Merged: Liability Releases - shop sued diver's death, Catalina Island 2005

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There is lots of talk about how much air the diver should have had and about him going OOA. However, he seems to have had plenty available from his buddy. So the OOA was not the real cause of death. Is there any reason to think that he would have done anything differently in his ascent if he had started his ascent with 1,000 psi?
 
As far as the shop's liability, the argument is as follows: The malfunctioning gauge led the diver to think he had more air than he did. As a result, he went OOA at depth. As a result, he buddy breathed with his buddy while ascending. Because he was buddy breathing, the diver held his breath while he did not have the regulator in his mouth. As a result of holding his breath, the diver had an air embolism and died. Had the gauge not read high, none of this would have happened. As far as holding one's breath while buddy breathing, when one is startled or frightened by an OOA, one may not remember or be willing to exhale when one does not have a regulator in his mouth. (I wonder if there are any scientific studies on this.)
 
"would have done anything differently in his ascent if he had started his ascent with 1,000 psi?"

maybe ... I think this is a possible answer ...

"Because he was buddy breathing, the diver held his breath while he did not have the regulator in his mouth"
 
This diver was reported to be an "experienced" diver. I would hope that meant he would know better than to hold his breath while ascending. After all, it is one of the very basic things taught early in OW classes.

The gauge was off by 150 psi according to Ken Kurtis. The tank had ~50 psi in it at the surface. That means it could have read 200 psi at depth. What "experienced" diver would begin an ascent from that depth with so little gas?
 
As far as the shop's liability, the argument is as follows...

The shop didn't hold its breath, or the diver's breath.

The diver violated the first three rules in diving. I can understand that anyone might do this in a panic situation, but only the individual diver is responsible for breath holding.
 
The argument is that the shop's negligence created the panic situation.
 
So ambulance chasing lawyers are a myth? Those ads on TV for class action suits against (fill in the blank - tobacco, drug companies, asbestos, etc.) for clients harmed by KNOWN RISKS (if you are too stupid to read the fine print, call our lawyers at 1-800-SUE-GUYS [cases likely to be referred]) - I guess no one is influenced in their decision to sue. Purely family members who "went looking for and interviewing for a lawyer who would take the case." Right - got it now. Thanks for clarifying. :rofl3:

Wow! Have you ever met anyone with Mesothelioma? Probably not, because they don't live long, which is actually merciful. The one's I've met were barely literate, and were exposed to asbestos in the military, or in a ship yard where they simply did the job they were told to do so they could feed their families. While they were almost certainly unaware at the time that asbestos was a carcinogen, the people who made the products containing asbestos did know, and there's mountains of evidence to prove it. THERE WAS NO FINE PRINT. How much should these guys get paid for having to slowly suffocate in front of their loved ones??? Actually, they won't get jack, because they'll be dead before anyone on the defendant's side even looks at the complaint.

What about Stevens Johnson Syndrome? Did they tell you about that when they ran their commercials for Bextra?

Do you know the kind of work that has to go into a medical malpractice case these days?

Instead of blaming the plaintiff's attorneys, maybe you should think about the guys on the other side that want to spend four years defending a case where someone got the wrong leg amputated. How much does THAT make your insurance go up? Many plaintiff's attorneys and firms work on a contingency basis, meaning if the lose, they don't get paid. Know any defense lawyers like that? Hell, know anyone from any profession that does that?

It's 100% true what was said above. A lawyer can't sue unless YOU hire him or her, and a lawyer doesn't hand down a verdict, a jury does. Lawyers are no different from doctors, or plumbers, or bus drivers, there are good, bad, and middle of the road in all of those professions.
 
Wow! Have you ever met anyone with Mesothelioma? Probably not, because they don't live long, which is actually merciful. The one's I've met were barely literate, and were exposed to asbestos in the military, or in a ship yard where they simply did the job they were told to do so they could feed their families. While they were almost certainly unaware at the time that asbestos was a carcinogen, the people who made the products containing asbestos did know, and there's mountains of evidence to prove it. THERE WAS NO FINE PRINT. How much should these guys get paid for having to slowly suffocate in front of their loved ones??? Actually, they won't get jack, because they'll be dead before anyone on the defendant's side even looks at the complaint.

What about Stevens Johnson Syndrome? Did they tell you about that when they ran their commercials for Bextra?

Do you know the kind of work that has to go into a medical malpractice case these days?

Instead of blaming the plaintiff's attorneys, maybe you should think about the guys on the other side that want to spend four years defending a case where someone got the wrong leg amputated. How much does THAT make your insurance go up? Many plaintiff's attorneys and firms work on a contingency basis, meaning if the lose, they don't get paid. Know any defense lawyers like that? Hell, know anyone from any profession that does that?

It's 100% true what was said above. A lawyer can't sue unless YOU hire him or her, and a lawyer doesn't hand down a verdict, a jury does. Lawyers are no different from doctors, or plumbers, or bus drivers, there are good, bad, and middle of the road in all of those professions.

When the lawyers get the same compensation as their client, I'll believe they are motivated by altruism and not gaming the system. When the clients get hundreds or even a few thousand, and the lawyers get millions, I'll remain skeptical and jaded.

Never met a class-action plumber yet - all the ones I know do the work each time it needs doing, not do the job once and then claim it benefits a thousand folks so they should get thousands of times their normal fee.
 
Hetland,

Comparing asbestos and Bextra is like comparing apples to oranges. I agree that many developed mesothelioma due to no fault of their own but the risks of Bextra were listed in excruciating detail well before it even hit the market. As for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, it has been known for quite some time that sulfa drugs (such as Bextra) and very rarely NSAIDs can cause it. The cox2 inhibitor cases are a classic example of lawyers riding the gravy train of perception of evil and not reality.

I apologize to everyone for getting off topic but could not resist.
 
When the lawyers get the same compensation as their client, I'll believe they are motivated by altruism and not gaming the system. When the clients get hundreds or even a few thousand, and the lawyers get millions, I'll remain skeptical and jaded.

1/3 is less than 2/3. Medical malpractice gets into the 50/50 territory (at least in my state) but you basically have to have a wrong leg cut off, or the doc's Rolex stuck in your gut to even have a reputable firm take your case, because it's too expensive and risky to litigate those types of cases, and you literally have to have a reputable MD come into a courtroom and say "yep, that doctor killed his patient". You can imagine how many doctors are lined up to testify against their peers.

Never met a class-action plumber yet - all the ones I know do the work each time it needs doing, not do the job once and then claim it benefits a thousand folks so they should get thousands of times their normal fee.

Thousands of times their normal fee? Where do you get your information? Do you know what kind of work goes into complex class action litigation? A single client couldn't afford to pay the paralegal time on such a case, much less the attorney fees. I'm talking about hundreds and thousands of hours for each attorney and paralegal working the case. To say nothing of expenses. The firm gets nothing if the case tanks, and the client pays nothing. Often, more than one firm is involved. One lawyer is not raking in all of the fees. Everyone who works the case is being compensated. Again, tell me another professional that does contingency work.

Hetland,

Comparing asbestos and Bextra is like comparing apples to oranges. I agree that many developed mesothelioma due to no fault of their own but the risks of Bextra were listed in excruciating detail well before it even hit the market. As for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, it has been known for quite some time that sulfa drugs (such as Bextra) and very rarely NSAIDs can cause it. The cox2 inhibitor cases are a classic example of lawyers riding the gravy train of perception of evil and not reality.

Agreed on the apples and oranges. Disagree on the Bextra. I took Bextra, and had never even heard of SJS until after the cox-2 drugs were pulled. But it's not that people were not warned about heart issues with the class of drugs, it's that the actual risk of such was significantly understated. The two people I know with valid cox-2 claims were both healthy non-smokers until they had massive heart attacks (one died on the table and was brought back). If that known risk was intentionally minimized, then the folks responsible need to be taken to the shed and whipped. The next time they try such a thing, it may be your kid's meds that are at issue.

Like cops, everyone hates a lawyer until they need one.
 

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