Lopinot dismisses case over frozen oxygen tank

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Vincent Lopinot on March 12 dismissed a lawsuit over alleged frostbite sustained by a 100-year-old woman due to a leaking oxygen tank.

Michael P. Magers, executor of the estate of Rachel F. Magers, filed a lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Three Springs Lodge Nursing Home, Welge Nursing Home, Lincare and Caire.

Magers filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice on March 12, stating that each party would pay its own costs.

In his complaint originally filed in February 2012, Michael Magers alleged Rachel Magers received liquid oxygen from a portable tank manufactured by Caire on March 22, 2010. As a Three Springs employee administered the oxygen, “a cloud of white vapor began to surround Rachel Magers’s face, and the oxygen tubing froze to her neck and cheeks and the tip of the nose was frozen with the nasal prongs frozen within the nostrils,” the suit stated.

Because of the incident, Rachel Magers sustained frostbite, and became further disabled and debilitated until her death, May 15, 2010, according to the complaint.

Michael Magers partially blamed nursing home employees for causing her injuries for failing to provide properly supervised nursing care and failing to ensure that Rachel Magers received adequate supervision, among other acts.

Lincare, which supplied the oxygen tank, and Caire were accused of negligently supplying a leaking oxygen tank to a nursing home, failing to inspect the oxygen tank and failing to adequately assess the risk of its leaking, the suit stated.

Magers sought a judgment exceeding $50,000.

Stephen C. Buser of the Law Office of Stephen C. Buser in Columbia represented the plaintiff.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 12-L-109.