The estate of a 75-year old Groton man settled its wrongful death claim for $845,000 against the ambulance company that brought him to and from dialysis and the apartment complex where he lived, after eight days of jury selection and intense negotiations.  Pedro Vasquez died January 16, 2009 after ambulance employees dropped his wheelchair two days earlier while trying to carry him in it up stairs into his apartment after a dialysis appointment.  The wheelchair rolled down five steps and tipped back, causing Mr. Vasquez's head to strike a concrete step, resulting in a traumatic brain injury and massive hemorrhaging.  The image below depicts the normal brain anatomy on the left and the results of the 1/15/09 CT scan of Mr. Vasquez's brain on the right.  In addition to the negligence of the ambulance, the Estate claimed that the stairs were unsafe and lacked functional handrails.  The Estate also claimed that the apartment complex denied numerous requests to put in a wheelchair ramp.  All defendants denied negligence and claimed that Mr. Vasquez had no more than two years of life expectancy given his age and health problems.  Attorney Scott D. Camassar handled the case for the Estate.  The settlement is contingent upon probate court approval.

Last month we wrote about a report issued by the American Association for Justice called "Standing Up For Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans."  One of our readers forwarded it to a friend, who had this to say:

Bill,

Much thanks...I read the report "Standing Up for Seniors" in its entirety....it is another disgraceful example of corporate exploitation of the most vulnerable segment of our population.  The right wing is always criticizing trial lawyers...but this article, funded by the former Association of Trial Lawyers and substantiated with appropriate references, makes it clear why we need trial lawyers to challenge the corporate barons!

This is yet another example of the breakdown and polarization of our society where greed is good and the hell with everyone else!

I can personally verify many of the observations stated in the report from my personal experience when my mother was in a nursing home. Fortunately, as a result of my relentless intervention with the entire staff, she was spared many of the unsafe and irresponsible practices other patients experienced.

My review of conditions could have been the basis of a expose that would have included unethical doctors, conflicts of interest e.g., doctor-involvement in nursing home ownership, medical family "service businesses" supplying everything from hearing aids to false teeth, etc. . . . I can write a book based on my experience... one day during a visit, a nurse asked me what time I was planning to return to CT. I never gave the question a second thought until a confidant employed there took me aside and said, "She wants to know what time you're leaving because an inspection team from Harrisburg is here today and they're scared to death that you might talk to them."

George