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Sep 10, 2010

 

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Graves County Traffic Fatality Just One of Many Last Week in Kentucky

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Two Injured in Paducah Kentucky Car Wreck on Highway 60

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Day 1 Yonts Murder Trial

Yonts Murder Trial Day 1 The murder trial for the son of a Kentucky lawmaker is underway in Calloway County. Murray State University Student Harrison Yonts is charged with murder for a deadly hit and run accident in November 2005. He's accused of hitting and killing Nadia Shaheen who was walking along the road. Yonts is the son of State Representative Brent Yonts of Greenville, Ky. NewsChannel 6's Anna Prendergast will continue to bring coverage of the trial. Day 1 5:00 PM- Around 3:30 PM the trial started with both Attorney's opening arguments. The prosecution says there is physical that puts Yonts behind the wheel of the car that hit Nadia Shaheen on November 11th. The defense argues that Yonts was home when Shaheen was killed and that someone else took his car, the car that killed Shaheen, not Yonts. Yonts' attorney admits that he was very intoxicated. Blood alcohol tests revealed in court put Yonts alcohol level at .06 at 11 am the next morning, hours after Shaheen was killed..02 it the legal limit. Two witnesses have taken the stand so far. We do not know if Lyons will testify, but we will find out tomorrow. 2:15 PM- Yonts attorney, Dennis Null just finished questioning the jury pool. One of his last questions was do any of you already believe Harrison Yonts is guilty? One man raised his hand. We've learned several Murray Police officers will testify, a student from Murray State University, and the coroner that investigated Nadia Shagreen's death is being called an important witness. The attorney's from both sides are deciding what jurors they will choose. Court will resume at 2:30 and 14 jurors will be sworn in. 1:30 PM- A few more jurors were excused because they work or go to school at Murray State University. Yonts' attorney, Dennis Null started questioning jurors at 11:30 am. Null asked jurors if they could put aside that Harrison Yonts is son of State Rep. Brent Yonts of Greenville. Every juror said they could look past it. Judge Foust told jurors he does not want them reading or watching any news reports on the case. Everyone broke for lunch at 12:30, Null will continue questioning at 1:30. 10:00 AM- Jury selection in the Harrison Yonts trial started at 10 this morning. Eighty-two out of the expected one hundred and twenty five jurors showed up for the selection process. Thirty-two jurors are being questioned at a time. Judge Dennis Foust started out questioning to make sure no one was related to Yonts or any of the attorneys involved. Three jurors were immediately excused for doctor appointments, one because she went to school with Yonts, and one for a short attention span. Jim Harris, assistant commonwealth attorney in McCracken County has been appointed the special prosecutor in the case. Harris started questioning jurors at 10:30. He asked jurors if they had heard about the case in the media, all 32 jurors raised their hands. He then asked if they could put aside anything they had heard in the media about the case. All 32 jurors said they could. Harris then said the question that they would have to answer at the end of the case is did Harrison Yonts' drunk driving kill Nadia Shaheen? Yonts' attorney, Dennis Null will be next to question jurors. Judge Foust says he expects the trial to last four days. Attorneys from both sides say if they can't find a fair jury they will ask for the trial to be moved to another county. Harrison Yonts father, State Rep. Brent Yonts of Greenville is in the courtroom. He has not shown any emotion but is paying very close attention to each juror, writing down everyone's name as they walk up. Copyright 2007 WPSD-TV, LLC

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Battling ageism in cancer negligence cases

Trial Magazinge Medical Negligence May 2007 | Volume 43, Issue 5 Many people view the elderly as having little to live for and even less to offer society. Uncovering these assumptions is step one in achieving justice for an older client whose cancer went undiagnosed or undertreated for too long. Elizabeth H. Faiella and Peter J. Gulden III Trial lawyers are in the business of anticipating prejudices. As soon as a new case arrives, they consider how jurors will assess the client and the case. When the plaintiff has suffered injury because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose cancer or provide adequate treatment, the lawyer can count on jurors to hold certain biases. They have been conditioned to believe that medical negligence plaintiffs bring frivolous claims against heroic physicians who can’t be blamed for their inability to save the patient from a disease’s inevitable progression. Seasoned plaintiff lawyers know these biases well and welcome the chance to show the jury just how wrong these attitudes are. Elderly cancer patients regularly face negligence, and when the plaintiff is elderly, another bias enters: ageism. Ageism is directly responsible for incomplete examinations, delayed diagnoses, and undertreatment of these patients.1 Many Americans regard the elderly in a less-than-charitable light. People assume that because old people typically don’t work, they aren’t “contributing to society,” and their days of achievement are long over. Their lives are spent watching television, waiting for visitors, and perhaps slipping in and out of dementia, awaiting a fast-approaching death. This view of the elderly makes every aspect of a medical malpractice case more difficult. It significantly reduces potential damages because a jury’s assessment of damages, both noneconomic and economic, is often guided by the patient’s life expectancy. The standard of care is also affected. What is clear malpractice in the case of a younger plaintiff is often less clear when the plaintiff is elderly. Causation, too, becomes cloudier. The presence of other medical conditions, along with the weakness and fragility of old age, can complicate the case. Defense attorneys often take advantage of ageist attitudes. Obviously, no defense lawyer would overtly disparage an elderly plaintiff because of advanced age or failing health. However, he or she might subtly seek to cultivate ageist thinking among jurors, using rhetoric and the testimony of medical experts to exploit this bias. Nationally, plaintiff attorneys have only a 37 percent chance of winning a medical malpractice case.2 Why, then, should a trial lawyer expend resources on a case that is almost certain to be more difficult to win than the average? There are two reasons: because the elderly need us, and because these cases can be won. We are a nation of ageists. That our laws specifically forbid discrimination against the elderly is a testament to the prevalence of this phenomenon in American society. Indeed, a list of the books in which ageism’s influence is discussed would itself fill a book.3 Knowing this and understanding how ageist attitudes affect the care of the elderly can help your case succeed. Cancer in the elderly About 60 percent of new cancers are diagnosed in elderly Americans—those age 65 and older.4 Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women; prostate cancer is the most common cancer—other than skin cancer—among men.5 Elderly women account for 50 percent of newly diagnosed breast cancers. By 2030, the number of cases is expected to double.6 A 2003 study projected that about 35 percent of women who develop invasive breast cancer will be over the age of 70 when it is diagnosed.7 Over 97,000 elderly women died from breast cancer between 2000 and 2003.8 Prostate cancer, too, affects a large portion of the aging population.9 Over 75 percent of new prostate cancers occur in elderly men, and this incidence reaches 82 percent among the combined male populations of developing countries.10 Most prostate cancer is slow-growing, and intervention may not be warranted. The more aggressive form is deadly. Only a biopsy can determine the difference. Between 2000 and 2003, more than 111,000 elderly men lost their lives to prostate cancer.11 These are not the only cancers afflicting old people, but if they are found early, they are often curable—even in the elderly. When an early diagnosis is missed, the patient’s life may be cut short by many years. The medical literature concerning the experience of the elderly with these diseases reveals the problem of ageism in oncologic medicine and how this prejudice leads to substandard care. It explains the central medical and bioethical terms and concepts that figure prominently in defense arguments and expert testimony presented at trial. Elderly women seeking evaluation and treatment for breast cancer face medical opinions advanced solely in response to their age.12 Because the benefits of annual screening mammograms in women over age 70 are uncertain, “cancer-screening practice guidelines are ambiguous and inconsistent for elderly women.”13 When breast cancer is diagnosed, less aggressive treatment is recommended. After all, many physicians believe, these women don’t tolerate chemotherapy well; it can be highly toxic to them. Moreover, most elderly women have other diseases or medical conditions. Finally, their life expectancies are short, the ageist doctor thinks, so why ruin their “golden years” with the discomfort and anxiety that accompany treatment? Evidence suggests that this kind of attitude translates into poorer care for elderly women. A 2006 study reported that “several studies, including the present one, have shown that older breast cancer patients as a group are understaged, underdiagnosed, and undertreated compared with their younger counterparts.”14 A study done three years earlier concluded similarly that “elderly women with breast cancer have late diagnosis, incomplete diagnostic assessment, and lack a standardized therapeutic approach.”15 This pattern of substandard care was nothing new, the authors said, and it had likely led to many deaths that could have been prevented. Several studies have sought to propose solutions to this crisis of care. Two are especially helpful. The first examined the feasibility of administering adjuvant chemotherapy to node-positive breast cancer in women over 65.16 It found that although breast cancers often were likely to recur in older women, this group usually wasn’t given the option of chemotherapy. However, the authors found that elderly breast cancer patients in good general health could withstand the same chemotherapy regimens as their younger peers—with comparable rates of success.17 Thus, they argued, physicians should offer their patients this option, though with full disclosure of the possible side effects. The second study made similar recommendations. Although it emphasized the central role of life expectancy in determining treatment options, the study urged physicians not to consider age alone, but rather to make their assessments according to the patient’s individual health status.18 These findings illustrate a commonsense idea: that people age differently, some better, some worse. Some 82-year-olds go jogging every morning, and some 65-year-olds require a wheelchair. Their bodies also have varying tolerances to medical treatment. Therefore, oncologic care should be offered according to each patient’s level of health. Medical terminology expresses this difference with the concepts of biologic age and physiologic age. These studies focus on physiologic age and the new treatment possibilities it entails, as well as another important aspect of good medical care: candid physician-patient communication. Only after the patient’s treatment options were known and the side effects discussed could elderly patients safely begin their treatment regimens. The literature on prostate cancer reveals similar ageist attitudes toward elderly male patients. These men, doctors say, usually have slow-growing cancers, and because these patients are of advanced age, some other disease will likely take their lives before the cancer does.19 Doctors say that they want them to have the best quality of life possible in their final years and that surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and radiation aren’t pleasant and can be dangerous to elderly men. Whether it’s useful to screen elderly men for prostate cancer is one of the biggest controversies in urology. The American Cancer Society does not believe that screening men with less than 10 years of expected life left is useful because the treatment often has painful, debilitating effects.20 Some studies don’t see any value in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening at all, such as one from 1996 that found performing prostate biopsies in men with abnormal PSAs who were 70 and older was not cost-effective and could adversely affect their quality of life during their final years.21 While this study assumed that most cancers in older men would not take their lives, it did recognize that when the variables were manipulated to express a higher likelihood that these cancers were lethal, biopsies resulted in a marginally higher quality of life. A study performed two years earlier had similar findings. It examined the clinical and economic feasibility of screening for prostate cancer in men between 50 and 70 years old. The authors concluded that screening these men was not cost-effective and that while screening 60- and 70-year-old men resulted in fewer cancer deaths, this benefit was “offset” by the decrease in quality of life due to treatment.22 Other literature on the elderly in this context is more inspiring. A 2006 study examined the efficacy of radical prostatectomy in 80-year-old men. The then-current urologic thinking concerning this procedure was that it, like screening, should be reserved for men with at least a statistical 10-year life expectancy. Ignoring this proscription, the study found that fit 80-year-old men, properly briefed on the side effects and possible complications of prostatectomy, had success rates comparable to those of younger patients. Commenting on their conclusions, the authors explicitly recognized that withholding certain treatment because of a patient’s old age alone “would amount to ageism, a problem now recognized as pervasive in our society.”23 Physicians, they argued, need to accommodate these men, not discriminate against them. Some physicians have begun to emphasize the need to assess and treat patients as individuals with varying degrees of health. A 2006 article again cites the commonsense basis for this principle: “[I]t is difficult to make categorical recommendations for such a diverse population.”24 While elderly men suffering from many medical conditions might “have little to gain from prostate cancer screening unless they have a potentially fatal high-grade tumor,” those 70-year-old men who are “in good heath may continue to benefit from screening.”25 Another 2006 article also emphasizes physiologic age coupled with the need for informed patient decision-making. Physicians, the author writes, should “help patients make informed treatment decisions based not only on survival predictions but also on health status, functional concerns, and—most importantly—personal preference.”26 This literature also highlights another central concept in oncologic care: quality of life. Physicians may withhold treatment if the quality of any saved years will be compromised by the pain, discomfort, or disability that treatment will cause. However, because what constitutes good quality of life for one person may be different for another, mentally competent patients should make this choice. Juries understand this simple concept. Incomprehensibly, some physicians still do not. Ageism at trial Changing prejudice is a long-term project, and people require motivation to change. Jurors usually need more time than a trial allows. While lawyers can eliminate overtly prejudiced jurors from the panel in voir dire, jurors who do not recognize or admit any prejudice against the elderly must be convinced that the client, although of advanced age, does not deserve to be labeled “elderly.” Point out that the client has overall good health and an active life. Some senior clients travel extensively, play bridge, dance competitively, enjoy golf or tennis, and volunteer at their church or local homeless shelter. Friends can testify as to their mental and physical agility. Every panel includes jurors who know someone who is aging gracefully and vibrantly. And most, if not all, jurors will say that age should not make a difference in medical treatment and that older people who are competent to make their own medical decisions should be allowed to do so under all circumstances. Ask questions during voir dire that will reinforce these beliefs with each juror before the trial begins. At trial, the first and most obvious plan of attack for the defense attorney centers on the plaintiff’s life expectancy. The defense will try to avoid physiologic age and will focus on statistics, such as the U.S. Life Tables—which list death rates by age, race, and sex—to lump the plaintiff in with all the others in his or her age group on a statistical table.27 To erase the plaintiff’s physiologic age and its association with poor health from the minds of the jurors, realize what the defense is really doing: de-individualizing your client. The defense does not want the jury to hear that shortly before her breast cancer diagnosis, Margaret took a trip to Europe alone or that she goes dancing every weekend. Your opponent wants to reduce her to a statistic and counter your efforts to present a strong, vibrant, 86-year-old woman who prefers walking over driving. Accordingly, you need to show your client’s individuality, particularly as far as her health is concerned. For Margaret, you would argue, 86 years of age doesn’t mean anything; it’s just a number. Actively shape the testimony of her family, friends, and neighbors to emphasize her individual level of health. Use your experts to show this as well. For example, your client’s family doctor may describe her excellent health: normal body weight, low cholesterol, normal blood pressure, and absence of diabetes. The doctor also may minimize normal age-related maladies that do not seriously affect life expectancy, such as atrial fibrillation that is well controlled. Don’t let a few medical conditions discourage your advocacy. Elderly people often have hypertension, arthritis, or various other controllable health conditions or problems. Even atherosclerosis can be effectively held in check with cardiac stent placement. Demonstrate that any medical problems have only a negligible effect on your client’s overall health. As far as the patient is concerned, focus on his or her robust health before becoming ill with cancer. For example, argue that before he began treatment for prostate cancer, Al, who was 79, worked around the house and went golfing every day. His heart was fine, and he was as mentally sharp as any juror. Do not let your opponent cast him as the average 79-year-old man, with only a few years left to live. While this counteroffensive is under way, you must concentrate intensely on the ageist bias. Seek to undermine the main assumption behind all ageist thinking: that elderly people have no value. This is not easy, but it can be done. Again, ageism devalues the elderly with three ideas: They are sick, they don’t work, and they don’t do anything. Thus, the ageist thinks, they don’t matter. You have already addressed the issue of the client’s supposedly poor heath; now tackle these other ideas. Consider what ethicist John Kilner identifies as the economic or “productivity-oriented” issue.28 The elderly are devalued because they aren’t employed. The United States is a robustly capitalist society, and its citizens prize the ability to work. Employment is a measure of social value. Suppose your client retired long before succumbing to cancer. Does this man or woman therefore have less social value than another? Certainly not—he or she has completed a lifetime of work. This plaintiff was paying societal dues long before many of the people in the courtroom were born. Make these points clearly to counteract economic ageism. The third ageist belief is related to the second. It holds that old people are not trying to achieve, make a name for themselves, or do anything great. To counter this, first focus on your client’s lifetime accomplishments and interests. Next, teach the jurors that what they define as an accomplishment at their age—getting a promotion, for example—will shift as they get older. The elderly, who have finished working, can concentrate on the passions they have long sought to indulge, whether painting, teaching, traveling, or competing in triathlons. Tell the story of your client’s passions after retirement, and show the jury the value of an active life. Argue that the elderly also have value because of their relationships with other people. Older plaintiffs often are the patriarchs or matriarchs of their families, with children and grandchildren. They have war buddies, lifelong friends, and vast networks of acquaintances. Emphasize their central place in these social and familial spheres to overcome this aspect of age bias. With these general principles of anti-ageist advocacy in mind, focus on specific elements of the defendant’s case. How will your opponent shape standard-of-care arguments in view of your client’s advanced age? As noted above, for example, physicians do not screen, or recommend self-screening for, anyone they won’t treat. Thus, the defense will argue, the defendant should not be faulted for incomplete or unattempted screenings because the plaintiff was too old to be treated anyway. This is a prominent theme in cases of delayed diagnosis of prostate cancer because many urologists think that a man with less than a 10-year life expectancy should not be treated for prostate cancer. To combat this argument, attack the concept directly. The idea that age alone should be a bar to the treatment of a healthy elderly patient is ridiculous. “Age is not a contraindication to life,” our expert urologist once said on the stand. This is precisely the argument to make. The client’s location on the Life Tables doesn’t determine whether, or how, he or she should be treated. The client makes this choice: He or she is healthy, can handle the treatment, and wants to live. This idea of choice, though obvious, is important. Indeed, patient autonomy—the patient’s right to determine the nature and extent of his or her medical care—is a major ally in an elderly client’s missed-cancer-diagnosis case. Jurors are generally receptive to this notion: Our legal and political systems, and the ethical principles that support them, center on the idea of rights—to vote, to bear arms, to freely practice religion. People don’t like to give up their rights, including the right to choose whether to receive potentially lifesaving medical treatment. In a cancer case involving a missed diagnosis or inadequate treatment, interference with this right almost always involves a physician withholding information from the patient—about either available diagnostic tests or possible treatments—because the doctor believes the patient is too old to be treated safely or to see any benefits from treatment. Though these physicians believe they are acting in the patient’s best interest, they are merely substituting their own judgment for the patient’s. Bioethicists refer to this behavior as strong paternalism.29 Defense attorneys will attempt to clothe a doctor’s diagnostic apathy in a paternalistic beneficence: The defendant didn’t want to bother the patient with a diagnosis, they will argue, because he or she didn’t want to subject the patient to the agonies of treatment. Doctor knows best. This tactic, and other ageist attitudes, must be identified and exposed to show the significance of a missed diagnosis or undertreatment of cancer in the elderly. Only by fully appreciating ageism’s influence among potential jurors—and the defense effort to exploit it—can these cases be won. But this is only half the battle. We first need to overcome our own prejudices toward taking these cases and realize how much we are needed. Elizabeth H. Faiella practices in Winter Park, Florida. Peter J. Gulden III is an associate in her office. Their e-mail address is Faiella@faiella.com. back to top Notes See Christine Bouchardy et al., Undertreatment Strongly Decreases Prognosis of Breast Cancer in Elderly Women, 21 J. Clin. Oncology 3580 (2003); David A. Litvak & Rajeev Arora, Treatment of Elderly Breast Cancer Patients in a Community Hospital Setting, 141 Archives. Surg. 985 (2006); see also Richard T. Penson et al., Too Old to Care? 9 Oncologist 343 (2004). Carmel Sileo & David Ratcliff, Straight Talk about Torts, TRIAL 42 (July 2006). For a thorough treatment of the subject, see Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older Persons (Todd D. Nelson ed., MIT Press 2004). Penson et al., supra n. 1, at 346; see also R. Houston Thompson et al., Radical Prostatectomy for Octogenarians: How Old Is Too Old?, 68 Urology 1042 (2006). Thompson et al., supra n. 4; Martin D. Abeloff et al., Clinical Oncology 2371 (3d ed., Churchill Livingstone 2004). Jeanne Mandelblatt, Treating Breast Cancer: The Age Old Dilemma of Old Age, 24 J. Clin. Oncology 4369, 4369 (2006). Chris E. Holmes & Hyman B. Muss, Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer in the Elderly, 53 CA Cancer J. Clinicians 227, 227 (2003). L.A.G. Ries et al., SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2003 tbl. I-12 (2006), http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2003/results_merged/ topic_age_dist.pdf. Philip W. Kantoff et al., Prostate Cancer: Principles & Practice 179 (1st ed., Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins 2002). Patrick C. Walsh et al., Campbell’s Urology 3004 (8th ed., Saunders 2002). L.A.G. Ries et al., supra n. 8. Bouchardy et al., supra n. 1; Litvak & Arora, supra n. 1. Truls Ostbye et al., Screening Mammography and Pap Tests Among Older Women 1996-2000: Results from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), Annals Fam. Med. 209, 210 (Nov./ Dec. 2003). Litvak & Arora, supra n. 1, at 989. Bouchardy et al., supra n. 1, at 3584. Hyman B. Muss et al., Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Older and Younger Women with Lymph Node-Positive Breast Cancer, 293 JAMA 1073 (2005). Id. Holmes & Muss, supra n. 7. See Robert J. McKenna, Clinical Aspects of Cancer in the Elderly: Treatment Decisions, Treatment Choices, and Follow-Up, 74 Cancer 2107 (Supp. 1994). William J. Catalona et al., Viewpoint: Expanding Prostate Cancer Screening, 144 Annals Internal Med. 441, 441 (2006). Ronald H. Gottlieb et al., The Prostate: Decreasing Cost-Effectiveness of Biopsy with Advancing Age, 31 Investigative Radiology 84 (1996). Murray D. Krahn et al., Screening for Prostate Cancer: A Decision Analytic View, 272 JAMA 773 (1994). Thompson et al., supra n. 4, at 1044. Catalona et al., supra n. 20, at 441. Id. at 441-42. Mark S. Litwin & David C. Miller, Treating Older Men with Prostate Cancer: Survival (or Selection) of the Fittest?, 296 JAMA 2733, 2734 (2006). See e.g. Elizabeth Arias, 54 Natl. Vital Statistics Reps. 1 (Apr. 19, 2006), www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_14.pdf. See John F. Kilner, The Ethical Legitimacy of Excluding the Elderly when Medical Resources Are Limited, in On Moral Medicine: Theological Perspectives in Medical Ethics 979 (Stephen E. Lammers & Allen Verhey eds., 2d ed., Eerdmans Publg. Co. 1998). Tom L. Beauchamp & James F. Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics 181-82 (5th ed., Oxford U. Press 2001).

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Union County Kentucky Semi Truck Wreck Injures One on Highway 60

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Driver Not Charged In Double Fatal Crash

A grand jury in Kentucky chose not to indict the driver of a car involved in a crash that killed two teens.

17 year-olds Marinda Perry and Kristi Blevins, both of Louisa, were killed in the accident in Lawrence County, KY back on April 25th. Kentucky State Police say their car was hit head on by a car driven by James C. Preece of Louisa.

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Survivor of Ky. Crash Sues Manufacturer

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The sole survivor from the airliner that crashed after taking off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport, killing 49 people, is suing the company that designed the runway and taxiway lights.

James Polehinke, the co-pilot of Comair Flight 5191, filed suit against AVCON Inc. on Friday, three days before Monday's first anniversary of the crash.

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Inside the brachial plexus injury case

Trial Magazine
Medical Negligence
May 2007 | Volume 43, Issue 5
Inside the brachial plexus injury case

Improper handling of shoulder dystocia during birth can result in permanent injury to the baby. Understanding why this complication occurs and what doctors should do about it will help you litigate these complex cases successfully.
Giles Manley
Because brachial plexus injuries (BPI) to an infant can result from breaches of the standard of care during childbirth, plaintiff lawyers pursuing medical negligence claims in birth injury cases need to know how BPI arise. Although most BPI are transient, resolving within six months, about 10 percent are permanent and devastating.

Such injuries are most often caused when a health care practitioner exerts excessive force during delivery in an inappropriate response to shoulder dystocia, which is a failure of the baby’s shoulders to readily follow his or her head during a vaginal delivery. Thus, the starting point of most BPI cases is determining the presence of shoulder dystocia and showing how its improper management causes BPI.

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that emanate from the upper spine and travel through the neck, shoulder, and arm to the hand. Damage to these nerves may cause simple loss of sensation over portions of the affected arm or complete paralysis of the affected arm, shoulder, and hand.

There are four types of brachial plexus injury, the most severe of which is avulsion, when the nerve roots are torn out of the spine. Rupture occurs when the nerve is torn but remains attached to the spine; neuroma, when the torn nerve heals improperly with formation of scar tissue; and neuropraxia, when the nerve is stretched but not torn.

Shoulder dystocia occurs either when the baby’s anterior shoulder is trapped behind the mother’s pubic bone (the most common presentation) or when the baby’s posterior shoulder becomes trapped in the hollow of the mother’s tailbone. To dislodge the baby’s shoulders, practitioners can use the following maneuvers, listed in order from most to least commonly used; each should be documented in the medical record, along with the outcomes:

McRoberts maneuver—the mother’s legs are hyperflexed back on her abdomen to increase the space between the pubic bone and sacrum, which should allow the baby’s shoulder to drop below the pubic bone.
Suprapubic pressure—the practitioner applies downward pressure at a 45-degree angle in an attempt to rotate and push the entrapped shoulder below the pubic bone. This is acceptable practice when performed low on a mother’s abdomen; fundal pressure, performed high up on the abdomen, is contraindicated.
Woods/Rubens maneuver—the practitioner places a hand internally against the baby’s anterior or posterior shoulder and rotates the baby.
Posterior arm sweep—the practitioner reaches in and pulls the baby’s posterior arm out and the shoulder after, thereby releasing the anterior shoulder.
Episiotomy. It is controversial whether this procedure helps or not.1
Zavenelli maneuver—a rarely used technique in which the practitioner pushes the baby’s head back into the vagina and performs an emergency cesarean section.
Symphysectomy—another rarely used technique in which the practitioner surgically divides the mother’s pubic bone in half to release the baby’s shoulder.
The standard of care requires the practitioner to know how each of these techniques is performed and when to use it. When shoulder dystocia occurs, the patient’s medical records should document exactly which maneuvers were used and the result.

Risk factors
A number of factors place a baby at risk of shoulder dystocia during labor and delivery:2

fetal macrosomia, or an excessively large baby
maternal diabetes, which may be preexisting or may be acquired during pregnancy
maternal obesity, determined by the mother’s body mass index
a history of prior vaginal deliveries
postterm gestation
history of delivery of a macrosomic infant
history of shoulder dystocia
induction of labor
precipitous second stage of labor, from full dilation (10 centimeters) to delivery, causing the baby’s shoulders to improperly rotate, fold inward, and become trapped behind the mother’s pubic bone
abnormalities of the active phase of labor, from 4 to 10 centimeters dilation, including failure to progress to full dilation and/or the administration of drugs to complete this phase
epidural anesthesia
use of forceps or vacuum extractor, in what is called operative vaginal delivery
A doctor’s duty is to look at the entire picture, explain the risk factors to the parents, and allow the parents to make an informed decision between a cesarean section and vaginal delivery. Usually, more than one of these risk factors is necessary to instigate the duty of informed consent. For instance, a history of prior vaginal deliveries is a very low risk factor and would not require informed consent on its own. However, combined with a macrosomic baby, the doctor’s duty to inform the patient of the risks would then arise.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that except for maternal diabetes and macrosomia, the predictive value of risk factors for shoulder dystocia is not high enough to be used in a clinical setting.3 However, documentation of prenatal risk factors can put a health care provider on notice of a potential problem.

If risk factors other than diabetes or macrosomia are present before the baby is born, evidence of this can be used at trial to show a doctor should have been prepared to encounter shoulder dystocia. Remember, it’s not that a doctor is obligated to order a cesarean or even recommend one in such instances; the obligation is to obtain informed consent from the parents about the implications of each procedure and to allow them to make the decision about how to proceed.

Fetal macrosomia is one of the most important risk factors. The fundal height (the distance from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus measured in centimeters) is recorded at each prenatal visit. The number of centimeters should correspond to the number of weeks of gestation (for example, 20 centimeters in the 20th week of pregnancy). A deviation greater than two centimeters requires further investigation to determine estimated fetal weight accurately.

At a minimum, this requires an ultrasound exam. If the mother weighs more than 200 pounds during her pregnancy, serial ultrasound exams should be carried out, as clinical estimates tend to be inaccurate.

However, ACOG focuses only on the estimated fetal weight. Indeed, its new guidelines say that, to avoid the risk of shoulder dystocia, practitioners should consider offering an elective cesarean section when the estimated fetal weight is 4,500 grams (9.9 pounds) in diabetic mothers and 5,000 grams (11 pounds) in nondiabetic mothers.4 Most practitioners will say that any estimated fetal weight below these limits does not meet ACOG criteria and thus does not warrant special consideration.

This reasoning is flawed because the estimated fetal weight determined by ultrasound at the end of pregnancy can be wrong by 10 percent or more.5 When the estimated fetal weight is within 10 percent of ACOG guidelines, the practitioner should have a discussion with the patient about the risks and benefits of cesarean section and vaginal delivery. To neglect to do so is failure to elicit informed consent.

ACOG ignores other sonographic measures that are highly predictive for macrosomia and shoulder dystocia. One study showed that a fetal abdominal circumference of more than 35 centimeters predicted macrosomia in 93 percent of cases.6 Another study demonstrated that a difference between fetal abdominal diameter and head diameter of 2.6 centimeters or more in diabetic mothers was highly predictive of shoulder dystocia.7

Look for these measurements in the prenatal ultrasound reports. Even though ACOG doesn’t acknowledge use of these markers, plaintiff lawyers can argue that the medical literature supports their use, and thus well-informed obstetricians should be aware of them.

Gestational diabetes (diabetes in pregnancy) is an equally important risk factor for shoulder dystocia, and all pregnant women should be tested for it. For women with normal prepregnancy weight, the test should be conducted between 24 and 28 weeks’ gestation; for women with a prepregnancy weight of more than 200 pounds, the test should be conducted in weeks 1 through 12.

Check these test results carefully for glucose intolerance. Although ACOG states that a result up to either 130 or 140 mg/dL on the gestational diabetes test is acceptable,8 10 percent fewer gestational diabetics will be diagnosed if the cutoff of 140 is used.9

Any result between 130 and 140 indicates sugar intolerance, a known risk factor for fetal macrosomia. In addition, results of the mother’s urine dipstick tests for glucose, recorded at each prenatal visit, may yield important clues, because the presence of glucose in urine indicates glucose intolerance.

Do not overlook the mother’s obstetrical history. Typically, subsequent children have a greater birth weight than their older siblings. Question the mother about the birth weights of all her children and ask whether any had difficult deliveries or suffered from BPI. The practitioner should also have elicited this information.

Dystocia diagnosis
In most cases involving severe brachial plexus injury, a shoulder dystocia diagnosis is easily found in the delivery record. For undocumented dystocias, careful analysis of the nursing and pediatric notes will usually provide important clues.

In the obstetrical team’s notes, which include the nurse’s and pediatric notes, look for any reference to “suprapubic pressure,” “hip flexion,” “McRoberts,” “fundal pressure,” or “traction.” These procedures are not routinely performed in an uncomplicated delivery and can indicate the presence of dystocia.

When obstetricians encounter shoulder dystocia, their first step is to call for help. This includes getting extra obstetrical nurses, residents, and the pediatric team, the latter of whom are rarely present at an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. (Typically, a normal delivery includes only one nurse or assistant besides the obstetrician.) Examine every note in the patient’s record for evidence of a difficult delivery; during discovery, elicit the reason for extra medical practitioners at the delivery.

Family members who were present during the delivery can also help determine whether shoulder dystocia occurred. Ask them detailed questions about what they remember, including how many nurses and other medical personnel were present and what they were doing.

Family members may be able to say whether the medical team pushed on the mother’s abdomen or pubic area and, if so, whether the pressure was exerted high on the abdomen or down low. They may also be able to remember how many people were holding the mother’s legs and in what position; how long the interval was between delivery of the baby’s head and that of the rest of the body; and whether traction was applied to the baby’s head.

The birth of a child is a monumental event in any family, and family members’ recollections of it are usually heightened. Most jurors will find this testimony extremely credible. Also ask family members whether they took videos or photographs during the delivery. These may be the best evidence in your case.

Physician-caused dystocia
When the baby’s shoulder becomes entrapped in the mother’s pelvis, it is usually because the baby is too large to pass through. However, the practitioner can also enhance entrapment by using forceps or a vacuum extractor.10 When the practitioner uses these tools, he or she accelerates the descent of the baby through the pelvis, preventing the normal folding and rotation of the shoulders and creating shoulder dystocia.

Whether the use of forceps or vacuum extraction is key to your case depends on the reason they were used. The delivery record or the delivery notes should list the reasons, which could include:

shortening the second stage of labor, usually for the practitioner’s own convenience
responding to fetal distress
arrest of the second stage of labor because the mother is unable to push the baby out—also called the baby’s “failure to descend”
relieving maternal exhaustion11
Of these, fetal distress is the only indication relatively immune to challenge in a BPI case, because the need to deliver the baby as soon as possible to avoid fetal brain damage or death outweighs any increased risk of shoulder dystocia caused by the use of forceps or vacuum extractor. Check the fetal monitor strips (produced by a machine that tracks the fetal heart rate during labor) to confirm the diagnosis of fetal distress. Once it is confirmed, you need to show that improper techniques were used to relieve the shoulder dystocia, causing BPI.

The defense will often claim that the reason a practitioner used forceps or vacuum extraction was arrest of the second stage of labor. In such a case, you must establish the baby’s “station”—or how far the baby’s head has descended in the pelvis (measured in centimeters, relative to the ischial spines of the pelvic wall)—before an instrument was used. Anything above a station of +2 is considered a mid-pelvic delivery, meaning the baby was too high in the birth canal for the use of forceps or a vacuum extractor.

Check the medical records to be sure the fetal station was correctly documented and at least 30 minutes passed with no change in the station. Be sure the station was +2 or greater, as anything less would not justify the use of instruments.

Be aware of recommended guidelines for the length of the second stage: A first-time mother, for instance, should push for at least two hours and no longer than three before failure to descend is diagnosed; a repeat mother should push at least one hour and no more than two before the diagnosis is made.12 When physical exhaustion is a factor and the mother is physically unable to push, it is important to establish how long she was in labor, how long she was pushing, and the time of day the delivery occurred (the mother is much more likely to be exhausted if the delivery time is early morning, after a night of labor, versus a late-afternoon birth after a daytime labor).

If the practitioner used forceps or a vacuum extractor, the medical record should indicate the number of pulls that were needed to deliver the head. Among other things, the number of pulls necessary to deliver the head is indicative of the size of the pelvis in relation to the size of the fetus. As the number of pulls increases, so does the time required for delivery—therefore, the risk of shoulder dystocia is increased.13

Also look in the record for any use of fundal pressure. When applied before delivery of the baby’s head, it can cause shoulder dystocia. When applied after dystocia is diagnosed, it worsens the impaction of the shoulder behind the pubic bone and is contraindicated.14 Use of fundal pressure requires nursing assistance and therefore makes the hospital a potential defendant.

Abnormalities in the first stage of labor, before full dilation and pushing, should put the health care provider on notice of possible problems.15 Once the mother is dilated four to five centimeters, the progression to full dilation should be roughly one centimeter per hour—slightly slower for first-time mothers and slightly faster for others.16 Any significant deviation from this or the need for drugs (most commonly Pitocin) during the active phase to intensify contractions should alert the practitioner to possible problems.

Using the literature
Support for both sides in BPI litigation can be found in the medical literature. Defendants often claim that these injuries are unrelated to, and independent of, shoulder dystocia, citing a 1998 study that concluded that 78 percent of permanent brachial plexus injuries did not involve shoulder dystocia.17 However, a 1992 study concluded that 100 percent of permanent BPI were a result of shoulder dystocia.18

More recently, after examining a large database, researchers concluded that “among permanent [brachial plexus palsies], the rate of shoulder dystocia in both our data sets exceeded 90 percent, confirming the near universal association found in most articles addressing the topic.”19 Regarding permanent BPI not associated with [shoulder dystocia], they noted that “the residual deficit is nearly always mild, whereas nerve root avulsions and/or complete brachial plexus impairment . . . occur almost exclusively with antecedent [shoulder dystocia].”20 This research is more than sufficient to show that BPI is more likely than not caused by improper management of shoulder dystocia.

In addition, look for inconsistencies in the medical literature. For example, one ACOG article states that the predictive value of most risk factors for dystocia is not high enough to be clinically significant, and therefore elective cesarean section should not be offered to mothers who have them. Later, the same article states that it is appropriate to offer women with a history of shoulder dystocia an elective cesarean.21 The studies these researchers cite show that other risk factors are just as reliable as a mother’s history of shoulder dystocia for predicting dystocia in a current delivery. If the defense uses this study, ask the defense expert why the study treats two similar classes of mothers differently.

Finally, even ACOG acknowledges the increased incidence of birth asphyxia in shoulder dystocia cases.22 The result of this asphyxia can range from learning disabilities to cerebral palsy with spastic quadriplegia. Many children with serious BPI will present with symptoms of asphyxia before they are a year old, although mild to moderate injuries may not be apparent until some time in the future.

In cases of asphyxia, the amount of time required to dislodge the shoulder and deliver the baby should be documented in the medical records, and an estimate should be solicited from the parents. The longer the baby is stuck, the more likely there will be some brain damage. Pay close attention to Apgar scores and initial descriptions of the baby for signs of depression (low Apgar scores, blue color, respiratory difficulties, floppy tone, need for resuscitation, and prolonged capillary refill). Also check to see if the umbilical cord pH was recorded and whether it shows metabolic acidosis, which is common with asphyxia at birth.

In addition, examine the nursery records. Seizures often will not be noted in the chart, although seizure-like activity will be. Search for documentation of eye deviation, tongue thrusting, lip smacking, jerky movements, and apneic and bradycardiac spells. Anything out of the ordinary can help establish a claim for asphyxial injury at birth.

Preparing for trial
Thoroughly investigate practitioners’ histories. Find out where they trained, how many babies they have delivered, how many times they’ve had to manage shoulder dystocia, how many years they are removed from training, whether they received training for dealing with shoulder dystocia, and how many of the babies they have delivered suffered BPI.

One study demonstrated that practitioners with less than four years of experience were more likely to have adverse outcomes in shoulder dystocia cases.23 It also showed that practitioners who mismanaged one case were likely to do so again, despite experience. Another study demonstrated the importance of training techniques: Practitioners who were trained on an obstetric birth simulator (an actual model of the female pelvis, complete with fetus) far outperformed those who received standard training (lectures and reading).24

If the health care provider recorded the maneuvers used to address the shoulder dystocia, determine how each was performed. Many practitioners perform them incorrectly. For instance, suprapubic pressure should not be applied at a 90-degree angle, which is what some practitioners do; the pressure should be applied at about 45 degrees, perpendicular and toward either pelvic sidewall, relative to the impacted shoulder.

Find out if any member of the mother’s prenatal health care team suspected that shoulder dystocia was possible. When the answer is no, proceed to list the risk factors you have been able to identify and ask them why they did not suspect dystocia.

When a practitioner says he or she did think dystocia was possible, ask what preparations were made before delivery. For instance, he or she should have obtained the patient’s informed consent about the risks of vaginal birth. Moreover, the practitioner should have made arrangements for extra personnel, including the pediatric team for possible resuscitation of the infant, to be present in the delivery room. When such preparations for the worst have not been made, a strong basis for liability exists.

Consider carefully the experts you need to call. At a minimum, you will need an obstetrician, an occupational therapist, and a rehabilitative specialist (to explain the child’s reduced earning capacity). If the child had an MRI or CT scan, a radiologist may be necessary, and if he or she has undergone surgery, a neurosurgeon can testify to the extent and mechanism of the injury. Finally, consider having a life-care planner and economist testify to damages.

Demonstrative evidence ensures the jury will understand the mechanics of the injury. Ideally, have a birth simulator available at trial. Have your expert obstetrician go through the maneuvers of an uncomplicated delivery and one involving shoulder dystocia. Show what the brachial plexus is and how it can be damaged during delivery.

Permanent BPI can be devastating to both the injured child and his or her family—but it is usually avoidable. Thorough preparation and investigation before litigation is the best hope for justice to prevail.

Giles Manley is both an obstetrician/gynecologist and a lawyer of counsel to the Baltimore office of Janet, Jenner & Suggs.


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Notes
See Robert J. Sokol et al., ACOG Practice Bull. No. 40: Shoulder Dystocia, 100 Obstetrics & Gynecology 1045, 1047 (2002) (replaces Practice Pattern No. 7, Oct. 1997).

Id. at 1046-47.

Id.

Id. at 1047.

William H. Barth Jr., ACOG Practice Bull. No. 22: Fetal Macrosomia, in ACOG 2007 Compendium of Selected Publications, vol. 2, at 578 (2007) (replaces Tech. Bull. No. 159, Sept. 1991).

Allahyar Jazayeri et al., Macrosomia Prediction Using Ultrasound Fetal Abdominal Circumference of 35 Centimeters or More, 93 Obstetrics & Gynecology 523, 524 tbl. 2 (1999).

Brian Cohen et al., Sonographic Prediction of Shoulder Dystocia in Infants of Diabetic Mothers, 88 Obstetrics & Gynecology 10 (1996).

Donald R. Coustan et al., ACOG Practice Bull. No. 30: Gestational Diabetes, 98 Obstetrics & Gynecology 525, 528 (2001) (replaces Tech. Bull. No. 200, Dec. 1994).

Id. at 528, 534.

Sokol et al., supra n. 1, at 1046.

Michael Belfort, ACOG Practice Bull. No. 17: Operative Vaginal Delivery, in ACOG 2007 Compendium of Selected Publications, vol. 2, 543, 544 (2007) (replaces Tech. Bull. No. 196, Aug. 1994).

Id.

Id. at 545.

Sokol et al., supra n. 1, at 1047.

See Ofer Gemer et al., Labor Abnormalities as a Risk Factor for Shoulder Dystocia, 78 Acta Obstetricia & Gynecologica Scandinavica 735 (1999).

See F. Gary Cunningham et al., Normal Labor and Delivery, in Williams Obstetrics 3, 422 (22d ed., McGraw-Hill 2005).

Robert B. Gherman et al., Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery: A Risk Factor for Erb’s Palsy?, 178 Am. J. Obstetrics & Gynecology 423, 426 tbl.V (1998) (citing M.G. Levine et al., Birth Trauma: Incidence and Predisposing Factors, 63 Obstetrics & Gynecology 792 (1984)).

John C. Morrison et al., The Diagnosis and Management of Dystocia of the Shoulder, 175 Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics 515, 517 (1992).

Edith D. Gurewitsch et al., Risk Factors for Brachial Plexus Injury with and without Shoulder Dystocia, 194 Am. J. Obstetrics & Gynecology 486, 489 (2006).

Id. at 490.

Sokol et al., supra n. 1, at 1047.

Id. at 1046.

David B. Acker et al., Risk Factors for Erb-Duchenne Palsy, 71 Obstetrics & Gynecology 389 (1988).

Shad Deering et al., Improving Resident Competency in the Management of Shoulder Dystocia with Simulation Training, 103 Obstetrics & Gynecology 1224 (2004).

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Comair Will Be the Liable Party in the Crash of Flight 5191

Read More About Comair Will Be the Liable Party in the Crash of Flight 5191...

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Tractor Trailer Accident Leaves Mother and Infant Son Dead

Woman and infant son killed by runaway vehicles

MANITOU, Ky. (AP) - State police say a truck and a trailer carrying a farm tractor rolled down a hill at the site of a driveway paving site in western Kentucky, striking and killing a woman and her ten-month-old son.

The incident at noon yesterday in the Manitou community of Hopkins County resulted in the deaths of 25-year-old Christy Caraway and her son, Landon Caraway. Hopkins County Coroner Dennis Mayfield says they died where they were struck, in the front yard of their home.

Four-year-old Alexis Caraway was taken to Bowling Green's Regional Medical Center where she was treated and released.


©2007 Associated Press.

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Chesley adding bus maker to crash lawsuit

Spending $3,000 on seat belts might have kept Cody Shively from sustaining a severe head injury that will cost far more in medical treatment.

That's the assessment of Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley, who says the school bus the 12-year-old was aboard when it crashed was unsafe. And he plans to hold accountable the bus manufacturer, Navistar International Transportation Corp.

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About Chesley adding bus maker to crash lawsuit...

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Board Says Pilots Were Responsible for 2006 Fatal Plane Crash in Kentucky

The pilots were primarily responsible for the crash of a regional jet last year that killed 49 people at a Kentucky airport because they failed to notice obvious signs that they were headed to the wrong runway, safety investigators concluded yesterday.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the pilots' errors and their failure to "cross check" that they were on the proper runway were the principal causes of the accident. The board also blamed "nonpertinent" chitchat between the pilots about colleagues' job prospects just before the crash.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Congress Passes Legislation Protecting Victims of Railroad Negligence

Congress Passes Legislation Protecting Victims of Railroad Negligence


AAJ Commends Decisive Congressional Action
July 27, 2007 (Washington, DC)—)— Jon Haber, CEO of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), issued this statement upon Congress’ successful passage of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.

“AAJ commends Congress for today passing a vital piece of legislation that guarantees access to justice for thousands of Americans injured by railroads’ negligence. In the past, railroad operators relied on outdated equipment which often failed, and then expected full immunity from accountability, even if they admitted to being at fault. Today’s actions in Congress guarantee a level playing field for Americans in our courts. This will allow the hundreds of Minot residents poisoned by a chlorine shipment’s derailment five years ago to finally pursue justice for the harm inflicted while they slept. We thank the Congress for their hard work to ensure true accountability across the board, without exceptions for insurance CEOs, industrial polluters or even railroad operators. AAJ will continue to press for access to the courts for all victims of negligence.”

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Kentucky Road Worker Struck by SUV Near Owensboro in Potential Wrongful Death Case

Road worker struck and killed by Missourian's SUV

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky road worker is dead after being struck by an S-U-V driven by a St. Louis-area teenager.

Twenty-two-year-old Julio Cesar Hernandez of Hopkinsville was working with a mowing crew in a median along a parkway in western Kentucky when he was struck yesterday.

Law officers say an S-U-V driven by 19-year-old Jessica Reyes of Troy drifted into the median and struck Hernandez. Investigators are atill trying to determine the cause of the accident.




©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Associated Press

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Driver In Kentucky Bus Crash is Cited with Traffic Citations

Bus driver cited for poor maintenance after church group crash

SMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) - The driver of a Tennessee bus that crashed on Interstate 65 in Kentucky has been issued four traffic citations.

Kentucky authorities cited Smyrna Motorcoach Services Incorporated driver John Pritchett with driving on two faulty brakes, failing to carry required driver's reports, missing a required annual inspection and having a medical restriction that didn't allow him to drive outside the Nashville school district.

Pritchett was driving the bus carrying 40 children on July ninth from the First Baptist Church in the Nashville suburb of Smyrna to a church camp in Georgetown, Kentucky. It crashed into a tractor trailer and car 13 miles north of the Tennessee border.

None of the children was seriously hurt, and the group continued on to the week-long camp at Georgetown College.

Smyrna Motorcoach Services owner Eugene Mullins said the charter bus was safe to operate, despite problems with keeping up with paperwork.


Source: Associated Press

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Teen Injured in Louisville Six Flags Amusement Park is Released From Hospital

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Louisville teenager has been released from a Tennessee hospital, three weeks after her feet were cut off in an amusement park accident.

Kaitlyn Lasitter, 13, was discharged this weekend from Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., the hospital said in a written statement.

"With her discharge from the hospital, Kaitlyn has completed only the first step in her long journey toward recovery," said Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesman John Howser. "Kaitlyn and her parents are still facing many challenges ahead."

Doctors at the hospital reattached Lasitter's right foot, according to a family statement released earlier this month. Doctors were unable to save her left foot.

Lasitter was injured June 21, when a cable broke on the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.


©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Associated Press

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Speed Limit to Increase to 70 MPH on Kentucky Highways and Interstates

Kentucky speed limit to increase Tuesday

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Crews will begin tomorrow putting up 70 mph speed limit signs on most rural interstate highways and parkways.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Miranda Thacker says the plan is to change all the signs in one day.

The General Assembly approved the higher speed limit in March, but delayed its implementation until highway engineers completed studies to identify stretches where increased speeds would be safe. The speed limit won't increase on urban stretches of interstate highways.

Source: AP

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Comair Families Want to be Included in Flight 5191 Memorial in Kentucky

Families of Comair crash victims hope to be involved in memorial

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - The families of the victims of Comair Flight 51-91 say they're worried about how much they'll be involved in planning a memorial to honor their loved ones.

Forty-nine people died when the plan crashed shortly after take-off at Blue Grass Airport last August. Work on a permanent memorial is expected to begin next week. But the memorial commission does not include any family members.

Sarah King Fortney lost her husband C-W Fortney in the crash. She says she is worried the family members won't have a voice in how the memorial is prepared.

Commission member Ray Garman says there are no family members on the commission because it would have been difficult to choose which members would be on the board.

Garman said family members will be allowed to attend all commission meetings and that there will be at least one meeting set aside to gather input from the families.

Source:

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Dry Cleaner Wins in $54 Million Suit for Pants

Dry cleaner wins in $54 million suit for pants
Judge rules plaintiff must pay court costs

View the video here.

Updated: 1:35 p.m. CT June 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - A judge ruled Monday in favor of a dry cleaner that was sued for $54 million over a missing pair of pants.

The owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the city's Consumer Protection Act by failing to live up to Roy L. Pearson's expectations of the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign once displayed in the store window, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled.

Bartnoff ordered Pearson to pay the court costs of defendants Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Y. Chung.

Pearson, an administrative law judge, originally sought $67 million from the Chungs, claiming they lost a pair of suit trousers and later tried to give him a pair that he said was not his. He arrived at the amount by adding up years of alleged law violations and almost $2 million in common law claims.

Pearson later dropped demands for damages related to the pants and focused his claims on signs in the shop, which have since been removed.

Chris Manning, the Chungs' attorney, argued that no reasonable person would interpret the signs to mean an unconditional promise of satisfaction.

The Chungs said the trial had taken an enormous financial and emotional toll on them and exposed them to widespread ridicule.

The two-day trial earlier this month drew a standing-room-only crowd and overshadowed the drunken driving trial of former Mayor Marion Barry.


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© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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13 Year Old Girl Loses Feet in Amusement Park Accident

A 13-year old girl visiting Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville lost both of her feet when a ride malfunctioned Thursday afternoon.

The accident happened on the Superman Tower of Wower, formerly known as the "Hell-a-vator."

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About 13 Year Old Girl Loses Feet in Amusement Park Accident...

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Bus Crash Leaves One Dead and At Least 66 Injured

Bus Crash Leaves One Dead And At Least 66 Injured

View the news video here.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - A bus crashed on Interstate 65 in southern Kentucky early today, killing one person and injuring 66 others.

Director Randy Fathbruckner of emergency medical services at The Medical Center in Bowling Green says four of the injured are in critical condition.

The crash happened about 3:20 a.m. CDT. Hours later, children's luggage could be seen scattered around the bus, which was crushed in the front against a concrete overpass abutment.

Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby pronounced one person dead at the scene near the 42 mile marker, about 75 miles north of Nashville.

The injured were taken to various hospitals. Two adults and two children were flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Fathbruckner described 52 of the injuries as urgent and ten as minor.

The C-&-R Tours bus had been rented by a family returning to Alabama from a reunion in Buffalo, New York.


©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Associated Press

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Six Dead After Car Show Accident

Six Dead After Car Show Accident

It began as an evening of fun times and fast cars all to help raise money for a good cause.
But the 'Cars for Kids' event in Selmer, Tennessee abruptly ended in tragedy Saturday. It was a display of speed and power, all in the name of charity that went horribly wrong.

A drag-racing car, performing a stunt designed to make its tires smoke went out of control and careened into a crowd of spectators saturday night in Selmer.

Witness Kyley Jones says "probably around ten people laying on the ground, only a few of them moving, one in particular I saw was a real pretty girl, blonde-headed girl, who was kinda twisted up."

At this point, six people have died from their injuries in the wreck, several others were injured.

Witnesses say the force of the car's impact was devastating.

One witness says "it took out bunches of people, sent them flying everywhere. There were just people all over the ground injured, there was a couple of them dead. It was just chaos."

The accident happened at a 'Cars for Kids' charity event which was organized to raise money for injured children in need.

Organizers closed the festival after the accident and issued a statement on the organizations web site saying the loss "is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever."

Now, an array of candles and flowers mark the site of tragedy, as investigators try to figure out exactly what caused it.

You may view video footage here, and here.

Copyright 2007 WPSD-TV, LLC

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Follow up to Judge's 65 Million lawsuit over a lost pair of pants

Pants plaintiff: Customer always right
By LUBNA TAKRURI
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The customer is always right, said a judge who testified Wednesday in his $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner who lost his pants. Administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson argued that he is acting in the interest of all city residents against poor business practices. Attorneys for the dry cleaner call his claim "outlandish."

The attorneys delivered closing arguments Wednesday, and Judge Judith Bartnoff said she would rule by the end of next week.

Under cross-examination, Pearson said the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Act, under which he is suing Custom Cleaners, should grant a customer whatever he or she wants if there is a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign.

Pearson, 57, originally sued Custom Cleaners for about $65 million by adding up violations under the act and almost $2 million in common law claims. He is no longer seeking damages related to the pants, focusing his claims on two signs in the shop that have since been removed.

Bartnoff ruled Wednesday that the "Same Day Service" sign was no longer to be considered, leaving "Satisfaction Guaranteed" the only issue in question.

Defense attorney Chris Manning asked Pearson repeatedly whether, if he was a merchant, he would pay any customer who asked for compensation. Pearson kept responding with convoluted legal language, and each time Judge Judith Bartnoff instructed him to answer the question. Finally, he said, "Yes."

Pearson alleges that Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki Chung, owners of the small business, committed fraud and misled consumers because they put up the signs but did not meet the satisfaction of several customers, including him.

Defense attorney Chris Manning portrayed Pearson as a bitter man with financial troubles stemming from a recent divorce who is taking out his anger on a hardworking family.

Manning went into the details of Pearson's divorce on Wednesday. Under questioning, Pearson confirmed he had only $1,000 to $2,000 to his name when his problems with the dry cleaners started. Pearson said he did not have a job at the time and was collecting unemployment benefits.

Pearson says his problems with Custom Cleaners began in May 2005 when he brought in several suits for alterations. A pair of pants from a blue and maroon suit was missing when he requested it two days later. The Chungs say they found the pants soon after and tried to give them to Pearson, but Pearson insists those are not his. The charcoal-gray, cuffed pants are now evidence.

"I haven't worn pants with cuffs since the 1970s," Pearson said. He also submitted into evidence a photograph of every pair of pants in his home to show that he does not like pants with cuffs.

Pearson said that he wants only $2 million in damages for himself - for his mental anguish and inconvenience - plus $500,000 in attorney's fees for representing himself. Anything more that Bartnoff might award him would go into a fund "to educate people of their rights under the Consumer Protection Act," he said.

After closing arguments, Bartnoff said she was taking the issues in the case seriously.

"I do think that this is a very important statute to protect to consumers, and I also think it's important that statutes like this are not misused," she said.

The courtroom was standing-room only for both days of the trial, with many Korean and international media outlets covering the story.

Check out video coverage here.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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LA Hospital Death Under Investigation

LA hospital death under investigation
May 15, 2007

LOS ANGELES --Relatives of a 43-year-old woman say hospital workers did nothing as she writhed in pain on the emergency room floor, and that officers who were asked to help arrested her on a parole violation instead.

The woman became unresponsive as police carted her away in a wheelchair and died.

County and state authorities are now investigating the May 8 death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, formerly called King/Drew, where several patients have died under questionable circumstances since 2003.

Recent scandals have caused the hospital to lose its national accreditation and federal funding, close its trauma center and shut its programs to train aspiring physician specialists.

Rodriguez had been prescribed pain medication for intense abdominal pain and released, but she remained on the benches outside the hospital, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Her boyfriend, Jose Prado, arrived later to find Rodriguez on the floor of the emergency room lobby writhing in pain, relatives said. He asked hospital staff for help, relatives said, then called 911 from a pay phone.

Hospital video cameras captured some of the incident, the newspaper reported.

"Nobody wanted to help him," said Rodriguez' sister, Marcela Sanchez. "When he tapped on the windows to tell the nurses that she needed help and that she was on the floor, they didn't want to pay attention to him."

Prado said he told hospital security officers she needed help, but police instead took Rodriguez into custody after a computer search showed an outstanding arrest warrant for a parole violation. She became unresponsive as officers pushed her out of the hospital in a wheelchair, he said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which operates the hospital, said it was unable to immediately comment on the death.

"It was an unexpected death ... We're waiting for the facts to be revealed," spokesman Michael Wilson said Tuesday. He said the videotape could not be made public because of patient privacy laws.

Sheriff's Capt. Ray Peavy said sheriff's homicide detectives attended Rodriguez's autopsy over the weekend; as a matter of policy, the department investigates any in-custody death. The state Department of Health Services is also investigating.

Craig Harvey, coroner's office chief of investigations, said the initial report to his agency said a woman walked into the emergency room, collapsed and died. Only days later did the coroner learn Rodriguez was in custody. Results from her autopsy were pending.

The coroner's office described Rodriguez as a transient with a history of illicit drug use. Her family said she was trying to put her life together.

In the days leading to her death, Rodriguez was treated several times for severe abdominal pain and released, the Times reported.

© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Woman Dies in ER Lobby as 911 Refuses to Help

Woman dies in ER lobby as 911 refuses to help
Tapes show operators ignored pleas to send ambulance to L.A. hospital

Be sure to check out the video here.

LOS ANGELES - A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9 at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Relatives said Rodriguez was bleeding from the mouth and writhing in pain for 45 minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could have survived had she been treated early enough.

County and state authorities are now investigating Rodriguez’s death. Relatives reported she died as police were wheeling her out of the hospital after the officers they had asked to help Rodriguez arrested her instead on a parole violation. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Duane Allen said Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.

In the recordings of two 911 calls that day, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times under a California Public Records Act request, callers pleaded for help for Rodriguez but were referred to hospital staff instead.

“I’m in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don’t want to help her out,” Rodriguez’s boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

“What’s wrong with her?” a female dispatcher asked.

“She’s vomiting blood,” Prado said.

“OK, and why aren’t they helping her?” the dispatcher asked.

‘They’re just watching her’
“They’re watching her there and they’re not doing anything. They’re just watching her,” Prado said.

The dispatcher told Prado to contact a doctor and then said paramedics wouldn’t pick her up because she was already in a hospital. She later told him to contact county police officers at a security desk.

A second 911 call was placed eight minutes later by a bystander who requested that an ambulance be sent to take Rodriguez to another hospital for care.

“She’s definitely sick and there’s a guy that’s ignoring her,” the woman told a male dispatcher.

During the call, the dispatcher argued with the woman over whether there really was an emergency.

“I cannot do anything for you for the quality of the hospital. ... It is not an emergency. It is not an emergency ma’am,” he said.

“You’re not here to see how they’re treating her,” the woman replied.

The dispatcher refused to call paramedics and told the woman that she should contact hospital supervisors “and let them know” if she is unhappy.

‘May God strike you too’
“May God strike you too for acting the way you just acted,” the woman said finally.

“No, negative ma’am, you’re the one,” he said.

The incident was the latest high-profile lapse at King-Harbor, formerly known as King/Drew. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is investigating claims of recent patient care breakdowns, including Rodriguez’s case.

Federal inspectors last week said emergency room patients were in “immediate jeopardy” of harm or death, and King-Harbor was given 23 days to shape up or risk losing federal funding.

‘Fundamentally a failure of caring’
Dr. Bruce Chernof, director of the county Department of Health Services, which oversees the facility, has called Rodriguez’s death “inexcusable” and said it was “important to understand that this was fundamentally a failure of caring.” He has said conditions are improving, though.

A call Wednesday seeking comment about the 911 tapes from the department’s communications office, which handles information about the hospital, was not immediately returned.

Dr. Roger Peeks, the chief medical officer at the hospital, was placed on “ordered absence” Monday, the Times reported. Health officials declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel matter. Dr. Robert Splawn, chief medical officer for the health department, was named interim chief medical officer, the newspaper said.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

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Kentucky ATV deaths on rise despite safety efforts

The death of a 6-year-old Park Hills girl in an all-terrain vehicle accident over Memorial Day weekend is part of a disturbing rise in ATV-related fatalities in Kentucky.

The spike in fatalities has made the state the leader in fatal ATV accidents despite stricter laws and calls for safer riding.

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Traffic Accident Leads to Drug Arrest

Kentucky State Police have arrested a man after finding him walking away from a car crash.

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Judge sues for 65 million over pants?

Judge: Cleaner owes me $65 million for pants
2 years of litigation x 1 pair of trousers = headaches for family business

WASHINGTON - The Chungs, immigrants from South Korea, realized their American dream when they opened their dry-cleaning business seven years ago in the nation's capital.

For the past two years, however, they've been dealing with the nightmare of litigation: a $65 million lawsuit over a pair of missing pants.

Jin Nam Chung, Ki Chung and their son, Soo Chung, are so disheartened that they're considering moving back to Seoul, said their attorney, Chris Manning, who spoke on their behalf.

They're out a lot of money, but more importantly, incredibly disenchanted with the system," Manning said. "This has destroyed their lives."

The lawsuit was filed by a District of Columbia administrative hearings judge, Roy Pearson, who has been representing himself in the case.

Pearson said he could not comment on the case.

According to court documents, the problem began in May 2005 when Pearson became a judge and brought several suits for alteration to Custom Cleaners in Northeast Washington, a place he patronized regularly despite previous disagreements with the Chungs. A pair of pants from one suit was not ready when he requested it two days later, and was deemed to be missing.

Pearson asked the cleaners for the full price of the suit: more than $1,000.

But a week later, the Chungs said the pants had been found and refused to pay. That's when Pearson decided to sue.

Three settlement offers
Manning said the cleaners made three settlement offers to Pearson. First they offered $3,000, then $4,600, then $12,000. But Pearson wasn't satisfied and expanded his calculations beyond one pair of pants.

Because Pearson no longer wanted to use his neighborhood dry cleaner, part of his lawsuit calls for $15,000 — the price to rent a car every weekend for 10 years to go to another business.

"He's somehow purporting that he has a constitutional right to a dry cleaner within four blocks of his apartment," Manning said.

But the bulk of the $65 million comes from Pearson's strict interpretation of D.C.'s consumer protection law, which fines violators $1,500 per violation, per day. According to court papers, Pearson added up 12 violations over 1,200 days, and then multiplied that by three defendants.

Much of Pearson's case rests on two signs that Custom Cleaners once had on its walls: "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service."

Judge alleges fraud
Based on Pearson's dissatisfaction and the delay in getting back the pants, he claims the signs amount to fraud.

Pearson has appointed himself to represent all customers affected by such signs, though D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz, who will hear the June 11 trial, has said that this is a case about one plaintiff, and one pair of pants.

Sherman Joyce, president of the American Tort Association, has written a letter to the group of men who will decide this week whether to renew Pearson's 10-year appointment. Joyce is asking them to reconsider.

Chief Administrative Judge Tyrone Butler had no comment regarding Pearson's reappointment.

The association, which tries to police the kind of abusive lawsuits that hurt small businesses, also has offered to buy Pearson the suit of his choice.

Support for the defendants
And former National Labor Relations Board chief administrative law judge Melvin Welles wrote to The Washington Post to urge "any bar to which Mr. Pearson belongs to immediately disbar him and the District to remove him from his position as an administrative law judge."

"There has been a significant groundswell of support for the Chungs," said Manning, adding that plans for a defense fund Web site are in the works.

To the Chungs and their attorney, one of the most frustrating aspects of the case is their claim that Pearson's gray pants were found a week after Pearson dropped them off in 2005. They've been hanging in Manning's office for more than a year.

Pearson claims in court documents that his pants had blue and red pinstripes.

"They match his inseam measurements. The ticket on the pants match his receipt," Manning said.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Nursing Home Cited for Death

Nursing home cited for death
Report: Resident was dehydrated
By Peggy Kreimer
Kentucky Post staff reporter
The state has issued a second Type A citation to Baptist Convalescent Center in Newport after a resident who had become dehydrated at the nursing home died of renal failure on April 8, two days after being hospitalized.
The citation, the most serious type the state employs, was issued April 26. It charges that Baptist Convalescent Center put the resident's life in immediate jeopardy when it failed to monitor fluid intake and failed to assure lab tests were conducted in March.
According to the citation, the Baptist Convalescent Center's medical director admitted the facility "dropped the ball" in letting the resident become dehydrated.
It was the second Type A citation this year for the nursing home. The first was issued on March 16, after a resident went four days without food or water because no one noticed that his feeding tube bottle needed changing.
That incident prompted an investigation and a 220-page report of deficiencies that documented widespread problems with record keeping, training, assessments, monitoring, and resident care.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services levied heavy fines on the center and threatened to cut off funding, standard procedure whenever residents are deemed in immediate jeopardy. A state survey team ruled in early April that the immediate jeopardy had abated, and the funding has continued as the nursing center works to correct the deficiencies.
The April 26 citation says the resident's medical record showed no lab tests were done in March and that two staff members responsible for the testing said they did not realize that.
The resident's lab tests were needed to adjust medication levels including Coumadin, a blood thinner. The resident was admitted to the hospital with Coumadin toxicity, as well as acute renal failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Baptist CEO Robert Long said he plans to appeal the citation, but acknowledged that there were failures in the home's system of care.
"Everybody was looking at the records and somehow this record somebody didn't look at," said Long.
He said the nursing home wants to more closely review all factors that might have contributed to the death.
"This individual died after a hospital stay. We don't know what all contributed to that," he said.
The incident happened while state surveyors were in the nursing center determining whether the facility had corrected conditions that led to the first citation and had jeopardized the health and safety of residents.
The survey team determined on April 5 that the nursing home had addressed any immediate jeopardy to residents. The next day the resident who later died was sent to the hospital.
The federal deadline to abate jeopardy or lose funding was April 8.
Acting State Inspector General Steve Davis said the latest citation and its accompanying inspection shows the problem was an isolated incident rather than something affecting large numbers of residents.
"I have no question that the facility did remove their initial jeopardy. They changed their approach," Davis said. "This puts them right back in jeopardy but the good news, if there is any, is their allegation (plan) of corrections won't be widespread."
To address the earlier citation, Long dismissed the nursing center's administrator, its nursing director, and other staff, brought in new people and revised procedures and policies.
Davis said the problems outlined in the original 220 page report showed widespread system failures that resulted in serious problems for residents, including cases of dehydration, unnoticed and untreated bedsores, physicians' orders not being followed and physicians not being notified promptly of changes in residents' conditions.
Baptist has not been accepting new residents while it works on correcting the deficiencies in the initial report. Long said he hopes to have those corrections complete and approved by the end of this month. The new declaration of jeopardy means he has until May 19 to show that residents are not in immediate danger, or face termination of funding.
Davis said he plans to send the statement of deficiencies from the latest investigation to the nursing home today .
"They've already started working on their allegation of correction to remove the jeopardy," Davis said.
Lee Millman, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the federal office was alerted to the citation but had not received the inspection report. "We are waiting for information from the state," she said. "It will be reviewed and we will take appropriate enforcement measures."
As a matter of procedure, the declaration of jeopardy triggers a 23-day termination path, setting a deadline for lifting the jeopardy.
"This incident was narrow in focus and the deficiency report did not show widespread impact," Davis said. He said after the immediate jeopardy is lifted, the facility will have until Sept. 16 to show that all deficiencies in both inspection reports have been corrected.
The state conducts regular surveys every 12 to 18 months and also investigates complaints. Each survey or investigation results in a report of deficiencies, outlining incidents where the care or procedures do not meet the state standards and regulations. Facilities must submit plans to correct each deficiency and state surveyors then check to make sure the plan of correction has been implemented.
The state surveyors also report their findings to the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which can impose fines and - in serious cases - terminate Medicare and Medicaid funding.
In 2006, Lakeside Heights Nursing Center in Highland Heights closed after losing its Medicaid and Medicare funding.

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Police: DUI crash claims lives of twins

An Illinois man faces two murder charges after a horrible accident the morning after the Kentucky Derby.

Brian Daviston is charged with killing twin Louisville brothers after he was driving the wrong way on the interstate -- police say he was drunk.

Metro Police still don't know how Daviston got on Interstate 64 going the wrong way early Sunday morning, crashing into a car with twin brothers inside

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"People Simply Die For Lack of Healthcare

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Kevil Kentucky Woman Dies in Crash in McCracken County

Kevil woman dies from injuries in McCracken wreck

A Kevil woman died from injuries received in this wreck at Metropolis Lake Road and Ky. 3520 (Old Highway 60) in Future City on Monday.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A 68-year-old Kevil resident died Monday in an auto accident in Future City, just west of Paducah.

Treva Courter, driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup, turned north out of the Food World parking lot onto Metropolis Lake Road and stopped at the intersection of Old Highway 60, also called Ky. 3520.

This intersection has been a four-way stop for several years, the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office said.

Buster Perry, 63, of Paducah was driving east on Old Highway 60 in a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban toward the intersection of Metropolis Lake Road.

Perry told Deputy Chad Shaw it had been some years since he had driven in the area, and he was unaware the intersection had changed to a four-way stop.

Before the new U.S. 60 opened, only traffic on Metropolis Lake Road had to stop.

Perry told the deputy he ran the stop sign and barely had time to brake before he hit Courter’s vehicle in the driver’s side.

Courter was not wearing a seatbelt, according to bystanders who rendered aid.

Perry was wearing a seatbelt and his airbag deployed. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to Western Baptist Hospital.

No charges had been filed.

The sheriff’s office and Coroner Dan Sims continue to investigate.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Barlow Kentucky Man Dies in a Car/Scooter Wreck in Ballard County

Barlow scooter rider killed in collision
Dave Piper was riding west on Oscar Road and was hit from behind by a car near Monroe Drive.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

BARLOW, Ky. — A Barlow man was killed Thursday night when the electric scooter he was riding was hit by a car, authorities said.

Ballard County Sheriff Todd Cooper said Dave Piper, 24, was killed when he and the scooter he was riding west on Oscar Road was hit from behind by a car near the intersection of Monroe Drive.

Ballard County Coroner Bob Morrow pronounced Piper dead there at 8:43 p.m. (Obituary, 8A)

Cooper, who did not have the report, said the driver of the car that struck the scooter and rider was a Benton woman who also was injured.

No further information on her condition was available Friday night.

She was cited for expired driver’s license and vehicle registration, Cooper said.

The Ballard County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Indiana Man Dies in Kentucky Boat Crash

Indiana boater dies after crash
Lloy Burns of Evansville was practicing runs in his speedboat at Pisgah Bay on Kentucky Lake.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

GRAND RIVERS, Ky. — An Indiana man died after the morning crash of a speedboat on Kentucky Lake’s Pisgah Bay south of here Saturday.

Witnesses said Lloy Burns, 68, of Evansville was practicing runs in an outboard engine-powered drag racing boat on the bay ringed by Land Between the Lakes shore when the craft went airborne at high speed.

The boat reportedly flipped, came back to the surface and largely disintegrated from the impact with the water. At some point Burns, the driver and owner of the boat, was ejected and thrown into the water.

Benton fisherman Danny York reportedly was the first to reach the injured driver, who was unconscious but kept afloat by life jacket. York pulled Burns aboard his bass boat and was joined by John Parks of Paducah, a Lone Oak police officer with emergency medical training.

York and Parks reportedly brought Burns to shore at a nearby LBL lake access, where he was tended to before a Lyon County ambulance arrived.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Conservation Officer Lee Cope, who investigated the lone boat accident, said the driver was taken by ambulance to an open area near the scene in the LBL and then flown to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. A report from the hospital later indicated that Burns died, Cope said.

The boat sank at the site of the accident.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Marshall County Nursing Home Plans Changes

Jones: Nursing home plans corrections

Administrator says Calvert facility expects to keep Medicare, Medicaid funding in wake of resident’s death.
Friday, April 27, 2007

CALVERT CITY, Ky. — Calvert City Convalescent Center has received tentative regulatory approval for a compliance plan that would keep it from losing Medicare and Medicaid funding because of the March 15 accidental death of an elderly resident, Administrator Lynn Jones says.

“We have provided a plan of corrective action and received verbal acceptance from the state today,” he said Thursday afternoon.

Jones said Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services investigators will follow up with written confirmation before making an unannounced inspection to substantiate the changes. Cabinet spokeswoman Janis Stewart had no information on the status of compliance, but did say the nursing home was required to immediately respond because of the seriousness of the citation.

Jones said the compliance plan was submitted the same day the nursing home received a statement of deficiencies.

An April 13 citation said the woman — whose name was deleted because of federal privacy laws — was found dead sitting on the floor with her head wedged between the siderail and mattress of her bed. It said the nursing home’s failure to guard against the accident placed the woman “in imminent danger and substantial risk of death.”

It also said the facility did not ensure that each resident received “the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being.”

Jones said changes have been made in policies, procedures and documentation as a result of the citation but declined to specify them. He also said “appropriate” action has been taken against some employees involved, but he would not elaborate.

According to the citation, a nurse’s aide found the woman dead at 11:05 p.m. and immediately sought help from nurses. However, a registered nurse notified the nursing home doctor by fax instead of calling him. A licensed practical nurse warned of not saying anything because it would get the staff into trouble.

“The policy and procedure has always been to contact the doctor verbally and in person, but that wasn’t followed, and for us that’s a serious issue,” Jones said. “We don’t like the fact that it wasn’t followed. That’s a part of good care.”

The registered nurse told investigators she didn’t tell Jones or the director of nursing until the next morning “because she did not want to wake them up,” the citation said.

Jones said he should have been called that night. “I’m in this facility at all hours. I live two blocks away. I don’t mind being awakened.”

The citation said Jones told inspectors that he followed up the next day and “found no need to contact any outside agencies, coroner or police.” During an interview, Jones said he believes he acted appropriately “given the information I had that day at that time and the next couple of days.”

Investigators said the patient “was at risk for the use of siderails due to involuntary movement of her lower extremeties, use of an air mattress and elevation of the head of her bed at 30 to 45 degrees.” She also was known to slide down in her bed.

Jones said the upper part of her bed was inclined to help her breathe.

“When you wiggle in bed you do slide down,” he said. “That evening staff were in to see her on the hour, repeatedly checking on her to be sure she was OK. She wasn’t ignored.”

Jones said the death deeply hurt the staff and is regrettable.

“We’ve been here 35 years and have provided quality care for residents. These people are in our hearts, and we love to take care of them,” he said. “Anytime we have someone die, it hurts us all because they’re a part of our family.”

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which reimburse nursing homes for qualifying elderly and/or low-income residents, gave notice Wednesday that payments to the Calvert City center will stop May 3. Spokeswoman Lee Milman said the termination could be lifted if the deficiencies are corrected. If not, the federal government will provide relocation funds for another 30 days.

“We never intended not to have Medicare-Medicaid reimbursements,” Jones said. “Our goal always is to comply with the regulations, and if we’re out of compliance we’re going to fix the problem.”

He said the nursing home is reimbursed for 70 to 75 percent of its 95 residents.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Marshall County Kentucky Nursing Home Faces Wrongful Death Suit

Marshall nursing home cited in death
The Calvert City facility was cited for failing to guard against the March accident and did not ensure the resident received the highest 'practicable' well-being.
Western Ky. Nursing Home cited after death

Thursday, April 26, 2007

CALVERT CITY, Ky. — Calvert City Convalescent Center could lose its Medicare and Medicaid funding because an elderly resident was found dead March 15 sitting on the floor with her head wedged between the siderail and mattress of her bed.

An April 13 citation from the Kentucky Division of Health Care Facilities and Services’ Western Enforcement Branch says failure to guard against the accident placed the woman “in imminent danger and substantial risk of death.” It also says the facility did not ensure that each resident received “the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being.”

Cabinet spokeswoman Janis Stewart said Wednesday that a nursing home has 10 days after being cited to provide a corrective plan. If the plan is accepted, inspectors make an unannounced visit to see that the corrections have been made. If not, the nursing home is asked to resubmit the plan.

Stewart said she was not immediately aware if the nursing home had addressed the problems cited. Repeated attempts to reach nursing home Administrator Lynn Jones by phone Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Cabinet investigators work in concert with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Atlanta office, which reimburses Kentucky nursing homes for qualifying elderly and/or low-income residents. Jones has said previously that 85 percent of the revenue of his nonprofit nursing home came from Medicare and Medicaid.

The federal agency gave notice Wednesday that payments to the Calvert City center will stop May 3. Spokeswoman Lee Milman said the termination could be lifted if the deficiencies are corrected. If not, the federal government will provide relocation funds for another 30 days. Civil penalties for each day’s violation also are possible, Milman said.

According to the citation, a nurse’s aide found the woman dead at 11:05 p.m. and immediately sought help from nurses. However, a registered nurse notified the nursing home doctor by fax instead of calling him. She didn’t tell Jones or the director of nursing until the next morning “because she did not want to wake them up,” according to her statement to state investigators. She further admitted forgetting “to enter pertinent information in the record.”

The citation also says:

 The woman “was at risk for the use of siderails due to involuntary movement of her lower extremeties, use of an air mattress and elevation of the head of her bed at 30 to 45 degrees.” She also was known to slide down in her bed. Her head was hyperextended and her chin was draped over the middle rung of the rail, causing the aide to have to forcibly remove it.

 A Feb. 19 assessment — less than a month before her death — indicated the patient had impaired cognitive skills and memory, was at high risk of falls and required staff help to move in bed. On March 8, after the woman was readmitted to the nursing home after a hospital stay, the center assessed “the benefits and risks” of using siderails. But the investigation revealed the nursing home “failed to thoroughly review all known risk factors.”

 The aide, RN and a licensed practical nurse all told investigators that a second LPN warned them not to mention the incident because they might get into trouble.

 The unidentified nursing home physician said he was never personally notified of the death by a staffer. Had he been called that night, he would have been obligated to call the coroner, he said. Coroner Mitchell Lee said Wednesday that he was not consulted about the death and didn’t know the woman’s name.

 Jones told investigators that he investigated “and found no need to contact any outside agencies, coroner or police.” He said the nursing home had no policy on when staff should alert the coroner.

The woman’s name was deleted from the citation because of federal privacy laws, Stewart said.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Lawmaker's Son Sentenced in Drunk Driving Accident

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) -- The son of a state lawmaker convicted of killing a 62-year-old pedestrian while driving drunk in 2005 was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison. Harrison Yonts—whose father, Brent Yonts, is a state representative from western Kentucky—will have to serve 17 years before he is eligible for parole, according to state law.

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Student to Change Plea in DUI Death of School Mate

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Gubernatorial Candidate Henry Sued for Medical Malpractice

FRANKFORT --A 22-year-old woman is alleging in a lawsuit that she had to receive a new hip after surgeons, including Democratic candidate for governor Steve Henry, damaged the bone during an operation and failed to check X-rays later that would have revealed their mistake.

Amie Fuchs, of Finchville in Shelby County, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Henry, an orthopedic surgeon, and two other surgeons, the University of Louisville Medical School Practice Association and University Orthopaedic Associates Inc. in Jefferson Circuit Court.

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Defects found in 170 CSX rail cars

The Federal Railroad Administration found defects in about 170 CSX railroad cars at the company's Baldwin Yard in Jacksonville during a focused inspection that began last week.

The cars, many of which are used to carry phosphate from the Bone Valley mining area near Tampa, were pulled from service to be fixed, disrupting shipments over the past few days, according to some local customers.

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Patient Safety System Tracks Hospital Errors in Attempt to Avoid Medical Malpractice

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Medical facilities list 77 errors
Bedsores reported most frequently

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels urged Hoosiers yesterday not to punish the 41 Indiana hospitals and surgical centers that reported serious medical errors or incidents in 2006.

The 77 problems were reported under a new system designed to track such mistakes and improve patient safety. The list was released by the state Department of Health.

Four incidents were reported by facilities in Jeffersonville, New Albany and Madison.

The preliminary findings were "not for purposes of recrimination or punishment, but for purposes of improvement and saving the lives or the quality of life of patients," Daniels said.

In fact, he said, the hospitals that acknowledged mistakes "are probably the safest" because they are paying close attention and "trying to get it right every time."

"We have it within our powers, by avoiding sometimes the simplest kinds of mistakes more often, to improve patient care and even save lives," Daniels said.

The state report reflects only significant errors -- those that caused deaths or serious injuries or involved serious medical mistakes, such as surgery on the wrong body part. It was based on 27 standards established by the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit health-industry organization.

Hospitals reported 72 errors, and surgical centers reported five. Abortion clinics and birthing centers did not report any errors.

Statewide, the most reported errors involved bedsores. Hospitals reported 23 instances of serious bedsores -- called pressure ulcers -- that developed after a patient was admitted. That represented one problem per 160,000 hospital admissions, the state report said.

The second most reported event was foreign objects left in a patient after surgery. That occurred 21 times, or about one in 81,000 procedures.

State Health Commissioner Judith Monroe said the numbers are too small to be representative of the care at any individual facility and urged the public to be careful in interpreting the data.

Local incidents
The state report included the following information:

Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville reported one sexual assault on a patient. Hospital officials said yesterday that the incident involved a patient accusing another patient. Police investigated but did not file charges, said hospital President Martin Padgett.

The Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Hospital in New Albany reported one case of a death or serious disability associated with misuse or malfunction of a device. The hospital investigated and subsequently stopped using a clip associated with the device, said a spokeswoman for Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare, which operates the rehabilitation center.

King's Daughters Hospital and Health Center in Madison reported two errors. One was associated with a fatal fall, and the other involved a foreign object left in a patient.

The hospital did not provide additional information about the fall but said administrators completed a review of the incident and put new fall-prevention guidelines in place.

The latter event occurred during the removal of a patient's feeding tube, said Dave Ommen, public relations specialist for King's Daughters.

According to the hospital, the accepted practice is to cut the tube just above the surface of the skin and remove the outside tubing. Then, a doctor uses an endoscope to remove the internal portion.

In this case, however, the physician could not find the internal portion. That happens occasionally due to normal movement of a patient's digestive system, the hospital said.

Normally, a patient would pass the remaining tube, and the physician in this case decided to let that occur. But the tube did not pass and caused an obstructed bowel, the hospital said, so a doctor surgically removed the piece.

"There were no lasting effects," Ommen said.

Hospital officials debated about whether the incident needed to be reported under the rules, he said, but ultimately decided to do so in the interest of public safety and improvement.

"It is part of our commitment to maintaining high quality and improving quality," Ommen said.

Padgett, Clark Memorial's president, commended the state for what he called "proactive" steps to improve patient safety.

"It's not to blame somebody. It's to improve into the future," he said. "We're all human. No one want to make a mistake, but every time we do something we need to learn something from it."

Sharing information
Kenneth Stella, president of the Indiana Hospital and Health Association, said the reporting is valuable because it forces facilities to look beyond their walls and see the larger safety issues facing the industry.

"The more that hospitals can share, the more the hospitals can communicate with each other, the more environments we can put our members in to do that sharing, we believe that care in Indiana will do nothing but improve," he said.

The reporting will be done annually, and state health officials warned yesterday that the numbers are likely to rise as hospitals adjust to the requirements.

In Minnesota, the only state with a reporting system based on the National Quality Forum's standards, hospitals reported 99 errors the first year, 106 the second and 154 last year.

"We know we only caught a fraction of the mistakes that happened," Daniels said of the first Indiana report.

"But again, the patterns already are emerging and I don't doubt there will be fewer pressure ulcers and fewer surgical mishaps in the future because of the sunshine that was shone on those problems."

Source: Louisville Courier Journal

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Kentucky Lacks Adequate Facilites for Medical Trauma

Since Kentucky only has three centers that are capable of treating traumatic injuries, surviving such an injury is increasingly becoming a matter of geography.

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About Kentucky Lacks Adequate Facilites for Medical Trauma...

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CSX hit with 3 accidents already this year

Anna Garcia was drifting off to sleep when she heard the train.

It began with the usual noises, noises she was used to: Living just a couple dozen yards from the railroad tracks, Garcia often fell asleep to the sound of chugging locomotives and rumbling wheels.

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About CSX hit with 3 accidents already this year...

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Kentucky Hazmat Spills Posed 'Significant Risk'

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky got very, very lucky last month: Two train wrecks in two days spewed hazardous materials into the air and water, causing evacuations but few injuries.

Still, experts say, the wrecks should bring more awareness to a potentially dangerous problem that rolls through most communities in Kentucky.

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About Kentucky Hazmat Spills Posed 'Significant Risk'...

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10.4 Million verdict in U-Haul Accident

$10.4 million awarded in crash
U-Haul to appeal Louisville verdict

By Jim Adams
jadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal



Christopher and Corry Burke and their infant son, Ryan, were driving through Kentucky in 2002 on their way from their old life in Indianapolis to a new life in Florida, when life as they knew it came to a sudden, horrible end.

The car they were towing with their Ford Explorer began to fishtail. Then the combination of cars jackknifed, and bounced into and over a guardrail -- injuring all three; Corry Burke, then 25, most seriously so, with a crushing injury to her lower spine. Today, she is a paraplegic.

Now a jury in U.S. District Court in Louisville has said that a substantial cause of that accident was a U-Haul towing device, known as a tow dolly, that the Burkes had rented in Indianapolis.

The jury awarded the Burkes $10.4 million.

Christopher Burke, a 54-year-old JetBlue pilot, reached by phone at his home in Hobe Sound, Fla., declined to discuss details of the accident and the case, but did say that "it's been a long 41/2 years of pain, struggle and horror. …

"Life before (such an accident) is when you have unlimited possibilities, that you can achieve your dreams … to the extent of your imagination and drive to accomplish. After that day, your life is a life of limitations, daily frustration and pain," he said.

U-Haul International Inc., in a statement, and its Louisville lawyer, Charles S. Cassis, defended the safety of the dolly, which has undergone no changes in its design or use because of the case.

"It was state of the art, and it was our position that it was properly designed, manufactured and sold," and "absolutely" remains a safe product, Cassis said.

The company's statement said it "will vigorously defend this case through the appeals process."

Christopher Burke was driving the family's 1993 Explorer on Oct. 29, 2002, pulling their 1999 Ford Contour with its front wheels on the 650-pound dolly, when he lost control on a hill on southbound Interstate 65 just north of Elizabethtown.

The Burkes claimed that that towing combination was unsafe in part because U-Haul rental policy permits the vehicle doing the towing to tow too heavy a vehicle, said one of the Burkes' lawyers, Peter Perlman of Lexington.

In addition, he said, such dollies are unsafe when used by sport utility vehicles, because of SUVs' "high center of gravity and narrow wheel base."

Another defendant, Ford Motor Co., and the Burkes reached a confidential settlement shortly before trial, Perlman said.

Court records say that the plaintiffs attempted to introduce testimony from 11 people who had been in other accidents involving the dollies.

But U.S. District Judge John Heyburn did not allow it, saying: "A handful of accidents involving similar tow dollies does not necessarily indicate any unreasonably dangerous condition at all given how many dollies are rented each year." He said the number of rentals was in the "thousands" during the 10 years in which those wrecks occurred.

The trial lasted two weeks; the nine-member jury deliberated for two days before finding for the Burkes on Feb. 13. The jury unanimously found that U-Haul failed to exercise ordinary care in the design and distribution of the tow dolly the Burkes were using, that the dolly was "defective and unreasonably dangerous," and that each failure was a "substantial factor" in the accident.

The jury awarded Corry Burke, now 29, more than $9.4 million for past and future medical expenses, loss of earning capacity and pain and suffering.

Christopher Burke received $1.6 million for loss of companionship with his wife.

However, those amounts were reduced by 10 percent, to about $9.9 million, because the jury apportioned 10 percent of the fault to the Burkes. It found that she either failed to exercise ordinary care or her husband failed to ensure that she was wearing a seat belt.

Court documents show that a state trooper said that Christopher Burke told him several hours after the accident that Corry Burke had "taken her seat belt off and was turned around in her seat tending to the baby" at the time of the accident.

Perlman, the Lexington attorney, said Ryan Burke was in a rear-facing car seat and suffered a fractured skull. The jury awarded the child, who is now 4 years old, $510,739.27 for medical expenses and pain and suffering. That amount was not reduced by 10 percent, Perlman said.

There were no indications that any questions arose during the trial about any government regulations concerning towing.

While U-Haul described itself as "very disappointed with this verdict," Christopher Burke said, "It's because of the jury system, that nine ordinary people can see through what goes on, to give some justice to injured people."

Read the library article:
http://www.daryltdixonlaw.com/library/104-million-verdict.cfm

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Barge Leak Questions Still Unanswered

Barge Leak Questions Still Unanswered
Last Update: Mar 1, 2007 6:42 PM

Anna Prendergast, NewsChannel 6
A barge that leaked thousands of gallons of a toxic chemical after getting hung up on part of the lock near Brookport has been moved to a safer position down river.

Threats of severe weather slowed down clean-up efforts today on the Ohio River. The coast guard continued to monitor the air around Massac County, Illinois.

New numbers have been released on how much of the toxic chemical Cumene leaked into the Ohio River. The number now stands at 10-thousand gallons. The coast guard says all of the air monitoring results from today came back normal.

There's still an important question of how did the barge end up on the lock and could pilot error be the reason?

The bill for the chemical leak clean-up will be paid by the owner of the barge- Kirby Inland Marine. Kirby Marine is one of the largest chemical carriers on the waterways. How the barge that was carrying close to 1 million gallons of Cumene ended up on the lock is being investigated. The barge was traveling off path, too close to the submerged lock.

Other questions have now been raised, about the experience of the captain behind the wheel. Kirby Corporation won't release the captains name or experience level.

Three tugboat captains who work for different barge companies contacted us concerned that an on-going shortage of seasoned vessel operators, forcing companies to send out green pilots may be to blame. A recent coast guard survey says the most common cause of barge accidents is operator negligence.

Kirby Corporation isn't saying much-but the senior vice president says his company has the best safety record in the business.

NewsChannel 6 is checking into Kirby's safety record and has filed a formal request. It will take a few days to get that information.

Copyright 2007 WPSD-TV, LLC

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Victims’ families express anger at Noel sentencing

Victims’ families express anger at Noel sentencing
Man receives 15 years in prison for deaths
By Matt Sanders
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Despite staunch opposition to a plea agreement from relatives of the two victims, Joshua Noel was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday on manslaughter charges stemming from a Livingston County head-on collision in 2005.
Before the sentencing, relatives of Stephanie P. Kirk of Tiline and Jessica L. Wilcox of Smithland, who were killed on Oct. 28, 2005, were allowed to address Noel. But some of their anger was focused on the prosecutor.
Larry Kirk of Tiline, Kirk’s husband, expressed his disgust at Livingston Commonwealth Attorney G.L. Ovey for not taking the case to trial. Kirk spoke to Ovey before making his remarks to Noel. Since the crash, Kirk and his family have steadfastly opposed any plea agreement and wanted a trial, which would have begun today if the plea deal had not been reached Monday.
“Ovey, you have acted as judge and jury in this case. We were led to believe there was going to be a trial. Why have you lied to us?” Kirk said. “You told us that you would not accept a plea agreement.
“I will be tireless in my efforts to use every venue I can to denigrate you.”
Ovey kept his response brief, and told Kirk that no one lied to him or his family.
“I am not going to argue with a man who is suffering,” Ovey said.
Earlier this week, Ovey said he was concerned that a trial could have resulted in less punishment for Noel than what was in the plea agreement. “We cannot achieve anything any greater by going to a jury trial,” Ovey said earlier this week. “In fact, the chances are fairly certain we would get much less.”
As the hearing adjourned, Barbara Peek of Tiline — Stephanie Kirk’s mother — walked toward the prosecutor’s table and shouted at Ovey.
“This is an absolute disgrace,” Peek said. “This isn’t to be the last that we have to say.”
On the night of the collision, Noel was driving his pickup truck east on U.S. 60 when he crossed the double yellow line and attempted to pass another car, state police said. His truck hit Kirk’s oncoming sport-utility vehicle.
Noel had been indicted on two counts of wanton murder by a Livingston County grand jury in December 2005. A wanton murder conviction carries up to a life sentence, with parole not possible until 85 percent of the sentence is served. As part of the plea agreement, Noel pleaded guilty to two counts of the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years on each count, to run consecutively, for a 15-year sentence. Manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 20 years with parole eligibility after four years.
The plea agreement was heard in McCracken Circuit Court, the venue of special Judge Jeff Hines.
After speaking to Ovey, Kirk turned toward Noel, who was handcuffed and seated in a jail-issued orange outfit next to his attorney, Doug Moore.
“Noel, what were you thinking? Did you not care about the life of your girlfriend?” Kirk asked in an assertive tone. “My wife was a kind, compassionate person and you’ve taken that away.”
Noel did not address the families, on advice of attorney Doug Moore. Noel answered several questions from Hines, but did not speak during the rest of the hearing.
“I knew it would be a volatile situation and my advice was for him to stay quiet,” Moore said.
Valerie Farris of Smithland, Wilcox’s mother, wore a badge on her chest with her daughter’s photograph. She spoke in a soft tone and fought back tears in addressing Noel.
“I hate that this is man’s law and not God’s law,” Farris said. “What you got was not right.”
After the hearing, Farris corrected previous reports and said her daughter knew Noel for only two days and was not his girlfriend.
“It’s just not right what he got, but he’ll get his in the end,” Farris said.
Outside the courtroom, Kirk described the last 1 1/2 years as an emotional rollercoaster for his family.
“This is not justice for my wife. I’m trying to make some sense of this,” Kirk said.

View the library article at :
http://www.daryltdixonlaw.com/library/wrongful-death-claim.cfm

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"24 Million Dollar Verdict in Defective Seatbelt Case"

Honeywell loses seat belt verdict
A federal jury in Texas awards $24 million to the family of a teen who was killed in a crash.
From Bloomberg News
February 20, 2007

Honeywell International Inc. was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $24 million to the family of an 18-year-old woman who was killed in a sport utility vehicle rollover accident.

The family of Lauren Frazier claimed she was killed when a seat belt manufactured by Honeywell failed. Frazier was ejected from a Chevrolet Tahoe she was riding in when it rolled over. She died at the scene, said her family's attorney, Todd Tracy, who argued the seat belt's buckle unlatched on its own.

"Honeywell knew since 1989, by doing testing, that it was unlatching and they didn't do anything to prevent it," Tracy said of the seat belt.

The U.S. District Court jury in Marshall, Texas, awarded Frazier's family $24 million in actual damages Thursday, three days after the trial began. The lawsuit, resulting in a rare victory at trial for plaintiffs in such cases, is one of several hundred against automakers and seat belt manufacturers claiming inertial unlatching of seat belts. The verdict may lead to more settlements, said auto safety advocate Sean Kane.

"It's something plaintiffs will point to in discussions," said Kane, of Safety Research & Strategies Inc. in Rehoboth, Mass. "Any time you get a large verdict, it raises more eyebrows."

A Honeywell spokeswoman said the Morris Township, N.J.-based company would appeal.

"There was no credible evidence presented that the seat belt was defective or that it failed at the time of the accident," said spokeswoman Victoria Streitfeld. "Insurance will fully cover the verdict if we are not successful on appeal."

Honeywell said at trial that Frazier wasn't wearing her seat belt, Tracy said.

Frazier was a passenger in the Chevy Tahoe in August 2004 in Longview, Texas, when another vehicle turned into its path.

Frazier was wearing her seat belt when she was ejected from the vehicle, Tracy argued.

"There was medical evidence of this," including bruises on her shoulder from the belt, caused before it failed, he said. "There was a lot of physical evidence as well," including pulled fibers from the belt, the lawyer added.

The Fraziers didn't sue General Motors Corp., maker of the Tahoe, because the seat belt was designed by Honeywell, Tracy said.

Honeywell, the world's largest maker of airplane controls, also makes automobile parts, including seat belts.

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"Plea Deal Reached Just Before the Trial Over the Head-On Collision That Killed Livingston County Teacher Stephanie Kirk"

Plea deal angers family of Livingston victim
Murder trial was to begin today in ’05 Kirk death

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

TILINE, Ky. — Relatives of Livingston Central High School teacher Stephanie P. Kirk want justice for her death in a head-on collision in 2005. They don’t see justice in a plea agreement reached — two days before his trial was to start — with the driver charged in the crash.

The agreement, to be heard today in McCracken Circuit Court, has left Kirk’s family heartbroken and angry that their day in court won’t be with a trial.

“I am absolutely flabbergasted. We are adamantly opposed to any deal,” said Kirk’s husband, Larry. “We were led to believe that from the start this was going to trial. We want our chance in court.

“We’re not hard people, but this has been so devastating on our family.”

Livingston Commonwealth Attorney G.L. Ovey confirmed that Joshua Noel’s attorney had made a plea offer that he accepted, but Ovey declined to discuss the details. Noel’s girlfriend and passenger, Jessica L. Wilcox of Smithland, also was killed in the crash. Both Stephanie Kirk and Wilcox died at the scene.

Larry Kirk said Ovey told him on Monday that a plea agreement of 14 years on a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter had been offered, but the prosecutor wanted to push for 15 years. Larry Kirk told Ovey not to accept any deal, and did not hear back from Ovey on whether 15 years was the final agreement.

Noel had been indicted on two counts of wanton murder — which carries up to a life sentence — by a Livingston County grand jury in December 2005. Manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 20 years with parole eligibility after four years. Parole is not possible on a wanton murder conviction until 85 percent of the sentence is served.

“Based upon my experience, we cannot achieve anything any greater by going to a jury trial,” Ovey said. “In fact, the chances are fairly certain we would get much less.

“I listened to the victims, but they do not control the process. It is my responsibility to represent all the people in my circuit, even though this family is the one that’s grieving. I will not be a party to a jury trial when I think that the verdict will be much less than the agreement.”

Larry Kirk said he was devastated when he heard about the last-minute plea offer. A 15-year sentence is too little a price to pay for her mother’s life, Rachel Gavin said. Kirk’s son, Drew, said the family met with Ovey two weeks ago and the prosecutor said he would not accept a plea agreement without the family’s blessing.

“G.L. kept saying he had a strong case, and then he changed to, ‘We’re lucky if we get 15 years,’” Gavin said. “Whatever small amount of justice we hoped to get through a trial is now gone. (Noel) made choices with what he did, and we were left with nothing.

“The grand jury returned two counts of wanton murder and he should be tried for that. I do not want him to see his 20s as a free man.”

Noel was 23 at the time of the crash and has been in jail since his indictment. With time served, a 15-year manslaughter sentence could make Noel eligible for parole in less than two years.

Stephanie Kirk’s mother, Barbara Peek, said she was disappointed that the legal system let down her family. Her late husband, Richard Peek Sr., was an attorney and served as county attorney and later as commonwealth attorney. Peek’s three sons also are attorneys.

“We were due a trial. The county was due a trial,” Peek said. “Losing her was so unnecessary.”

Larry Kirk said the family repeatedly told Ovey that they wanted a trial even with the risk of lesser charges.

“I told (Ovey) to do your best and the rest would be on us,” Larry Kirk said. “We want the wanton murder charge. We have always wanted this to go to trial, but things just went downhill.”

The case has had four continuances and Larry Kirk is dissatisfied with the lack of communication from Ovey. Kirk plans to file a complaint against Ovey with the Kentucky Bar Association, which he planned to do even if the case had gone to trial.

“Some things happened that couldn’t be helped, but there were four continuances, and we had to call G.L. if we wanted to learn anything about the case,” Larry Kirk said.

Last February, Ovey had back surgery, which delayed the proceedings. In May, a change of venue was granted to neighboring Lyon County because of Stephanie Kirk’s popularity in Livingston County. The case was to go to trial in November, but Ovey told Larry Kirk that he was not prepared for trial. Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Russell Johnson’s death in January postponed a second trial date.

Although the case was transferred to Lyon Circuit Court, the plea agreement will be heard in McCracken Circuit Court, the venue of special Judge Jeff Hines.

Stephanie Kirk had been a teacher for 21 years, serving several different grades and as the writing resource coordinator for Livingston schools. To honor her mother, Gavin became a teacher. Gavin was offered her mother’s position, but decided to teach English at Crittenden County High School.

“She loved children and she loved to help people,” Peek said of Kirk. “That’s why she became a teacher.”

When she was killed, Stephanie Kirk was coming home from the beauty parlor. She had just called her husband, who had cooked dinner, to say she was late. Being late was not unusual for Stephanie Kirk because she loved talking with people, which always had her running behind.

Through tears and anger, her family managed to laugh about memories of not wanting to go to the store with her because her friendliness made quick trips impossible.

It was a 20-minute drive home from the beauty parlor and when she had not arrived an hour later, Larry Kirk got in his truck to look for her. He was the first at the crash, near the intersection of U.S. 60 and Ky. 137, River Road, and called for help.

Kentucky State Police said Noel was driving his pickup truck east on U.S. 60 around 7:20 p.m. when he crossed the double yellow line and attempted to pass another car. His truck hit Kirk’s oncoming sport-utility vehicle.

Stephanie Kirk’s service was so large that mourners spilled out into the parking lot of the funeral home.

“There were fourth-graders and 12th-graders who said the same thing: ‘She was my favorite teacher,’” Gavin said.

Source: Paducah Sun

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"Western Kentucky Car Wreck Claims the Life of a Livingston County Man"

Livingston man dies in 2-car wreck

AP State Headlines

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

SMITHLAND, Ky. — Christopher J. Copeland, 30, of Ledbetter was killed Monday morning in a two-car wreck on Ky. 453, four miles south of here, according to Kentucky State Police.

Copeland was driving a 1994 Ford Escort south on Ky. 453 around 7:28 a.m. when he topped a hill and entered a curve in the opposing lane, police said.

Lindsey R. Manker, 17, of Grand Rivers was driving a 2006 Pontiac G6 north on Ky. 453 when she saw Copeland’s car in her lane and attempted to avoid it, police said. Copeland tried to steer right, but it caused his car to rotate clockwise and the cars collided near the centerline, police said.

Copeland was pronounced dead at the scene by Livingston County Coroner Jeff Armstrong. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

Manker, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured. The road was closed for approximately two hours.

Source: Paducah Sun

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"Rollover Accident Claims Life in Western Kentucky"

Eddyville man dies from wreck injuries
Shawn J. Hayden died Sunday after Saturday’s wreck on Ky. 93.

AP State Headlines
Tuesday, February 20, 2007

EDDYVILLE, Ky. — Shawn J. Hayden, 26, of Eddyville died Sunday at Western Baptist Hospital from injuries he received in an one-car accident on Ky. 93 near here, according to Kentucky State Police.

Hayden was driving a 1997 Honda Civic south on Ky. 93 at Eddy Creek around 4 p.m. Saturday when the car ran off the right side of the road. Hayden overcorrected to the left, which caused the car to rotate and turn over twice before landing on its roof, police said.

Hayden, who was wearing a seat belt, received multiple injuries and was taken to Caldwell County Hospital before being transferred to Western Baptist Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 9:25 a.m. Sunday by the McCracken County Coroner’s office, police said.

Source: Paducah Sun

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West Kentucky Sees Another SUV Rollover

Carlisle woman injured in one-vehicle wreck


Sunday, February 11, 2007

MELBER, Ky. — Sheena Hayden, 33, of Cunningham injured her head and face during a one-vehicle wreck shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday on Ky. 1820, one mile west of here.

Hayden was driving east when for unknown reasons her sport utility vehicle went off the left side of the road, state police said. Hayden apparently overcorrected to the right, causing her SUV to spin and roll at least twice before coming to rest in a field, police said.

Hayden was listed in stable condition Saturday afternoon at Western Baptist Hospital.

Source: Paducah Sun

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"Largest Crackdown on School Speed Zones Announced in Western Kentucky by Kentucky State Troopers"

AP State Headlines
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Eight western Kentucky school zones along roads where the speed limit is 55 mph will be monitored for excessive speed and traffic patterns beginning today by the Kentucky State Police.

The three-phase school safety awareness campaign will start recording speeds and driving patterns without enforcement both inside and outside the school zones while lights are flashing in the morning and afternoon, said Trooper Barry Meadows, spokesman for Post 1 near Hickory. Troopers’ radar will be equipped with data collectors, and speeds will be recorded through March 13.

The school zones are at Livingston Central High on U.S. 60 in Smithland, South Livingston Elementary on Cutoff Road in Smithland, Farmington Elementary on Ky. 121, Marshall County High on U.S. 641 in Draffenville, North Marshall Middle on Ky. 95 in Calvert City, East Calloway Elementary on Pottertown Road near Murray, Carlisle County schools on Ky. 1377 in Bardwell, and Fulton County High on Moscow Avenue in Hickman.

From March 14 through April 10, troopers will patrol the zones and pull over and ticket motorists who violate speed, seat belt and other regulations in the program’s second phase, Meadows said.

During the third phase from April 11-May 8, troopers again will record speeds and collect data without enforcement for a comparative analysis.

“We want to see if high visibility and speed enforcement will slow down the drivers in the designated school zones,” Meadows said.

School zone speeds usually are reduced to 35 mph along roads where the speed limit is 55 mph, Meadows said. Violations hit motorists hard in the wallet; speeding fines are doubled inside school zones when the lights are flashing, Meadows said.

State police recently were awarded a highway safety grant through the Governor’s Highway Safety Program to initiate the program. The grant will pay for 150 hours of overtime expected to be logged by the troopers, Meadows said.

In 2005, elementary school students ages 6-12 were involved in 7,933 vehicle collisions, of which 1,879 resulted in injuries and which accounted for 21 of the state’s 985 road deaths, according to state police statistics.


Source: Paducah Sun

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Murder Suicide brings up domestic violence issues

Jennifer Horbelt, NewsChannel 6
Sunday night the McCracken County Sheriff's Department got a 911 call from Mary Lydia May just before seven. She told officers her boyfriend, Russel Jeffers, had been shot.

Sheriff's Deputies say her ex-husband, David Keith May of Lone Oak, kicked down the back door at Jeffer's home and opened fire on Jeffers. Both Mary Lydia May and Jeffer's teenage daughter were in the home. Sheriff's Deputies say May then struggled with his ex-wife and told her he'd shoot her if she didn't let him leave.

Police tracked May to his duplex on Hutchinson Street and tried for hours to contact him by telephone and megaphone, with no response. When police did enter the home May had already taken his own life.

"There have been reported problems between the ex-wife of the suspect," says Sheriff Jon Hayden, McCracken County Sheriff's Department.

May was married to Jeffers girlfriend, Mary Lydia May, for over 20 years. Their divorce was finalized in December. According to Sheriff's Deputies, May had been bothering the couple. They filed domestic violence charges against him as recently as last month. Sheriff Jon Hayden says Mary Lydia May expressed concerns that her husband might be capable of violence.

"She was, I think, fearful that something like this would happen, and unfortunately it did happen," says Sheriff Hayden.

Lee Weglerz knew and worked with Russell Jeffers. He says that Jeffers had been having problems with David May for some time.

"I knew that there were some problems here. Not in the neighborhood, but i knew Russ had some problems with the guy {David Keith May} in the past," says Weglerz.

Carla Sizemore with Merrymen House, a safe haven for women who have been in violent relationships, works with both women and children affected by domestic violence. She says it's tragic for everyone involved.

"Once a woman seeks help via a DVO {Domestic Violence Order} and she leaves, her risk of something happening goes up three-fold," says Sizemore.

Sizemore also says that 31 percent of women in the United Sates have been physically and sexually abused by their spouse. She hopes this situation will make people more aware of just how serious domestic violence can be.

Copyright 2007 WPSD-TV, LLC

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MSU student jailed on manslaughter charge

MSU student jailed on manslaughter charge

A graduate student from Egypt was struck by a vehicle.
By Molly Harper and Shelley Byrne The Paducah Sun mharper@paducahsun.com sbyrne@paducahsun.com


Saturday, November 12, 2005

MURRAY, Ky. — Murray State University sophomore Burgess Harrison Yonts, 20, of Greenville, son of state Rep. Brent Yonts, was charged with manslaughter in the death of Nadia Shaheen, 62, of Egypt, a Murray State student whose body was found near the Five Points area near the campus early Friday.

Shaheen, a graduate student, was found near Coldwater Road around 6:30 a.m., Murray police Sgt. Jim Osborne said. Calloway County Coroner Mike Garland estimated Shaheen died around midnight Thursday after being struck by a vehicle. He attributed the cause of death to blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

Shaheen was struck within a few hundred yards of her home, Garland said. Police believe she was walking home from the Curris Center, where she was known to work in the free campus computer lab. She was due to graduate in December.

“We are here for the family of Ms. Shaheen and our students during this campus tragedy,” Murray State President King Alexander said. “Lending our support to these individuals is our priority at this time.”

Counseling will be made available to students, faculty and staff as needed at the university’s Counseling and Testing Center, according to the university.

Yonts was charged with second-degree manslaughter, a Class C felony, based on physical evidence linking Yonts’ vehicle to the scene in a canvass of the area Friday afternoon, Osborne said. He would not comment on the nature of the evidence.

Yonts remained in the Calloway County Jail late Friday on a $500,000 cash bond.

Dann Patterson, adviser of the Murray State chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, said the younger Yonts, who goes by his middle name, had stopped by a fraternity party briefly Thursday night. The party ended at 2 a.m. in accordance with university regulations, Patterson said.

People over 21 are free to bring alcohol to such parties, he said, adding that identification is checked, and armbands are issued accordingly. Patterson said he did not know if anyone gave Harrison Yonts alcohol at the party.

Brent Yonts stopped by the fraternity house Friday afternoon to speak with fraternity members and try to find out more of what happened, he said. He spoke with his son and hired Murray attorney Mark Blankenship to represent his son.

According to his Legislative Research Commission profile, Brent Yonts, who represents Muhlenberg County and portions of Christian and Hopkins counties, has been an honorary member of Murray State’s Lambda Chi Alpha chapter since 2000. He is a Murray State University alumnus.

National fraternity representatives planned to meet with local chapter members in Murray late Friday.

“I think mainly they just want to ascertain whether we were within guidelines,” Patterson said.

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Yonts indicted for murder in Murray pedestrian death

Yonts indicted for murder in Murray pedestrian death

By Anne Thrower athrower@paducahsun.com--270.575.8653


Saturday, January 28, 2006

MURRAY, Ky. — Burgess Harrison Yonts was indicted Friday for wanton murder and three other charges in the pedestrian death of a Murray State University graduate student in November.

Yonts, 20, of Greenville was originally charged with second-degree manslaughter.

A Calloway County grand jury also returned a felony indictment for tampering with physical evidence. Misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of the accident were also returned.

In a wanton murder, a person is aware of the risk but proceeds to take action that causes the death of a person. A person who is intoxicated does not have to be aware of the risk to qualify for wanton murder.

Police say a vehicle Yonts was driving struck Nadia Shaheen, 62, a graduate student from Egypt. Her body was found about 6:30 a.m. Nov. 11 near Coldwater Road and the Five Points area near campus.

Special prosecutor Tim Kaltenbach presented evidence to the grand jury. Kaltenbach, commonwealth attorney for McCracken County, was appointed to prosecute Yonts after Calloway Commonwealth Attorney Gale Cook recused herself, citing friendship with the defendant’s father, state Rep. Brent Yonts of Greenville.

Appearing before Calloway Circuit Judge Dennis Foust, Kaltenbach asked that Yonts’ bond be raised to $41,000 cash or property. A warrant was issued for his arrest because of the new charges in the indictments.

Yonts was freed from jail shortly after his original arrest, after posting $25,000 cash or 5 percent of a $500,000 bond.

Because of a court-imposed gag order, Kaltenbach declined comment Friday. Yonts, who was not present Friday, is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Feb. 13 before Foust.

Coroner Mike Garland estimated Shaheen died of blunt trauma to the head and neck.

Police believe she was walking home from the Curris Center, where she was known to work in the free campus computer lab.

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Yonts guilty on all counts

Yonts guilty on all counts
Victim’s family: Murray case offers lesson about DUI

By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8651


Friday, February 02, 2007

MURRAY, Ky. — Members of Nadia Shaheen’s family hope her death and the conviction of Harrison Yonts for murder and hit and run can serve as a lesson for others not to drink and drive.

“His conviction doesn’t make us happy, but it shows that people must face the consequences for their actions,” Joseph Shaheen, the victim’s 23-year-old son, said in an interview. “We hope that our mother’s death and the conviction sends a message that protects other families from going through what we’ve had to go through.”

In an emotion-charged courtroom late Thursday, a jury of nine women and three men took three hours to find Yonts guilty in the Nov. 11, 2005, death of Shaheen, a 62-year-old Egyptian graduate student at Murray State University. She was less than a month away from completing her certification to teach English to other foreign students.

Yonts — a 21-year-old senior at Murray State — was convicted of wanton murder, tampering with evidence, drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident. The jury recommended a 20 year sentence, the harshest it could choose. Other options were manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years with parole eligibility after four years, and reckless homicide, which carried a maximum sentence of five years with a parole eligibility of one year.

Judge Dennis Foust immediately revoked Yonts’ bond and ordered that he be confined to the Calloway County Jail until his sentencing on April 9.

If Foust follows the jury’s recommendation, Yonts will have to serve 17 years, 85 percent of the jury’s recommended sentence, before he is eligible for parole. He will not be eligible for shock probation, a program that allows judges to release after a person after serving at least a month in prison.

When the guilty verdict was read, members of Yonts family screamed, gasped and burst into tears, promoting a warning from Foust to refrain from displays of emotion. Among those present were his father, state Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville.

After hearing the verdict, Harrison Yonts laid his head on a table and wept for several minutes. He has admitted that he attended a fraternity party on the night and morning of the wreck on Coldwater Road and that he was drunk. However, he said he did not drive home, but was driven by someone else whom he couldn’t identify.

The most emotional testimony of the four-day trial came from Shaheen’s adult daughters and members of Yonts’ family.

“Mr. Yonts stole our mom’s life and stole our lives,” said Shaheen’s 28-year-old daughter, Samaa Elbannan, in asking the jury for a harsh punishment. “He sentenced us to life in a prison of agony and sadness.”

She said the family will never have closure because they have too many questions about the final minutes of their mother’s life and because they never had a chance to say goodbye.

Looking at Yonts, she said, “My mother was the kindest woman ever, but you left her to die on the side of the street.”

She also expressed sympathy for the grief and suffering that Yonts caused for his parents and siblings.

Throughout her comments and those of her older sister, Samah Elbannan, most members of the jury and many of the 100 or so spectators in the courtroom wept.

Samah said her life and the lives of her sister and brother stopped on Nov. 11, 2005.

“My mom worked hard all her life to raise the three of us, and when it was time for her to enjoy everything she had worked for, she was taken away for no reason,” Samah said.

She said it has been “extremely difficult to forget the last time we saw our mom was in a body bag with her face so messed up that we couldn’t recognize her.

“I’ve seen you laughing and smiling,” she said to Yonts. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”

Ellen Yonts Brownfield, Harrison Yonts’ oldest sister, described her brother as a caring, kind and friendly person who was raised in a Christian home and attended church regularly. She said that the events of that night and mistakes her brother may have made have been an nightmare for the family. She asked for compassion and leniency, and expressed her family’s sympathy for the Shaheen family.

Later in the court proceedings, Brownfield fainted as she stood holding hands with her brother and father. A paramedic and family members cared for her, and she was revived in about two minutes.

Brent Yonts broke down in tears while walking to the witness stand to testify in support of his son. It took him several minutes to compose himself, and he asked the jury for a lenient sentence.

“If I could serve the sentence for my son, I would,” he said amid an outburst of tears. He also said he felt that knowing his son was going to prison for a long time was similar to a death in the family, and compared it to the recent death of his father.

He also took the blame for his son’s problems, saying that he may have spent too much time in his work as an attorney and a state legislator.

In asking for a harsh sentence, special prosecutor Jim Harris, an assistant commonwealth attorney in McCracken County, said that throughout the trial and even after he was found guilty, Harrison Yonts never showed remorse or sorrow for Shaheen’s death.

In another emotional moment during a break in the proceedings, Shaheen’s three children walked over to Yonts’ mother, father and sister and expressed their sympathy for the ordeal and the fact their son was going to prison. Amid tears, they all hugged.

Dennis Null, Yonts’ attorney, said he planned to appeal the conviction.

“We haven’t really had time to think about it and review the proceedings, but there were several issues that came up during the trial on which we can appeal,” Null said. He said he wasn’t prepared to identify them.

After the trial, jurors were escorted by police out a side door and to their cars. No one was allowed to leave the courtroom until all of the jurors had left the parking lot.

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Day 2 of Yonts Murder Trial

Day 2 of Yonts Murder Tril

The murder trial for the son of a Kentucky lawmaker is underway in Calloway County.
Murray State University Student Harrison Yonts is charged with murder for a deadly hit and run accident in november 2005.

He's accused of hitting and killing Nadia Shaheen who was walking along the road.

Yonts is the son of State Representative Brent Yonts of Greenville, Ky.

NewsChannel 6's Anna Prendergast will continue to bring coverage of the trial.

Day 2

Harrison Yont’s family on one side of the courtroom- on the other Nadia Shaheen's three children.

They all watched as evidence including these pair of jeans and hat Yonts was wearing the night of the accident were shown to jurors. The prosecution says police found blood stains on the jeans and hat when they searched Yonts' apartment hours after Shaheen was hit by the car.

Police video of Yonts' apartment was also shown. Besides finding blood on the door handle police say they found blood on Yonts' car keys, the floor, and on a paper towel in a trash can in Yonts' backyard. But it was the damage on Yonts’ car that police say lead them to the college students front door.

Police say the side-view mirror they found near Shaheen body was from Yonts' car. Police video also revieled that Yonts' light on the right side and passenger side window had been smashed.

Jack Reed, a trace chemist from Frankfort analyzed the clothes Yonts was wearing the night of the accident. Reed says he found glass in the clothes that match the glass broken out of Yonts' car window.

Reed also says fibers from Nadia Shaheen's pants were found on the front right bumper of Yonts' car.

12:00 PM-
Video taken by Murray Police the morning of the hit and run was shown to jurors. It was video of Harrison Yonts' apartment and his car.

The video showed his cars right front light smashed, the passenger side window knocked out, and the side-view mirror ripped off. The video of inside Yonts' apartment shows a trail of blood to Yonts' bedroom starting at the front door.

Monday, during opening arguments, the prosecution said the blood was tested and was Yonts. The prosecution claims Yonts cut his hand trying to cleanup the broken glass from his car window.

The defense said Monday Yonts cut his hand on a beer bottle.

11:00 AM-
Four Murray police officers and a registered nurse that took Harrison Yonts' blood-alcohol level the morning of the accident testified.

Nadia Shaheen's three children are in the courtroom.

Harrison Yonts father, State Representative Brent Yonts from Greenville is not listening to the case today. He is outside in the defense room.

Brent Yonts did tell NewsChannel 6 there was a possibility he might testify. The prosecution is still calling witnesses.

The defense seems to be centering around Nadia Shaheens time of death. The prosecution is focusing on the side-view mirror police found at the scene that was ripped off of Yonts' car during the accident.

9:15 AM-
Day two of the Harrison Yonts trial in Murray, Kentucky. The prosecution called its first witness at 9:15 am.

Patrick Morris a Murray police officer is on the stand. Officer Morris was one of the first officers at the crime scene on Coldwater Road where Nadia Shaheen's body was found.

Officer Morris says he found a silver side view mirror at the crime scene and was sent to patrol the Murray area to find the car that it came from. Officer Morris says he drove into Harrison Yonts apartment complex on Wilshire Drive and spotted Yonts' 2001 Lincoln.

Officer Morris says Yonts' car had the passenger side mirror ripped off and the passenger window was also knocked out.


Copyright 2007 WPSD-TV, LLC

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Day 3 Yonts Murder Trial

Day 3 of Yonts Murder Trial

The murder trial for the son of a Kentucky lawmaker is underway in Calloway County. Murray State University Student Harrison Yonts is charged with murder for a deadly hit and run accident in November 2005.
He's accused of hitting and killing Nadia Shaheen who was walking along the road.

Yonts is the son of State Representative Brent Yonts of Greenville, Ky.

NewsChannel 6's Anna Prendergast will continue to bring coverage of the trial.

DAY 3

The defense in the Harrison Yonts murder trial spent the day trying to poke holes in the way police investigated the crime, saying evidence in the case wasn't handled properly.

Today marks the third day of the trail in Murray, Ky. Harrison Yonts son of state representative Brent Yonts is charged for driving drunk and striking 62 year old Nadia Shaheen in 2005 with his car.

Nadia Shaheens daughter took a moment to pray in court while defense attorney, Dennis Nulls' temper flared while questioning Murray police Detective Kendra Smith. So far both sides agree and DNA evidence proves Harrison Yonts’ Lincoln was the car that struck Shaheen. The car was backed into the parking lot when police found it the morning of the accident.

The defense says this proves Yonts wasn't driving because he never backed in the space. State Representative Brent Yonts testified, defending his son.

State Representative, Brent Yonts, "He always pulls his car straight in the slot." But Murray police say Yonts backed in to hide the damage on his car from striking Shaheen. Much of the day was spent questioning witnesses on what Yonts was wearing the night of the accident.

The prosecution says he was wearing a flannel shirt, the defense and several college students testified that Yonts had on a polo shirt. The defense showed police video of the shirt taken inside Yonts' apartment hours after the hit and run.

Null suggested that Murray police didn't do their job because they couldn't find the shirt.



1:45 -
Jan Yonts, Harrison Yonts’ mother was just called to the stand.

Phone records prove Harrison Yonts did not call his parents the morning of the accident. Jan Yonts said in the past when her son had a problem he would always call.

1:00-
The defense just called its second witness to the stand, State Representative Brent Yonts of Greenville. Brent Yonts is Harrison Yonts’ father.

Brent Yonts said he never saw his son back his car in, saying he always pulled it in forward.

Yonts said his son had never been in trouble before this including never getting a DUI.



10:00 AM-
The defense has not called witnesses yet. Detective Kendra Smith with the Murray Police Department is still being questioned on the stand.

The defense, attorney Dennis Null questioned Smith for over an hour and at times voices were raised. Null says the fact that Harrison Yonts car was backed into the space at his apartment proves he wasn't driving.

Null says Yonts never backed in his car, he would always pull in forward. Smith told Null part of the reason Yonts was charged with tampering with evidence was because the car was backed in.

Smith says she believes he was trying to hide the fact the cars window and side-view mirror were damaged from hitting Nadia Shaheen.

The defense is expected to start calling its 20 witnesses shortly. Null says he expects the defense to take the rest of the day.

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911 Services in Carlisle County, Kentucky Recieve State Funds

Carlisle 911 getting needed upgrades
The new equipment is being paid for by a grant from Kentucky Homeland Security.
By Angie Kinsey akinsey@paducahsun.com--
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

BARDWELL, Ky. — Carlisle County 911 dispatchers now have to rely on local residents to inform them of address changes. Soon, a computer will do that work for them.

The county was one of eight communities in the state to receive grants Monday from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security to upgrade their 911 services. Carlisle, the only recipient in western Kentucky, received $179,969.

“We’re terribly excited,” said Melissa Rowland, the county’s emergency management 911 director. “We will be getting all new equipment and all new furniture. We will be getting the same equipment Kentucky State Police uses. We’ll be taking our own 911 cell phone calls as well.”

Rowland said one of the biggest advantages of the new equipment will be a computerized mapping system that will help dispatchers find the locations of 911 calls more quickly.

“Now we have paper maps,” she said. “The new equipment will have the maps right in front of us on our computers. There will be a blinking triangle showing where they are and we can give the responding units the right crossroads. Our system now gives directions, but people move like rats and they don’t bother telling you. We count on them to tell us when they move and if they don’t tell us, we could be sending help to the other part of the county.”

Besides Rowland, the county employs three full-time and two part-time dispatchers. Rowland said she didn’t think more dispatchers would be needed with the new equipment.

Rowland and an assistant supervisor will travel to Georgia in two weeks for training and the new equipment will be in operation April 30.

“It is essential that we have a top rate 911 system here in Kentucky and address the areas of the state that do not currently have access to Enhanced 911,” Gov. Ernie Fletcher said about the grants. “These 911 Improvement grants are working to tackle this problem by focusing on the communities with the greatest need for upgraded 911 services.”

Source: Paducah Sun

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Family blames doctors for woman's death

Four Kentucky and West Virginia doctors and some of their businesses are being sued for prescribing more than 5,000 pills over a period of one year to South Williamson attorney Lafe “Dee” Preston Ward Jr., who was charged with murder after he was involved in an automobile accident last year.

Mingo County resident Benita Wirleen Dixon died when her car was hit by Ward's vehicle as she pulled out of the South Williamson Wal-Mart intersection in January 2006. Ward is suspected of driving under the influence.

For more details, follow the link below.

Read More About Family blames doctors for woman's death...

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Kentucky train crash releases chemicals

IRVINE, Ky. - Four runaway rail cars struck two parked locomotives Monday in east-central Kentucky, causing a fire and spilling a chemical that prompted a limited evacuation and orders that others stay indoors.

The crash released butyl acetate, a flammable liquid, from a burning tanker car, authorities said. The fire produced a huge column of black smoke, and a section of the Kentucky River where fuel or chemicals had spilled caught fire. No injuries were reported, authorities said.

For more information, follow the link below.

Read More About Kentucky train crash releases chemicals...

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Turner Ohio River Recovery Mission Put on Hold

Recovery operation put on hold after river deemed ‘too risky’
A towboat crewman has been missing since Friday when the boat sank near Owens Island.
Brian Peach bpeach@paducahsun.com

They did some visual inspections of the area. It looks like the water’s going to have to recede quite a bit. ... It’s too risky for them to try right now. The current is so strong and there’s still a lot of debris.
— Brent Stringer



Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dive teams Monday reiterated the problem: The Ohio River is too treacherous right now to attempt a recovery operation for the National Maintenance and Repair worker who has been missing since his towboat went down Friday night.

And it may be two weeks before the water is low enough to attempt a dive, emergency responders said, adding that the biggest concern for search crews is debris moving quickly down the river.

Brian Turner, 42, of Carlisle County has been missing since about 10 p.m. Friday, when the towboat sank in 38-degree water near Owens Island near the Paducah riverfront. Two other crewmen — Raymond Alexander Lang and Steven Fuller — were rescued from the water by Ingram Barge Co. workers who heard their cries for help. It was unclear whether Turner made it out with a life vest.

Emergency responders still didn’t know Monday what caused the boat to take on water so quickly, sinking in a matter of minutes.

The towboat is submerged under 50 to 55 feet of water and it will be tough to raise until the water level drops, emergency management directors said.

Livingston County EMS Director Brent Stringer met with divers from the Emergency Management Area 2 Dive Team out of Madisonville at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, and they weren’t comfortable going into the river.

“They did some visual inspections of the area,” he said. “It looks like the water’s going to have to recede quite a bit. ... It’s too risky for them to try right now. The current is so strong, and there’s still a lot of debris.”

Stringer said National Maintenance and Repair brought in a diver Saturday from Mainstream Commercial Divers in Murray and was told the same thing: “They were not going to put anybody out in those conditions,” Stringer said. “I don’t foresee it for the next couple of weeks. ... It’s been unseasonably wet, there’s been storms. Those contribute quite a bit. It’s really just a waiting game now.”

And waiting is what Turner’s family is doing.

Turner’s wife, Dana Turner, was with her family and some friends Monday. They declined to talk much about Brian Turner.

Tracy Wallace, Dana Turner’s sister, said the couple married five years ago, but knew each other for 15 years before that. Dana Turner wanted to wait until crews recover the body before talking about her husband.

National Maintenance and Repair General Manager Sandy McDaniel referred all questions Monday to Russ Painter, spokesman for the company out of South Point, Ohio.

Painter declined comment about Brian Turner’s history with the company, saying the company wasn’t prepared to release any information Monday.

McCracken County Emergency Management Director Kent King’s crew searched the river from the accident site to the Irvin Cobb Bridge on Monday. He said the search turned from a rescue operation to a recovery effort around 3 a.m. Saturday, when crews called off the search for the night.

The river stayed rough through Monday.

“Our crews did say the river was really rough this morning,” he said. “Pretty choppy, pretty rough. Two-foot swells. ... I have a hard time believing they’re going to dive in that. It’s pretty much inaccessible.

“One of the big problems to worry about are the big trees and logs coming down. ... Logs weighing several tons, traveling at six miles per hour.”

He said some of the logs float just below the surface. Some members of his rescue crew told him Monday that they were standing on a barge, watching the search when a tree hit the barge they were standing on and violently shook it.

Source: Paducah Sun

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Mississippi Trucker Dies in Hickman County Semi-Truck Accident

Trucker dead in Fulgham, Kentucky Semi-Truck Wreck


Sunday, January 14, 2007

FULGHAM, Ky. — A Mississippi man was killed when he was ejected from his tractor-trailer when it ran off the road about a mile east of here Saturday afternoon.

Bobby Johnson, 56, of Burnsville, Miss., was driving on Ky. 58 East at about 1:15 p.m. when he ran off the road, state police said. The Mack truck ran through a ditch and struck a culvert, causing the driver’s side door to open and Johnson to apparently get run over by the truck’s back tires, police said.

The Hickman County coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine if Johnson’s death was medically related, police said.

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Ohio River Tow Boat Recovery Operation is Suspended in Kentucky

Recovery operation put on hold after river deemed ‘too risky’
A towboat crewman has been missing since Friday when the boat sank near Owens Island.

AP State Headlines
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dive teams Monday reiterated the problem: The Ohio River is too treacherous right now to attempt a recovery operation for the National Maintenance and Repair worker who has been missing since his towboat went down Friday night.

And it may be two weeks before the water is low enough to attempt a dive, emergency responders said, adding that the biggest concern for search crews is debris moving quickly down the river.

Brian Turner, 42, of Carlisle County has been missing since about 10 p.m. Friday, when the towboat sank in 38-degree water near Owens Island near the Paducah riverfront. Two other crewmen — Raymond Alexander Lang and Steven Fuller — were rescued from the water by Ingram Barge Co. workers who heard their cries for help. It was unclear whether Turner made it out with a life vest.

Emergency responders still didn’t know Monday what caused the boat to take on water so quickly, sinking in a matter of minutes.

The towboat is submerged under 50 to 55 feet of water and it will be tough to raise until the water level drops, emergency management directors said.

Livingston County EMS Director Brent Stringer met with divers from the Emergency Management Area 2 Dive Team out of Madisonville at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, and they weren’t comfortable going into the river.

“They did some visual inspections of the area,” he said. “It looks like the water’s going to have to recede quite a bit. ... It’s too risky for them to try right now. The current is so strong, and there’s still a lot of debris.”

Stringer said National Maintenance and Repair brought in a diver Saturday from Mainstream Commercial Divers in Murray and was told the same thing: “They were not going to put anybody out in those conditions,” Stringer said. “I don’t foresee it for the next couple of weeks. ... It’s been unseasonably wet, there’s been storms. Those contribute quite a bit. It’s really just a waiting game now.”

And waiting is what Turner’s family is doing.

Turner’s wife, Dana Turner, was with her family and some friends Monday. They declined to talk much about Brian Turner.

Tracy Wallace, Dana Turner’s sister, said the couple married five years ago, but knew each other for 15 years before that. Dana Turner wanted to wait until crews recover the body before talking about her husband.

National Maintenance and Repair General Manager Sandy McDaniel referred all questions Monday to Russ Painter, spokesman for the company out of South Point, Ohio.

Painter declined comment about Brian Turner’s history with the company, saying the company wasn’t prepared to release any information Monday.

McCracken County Emergency Management Director Kent King’s crew searched the river from the accident site to the Irvin Cobb Bridge on Monday. He said the search turned from a rescue operation to a recovery effort around 3 a.m. Saturday, when crews called off the search for the night.

The river stayed rough through Monday.

“Our crews did say the river was really rough this morning,” he said. “Pretty choppy, pretty rough. Two-foot swells. ... I have a hard time believing they’re going to dive in that. It’s pretty much inaccessible.

“One of the big problems to worry about are the big trees and logs coming down. ... Logs weighing several tons, traveling at six miles per hour.”

He said some of the logs float just below the surface. Some members of his rescue crew told him Monday that they were standing on a barge, watching the search when a tree hit the barge they were standing on and violently shook it.

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Kentucky Plane Crash Details Could Boost Case for Punitive Damages

Ky. Plane Crash Details Could Boost Case for Punitive Damages
By Brett Barrouquere
January 23, 2007

When Comair Flight 5191 crashed shortly on takeoff in August at Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport , the parents of 16-year-old Paige Winters thought she died instantly.

Documents released this week show a contributing factor in Winters' death was smoke inhalation — proof that she was alive when the plane caught fire after crashing, said Brad Manson, an Overland Park, Kan., attorney representing the Winters family.

"The only consolation the Winters' had was the thought that their daughter died on the impact and didn't suffer in this horrific fire,' Manson said. "That just conjures up an enormous amount of pain and agony.'

That pain and agony could cost Comair, based outside Cincinnati in Erlanger, Ky., as well as others involved in the crash, according to attorneys representing victims' families in lawsuits.

Autopsy summaries released with other documents related to the crash show that 16 people survived the initial impact. That revelation, along with possible violations of Comair and Federal Aviation Administration policies, could leave the airline, the airplane's builder and the Lexington airport open to punitive damages in lawsuits stemming from the crash, attorneys involved in the cases say.

"Comair is clearly liable,' Manson said. "I think there's punitive exposure here.'

The aircraft, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 (CRJ-100), crashed on takeoff from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport after the pilots taxied on to the wrong runway — one that was too short for a passenger jet.

National Transportation Safety Board documents outlining the initial investigation into the crash that killed 49 of the 50 people on board revealed that co-pilot James Polehinke and pilot Jeffrey Clay partook in casual conversation about their families, pets and job prospects before takeoff. Comair has acknowledged the pilots violated the FAA's "sterile cockpit' rule, which bans nonessential conversation during critical times.

The documents also point to a systemwide failure that morning — from a undermanned control tower to a lack of lights on the runway to the pilots themselves — that led to the crash, attorneys said.

The issue of the plane's crash worthiness and construction need to be analyzed before any definitive conclusions about Bombardier's liability could be drawn, said Robert Clifford, a Chicago-based aviation law specialist representing several of the families.

"It's all about money. At the end of the day, these families are going to be compensated for their losses,' Clifford said. "Only time will tell by whom and how much.'

David Fiol, a San Francisco-based attorney representing four families, said the documents confirm the negligence of the Comair pilots. But, Fiol said, the documents also show that the FAA and the airport might have done things differently.

Polehinke's attorney, Bruce Brandon of North Carolina, said a systemwide failure of airport safeguards such as no runway lights and bad maps of the airport led to the crash, not simply the pilots chatting in the cockpit before takeoff.

"When the system fails, horrible things happen,' Brandon said.

Kate Marx, a spokeswoman for Comair, said she couldn't address the specifics of the litigation, but the investigation into the crash has found multiple factors that contributed to the tragedy. Comair is working on improving its faults, something all airlines should look to do, Marx said.

"Comair, like all air carriers, has a responsibility to safely transport our passengers, but safety is just as much the responsibility of the other organizations involved in commercial aviation,' Marx said. "In our case, we've pinpointed those organizations to include the airport and FAA.'

Manson said the crash and revelations about it are still affecting his clients in Leawood, Kan.

He said the Winters family is still grieving the loss of their daughter.

"They have good days and bad days,' Manson said. "This did not make for a good day for them.'

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Search Continues for Missing Kentucky Towboat Worker

Search to continue for missing crewman
The missing man has been idenitified as Brian Turner of Carlisle County.
AP State Headlines
Monday, January 22, 2007

LEDBETTER, Ky. — Divers will visit the sunken tugboat Bruce D today as part of the continued search for a missing crewman.

There has been no sign of Brian Turner, 42, of Carlisle County, since about 10 p.m. Friday, when the boat sank in 38-degree water near Owens Island in the Ohio River.

Raymond Alexander Lang and Steven Fuller, the two crewmen Ingram Barge Co. towboat workers rescued from the water, had conflicting stories about seeing Turner. One said he made it out with a life vest. The other did not know if he made it out.

Lang remained in stable condition Sunday at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah. Fuller was discharged Saturday.

The divers, from the Kentucky Office of Emergency Management’s Area 2 Dive Team, will dive to check the boat and surrounding area only if it is safe to do so, said Livingston County Emergency Management Director Brent Stringer, who is heading the search.

Livingston County emergency workers spent from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday searching along the river’s shoreline before rain and cold weather forced them indoors.

“We made trips from the crash site to the Brookport Bridge on both sides of the river and didn’t find anything,” Stringer said.

The cause of the boat’s sinking cannot be determined until it can be raised from the riverbottom, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. It sank within a few minutes, so quickly that the crewmen were not able to send a distress call. The tugboat is owned by National Maintenance and Repair of Kentucky, based in Paducah. It is a subsidiary of McGinnis Inc. of Cincinnati.

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Towboat Accident in Kentucky Leaves One Man Missing and Authorities Fearing the Worst While Heroic Effort Saves Two

Ingram crew saves 2 on river
Fast-moving Ohio searched for 3rd person from sunken tug
BARKLEY THIELEMAN/The Sun
Towboat traffic is brisk after the Coast Guard reopened the Ohio River between Smithland and Paducah on Saturday. The river had been closed since the previous night’s accident.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

The voices in despair sounded as though there were people in the Ohio River, which seemed unlikely late Friday because no emergency signals had been dispatched from any river vessels.

Acting quickly, crewmen of the motor vessel O.A. Franks followed the sounds of the voices and ran searchlights across the frigid water until they caught the images of two men in life vests near the Illinois side of the river, across from the Paducah riverfront at Broadway. The men in the 38-degree water were with the crew of the tugboat Bruce D, which sank about four miles away in Livingston County on Friday night.

Capt. John Bivens and pilot Shane Brown steered the Franks toward the men, while Capt. Donnie Gifford kept the motor vessel Terry Gifford to the rear of the Franks. The crews of the Franks and Gifford, both owned by Ingram Barge Co. in Paducah, were assembling barges for towing when the distress calls were heard about 11 p.m. Friday.

The Franks crewmen threw a line with a life ring to the two men and pulled them from the swollen river, while the Gifford crew notified emergency agencies, said Ingram spokesman Keel Hunt in Nashville, Tenn. The rescued men were identified by the Coast Guard as Raymond Alexander Lang, 33, of Metropolis, Ill., and Steven Fuller, 46, of Benton.

However, the third crewman from the sunken tugboat remained missing Saturday night after rescue agencies searched the river all day from Livingston to Ballard counties. That person’s name was not released.

The two rescued crewmen were taken to Western Baptist Hospital. Fuller was discharged Saturday. Lang remained in stable condition.

A big concern for rescue crews was whether weather would allow the search to continue today. The forecast called for up to 112 inches of snow by this morning. Conditions on Saturday did not work in the favor of the rescue crews, who faced swift currents, high water, and massive amounts of logs and other debris floating down the river.

“We’re monitoring the weather because that’s our biggest problem. It’s supposed to turn bad, but we’ll play it by ear,” Livingston County Emergency Management Director Brent Stringer said. “With the debris and the current, we had to suspend the search at dark (Saturday) because at nighttime we can’t see, and it’s dangerous with those conditions.”

Part of Saturday’s search included breaking up large tows that were moored along the Illinois side of the river, Stringer said.

The McCracken County Office of Emergency Management originally organized the search and rescue, but jurisdiction switched to Livingston County after the tugboat was found there.

Some of the questions that remained unanswered Saturday were what caused the tugboat to sink and why it went down so fast. The tugboat is owned by National Maintenance and Repair of Kentucky, based in Paducah. It is a subsidiary of McGinnis Inc. of Cincinnati.

The tugboat had been in a fleeting area near Owens Island and was moving barges one at a time into a large tow when it sank within a few minutes, according to Lt. Jeffery Chapman, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Paducah.

“All we know now is that it went down rapidly,” Chapman said. “We won’t know the cause until we can raise it and do a complete investigation.”

It also was unclear what time the tugboat sank. Judging from the distance the men traveled and the current, rescue crews estimated that the tugboat could have sunk around 10 p.m. Friday.

The tugboat went down so quickly that its crewmen said they did not have time to send a distress signal, McCracken Rescue Squad Chief Bob Wise said.

It may take several days to allow river conditions to improve before divers can raise the tugboat, Chapman said.

Hunt praised the Ingram crews for their quick action.

“It certainly is an unfortunate situation, but one of the great traditions in the maritime industry is crews from other vessels coming to the aid of another crew in distress,” Hunt said.

Initially, there was some doubt if the third crewman managed to leave the sinking vessel. The other crewmen were suffering from hypothermia and trauma when they were pulled from the river and gave conflicting statements before being taken to a hospital, Wise said.

“One said he made it out with a life vest and a life ring, like a buoy, and the other said he did not know if the man made it out,” Wise said.

However, Chapman said there were reports that all three made it into the water.

“We have no reason to think he’s still on the boat,” Chapman said.

The tugboat, also called a harbor tug, is between 50 and 60 feet long and was discovered shortly before 11:30 a.m. Saturday at mile marker 931.4 in Livingston County near Ledbetter. Searchers reported that the vessel was lying on its port, or left, side in approximately 50 feet of water and about 300 feet off the Illinois bank, Wise said.

It will be National Maintenance’s responsibility to raise the vessel, Chapman said. According to a company Web site, McGinnis operates six subsidiaries, including National Maintenance and Repair. Efforts to reach the company for comment were not successful Saturday.

The Coast Guard marked the area where the McGinnis tugboat sank with lighted buoys. The river reopened to navigation about 4:30 p.m.

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Hospital Infections: Deadly Serious

Staph and other hospital infections are estimated to kill approximately 100,000 people a year. The fix would be easy and inexpensive. What are HMO's and hospital chains doing about it? Nothing.

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Texas judge enters $8.7 mln Vioxx verdict vs Merck

NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A Texas judge has entered a verdict of about $8.7 million against Merck & Co. over its withdrawn Vioxx painkiller, according to documents provided on Thursday by the company.

A jury in Starr County, Texas had awarded $32 million in April to the family of a 71-year-old man, Leonel Garza, who had taken the drug. A judgment by Judge Alex Gabert entered Dec. 21 reduced the punitive damages in the case, pursuant to state limits.

for more information, follow the link below.

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Police cracking down on DUIs, seatbelts

The Campbell County Police Department took 20 drunk drivers off the road in December.

That's almost a quarter of the 82 drunk driver's the department arrested in a year's time. It's also an increase for the month of December. In December 2005 the department made 11 DUI arrests.

The increase was part of a nationwide crackdown "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest," said Chief Keith Hill.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Airport blames crew, Comair for fatal crash

A federal court document filed by Blue Grass Airport blames the airline and flight crew for the crash of Comair Flight 5191 and contends the airport shares no blame for the crash and loss of 49 lives.

For more information, follow the link below.

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New Software helps insurers avoid Fair Settlements

Big insurers are using a database software to automate unfair settlement offers.

For the whole story, follow the link below.

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W.Va., Ohio residents settle Ohio River sunken barge lawsuit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Property owners who claimed a January 2005 Ohio River barge accident damaged their riverfront property have agreed to settle their lawsuits for unspecified damages.

Charleston lawyer Harry Deitzler said Friday the 113 property owners agreed to settle, but under the terms of the agreement he could not release details.

The Ohio and West Virginia property owners sued American Electric Power, AEP subsidiary Memco LLC and B&H Towing Co. for damages caused by the barge accident at the Belleville Locks and Dam.

For more information, follow the link below.

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Pro-Civil Justice Candidates Dominate on Election Day

Repeated Attacks on the Civil Justice System Fail On Election Day

(Washington, DC)- With returns still coming in, candidates who support
the civil justice system have won, while the vast majority of campaigns
attacking the civil justice system and trial lawyers failed.

"This election destroyed a popular Karl Rove myth -- the truth is that
trial attorneys are winning, attacks on trial attorneys are backfiring
and opponents of the civil justice system are losing," said Jon Haber,
CEO of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA).

Voters chose trial attorneys to represent them in Washington. Of the 17
trial attorneys who ran, 13 won and two are still too close to call. It
is important to note that while a significant number of Democratic
pro-civil justice candidates won, no pro-civil justice Republican
incumbent lost their seat.

ATLA played a significant role in electing candidates who support
justice.

* ATLA PAC supported 296 candidates running for the Senate and
House offices across the country, giving more than $2.5
million. Of these, X candidates won.

* In the final month of the election, ATLA members contributed
more than $900,000 to 41 targeted House races. Nearly
$500,000 of this was contributed by ATLA members online during
this final push. Half of these contributions were $200
orless.

* ATLA members contributed more than $20 million to pro-civil
justice Senate candidates.

* ATLA ran a number of issue ads highlighting the support of some
members of Congress for a corporate agenda that puts bottom lines
before the health and safety of the public. The ads ran in the states
of U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (MT) and Rick Santorum (PA), as well
as U.S. Representatives Don Sherwood (PA-10), Chris Chocola (IN-2),
Heather Wilson NM-1), Charles Taylor (NC-11), and Deborah Pryce
(OH-15).

Civil justice issues played prominently in a number of races and in all,
pro-civil justice candidates prevailed. Those races are as follows:

Iowa's 1st Congressional District

Civil justice issues played a prominent role in the campaign for the
open House seat in Iowa's 1st Congressional District. Throughout the
campaign, Republican nominee Mike Whalen highlighted his support of tort
"reform," and he repeatedly attacked his opponent, Rep.-elect Bruce
Braley, a trial attorney, for so-called "lawsuit abuse." In fact, the
Des Moines Register noted that Whalen's campaign "has hit hard on
Braley's representing plaintiffs in lawsuits" and used these attacks at
the "centerpiece" of their advertising campaign. Three of Whalen's
television ads attacked Braley for allegedly filing so-called
"frivolous" lawsuits, which the ads claimed forced jobs and businesses
out of Iowa, and drove up health care costs. The National Republican
Congressional Committee paid for a fourth attack ad that labeled Braley
a "greedy trial lawyer." The total cost for broadcasting all four of
these ads was estimated at more than $560,000.

In addition to these attack ads, Whalen's campaign website
claimed that the "only winners under our current [civil justice] system
are a handful of liberal trial lawyers who don't care if we drive every
job overseas," and added "[i]t's time to get serious about real tort
reform and curtail the flurry of frivolous lawsuits." He even made tort
"reform" a part of his "Contract for American Jobs" proposal.

Despite his prominent use of tort "reform" issues, Whalen
lost the election. Braley defeated Whalen by a margin of 12 percent.

Florida's 22nd Congressional District

In the campaign for Florida's 22nd Congressional district, Rep. Clay
Shaw and the National Republican Congressional Committee attacked
Rep.-elect Ron Klein for accepting campaign contributions from trial
attorneys, and for his opposition to a tort "reform" proposal in the
Florida State Senate. For instance, the NRCC aired an attack ad which
claimed that Klein "...voted against lawsuit reform and sided with trial
lawyers and their jackpot lawsuits..." Another ad from the NRCC noted
that Klein accepted campaign contributions from trial attorneys the same
month that he opposed the "lawsuit reform" proposal As the Capitol Hill
newspaper reported, Shaw's campaign also "attacked the state senator's
ties to trial lawyers..." ["Battlegrounds," The Hill, 7/11/06] When
asked to comment on Klein's campaign contributions, Gail Gitcho, Shaw's
spokeswoman, noted that the contributions indicate that Klein was "...a
friend to the sugar industry, lobbyists and trial lawyers."

Shaw's website also highlighted his support for medical malpractice
"reform," stating that "...we cannot allow frivolous lawsuits to dictate
the ability of a doctor to practice medicine, especially those doctors
who specialize in high risk procedures." An ad paid for by the American
Medical Association's Political Action Committee used a similar message
when it praised Shaw. While not attacking Rep.-elect Klein, the ad
noted that Shaw "...took on the powerful special interests and protected
patients' access to needed emergency care by reducing lawsuit abuse."

Rep.-elect Ron Klein defeated Shaw by a margin of four
percent.


Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate Seat

Since Senator Rick Santorum was the lead sponsor of a major medical
malpractice bill in the Senate, it wasn't surprising that malpractice
"reform" was among the issues that he, and his allies, used in his
campaign with Senator-elect Bob Casey. In September, Santorum spent
more than $450,000 to broadcast an ad that attacked Casey for accepting
campaign contributions from "trial lawyers and personal injury
attorneys." The ad also noted that Casey's opposition to "financial
caps on medical liability cases" will "drive away more Pennsylvania
doctors and raise our health care costs." Santorum's ad came a few
weeks after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent more than $67,000 on a
television ad praising Santorum for "...working to reform the legal
system, to stop lawsuit abuse and skyrocketing costs that are hurting
healthcare."

Casey defeated Santorum by a wide margin, 59 percent to 41
percent.

New York's 24th Congressional District

While other issues were certainly at the forefront in the campaign for
New York's 24th Congressional district, the NRCC did use the issue of
medical malpractice "reform" to attack Rep.-elect Michael Arcuri in two
television ads. Both ads attacked Arcuri for accepting "thousands" from
trial attorneys, and claimed that "jackpot lawsuits" drive up health
care costs and force doctors to leave New York State. Combined, both ads
cost the NRCC more than $100,000.

Arcuri defeated State Senator Raymond Meier by a margin
of nine percent.

Ohio's 18th Congressional District

In the race to replace convicted former-Rep. Bob Ney in Ohio's 18th
Congressional district, the NRCC used the medical malpractice issue in
an attack ad against Rep.-elect Zack Space. The ad criticized Space for
stating that increased health care costs have almost nothing to do with
"frivolous litigation," and noted that the "trial lawyers who fund his
campaign" have made "plenty" off the current malpractice system.
Another ad from the NRCC noted that Space was a lawyer, and stated "[n]o
matter how tough things get for the rest of us, lawyers tend to do
well."

The Republican nominee in the race, State Senator Joy
Padgett, also used the medical malpractice issue to attack Rep.-elect
Space. Her campaign website claimed that "[w]idespread lawsuit abuse
(from personal injury attorneys like Zack Space) has resulted in sky
rocketing medial liability insurance premiums, costs that are passed on
to patients and have driven many doctors out of practice." In addition,
Padgett used tort "reform" as a part of her health care reform plan.
According to the Chillicothe Gazette, "Padgett said she plans to focus
on three health care priorities, if elected: small business health
plans, tort reforms and health savings accounts." [Chillicothe Gazette
(Ohio), 10/25/06]

Padgett lost to Space by a margin of 24 percent.



###

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Controversial Kentucky Plane Crash Attorney Fights Back Against Lawyer Criticism in the Wake of the Tragic Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash

I agree with the many folks that think the Lawyers Ads placed in the Lexington Newspapers days after the Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash in Kentucky were tacky. I almost think that is an understatement. But there are some things most people need to know and it is time that a Kentucky Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney stepped up and explained the situation.

Point Number One: All of the ads that were posted in the Lexington papers days after the Flight 5191 Crash were placed by OUT OF STATE ATTORNEYS. The ads came from Chicago and New York and other major Metropolitan Areas. These "Tacky" Law Firms had very little to no compassion for our communities and the families of these vicitims. Since I went to undergraduate school in Lexington, I consider this my community. In times of Crisis, Communities such as Lexington, Ky need time to heal. They need time to grieve and time to think before being bombarded by Ads from OUT OF STATE LAW FIRMS LOOKING FOR A CASE.

Point Number Two: You should be proud of those in the Kentucky Bar Association, Our Attotrney General and members of the Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys. It was member of these organizations that stepped to the forefront to answer many of the Unanswered Questions. First, Attorney's Offices state wide took time to comfort Citizens of the Commonwealth and answer their Questions about this Tragedy. These Lawyer services took time away from other cases and their daily routines. This happens to us all the time and goes unnoticed. Hurrican Katrina, 911 and anytime there is National Tragedy such as Flight 5191, we feel a duty to answer questions, if we can. If we can't we network and research until we get the answers and then get back with those who asked the questions.

Point Number Three: Thank God for Attorneys like Robert Clifford and David Wombles who stepped up and answered the call to hold Comair and the Lexington Airport accountable for this Tragedy. They wasted no time once they were contacted by members of one family in making sure that one day these Negligent Parties would have to make amends and explain to a Jury of the People of the Commonwealth, exactly what happened. I don't know these Lawyers personally but I hope to meet them one day and express my gratitude. After all, as Member of the Kentucky Bar Association, we lost one of our cherished and most talented Attorneys, Mr. Leslie Morris.

Point Number Four: Lawyers in the State of Kentucky are held to a STRICT STANDARD OF ETHYICS. We must abide by these standards or lose our lisence to Practice Law. Our Attorney General sent us a reminder only days after the Flight 5191 Tragedy reminding us that we are not to solicit families of the Vicitms for 30 days under Kentucky Law and 45 days under Federal Law. Any Lawyer found violating these rules would be punished.

Point Number Five: The Insurance Companies and Airlines don't have STRICT STANDARD OF ETHICS. IT MADE ME SICK when I read that Comair and their Insurance Companies were offering families of the Victims $25,000.00 for their Negligence and for the Wronguful Death of these passengers. Hopefully these families sought the advice of a Lawyer when these offers were made. A Kentucky Lawyer will help them understand the situation, the claims available to them and allow them to make an Educated decison based on the facts and the law. Shame on Comair and its Insurance Carrier and please do not Humiliate and Insult the People of this great State with such an INEPT OFFER AGAIN!

Point Number Five: Contact friends and family and get this message out that Ethical Kentucky Lawyers are not the problem in this situation. Ethical Kentucky Lawyers will aid in the Solution. Call the Attorney General's Office and let them know that you are proud to be a Kentuckian and that you are proud of the way your Kentucky Bar handles itself in times of National Crisis.

Last Point: Go to my website at daryltdixonlaw.com and sound off on these and related issues. Let me know and I will alert other Kentucky Lawyers and to how Citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky are dealing with possibly the worst tragedy in this States History.

Most Respectfully,

Daryl T. Dixon
Attorney At Law

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Family of Rebecca Adams Files First Lawsuit in the Fatal Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash in Kentucky

The family of Rebecca Adams was the first to file a Lawsuit as a result of the Fatal Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash in Lexington, Kentucky. The family, who is represented by Robert Clifford of the Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, Illinois and Bobby Wombles and Chad Wadlington of Wombles and Waddlington of Lexington, Kentucky, filed a Notice against Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board a well as a Civil Complaint against Comair.

In the official Press Release the Family through their attorneys state that the importance of filing the notice Friday September 1, 2006, is a Kentucky State Statute that could apply to this action requiring that notice of any potential claims against the Lexington Airport be filed WITIHIN SEVEN DAYS of the event. Additionally, the family wanted to ask the Court to preserve all evidence involved in the tragic crash that killed 49 of 50 people aboard.

To view the official press release please visit www.cliffordlaw.com under news and publications.

To view the Complaint filed by the Family click on the link to my website.

Daryl T. Dixon

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First Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash Wrongful Death Complaint in Kentucky

Read More About First Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash Wrongful Death Complaint in Kentucky...

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First Lawsuit Filed in the Comair 5191 Kentucky Plane Crash

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Air Traffic Controller in Comair Flight 5191 Crash Had Two Hours Sleep Leading up to the Fatal Plane Crash in Kentucky

Read More About Air Traffic Controller in Comair Flight 5191 Crash Had Two Hours Sleep Leading up to the Fatal Plane Crash in Kentucky...

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Merck Ordered to Pay $51 Million in Louisiana

New Orleans, La-- Merck and Co. was hit with a $51 Million Verdict by a Federal Jury. The Jury ordered the drugmaker to pay retired FBI agent Gerald Barnett $50 Million in Compensatory Damages and added $1 Million in Punitive Damages. The New Orleans Jury found that Merck "knowingly misrepresented or failed to disclose" informaiton about Vioxx to Barnett's Doctors.

The Federal Jury found that Merck "acted inh wanton, malicious, willful or reckless disregard for the Plaintiff's rights."

Source: Paducah Sun, August 18, 2006

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Kentucky Trial Attorney Killed on Comair Flight 5191 Plane Crash in Lexington

Lexington, Ky, August 28, 2006-- Leslie W. Morris, a member ot the Stoll, Keenon,, Ogden Law Firm in Lexington, Ky along with his wife Kaye were killed in the tragic plane crash known as Flight 5191 headed to Atlanta, Ga. Mr. Morris had been practicing law for 49 years and was known around the Commonwealth and the Country as a highly respected Trial Lawyer.
He and his wife Kaye were headed to Alaska on vacation.

Mr. Morris practiced mainly in Condemnation Work and Products Liability Defense. He was a member of the Kentucky Bar Association and the highly prestigous American College of Trial Lawyers.

He will be sorely missed among the Kentucky Bar Members. I wish his family members the best in dealing with this tragedy and they will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Daryl T. Dixon
Attorney At Law

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