$250,000 Settlement Approved in Death Suit

The Los Angeles City Council has approved spending $250,000 to settle a wrongful death suit brought against the city by parents of a 33-year-old Chatsworth man who died April 10, 1988, of a heart attack after a gym workout.

The suit, filed by William and Lorraine Baime in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleged that their son, David Baime, was negligently treated by city paramedics who concluded that the man was merely hyperventilating.

About 30 minutes after the paramedics left the Baime residence they were called back. They found Baime unconscious and in full cardiac arrest. After resuscitation efforts failed, Baime was pronounced dead at Nu-Med Hospital.

Specifically, the Baimes’ suit contends that the paramedics ignored department policy, which required them to contact their base station, and that if they had done so, their son would have been taken to the hospital where emergency medical treatment could have saved his life.

Neither the Baimes nor their attorney was available for comment on the settlement. Mayor Tom Bradley is expected to approve the agreement. Bradley’s signature is needed so that a settlement check can be drawn on city coffers.

The settlement, which was approved this month on a 10-0 vote of the council, with five members abstaining, was negotiated to preclude a January trial.