Verdicts And Settlements

1. A nurse, at the direction of a doctor, inserted a catheter too far into our client, a newborn infant, causing permanent catastrophic brain damage. We retained experts in the following areas to prove liability and damages: neonatology, neonatology nursing, pediatric cardiology, pediatric neurology, pediatric surgery, pediatric radiology, pediatric intensive care, hospital records, policies and procedures, vocational rehabilitation, and life care planning and economics. The case was settled for $2.75 million dollars shortly before trial. We had spent about $150,000.00 on expert witnesses, day in the life films, medical exhibits, charts and computerized animation displays. The clients' living and medical expenses are being maintained through a trust which will also allow him and his family to continue to receive Medicaid assistance.

2. Our client, a middle aged woman, living in Tallahassee, suffered from auto immune disease. Her disease attacked the cornea of one eye. The ophthalmologist kept transplanting new corneas onto her eye, failing to realize the underlying cause of the corneal failures which could have been halted by medication to suppress her malfunctioning immune system. Eventually the eye became so infected it had to be removed. The case settled shortly before trial for an amount well above the client's initial goal. We retained a corneal specialist from the University of South Florida, an immunology/rheumatology specialist from Shands at the University of Florida, a practicing ophthalmologist from St. Augustine, and vocational and economics experts to prove her case.

3. Our client, a middle-aged working man sustained a herniated disc in a work accident. The neurosurgeon who was hired by his workers compensation insurer did three surgeries on the wrong disc! The case settled for the surgeon's insurance policy limits during litigation.

4. Our client, a teenaged office worker, had medically required breast reduction surgery. The plastic surgeon used a surgical technique for which he had insufficient training and experience and which was not suited to women with extremely large breasts. Our client lost the nipples on both breasts to infections and, after several more surgeries was left with scarred, misshapen and uneven sized breasts. Her insurance carrier refused to pay for corrective surgery. The case was settled to our client's satisfaction during litigation, with contributions from the plastic surgeon, his malpractice carrier, and our client's medical insurance company which had previously refused to pay for corrective surgery.

5. Our client's husband required below knee amputation of his left leg because of infected diabetic ulcers. Several physicians and a hospital in West Florida failed to properly assess our client's susceptibility to blood clots and failed to give him preventative medication. As a result, he died of a massive pulmonary embolism on the day he was to be released from rehabilitation. We retained specialists in rehabilitative medicine, internal medicine, vascular surgery, rehabilitation nursing, vocational rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, and economics to develop liability and damages aspects of the case. We settled with two defendants prior to trial and reached a settlement agreement at trial against the remaining defendant that guaranteed a range of recovery based on the jury's decision. In total, we were able to collect several hundred thousand dollars for the man's wife, two sons, and estate.

6. Our client was a lady in her sixties who was known to be allergic to the contrast dye commonly given to patients before CT scans. She was also known to have vascular severe disease. She was given contrast dye in the radiology department of a rural hospital and went into anaphylactic shock. As a result of subsequent hypotension, she lost circulation to one leg and her colon and had to have both her leg and colon surgically removed. We negotiated a settlement during litigation which will provide cash to pay for medical expenses, a new handicapped adapted home, and a structured annuity which will provide our client with a tax free income for life.

7. Our client was a middle aged woman who worked as a manager in retail sales and cared for two totally disabled family members. Before she was injured, she served as a deaconess in her church, performed prison ministries, sang in a gospel choir group, and enjoyed attending automobile races while working well over forty hours every week. She was prescribed a medication for esophageal reflux which has a known risk of neurological side effects, especially if used for prolonged periods. Her doctor and his nurse practitioner prescribed the medication for over two years without warning her of the side effects or following her closely. She developed Tardive Dyskinesia and is now totally disabled. We sued the doctor who prescribed the drug, the international pharmaceutical company that introduced the drug to the United States, and the manufacturer of the drug. The pharmaceutical companies were sued because research has shown that the incidence of Tardive Dyskinesia among users of the drug for more than twelve weeks is over 500 times higher than disclosed to the FDA or by the manufacturer on its label. We retained experts in the fields of pharmacology, gastroenterology, family practice, neurology, toxicology, vocational rehabilitation, economics, pharmaceutical labeling, and several other areas of science, business practices and medicine in order to obtain justice for our client. We also retained out of state co-counsel with special expertise in litigating cases involving the drug that injured our client. The case recently settled for a confidential seven-figure amount shortly before it was scheduled to be tried.

8. Our client was a young mother who, at thirty-six weeks pregnant, had to wait several hours in the emergency room in a hospital in Jacksonville after being sent to the ER by her OB/GYN when she began to bleed heavily. Because of delay by the hospital in implementing her doctors STAT orders for immediate diagnostic tests, her son was born with extreme brain injuries and later died. We retained an expert obstetrician and intended to retain several other medical experts to address the unnecessary and tragic death of our client's son. However, the case settled for the maximum statutory amount prior to filing the lawsuit.

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