Recently in Wrongful Death Category

A Cleburne, Texas family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of an 18-wheel truck crash against Pioneer Drilling Co. (Amex: PDC), PDC MGMT Co., Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd. and Daniel Armstrong. The family was represented by John David Hart of the Law Offices of John David Hart in Fort Worth, Texas and Dan Boulware and John MacLean of MacLean & Boulware in Cleburne, Texas.

Pioneer Drilling Co. settled the lawsuit on July 9, 2009, after three days of trial in Johnson County before the Honorable William Bosworth. Plaintiffs had not yet rested their case when the $16 million settlement was reached.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the husband, children and parents of Rhonda Henson. On September 11, 2008, oil field equipment fell off a tractor-trailer owned and operated by Pioneer Drilling Services, Ltd., a division of Pioneer Drilling Co., on FM 157 in North Texas, crushing Mrs. Henson's vehicle and causing her death.

According to the Venus Police Department's report, the driver of the semi-truck, 21-year old Daniel Armstrong, failed to control his speed and the truck's load was not properly secured. Plaintiffs' investigation and sworn testimony revealed that Armstrong was not legally qualified to drive the Pioneer Drilling Co. truck on the day of the accident and that documents in his driver qualification files were fabricated, falsified and backdated by Pioneer employees after the accident.

"We're pleased to be able to resolve this for Rhonda Henson's family," said John David Hart, attorney for the family of Mrs. Henson. "We believe it was a just outcome within our civil court system and a fair settlement given the facts of the case. It wasn't about money for the Henson family. This lawsuit was about accountability and responsibility."

"This is a terrible loss for the Henson family," said Hart. "Every week seems to bring news of another terrible truck crash. But we believe that this settlement will at least make companies more aware of the need for good safety and hiring practices and hopefully prevent another needless tragedy."

SOURCE The Law Offices of John David Hart

The mother of a 12-year-old autistic boy who died while in the care of a psychiatrist at a group home has filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit claiming overmedication and improper care led to the boy's death.

The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade circuit court Tuesday by the boy's mother, Martha Quesada. In it, she alleges Denis Maltez died in 2007 after receiving an overdose of anti-psychotic drugs.

"This is a clear case of a 12-year-child who perished because he was given a lethal combination of off-label, dangerous, anti-psychotic drugs to control his behavior without appropriate consent, administration and supervision," said Howard Talenfeld, Quesada's attorney and partner with Fort Lauderdale law firm, Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale. Partner Maria Abate is co-counsel on the case.

"Tragically, this case is one of many cases where foster children and developmentally disabled children are given powerful drug to control their behavior instead of utilizing appropriate behavioral interventions," Talenfeld said. "This is an important first step in seeking remedy for Ms. Quesada's loss, and raising awareness of the cavalier prescription, administration of medications to control behavior with little regard for possible counter-indications or devastating results."

At the time of his death on May 23, 2007, Denis was under the care of psychiatrist, Dr. Steven L. Kaplan, at the former Rainbow Ranch group home, owned and operated by David Glatt. Both are named in the lawsuit.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner found that Denis died of Central Serotonergic Syndrome. This resulted from "the co-administration of multiple psychotropic medications with no monitoring or supervision," the lawsuit claims. The drugs stimulated overproduction of serotonin - a naturally occurring chemical that help regulate a person's mood. This proved lethal, the suit claims. Denis, who had severe autism, died in a van after being restrained by group home staff.

The lawsuit claims Glatt replaced Denis's regular visits to Jackson Memorial Hospital with on-site care by Dr. Kaplan without Quesada's consent. During Denis's time at the facility, Kaplan only visited him twice. Kaplan prescribed a regimen of medications described "as chemical restraints to control Denis's behavior." Those included Depakote, an anti-seizure drug used for mood-stabilization; the tranquilizer Clonazepam; and anti-psychotics, Seroquel and Zyprexa. Several of the drugs lack Food and Drug Administration approval for use on children. They also warn of possible side-effects.

Quesada's lawsuit comes a month after the death of Gabriel Myers. The 7-year-old foster child had been prescribed a variety of mental health drugs, and later hanged himself. The use of psychiatric medications on Florida foster children now is being studied by the state Department of Children and Families.

SOURCE Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate

An Arizona jury today awarded a landmark verdict of $11 million to the widow of a 36-year-old man with traumatic brain injury who died after ingesting foreign objects while in the care of Liberty Manor Residency, a Phoenix assisted living facility. The verdict included $2 million for the decedent, $5 million for the wife and $4 million in punitive damages. It was the largest verdict ever awarded against an assisted living facility in the United States.

"I want this to be a lasting victory for all individuals with TBI or other disabilities living in assisted living centers or group homes," said Lydia Scherrer, widow of Earl Scherrer, who died May 7, 2006, at the age of 36.

Earl Scherrer suffered a severe traumatic brain injury as a result of a car accident in 1996. He lapsed into a coma and was not expected to recover. Despite doctors' assessment that Mr. Scherrer's condition was permanent, Lydia Scherrer refused to disconnect her husband's life support. Earl Scherrer remained in a coma for 16 months before he began to slowly emerge. With his wife's nurturing and support, he slowly started to speak, albeit slowly. Mrs. Scherrer worked with her husband day after day, using first-and second-grade reading and math textbooks and other elementary learning tools to stimulate his brain function and coax him to reach his full potential.

Lydia Scherrer devoted many hours per week to her husband's recovery, but she also had to work and was forced to turn to assisted living and residential facilities to provide the 24-hour care her husband needed. For years, she visited him faithfully on her days off, every Tuesday and Wednesday, checking him out of the facility and taking him home.

On April 7, 2006, Mrs. Scherrer placed her husband in Liberty Manor Residency, a facility that purported to provide 24-hour supervision of its residents. One month later - on May 7, 2006 - she received a call saying her husband had been vomiting. Mrs. Scherrer rushed over to Liberty Manor, brought her husband home and gave him a bath. Within a matter of minutes, he began vomiting black matter and died in her arms.

Autopsy results showed a number of items - including plastic bags, unopened catsup packets, candy wrappers and paper towels - were found in Earl Scherrer's stomach and small intestines. The medical examiner determined these foreign objects were significant contributing factors to his death. The autopsy read in part, "hypertensive heart disease due to mechanical obstruction of the GI [gastrointestinal tract] from the foreign objects."

Lydia Scherrer, represented by Craig Knapp, of the Scottsdale law firm of Knapp & Roberts, brought claims against Liberty Manor for abuse and neglect, wrongful death and punitive damages.

At trial, it came to light that Liberty Manor made numerous false entries in its charts with respect to Earl Scherrer's care, including notations of care on days when Mrs. Scherrer had checked him out of the facility. Liberty Manor was also unable to produce Mr. Scherrer's alleged caregiver, an employee named Raul.

"Lydia Scherrer did not walk away from her husband, in life or in death," said her attorney, Craig Knapp. "Her hope is that this verdict will force the assisted living facility industry to set and meet higher standards of care for their residents, resulting in enhanced protections for the defenseless individuals trusted to the care of others.

SOURCE law firm of Knapp & Roberts

Nearly three years after the Japanese government refused to prosecute Toyota executives for concealing a steering rod relay defect until after a horrific accident occurred in Japan, O'Reilly & Danko has filed a Complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of the late Levi Stewart's parents. Levi Stewart died on September 15, 2007 when his Toyota truck's steering relay rod snapped and he crashed, due to the total loss of steering control. Levi was killed, and his friends were seriously injured.

The Stewarts contend that Toyota should have issued the recall in the mid-1990s when Toyota first learned that steering rod relays were snapping, causing injuries and accidents due to the loss of steering. Had the Toyota executives issued the recall then, the Stewarts believe that Levi Stewart would be alive today. The Stewarts never received notice of either the Japanese or the later U.S. recall.

In 2004, local police in Komamoto, Japan investigated a frightening accident when the steering relay rod in a Toyota Hilux Surf (4-Runner) snapped, causing it to cross a median and strike another vehicle head-on. The police learned that Toyota executives had known since the mid 1990s that the steering rods were defective, but had refused to issue a recall then. Only after the media storm from Komamoto did Toyota issue a recall, but only in Japan, and not any other country in which their vehicles were sold.

Toyota knew that it had installed this same part, the defective steering relay rod, into nearly 1 million vehicles in the United States. In 2004, Toyota told the U.S. government it "had received field information from the Japanese market but no similar information from the U.S. Market had been received." This was untrue. O'Reilly & Danko's investigation has uncovered multiple accidents caused by the defective relay rods, which had been reported to Toyota or their dealers before the Japanese recall. The lawsuit alleges that Toyota, in fact, had notice of steering rods failing in the United States, when they told NHTSA otherwise. O'Reilly & Danko's investigation continues at www.ToyotaSteeringRecall.com.

Toyota eventually issued a recall in the United States in 2005, but due to the lackadaisical effort by Toyota only approximately 32% of the trucks were repaired after a year and a half. The generally accepted pass/fail rate for automotive recalls is 70%. "32% may be acceptable for the Red Sox lead off hitter. For an automotive recall where drivers can lose steering, it's an utter failure," said their attorney, John P. Kristensen of O'Reilly & Danko.

SOURCE O'Reilly & Danko

ATLANTA, Feb. 13 / -- A former Assistant United States Attorney, Aaron Danzig, has been accused of grossly overreached in his investigation in the case versus Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and its executives. According to a lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court case number 2009CV164522, it has resulted in the wrongful death of Jessica Holda, the wife of Hi-Tech Vice President, Tom Holda. Defendant Aaron Danzig tried to get Jessica Holda to cooperate against her husband, but was notified in writing that she was not interested. Defendant Danzig then launched a full scale campaign against Jessica Holda to intimidate her into providing information against her husband, under the threat that she would be indicted, tried, sent to jail, and thus denied visitation with her infant daughter. The complaint alleges that Defendant Danzig had personal conversations, without knowledge or permission of counsel, wherein the Defendant urged Jessica Holda to inspect the house in which she lived to make copies of various documents which were the forwarded to Defendant. It is also alleged that Defendant Danzig directed warrantless searches by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel and installation of secret listening devices in Jessica's home and automobile. As time passed Jessica became more paranoid and fearful that she would be arrested and her infant daughter would be taken away from her. Aaron Danzig also had the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services come to her home in an attempt to have the couple's 1 1/2-year-old daughter removed from her custody. In the morning of February 19, 2007 Jessica Holda committed suicide with a gun she bought in December. In her suicide note, she stated that she had done nothing wrong. All she did was "trade a car." She went on to say: "I hope Aaron Danzig feels some kind of remorse. I blame him with my struggles of wanting to live." This lawsuit was brought by Jeffrey Alan Jones, as executor of the Estate of Jessica Rose Hollibaugh Holda for the benefit of Amber Stephania Holda. The lawsuit charges Aaron Danzig for infliction of emotional distress upon Jessica Holda and Wrongful Death. It is alleged the conduct was intentional and reckless; and was extreme and outrageous for a public official, officer of the Court, and an attorney for the United States Government. Aaron Danzig is now a partner in the Atlanta law firm Arnall Golden Gregory. At the time of Jessica Holda's death she was 27 years old.