Insurer must pay $13.6M after hospital death

Hospital settles medical malpractice suits with two families for $5M

TIMES LEADER - WILKES-BARRE, PA
June 3, 2003

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER
Staff Writer

SCRANTON - A federal jury on Friday awarded $5.7 million to the family of a Pittston woman who was killed after a tractor-trailer blew out a tire and slammed into her sport-utility vehicle in Susquehanna County.

The award to the family of Colleen Angela Shea could increase significantly when the panel returns tomorrow to determine the amount of punitive damages against the trucking firms associated with the driver.

Shea, 28, of Renfer Street, was killed Oct. 19, 2001, when Jerry R. Slyter of Wolcott, N.Y., lost control of his rig, crossed a median, and hit Shea's 1999 Mitsubishi head on in the southbound lane of Interstate 81 in New Milford.

A jury heard testimony for 3 1/2 weeks and deliberated for about four hours Friday before returning the verdict in the U.S. District Court.
The trial centered on whether Slyter could have regained control of his rig. The defense argued the blowout was a "sudden emergency" that Slyter could not recover from. But Shea's attorney, Joe Quinn, maintained fatigue was a major factor. Slyter had been driving for nine days without a day off and was in violation of federal law that limits the number of hours a tractor-trailer driver can work, according to court records.

The suit named as defendants Slyter and trucking entities Page Transportation Inc., Keith Titus Corp. and John Pfrommer LLC. The total award was $5,716,656, with the bulk of the verdict, $4.2 million, attributed to Shea's lost earning capacity.

The jury also found the corporate entities acted with "reckless indifference," which allows Shea's estate to seek punitive damages.