The decedent was a Chinese immigrant and thought to be somewhere between 86 and 90years old. She had multiple medical problems including diabetes, end stage renal disease, and atrial fibrillation. She was injured when her wheelchair rolled down a ramp and she toppled out, suffering abrasions to her right elbow and knee.
The decedent had been left at the top of the ramp by a chair car driver who was employed by Fallon Emergency Medical Services, Inc., a company hired to transport her for dialysis treatment three times each week. The chair car driver had been helping another passenger into the transport van and was on his way back to get the decedent when the wheelchair began rolling down the ramp.
The decedent was transported to the hospital where her injuries were treated. Because of the language barrier and the decedent’s complicated medical history, including chronic subdural hematoma, a CT scan was performed while she was in the hospital, and it showed acute subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Both were stabilized, but the decedent developed blood pressure and heart rate instability and pneumonia and died twenty seven days later.
The chair car driver claimed that he had secured the decedent in the wheelchair, turned her away from the ramp, and locked the brakes. He further claimed that the decedent had gotten impatient, released the brake and turned the wheelchair causing it to roll down the ramp. There were no witnesses to the incident, although a witness on the scene said that the decedent had not been secured in the wheelchair.
The plaintiff, represented by Boston Accident Attorney Kathy Cook, brought claims for negligence against the driver and Fallon. Discovery revealed that the chair car driver had been disciplined in the past for actions ranging from rudeness to reckless driving. Boston Accident Attorney Kathy Cook representing the plaintiff amended the complaint to add claims against Fallon for negligent retention of the driver, which would make the driver’s past misconduct admissible at trial.
The defendant contended that the decedent’s death was unrelated to the fall. Their experts were expected to testify that there was no evidence of any abrasion to the head, that the decedent said that she did not hit her head on the ground, and that her age and multiple significant medical problems were the cause of her death.
Boston Accident Attorney Kathy Cook, settled the case following discovery for $375.000.
