St. Louis Injury Attorney Blog

The St. Louis haunted house "The Darkness," located in Soulard, is being sued for wrongful death stemming from the November 2010 death of a local teen, Brittney Holmes. The actual entity named as a defendant is Halloween Productions, Inc., which ran the haunted house.

Holmes visited the haunted house in October 2009, and felt sick on her ride home. She spent almost a year in a vegetative state, before dying in November 2010. Her medical bills totaled around $1 million. Holmes had suffered from many allergies and asthma. The haunted house piped in artificial smells and fog in order to enhance the haunted house experience. These air particulates are alleged to have caused Holmes's death. Halloween Productions, Inc. alleges that it posted signs warning customers who had respiratory problems not to enter the house.

A Rolla, Missouri woman was awarded $150,000 from a jury for her husband's wrongful death stemming from an auto accident. Majdi Najm was driving with his wife, Shahla Keyvan, when they were struck by a pick up truck driven by a 17 year old. Najm died instantly. The driver of the truck who struck their car was charged with failure to yield, and fined $150 in municipal court.

Both the driver and her father were named as defendants in the law suit. The father was named, because he allegedly allowed his daughter to drive to school with messages painted on her windows, which obstructed her view. However, the jury found in favor of the father, but against the daughter.

Missouri allows for a spouse to bring a wrongful death action under RSMo. 537.080.

The daughters of a St. Charles man who was struck and killed by an automobile when he stopped to help another driver who had been in a car accident were awarded $150,000 in a settlement with Cincinnati Insurance Company.

Three years earlier, the daughters had settled with the insurance company for $450,000 based on underinsured motorist coverage, for the negligence of the driver who actually hit and killed Lee Widaman. This July 2010 trial was based on uninsured motorist coverage, based on the negligence of the driver who Widaman stopped to help. However, the parties settled this case before trial was complete.

The plaintiffs claimed that the driver who Widaman stopped to help was liable under the "rescue doctrine." In Missouri, the rescue doctrine allows an injured party to recover from the person they attempted to rescue if that person's negligence put him in the position where he needed rescuing. Gray v. Russell, 853 S.W.2d 928 (Mo. 1993).

The Missouri Supreme Court addressed the disclosure of medical records of a defendant in a Missouri wrongful death case stemming out of an automobile accident. In State ex rel. Stinson v. The Honorable Ted House, No. SC90364, the Defendant sought a writ of prohibition preventing the trial court from compelling him to execute an authorization releasing his medical records.

In this case, the Defendant allegedly was driving under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, and the plaintiff alleged that he had a history of drug and/or alcohol use and a history of medical treatment for the same. The decedent's daughter, the plaintiff, sought his medical records pertaining to any substance abuse treatment he may have had.

Continue reading "Missouri Supreme Court discusses physician/patient privilege" »

The former Mayor of St. Louis, Freeman Bosley, Jr., recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming the City of St. Louis, the Police Board, and the Office of the Circuit Attorney negligently caused the death of Larry Griffin, who was executed in 1995 after being convicted of murder in 1981. Bosley filed the suit on behalf of Mae Etta Griffin, Larry Griffin's Mother. The suit alleges the defendants' negligence in conducting the murder investigation ultimately led to Griffin's wrongful conviction and execution.

A Ralls County, Missouri judge awarded the family of a man killed while working on a trench $6.27 million in the Missouri wrongful death case. Timothy Epperson worked for the City of Perry, Missouri, when he was working to clear a obstructed sewer line. The trench collapsed, and Epperson broke his neck and suffocated. He had a wife and 3 sons.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the city's superintendent, Donald Lee Huff. The family of Epperson also has a Missouri workers' compensation claim pending against the City of Perry.

Continue reading "Missouri judge awards $6.27 million judgment in wrongful death lawsuit" »

A Kansas City, Missouri family settled their Missouri medical malpractice and wrongful death suit against Urgent Care of Kansas City and Drs. Robert Frank and Jan Johnson shortly before trial was set to begin.

Andrew Endicott had visited Urgent Care of Kansas City several times for shortness of breath, leg swelling, and other symptoms during 2006. He died September 24, 2006 of deep vein thrombosis. Andrew's parents alleged that the doctors sent him away without conducting the proper tests or giving him the proper diagnosis, which ultimately resulted in his death. The doctors denied the allegations, stating that Andrew had a pre-existing medical condition and his death was unavoidable.

Continue reading "Missouri medical malpractice, wrongful death case ends in settlement" »

A St. Louis federal judge awarded the mother of 3 children who died in a 2009 fire the majority of a $45,000 settlement yesterday. Candice Bishop, the mother of the 3 children killed in the fire, was awarded $35,000, while the father was awarded $10,000. The federal lawsuit was against the company who owned the apartment complex where the fire occurred.

The mother had argued that the father was not entitled to any of the money, because he is to blame for the deaths of her children. Bishop has another Missouri wrongful death case pending in St. Louis County Circuit Court against the father and the children's grandmother, because she alleges that they disconnected a smoke alarm that would have saved her children's lives. She also alleges they started the fire and did not get the children out in time. Both the children's father and grandmother suffered burns in the fire.

Continue reading "St. Louis wrongful death case ends with mother of deceased children receiving most of the settlement" »

The Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled that a wrongful death verdict entered in a Missouri court arising from an automobile accident occurring in Kansas should be reduced in accordance with Kansas law. The verdict, originally totaling $1,200,000, was entered in Jackson County, Missouri, in favor of the family of Ruth Baxter, who was killed in a car accident on Interstate 35 outside of Ottawa, Kansas. Under Missouri law, the entire verdict would stand, as Missouri law does not place a cap on non-economic damages in automobile accident cases. However, under Kansas law, which the Court held governed, non-economic damages are capped at $250,000 in such cases. Hence, because the verdict reflected non-economic damages in excess of $250,000, the verdict was reduced to $500,000.

The Missouri family of a deceased teenager were awarded $325,000 in a Missouri wrongful death case that stemmed from a car accident on June 22, 2007 in Carthage, Missouri.

The family of McKenzie Kisling, 14, of Carthage, brought a wrongful death suit against Chelsea Huffman, 16, also of Carthage, who was the driver of the car. McKenzie and Kayla Story, 16, were killed in a car accident allegedly caused by Huffman, the driver. The jury found that Huffman had difluoroethane in her blood at the time she was driving the car. Difluoroethane is a subsance found in spray paint cans and "canned air" which is often used to clean computer keyboards. People often "huff" the substance in an attempt to get high. The Missouri State Highway Patrol found through its investigation that the girls had gotten the canned air merely 10 minutes before the accident.

Continue reading "Missouri wrongful death case ends in $325,000 award to family of deceased teenager" »

A St. Louis medical malpractice case ended with the jury finding in favor of the defendant SLUCare and against the plaintiff after a 50 minute deliberation on Friday, June 11, 2010. Barbara Williams, of Arkansas, was diagnosed with liver disease in St. Louis, Missouri. The doctor, Dr. Alex Befeler, a doctor at St. Louis University Liver Transplant Center, decided that Williams needed a liver transplant, but that due to Medicaid rules would have to have the evaluation and any transplant surgery done in Arkansas, where she resided. Williams eventually died, 6 weeks after the evaluation for a liver transplant began in Arkansas.

Williams's family alleged that Dr. Befeler should have evaluated Williams himself in St. Louis. Williams had already been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver prior to seeing Dr. Befeler. When she first saw Dr. Befeler, he diagnosed her with cirrhosis with autoimmune hepatitis overlap, and ordered treatment with prednisone, weekly lab work, and told her to come visit once a month.

Continue reading "St. Louis jury finds for defendant SLUCare in Missouri medical malpractice case" »

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed a verdict entered in favor of the defendant doctor in a medical malpractice and wrongful death case tried in St. Louis County. At trial, the plaintiff, Elizabeth Mitchell, claimed her Husband's doctor, Dr. Milton Kardesch, committed medical malpractice and caused the wrongful death of her Husband in failing to instruct her to send her Husband to the emergency room during a phone call she made on behalf of her Husband after he awoke from a nightmare clutching his chest. Dr. Kardesch claimed he did instruct Mrs. Mitchell to send her Husband to the emergency room. Mrs. Mitchell's Husband subsequently died from complications arising from myocardial infarction and arteriosclerosis.

The issue on appeal was whether the trial court erred in prohibiting Mitchell's attorney from questioning Dr. Kardesch about a false answer he gave during his deposition. In that regard, Dr. Kardesch testified in deposition that he had never been suspended from practicing medicine, despite the fact his medical license had been suspended in both Missouri and New York. The Supreme Court found error, holding that because Dr. Kardesch's credibility was such an important issue in the case, MItchell's attorney should have been allowed to ask Dr. Kardesch about his inaccurate deposition answer at trial.

Chivas Day, of St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in the St. Louis area traffic accident that killed Matthew Cole, 23, of Maryville, Illinois. Matthew Cole was driving home from work on the Martin Luther King Bridge when Chivas Day, who was driving under the influence of ecstasy and marijuana, crossed the center line and hit Cole's car head-on. Chivas Day was driving over 100 miles per hour, and the police reported that the gas pedal was fully compressed at the time the accident occurred.

Chivas Day also suffered severe personal injuries because of the automobile accident, including a broken leg, arm, neck, and ankle, and had severe head injuries. Urine tests showed the presence of marijuana and ecstasy, but blood tests taken at the hospital did not show the presence of any drugs or alcohol in Day's system. Either way, Day was driving at speeds well over the speed limit when he hit Cole's car. Further, Day was driving with a revoked licensed at the time of the car crash.

St. Charles resident Joseph S. Potter has sued his estranged wife, Alyssa Rae Potter for the death of their son, Wyatt Potter. The St. Charles wrongful death suit was filed in May 2010. Wyatt was 6 weeks old when he died of suffocation. On November 19, 2009, Alyssa had been in charge of watching Wyatt when she drank 3 or 4 glasses of wine before allowing Wyatt to sleep next to her in her bed, where she promptly fell asleep. Wyatt died of suffocation.

Alyssa had been charged with child endangerment but those charges were dropped. A grand jury decided not to indict her. The St. Charles County medical examiner determined Wyatt died of accidental suffocation. Joseph Potter's lawsuit alleges that Alyssa had put Wyatt face down on her bed and then rolled on top of him. Police have determined that they do not know what really happened that night.

Continue reading "St. Charles wrongful death suit filed against mother of baby who died" »

Newton Keene, a St. Louis area man, was sentenced to 28 years in prison today for his role in a traffic accident that killed three. Keene was driving drunk when he drove the wrong way down I-255 in Illinois, and he hit a car driven by Tawanda Jackson, who was driving to her grandmother's funeral with her friend and children. Tawanda, her 9-year old son, and her friend were killed. Tawanda's daughter survived.

Keene was a repeat Missouri DWI offender, as well as having DWIs in Illinois, and had a total of at least 5 DWIs at the time of the crash. He had already served time in prison for his fifth DWI. His blood alcohol content was 0.240 at the time of the incident. Keene pleaded guilty to 3 counts of aggravated drunk driving that resulted in death, and one count of aggravated drunk driving that resulted in bodily injury.

Continue reading "St. Louis area man sentenced to maximum sentence for DWI offense that killed 3" »