Steven Malman Law announced prosecution successfully reached a settlement between Chicago City Council and Starks family.
Steven Malman Law announced that the Chicago City Council approved a $1.75 million settlement with Arielle Starks’ family, a 13-year-old girl who died a decade ago due to faulty care.
Arielle Starks died after city paramedics allegedly botched her care during an asthma attack. In addition, the paramedics incorrectly inserted a tube meant to help Starks breathe, said Jeffrey Levine, deputy corporation counsel.
Following the incorrect insertion, Starks was rushed to Advocate Trinity Hospital, when in transport, her ambulance collided with a car. Another ambulance picked up Starks and took her to the hospital where after 19 minutes she was pronounced dead.
Initially the Starks case, number 03 L 8587, was represented by another prominent Chicago law firm, however, after the firm dropped the case, the Starks family, facing dismissal, turned to Steven Malman Law. It was only after intense oral arguments that Steven Malman Law convinced the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois to allow Ms. Starks to proceed with the case.
Steven Malman Law and a team of lawyers attempted to showcase the mistakes caused by the paramedics’ negligence. They successfully proved that the incorrectly inserted tube was meant to go through the esophagus that leads to the stomach, instead of through the trachea that leads to her lungs.
If not for a series of “mistakes” made by the paramedics who treated Starks on that critical day, attorney Brian Murphy argued that the girl would be alive today.
“In the United States, children do not die from asthma. It’s just that simple,” Murphy said.
Experts at the trial testified that even though the tube was incorrectly inserted, Starks could have survived if the ambulance would have driven straight to the hospital, rather than adhere to a rule that states that if a driver is in an accident involving property damage, he must remain on the scene.
About Steven Malman LawSteven Malman graduated from the University of Iowa and the School of Law at Loyola University-Chicago. He celebrated his 20th year of legal practice in November 2011. Since Steven Malman Law first launched in 1994 (with just Malman, one secretary and one assistant), it has grown to include seven attorneys and over a dozen paralegals and administrative staff. The firm has successfully resolved over 8,000 cases, primarily in the areas of workers’ compensation and personal injury, and boasts a 95-percent out-of-court settlement rate. With numerous seven-digit personal injury verdicts to its credit, Steven Malman Law is one the most successful firms serving clients in Illinois Cook, Lake, Dupage and Will counties.
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