Authorities recently reported that the death toll from the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off of the Italian coast increased to 11.  The ship was operated by Costa Cruises, a company owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.

Officials from the cruise ship company have blamed the fatal accident on the ship’s captain.  According to the company, the captain did not follow the approved course by directing the vessel too close to the rocky shores of the Italian island, Giglio.  He is currently being investigated for manslaughter.

4,200 people were aboard the ship, which crashed just hours after the cruise began last Friday evening.  Rescue crews are still searching for 24 missing passengers and crew members.

Last month, an Allentown couple settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of their newborn daughter Mackenzie who passed away 3 days after her delivery at the hospital.

According to the suit, the physician who delivered the newborn performed a vacuum delivery which caused the baby’s brain to bleed.  Hospital staff were accused of failing to recognize the symptoms of bleeding in the brain in a timely manner which led to the girl’s death.

In total, the couple settled with the hospital for approximately $1.5 million.  About half of the settlement will go to the parents and the other half was allocated to legal fees and reimbursement costs.

The family of a 15-year old boy who was killed in a pedestrian accident after drinking two Four Loko beverages is suing the drink’s manufacturer, Phusion Projects, for wrongful death.  According to the family, the company markets the highly caffeinated and alcoholic beverages to college-aged kids and underage drinkers.

In November, a few weeks after the boy’s death, Phusion Projects began removing caffeine, guarana, and taurine from their products.  Despite the fact that the beverages contained alcohol, the 15-year old was able to purchase two cans of Four Loko at a convenience store before attending a concert earlier that fall.

Staff at the concert venue called the boy’s mother after he began acting “erratic and agitated.”  After his mother came to pick him up and drive him home, the boy somehow got out of the car and took off running.  He eventually ended up in the middle of a highway and was struck by a car.  The boy passed away the day after the accident.

Our utmost sympathies go out to the boy’s family and friends.