Mass. Ambulance Company Settles $10M Suit

Paramedics Lied and Falsified Reports; Largest Settlement of Its Kind

Contacts:

David L. Yas, Publisher
(617) 218-8112

Aubrey Haznar
(617) 218-8312
(781) 226-8616-Pager

BOSTON –(May 7, 2001)- A Massachusetts ambulance company has quietly settled a lawsuit for more than ten million dollars after paramedics botched the revival of an infant by getting lost, forgetting the keys to an on-board medicine cabinet and then falsified reports about their mistakes. In an exclusive story in today’s Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the unnamed ambulance company’s paramedics made a myriad of errors in their attempt to save the then 10-month old girl in 1996. Last month, the company settled the personal injury lawsuit by paying the girl’s family a settlement of $10.2 million. The paramedics could not be sued because they are immune under state law. The settlement is believed to be the largest ever in Massachusetts for a brain-injured infant outside of the context of a delivery of a newborn, according to the May 7th edition of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and the weekly legal paper’s web site, www.MassLaw.com.

“This is an amazing case of questioning official documents. Several lawyers said this case could not be won based on what their version of the documents said. But the little girl’s attorney dug and found the paramedics falsified the reports and notes after their series of errors. By using a scanner and a computer, the attorney was able to show the report given to the family by the ambulance company was written with two different pens and had information in it that wasn’t known until a bit later. Once the ambulance company saw they were caught in a lie and the paramedics forged the reports, it settled. The now-five year old girl can never walk, talk or have a normal life because a series of incompetent mistakes,” said attorney David Yas, publisher of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Few details can be reported because of a confidentiality agreement between the family and the company. Boston Attorney Marc Breakstone, who uncovered the document falsifications and eventually won the $10-million lawsuit, told Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly the ambulance company was never fined or reprimanded for the errors by the state. Breakstone also said to his knowledge none of the paramedics were ever disciplined and may be still working in the same field.

The five year old, who is now a quadriplegic, suffered brain damage, in part, due to the response delay. In addition to getting lost and refusing police directions to the girl’s home, an additional ten minutes was wasted because the paramedics forgot the key for the on-board narcotics cabinet and had to rendezvous with another ambulance. The confidentiality agreement prohibits the company from disclosing what if any action they took against those involved.