On May 1, 2007, at 4 p.m., Jenna Vatalaro, a 19 year old college student, was driving her car westbound on Montauk Highway near its intersection with Atlantic Avenue in the hamlet of Blue Point in Suffolk County when her car was struck by a 35 foot long Suffolk County transit bus. Ms Vatalaro sustained… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Pre-Death Pain and Suffering
Punitive Damages Assessed in Medical Malpractice Case
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Punitive DamagesOn October 26, 2009, when six year old Claudialee Gomez Nicanor was examined by her pediatrician, a test revealed that her blood had an excessive amount of glucose so she was referred to an endocrinologist in Elmhurst, Dr. Arlene Basa Mercado. On October 31, 2009, Dr. Mercado examined Claudialee and diagnosed obesity and impaired tolerance of… Continue Reading
Appellate Court Affirms Liability Verdict and Modifies Damages Awarded by Jury in Truck-Pedestrian Fatality Case
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn May 10, 2007, Ivan Hernandez Morales, then 21 years old, was killed in a work-related accident when a private garbage truck lurched backward and he was pinned and crushed against a dumpster in a driveway off 37th Street in Astoria. Mr. Morales was employed as a helper on the truck owned by his employer… Continue Reading
Crane Collapse Case Wrongful Death Awards Modified
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn May 30, 2008, crane operator Donald Leo and laborer Ramadan Kurtaj were working at a building construction site in Manhattan. Mr. Leo was inside a crane’s cab 14 stories above East 91st Street and Mr. Kurtaj was working on the street below. Shortly before 8 a.m.,the crane tilted, rocked and then sheared off of… Continue Reading
Damages Verdict for Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Affirmed in Yard-Work Vehicle Tragedy
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn March 11, 2007, Elias Fasolas was operating a Bobcat S175 skid-steer loader with a bucket attachment when a limb from a nine-foot-tall tree entered the open operator cab, crushing him against the rear and ceiling of the cab and killing him. Mr. Fasolas was 28 years old, lived with his parents in Port Jefferson… Continue Reading
Economic Damages Addressed on Appeal in Wrongful Death Case
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn December 14, 2011, Suzanne Hart was entering the elevator in the lobby of the building where she worked, at 285 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, when the elevator malfunctioned and suddenly shot upward while its doors were still open. The moving elevator struck her at about knee level causing her to fall into the elevator… Continue Reading
Jury Verdict Declining to Award Damages Affirmed in Fatal Pedestrian Knockdown Case
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn January 29, 2013, at about 7:30 p.m., Juan Estevez was attempting to cross Sunrise Highway at its intersection with Henry Street in Freeport when he was struck by a left turning vehicle. Mr. Estevez, 64 years old, sustained massive injuries in and about his head, ribs and sternum. He was pronounced dead at the… Continue Reading
Appeals Court Upholds Verdict in Unwitnessed Fatal Pedestrian Knockdown Accident
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn October 29, 2006, a woman was found dead on the road four feet from the curb of a bus stop on the Henry Hudson Parkway service road at West 236th Street in the Bronx. There were tire marks across her back and she’d sustained crush induced fractures of her arms, face, pelvis, shoulder and… Continue Reading
Appellate Court Addresses Damages in Fatal Car Crash Case
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn January 24, 2004, Col. (retired) William Gardner sustained fatal injuries when the vehicle he was driving struck and vaulted over an interstate highway’s snow-covered barrier in Syracuse and fell to the street below. We discussed the ensuing lawsuit in previous articles, here and here. In Gardner v. State of New York (4th Dept. 2015) almost… Continue Reading
Appellate Court Addresses Pre-Impact Terror, Conscious Pain and Suffering and Pecuniary Damages in Pedestrian Knockdown Wrongful Death Case
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn December 2, 2009 at about 7 p.m., a woman was walking across the street at the intersection of Avenue U and East 71st Street in Brooklyn. A city bus driver had stopped for a red light before turning right onto Avenue U when his bus struck and killed the pedestrian, 65 year old Virginia… Continue Reading
Verdict Affirmed in Delayed Diagnosis Medical Malpractice Death Case
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathBennett Rose underwent three colonoscopies – on January 3, 2003, December 14, 2006 and October 11 2007, each indicating the presence of polyps (which were removed), none indicating any malignancy or cancer. About two months after the third test, though, Mr. Rose, then 72 years old, started feeling unusually weak and tired. He was diagnosed… Continue Reading
Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Damages Reduced in Medical Malpractice Case
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathIn 2002, Ciciline Reid was a 49 year old grandmother who worked seven days a week as a home health aide. On July 28th, she presented to the Montefiore Medical Center emergency room complaining of swelling on the side of her neck and pain on swallowing that was diagnosed as a sore throat and gland… Continue Reading
Appellate Court Addresses Damages in Medical Malpractice Death Case
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathWilbur Rodriguez, a 44 year old postal worker, went to a hospital emergency room in Manhattan at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, January 24, 2009. He complained of shortness of breath that started the day before, fever and chills. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and, after 12 hours in the ER, admitted and assigned a room…. Continue Reading
Substantial Awards in Medical Malpractice Case for Pre-Death Pain and Suffering and Costs of Care of Decedent’s Disabled Adult Child
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathOn Wednesday June 18, 2008, Nam Yoon Lee woke up with stabbing pain on the right side of his stomach. He went with his wife to the emergency room at a hospital in Queens where morphine was administered, tests led to a diagnosis of gallbladder disease and a plan was made to surgically remove his… Continue Reading
State of New York Liable for Damages in Two Cases involving Roadway Fatalities
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn January 23, 2004, Jason Rhoades sustained fatal injuries when the vehicle he was driving slid across the roadway over a bridge on Interstate 81 in Syracuse, struck a snowbank packed against the concrete barrier guard at the edge of the bridge, and his car vaulted off the bridge to the road below. Thirty-six hours… Continue Reading
Appellate Court Rules on Conscious Pain and Suffering Damages in Case Invovling Death at Scene of Bus Accident
Posted in Wrongful DeathLourdes Fernandez was 68 years old on July 2, 2008 when, at about 1:30 p.m., she was crossing Madison Street near its intersection with Jackson Street in Manhattan. She was struck by a left turning bus and died at the scene. Her son, Roberto Santana, as administrator of his mother’s estate, sued the bus driver… Continue Reading
Damage Awards Affirmed in Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Case
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathHermine Browne, a 58 year old nurse’s aide, was experiencing excruciating stomach pain when she went to see her internist on February 17, 2001. The doctor diagnosed her with irritable bowel syndrome and prescribed medication. Unfortunately, the pain continued (and the same diagnosis was made) through March of 2002 when a sonogram and then a… Continue Reading
Court Affirms Pain and Suffering Award in Wrongful Death Car Crash Case – Passenger Conscious for 39 Minutes
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn August 11, 2008, Elvia Collado was 22 years old and working as a counselor for developmentally disabled kids while attending college at night. That was the day she died when Waldo Vargas, her boyfriend of three years, crashed his car while driving intoxicated on the Belt Parkway at Springfield Boulevard in Queens. He lost… Continue Reading
Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Verdict of $3,500,000 Upheld on Appeal in Death of Ten Year Old Girl
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathAnna Gloria Rivera was born in 1988 and within three months she was diagnosed with asthma (a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways). Growing up, she used a nebulizer with Albuterol to alleviate her symptoms but from time to time suffered from asthma attacks that would sometimes end up with emergency room treatment before she’d be released back to her… Continue Reading
Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Verdict of $3,000,000; Case Dismissed on Appeal
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathTragedy struck on January 28, 2004 when four year old Nico Rivera died. He’d fallen ill on December 22nd with what appeared to be flu-like symptoms and over the next 4 1/2 weeks, his parents took him several times both to and from his pediatrician’s office and the hospital. After his second seizure, Nico stopped… Continue Reading
$1,000,000 Affirmed for 7 1/2 Months of Pre-Death Pain and Suffering; 68 Year Old Underwent Successful Heart Surgery but Post-Op Feeding Tube Caused Stomach Perforation and Leakage Leading to Fatal Cardiac Arrest
Posted in Medical Malpractice, Wrongful DeathOn June 11, 2001, Gerald Frenchman, who’d been asymptomatic and in generally good health, underwent routine cardiac testing which revealed coronary artery blockage and valve disease. A triple coronary bypass surgery was successfully done right away but a few months later, he was diagnosed with right sided heart failure. On October 4th, Mr. Frenchman underwent… Continue Reading
Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Jury Verdict of $3,000,000 Overturned on Appeal Because Death Occurred Instantly and Decedent was Unaware Police Officer Had Drawn Weapon
Posted in Wrongful DeathOn March 1, 2000 at about 6:30 p.m., New York City Police Officer Luis Rivera was patrolling a high crime area in the Bronx. He was with members of his special narcotics unit and he was acting undercover, in plainclothes. Noticing four men acting suspiciously at the entrance to a four story building on Boynton… Continue Reading
Lawsuit Involving Death of Six Year Old Boy Hit by Oxygen Tank While Undergoing MRI Test Settles on Verge of Trial for $2,900,000
Posted in Wrongful DeathWe wrote about this tragic case last August, here, and can now report that the estate of Michael Colombini has settled all of the claims arising out of his death in 2001. Bearing full responsibility, Westchester County Health Care Corp. (the formal name of Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York) has agreed to pay $2,900,000. Michael Colombini had… Continue Reading
Tobacco Manufacturer Wins Dismissal and New Trial of $20,000,000 Punitive Damages Verdict in Smoker’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Posted in Punitive Damages, Wrongful DeathThe purpose of punitive damages in personal injury lawsuits is to act as a punishment to the offensive defendant and as a deterrent or warning to others. They are awarded in addition to the plaintiff’s compensatory damages (i.e., pain and suffering, loss of earnings and medical expenses); however, they are only available when a defendant’s conduct… Continue Reading