Category: Business

The family of a young woman who allegedly died after being given too many painkillers have filed a lawsuit against the hospital.

In April, university student Dale Alice Martin fractured her ankle while undertaking farm work and was informed that she would be kept in overnight for surgery.

“It didn’t seem like a very complicated medical issue,” the 21-year-old’s father, Lindsay Martin, recalled in an interview with NBC.

Fourteen hours later, Martin’s family received a phone call to say their daughter had been found unresponsive and was now brain dead. A medical report would later find that Martin had been given an accidental overadministration of narcotics, which caused her to stop breathing and go into cardiac arrest.

Martin’s family have now initiated legal action against Connecticut’s Waterbury Hospital, claiming their daughter died due to medical malpractice.

“Within 14 hours of admission, providers at the hospital had administered so much pain medication that Dale stopped breathing and later died,” Christopher Mattei of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, who are representing the Martin family, said.

“No one checked on Dale during this time. The same medications that were interfering with Dale’s breathing were also sedating her,” the lawsuit continued. “Dale could not even call for help as she suffocated. At 7 a.m. on April 10, a Waterbury Hospital nurse finally checked on Dale. It was far too late. Her heart had stopped beating.”

An investigation into the hospital revealed that it was owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, a California-based private company which filed for bankruptcy three months before Dale passed away.

The hospital was later purchased by Hartford HealthCare and is now owned and operated by UConn Health. A spokesperson for the facility told the Hartford Courant: “he quality, safety and wellbeing of our patients is our top priority.”

When asked about the reports that funding at Waterbury Hospital was so tight that ‘nurses allegedly were buying food for patients’ and the facility was struggling to ‘function properly’, Martin’s father said the family had no idea this was the case until after her death.

“Dale did not have a choice of where to go,” he said. “She was brought to the nearest hospital.”

“We will obviously learn more about the extent to which Prospect’s mismanagement of Waterbury Hospital contributed to the specific circumstances on the night that Dale died,” Mattei, the family’s attorney, said.

“But what we expect to find is that this was a hospital that was largely operating on fumes as a result of Prospect dismantling infrastructure within the hospital, reducing staff, training, and finding every way possible to extract value out of the hospital in a way that jeopardised care.”

LADbible has approached Waterbury Hospital and Prospect Medical Holdings for comment.

This article contains images some readers may find distressing.

A woman experienced a serious case of psoriasis which left her with ‘mouldy skin’ so bad that she went bald after a traumatic birth which left her and her baby in intensive care.

Leonie Branaghan recalled how she had been discharged from hospital after contracting sepsis following the birth of her son Kobe, with the sepsis meaning that they spent time in intensive care after the birth.

The 30-year-old mum from Ipswich in Suffolk was discharged home, and said that she was so scared of losing her baby son that she didn’t put him down.

“The hospital said that the stress that I have gone through is what triggered [my psoriasis],” said Leonie.

Around two months after being discharged home Leonie began to experience flashbacks to her experience in hospital, and noticed a small scab had appeared behind her ear.

At first she assumed that it was just dandruff, but in January 2024 she noticed that more bumps were appearing on her scalp, and made an appointment with her GP, where she was diagnosed with a fungal infection.

Over the following months, Leonie had patches of the itchy skin flare up all over her body, and on her head it became so bad that it caused her hair to fall out.

“I would make jokes I was a snake and my skin was shedding”

In September 2024 Leonie was diagnosed with psoriasis, this is a condition which causes patches of flaky and dry skin on the body, which does not currently have an outright cure.

One big cause of psoriasis is stress, and Leonie believes that this was directly linked to the extremely difficult birth, which she called ‘the scariest thing I have been through’.

“It’s very itchy so when you scratch it, it then burns and it would bleed and ooze. There was so much coming out of it,” she said.

“It was clear liquid and had the worst smell to it as well. I’ve never smelt anything remotely similar to what that smelt like.

“It almost felt surreal [when my skin would come off]. I thought there was no point crying about this as I have it for the rest of my life. I would almost make jokes like I was a snake and my skin was shedding.”

Leonie has tried several different medicines including oral and injected, in an attempt to treat the health condition, but it does not have a cure.

The mum of two has sometimes worn wigs and close-fitting hats, known as ‘cancer caps’ for their popularity with people who are undergoing chemotherapy, when she leaves the house, but says that she has had cruel remarks from strangers.

“I had taken my little boy shopping and at this point my hair had completely gone and my head was at its worst,” she recalled.

“I didn’t want to go out with no hair so I balanced a wig on my head and put a beanie hat on to hold it in place.

“This lady came up to me and asked why I had a winter hat on when it’s warm outside. I just don’t know why she needed to comment on it.”

She added: “I lost all my hair at the age of 27 due to psoriasis. I had really nice hair, it was really long and blonde, it was such a big part of me.

The condition has even gotten so bad that Leonie has been unable to play with her son because her ‘hands would split’.

“I wouldn’t be able to take him to the park either because it makes it hard to walk,” she said.

Leonie now hopes to raise awareness of the condition and urge people to see a doctor if they are worries they have psoriasis.

“My head is starting to get quite bad again and my hair is starting to fall out again in little bits,” she said.

“If you think you have psoriasis you should not wait for as long as I did to get in touch with someone in the medical profession.”

According to the NHS, psoriasis is defined as a common skin condition that causes itchy and painful patches of dry, flaky skin.

It is most commonly found on the head and behind the ears, on the chest, tummy, back, bottom, elbows and forearms and lower legs. It can also be found in skin creases.

It cannot be cured, but there are treatments to help manage symptoms, including steroid creams.

Football fans are used to seeing a sea of blue shirts in the stand when Manchester City are playing – but on Sunday (11 October), there was a wave of yellow instead.

That’s because supporters have headed to Anfield with inflatable bananas in what seems to be a show of defiance, as it’s the club’s first game since it was found guilty of 114 out of 115 charges relating to financial fair play rules.

And it turns out there is an interesting reason why Cityzens have opted to arm themselves with this unusual prop.

Enzo Maresca’s squad are back on the pitch today for the first time since the news broke that the Premier League had found the club guilty of dozens of charges.

City, who has launched an appeal against the decision and vehemently deny any wrongdoing, could face a number of brutal punishments.

Maresca addressed the scandal for the first time on Friday (9 October) ahead of the team’s clash against Liverpool, saying he has ‘complete trust’ in the club.

“Personally, I’m very calm to be honest,” the 46-year-old said. “The club has been quite clear. We trust completely the club.

“We understand the noise, but the focus for us is just what we can control and we can control just the football side.”

Outside Anfield, there was tons of merch on sale referencing the more than 100 charges, which City fans have no doubt been bracing for.

In what seems to be a bid to counteract this, hundreds of Blues have turned up to the stadium with inflatable bananas, and a lot of people don’t know why.

Taking to social media, one person wrote: “Why are the Man City fans holding giant bananas?”

Another teased: “Bananas are backkkkk!”

A third commented: “City fans such tourists. You can see to them its all about a fun day out, no real passion. They’re all having a laugh with those bananas.”

A fourth added: “My love for this club is pure. Man City fans bringing bananas to Anfield.”

And a fifth chimed in saying: “City fans be like, ‘We know we cheated but we’re gonna come to Anfield and wave bananas around’.”

Why are City fans armed with inflatable bananas?

It is believed that City supporters are referencing the nickname that supporters previously gave to legendary striker Imre Varadi, back in 1987.

They dubbed the player, now 67, ‘Imre Banana’ in a chant.

According to City’s website, this marked the ‘start of an inflatable craze that put a much needed smile back on the face of football in England‘.

“All this was seemingly down to a few City fans interpretation of Varadi’s name – at least as legend has it – and, years later, he admitted it was something he was extremely proud to have been connected to,” it explains.

Varadi took the nickname in his stride and later launched his own business, Imre Banana, which produces inflatable bananas that sport his name. You can purchase one for £10, as well as t-shirts and badges.

It is believed that a fan named Frank Newton is responsible for starting this wacky trend, as he turned up to Maine Road ahead of a match against Plymouth Argyle with a five-foot blow-up banana.

He is said to have borrowed his from a pal, rather than bulk-ordering them online like these lot probably have.

Blow-up bananas have since been adopted by City fans as a lighthearted symbol of their support for the club, and it seems they are now being repurposed to put on a show of solidarity.

Dante Friend, who handed out some inflatables to fans outside Anfield before the game kicked off, told The Sun: “A guy called Frank Newton took an inflatable banana to the next game, and then everyone started doing it.

“Most of the fans were having a laugh. We were s**t, we were in Division Two.

“I think, every now and then, when it’s fan-led and not club-led, [bringing back the bananas] can be really good. It’ll be a laugh.”

City’s CEO Ferran Soriano recently released a video insisting the Premier League case was ‘based on a single false accusation’ – but all fans could focus on was him seemingly not blinking during the more than three minute clip.

A man who was ‘completely at the mercy’ of the Boxing Day tsunami has told how he believes his horror injuries actually saved his life.

Andrew Chaggar miraculously survived the natural disaster in 2004 that tragically killed 220,000 people across Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia – including his ‘wonderful’ partner Nova.

The couple had taken a year off to explore the world and after travelling through China, Vietnam and Cambodia, they fatefully decided to spend the Christmas period in Thailand in a beachfront bungalow.

Andrew courageously opened up about his story of survival and the loss of Nova while speaking to LADbible Stories in a new episode of Minutes With.

He detailed how the dream trip they had spent a number of years saving up for turned into a nightmare after ferocious waves smashed into their accommodation in Khao Lak and swept them away.

Andrew, who was 27 at the time, recalled how the row of bungalows were ‘took down like dominoes’ after the first wave of the Indian Ocean tsunami hit.

He described how the homes began to ‘violently’ shake, while he could hear a noise comparable to a ‘jet engine building up for takeoff’ – adding that Nova ‘looked quite scared’ when he glanced over at her for the final time.

“I literally remember being in the bungalow and, the next minute, basically waking up in the water,” Andrew told Minutes With. “It was almost like being in a washing machine full of nails.

“There was this incredibly strong current, and there was just no way to swim against it. I was completely at its mercy.

“And then there was all the wreckage from the bungalows themselves. In the water, there was metal, glass, bricks, probably whole cars and things like that. It was that powerful.”

Andrew was then repeatedly ‘turned over and over’ by the force of the waves, which ‘dragged him along’ and away from the row of bungalows.

“At one point, I managed to surface, but almost immediately, I think an oil drum hit me in the head,” he continued. “That’s what caused the scar on my head, and it knocked me back under the water.

“I surfaced again, and the wave had started washing me inland. I was basically dragged through what was basically a building site for a hotel.

“At that point, it was just the concrete floors and the columns that were in place, so there were no walls.”

While he was hauled through the construction site, Andrew’s left leg suddenly became pinned against a concrete pillar due to the debris in the water.

“That’s what caused the worst of my injuries,” the dad-of-two said. “But I think it’s fundamentally what saved my life.”

Andrew believes that a worse fate would have awaited him if his leg had not become trapped, as he suspects the waves would have dragged him back out of the site and catapulted him directly into the bay.

“I’ve seen videos of Khao Lak on the day of the tsunami, and there were these huge whirlpools going on,” he said. “I think that’s what also caused a lot of people to drown – being out in the bay when all that was happening.

“So, although it caused the worst of my injuries, I think that’s fundamentally why I’m alive today.”

Being stuck there was still an ‘incredibly frightening’ experience, as Andrew explained he had never ‘even heard the word tsunami at that point, so had no idea what had happened’.

‘I was incredibly lucky’

Moments later, he began to hear the same haunting noise he had heard that morning – and the second wave then struck and he feared that due to his injuries, he would not be able to survive this one.

Explaining how he dodged death, Andrew went on: “I watched the wave come in, but again, I was incredibly lucky because, as it came in, it rose and probably stopped about six inches – about 15 centimetres – below where I was.

“Had it come any higher, it probably would have taken me with it. But the second wave came in, rose up almost to where I was and then, thankfully, dropped away without taking me.”

As well as sustaining ‘terrible’ injuries to his legs, he also broke his collarbone. Andrew spent around four hours in the construction site while being ‘incredibly worried’ about where Nova was, before he was eventually rescued from his ordeal by a pair of ‘incredibly brave’ strangers.

He explained the mental toll of the Indian Ocean tsunami was much greater than the physical, as he came to terms with the fact that Nova was gone, while he had witnessed scenes that he resembled a ‘war zone’.

Six months after the natural disaster, he was informed that Nova had been confirmed dead through a partial DNA match, which left him in ‘a pretty dark place for a long time’.

He said his healing journey has taken years and is still ongoing – but he bravely decided to return to Thailand as he had a ‘very strong urge to go back and help’.

Andrew’s experience inspired him to go back to university and do a master’s degree in international development, with a focus on disaster response, before he later launched the charity, International Disaster Volunteers (IDV).

He now works for another charity and is an inspirational speaker. He has since got married and had two children, while he also remains ‘incredibly close with Nova’s parents‘.

“I’m in this position now where my kids call Nova’s parents Grandma and Granddad,” Andrew added. “That, to me, is just amazing. I feel incredibly lucky that they’re family.

“They are family. There’s no question about it, and I feel very lucky that relationship is there.

“Obviously, as part of that, Nova is always part of our lives.”