New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The family of the late Jon-Kely Cassara, a seven year old boy who died on the Ye Old Mill ride at Playland Park on August 3, 2005, settled this New York dangerous premises case for $1.25 million on March 23, 2009. The Westchester fatal accident occurred when Jon-Kely got out of his boat and fell in a dark tunnel, apparently getting stuck under the ride apparatus and drowning. The settlement offer was made by Westchester County after the devastating testimony of former Playland director Joseph Montalto, the first and only witness to testify. Montalto testified that he would not have allowed Jon-Kely on the ride if he had known that there were insufficiently trained workers on the ride that day.

The settlement must be approved by the Westchester County Board of Legislators, which was scheduled to vote on the settlement this week. It is expected that the Board will vote to approve the settlement; if not, the case would have to be retried, with the seven year old victim's family and lawyer determined to obtain a verdict on the heels of that vital testimony by Mr. Montalto.

Jon-Kely's death was the third at Rye Playland in the last five years. On May 22, 2004, 7 year old Stephanie Dieudonne, was thrown from the Mind Scrambler ride and killed. Three years later, 21 year old park employee Gabriela Garin was also killed on the Mind Scrambler, which has since been removed from the park.

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In a great decision for victims of dangerous drugs throughout the United States, on March 4, 2009 the Supreme Court upheld a Vermont state court decision awarding 6.7 million to a woman who suffered permanent injuries from an anti-nausea drug. The case involved a Vermont resident who developed gangrene after a botched injection of the drug, which tragically resulted in the amputation of her hand and lower arm. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that the plaintiff was a musician, and lost her livelihood due to her injuries.

The physician's assistant who performed the injection used a highly risky intravenous push technique, which allowed the drug to enter an artery, rather than the intravenous drip technique, the much safer method in which the drug is injected into liquid already flowing into a vein. Allowing the drug to enter the artery causes immediate and irreversible gangrene. Wyeth's lawyers requested that the Supreme Court set aside the verdict, attempting to rely on the fact that they had complied with FDA labeling requirements. (In a case last year against medical device manufacturers of heart defibrillators, stents, and artificial hips, the Court had ruled that federal law and FDA scrutiny prevented product liability lawsuits in state courts). However, in a decision written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the elder statesman and most liberal member of the Supreme Court, the justices determined that Wyeth's warnings were insufficient and should have made abundantly clear the dangers of serious injury if the drug was injected improperly.

The decision to allow state damage suits will undoubtedly cause manufacturers to use greater care in the production and labeling of their products. We would also expect a revisiting of last year's decision protecting device makers, which seems somewhat inconsistent with the Court's welcome decision protecting the public this week.

Continue reading "U.S. Supreme Court Delivers Blow to Pharmaceutical Industry" »