Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has settled out-of-court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man killed by an insulin overdose. The man, Keith Scofield, died in January 2006 after receiving a dose of insulin that was far too strong for him.

Scofield normally used a low-strength insulin to treat his Type 2 diabetes. In December 2005, staff at a Virginia Wal-Mart mistakenly gave him Humulin R (u-500), rather than the Humulin R (u-100) that he had apparently requested. Scofield did not realize he had been given the wrong dose. He went ahead and injected himself with the medication, then fell into a coma. Sadly, he died twelve days later.

The Associated Press report on the subject says that no admission of fault or liability was made by either party. In any case, Wal-Mart is happy and with good reason since the family, presumably in exchange for a generous sum of money, didn't go public with the details. Said a Wal-Mart company spokesman of the settlement: "this was the best way to resolve the matter."