Malpractice winner shot after fearing for safety

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A man who won $11 million in a medical malpractice settlement last year was shot just days after he filed court papers saying he had been threatened and harassed because of the award.

William Bobbett, 27, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest. A spokeswoman for Community Medical Center in Scranton said Friday she had no information on his condition.

No one had been arrested or identified as a suspect in Thursday's shooting.

Bobbett and his wife reached the settlement with Mercy Hospital last fall over the death of their 4-year-old son, Torajee Bobbett.

Their lawsuit claimed doctors and nurses failed to diagnose and treat a bowel obstruction for 10 hours after their son was brought to the hospital July 19, 2001, with a severe abdominal condition. The boy subsequently suffered a heart attack and died.

Bobbett recently filed court papers saying he received "numerous threats" because of the settlement.

The court papers asked a judge to terminate Bobbett's probation on various drug charges so that he could leave the state because of the threats. A hearing was set for May 15.