Vested Interest - Tort Briefs - November 2002 Issue

Judge Oks class-action suit against Big Tobacco

A federal district court judge has certified a nation-wide, punitive damage class-action suit against the tobacco industry. The case, known as Simon II, consolidates all the tobacco-related litigation before U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein to include the punitive damages claims of all types of plaintiffs, including individual smokers, labor unions and health insurers. (Dow Jones News Service – September 21, 2002)

Man lobbies for safety device after Settlement

A Chicago man has won a $5.5 million settlement after being struck by a truck whose driver couldn’t see him over the extended nose of his vehicle. The man lost a leg and the use of an arm and hopes to spur trucking firms to install new technology that could prevent such accidents. The Department of Transportation is now testing collision avoidance technology in field trials. (Chicago Sun-Times – September 23, 2002)

Honeywell settles asbestos claims

Honeywell International has reached out-of-court settlements on undisclosed terms with plaintiffs in a West Virginia lawsuit who claimed their health problems were linked to asbestos. The case involved about 8,000 asbestos claims against 250 defendants, including companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Owens-Illinois Inc. (MSNBC – September 24, 2002)

$8.5 million settlement in Pre-eclampsia death

A Cook County judge approved an $8.5 million post-verdict settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a woman who died from complications after giving birth to her third child. In June, a jury ordered Lincoln Memorial Health Center to pay the plaintiff nearly $10 million. The verdict was the highest in Illinois for pre-eclampsia resulting in death. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – September 23, 2002)

Construction worker awarded over $7 million

A construction worker whose left arm was amputated above the elbow after it was crushed in the gears of a crane has settled a lawsuit she filed against the general contractor and others. A Cook County judge approved the settlement of $7,820,000 which includes a $700,000 workers’ compensation claim waived by the woman’s employer. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – September 26, 2002)

Doctors win round against HMOs

A federal judge in Miami allowed lawyers pressing fraud charges against top U.S. HMOs to group the claims of 600,000 doctors into a single class-action suit with potentially huge legal damages. The judge denied the same status to patients seeking compensation from the health groups for allegedly denying them the best medical care to save money. The doctors groups, including state medical associations, have accused HMOs of defrauding doctors of fair payments by arbitrarily and routinely cutting fees. (Reuters – September 27, 2002)

Man awarded $2.35 million following surgery

A Cook County judge approved a $2.35 million settlement to a man who suffered loss of bowel, bladder and sexual functions following back surgery at Highland Park Hospital. He was discharged after surgery and returned two days later complaining of urinary retention and perineal numbness. Another surgery was performed. Plaintiff attorneys contend the doctor misapplied an excessively large fat graft and nurses failed to recognize symptoms of complications before he was discharged. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – September 30, 2002)

$1.8 million settlement to intoxicated man’s family

The City of Chicago has reached a tentative $1.8 million settlement with the family of an intoxicated man who suffocated in the back of a police wagon while officers allegedly took two hours to deliver him to a hospital. The man died after slipping under a restraint and falling with his head between the wagon’s stairs and door, resulting in asphyxiation. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – October 1, 2002)

$5 million award to family after girl’s death

A Circuit Court jury has awarded $5 million to the family of a 14-year-old girl who died at Michael Reese Hospital. The girl survived a drive-by shooting after being shot twice. She was rendered a quadriplegic and returned home after rehabilitation. She developed pneumonia and was taken to Michael Reese. A resident physician administered a paralytic that resulted in cardiac arrest. After two more arrests, the girl died. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – October 1, 2002)

U.S. liable for medical malpractice

A U.S. District Court judge in Arizona ruled that the United States was negligent under Arizona law regarding the discharge of a Navajo hospital patient, her treatment at the hospital, including her transport to another hospital, and her care at the transferee hospital. The treatment below the standard of care made more probable than not the patient’s cardiac arrest and resultant anoxic brain injury. (ATLA L@w News Digest – October 3, 2002)

Jury awards $28 billion to smoker

A Los Angeles jury ordered Philip Morris Cos. to pay $28 billion in punitive damages to a 64-year-old woman with lung cancer who blamed her tobacco addiction on the company’s failure to warn her of the risks of smoking. The jury deliberated about a day-and-a-half in the punitive damages phase of the trial. The same panel found Philip Morris liable the previous week in a fraud, negligence and products liability claims lawsuit and awarded $850,000 in compensatory damages to that woman. (MSNBC – October 4, 2002)

$4.2 million in newborn med mal case

A Cook County jury has awarded $4.2 million in a case in which a newborn boy’s foot was amputated after a doctor allegedly failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot. The neonatologist inserted a catheter into the boy’s leg shortly after birth but failed to initiate treatment when the leg and foot turned blue. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – October 8, 2002)

$3.3 million award stands in tire death

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.’s appeal of a $3.3 million jury award in a 1995 highway death involving a tire failure that caused a rollover, killing a Mississippi woman. Cooper had argued that the size of the jury award, which included $3 million in punitive damages, was excessive. The Supreme Court rejected that argument, ending the litigation with a one-line order dismissing the appeal. (Bloomberg News – October 9, 2002)

Law lets patients see malpractice settlements

Patients in California will be able to check whether a California doctor has settled a series of medical malpractice suits under a new state law. Starting next year, the Medical Review Board of California will tell patients if a doctor has agreed to three to four settlements, depending on the doctor’s specialty, within a 10-year period. The settlement information will be available via the Medical Board’s website and a telephone hotline. (ATLA L@w News Digest – October 10, 2002)

Missouri jury awards $2.2 billion for diluted drugs

A jury in Kansas City, Missouri awarded $2.2 billion to a woman whose pharmacist watered down her chemotherapy drugs. The pharmacist plead guilty earlier this year to adulterating, misbranding and tampering chemotherapy medications in order to increase his profits. As many as 4,200 patients and 98,000 prescriptions may have been affected. The woman is not expected to survive her ovarian cancer. (Liability & Insurance Week – October 14, 2002)

Woman awarded $165,000 for anesthesia awareness

A woman who claimed she experienced about three minutes of "anesthesia awareness" while undergoing a caesarean section was awarded $165,000 by a Cook County jury. In delivering her third child, the woman said she felt every cut of the surgeon’s scalpel. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – October 18, 2002)

Jury awards $1.8 million for fall

A Will County jury awarded $1.8 million in a personal-injury lawsuit, after a 25 percent reduction in the verdict to reflect the contributory negligence of a woman who claimed to have fallen on the stairs of a model home she was seeing. Her attorney said she suffered a herniated disc when she tripped on a piece of transparent floor tape on the stairs and that the builder failed to install handrails. (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – October 18, 2002)

People’s Gas to pay man $3.25 million for mistake

A man who survived a natural gas explosion, caused by a leak undetected by a People’s Gas serviceman at his home 16 months earlier, settled a lawsuit against the company for $3.25 million. The explosion was caused by a flexible connector found behind the stove that had developed a leak because of a defective joint. (Chicago Sun-Times – October 22, 2002)