Mother’s death leaves family questioning care
According to Dunham’s medical records received from Pinnacle Hospital, the spinal fusion surgery went well. Her family was elated by the news and awaited her return to her room.
Dunham left surgery late that morning complaining of pain.
Prior to the surgery, the Dunham family had apprised hospital staff of their mother’s allergy to codeine and morphine.
It was entered in her medical chart. It was identified on the red tag she wore on her wrist. And in the final presurgery meeting with physicians, Dunham’s children say they reminded anesthesiologist Dr. Nageswar Yelavarthi that their mother was allergic to morphine.
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Car accident wrongful deaths take ….
Our Toledo, Ohio car accident attorneys see the devastation that wrongful deaths from car accidents can have on a family.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report found that for every 100 million miles traveled on the roads, there were 1.37 wrongful deaths in 2007. Wrongful death caused by motorcycle accidents is also prevalent in the United States, with the number of wrongful deaths increasing to 5,154 from 4,837 in 2006.
More than 41,000 people suffered wrongful death as a result of car accidents in 2007, according to the report.
Suit filed in death of Horicon worker dismissed
A wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a 2006 incident at a Portage construction site was dismissed in Columbia County Circuit Court on Monday because of a law that prevents employees from filing lawsuits against employers in such cases.
Nickolas Schanen, 46, of Horicon, died Nov. 1, 2006, of severe head injuries after he fell through a hole on the third floor of an addition to the Appleton Papers plant under construction on West Wisconsin Street. Schanen, who was working for Gunderson Construction Co. of Portage, landed on concrete at the ground level and died at the scene.
The lawsuit for damages on behalf of his estate against Appleton Papers Inc. of Appleton was filed in November 2007 and was headed for a jury trial in early 2009 until its dismissal.
Judge James O. Miller dismissed the case "with prejudice," which bars further claims in the matter.
Schanen's family members received no settlement from Appleton Papers or Gunderson Construction, said Schanen's mother, Genevieve Schanen of Beaver Dam. Workers' compensation paid for the funeral, she said.
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Chris Marschman, said that state workers' compensation law allows for payment of funeral expenses and death benefits to dependents as the exclusive remedy against an employer in such cases. Dependents can get up to four times the annual pay of the worker or $241,500, an amount set by the state.