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Man sues Walmart for split plastic carrier bag that led to his wife's death
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A man is suing Wal-Mart for causing his wife's death, saying the failure of an overfilled plastic shopping bag indirectly killed her.
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While she was walking to her car, the bag broke and its contents spilled out, with the tin of La Choy lying on her foot.
The heavy tin broke her big toe and caused a deep cut which later led to an infection.
The infection spread through her body and despite antibiotics, hospitalizations[sic] and two surgical procedures, 'ultimately resulted in her death on March 12, 2011'.
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The lawsuit seeks nearly $657,000 for medical and funeral expenses, plus an unspecified amount for her pain and suffering and the loss to her husband.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2406872/Walmart-plastic-bag-lawsuit-husband-claims-broken-bag-led-wifes-death.html
Is this a rehash of an old story or does it take this long for cases to go through the legal system in America?
Is this an open and shut case to you? I can't help feel that there may have been many other circumstances involved - her state of health initially, whether she packed the bag herself or not, whether she'd have accepted a 2nd bag even if she was offered it, etc.
My first reaction was "this is a silly claim to make, for a split plastic bag" but having thought about it, his wife is dead, and if there is corporate lessons for Walmart to learn, maybe this is the wake-up call for them?
Strange/sad story, anyway.
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Unless it was a Walmart hired/trained bag boy.
Guess it's up to a jury. Regardless of whether it's right or wrong Wal-Mart can afford to pay up and I can't imagine there's a flood of people waiting in the wings to sue them for the same thing.
Yankie claim culture all over, and sadly already found it's way into our culture in the UK.
I would throw this out of court where ever it occured.
The shopping bag didn't kill her. The tin didn't kill her. Even the cut didn't kill her. The infection killed her.
I guess it's easier to sue a supermarket than an infection.
BRB, off to sue cancer.
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Seriously though there are a bajillion factors. I haven't read the article in full but the bag split, a tin dropped on her foot, made a cut and it got infected which led to her dying. For all we know she could have not taken care of the wound properly or something - blaming the supermarket/carrier bag seems like a stretch. 99.99999999999999% of people do not have this happen to them when shopping/using a carrier bag and 99% of people who get cuts on their big toe do not die -- which suggests there were other factors at play here.
Americans are so hyper-litigious, ffs.
Well, I suppose the argument is that it was the cut from the can that allowed the infection to enter her bloodstream and so kill her.
Had the bag not split then the can would not have fallen and caused the cut.
Walmart gave her the bag, failing to provide sufficient for the weight of the products. As the experts in their own bags they should have known the bag was not strong enough and so are liable for the injury.
Given how much medical bills can be in the US I can't say I blame the family for the suit either.
I'll bet it was a toss-up between whether to sue Wal-Mart or the hospital for clinical negligence but decided Wal-Mart because that claim would be far more lucrative.
I'm not a cynic at all.
I can't really see every supermarket checkout employee getting extensive carrier bag training before being allowed to serve customers. Experts my arse.
Maybe it was his fault for having eaten the last of the food for breakfast FORCING his wife to go shopping. Should he sue his doctor for not stopping him overeating in the first place?
Quite. I should imagine they are earning less money than an average 9 year old Chinese boy manufacturing iPhones for Apple.
Yes but even had that been the case, if the supermarket had provided a strong enough bag then the can would not have fallen. It is the broken bag that caused the accident and began the causation.
What the court needs to decide is whether a) Walmart were negligent in providing an inadequate bag; and b) whether any other negligence took place to break the chain (such as the hospital not cleaning the wound properly etc).
The problem in this case is whether it would be reasonable for a lay person to assume it would be strong enough. The supermarket however would have access to the specifications of the bag and so be aware of the risk such a weight presented. Given that, they should have taken more precautions by telling their checkout staff to provide two bags for heavy items.
He wasn't there I don't think - and the cashier packed the bag according to this report.
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/23280030/man-said-overfilled-walmart-shopping-bag-led-to-wifes-death
Go for broke, sue DNA.
So the bag contained 7 pounds weight. Hardly the fault of Walmart if the bag then splits
What do you call a thousand tort lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
No great loss to civilisation?
I often wonder how rediculous a story must be before even they question the facts.
A good start.
Yours works too, but it's not as pithy.