Recent Recoveries

$9,443,177 recovery for a 22 year-old man from Pennsylvania who suffered brain damage when he lost his balance while installing satellite communications equipment on the roof of the Mobil Xtra-Mart in Valatie, New York and fell 16 feet onto a concrete loading dock because he was not provided with adequate safety devices.

$7,300,000 recovery for a young man who sustained several fractures and a permanent brain injury, which left him with both motor and cognitive deficits, after a Department store truck missed a stop sign and struck the driver's door of the car he was operating.

$7,250,000 recovery for an 11 year-old girl was sustained a broken neck, causing permanent damage to her spinal cord which rendered her quadriplegic, as the result of being directed to dive into the shallow end of a swimming pool while participating in a beginning swimming program run by an aquatic club at a pool owned by a local school district.

$6,300,000 recovery for a 14 year-old boy who suffered a fractured skull with a diffuse axonal brain injury that caused cognitive impairments when the car in which the boy was a passenger was penetrated by a defectively designed snow plow assembly unit attached to the front of a truck that collided with the car.

$4,500,000 recovery for an infant who suffered permanent brain injury at the age of 4 weeks when a nurse inadvertently administering heparin, an anticoagulant, to the baby. As a result, the baby began to bleed and that bleeding went undetected by the medical staff for several hours. The blood was so extensive that the baby's brain was deprived of oxygen, resulting in permanent brain damage.

$4,500,000 recovery for an 18 year-old boy was suffered paraplegia when the car in which he was riding as a seat-belted rear seat passenger left the road and struck a utility pole head-on fracturing the boy's spine. The injuries were caused by the 'lap-only' style seatbelt that Chrysler had installed as standard backseat equipment in its pre-1989 vehicles.

$4,250,000 recovered from an auto finance company who leased a van to an uninsured private transportation service, whose driver fell asleep at the wheel, resulting in the ejection of a passenger seated in the last row of the van.

$4,100,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of her fetal heart rate and the malpractice of the hospital in failing to have qualified medical providers present at delivery to resuscitate the infant.

$4,000,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of a mid-wife's malpractice in failing to promptly contact an obstetrician to perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of her fetal heart rate.

$4,000,000 recovery for a child whose adoptive parents had been deceived by the County Social Services Department concerning the nature and extent of the physical and sexual abuse that child had suffered before the adoption process, resulting in their inability to obtain proper psychiatric treatment for the child after the adoption was completed.

$4,000,000 recovery for a 69 year-old construction worker who suffered a spinal cord injury with resulting paralysis when he fell from approximately 10 feet while renovating an existing commercial building because he was not provided with adequate safety devices.

$4,000,000 recovery for a 55 year-old man who suffered amputation of both legs, one above the knee and one below the knee, when he was struck and his legs were crushed by a dump truck that was backing up while resurfacing a city street; the laborer was injured as a result of the city's failure provide a safe place to work, as required by Labor Law §241(6), because there was no spotter present to guide the backing of the truck.

$4,000,000 recovery for a 49 year-old man who suffered permanent brain damage as the result of the malpractice of an emergency department physician in failing to diagnose a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a leaking aneurysm when the patient presented with a complaint of the sudden onset of "the worst headache of my life".

$4,000,000 recovery for a 20 year-old woman who suffered permanent brain damage as the result of the malpractice of an emergency department physician in failing to diagnose a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a cerebral aneurysm when the patient presented with a complaint of the sudden onset of "the worst headache of my life" and the malpractice of the woman's family doctor in allowing a nurse practitioner to exclusively treat the patient when she repeatedly presented with symptoms of a sentinel event during the month before she went to the emergency department.

$3,700,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy) which caused cerebral palsy as the result of the malpractice of a midwife and obstetrician's in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$3,500,000 recovery from the State of New York for the death of 26 year-old civil engineer who, while working on a road construction project, was struck by a construction project vehicle which was backing up in the construction area, crushing him to death almost instantly; the man's death was caused by the State's failure, as the owner of the property, to provide a safe place to work as required by Labor Law §241(6).

$3,250,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was demonstrating a lack of fetal well-being that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$3,250,000 recovery for a 49 year-old man who suffered brain damage that resulted from a neurosurgeon's malpractice while performing surgery to drain an arachnoid cyst by placing the tip of a stent between the basilar artery and the brain stem, causing a brainstem infarct and permanent brainstem damage.

$3,155,921 recovery for a 16 year-old girl who suffered traumatic brain damages when the car she was operating collided with a motor vehicle at a T-intersection of a county highway and a town road; the county and town failed to provide proper signage to warn motorists unfamiliar with the intersection that they were approaching an intersection at which the motorist driving on the town road was required to stop.

$3,050,000 recovered from the State for a psychiatric patient who broke a window in his second story patient room and jumped to the ground below, causing quadriplegia. The original plans for the facility called for unbreakable glass to be used in patient's rooms, which were not complied with.

$3,000,000 recovery for an infant who suffered brachial plexus injury and bilateral phrenic nerve damage that caused paralysis of his diaphragm and birth asphyxia that resulted from malpractice when his mother's obstetrician attempted a vacuum extraction of the baby following an arrest of labor instead of performing a cesarean section.

$2,750,000 verdict in a wrongful birth case for a 26 year-old mother who delivered a son with Downs Syndrome after a medical geneticist failed to give the mother the correct genetic counseling during her pregnancy.

$2,750,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$2,700,000 recovery for an infant who suffered birth asphyxia which caused cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was demonstrating a lack of fetal well-being that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$2,500,000 recovery for a 32 year-old woman who was permanently paralyzed as the result of being ejected from a motor vehicle in which she was riding as a passenger, when the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to leave the road and roll over several times.

$2,500,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$2,250,000 recovery for an infant who suffered HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), anoxic brain injury and cerebral palsy as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$2,000,000 recovery for a 46 year-old woman whose surgeon severed her common bile duct while performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy; the malpractice resulted in chronic recurrent liver infections.

$1,950,000 recovery for a Mexican construction worker who suffered multiple fractures and massive internal injuries when he fell from the roof and landed on the ground, approximately twenty-two feet below, while engaged in constructing a roof on a new Home Depot store being built in Oneonta, New York.

$1,900,000 recovery for a 34 year-old woman whose internist failed to timely diagnose pseudomembranous colitis caused by clostridium difficile ("C-diff.") bacterium, leading to a toxic megacolon which necessitated the surgical removal of a portion of her colon, creation of an ileostomy and multiple surgical procedures.

$1,900,000 recovery for a 39 year-old man from South Carolina who suffered traumatic brain damage when the tractor-trailer he was operating was struck by another tractor-trailer.

$1,750,000 recovery for a 55 year-old man who suffered a stroke that was caused by a 3 ½ month delay in diagnosing his bacterial infection and subacute bacterial endocarditis; the delay resulted from the refusal of nurse practitioner to allow the patient to be examined and treated by his family practice physician.

$1,700,000 recovery for two Iranian immigrants who were injured as the result of a tractor-trailer colliding with their car and for their mother who experienced severe emotional distress due to witnessing her children being injured.

$1,625,000 recovery for a 36 year-old man who suffered brain damage and multiple fractures when the intoxicated driver of the motorcycle on which he was a passenger lost control and struck a guardrail; the driver was intoxicated because the promoters of a "Summer Jam" concert he had been attending unlawful sold him alcoholic beverages in violation of the "Dram Shop Law".

$1,600,000 recovered for the estate of a Karate instructor who sought treatment for a lump that developed on his leg and was told it was a harmless calcium deposit when in fact it was osteosarcoma, a form of cancer.

$1,575,000 recovery for a 45 year-old Pennsylvania man who suffered a traumatic brain injury with moderate cognitive deficits as the result of the truck he was operating being struck by a CSX freight train an improperly designed railroad crossing.

$1,525,000 recovery for the death, from severe perinatal asphyxia and cerebral anoxia, of a baby and for the emotional injuries suffered by his mother, that resulted from the rupture of the mother's uterus during a "trial of labor" for an attempted vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) that occurred as the result of obstetrical malpractice.

$1,500,000 recovery for the death by drowning of two children, witnessed by two of their siblings, as the result of the town creating a causeway to an island in a town park that became inaccessible due to dangerous currents at high tide; the children who had walked onto the island a low tide drowned when they were caught in the currents while trying to leave the island at high tide.

$1,500,000 recovery for the death of a 62 year-old man from a brain herniation that resulted from the failure of a radiologist to diagnose an expanding brain abscess before it caused the herniation; the radiologist failed to perform a diagnostic study of the brain with gadolinium and/or contrast.

$1,500,000 recovery for a 41 year-old man who suffered a reduced life expectancy as a result of his urologist's failure to timely diagnose prostate cancer arising from the physician's failure to perform a transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy of the man's prostate.

$1,400,000 recovery for the death of a 43 year-old Canadian woman from DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulopathy) as the result of the malpractice of hospital employees in failing to recognize that a femoral IV line had been dislodged into the retroperitoneal space during surgery to repair fractures to her leg and pelvis following an automobile accident.

$1,400,000 recovery for a 70 year-old woman from New Jersey who suffered facial fractures and traumatic brain damage when her car was struck by a tractor-trailer whose operator who was in the process of changing lanes and didn't see her car.

$1,250,000 recovery for an infant who suffered developmental delays resulting from the rupture of his mother's uterus during a "trial of labor" for an attempted vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) that occurred as the result of obstetrical malpractice in failing to monitor the mother's condition.

$1,250,000 recovery for the death of a 43 year-old woman who died of a heart attack two months after presenting to her primary care physician defendant with complaints that her heart was racing fast, tightness of her chest and a feeling like her throat was "trying to close"; the primary care physician failed to diagnose and treat her unstable angina and coronary artery disease.

$1,200,000 recovery for the death of an 81 year-old man from sepsis as the result of his physicians' delay in diagnosing a gastric volvulus as the cause of his gastric outlet obstruction and epigastric pain. The delay resulted in necrosis of the esophagus and stomach, necessitating their removal.

$1,200,000 recovery for an infant who suffered moderate brain damage with subsequent developmental delays that resulted from malpractice when his mother's obstetrician attempted a vacuum extraction when the baby was at station +1 in an occipital position instead of performing a cesarean section.

$1,200,000 recovery for the widow of a carpenter who died when the private plane he was traveling in crashed as the pilot was attempting to land.

$1,120,000 recovery for a college student from Georgia who sustained traumatic brain injury as the result of a motor vehicle collision while a passenger in a car that had been rented by the college and was being driven by an employee of the college.

$1,100,000 recovery for a 45 year-old man who suffered a reduced life expectancy and was deprived of a chance for a cure from his liver cancer as a result of his gastroenterologist's delaying in diagnosing and treating the cancer, which resulted in the disease to becoming advanced and untreatable;

$1,050,000 recovery for an infant who suffered moderate brain damage with subsequent developmental delays as the result of an obstetrician's malpractice in failing to promptly perform a cesarean section to deliver a baby who was experiencing fetal distress that was evidenced by persistent, variable and late decelerations of the fetal heart rate.

$1,000,000 recovery for a 38 year-old woman who suffered a stroke as the result of her physician's failure to diagnose that she had suffered a transient ischemic attack (or "mini-stoke") and to reduce the likelihood of a subsequent stroke by treating her with aspirin and/or blood-thinning medication to reduce the formation of blood clots.

$1,000,000 recovery for the death from septic shock of a 50 year-old woman as the result of her physicians' failure to promptly treat a perforation of a pancreatic duct that occurred during a routine ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) procedure.

$1,000,000 recovery for a 49 year-old construction worker from Georgia whose ankle had to be fused to treat fractures that he sustained when he fell from an elevated height while installing metal beams and shelving during the construction of a Lowe's Home Center because he was not provided with adequate safety devices.

$1,000,000 recovery for a 47 year-old woman who suffered an above-the knee amputation caused by an orthopedic surgeon's malpractice in failing to timely diagnose a "compartment syndrome" in her leg following surgery to repair a broken tibia.

$1,000,000 recovery for a 32 year-old woman who was deprived of a substantially better chance of conceiving a child due as the result of the failure of emergency department physicians to diagnose acute appendicitis before her appendix ruptured, causing adhesions in her abdomen and damage to one of her fallopian tubes.

$1,000,000 recovery for a 33 year-old man who suffered compound fractures of both legs and his shoulder when his pickup truck was struck by an automobile at an intersection in New Jersey.