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Posted On: February 27, 2012

Family of Maryland Man Who Died in Police Custody Dismisses Suit Against Police, May Still Sue Hospital

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449966_49903379_02272012.jpgPolice went to the Greenbelt, Maryland home of Lynda Sheppard on the morning of May 26, 2010 with an arrest warrant for her son, Michael Mang. Sheppard had a protection order against her 41 year-old son and had requested a warrant for his arrest, saying he had threatened and assaulted her. Police arrested Mang, and hours later he was dead.

Police allegedly entered Sheppard’s house that morning, woke Mang, and then hit him and tasered him. Mang reportedly suffered bruising, a broken nose, and a broken rib.

Police took Mang to the hospital, where he was reportedly alert and cooperative. After several hours, though, Mang began to complain of chest pains and allegedly requested a cardiac examination. Instead, the hospital allegedly released him to police. He was reportedly held at the hospital from 5:37 a.m. to 9:20 a.m., when police took custody of him and took him to the police station. They found him lying unconscious in the station’s processing area at about 9:55 a.m. and returned him to the hospital. He was reportedly pronounced dead at the hospital at around 10:46 a.m.

An investigation by the medical examiner found evidence of alcohol consumption, but no drugs. They also found marks on his lower back that resembled taser marks. The medical examiner concluded that Mang died of natural causes stemming from a heart condition. He reportedly had a coronary blockage that raised suspicion of a heart attack.

Sheppard filed a federal lawsuit in July 2011 against the city of Greenbelt, alleging that the arresting officers caused Mang’s death by using unnecessary and unreasonable force in arresting him. The petition detailed Mang’s injuries and the timeline of events leading up to his death. She demanded $10 million in damages.

The city denied any connection between Mang’s injuries and his death. An internal police investigation concluded that the arresting officers used appropriate force against Mang because he fought back. The city’s attorney told the Greenbelt Patch that Mang’s injuries could simply have been the result of fighting with police.

Sheppard dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice on February 15, 2012. “Without prejudice” means that she can re-file the claim within the original statute of limitations. The Greenbelt police chief described the suit as frivolous and said that the internal investigation vindicated the city’s defense to the suit, that Mang’s injuries at the hands of police did not cause his death.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Police Brutality , Wrongful Death

Posted On: February 20, 2012

Four Die in Car Crash in Anne Arundel County, Maryland

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Crofton Parkway springA tragic head-on collision in the early hours of Saturday, January 28 took the lives of four people on a highway south of Crofton, Maryland. A Chrysler Sebring sedan driven by a 19 year-old with two teenage passengers was heading the wrong way on eastbound U.S. 50. The recent high school graduates were going home after a birthday party. A BMW driven by a 55 year-old warehouse manager was going east on the same road. Its driver was also going home after dinner with friends in Virginia. The cars collided at about 3:30 a.m., causing the Sebring to catch fire. The three teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene, apparently dying on impact. The other driver died in the ambulance and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Investigators think the Sebring may have crossed a median to turn around or taken an exit ramp the wrong way in order to head west in the eastbound lane. This suggests that they were going the wrong way for almost five miles before the crash. Multiple other drivers reportedly called 911 in the moments before the crash to report a car going the wrong way on the highway. At least one 911 caller suggested that the driver did not know she was going the wrong way after he narrowly avoided colliding with the car.

A preliminary toxicology report released on January 31 showed that both drivers had blood alcohol content (BAC) above the legal limit of .08 percent, although police did not state the precise amount found in the tests. Police also said they found a small quantity of marijuana in the teens’ car. Police still have not issued any statements as to the reason why the Sebring was traveling the wrong way on Route 50 or how it got into that lane.

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Posted In: Car Accidents

Posted On: February 13, 2012

Paralyzed Construction Worker Receives One of the Largest Workers' Compensation Settlements in History After a Long Fight

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622729_52924098_02142012.jpgA former Pennsylvania road worker who was paralyzed by a drunk driver as he directed traffic has reached a workers’ compensation settlement agreement for $3 million. This is believed to be one of the largest settlements in the U.S. In getting to this point, he has also gone through a Dram Shop Act lawsuit and a bad faith insurance claim.

Joseph Tuski was directing traffic on January 17, 2001 in Warminster, Pennsylvania. At about 10:30 a.m., a car driven by Michael Petaccio struck him. Petaccio reportedly sped around a line of cars Tuski had stopped, hitting Tuski and throwing him about sixty feet. The accident rendered Tuski a quadriplegic, and he must spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair with 24-hour care. Petaccio had reportedly just left the Ivyland Cafe, a bar in Warminster owned by Petaccio’s family where Petaccio was the manager. Petaccio pleaded no contest to driving under the influence and aggravated assault later that year, and he was sentenced to three years in prison but received work release.

Tuski first filed suit against Petaccio and the Ivyland Cafe, claiming negligence and Dram Shop Act liability. Dram Shop Acts hold businesses who serve alcohol to visibly intoxicated individuals liable for damages subsequently caused due to that person’s intoxication. Tuski presented evidence that, at the time, he had $1.6 million in medical bills and future medical expenses of at least 12 million. A Philadelphia jury awarded Tuski an enormous but largely symbolic verdict in 2004 totalling $75.6 million in damages. This included $50.6 million in compensatory and $25 million in punitive damages, but neither defendant had the ability to pay such an amount. Petaccio only had $100,000 in liability insurance coverage, while The Ivyland Cafe had coverage of $1 million.

After the verdict, the bar lost its appeal, although a judge cut the jury’s award in half. The bar’s insurer then reportedly refused to pay the policy limits of the award. Tuski sued the insurance company for bad faith refusal to pay a claim. Although a plaintiff in an injury case has no direct relationship with a defendant’s insurer, since the insurance company’s obligation to pay is based on a contractual relationship with the defendant, many states allow a plaintiff to pursue an insurer for payment of a specific award. In this case, the bar assigned its rights under its insurance contract to Tuski. In June 2007, Tuski reached a settlement with the insurance company for $20 million.

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Posted In: Insurance Disagreement , Pedestrian Accident , Spinal Cord Injuries , Workers' Compensation

Posted On: February 6, 2012

Medical Malpractice: A Surgeon's Perspective

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1051476_74068952_02082012.jpgAn article in a recent issue of General Surgery News, a trade publication for surgeries, examines the impact of medical malpractice litigation on general surgeons and several specialty areas of surgery. The article looks at recent statistics and discusses the merits of fighting malpractice lawsuits versus settling them quickly. It concludes that doctors are usually better off, in the long run, fighting lawsuits. The analysis tends not to be favorable towards medical malpractice plaintiffs and their attorneys, but it does offer a good glimpse of how surgeons might approach a malpractice claim.

A recent survey by the American Medical Association reportedly found that five percent of respondents had faced a malpractice claim of some sort during the previous year. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2011 found that, after neurosurgeons and thoracic surgeons, general surgeons have the next-highest rate of malpractice claims. The study reviewed twenty-four surgical specialties. In an average year, it found that 15.3% of general surgeons will have at least one claim brought against them.

Doctors rarely have the exclusive authority to decide whether to settle a case, as a doctor’s malpractice insurance carrier will typically handle the expense of legal representation. The author of the article advises surgeons against settling in most cases. He notes that, first and foremost, settlement can be interpreted as an admission of fault, even if the settlement’s purpose is to avoid even costlier litigation. Many settlement agreements include a clause specifying that the defendant does not admit liability, but settlement agreements do not get publicity beyond the parties to a dispute. Settling a lawsuit can also lead to problems further down the road, as the board of medicine of a doctor’s state may wish to review the matter itself, and the doctor’s name may appear in databases that catalog malpractice claims.

Of particular note to personal injury attorneys is the discussion of how surgeons can avoid lawsuits. There is little to no correlation, the article states, between the degree of risk in a surgical procedure and the rate of malpractice claims. In other words, riskier procedures are not necessarily at the greatest of a claim. Rather, it is a matter of the doctor’s relationship with the patients and the patient’s family. The better the communication between patient and doctor, the less likely the patient is to claim malpractice.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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