On a cold New Year’s Even in 1998, Charles Moore of Granite City, Wisconsin was trying to open a frozen mechanism on a locomotive derrick crane when tragedy struck. A railroad car that had its handbrakes removed rolled down an inclined track, crushing Moore between the crane and the railroad car. The experience was traumatic. During the ensuing trial, Moore testified that he couldn’t even remember the accident, which cost him a left leg, until a month later.
Moore’s Doctor, Christian Paletta, described in detail the permanent injuries that his patient had sustained. Damage to his colon and pelvis made the use of a prosthetic device impossible. Moore himself testified that he still felt “phantom pain” in the missing leg that often felt as if someone were stabbing him with a screwdriver.
His wife, Peggy, was also damaged by the accident in very painful ways. She “suffered a loss of consortium in that she has been deprived of her husband’s society, companionship and conjugal relationship.”
Moore’s personal injury attorney, John Kujawski of O’Fallon, attempted to prove that the railroad had provided his client with defective equipment in a state of poor repair. He recommended that the jury award Moore in excess of $3 million.
The railroad, however, maintained among other things that Moore had turned his back on a piece of rail equipment without a spotter–in other words that the injuries were Moore’s own fault.
Ultimately, the jury believed the railroad, and ruled in its favor, leaving the Moores with nothing.
Fair? We can’t say for sure. In any event, a man’s life, and his livelihood, have been shattered, and he and his wife now have nowhere to turn for the money he would need to rebuild them.
Georgette Watson, principal of Chicago’s Brentano Math and Science Academy, was under sedation for a routine root canal at the offices of dentists Lawrence and Joseph Feldman. Suddenly, Watson stopped breathing. She ultimately died.
Later, the state investigation found that the two dentists, who are brothers, had not properly obtained Watson’s medical history, nor did they monitor her vital signs while the surgery progressed. The dosage of medication for sedation was also too high. And finally, it was discovered that neither the dentists nor their staff had received proper training to handle such emergencies. A clear case of negligence. Would they be held accountable?
Enter the lawyer. Chicago attorney Larry R. Rogers, Sr. is a founding partner of Power, Rogers, and Smith. Rogers has a history of winning large settlements for his clients. In 1985 he won $27 million for a client in a product liability case, then the largest settlement in Illinois. Recently, he won $55 million for a brain-damaged client in Illinois’ biggest malpractice verdict of the last 10 years.
Rogers did not disappoint in this case. Watson’s sole heir, her 24 year old son Henry Jones, has accepted a $3.9 million payout. This includes a $900,000 annuity that is expected to pay him an additional $4.6 million over his lifetime.
A small consolation for the loss of a mother; and the students of Brentano Academy will never be compensated. Still, there was accountability.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
When a child is seriously injured, it’s always emotionally devastating for the family. Unfortunately, it can be financially devastating, also. Yet all too often, families are left “holding the bag” in terms of out-of-control medical expenses when tight-fisted insurance companies refuse to live up to their responsibilities. Then, a lawsuit is the injured parties’ only recourse.
What happened to Patty Phommanyvong is a case in point. [read more]
The Constitution guarantees due process and a trial by jury. For years, greedy insurance companies have been seeking to shield themselves from accountability by getting legislators to place caps on the amounts juries can award in malpractice and other suits.
With their deep pockets, the insurance and hospital lobbies have managed to push laws instituting such caps through state legislatures.
But hundreds of plaintiffs have been fighting back, demanding that the Constitution be honored, and state legislatures take "hands off" of the power of the courts to award what they determine to be fair awards. Now, former Dallas Cowboys star Ron Springs has joined the fight. [read more]
Normally, when we think of personal injury, we think of lawyers as our advocates (or adversaries) but rarely as defendants. But that’s what happened in Bethalto, Illinois.
Susan Grammer, a well-known family lawyer, is being sued for allegedly causing an injury by allowing an “unreasonably dangerous condition” to exist on the stairway in her home.
Kenneth Andrews, a business invitee of Grammer’s, fell on the stairway. He has filed a complaint stating that Grammer “breached her duty of care,” and that he has incurred medical expenses as well as pain and suffering. Represented by attorney William Meacham of Edwardsville, Andrews is now seeking a judgment in excess of $50K plus costs.
Dealing a blow to justice and accountability—and to injured people everywhere in their state—the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio has upheld caps on damages in personal injury lawsuits in a 5-2 decision issued Thursday.
Jury awards for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages will now be limited to $350,000 unless the injured person lost a limb or bodily organ.
Punitive damages will be limited to twice the amount of compensatory damages.
One person quoting on the story in Cleveland Metro News had this to say:
You may agree with this limit UNTIL you have personally have had to raise a child who was permanently disabled by unprofessional and reckless decisions, or shall I say UNdecisions. We are talking about a child that was not born with this disability, but who now will not know a life with the joy of sight. Would YOU trade your sight for $350,000?
David Rosenbaum was attacked and beaten with a pipe in northwest Washington D.C. He was rushed to Howard University Hospital. But after arriving, he was not seen by a doctor for over 90 minutes (an hour and a half!) and did not receive a neurological examination for almost four hours. He died of a brain injury two days later.
This was back in January of 2006. It has now been reported that Rosenbaum’s family has settled with the hospital. While details are confidential, it has been reported that the settlement involved several million dollars.
… Yet another example of a grossly negligent defendant being held accountable through the only possible means—the wallet!
This just in from NewsInferno:
The family of [Peter Cicero], who died from hepatitis C has been left to wonder if medical malpractice committed by Dr. Harvey Finkelstein played a role in his death. Finkelstein is the Dix Hills doctor who exposed patients-infecting at least one with hepatitis C-to blood-borne pathogen infections because of his practice of reusing syringes. Finkelstein, an anesthesiologist since 1981whose patient base reaches into the thousands, continues to practice at the Pain Care Center of Long Island and has admitting privileges at the New Island Hospital in Bethpage, the North Shore University Hospital in Plainview, and the Long Island SurgiCenter in Melville. Six of Finkelstein’s patients tested positive for hepatitis B and six for hepatitis C, according to the Nassau County Health Department.
Cicero, a former patient of Finkelstein’s had already sued the doctor because a botched procedure had left him paralyzed. The malpractice suit was ultimately settled in 2004; Cicero had received $975,000. Did the doctor not only paralyze, but also kill him?
Perhaps the courts will have to decide.
Attorneys hear it all the time: a long description of someone else’s carelessness, of injuries sustained, and of expenses incurred. Then comes the anxious question, “Can I sue?” The answer to that question is almost always “yes,” since, as a general rule, anybody can sue anybody for anything.
Of course, many prospective lawsuits have no chance of succeeding, and good lawyers advise against filing them. The real question, therefore, isn’t “can I sue” but “should I.”
While only an attorney can make that call, here are some questions to consider as you prepare to discuss a prospective personal injury lawsuit with your attorney (in rough order of importance)…
[read more]
Ten-year-old Dalton Nelson rushed onto a Utah baseball diamond to return a foul ball during a youth baseball tournament. He was accidentally clubbed in the head by a batter taking a warm-up swing. His parents sued, and won a $7 million settlement. [read more]
