Abramson, Brown & Dugan Attorneys

The mother of an 8 year old girl will receive $1.8 million from Community Health Care Inc. clinic in Greenfield, Mass., after one of the clinic's patients caused a fatal car accident.  Stephen Fairchild, 24, of Putney Vermont was a clinic patient being treated for heroin addiction when his vehicle veered into oncoming traffic colliding with a truck driven by Erin Lackey.  Erin's 8 year old daughter Kayla and Fairchild were both killed in the crash.  Autopsy reports showed that Fairchild's methadone level was "peaking" at the time of the 2005 auto crash. 

Kayla Lackey's family sued the Community Health Care clinic citing the clinic for failure to adequately monitor Fairchild after giving him methadone bottles to take home with him, a violation of clinic policy.  The suit noted other warning signs in Fairchild's behavior such as a failure to keep counseling appointments and burns on his clothing and skin, a dangerous sign of drug abuse.  Fairchild had a long history of drug abuse and traffic violations.  Autopsy results showed that Fairchild has used cocaine and marijuana recently prior to the crash. 

The methadone clinic lawsuit focused on the role the clinic and Fairchild's personal physician, Dr. Walter Slowinski, had in treating Stephen Fairchild.