VictimsÂ’ families retain CO specialists
By Brian Wedemeyer
The families of two Southern California men who drowned in Bridgewater Channel this past summer have retained a law firm that specializes in carbon monoxide poisoning from ski boats.
The Redlands, Calif., law firm Welebir and McCune confirmed that it has started gathering evidence for wrongful death cases against what likely could be several defendants, including Lake Havasu City, Mohave County and some boat manufacturers.
“We have just been retained, so we want to make sure that the defendants who are eventually named are the proper ones,” attorney Douglas Welebir said Thursday. “And we don’t want to miss any.
“A person who is enjoying the outdoors, just walking through or standing in the water, should not have to die because of his choice of recreation,” he said.
The law firm is representing the families of Mark Tostado, 31, who drowned in the Channel over Memorial Day weekend, and Timothy Eugene Heck, 26, who drowned over Labor Day weekend.
The Channel, which attracts hundreds of boaters on busy summer weekends, has been the subject of growing concerns about carbon monoxide poisoning from boat exhaust. Carbon monoxide has been linked to at least three deaths at or near the Channel since 2001.
An autopsy determined that carbon monoxide was a secondary cause of death in TostadoÂ’s drowning. However, a blood sample that could have provided more clues about HeckÂ’s death was destroyed in a Las Vegas laboratory, a medical examiner told TodayÂ’s News-Herald last week.
“It is difficult to believe that a forensic laboratory handling blood samples and other evidentiary matters could destroy or throw out evidence that is so important,” Welebir said. “We are only beginning to explore our options in that regard.”
Dr. Donald Nelson, who performs autopsies for Mohave County, last week said the color of HeckÂ’s skin and blood was not consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning.
“From a clinical standpoint, I don’t think carbon monoxide had anything to do with his death,” Nelson said.
Welebir disputes NelsonÂ’s claim, saying those are not factors in confirming the majority of carbon monoxide poisonings.
Robert Baron, a Phoenix doctor involved in a nationwide investigation of carbon monoxide poisoning from boats, also disagreed with NelsonÂ’s finding. He said red blood or tissues are detected in only a small fraction of carbon monoxide victims.
“... if you use redness to make the diagnosis, you will be missing 98 percent of the people who actually have it,” Baron said.
Welebir and McCune also represent the family of Stacey Beckett, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning at age 15 after “teak surfing” behind a MasterCraft ski boat in Mexico in July 2000. The family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against MasterCraft Boat Co., attracting national media attention.
A Superior Court judge in San Bernardino County dismissed the suit, citing a law that prevents compensation for victims who die more than 12 miles off the U.S. coastline. The Beckett family has appealed the ruling.
The law firm also represents the family of 11-year-old Anthony Farr, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while teak surfing on a lake near Sacramento, Calif.
In June, Welebir and McCune filed a class-action lawsuit against several boat manufacturers, alleging that they havenÂ’t done enough to reduce emissions or warn boaters about the danger.
“We cannot believe the manufacturers continue to fight against doing something as simple as putting a warning on the backs of their boats,” said attorney Richard McCune. “Both the Becketts and the Farrs have been boating for thousands of hours, and they had no idea of the danger behind their boat. That’s just not acceptable.”
Officials with the National Marine Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C. could not be reached Thursday for comment.
At the request of a local emergency room doctor, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health tested for carbon monoxide presence in Bridgewater Channel over Labor Day weekend in 2002. A report was provided to the city last December calling for more thorough testing.
In April, the City Council agreed to hire a private consultant to conduct a summer-long air quality evaluation in the Channel. The council is expected to review the consultantÂ’s final report sometime next month.
The city also started a public awareness campaign prior to Memorial Day weekend warning boaters about possible carbon monoxide poisoning.
McCune described the city’s efforts to warn the public as “woeful and inadequate.”
“Five thousand pamphlets for 40,000 people just doesn’t add up,” McCune said.
Earlier this month, a local radio news network published a copy of a report by the Arizona Department of Health Services dated June 18 — which determined that a public health hazard existed over Memorial Day weekend. That same weekend, a recreational diver discovered Tostado’s body.
City officials said they were unaware the state report existed.
“These families want some answers,” McCune said. “And the answers they are getting now are completely unsatisfactory.”
You may contact the reporter at bwedemeyer@havasunews.com.
[ October 05, 2003, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: hd&boatrider ]
Centurion boats have come out with a new exhaust
called sideswipes.
The exhaust dumps out the side of the boat.
There's a pic in Waterski mag.
So now you can't swim next to the boat with the motor running.
Maybe they should put platforms on the sides of the boat. boxed
End result will be mandatory ugly stickers with warning to be placed on transom of all new boats I'm sure. Then they'll just all be peeled off by all hot boaters.
I feel terrible for the families that loss someone. But sometimes these lawsuits get ridiculous. If you know you are in an environment that exposes you to this danger, how about just be aware and careful?? Tragedy yes. But that's why they are called accidents. Don't serve these people coffee, they might spill it and sue. Look out Havasu, here come the regulations.
I dont know about anyone else and I might get flamed...BUT who in their right mind would hang on to the back of a boat with the prop just inches away???
Sounds really scary to me...so I suppose when someone gets ate up by the prop they will sue the boat company for putting the prop on the outside of the boat...or when ppl run their cars in a garage with the door closed...can they sue the garage door maker?
How many stupid ppl does it take to make the world go around..LOL...
Effing lawyers at it again.
“We cannot believe the manufacturers continue to fight against doing something as simple as putting a warning on the backs of their boats,” said attorney Richard McCune. “Both the Becketts and the Farrs have been boating for thousands of hours, and they had no idea of the danger behind their boat. That’s just not acceptable.”
Then I guess they are stupid.
They better put one on cars, motorcycles, and lawnmowers too, then. There is no sticker on the back of a car, and I bet waaaaaay more people have died from automobile produced c.o. than in boats.
In the time it has taken to read this thread, several dozen people have died various accidental causes all over the country. It happens.
Rest assured that more rules are coming soon to a favorite waterway near you. Here is the ***boat of the future, buoys and gulls. An electic boat. No pollutants, no noise, and not much fun!
this is a link to there web page we all should file a lawsuit aginst them for messing up ore boating rights web page
Someone please explain to me how the bot mfg's otr the city of LHC and Mohave County are rsponsible for any of these deaths!?!?!?!? Oh yeah, it's the deep-pockets syndrome! Look, everyone that goes to the channel knows it gets really bad in terms of exhaust on the busy weekends. And who in their right GD mind would "teak surf" behind a boat only inches away from the prop! And hello, tht's where the exhaust is!!!!! GD, I'm so sick of this sh!t!!!! Take some GD responsibility for your own actions and use some GD common sense! This is a direct result of our litigiuos society! GD lawyers! Actually, it's the lawyers and the dipsh!ts that hire them!
C-Ya, you know that lawyers remark is not directed at your wife or those attorneys like her that actually do care about what they do as opposed to just going for the entity with the deepest pockets!
And incase you couldn't tell, yes, I'm in a bad mood and totally pissed at all sort of things right now one of which right now is all of GD politicians and the government in general! All a bunch of greedy SOBS!
mike37:
this is a link to there web page we all should file a lawsuit aginst them for messing up ore boating rights web page Well, I just e-mailed them this:
You ambulance chasing losers! How can you in good concscience file these lawsuits!?!?! While I feel for the families that have lost loved ones how about using some common sense and not teak surf behind a boat only inches from the prop and from the exhaust! That's common sense! Just another frivolous lawsuit filed on behalf of people that can't stand up and take some responsibility for their own actions!
A Concerned Boater
Win or lose........the consumer gets screwed. How much was your boat insurance again???
"Yes.......and what were the BAC levels of the two deceased?" That is what I thought, case dismissed!
[ October 03, 2003, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: HavasuDreamin' ]
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