The passing of a longtime Roanoke public radio announcer has led to a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the company who made the pain medication pump that contributed to the man’s death in 2011, reports Virginia Lawyers Weekly.
Seth Williamson, 62, died shortly after receiving surgery for a hernia. The lawsuit, filed by Williamson’s family on Tuesday in Roanoke U.S. District Court, alleges that the defective anesthesia pump, controlled by the patient, allowed Williamson to receive up to five times the recommended dose of pain medication prescribed by his surgeon, which caused his death. Abbott Laboratories Inc. makes the patient-controlled pump named in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the pump allowed staff at the hospital to put in information about the administered drug, called Dilaudid, manually, bypassing a key safety feature. When a nurse read the instructions on the pump, she was misled and entered an incorrect concentration.
The judge for the case will be Judge Michael F. Urbanski. The defendants have yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
Williamson was a broadcaster and musician, and since 1983 he had been hosting a classical music program for Roanoke’s WVTF. He was 62 when he died.
We will keep you updated as this case gets underway.
The Parrish Law Firm product liability attorney works with northern Virginia residents who have suffered injuries because of faulty or defective products and are looking for fair compensation. Contact us today for a free case consultation, or call us at 703-906-4229.
A representative of the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC researched and wrote this article with Mr. Parrish’s consent. If you have any questions regarding the legal implications of what you have just read, please send us your question by clicking here so we can have our attorney review it.
Call or Text 571-229-1800 or Complete a Free Case Evaluation form
