• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

MBTA Settles With Heart-Attack Victim's Family

Posted on: Friday, 16 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

The state transportation authority says it will sue Amtrak to recover the full amount of the settlement.

* * *

BOSTON - The family of a Wellesley man who suffered a fatal heart attack on a commuter train that continued to make stops to pick up passengers has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the MBTA and Amtrak for $3.9 million, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.

The settlement was approved by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors last week, just three weeks before the case was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Boston.

James R. Allen, 61, an internationally recognized coastal scientist who worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, was stricken on July 30, 2002. The commuter train he was on continued to make scheduled stops despite pleas from other passengers that the conductor seek medical help.

More than 20 minutes after Allen collapsed, paramedics unsuccessfully used a defibrillator at the Back Bay station to try to revive him.

A lawyer for Allen's wife, Marlene Allen, said she agreed to settle because the case brought about changes in the MBTA's emergency procedures.

"This has never been about money with Marlene," lawyer Leo Boyle told The Boston Globe. "It has always been about keeping the public safety issue front and center."

"It seemed the appropriate thing to do," said Marlene Allen.

The MBTA blamed Amtrak for Allen's death and said it would sue the federal agency to recover the full amount of the settlement.

Amtrak contracted with the MBTA to run the commuter rail system and it was an Amtrak conductor who allegedly refused to stop the train. Amtrak no longer runs the MBTA's commuter trains.

"The MBTA was placed in an extraordinarily difficult position of having to defend the despicable conduct of an Amtrak train crew," the MBTA said in a statement.

"The MBTA wishes to extend its sincerest condolences to the family of James Allen as they continue to cope with the loss of a husband and father," the statement said. "In order to avoid exposing the family to any anguish and pain that may result from a lengthy trial, the MBTA has agreed to settle the case out of court."

Since Allen's death, the MBTA has deployed 60 defibrillators in subway stations, some commuter rail stations and vehicles, agency spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

The T has also changed its procedures, including instructing train workers to stop at the next station during medical emergencies.

Marlene Allen sued for $25 million. At trial, her lawyers intended to introduce evidence from medical specialists that concluded that if Allen had been treated with a defibrillator within 10 to 12 minutes of his collapse, he probably would have survived.

But the MBTA and Amtrak countered that even that would not have been quick enough to save Allen's life, and had specialists ready to testify that a patient in cardiac arrest can be resuscitated only within the first few minutes.

Allen boarded the train at the Wellesley Hills station and lost consciousness before reaching the next stop. People on the train told investigators they were horrified when the conductor continued to pick up passengers.

Source: Providence Journal

More News in this Category