CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : OAKLAND : Family of Quake Victim Sues Hospital

Buck Helm, who survived four days under the collapsed Nimitz Freeway after the Loma Prieta earthquake, may have died because hospital medical workers incorrectly inserted a breathing tube, a lawyer said. Helm’s family is seeking an unspecified amount in damages in a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente Hospital where Helm died, said San Francisco lawyer Bill Choulos, who represents Helm’s family. Choulos charges that a breathing tube was inserted into Helm’s stomach instead of his lungs. Kaiser officials maintained that Helm died of lung collapse and heart failure, complications from injuries sustained when the freeway collapsed.