Carol Gotbaum

Carol Anne Gotbaum was an air traveler who died, aged 45, on September 28, 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona in Sky Harbor International Airport while being held in police custody. She was arrested after becoming angry while attempting to board her plane to enter an alcohol treatment center in Tucson, Arizona. [ [http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1109gotbaum1109.html Autopsy: Gotbaum died from asphyxia by hanging] "The Arizona Republic" November 9, 2007]

The incident

Gotbaum was unable to board her flight, as it had been overbooked. After being denied passage on a later flight, Gotbaum became irate; reviews of publicly available closed-circuit security tapes shows her lurching about and flailing, as well as hurling an PDA device at a US Airways employee. Several passengers subsequently alleged that they attempted to switch seats so that she could make her flight, but that they were dissuaded by employees of the airline, US Airways; no publicly available legal documents verify this allegation. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101201887.html Why Flying Now Can Kill] Washington Post, 14 October 2007]

Soon after the assault with the PDA, security officers were called and Gotbaum was arrested. According to Phoenix police, as she was taken away, Gotbaum was irate and continued to scream [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101077.html Family Awaits Autopsy in Airport Death] Washington Post, 02 October 2007] . She was subsequently shackled to a bench and left alone for five to ten minutes. When authorities checked on her, they found that Gotbaum had lost consciousness and thereafter died. A subsequent autopsy showed that Gotbaum had a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.24%; Arizona law indicates legal drunkenness to be .08% or above, rendering Gotbaum three times the level of legal toxicity in the state. The autopsy also revealed the presence of drugs mixed with alcohol.

Later controversy

The story of Gotbaum's death became national headline news, and newspapers across the country speculated as to what had actually happened. Most reports stated simply that she had been late in arriving for her flight, [ [http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1191245472227720.xml&coll=2 The Plain Dealer] Dead link] although this was changed in later news stories.

The family stated their intention to investigate and potentially sue the police pending an autopsy, which they hired a representative to attend. Police officials say that officers acted justly and according to protocol, but that has not stopped the media from reporting outrage over the story, which received significant coverage as it became public interest.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner found Gotbaum accidentally strangled herself and ruled her death an accident. In addition, their report states that she was acutely intoxicated on alcohol and prescription medication at the time of her death. These medicines included the antidepressants Citalopram and Duloxetine, as well as the antitussive Dextromethorphan and the antihistamines Diphenhydramine and Chlorpheniramine. It was not reported whether some or all of these drugs were prescribed to her. Her blood alcohol content was .24, or three times the legal driving limit in Arizona. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_re_us/airport_death;_ylt=Au_Y2WN_mB0hVEEJUBUlmYlI2ocA AP article on medical examiner's report] ] [ [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/gotbaums-death-is-ruled-an-accident/?hp NY Times article] ]

Cyril Wecht, a pathologist hired by the Gotbaum family, agrees with the Medical Examiner's assessment of death by asphyxiation but argues that Gotbaum's condition should have been better assessed by the Phoenix police when they initially encountered her and appropriate medical personnel should have been contacted. Phoenix Police spokesman Andy Hill stated that there was no way they could have known about Gotbaum's health problems and that the police department acted appropriately. Wecht also mentioned in his report that Gotbaum should have been on just one antidepressant, not both, and that this combination of drugs in conjunction with the alcohol and her energetic emotional outburst could have made it more difficult for Gotbaum to get the oxygen she needed. [ [http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1113gotbaum1113.html Gotbaum's death tied to prescriptions] "The Arizona Republic" November 13, 2007]

Lawsuit

On March 27, 2008, the family of Gotbaum filed an $8 million claim against the city of Phoenix and its police department. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/law/03/26/airport.death/index.html Family seeks $8 million in airport death] "CNN" March 27, 2008] A lawsuit was filed May 8, 2008. [http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/08/20080508gotbaum-sues0508-ON.html]

On August 21, 2008, it was repored by the Maricopa County Attorney that the Phoenix police officers involved in the arrest of Carol Gotbaum did not break any laws and will not be prosecuted. [http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/08/21/20080821gotbaum-thomas0821.html]

Biography

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Carol Gotbaum was born as Carol Anne Stiger. She had two sisters, Heidi and Patricia. Their father, Naval Cmdr. Henry Brian Stiger, to whom Carol was particularly close, died from cancer in 2004.

Carol left South Africa after earning an MBA from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She moved to London where she worked at Harrods and the House of Frasier before relocating to the United States, where she married Noah Gotbaum (the son of Victor and Betsy Gotbaum) by whom she had three children. [ [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/carol_a_gotbaum/index.html?8qa Topic Carol Gotbaum] , "The New York Times" accessed 11-09-2007] She had attempted suicide two times previously within a year of her death. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/03/2007-10-03__carol_anne_gotbaums_desperate_last_call.html]

ee also

*Overbooking
*Asphyxia
*Consumer protection

References

External links

* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101077.html Original story about the incident]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101201887.html "Why Flying Can Now Kill"]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/10/12/PH2007101202412.html Purported last photo of Gotbaum]