Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Driver with Diabetic Reaction Underway

South Bend, INA wrongful death lawsuit is underway in Indiana against a young driver who experienced a diabetic reaction, which resulted in the death of a wife and mother. Mary Morris lost her life while traveling North on U.S. 31 in the middle of Argos and Rochester Roads on January 19, 2008. She was struck by a motorist, Eric Jana who is twenty-seven years old. Mr. Jana had recently moved to the area and was headed from Chicago to Rochester for his sister's birthday party.

Just moments before his Jeep Cherokee hit Morris' Ford Taurus, he had veered off the road and crossed the median of the highway ending up in a ditch. Mr. Jana passed out in his vehicle from a diabetic reaction and became agitated and confused when he was approached by another motorist. The other motorist was trying to see if he needed help. Mr. Jana sped away from the scene at a high rate of speed exceeding ninety miles per hour. The motorist who had approached him called 911 and attempted to follow him, but was never able to catch up with Mr. Jana's vehicle.

Shortly after Mr. Jana landing in a ditch as he was traveling at a high rate of speed, he was traveling northbound in the southbound lane. Several motorists were able to tell Mr. Jana was heading the wrong way and were able to get over successfully and avoid being struck. About four miles into his erratic driving episode, he struck Mary Morris' vehicle. From the way they approached one another she had very little reaction time to avoid the collision.

A life flight helicopter took the Morris family and their friend along with Mr. Jana to a local hospital. Once there a toxicology report showed no presence of drugs or alcohol in Mr. Jana's system. It did reveal that he had a highly elevated blood sugar level. Generally, people with diabetes know when their blood sugar levels are out of sync. The Morris family is alleging negligence on Mr. Jana's part for causing what is being deemed the wrongful death of Mary Morris. Experts say that more traffic accidents are caused by people with low blood sugar levels or hypoglycemic sufferers than those with high blood sugar levels.

The Morris family is only trying to recover damages for compensatory rather than punitive reasons. The argument for the lawsuit by the Morris family is that Mr. Jana should have known if he was experiencing such difficulty with his blood sugar levels. According to them Mr. Jana should have had signs of illness from the elevated blood sugar levels earlier in the day and would have known it wasn't safe to drive. Some medical experts delving into the case believe there may be other issues besides the high blood sugar levels with Mr. Jana's health. His prior health history will be available to the Morris family during the lawsuit proceedings. There is a ban at this time on diabetics being able to hold commercial driver's licenses.

By Delsia Hartford