LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Critical Alarm Goes Unheard
Rockford, IL: (Apr-08-08) The family of 2-year-old Evelyn Zagal brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Evelyn's nurse, Edna Briggs-Gunther, and the company she worked for, Independence Plus, alleging that seven counts of negligence on their part resulted in the unexpected death of the child.
The suit stated that an oxygen machine, designed to measure the oxygen saturation of a patient's blood, was attached to Evelyn's toe the night she stopped breathing. Allegedly, the machine sounded an alarm the night Evelyn died, but for some reason Evelyn's nurse, Edna Briggs-Gunther didn't hear the alarms. Records show that doctor's testified Evelyn hadn't been breathing for nearly an hour before she got help. The family said that they believed that the nurse had fallen asleep, when she was required to be the eyes and ears of the family and to provide the very minimal care that the child needed throughout the night.
As part of a settlement reached, sources stated that the family of the toddler received a large monetary settlement to resolve the allegations, though details of the agreement were not revealed. Court documents show that Briggs-Gunther admitted to state regulatory officials that she failed to notice Evelyn's trachea tube fell out and to establish an airway before notifying the parents. [MY STATELINE: A SETTLEMENT IS REACHED IN THE EVELYN ZAGAL WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT]
Published on Apr-9-08
The suit stated that an oxygen machine, designed to measure the oxygen saturation of a patient's blood, was attached to Evelyn's toe the night she stopped breathing. Allegedly, the machine sounded an alarm the night Evelyn died, but for some reason Evelyn's nurse, Edna Briggs-Gunther didn't hear the alarms. Records show that doctor's testified Evelyn hadn't been breathing for nearly an hour before she got help. The family said that they believed that the nurse had fallen asleep, when she was required to be the eyes and ears of the family and to provide the very minimal care that the child needed throughout the night.
As part of a settlement reached, sources stated that the family of the toddler received a large monetary settlement to resolve the allegations, though details of the agreement were not revealed. Court documents show that Briggs-Gunther admitted to state regulatory officials that she failed to notice Evelyn's trachea tube fell out and to establish an airway before notifying the parents. [
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