This is a rather unusual case. A Texas woman died after she allegedly developed a staff infection following a pedicure she received at a salon. The woman died of a heart attack which her estate claims was caused by the staff infection. The estate in suing the salon for wrongful death.

This is a case which highlights the difficulty in establishing causation in certain personal injury cases. In my mind, establishing causation will be very difficult in this case. Here is an excerpt of the story provided courtesy of the Associated Press:

AP) – FORT WORTH, Texas-Kimberly Kay Jackson loved getting pedicures each month, especially with bright pink nail polish, although as a paraplegic she couldn’t feel the massages and bubbling water on her feet.

But after her heel was cut with a pumice stone during a July pedicure, she developed an oozing wound that wouldn’t heal despite repeated rounds of antibiotics, relatives said. The 46-year-old died in February of a heart attack triggered by a staph infection, said the family’s attorney, Steven C. Laird.

Now, her three teenage children are suing Angel Nails and its owner for unspecified damages. The lawsuit, filed last week, claims the Fort Worth salon did not follow state regulations for disinfecting the whirlpool and instruments.

Angel Nails is being investigated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which started overseeing nail salons in September after the Texas Cosmetology Commission dissolved, said department spokesman Patrick Schaughnessy.