of $50,000. The lawsuit names her daughter’s classmate, Josh Stewart, and the boy’s father, Jason A. Stewart, as defendants. Erica Jo was found unconscious during one of her classes at New Castle Senior-Junior High School. She was taken to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, where she died. Police believe she died of an overdose of the prescription pain medication oxyCodone.
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Man sues doctor following wife’s death

A man from Downs on the Severn, Md. Has filed a wrongful death suit against a doctor who he claimed failed to diagnose his wife’s uterine and ovarian cancer. Charles Marcantonio sued Dr. Melissa Moen of Women’s OB/GYN in Parole, Md. The suit claims Dr. Moen read Sherri Schaefer’s sonogram in September 2000 but found nothing. Seven months later the woman was diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancer, and she died months later. The suit claims the delay in making the diagnosis amounted to malpractice.
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Woman seeks damages in murder of mother, grandmother

Melissa Barry of Cortland, Ohio has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the three people convicted of murdering her mother and grandmother in 2005. Barry’s suit names Jermaine McKinney, Jazzmine McIver and Kenyatta J. Riley Hines. Barry administers the estates of her mother, Rebecca Cliburn, and her grandmother, Wanda Rollyson. The two were murdered in Rollyson’s Newton Bailey Road home two years ago. McKinney, was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole eligibility for killing the two women. McIver was sentenced to five years, while Hines was given a six-year sentence. The suit seeks more than $25,000 in compensatory damages from each defendant as well as punitive damages
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Doctors, others named in Illinois wrongful death suit

Dr. Jack Levine is facing a civil suit in his home state of West Virginia. But now, he must also respond to a wrongful death suit in the state of Illinois. Dr. Levine is one of four defendents named in the wrongful death suit – the others are Shelby Memorial Hospital, Shelby Area Ambulance Service and Dr. Arnold V. Agapito. The suit was filed by Peggy Shasteen, acting as special administrix of the estate of her mother, Dona Ogilvie. Shasteen is seeking $300,000 in damages from all the defendants except Levine. Damages against him may be named later. Shasteen alleges in her suit that Mrs. Oglivie died following a colonoscopy that Levine performed on her Oct. 25, 2005. Her bowel was allegedly perforated during that procedure. The suit claims that defendant Agapito scheduled her for the colonoscopy rather than for gall bladder surgery, and was slow to notify Levine of her post-operative pain. In the earlier suit against Levine, Ralph Barcus of Gallipolis, Ohio alleged Levine inserted a catheter into his chest in November 1999 and then removed it in May 2001. Barcus claims Levine failed to remove the entire catheter.
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Two men found liable in three-decades-old murder

A jury in Cincinnati, Ohio has found Thomas Watson and Michael Milligan liable in the murder of a woman more than 30 years ago. Cheryl Fossyl was murdered and beheaded in 1977. Since evidence was lacking for a criminal trial, her family filed a wrongful death suit against the two suspects, who police believe killed the woman to keep her quiet about local drug dealings. An earlier trial ended in a mistrial.

Truck accident results in home evacuations

Ohio authorities evacuated more than 200 homes in northeast Ohio in December after two vehicles struck a bridge. The collision caused a gas line to rupture. That endangered people in the area, and also threatened the structural integrity of the overpass. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a truck crashed into the Niles-Vienna overpass. That incident resulted in two other accidents that resulted in one death in addition to the ruptured has line. State Route 11 between Interstate 80 and state Route 82 had to be shut down while officials examined the bridge.

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Firemen suspended after fatal crash

Two Baltimore firemen have been suspended without pay following an accident in which their fire truck crashed into a sport utility vehicle. Three occupants of the SUV died in the crash. Nathaniel Moore, the driver of the fire truck, and Lieutenant Thomas Moore were suspended pending a hearing. Their fire truck was the third of four fire vehicles traveling north on Park Heights Avenue on their way to a fire. Details of the administrative charges brought against the two were not revealed, but they were said to involve operating an emergency vehicle in an unsafe manner.

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Truck driver ticketed in fatal crash

Police in Mattoon, Ill. ticketed a truck driver for failure to yield in an accident that claimed the life of Jason Alexander. The accident happened when Daniel Zacha of Stewardson turned his Coca-Cola truck in front of Alexander’s van. Alexander died later in the emergency room of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

Study: Aging brain-injured vets may have faster cognitive declines

According to a study of veterans of the Vietnam War who suffered brain injuries, the veterans exhibit faster declines in cognitive functioning as they get older when compared to veterans who did not suffer brain injuries. The study was published in the online journal “Brain.” It found that the rate of cognitive decline depends on a number of factors, including how intelligent the subject was before the injury; his educational level; the size and location of the brain injury; and some genetic markers. Authors of the study say the government needs to consider the findings when they review the head injuries being suffered by soldiers in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan. The findings may have an influence on the future healthcare needs of such injured soldiers. The subjects of the study were Vietnam veterans who had suffered penetrating head injuries.

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Wayne State studying war-related brain injuries

Michigan’s Wayne State University has received a $778,000 grant to determine why so many troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries caused by roadside bombs. And much of the research involves the use of the school’s $25,000 blast tube, which is used to mimic the blast conditions that soldiers encounter in places like Iraq. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is common among wounded returning soldiers, and the Brain Injury Association of America says about 1.4 million Americans sustain a TBI every year. Roadside bombs and other explosives create a wave of energy that moves at the speed of sound. That pressure wave used to kill soldiers by destroying their lungs, but soldiers now commonly wear flak jackets and vests that protect them from those chest injuries. So now, the pressure wave tends to cause brain injuries. Wayne State researchers are trying to determine exactly how those pressure waves cause brain injuries.

8,000 addicted doctors may be practicing while being treated

As many as 8,000 U.S. doctors may be practicing medicine while undergoing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. Nearly all states have such treatment programs for doctors. But last year California did away with its 27-year-old programs, claiming that it failed to adequately protect patients and also often failed to help addicted doctors return to health. Critics of the programs claim that they can protect the confidentiality of doctors to the point of protecting even dangerous physicians. The American Medical Association strongly favors allowing addicted doctors to be treated in confidential programs. But critics say that patients have no way to protect themselves from addicted doctors who do not practice good medicine. The California program ends at the end of June. If the state fails to adopt some sort of alternative program, then addicted doctors may be stripped of their licenses just as they were before the current program was begun in 1980.
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Doctor now opposes pain and suffering limits

Dave Stewart is a California anesthesiologist who used to favor sharp monetary limits on pain and suffering awards. But that was before his mother died following knee replacement surgery. Stewart’s mother went to Stanford University Medical Center for the surgery. After the operation, the woman developed sharp abdominal pain, and the hospital failed to diagnose a bowel obstruction which killed her four days later. Stewart and his sisters decided to sue, but a number of lawyers refused the case, saying it wasn’t worth the money. California capped malpractice payments in 1975 after doctors and insurers complained that big awards and rising insurance rates were hurting physicians. Pain and suffering awards under that cap cannot exceed $250,000. The law is known as the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA, and since California passed the law 30 other states have enacted similar legislation. Two Republican presidential candidates, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, say the law might make a good national model. But critics say it harms victims and their families, especially low-income workers, children and older people, because the cap has never been adjusted to account for inflation. Dr. Stewart, the anesthesiologist, said: “In 1975 you could buy a house for that money, and today what does it get you? Every year MICRA stays the same is another year that people who have been wronged will be denied the same justice.”

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Doctor who photographed patient’s genitals may be fired

A doctor in Phoenix, Ariz. is facing medical malpractice allegations after he admitted to taking a picture of a patient’s tattooed genitals while the man was unconscious and undergoing surgery. The surgeon also allegedly showed the picture to other doctors. Dr. Adam Hansen, chief resident of general surgery at Mayo Clinic Hospital, admitted to taking the photo with his cell phone’s camera. The patient said he heard about the photo when the hospital called him and then put Dr. Hansen on the phone. Dr. Hansen could face a range of punishments, from probation to loss of his job.

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Long Island doctor may have exposed patients to HIV

Long Island Surgicenter owner Dr. Harvey Finkelstein may have exposed patients to Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HIV and other deadly blood diseases. The Nassau County Health Department is attempting to get in touch with several hundred of the doctor’s patients to warn them. According to the department, Dr. Finkelstein did not follow proper procedures. A nurse noticed that there were similarities between two hepatitis C cases. Both patients had received spinal injections at Finkelstein’s medical practice. Health officials investigated, and said they observed him remove the needle from a previously used syringe, attached a new needle and reused the syringe.

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Caps on medical recovery cases ruled unconstitutional

In 1995, the Illinois Legislature passed a law limiting judgment amounts on medical malpractice cases. Under the law, doctors could not be forced to pay more than $500,000 for medical malpractice, and hospitals could not be ordered to pay more than a million dollars. Now, a judge has ruled that that law is unconstitutional. Cook County Judge
Joan Larsen ruled the legislature could not supersede a judge’s ability to award malpractice damages. Judge Larsen made her ruling in the case of Abigaile LeBron vs. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and Dr. Roberto Levi-D’Ancona. In the case, the LeBron family alleged that Abigaile LeBron was left with serious brain damage when the doctor failed to respond quickly enough to complications during Abigaile’s birth. According to Judge Larsen, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in another case that caps disregard the deliberation process of juries. The issue now goes to the Illinois Supreme Court on appeal.

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Appeals filed in medical malpractice case

Appeals have been filed in a Georgia Superior Court civil case involving medical malpractice. Following two weeks of trial, the jury awarded Pauline D. Harris, 61, $586,181 in damages. Harris was admitted to Newnan (Ga.) Hospital in 2002 with pain and swelling in her left shoulder. She had previously been diagnosed with bone edema caused by rotator cuff disease. Doctors at the hospital diagnosed her with possible septic shoulder, osteomyelitis or deep bone thrombosis. They operated on the woman, and she was later discharged with a prescription for Gentamycin, an antibiotic for bacterial infections. Later, she was readmitted with ongoing shoulder pain. A doctor concluded the infection may have worsened and performed a bone debridement, in which dead, damaged or infected tissue is removed. Harris was discharged and prescribed more Gentamycin, which caused serious and permanent kidney damage. Harris’ suit claimed her treatment at the hospital “deviated and departed from the standard of care.” She also alleged negligence. Several of the defendants have filed appeals in the case.
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Malpractice cases may be affected by doctor’s bankruptcy

A West Virginia doctor may file for bankruptcy and, if, he does, it may have an impact on more than 122 malpractice lawsuits that have been filed against him. Osteopathic surgeon Dr. John King has said through his lawyers that he may file for personal bankruptcy. That could impact the first of a number of trials that was to start in Putnam County before the end of the year. If King files for Chapter 7 protection, the malpractice cases against him may be put on hold for at least 90 days. King worked at Putnam General Hospital in 2002 and 2003.