Negligence Causes Fatal Brockton Crash

After a fatal car crash through the entrance to Signature Healthcare's Brockton hospital killed two, the widow of one of the victims is suing the doctors of the driver for negligence. Five doctors not related to Brockton are being accused of prescribing, or having knowledge of the prescription, heavy pain killers to 77 year old Jane Berghold without informing her of the potential that it could be unsafe to drive.

Brad Greenberg, a lawyer representing the family of the deceased Dr. Mark Vasa, expressed his concern that someone should have warned Berghold of the dangers of operating heavy machinery while taking the pain killers. Unable to name the five doctors until the case is made public, this suit is an amendment to a suit directly against Berghold, which was later dropped once the circumstances of the accident became clear and a settlement was reached involving Berghold's testimony against the doctors.

Berghold had her licensed revoked and was placed on 18 months probation after pleading guilty to two counts of homicide by negligence in a motor vehicle and one count of negligent operation of a motor vehicle. In addition to the pain killers, she was also undergoing chemotherapy, but that treatment did not affect her capability to drive.

It was said that Berghold complained at least fifteen times over four years that the medication she was taking had her feeling dizzy and light headed. At least one of those occasions had her telling a doctor that she was light headed during driving, though no one ever apparently told her that she should not drive. The doctors named in her suit are both her primary physician, and doctors that were part of a medical group providing treatment to her. This case is the second in the state that calls in to question whether doctors made the right decision when prescribing medication.