An 81 year-old woman bled to death in her Florida home in 2009 and family members say that a mishandled 911 call is to blame.

The woman dropped a glass and subsequently cut an artery in her ankle. In her panic, she dialed the operator instead of 911. An audio recording of her call reveals that she gave the operator her full address and begged for them to send an ambulance.

The operator connected her to 911, but they were unable to find her address since she initially dialed 0. It took more than 15 minutes for emergency responders to arrive at her home. They found a woman unconscious and believed they had the wrong address and left. Family members returned home 45 minutes later to find her dead in a pool of blood near the phone.

The family is suing for wrongful death and negligence.

A Las Vegas family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Colombian couple they say caused a 42 year-old woman’s death.

The couple, who do not have medical licenses, performed buttock enhancement surgery on the woman in the back of a tile store in April. The woman began having complications during the operation and died on the way to the hospital; police found her body near the North Vista Hospital in Las Vegas.

An autopsy revealed that she died from an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. The woman leaves behind a husband a two children. Authorities say the Colombian couple was in the United States on expired tourist visas. They were sentenced to more than eight years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, practicing medicine without a license, and conspiracy. They will be deported after serving their time.

Parents of a 17 year-old girl who died while getting her wisdom teeth removed have sued the oral surgeon and anesthesiologist for wrongful death.

The teen’s parents say the surgeon and anesthesiologist were negligent when they failed to resuscitate their daughter after seeing her heart rate and blood oxygen levels drop. The state chief medical examiner ruled her cause of death hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.

Her parents hope to inform other families’ about the risks of wisdom teeth surgery and the need for medical staff to have better emergency training.

Common problems with the surgery include permanent nerve damage resulting in numbness of the lips, cheeks, and tongue. Other complications can include jaw fractures, brain tissue infections, and life-threatening hypoxia and bleeding.

Michael Jackson’s physician, Conrad Murray, has been sentenced to four years in prison, the maximum sentence, for  involuntary manslaughter. However, due to overcrowding and budget problems with the California prison system, he will only serve two years.

Jackson died in 2009 of a fatal overdose of propofol, a tranquilizer not approved for use as a sedative. Prosecutors argued that Murray acted recklessly without regard to the singer’s life. Murray’s lawyers claim that Jackson gave himself the final dose without the doctor’s knowledge.

Jackson’s father has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray. He claims the physician lied to emergency responders who were trying to save his son.

The family of an 89 year-old man who underwent heart bypass and heart valve replacement surgery and later died during an attempt to retrieve a forgotten sponge has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the surgeon, the medical staff, and the hospital.

Two years ago, the man had surgery on his heart. The lawsuit claims the medical staff failed to count or miscounted the sponges after the surgery. He had to spend three more days in the hospital due to complications before it was realized a sponge was left inside of him. He died while in surgery from uncontrolled bleeding as another doctor attempted to remove the sponge.

The medical staff and doctor claim that their patient died from preexisting heart problems and their actions did not lead to his death.

Toys ‘R Us has agreed to pay the family of a 29 year-old mother who died after a toy pool slide fell apart, causing her to fatally hit her head, a total of $20.6 million in its wrongful death lawsuit.

The woman had bought the inflatable pool slide in 2006 for her daughter. Relatives say she was sliding down into the pool when the bottom broke and she hit her head on the side of the swimming pool. Her neck fractures left her a quadriplegic and she was removed from life support due to her extensive injuries.

The family’s attorneys claim the slide was imported from China and did not comply with U.S. standard regulations.

The family of a deceased individual has received a $1.5 million settlement against two doctors who lethally prescribed high levels of narcotics to the man.

For almost two years, one doctor prescribed him 160 Oxycontin, 320 Percocet, and 120 Xanax while another prescribed 120 Oxycontin, 120 Percocet, and 60 Xanax. The man suffered multiple organ failure months leading up to his death that as ignored by both physicians. While in their care, the man never had lab tests done for his asthmatic condition.

An autopsy revealed the man died of an adverse reaction to the lethal dosages of narcotics. The man was never offered any alternatives to his medical condition except for prescribed narcotics.

A widow received a $1.5 million settlement in her wrongful death lawsuit she brought against the driver who caused the fatal car accident that killed her husband. The crash happened in November 2009 when the driver started to drift off the road, over-corrected, crossed the center line and hit her husband’s police cruiser head-on.

Her husband was an 11 year veteran deputy. Both cars caught fire soon after the collision and witnesses tried to get the drivers out, but were unable to reach the deputy. He was rushed to the hospital, but died as a result of blunt force trauma.  The other driver suffered only minor head injuries.

A former Minnesota Viking’s player turned restaurant owner and his wife are being sued for wrongful death by the family of a 38 year-old man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident involving their vehicle. The man had run out of gas on I-94 and pulled into the emergency lane. He was putting gas in his car when a Mercedes SUV struck and killed him.

The owners of the vehicle called police the next day to report the accident after hearing about it on the news. Police investigation concluded that it was the car they were searching for. Ten days later the family admitted it was the wife who was driving the SUV at the time of the accident, but the family has since refused to answer questions about who was in the car with her, if alcohol was involved, or where she was coming from.

The state of Indiana along with Live Nation, Mid-America Sound Corp., and Lucas Entertainment are being sued for wrongful death by the widow of a woman who died when the stage collapsed before a concert at the Indiana State Fair. The deceased’s wife believes her partner would still be alive if the state had regarded the dangerous weather reports and if the construction of the stage was properly inspected and under OSHA standards.

Seven people have now died from the collapse and nearly four dozen have been severely injured, including the woman who has filed the lawsuit. Her shoulder and leg were seriously crushed by the stage and several of her toes have had to be amputated. As a result, she will have permanent impairments.

The lawsuit will also challenge Indiana’s status of gay marriage. Since it is illegal in the state, the woman could possibly not receive any benefits from the $50 million lawsuit since she is not legally considered a spouse.