Zhiming lawyers represented a case of death from moldy甘蔗 poisoning and won a large compensation in the first instance.

A case dragged on for three or four years, tears streaming from both eyes; suddenly news of victory arrives, bringing some comfort to the lawyer's toil — Zhiming lawyers.

In the case of Yan (deceased at age 11), represented by Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, who died from poisoning after consuming moldy sugarcane, the Longgang District Court of Shenzhen recently ruled in the first instance that the defendant shall pay a total of 74 yuan in compensation, including death benefits, medical expenses, and consolation damages. With this, the case that spanned three years has come to a temporary close.

Child dies from poisoning; Zhiming lawyers uphold justice and rights

On the evening of February 10, 2015, the party's youngest son, Yan, consumed sugarcane purchased from the defendant and subsequently developed symptoms including convulsions, blindness, and coma. When rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, his breathing and pulse had stopped. He was later transferred to Shenzhen Children's Hospital for intensive care. Two months later, on April 19, 2015, he died despite medical treatment. Following the incident, multiple media outlets in Shenzhen reported on the case, which drew widespread attention from society and the public. After suffering the immense physical and emotional trauma of losing their son, Yan's parents sought legal assistance from Zhiming Law Firm and decided to take up legal weapons to defend their rights, seeking justice for their unfortunate child.

Test report released; our client deeply disadvantaged

After the poisoning incident involving Yan, the Longgang Regulatory Bureau of the Shenzhen Market and Quality Supervision Administration intervened to investigate, and the investigation and handling were carried out by the municipal and district-level centers for disease control and prevention. From February 15 to February 17, 2015, the municipal and district-level CDC authorities successively issued multiple reports, including inspection reports, investigation reports, follow-up investigation reports, and meeting minutes from research discussions, which showed that since laboratory tests did not detect 3-nitropropionic acid in the sugarcane, there was insufficient evidence to establish a link between Yan's poisoning symptoms and the moldy sugarcane. This undoubtedly created significant negative impacts and obstacles for our client's pursuit of legal rights.

Administrative relief rejected; rights protection path faces further obstacles

Faced with the investigation conclusions that severely contradicted the facts, Yan's parents were even more distressed and helpless, and began a long journey to defend their rights, hoping that relevant departments would "revoke the investigation report and conduct a re-test" to restore justice for them. During this period, represented by lawyers from our firm, they went through the relief procedures of petitioning and administrative litigation. First, the petitioning department rejected the case on the grounds that "the application lacked legal basis and the matters applied for did not fall within the scope of authority of the Health and Family Planning Commission." Subsequently, we filed an administrative lawsuit, but the court dismissed our claims and requests on the grounds that the case did not meet the conditions for prosecution and that the court had lawfully performed its duties in terms of subject, procedure, content, and form. As a result, the door to exercising our right to relief based on strong objections to the investigation and testing reports was completely closed.

Faced with strong pressure and resistance, the lawsuit for literary and artistic rights protection finally won

After encountering obstacles in various administrative remedies, our firm's lawyers filed a lawsuit with the Longgang District Court in April 2015 regarding a right-to-life dispute. The court proceedings centered on two key focal points: whether the sugarcane sold by the defendant was moldy, and whether there was a causal relationship between the victim's death and the consumption of the moldy sugarcane. Due to the fact that the health department's investigation report did not confirm the existence of a causal relationship between the moldy sugarcane and the victim's death, and because the court in the administrative proceedings held that the government regulatory authorities had all lawfully performed their duties, coupled with the refusal of multiple appraisal institutions commissioned by our side to accept the appraisal during the litigation, the trial of the civil case became increasingly complex and uncertain, and the difficulty and adverse impact of representing the case were considerable. Through the meticulous examination of the evidence by Zhiming lawyers, especially the discovery from the complex evidence of a video recording showing the salesperson cutting off the red-spotted portion of the sugarcane and replacing it with spot-free sugarcane handed to Yan's mother, which was submitted to the court, and the comprehensive explanation of the facts in terms of emotion, reason, and law during the trial, the court held that the evidence chain sufficiently established a causal relationship between the victim's death and the consumption of moldy sugarcane. The health department's "laboratory conclusion" after the incident, which stated that "there is insufficient evidence to prove that Yan's poisoning symptoms are related to moldy sugarcane and that no causal relationship exists," was somewhat limited, and the determination should be based on "epidemiological survey data and the patient's incubation period and characteristic symptoms of poisoning." Therefore, "the test report, investigation report, and meeting minutes should not be used as the basis for deciding this case." Consequently, the court ultimately held that the relevant evidence in this case met the evidentiary standard of high probability in civil litigation and rendered a judgment accordingly: lawfully supporting our claims and ordering the defendant to bear liability for compensation. At this point, the case that had lasted three years was temporarily concluded with a victory, and Zhiming lawyers, with their superb original strategic skills, steadfast belief in rights protection, and dedicated professional ethics, comforted Yan's parents and paid tribute to the young life that had been lost!