Bank of America Intern Worked to Death

Moritz Erhardt, 21, was a week away from finishing his summer internship at Bank of America when he was found dead in student housing in East London on Thursday night.

Erhardt, from Germany, was an undergraduate exchange student at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Claims have been made he died after working long hours. An anonymous person on wallstreetoasis.com said, “He was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern… went home at 6am three days in a row.”

Paid interns at Merrill Lynch normally earn at least £30,000 a year pro-rata, but can earn even more. Although Erhardt’s death has highlighted the internship program’s allegedly brutal work hours.

John McIvor, a Bank of America spokesman, declined to comment on the claim that Erhardt had been overworked, but said the firm’s thoughts were with his family.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt’s death,”McIvor said in a statement. “He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future.”

Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/moritz-erhardt-investment-banking-dies_n_3781016.html

Chinese Student Dies Making Fourth Donation to Sperm Bank In A Week

A Chinese medical student died of a heart attack while looking at a 'sexy magazine' in a sperm bank - on his fourth visit to the centre in just over a week.

Zheng Gang, 23, was found dead in a private booth of a fertility clinic at Wuhan University after nurses noticed he was spending longer than usual producing his sample.

Two hours after he first entered the cubicle, medics broke in to find him lying unconscious on the floor.Despite frantic efforts to resuscitate him where he lay, doctors pronounced him dead at the scene.

The tragic death - which happened in February 2012 -  only came to light after the young man's family took the sperm bank, in Wuhan city, Hubei province, eastern China, to court saying that they were responsible for his death.

But the court has now ruled that Zheng, who had started studying at the University to become a doctor in 2010, was entirely capable of making his own decisions about his life, including whether he wanted to take part in the sperm bank programme.

The court heard that the young trainee doctor signed up for the programme in January 2011 and in ten days had made four visits to donate sperm for the universities sperm bank program.

His family had demanded almost half £1 million in compensation, saying that they had pressurised him into agreeing to take part and had not handled the situation properly when he was found unconscious.

A lower court had only awarded the family £19,000 plus £8,000 in funeral costs, and the family had appealed. 

But the High Court has now upheld the lower court decision.

Via: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2753346/Chinese-medical-student-died-heart-attack-looked-sexy-magazine-fourth-donation-sperm-bank-week.html#ixzz3DInMcg4X

Founder of Elephant Refuge Crushed to Death

HOPE, Maine — The man who established a sanctuary for retired circus elephants in Maine was found dead Tuesday. The state Medical said the injuries were consistent with an elephant stepping on him.

Dr. James Laurita, 56, who founded Hope Elephants, apparently died while caring for the elephants. The medical examiner said it was an accident.

Laurita apparently fell and was on the ground when the elephant stepped on him, according to Knox County sheriff's investigators. He suffered multiple chest fractures and died of asphyxiation.

Tending to the animals was part of Laurita's daily routine at the facility he founded with his brother Tom in 2011. Hope Foundation's two Asian elephants, Rosie and Opal, arrived in 2012.

"The elephant was not aggressive in any way. It was clearly an accident," said Mark Belserene, administrator for the state medical examiner's office.

Hope Elephants wrote on their website: "Hope Elephants is deeply saddened by the death of our founder, Dr. Jim Laurita. Jim's passion for all animals, especially elephants, was boundless."

Laurita began his love affair with elephants in the late 1970s when he worked for a regional circus. In fact, the two elephants at the sanctuary were those he took care of while working for the circus.

Contributing: The Associated Press