Glipizide

ATLA's Professional Negligence Law Reporter includes a broad range of professional liability eases. Here an examples of the kinds of cases appearing in each issue of PNLR.

ACCOUNTING

Conversion, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty

Verdict, including punitive damages, for a couple whose accountant embezzled the money the couple paid for payroll tax deposits to run their small construction corporation. The couple and their corporation sued the accountant, alleging conversion, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty. Clifford Ribner, Tulsa, Okla., represented plaintiffs.

Langston v. Davenport, Okla., Tulsa County Dist. Ct., No. CJ-2002-3036, Aug. 19, 2004.

DENTISTRY

Failure to timely diagnose squamous cell carcinoma

Settlement for the estate of a man who died from squamous cell carcinoma several years after he developed sores on the inside of one of his checks and jaw pain, symptoms that a dentist diagnosed as periodontal disease. His estate sued the dentist, alleging failure to timely diagnose squamous cell carcinoma. * Robert Gittleman, Southficld, Mich., represented plaintiff.

Johnston v. McClinchey, Mich., Oakland County Cir. Ct., No. 03-052998-NH, July 2004.

FUNERAL HOME

Desecration of remains

Settlement for more than 1,600 next of kin whose family members' remains were sent to a crematory but never cremated and instead dumped on the crematory's premises. The next of kin brought a class action suit against the crematory, alleging (1) negligence and (2) desecration and mishandling of remains. * Elizabeth J. Cabraser, San Francisco, Cal.; Robert Smalley, Dalton, Ga.; "Kathryn E. Barnett, Nashville, Tenu.; and Elizabeth A. Alexander, Nashville, Term.; represented plaintiffs.

In re Tri-State Crematory Litig., U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Ga., No. MDL 1467, Aug. 26, 2004.

Comment: For a report on the class action settlement against funeral homes involved in this case, see 19 PNLR129 (Sept. 2004). For other cases involving mishandling of remains, see Bushnell v. Cremar, Inc., 10 PNLR 105 (July 1995), and Dominguez v. Valley Funeral Home, 16 PNLR 109 (July 2001). * Richard E. Brown, San Francisco, Cal.; Gary J. Sodikoff, Santa Ana, Cal.; and William A. Kershaw and Michael McShane, both of Sacramento, CaL, represented plaintiffs in Bushnell. *Christopher T. Whitten, Phoenix, Ariz., represented plaintiffs in Dominguez. Documents in Bushnell and Dominguez are available through the Court Documents section in the back of this issue, courtesy of plaintiffs' counsel.

LAW

Breach of fiduciary duties

Verdict for a man whose attorney assisted him in establishing an engineering company to provide services to a telecommunications company that the man co-founded and of which he was a 50 percent shareholder. He sued the attorney and the law firm. Plaintiff alleged legal negligence, breach of fiduciary duties, and tortious interference, arguing the attorney had improperly worked to the advantage of the other co-founder of the company. Creighton R. Magid, Matthew M. Wright, and Bruce Trauben, all of Washington, D.C., represented plaintiff.

Ahan v. Grammas, Md., Prince George's County Cir. Ct., No. CAL 02-09937, Aug. 5, 2004.

Retainer agreement mandating arbitration of fee disagreements did not cover legal negligence dispute

A Florida appellate court held that a client was not required to arbitrate her legal negligence claims against her former attorneys despite an agreement between the parties mandating arbitration of ice disputes and providing for recovery of attorney fees and costs. * Warren R Trazenfeld and Kimberly L. Boldt, both of Boca Raton, Fla., represented plaintiff.

Vargas v. Schweitzer-Ramras, 878 So. 2d 415 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004).

NURSING HOME

Negligent insertion of feeding tube

Settlement for die wife of a man who died from respiratory failure, a lung abscess, and pneumonia after a nurse at a skilled nursing facility where he lived inserted a feeding tube into his lung instead of his stomach. His wife, individually and on behalf of his estate, sued the facility, alleging elder abuse and wrongful death. *Niall P. McCarthy and Gloria D. Smith, both of Burlingame, Cal., represented plaintiffs.

Ivory v. Ocadian Care Ctrs., Inc., Cal., Alameda County Super. Ct., No. RG03102600, Aug. 20, 2004.

PHARMACY

Infant mistakenly given Glipizide

Verdict for a child who sustained brain damage resulting in spastic quadriplegia due to prolonged hypoglycemia after taking Glipizide, a drug used to treat adult-onset diabetes, instead of phenobarbital to prevent seizures. The child sued the pharmacy that filled the prescription, alleging it had negligently misfilled the phenobarbital prescription with Glipizide. *Jeffrey B. Sussman, *David B. Selig, and *Gilbert J. Ross, all of Chicago, Ill., represented plaintiff.

Gehrke v. Walgreens, Ill., Cook County Cir. Ct., No. 99 L 10106, Aug. 10, 2004.

SOCIAL WORK

Agency's statutory duty to investigate child abuse report created civil duty toward child identified in report

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that statutes mandating proper investigation of all child abuse complaints obligated a state social services agency to exercise a duty of protection toward a child who was the subject of a child abuse report. Stephen B. Mercer, Rockville, Md., represented plaintiff.

Horridge v. St. Mary's County Dep't of Soc. Servs., 854 A.2d 1232 (Md. 2004).

Copyright Association of Trial Lawyers of America Dec 2004
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