Wrongful death lawsuits are often filed by relatives of the deceased when something went wrong with the hospital or doctors who treated the person. But in Putnam County, located in West Virgina, the emergency medical technicians have been blamed in three wrongful death lawsuits within the last several years.
According to an article published in The West Virginia Record, the most recent lawsuit was filed by Mira Suarez Dankiewicz after Darby, her nine-month old son, died. When the EMTs transported him to the hospital, his tracheotomy tube fell out. This left him unable to breathe. Dankiewicz and the Putnam Commission reached a court settlement in which she received $250,000.
Previously, the Putnam Commission had also been sued by Delores Hetzer after her brother, Robert Lee Fitch, had a heart attack while dining at an Applebees restaurant. When the EMTs were transporting him to the hospital the endotracheal tube they inserted came out. Even though doctors reinserted the tube when Fitch arrived at the hospital, he was later pronounced brain dead. The Putnam Commission was then forced to pay $110,000 to Robert Fitch’s estate.
Angela Warner also filed a lawsuit against Putnam when her brother, Arthur Ray Baker, died. In this case, the paramedics made the man, who suffered from asthma, walk down two flights of steps before they would put him on the stretcher. Baker then passed away at the hospital from acute respiratory failure caused by bronchial asthma. As a result, the estate of Arthur Ray Baker received an $85,000 settlement.
State laws concerning wrongful death actions
Attorneys in West Virginia handled wrongful death lawsuits against the Putnam Commission, but if you are thinking of pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit you should speak to an attorney in your area. State laws differ regarding who may file a wrongful death lawsuit and what sort of compensation they are allowed to receive. A Belleveue wrongful death attorney will have a better understanding of their state’s law than, say, a Hawaiian wrongful death lawyer, and vice versa.
While an attorney cannot erase your pain and suffering following the death of a loved one, it is in your best interest to find an attorney with a thorough understanding of the laws that will apply to your wrongful death lawsuit. He or she can guide you through the process of filing suit and help you obtain justice for your deceased love one.
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