Chicago Wrongful Death Lawyer Blog

Anthony DeWeese was involved in a tragic boat accident and as a result his estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard. DeWeese who at the time of his death was eight died in a boat collision when a 36-foot Coast Guard vessel speeding to help a grounded boater in San Diego Bay struck his family's boat.

The family was attending the city's annual Bay Parade of Lights and just trying to enjoy the festivities. According to details in the lawsuit Coast Guard officials knew the crew was not properly trained or supervised. It is also alleged that the Coast Guard boat was traveling 35 to 40 mph when it should have been doing 5 mph in the bay filled with hundreds of other boats.

Aquan Lewis a ten year old student was found hanging in the school bathroom and as a result his parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district. According to details in the lawsuit emergency medical services paramedics quickly resuscitated Lewis after a fellow student at Oakton Elementary School, found him in the bathroom. The official report from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said the death was a suicide.

The lawsuit alleges no one at the school made any attempt to try and find Lewis when he went missing as the other students were lined up for gym class. In cases like this, people believe when they send their child to school, there will be people looking out for the well being and safety of their child. In this case there was something very wrong with the procedures in place at the school for a student to go unnoticed for such a period of time.

A personal injury lawsuit has been filed against Nicor by homeowners Isaias Montes and his wife Rutila, their children, and Fabiola Martinez for injuries they suffered from a gas explosion and fire at the Montes' home in Elgin, Illinois. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were at their home when they detected a strong odor of natural gas. Because they realized how dangerous the situation could become they called Nicor. In short Nicor employees arrived, told them to open a window and said there was no need to evacuate the home while they did some work in the driveway area where the smell originated.

At this point the the Nicor employees began using power tools on the driveway causing an explosion so severe that it knocked out the walls of the house and collapsed the roof causing a fire that destroyed the home. Unfortunately for all of those inside, they were all injured with severe burns. These types of burn injuries are lifechanging. This is a prime example of a company perhaps not training its employees good enough or not having the proper procedures in place.

Joshua Molina Sr. who is one of the parents of a thirteen month old boy killed in a car accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Putiporn Kaewmooka, the driver of the other car. The crash happened near the intersection of Parker and Cicero in Chicago. According to police reports Kaewmooka was driving away from the scene of an earlier accident in which he was at fault and sped into a car driven by Joshua Molina. The resulting car accident killed his son, Joshua junior. The young boy was ejected from the car and killed. Documents in the lawsuit reveal that Kaewmooka was traveling 80 to 90 mph at the time of the crash. He hit the other car so hard it knocked the toddler out the car seat he was fastened to and in to a rear window.

It only got worse for Molina Sr. as two other passengers, Orlando Rodriguez and Aldo Maldanado were also killed and they happen to be his two best friends. Peronsal injury lawsuits like this are usually very painful but necessary to hold those at fault responsible.

"It just kills me inside that I had to lose my only son and my two best friends for no reason." said Joshua Molina Sr.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the estate of Mavis Stonick who was killed when she tried to cross the street. According to the lawsuit the elderly Evanston woman attempted to cross Sheridan Road near Foster Street in Evanston and was struck by a Mercedez-benz driven by Judy Lowrance.

According to witness accounts, Stonick was walking west across Sheridan Road against a light when she was struck by a car which was traveling within the posted speed limit. The main problem invovling this car accident may have been darkness and rainy weather. The lawsuit alleges Lowrance was careless and negligent because she failed to keep a proper lookout and drove to fast for traffic and weather conditions.

The Estate of a 17-year old youth killed in an automobile accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ramada Inn. According to the lawsuit, Nemcheck consumed alcohol at his place of employment, Ramada Inn and subsequently crashed his truck through a fence and into a pond, causing his death. According to published reports, Nemcheck had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent at the time of the car accident. The main claim in the lawsuit is that Ramada Inn allowed him to access and consume alcohol while he worked a 16-hour shift.

Additional facts that are damning to Ramada Inn are there were previous legal proceedings against Ramada for allowing access to alcohol by minors. In ruling so far the Judge made the following findings of facts. First, Nemcheck had unsupervised access to alcohol; second, the bar area was unlocked and alcohol was readily accessible; and lastly, the hotel's bartender left two minors unsupervised for nearly two hours. This case seems ripe for settlement and hopefully the company will put in place better measures to ensure this type of incident does not happen in the future.

The estate of Ralph Seewald settled their wrongful death lawsuit against two nursing homes for an undisclosed sum of money. According to the wrongful death lawsuit, the 87-year old Seeward was subjected to inadequate health care. The lawsuit alleged that Riverside Health Care Center and the Village Health Care Center acted negligently toward Seewald culminating when Seewald fell and fractured his neck as he was being transferred from his wheelchair. As a result of the accident Seewald was unable to get out of bed and ended up dying

A trial in the wrongful death lawsuit was in its final day when the parties reached a settlement. This is typical in lawsuits. Neither party wants to risk what the jury may decide so they both decide to meet in the middle and not take any chances. Waiting until near the end of a trial is very hard on the family because they have to hear all of the testimony about their father and re-live the painful events of the past. Nursing home problems often result in the death or injury of a loved one.

A jury awarded nearly $3 million to the estate of a man who died after his esophagus tore while he was swallowing a piece of steak, finding an Alexandria radiologist liable for misdiagnosing the man's condition as a hiatal hernia. However, as is common practice in various states the jury verdict was reduced to about $1.25 million. People don't realize the impact that caps can have on everyday people. In this case the jury heard all of the evidence and awarded what it believed was a fair amount. In this wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit the facts were that Alvarez ate some steak and felt pain in his throat. He went to the hospital and was told her had a hiatal hernia and was given oral medication for this.

However later that night Alvarez was taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital after complaining of severe pain in his chest. After running tests and taking images, doctors discovered a perforated esophagus. As a result of this, Alvarez ended up dying ten days later from complications related to attempted surgery. When determining a fair amount of money Alvarez should receive his wages should be taken into account. In this case he was making $100,000 a year as a technology specialist for the Defense Information Systems Agency and was retired from the United States Air Force where he was receiving a pension. It's sad that jury awards get reduced in wrongful death cases like this.

Pamela Hoppe of Illinois wanted to lose weight so she signed up for a program with L.A. Weight Loss Center in 2004 and began to take diet supplements. According to the wrongful death lawsuit L.A. Weight Loss Centers recommended a diet and dietary supplements. However the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") does not regulate these supplements. After taking the supplements Hoppe went to Gateway Regional Medical Center complaining of nausea, abdominal fullness and jaundice. She died from liver failure a short time later.

Her administrator filed an eight count lawsuit in Illinois including a count for wrongful death. The estate is seeking voer $50,000 per count and it looks like the parties are close to settling this case. According to her lawsuit L.A. Weight Loss recommended supplements that were not properly tested for safety, failed to warn Hoppe of risks of the supplements, and did not exercise proper quality control.

If there is ever a case that proves you should always get a second opinion regarding medical care this case is it. The Estate of Juan Blanco filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the County who owns the hospital that treated Mr. Blanco after he was diagnosed with cancer given years of radiation and other treatment for the cancer and it turns out he never had cancer. The problem for Blanco started in 2001 when he arrived at the emergency room at Kern Medical Center after suffering a seizure. Doctors there believed he had a cancerous brain tumor and did emergency surgery followed by two months of radiation. The problem was the diagnoses was wrong according to the lawsuit.

Blanco endured almost six years of constant suffering when he collapsed and was rushed to Stanford University Medical Center. Doctors at Stanford told him that all the treatment he received was in error and he did not have cancer and never had cancer. The doctors said Blanco suffered a minor stroke and did not have a tumor or cancer. In a continued remarkable series of events Blanco was taken back to Memorial Hospital in late 2007 suffering from another seizure, and the doctors there told him they needed to resume cancer treatments.
Blanco died in July 2008 from a cerebral hemmorhage and the family claims it was on the spot of the radiation.

"He was like a guinea pig for them," Poot said. "They didn't really know what they were doing.

The estate of Shelia Regal who was killed in a motorcycle crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of James Williamson the motorcycle driver. According to published reports, Regal was a passenger on Williamson’s motorcycle when the motorcycle attempted to pass a pickup. The motorcylce collided with a Chevrolet Camaro driven by 19-year old Kevin Howard causing Regal and Williamson to be thrown over the Camaro. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. When a motorcylce collides head on with an automobile the results are usually fatal.

In what are typical allegations for a wrongful death lawsuit, the allegations says that Williamson was negligent in how he drove the motorcycle, and that Regal could have earned another $750,000 in her lifetime. The amount paid in this type of lawsuit is usually the amount in insurance coverage.

The estate of Jewel Lane filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home that they say caused his death by allowing him to escape. According to the lawsuit, Lane was admitted to defendant Maryville Manor's nursing home on March 24. Obviously when someone enteres a nursing home they are not in the same mental and physical shape as they once were. According to details in the lawsuit on April 7 Lane was allowed to leave the nursing home and surrounding grounds unattended. According to offical reports Lane died on April 7 because of exposure to the elements, pulmonary arrest and hypothermia.

The lawsuit filed in Illinois, seeks damages for financial support, affection and companionship as well as for medical expenses. The lawsuit also alleges the nursing home employees failed to properly supervise Lane to prevent him from leaving the nursing home, failed to provide adequate staff to prevent him from leaving the nursing home unattended, failed to protect him from neglect, failed to timely notify his physician of changes in his condition and failed to assure his environment was free of hazards.

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