Entries from December 2007
The mother of a Baltimore teen with Down syndrome who fell off the roof of his high school has filed a negligence lawsuit against the school’s teachers and officials, the city school board and contractors working at the school on the day of the incident.
In March 2005, Antonio Pugh, then a 16-year-old student at Walbrook High School, wandered away from his teacher around lunchtime, made his way through a pair of doors leading to the roof, and eventually fell three stories — approximately 30 feet — to the pavement below, according to the suit filed Wednesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Pugh, identified as having a full-scale IQ in the low 50s and the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, suffered “severe closed head trauma,” a broken back and left leg, and a lacerated spleen and tongue, among other injuries, the suit states.
His mother, Lisa Smith, claims his teachers should have kept a closer eye on him. The contractors “left both the fence door and the door leading to the roof unlocked and propped open, thereby creating an unreasonably dangerous condition for students in the school, especially the special-needs students such as Antonio,” according to the complaint.
Smith is seeking $10 million from the defendants for her son’s pain and suffering, and for past and future medical expenses.
The Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, counsel for Smith, is closed for the holidays, and a message left with one of Smith’s attorneys on Friday was not immediately returned.
The Baltimore City School Board’s Office of Legal Counsel referred calls to the school’s spokeswoman, who could not be reached for comment. The Baltimore City Law Department has not received the lawsuit, according to a secretary there.
Pugh and other special-needs students took all their classes on the third floor of the West Baltimore school, now called Homeland Security High School, the complaint states.
The “required protocol” was for a teacher and an aide to escort those students between rooms in the school; but on March 17, only one adult was present, the suit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, the “cage”-type fence door that led to the stairwell to the roof has no handle or knob and can only be opened with a key.
Also, the complaint states, since the fence door and the door at the top of the stairwell both lock automatically when closed, Pugh was locked out. He tried to re-enter the building before falling, the suit states.
The lawsuit does not specify what work each of the contractors was doing on the day of the incident.
Bill Eisenreich, a manager at Superior Engineered Products Inc., said he had subcontractors doing door work on the school’s roof that day, but denied they left doors open or unlocked. He doubts the plaintiff’s version of events.
“I don’t think there was any evidence that he was on the roof or got past the locked door,” Eisenreich said. “The logical thing was he fell out the window because he would’ve been in class” before lunch.
David J. Shuster of Kramon & Graham P.A., who generally represents Orlando J. Sales Painting Co. Inc. of Timonium, said he had not yet seen the suit. Mr. Sales was not in the office last week.
A message left at Baltimore-based Greenbridge Construction Inc., the third contractor named in the suit, was not returned Friday.
Following his fall, Pugh underwent “numerous” surgeries at University of Maryland Shock Trauma during his more than two-month stay, and “remains acutely symptomatic,” according to the lawsuit.
“Antonio will require 24-hour supervision and care for the remainder of his life because of the severity of his intellectual impairments,” the complaint states.
Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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AS usual, 2007 in San Mateo County had more than its share of offbeat material. The Peninsula has long been fertile ground for the slightly off-kilter and the occasionally downright bizarre. Maybe it’s the astronomical housing prices that produce this syndrome. Or the organic food. Whatever. In any event, let’s take a stroll through some of the more memorable episodes of the past year, in no particular order. Put on your seatbelt. Here goes:
Hey, put down that ax — There is perhaps nothing that stirs passions in Burlingame more than the tender subject of fabulous foliage.
As a proudly-proclaimed City of Trees, the 100-year-old village is constantly on the watch for any and all attempts to prune, pare or, gasp, eliminate gaudy greenery.
That’s the main, overriding reason it took the City Council several years to reach an agonizing decision on what to do about a single, offending eucalyptus tree, dubbed “Tom,” on Easton Drive.
The root system of the towering euc had intruded out onto Easton, impeding traffic. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen.
There was a reasonable recommendation to chop it down and replace it with something more appropriate.
Whoa, not so fast there, Paul Bunyan. Protests ensued. Studies were undertaken.Psyches were damaged. Children fretted. The republic wobbled.
In the end, though, the tree came down — without the intervention of Dr. Phil, Oprah or Henry Kissinger. Somehow, Burlingame survived. But barely.
Hookers? Gee, no one told us — The county’s two top cops, Greg Munks and Carlos Bolanos, the sheriff and undersheriff respectively, were in Las Vegas for an annual law enforcement athletic event.
The pair of sheriffs ventured out on the town and wound up seeking what they said was a soothing massage. Bad move.
Instead, they found themselves at what was said to be a house of ill repute and got caught up in a police sting operation in the process. Neither Munks nor Bolanos was arrested.
They claimed that they were at the shady joint innocently and unknowingly. In other words, they were about as streetwise and savvy as a couple of hapless, helpless hicks from somewhere out in the sticks.
Then, back home, they refused to respond to questions about the incident. Not exactly a comforting performance for those on the Peninsula who pay their hefty salaries.
These frogs have utterly no shame — Also in the realm of the naughty, those who operate and control the Crystal Springs Reservoir have been trying to expand its capacity. But the mating habits of an endangered frog have made that very tough indeed.
The amorous amphibians tend to congregate when water accumulates in gaps between the concrete blocks that comprise the imposing Crystal Springs Dam.
It is at that point that the randy creatures proceed to copulate with reported great enthusiasm — and, if you care to peek, quite publicly. That activity put the kibosh on any construction plans.
Another venue for the frogs’ sexual encounters was being sought. Perhaps more privacy would be in order. Just don’t send them to Las Vegas.
Each sip is really going to cost you — The rich really are different than the rest of us. A theft of 177 bottles of wine valued at a whopping $500,000 brought that home with crystal clarity.
The vino was taken from a palatial Atherton manse. And a logical observation then was made: There are condominiums in the county that aren’t worth as much as that selection of beverages.
For the great unwashed masses out there, we will have to stick to our usual ration of Two-Buck Chuck, thank you very much. Now, where’s my corkscrew?
ADDENDUM — Check this space for more of this end-of-year frivolity on Sunday. Golly, life is good, and the local hits just keep on coming.
John Horgan’s Peninsula column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in The Times. You can telephone him at 650-348-4334 or write to him at 477 Ninth Ave., Suite 110, San Mateo, 94402. Read his blog, Read It and Rant, at http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com.
c2007 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior
written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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Laboratory Developed Test for Rhesus D Incompatibility
SAN DIEGO — Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQNM) today announced the New York State approval of the first noninvasive prenatal test based on Sequenom’s SEQureDx[TM] Technology for Cell Free Fetal Nucleic Acid assessment. The Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) performed on a real-time PCR (RT-PCR) platform to detect Rhesus D (RhD) incompatibility will be marketed by Sequenom’s nonexclusive licensee, CLIA-certified, New York State Permitted laboratory Lenetix Medical Screening Laboratory, Inc., Mineola, New York.
"This will be the first commercially introduced noninvasive prenatal test in the United States to utilize the SEQureDx[TM] Technology and represents a significant step in our strategy to build a proprietary global portfolio of noninvasive prenatal products. RhD is our pioneering test and will serve in assisting in preparing us in developing and launching other tests such as Fetal(XY) and Down syndrome," said Harry Stylli, Ph.D., Sequenom’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "Genetic-based noninvasive prenatal testing could complement and potentially present a paradigm shift from current invasive testing procedures such as amniocentesis. Tests based on our SEQureDx Technology can be performed from a simple maternal blood sample, which could allow obstetric and fetal maternal specialists to successfully intervene early in the pregnancy to improve outcomes."
The Company expects to introduce additional noninvasive prenatal tests, beginning in the first half of 2008 with a LDT application for Fetal(XY)/Gender Screening, which may assist healthcare providers in the evaluation of high risk pregnancies with familial history of inherited disorders associated with the X chromosome. In addition, the Company expects to migrate the RhD incompatibility and Fetal(XY)/Gender Screening tests to the proprietary MassARRAY([R]) system next year. The MassARRAY system offers unique multiplexing capabilities for complex genetic targets with outstanding sensitivity and precision, an important advantage for the development of additional noninvasive prenatal tests.
"Lenetix Medical Screening Laboratories is pleased to be the first commercial genetic testing company to offer the RhD/SRY to at-risk pregnant women in the United States," said Leonard H. Kellner, President and CSO of Lenetix. "We have worked diligently over the last year with the regulatory and molecular experts in the New York State Department of Health to bring this innovative, high-quality, noninvasive prenatal assay to the United States. It will be clinically available to all Lenetix’ customers effectively immediately."
About Fetal Nucleic Acid Technology
Sequenom’s SEQureDx(TM) Technology is a novel approach to genetic screening. Unlike current standards of harvesting placental tissue cells as is required for chorionic villus, or entering the uterus to sample the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby as is performed with amniocentesis, SEQureDx Technology extracts Fetal Nucleic Acid material safely and comfortably from a simple blood specimen collected from the mother to determine the genetic status of the fetus. This breakthrough suggests that effective screening may be accomplished in the future without the risks associated with disturbing the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus.
About Rhesus D
Rhesus D (RhD) blood group incompatibility between a pregnant woman and her fetus is a significant problem due to the possibility of maternal alloimmunization and consequent hemolytic disease of the newborn. Alloimmunization most frequently occurs when an RhD negative mother is exposed to red blood cells of an RhD positive fetus, producing maternal antibodies against the RhD antigen. Although the pregnancy in which alloimmunization first occurs results in an unaffected child, future children are at substantial risk of anemia and in the worst cases, fetal death. In the U.S. alone, RhD incompatibility occurs in more than 10% of all pregnancies.
Anti-D immunoglobulin is routinely administered to RhD negative women at 28 weeks and after the birth of the child has helped prevent maternal alloimmunization. This prophylactic treatment prevents alloimmunization in 96% of cases. For the remaining 4% of women, approximately 20,000 pregnancies in the U.S. per year, it is important to establish the RhD type of the fetus. This is frequently performed by amniocentesis between weeks 16 and 20 of the pregnancy. If testing shows that the fetus is RhD negative, no further testing is required. If positive, the pregnancy is closely monitored to ensure the health of the baby.
About Sequenom
Sequenom is committed to providing the best genomic and genetic analysis products for research and the molecular diagnostic markets. The Company makes available superior solutions for genomic science in biomedical research, livestock and agricultural applications and molecular medicine, as well as for various diagnostic markets, including noninvasive prenatal testing, oncology and infectious diseases. Sequenom’s proprietary MassARRAY system delivers reliable and specific data from complex biological samples and from genetic target materials available only in trace amounts.
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People with Down syndrome are at least 10 times as likely as people without it to develop leukemia. Scientists now report that a mutation in the JAK2 gene on chromosome 9 shows up in one-fifth of people who have Down syndrome and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), suggesting that the mutation accounts for some of this increased risk. It’s the second mutation implicated in the Down-leukemia puzzle.
People with Down syndrome have an extra, or third, chromosome 21. This so-called trisomy causes the condition, and scientists have wondered whether it also predisposes to leukemia. But since most people with Down syndrome don’t develop the blood cancer, researchers assumed there were other genes involved. Five years ago, researchers reported that one-fifth of people with Down syndrome who have acute myeloid leukemia have a mutation in a gene called GATA1 on the X chromosome.
In the new study, physician Shai Izraeli of Tel Aviv University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and his colleagues analyzed blood samples from more than 8,000 childhood-ALL patients. The team found that 16 of 81 samples from patients with Down syndrome had the JAK2 mutation. The defect was exceptionally rare in ALL patients without Down syndrome.
"We think trisomy in chromosome 21 gives a survival advantage to cells carrying the JAK2 or GATA1 mutations," Izraeli says. To a cancer researcher, "survival advantage" is a bad thing–a trait that enables a malignant cell to live on and on.
JAK2 normally encodes a protein associated with cell proliferation. A JAK2 mutation also shows up in people with polycythemia vera, which is marked by abnormal red blood cell growth. Although the JAK2 mutation linked to ALL differs slightly from the defect in polycythemia vera patients, research into JAK2 inhibitors already under way for that disease could speed drug development for ALL patients with Down syndrome, Izraeli says.–N.S.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Science Service, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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