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Deadly bacteria defy drugs, alarming doctors

February 18, 2009

When Ruth Burns had surgery to relieve a pinched nerve in her back, the operation was supposed to be an “in-and-out thing,” recalled her daughter, Kacia Warren.

But Burns developed pneumonia and was put on a ventilator. Five days later, she was discharged — only to be rushed by her daughter to the hospital hours later, disoriented and in alarming pain. Seventeen days after the surgery, the 67-year-old nurse was dead.

Burns had developed meningitis — an infection of the fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain. The culprit wasAcinetobacter baumannii, a bug that preys on the weak in hospitals. Worse, it was a multi-drug-resistant strain.

Acinetobacter doesn’t garner as many headlines as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the dangerous superbug better known as MRSA. But a January report by the Infectious Diseases Society of America warned that drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii and two other microbes — Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae — could soon produce a toll to rival MRSA’s.

 

Read Article: Los Angeles Times

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Father sues D.C. water authority for $200 million

A single father is suing the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority for $200 million, claiming lead-contaminated tap water poisoned his twin sons as infants, causing them ongoing health problems.

 

The water utility between 2001 and 2004 hid elevated levels of lead from customers and federal authorities, plaintiff John Parkhurst of Capitol Hill claims in the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status. WASA failed to take steps to remedy the situation, omitted language from public education campaigns that would have warned people about the problem and continued to encourage residents to drink the water, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.

 

The complaint comes on the heels of a study that determined hundreds of D.C. children might be at risk of irreversible IQ loss, developmental delays and behavioral problems linked to the lead levels. The Children’s National Medical Center and Virginia Tech research contradicts claims by D.C. and federal health officials who said in 2004 that although lead in city water was at record-breaking levels, they didn’t find any measurable ill effects on public health.

 

Read Article: USA Today

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Jury awards $157M in tree stand death

A Lafayette woman has been awarded $157 million in a wrongful death lawsuit she filed against the manufacturers of a tree stand that malfunctioned, killing her husband three years ago.

 

The substantial default judgment, reached by jurors in about an hour, came after a trial Tuesday in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1. No one representing the defendants — L & L Enterprises in Hattiesburg, Miss., Ol’ Man Tree Stands in Jay, Fla., and TSR Inc. in Pace, Fla. — showed for the trial. Carol Simonton filed the civil tort in February 2006, about four months after her husband, Timothy Simonton, was found hanged to death in Parke County.

 

“No amount of money could replace the love and affection Carol had for Tim,” said her Bloomington-based attorney, Mike Phelps. “Two corporations … manufactured and distributed this product. … I have to take this judgment now and chase them down and attempt to collect close to the verdict amount for Carol.”

 

Read Article: Journal & Courier Online

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

SF Zoo settles lawsuit with family of teen killed by tiger

The San Francisco Zoo has settled a lawsuit with the family of a 17-year-old San Jose boy fatally mauled by an escaped zoo tiger in 2007 for an undisclosed financial sum, the zoo and the family’s attorney confirmed today.

 

The wrongful death suit, filed on behalf of Marilza and Carlos Sousa, parents of Carlos Sousa Jr., alleged the zoo and the city were liable for Sousa’s killing by the 250-pound Siberian tiger, Tatiana, who leapt out of her enclosure on Dec. 25, 2007.

Tatiana killed Sousa and severely wounded two of his friends, brothers Amritpal Dhaliwal, then 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, then 23, also of San Jose, before being shot to death by police.

 

While the terms of the settlement were not released, Michael Cardoza, the attorney for the Sousa family, said today that part of the settlement included the zoo erecting a plaque on a bench at the zoo memorializing Sousa.

 

Read Article: Mercury News

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

SEC charges Stanford, others with fraud

A Texas billionaire and two associates are in regulators’ cross hairs, alongside Houston-based companies and an affiliated offshore bank, accused of perpetuating a multibillion-dollar fraud that could sting investors worldwide.

 

“We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world,” said Rose Romero, regional director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth office, which filed civil charges Tuesday against R. Allen Stanford, the bank, two Houston companies and two company executives, James Davis and Laura Pendergest-Holt.

 

Romero told Bloomberg News today that regulators don’t know Stanford’s whereabouts.

U.S. marshals descended early Tuesday upon the firms’ offices — on opposite sides of Westheimer just outside the West Loop — to ensure computers, documents and all other assets are preserved.

 

Read Article: Houston Chronicle

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

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