Personal Injury News: Pick of Last Month: May-2019

A young attorney from Hunton & Williams was awarded $8 million as compensation as an Atlanta jury found that she suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a low-hanging pipe in her firm's Midtown parking garage owned by Development Authority of Fulton County, JPMCC.

On December 10, 2013, the pipe on which the lady hit her head was almost undetectable since it was painted the same color as the garage's walls. She hit her head on the low lying sprinkler pipe as she moved after parking her car in the garage. Though there was no major cognitive impairment, she experienced persistent headaches after the incident. She also suffered severe side-effects from the headache medication prescribed by her doctors, which interfered with her ability to perform her job duties.

The damages include $4.4 million for lost future wages, $2.5 million in non-economic damages, $500,000 for past lost wages, $212,000 for medical expenses. The jury found that the lady was negligent, partly for her injuries. Hence, JPCC was held liable to pay $6.3 million of the $8 million award.

A German woman was awarded $7 million in a civil lawsuit filed against Ride the Ducks International (RTDI) and Ride the Ducks Seattle after the woman was critically injured in a crash that killed five people.

The Seattle Times reported, on September 24, 2015, the woman was one of the passengers in a Ride the Ducks tour vehicle that rammed into a chartered bus which carried North Seattle College, international students. The crash, which happened on the Aurora Bridge, caused the people aboard the Ducks boat flying and crushed the woman’s face against the vehicle's metal dashboard. The 23-year-old woman had to undergo several surgeries to repair her face and might need more surgeries in the future, according to her attorney. Collectively, Ride the Ducks International and Ride the Ducks Seattle will pay $6.5 million, the city of Seattle the State of Washington will pay $250,000. The city and state were not found to be at fault in the first trial.

Attorneys representing RTDI and Ride the Ducks Seattle announced that they planned to withdraw their appeal of a $123 million jury verdict awarded to 40 plaintiffs in February this year.

The Medical University of South Carolina made a settlement of $425,000 to a woman's estate who died after getting a bypass surgery in 2017.

As per the court documents, a 43-year-old woman with a history of morbid obesity underwent gastric bypass surgery on October 6, 2017. A day after the surgery, the hospital staff noted she had blood clots. She suffered from hypotension and abdominal pain on October 8,  for which a medical emergency team was called. A CT scan revealed that the woman had a bowel obstruction and was then taken to the ICU, where she died within hours of the first emergency call.

A personal representative of the woman’s estate sued the Medical University for negligence, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. The state insurance reserve paid $425,000 to the claims and allegations asserted in the medical malpractice lawsuit.

A similar medical malpractice lawsuit was filed against a medical center in Seattle in 2015. The woman suffered a variety of injuries including impaired cognitive function, speech, memory, and mobility. She received nearly $14 million as a settlement for future economic losses and damages.

A Polk County jury awarded more than $12 million to a Panora man who underwent surgery after a medical center wrongfully diagnosed that he had cancer and removed his prostate.

Iowa clinic admitted a pathologist mixed up tissue samples for a patient who had prostate cancer and for the plaintiff who did not have cancer. In a deposition filed in July 2018, the clinic's anatomical laboratory director stated while examining two separate prostate files that she mistakenly scanned the plaintiff's file as the cancerous file.

According to the court records, Iowa Clinic urologist performed a blood test on the plaintiff and suggested he might have cancer. He submitted the plaintiff's reports to a doctor in the pathology department. Based on the incorrect diagnosis, the urologist informed the plaintiff that he had prostate cancer and the gland must be removed as soon as possible. On April 3, 2017, the urologist removed the plaintiff's prostate at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. The surgery caused damages to his nearby nerves and left him impotent and incontinent.

Plaintiff and his wife initially asked for $15 million in compensatory damages from the clinic and the pathologist. The jury awarded $12.25 million after the plaintiff lawyer told the jury that the surgery had cost the plaintiff his manhood.

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On April 17, a jury in Broward County awarded $24.5 million to the family of a woman who died due to excessive bleeding after giving birth to her daughter in July 2015.

According to the court records, the victim, was scheduled for a Cesarean section delivery of her child at 10 a.m. on July 21, 2015. However, the procedure was not performed until after midnight on July 22, 2015. The lawsuit stated, she bled to death due to massive bleeding after she delivered her daughter through a C-section at Broward General.

The defendants included four doctors, and Phoenix Obstetrics Gynecology, LLC, who admitted negligence and causation. The jury awarded $3.675 million to the victim's husband; $4.9 million to each of their older children. The four were earlier awarded $1 million each. The youngest daughter was awarded $6.125 million for the loss of parental companionship, instruction, and guidance; her pain and suffering due to her mother's death.

A similar incident occurred in November 2017 when a couple filed a medical negligence and malpractice lawsuit against a medical center in California. The doctors performed a C-section surgery on the woman during her pregnancy without anesthesia. Although the woman was safe she suffered from immense pain that resulted in her passing out, post the surgery.

On March 27, 2019, Vermilion County awarded more than $4.8 million to the family of a woman who died in November 2016, seven years after a surgical error.

According to the court records, the woman underwent a surgical procedure on February 18, 2009, to remove an abdominal cyst. During the surgery, a portion of her right ureter was cut and removed by the doctor. Attorneys representing the family stated that this surgical error resulted in permanent injuries and the loss of her right kidney. She filed a lawsuit against the doctor who performed the surgery and Danville Polyclinic in the 5th Judicial Circuit on November 2, 2010. She died seven years after the surgical error following which her family continued to fight her case.

The lawsuit went to trial before a Vermilion County jury on March 18, 2019. During the trial, attorneys representing the woman's family argued that the doctor should not have cut the ureter as he had not identified it during the procedure. However, the doctor’s attorneys claimed that proper clinical judgment was carried out prior to the procedure. The trial ended with the jury awarding the estate of the woman for medical expenses; pain and suffering; loss of normal life expected, and emotional distress.

On April 17, 2019, Staten Island jury awarded $6 million to the wife of a man who was confined to a wheelchair after a fall.

According to the court records, the victim fell at home on April 1, 2011, and was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn two days later. He had another fall from the Medical Center's bed on April 6 and was released to Clove Lakes Health Care and Rehabilitation Center for short-term rehabilitation for his back on April 7.

According to plaintiff attorney, the victim fell on April 14, 2011, while attempting to stand up from the wheelchair and fractured his left hip. He underwent a partial hip-replacement surgery at Staten Island University Hospital on April 15 and returned to the nursing home on April 26, 2011, for about three more years where he died on March 22, 2014.

The victim's wife sued the nursing home in state Supreme Court, St. George and alleged that the fall was due to negligence and lack of preventive measures, such as using a seat belt, restraining belt or a table tray. Also, she claimed the fall happened due to improper supervision and insufficient staff. Due to the fall at Clove Lakes, the victim was confined to a wheelchair, making the last years of his life very difficult. The trial began on April 11, and the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.