On May 21, 2008, a woman from Cincinnati, Ohio was awarded $22.6 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The woman was diagnosed with a narrow pelvic arch in 1997, during her first pregnancy with a nine-pound girl, but was allowed to give birth the natural way. This resulted in the girl spending 13 hours in the birth canal before being delivered by cesarean section.

In addition, the doctor who delivered the child continuously administered the patient drugs to make the uterus contract in hopes that the baby would come out, but it didn’t. This caused brain damage that is affecting the girl’s way of life: she can’t use her limbs properly, she can walk short distances but only with the aid of a walker, she has impaired vision, she has problems using her hands and is mildly retarded.

A jury found the doctor and her doctors group, Group Health Associates, negligent, ordering them to pay the family $22,646,023 in damages. The money will be used to pay for the care of the child.

Source: Anna Boys, “Jury awards family $22.6 M for daughter harmed during birth,” eFluxMedia, May 21, 2008.

On March 20, 2008 a former employee of the Food Lion on Prosperity Church Road in Charlotte, North Carolina died from complications after being Tasered by police. The employee, a seventeen-year-old cashier, was involved in a confrontation with his manager and throwing items when police arrived.

There are no reports that the seventeen-year-old was armed and a preliminary check of his file did not show any criminal convictions. The teen’s mother stated that he had no health problems and an autopsy will determine the cause of his death. Homicide detectives are investigating the incident to determine if the officer used his Taser inappropriately.

Source: Victoria Cherrie, “Teen dies after shock from police Taser,” The News & Observer, March 21, 2008.

In February 2008, Nevada state officials warned thousands of patients that they may have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus due to the clinicians using the same syringes for multiple injections. Six patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C.

About 40,000 patients at the Endoscopy Center of Nevada were injected with anesthesia from March 2004 through January 2008, when the problem was discovered.

Clinicians at the center gave patients multiple shots of certain medications, using the same syringes to dip back into the vials. This allowed for the chance of an infected patients virus to contaminate the medication for others.

“It just didn’t happen one time,” said Brian Labus, senior epidemiologist of the Southern Nevada Health District. “This is the way they did things at the clinic. It’s the way they have always done things.”

Many patients who are exposed to the blood-borne hepatitis C don’t show symptoms for years. This can cause lifelong problems, including long-term liver damage without the patient’s knowledge and early symptoms like jaundice, nausea and fatigue.

Source: Steve Friess, “Thousands are warned of clinic’s dirty syringes,” New York Times, February 28, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28hepatitis.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).

RHA Howell Center near Charlotte, North Carolina, has been fined $12,000 for institutional negligence after a 10-year-old autistic boy wandered away from the center and drowned.

On January 27, 2008, the 10-year-old boy ran from the facility, possibly chasing a small animal, and drowned. A video tape recorded the boy running.

A state report found the center failed to give enough supervision to the boy, who had a history of running. The RHA Howell Center had records stating the boy needed supervision at all times.

The center has said it has corrected all of the problems, so it will continue to get Medicaid reimbursement.

Source: “State: Care center knew boy was prone to running,” News and Observer, February 13, 2008.

On February 13, 2008, Army experts from Fort Bragg, North Carolina detonated several explosives found at Raleigh Metals Processors, a recycling plant, after two explosions injured two workers the day before.

Witnesses said there were two explosions at about 11 a.m., followed by smoke. The force of the explosions knocked 27-year-old Adrian Bravo over, and 33-year-old Isai Bravo Santiago complained of ringing in his ears.

Police have determined it was a military device that exploded in the recycling process, putting a hold in the roof. Raleigh Metals Processors does accept spent ammunition, but not live rounds. Investigators are determining how the live ammunition arrived at the recycling plant.

Agents from the FBI, from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and from the State Department of Labor are investigating the incident.

Source: Erin Hartness, “Army Detonates More Explosives; Road Closed Near Scrap Plant,” Wral.com, February 13, 2008.

On February 7, 2008, an evening explosion and fire rocked the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery plant north of Savannah, Georgia, killing three workers and injuring at least 62. The plant is known in Savannah as the Dixie Crystals plant.

Workers began removing debris from the site the next morning, which was still smoldering at midday. The blast from the explosion was so powerful that it shook homes across the Savannah River in South Carolina. The sugar refinery plant is still unsafe to enter, and debris must be removed with structural engineers’ help.

One possible cause of the explosion, according to Captain Matt Stanley of the Savannah Fire Department, was sugar dust that may have ignited, sparking the blast. While this is rare, it is possible.

“A far as we know, it was a sugar dust explosion,” Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor said, adding the explosion happened in a storage silo where refined sugar is stored until it is packaged.

Sixty-two people were transported to Savannah-area hospitals.

Joyce Baker, a woman who teaches first aid for the Red Cross, said she was at nearby City Hall when the blast occurred, and raced to the scene. Emergency personnel from 12 counties have been called in to help.

“We had approximately 13 men who were coming out [of the plant], and they were burned - third-degree burns on their upper bodies,” Baker said. “And they were trying to sit down and the only thing that they wanted was to know where the friends were.”

Seventeen people had burns over more than 30 percent of their bodies, and were sent to Still Burn Center. An additional eight patients had burns over 60 percent of their bodies.

Medical director at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Dr. William Wessinger, said the victims were mainly burn injuries.

“Many of these also had burns on their face and around their airway which made it very critical,” Wessinger said. “Within a very short time after arrival, a large number of these patients were deemed to have airway problems.”

Out of the 95 to 100 people suspected to be working in the area of the explosion, more than one dozen are still missing.

“We always try to act with hope in mind, no matter what,” Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Michael Berkow said. “But at this point, we expect to find fatalities inside the building. I don’t know how many, but that’s what we expect.”

In the night following the explosion, flames burned and spread from the main building to other parts of the refinery. Firefighters were attempting to prevent this, as other parts of the building holds flammable materials. The sugar refinery explosion comes after the U.S. Department of Labor issues new inspection guidelines in October 2007 for workplaces handling combustible dust particles. This includes sugar dust.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies buildings that have a lot of sugar dust as “hazardous locations.” Other plants that receive this classification are coal preparation plants and producers of plastics, medicines and fireworks.

The state Department of Agriculture last inspected the Dixie Crystals plant, located in Port Wentworth, on October 30, 2007. At that time, the plant received two citations for violations: one involved an opening in a packing room area that could allow pests to enter, and the other was related to buckets used for packing molasses in a warehouse not being properly protected.

Sources: “Three bodies found in Georgia refinery blast,” CNN.com, February 8, 2008; “Death toll lowered in Georgia sugar refinery blast; 3 dead, many still missing,” FoxNews.com, February 8, 2008.

In 2006, 43-year-old Tony Grier underwent a lung transplant at the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), but received a pair of diseased lungs which may have caused his death six months later. Now, HUP faces a medical malpractice lawsuit from his mother.

Grier had pulmonary sarcoidosis, a rare disease that thickens lung tissue to the point at which it can no longer transmit oxygen into the bloodstream. He believed he was receiving a lung transplant from a healthy 18-year-old, but instead received the cancerous lungs of a 31-year-old smoker.

One month later, he began to complain of pain and coughing. His doctors examined the lungs, found a spot, and prescribed antibiotics, not knowing it was cancerous. By the time the tumor was recognized, it was untreatable. He died six months after the transplant.

His mother, Emma Grier, has now filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against HUP, four physicians and Gift of Life, the organ-donor program that allocated the lungs to Grier. Each defendant is being sued for $750,000 on seven counts, including medical malpractice, wrongful death and common law fraud.

According to the lawsuit, HUP doctors intentionally misrepresented the identity of his lung donor. No date has yet been set for the hearing.

Source: Julia Harte, “Lawsuit: tumorous lungs put in patient,” Daily Pennsylvanian, February 8, 2008.

In Cotulla, Texas, a 41-year-old man was left brain damaged after rolling his 1993 Explorer in 2004, ejecting him from the car. Ruben Zamora’s mother decided to sue Ford Motor Co. after his accident, alleging that Ford was at fault for having a defect in the SUV’s suspension.

Zamora rolled his Explorer after one of the tires lost its tread, shooting vibrations through the rear of the SUV that made it lose control. This caused the Explorer to skid sideways. Zamora was thrown from the vehicle causing severe brain damage.

A court in Texas decided that the Explorer was defective and awarded Zamora $10 million on February 1. Zamora was found by a jury to be 35% responsible for the accident, as he was allegedly not wearing a seatbelt properly. The jury decided on a verdict of $6.5 million against Ford.

A Ford spokesperson said that Ford will appeal the case. 137,817 Explorers were sold by Ford last year, a decline from their sale of over 400,000 Explorers in 2002.

Source: Margaret Fisk, “Ford Loses $6.5 Million Verdict in Explorer Rollover,” Bloomberg.com, February 4, 2008.

In Winfield, West Virginia, Putnam County Circuit Court Judge O.C. Spaulding elevated two lawsuits against a Monsanto Co. plant to class-action status. The lawsuits alleges that the former plant contaminated residential areas with dioxin.

Dioxin is a hazardous chemical that is known to remain and build up in fat tissue of animals and humans over long periods of time. Short term exposure could be very dangerous. Dioxin has been linked to birth defects, endometriosis, cancer, infertility, suppressed immunity, and learning disabilities.

The two lawsuits allege that the Monsanto Company, which owned a plant in Nitro, West Virginia until 2000, was contaminating streams and properties of locals with dioxin. The Monsanto Company is a producer of herbicides, and had produced an ingredient called 2,4,5-T that was found to contain dioxin. The Nitro plant produced the powerful ingredient 2,4,5-T for over 30 years, beginning production in 1949.

One of the lawsuits was filed in August 2000 involves approximately 100 owned properties in the Nitro area, specifically in the Heizer Creek and Manila communities. This lawsuit alleges that Monsanto Co. dumped dioxin and did not perform proper waste management of area landfills. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages, and money to help clean up the polluted streams and properties.

The second case, filed in December 2004, could potentially involve thousands of Nitro area residents. This lawsuit alleges that the entire city of Nitro was contaminated as a result of Monsanto’s dioxin waste. It also seeks property cleanups and punitive damages, along with money for residents’ medical expenses.

Source: “Judge gives Monsanto suits class-action status,”Herald Dispatch, January 12, 2008.

In the January 14, 2008 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers published results of a study that looked at whether physicians supported the concept of reporting medical errors and at whether they actually reported errors themselves.

The study found that while three-fourths of the physicians surveyed said they would report a medical error that caused minor harm to a patient, only 17.8 percent had actually reported a minor error. In addition, 90 percent of the physicians said they would report an error resulting in major harm, though only 3.8 percent had ever reported that kind of error.

The study also found that many physicians didn’t know who to report errors to, or what type of errors should be reported.

“The results of this study suggest that physicians’ attitudes about the value of error reporting may not be matched by actual behavior,” the authors of the study concluded. “If correct, the potential causes of this discrepancy ought to be addressed.”

When taking into account the number of both reported and unreported errors, authors came to the conclusion that only 36 percent of the physicians surveyed acknowledged making any error.

“We know that’s probably not the whole story,” said Dr. Lauris C. Kaldjian, researcher in the study. “There’s a certain amount of underreporting.”

The authors of the study stressed the need for health care institutions to establish an environment that emphasizes the significance of error reporting.

Source: Charles Bankhead, “Physicians believe in reporting errors but rarely do,” MedPage Today, January 15, 2009.

On January 9, 2008, a 35-year-old man was pronounced dead after Fayetteville, North Carolina police Tasered him when he became combative. The man first flagged down a police officer and allegedly told him he had overdosed on crack cocaine, but then fled. Ten minutes later, police responded to a business alarm and saw the man again.

The man then became combative, and after officers warned him, they Tasered him, but only one of the Taser darts hit the man, which made it less effective. An officer then placed the Taser directly on the man and Tasered him again.

The man continued to resist, and officers requested a Safe WRAP, which allows officers to immobilize combative subjects. Fire medics were contacted to remove the Taser dart, but the man was still combative.

Eventually, officers were able to put the man in handcuffs and place him on the ground. As fire medics attended to him, he stopped breathing, and was later pronounced dead.

An internal investigation is being conducted, as well as a joint investigation with the State Bureau of Investigation and Fayetteville Police Department detectives. The officers involved in the incident are on administrative duty until the investigation is complete.

Source: Erin Hartness, “Man, allegedly high on drugs, dies after police Taser him,” Wral.com, January 9, 2008.

On January 3, 2008, Arkansas neurosurgeon Patrick Chan pleaded guilty to soliciting and accepting kickbacks from a Blackstone Medical salesman in exchange for using the company’s products. Chan also agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation into whether the company defrauded Medicaid and Medicare by paying illegal incentives to doctors.

Chan will pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that he and other doctors received kickbacks in the form of bogus consulting contracts, fake research studies, and gifts in exchange for using the companies’ devices in backs surgeries.

Blackstone gave Chan a consulting deal after he switched to their company when a competitor refused to pay him off. The company has set aside $50 million to deal with possible settlements of allegations involving improper payments to doctors.

Source: Jacob Goldstein, “Surgeon pleads guilty to kickbacks, implicates device co.,” Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2008.

On January 2, 2008, a Greyhound bus originally traveling from Richmond, Virginia heading towards Raleigh, North Carolina on U.S. Highway 1 collided with a tractor-trailer in Henderson, North Carolina at approximately 10:30am.

North Carolina Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Green said that the Greyhound bus accident occurred after the bus failed to slow down when the tractor-trailer ahead of it made a turn. After colliding with the tractor-trailer, the bus ran off the right shoulder and down an embankment before overturning.

According to passengers involved in the Greyhound bus accident, the bus driver was falling asleep at the wheel. Passengers believed the bus driver kept the bus extra cold in temperature to stay awake. Some passengers said they noticed the driver’s head nodding and heard the noises of the bus going over the strips on the shoulder several times.

At least 49 people were taken to Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson, North Carolina for treatment. The bus driver was airlifted to a local hospital.

If you have suffered injuries and/or property damages as a result of a automobile accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages. A skilled personal injury lawyer can use their experience to help sort through complicated claims and guide you through the compensation process.

Our experienced James Scott Farrin lawyers may be able to help protect your legal rights and minimize your damages while maximizing your compensation. Call us at 1-866-780-3226 or fill out our online form today.

Source: “50 Hurt in NC Bus, Tractor-Trailer Wreck,” Foxnews.com, January 2, 2008; “Bus Bound for Raleigh Collides with Semi”, WRAL.com, January 2, 2008; “Greyhound bus driver may have dozed off,”, ABC11.com, January 2, 2008.

On December 18, 2007, Moses Shoffner was badly burned and is now in a coma after faulty Christmas lights caught his Burlington, NC, apartment on fire at about 8:45 a.m. Shoffner’s 5-year-old son, Jaeden, was killed in the fire.

Shoffner was put into a medically induced coma so doctors could control his pain, and he may undergo surgery once he is stabilized. The fire damaged six of the 18 apartments in the three-story building. Preliminary estimates put total damage at $225,000.

While there were smoke detectors in the apartments, it is unknown if they were working properly at the time of the fire. “[His wife] is an emotional wreck,” said Ramona Allen, who has been ministering to the family since the fire sent.”They’ve lost everything.”

Click here to read more about this article.

Sources: Keren Rivas, “Father remains in critical condition,” Times-News, December 19, 2007 ; Chad Tucker, “Badly Burned Father Placed in Coma,” Fox8News, December 19, 2007.

In October 2006, North Carolina Highway Patrol officer Virgil Lessane said he found 70 seconds of a conversation he accidentally recorded on his cell phone voicemail. In the conversation, it is alleged several officers referred to Lessane using the N-word or other vulgar slurs.

The troopers in question, Mitch Foard and Phil Jones, dispute Lessane’s contentions. Foard, who was demoted two ranks after the incident, said he never said the slur, and is petitioning to get his First Sergeant position reinstated. Jones, who retired afterwards, has sued Lessane, claiming he faked the recording.

An audio expert for Foard has said the tape sounded odd, but that doesn’t mean it was altered. But the judge in the case has struggled to make sense of the tape.

“I’m very troubled by how weak the piece of evidence is,” Judge Joe Webster said.

Source: “Court hearing for Highway Patrol N-word recording,” Abc11.com, December 17, 2007.

On December 18, 2007, state public health officials in North Carolina said two women recently miscarried and a third went into premature labor after eating soft cheeses from various sources that were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. A fourth woman also is suspected of having miscarried due to Listeriosis, but the case is not confirmed.

All three of the instances occurred after Thanksgiving and involved Hispanic women. Health officials have warned pregnant women to take caution when consuming soft cheeses, hot dogs, deli-style meats, and prepared salads.

Foodborne illness from Listeria is a serious infection, with symptoms like fever and muscle aches, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea or diarrhea. If the infection spreads to the nervous system, patients can also experience symptoms like headaches, stiff necks, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions.

Pregnant women, newborns, and people with weakened immune systems are individuals primarily affected by the disease. Previous outbreaks have been associated with the consumption of unpasteurized milk and contaminated soft cheeses, vegetables, and ready-to-eat meats.

“This is a tragedy which could have been avoided,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Jeff Engel. “Listeriosis can be prevented by avoiding unpasteurized milk and other potentially contaminated food, especially among vulnerable people.”

Different bacteria strains were involved in the four women’s cases, but because a single product hasn’t been determined to be the source, public health officials have issued a general Listeria warning.

Some recommendations to avoid foodborne illness from Listeria are:

• Avoiding unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk.
• Thoroughly cooking raw food from animal sources.
• Washing raw vegetables before eating.
• Washing hands, knives and cutting boards after handling uncooked foods.
• Consuming perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible.

Source: “Officials Warn Pregnant Women about Tainted Food,” Wral.com, December 18, 2007.

On December 5, 2007, welder Jeff Tamraz was awarded $17.5 million by a federal jury after he sued five companies, claiming they did not warn him about toxicity of the fumes in their welding products he claims made him sick. Nine jurors in U.S. District Court in Cleveland ruled the five companies demonstrated negligence in the matter.

“We would hope the manufacturers would take the necessary steps in the future to properly warn welders and take the necessary step to protect them from the manganese hazards in welding fumes,” said Tamraz’s lawyer.

The central issue in the case is the companies’ negligence. Evidence linking the fumes to illness is inconclusive, which has resulted in 16 previous welding rod lawsuits ruled against plaintiffs who alleged product defects.

Tamraz and other welders have claimed that manganese in welders’ products have led to tremors, headaches, and other symptoms which resemble Parkinson’s disease. They claim ultra-fine manganese particles are absorbed into the blood, travel to the brain, and cause tremors.

The companies in the negligence lawsuit were Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.; Hobart Bros. Co.; TDY Industries, Inc.; ESAB Group Inc.; and BOC Group PLC. The companies said the amount of manganese in the fumes is too low to cause harm, and advised workers to wear masks and use fans.

For more information on a manufacturer’s duty to warn, visit Products That Hurt’s Frequently Asked Questions page.

Source: “Jury awards welder $17.5M,” Cincinnati Post, December 7, 2007.

In February 2003, 51-year-old Jerry Crutchfield was doing carpentry work in a Massachusetts church when he fired a nail gun into metal instead of wood, which caused it to bounce back towards him. The nail went through his cheek and into his brain.

On December 6, 2007, a Hartford jury awarded Crutchfield $3.4 million after he sued toolmaker Stanley Works and retailer Home Depot. The jury found the companies partially responsible for Crutchfield’s injuries.

Crutchfield was a carpenter for 20 years before he was injured, but is not partially paralyzed and suffers from seizures and medical problems.

Source: “Jury awards $3.4 million to man injured using nail gun,” Boston Globe, December 8, 2007.

On December 4, 2007, actor Dennis Quaid and his wife filed a product liability lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corporation, maker of heparin, after their two newborn twins were mistakenly given massive doses of the drug at a hospital.

The lawsuit, which seeks $50,000 in damages, alleges the company was negligent in packing heparin because different doses of the product were placed in similar vials with blue backgrounds. The lawsuit also said the company should have recalled the large-dosage vials after three children were killed by overdoses at an Indianapolis hospital in 2006.

The Quaid’s children, along with another child, were given vials of heparin, a blood thinner, 1,000 times stronger than the usual dosage. The children were receiving intravenous medications, and heparin was used to flush the catheters and prevent clotting.

The hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said two pharmacy technicians failed to verify the concentration in the vials before putting them into the pediatric unit. The nurses who administered the drug to the children also failed to check the dosage.

The heparin lawsuit argues Baxter’s product was “unreasonably dangerous” as it was packaged because both small and large doses are in vials with blue labels, and they “should have been completely distinguishable (by) size and shape.”

Three premature infants at an Indianapolis hospital in 2006 received a similar dosage error and died, and three others survived.

In February 2007, Baxter sent a letter to health care workers warning them to carefully read labels on heparin packages to avoid a mix-up. But the lawsuit argues that the company didn’t do enough because it failed to recall the large-dosage vials and repackage the drug.

Source: Robert Jablon, “Dennis Quaid and wife sue drug maker,” Associated Press, December 5, 2007.

A computer programmer at Bank of America Corp. is suing the company, claiming that was fired because he was disabled.

Gerald Eckhardt was told that the Charlotte-based bank was letting go of him because his job could be done for a third of the cost overseas. However, records show that the company retained Eckhardt’s computer-programming teammates.

Eckhardt has been in a wheelchair since a car wreck on the night of his bachelor’s party in 1979 left him paralyzed from the waist down. Eckhardt had been an employee at Bank of America and NationsBank, as the bank was formerly known, for nine years before he was laid off.

The company says that the claims are untrue, and that it plans to vigorously defend itself.

Source: “Computer Programmer Fired From Bank of America Files Lawsuit” Associated Press, November 27, 2007.

On November 15, 2007, Nassau County, New York and New York state officials exchanged blame for a thirty-four month delay in notifying patients of misuse in syringes. The misuse of syringes could have potentially infected patients with hepatitis C and H.I.V.

In 2005, a 52-year-old anesthesiologist from Nassau County, Dr. Henry Finkelstein, became the focus of a state health investigation after two of his patients contracted hepatitis C. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that Dr. Finkelstein, a specialist in pain management, was reusing syringes when drawing multiple doses of medicine from the same vials.

Although Dr. Finkelstein was using a new syringe for each patient, his practice of drawing medicine with a re-used syringe could have led to contamination of the vials. The blood of a patient with hepatitis C could backup through the syringe, entering the vials where it could infect another patient.

State health officials said this was the case when two of Dr. Finkelstein’s patients were infected with hepatitis C. The state health department has since been monitoring Dr. Finkelstein to make sure he complies with proper use standards.

For reasons which are still unclear, Dr. Finkelstein’s case was not referred to the State Board of Professional Medical Conduct until nine months after his unsafe practices became known. A state board investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing and did not recommend any disciplinary action.

The state health department subsequently expanded its investigation, and in a statement released this week said, “The department identified all 628 patients who had received injections between January 1, 2000 and January 15, 2005 after a thorough review of medical records at all sites where this physician practiced.”

A Nassau County executive, Thomas P. Suozzi, calls the long thirty-four month delay in notification of possible infected patients “outrageous.”

The delay is a result of state health officials negotiating with Dr. Finkelstein’s lawyers.

Joanne Doroshow, director of the New York-based Center for Justice and Democracy and a member of a state task force on medical malpractice, said the negotiation illustrates “a too cozy relationship between the medical profession and the people who supposedly regulate them.”

The long delay in notification could potentially leave 628 victims in trouble, because none of the potential victims would be able to seek damages in court.

Source: Paul Vitello and Sarah Kershaw, “Patients Were Not Told of Misuse of Syringes,” New York Times, November 16, 2007.

On November 18, 2007, actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins were reportedly given an accidental overdose of heparin, a blood thinner, while in the hospital. The two newborn children, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, were given 10,000 units per milliliter of the blood thinner, when they were supposed to receive only 10 units per milliliter.

The hospital has been identified as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the alleged medical malpractice occurred in the neonatal intensive care unit. Three patients received the overdose.

The overdose of the newborn children is an example of how medical malpractice can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone.

The hospital has since said once staff realized the “preventable error,” they did tests to measure the patients’ blood clotting function and found two patients required a drug that reverses the effects of heparin. The other patient tested normal. The hospital has also apologized to families involved.

A state Department of Public Health spokeswoman has said the agency is investigating reports of newborn twins at the hospital, but did not elaborate. Quaid’s twins were born on November 8, 2007 to a surrogate mother.

Source: “Report: Dennis Quaid’s twins get accidental overdose,” Associated Press, November 21, 2007.

On November 19, 2007, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced that federal money typically used for road improvements will be freed for school districts if they install seat belts on school buses. Peters’ proposal will not require districts to install seat belts, but leaves the decision to each state.

The announcement comes a few hours after a Granville County, North Carolina bus collided head-on with a car. Passengers in the car were seriously injured and three children on the bus had non-serious injuries.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggest that children are already safer on the bus than off. Statistics show an average of nineteen children each year are killed getting on and off the school bus. These accidents are caused by passing vehicles or by the school bus itself.

Some parents worry more about their children’s safety waiting for the bus or exiting the bus to walk home. “But I do put safety belts at a close second,” said Michele Malik, a parent of two children who ride the bus.

Peters’ proposal would require higher seat backs for new school buses (from 20 inches high to 24 inches), mandate seat belts on smaller buses, and set federals standards for states that decided to install seat belts on school buses. Installing seat belts onto school buses would cost approximately $10,000 per bus.

Out of 14,000 North Carolina school buses in operation, 1,300 school buses already have higher seat backs installed, but only 14 buses have seat belts.

There is some concern among school districts about adding seat belts. School districts are concerned not only about the cost of adding seat belts, but about a loss of riding capacity. Currently, large school buses seat about seventy-one students. Adding seat belts would reduce capacity to fifty-nine students. Districts would have to buy more buses to compensate for the lost capacity.

Adding seat belts to school buses has been discussed for several years in North Carolina. A few years back, a bill that required seat belts on school buses faded because no money was set aside for the program.

Public comments about the proposed regulations will be accepted for sixty days. To view the proposal, visit www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

Source: Marti Maguire and Susan Ebbs, “Buckle up on bus, secretary says,” News & Observer, November 20, 2007.

On November 12, 2007, North Carolina State building code officers said it was too early to consider expanding changes of building codes for townhouse construction materials to new home construction.

Recent events, including the Ocean Isle Beach fire that killed seven students and the February 22nd Pine Knoll Townes fire in north Raleigh, prompted the North Carolina Building Code Council to review a proposal to modify soffit materials for townhouses.

Soffits commonly form the underside of ceilings between the top of an exterior wall to the outer edge of a roof in townhouses. Both recent fires began outside and raced through the soffit into the attic.

“In the specific instance of vinyl soffits, the soffit material can melt away and allow an open chase for flames to rapidly spread into the attic space,” the draft for proposed changes specifically for townhouses stated. The proposed changes in codes were drafted by Charlotte-based Schirmer Engineering, a fire protection engineering firm that has sixty-eight years of experience.

One state code council member said it’s too early to determine whether they will consider similar proposals for standalone home, like the house that burned in Ocean Isle Beach.

“It’s too early for us to say,” said David Smith, chairman of the residential standing committee for the code council, in response to questions whether a similar proposal will be considered for construction on new homes. “We’re still waiting on an official report from that fire.”

Source: “N.C. Building Code Officials: No Changes Pending,” Insurance Journal, November 12, 2007.

On November 14, 2007, a crane operator working on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was trapped in a trench.

The worker, employed by the vault supplier Oldcastle Precastle in Concord, was operating the crane from an 18-wheeler flatbed truck at a power plant on McCauley Street.

Emergency officials from Chapel Hill and Durham believe the weight of the heavy concrete vault the man was placing into the trench caused the crane to topple. The vault crashed into the approximate 12 feet deep trench and the crane operator landed right beside it.

Fire departments from Durham, Chapel Hill, and the South Orange Rescue Squad, among others, helped build reinforcements for the trench using a fire engine ladder to anchor a pulley system and assist the crane operator out of the deep trench.

The injured worker remained conscious throughout the rescue and was released. The construction site will remain closed until the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) completes its standard investigation.

Although there are some exceptions, most North Carolina employers with 3 or more employees are required to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage for its employees. Workers’ compensation insurance can provide benefits in the form of monetary compensation for certain job-related injuries or occupational diseases suffered by persons injured on the job in North Carolina. If you or someone you loved have been injured on the job, it may be in your best interest to call us at 1-800-TEAM-JSF or fill out our online form now.

Sources: “Crane Operator Rescued After Falling into Trench,”NBC17.com, November 14, 2007; Jessica Rocha, “Crane tips worker into trench,” News & Observer, November 15, 2007.

In November 2007, James Scott Farrin Attorney Marie Lang handled a case of workplace sexual harassment. Lang represented a woman who worked for a restaurant in a large chain.

Originally, the client worked as a hostess but wanted a position that paid more, so her supervisor said she could work in preparation. Her new job required she come into the restaurant to begin work before the restaurant opened to customers.

The client said her supervisor, on six different occasions, sexually harassed her after enclosing her in a room.

“I believe that he felt he could take advantage of me because I am a Hispanic woman who would not speak up because I needed the job and would be scared to report what he was doing to anyone,” the client said.

The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin pursued the case through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

“My job is about being able to protect people who can’t protect their own interests,” Lang said.

Our firm cannot guarantee results, as each case is unique and must be evaluated on its facts and legal circumstances. No specific results are implied.