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Personal Injury$25 Million Dollar Settlement for Pennsylvania Wrongful Death
This case involved the Pennsylvania wrongful death of a minor. The Trapani Law Firm represented the child’s Estate and his mother. The child needed life sustaining medical equipment, which was powered by electricity. His mother fell behind on her electricity bill. She informed the child’s hospital that she was behind on her electricity payments, and requested they send a written request for medical necessity certification to the power company because electricity was needed for her son’s survival. The medical necessity certification form is a standard form in Pennsylvania that lets a power company know that someone in a residence requires electricity for a medical condition, and the power company should not turn off the power or they will risk injuring that person. The form must come from a certified medical provider and it must list the amount of time electricity will be necessary to treat the illness. A nurse from the child’s hospital sent the written notice to the power company and noted that the child had a life-long disease, which required electricity to keep him alive. Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania has a requirement that they must provide power for 90 days in these situations, but the state is silent on what actions the power company should take thereafter. On the 91st day, the power company turned the power off, with full knowledge a child was in the home who needed electricity to survive.
Sadly, the minor child passed away due to the lack of electricity for his medical devices. The Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyers at the Trapani Law Firm helped recover a $25 Million Dollar settlement on behalf of the Estate and the family for the reckless behavior of the Pennsylvania power company. While this financial award will not undo the unspeakable harm that took place, we do hope that it will prevent power companies from acting in a reckless and unsafe manner moving forward.
Pennsylvania electricity companies’ have a basic obligation to safely deliver electric energy on a reliable basis. Public utility companies are not like other for-profit businesses in that in addition to the commercial objective of earning profits, they are, in exchange for being afforded monopoly power, in part, an instrument of public policy. This is why they are called “public utilities.” They are expected to serve public policy interests that may not be fully consistent with profit maximization. It is an important public policy objective to assure universal service for all customers. Unfortunately, not all consumers can afford to pay the full cost of the electricity they consume. Nor are all customers equally affected if their supply of electricity is cut off. For some customers, the loss of electricity is simply an inconvenience, but for others, it can be a matter of life and death, like it was for the minor in this case. It is clear that it is not in the public interest to disconnect the electricity service and put the health and life of a child at risk. While it was not in the Power Company’s best financial interest to continue to serve a customer who is unable to pay, a Pennsylvania Power Company may not act solely in furtherance of their own profitability in deciding to cut off a medically disabled child’s electricity.
If you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury, bodily harm or wrongful death as a result of a negligent power company, call the Philadelphia wrongful death attorneys at the Trapani Law Firm at (610) 351-2330 for a free consultation. We’re here to help.
Disclaimer
The results that have been posted here are for your information only. The future outcome of your lawsuit or a settlement cannot be calculated by previous awards that we achieved for our clients in the past.
MATTHEW C. TRAPANI
The injury lawyers at the Trapani Law Firm have represented hundreds of clients injured in catastrophic car accidents and other personal injury accidents. Additionally, our personal injury law firm has handled wrongful death claims for families of victims killed or injured in tragic accidents. There is no cost to our clients until our experienced attorneys have won your case.
The Trapani Law Firm would like our visitors to be aware that we obtain our information through secondary sources so it is entirely possible that our news blog posts may contain data that is not 100% accurate. If we have improper information posted on our blog please feel free to email us so we can make the necessary adjustments.
Our law firm has posted this news blog for informative purposes, in order to help keep our local community safer. The Trapani Law Firm handles these types of injury cases, however whether or not attorney representation is needed is a very private decision that we honor.
DISCLAIMER: The information above is not intended to express or constitute legal or medical advice.
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Last Updated on April 30, 2026