James Baker III granddaughter died in similar accident to Edwards case

[RamboLiberal]

I stumbled across this in getting details about John Edward's most famous case so I could answer the "ambulance chasing trial lawyer" charges. Found it interesting. Does anyone know in the Baker case if a lawsuit has been filed, or if a settlement has been made? Be a great counter if there is a suit to those Repugs yelling about "trial lawyers". Here's the story from a Pool and Spa newsletter.

The police report refers to the 7-year-old girl simply as “Drown Person.”

But cloaked in the anonymity of that field investigation report are the true identity of the victim and the tragic circumstances that took her life. Both could change the pool and spa industry as we know it.

The victim in this case was Graeme Baker, the granddaughter of James Baker III, former secretary of state under President George Bush. While she did, indeed, technically drown, the events surrounding the accident are far more insidious. The police report lays them out in horrific detail:

The mother … tried to pull her daughter out of the pool. The mother could not lift her daughter from the pool and struggled greatly. Two persons then came to her assistance and pulled the girl out by her ankles.

<snip>

“The swimming pool and spa industry has been well aware of these risks since the late 1970s,” says Robert T. Hall, an attorney for Nancy and James Baker IV, Graeme’s parents. “Their products are especially hazardous to children. Since the 1980s, there have been at least 147 entrapment incidents documented, resulting in 36 deaths.”

http://www.poolspanews.com/2003/102/102entrapment.html

And from the same newsletter some details on the Valerie Lakey case that is John Edward's most famous case.

For Valerie Lakey, it’s a moot point. There was no such thing as an SVRS when she was 5 years old and eviscerated by a suction outlet at a community wading pool in Medfield, N.C. Remarkably, she survived the incident and became one of the nation’s best-known entrapment victims, but it also radically changed the quality of her life forever.

“She can’t eat food like you and me,” says David Kirby, the Lakey family attorney. “She has to be fed with intravenous tubes and it has to titrate into her body 12 hours a day with a pump five times a week. “This is similar to baby food, but it’s caustic and hard on the liver. And it’s incredibly expensive. It cost $130,000 to $150,000 a year just to feed her.”

Lawsuits were brought against pool operators (city of Medfield), as well as Wake County, which ran the inspection programs for public pools. Hayward Pool Products, the pump manufacturer, and Sta-Rite Industries, the drain cover manufacturer also were named as defendants.

All defendants settled out of court for $5.9 million collectively except for Sta-Rite, which went to trial and eventually was found liable for $25 million.

http://www.poolspanews.com/2003/102/102entrapment2.html

[AP]

1. Baker was suctioned by the drain, as Lakey was.

Lakey was in a baby pool, so her head was always above water. She had been sitting on the drain. The drain cover wasn't held in place by anything more than gravity. She knocked it off and got suctioned.

Here's more from the article, re the Baker girl:

Eventually, the report leads to this revelation: It was later determined that the girl’s hip or butt was suctioned to the drain.
...

Although no lawsuits have yet been filed in the Baker case, a family spokesman issued a statement to Pool & Spa News, clearly indicating that the writing is on the wall.

“The swimming pool and spa industry has been well aware of these risks since the late 1970s,” says Robert T. Hall, an attorney for Nancy and James Baker IV, Graeme’s parents. “Their products are especially hazardous to children. Since the 1980s, there have been at least 147 entrapment incidents documented, resulting in 36 deaths.”

Hall goes on to say that the Bakers plan to hold the industry accountable for the suction entrapment phenomenon.

“We pledge to do all within our power to see that this industry meets its obligation to an unsuspecting public,” he says. “ senseless death should be a wake-up call for this industry to accept responsibility for all such deaths and injuries and be accountable for the decades it has ignored its duties.”

...
Children are fascinated with the current created by a swimming pool’s circulation system, often sticking their hands or feet in its path just for the thrill of feeling the powerful force of the suction. Litigators like to refer to such a thing as an “attractive nuisance.”




Entrapment survivors: These swimmers escaped death, but they bear the marks of their struggles. With a typical 8-inch main drain and pool pump exerting 350 pounds of pressure, the suction can create a powerful force.

...

Lawmakers in California, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New Jersey have recently legislated all or part of these protections. However, there are still states, such as Texas, that don’t even require contracting licenses for pool builders, allowing anyone with a backhoe and a business card to join the industry. It’s states such as these where pool builders are more likely to either not know or care about standards — mandated or otherwise.

...



“Why wait until we have one summer when kids are getting entrapped and it hits the papers?” Stoner asks. “We don’t want to wait, and then react and get a black eye. The thing is, all this stuff can be fixed. And it’s more business for the industry , while at the same time putting a good image on it.




“Making safer pools — tell me how that’s a negative thing. It’s win-win.”

[RamboLiberal]

2. Wow DU'ers are good or psychic

I thought stumbling across this case was a revelation, but someone here already found and is discussing in this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1969615

If moderators want to lock my thread and point toward the above - please do.

I'm always amazed how sharp DU'ers are.