$4,100,000.00 Settlement Paraplegia
2020 Confidential Settlement
The Plaintiff was an active 69 year old retired widow who presented by ambulance to the hospital after a fall at home where she was diagnosed with fractured ribs. She was admitted to the hospital and an epidural catheter was placed in her back for pain management of her fractured ribs. The epidural catheter was replaced after one day as it had failed, and shortly after being replaced, the Plaintiff began complaining of numbness and weakness in her legs. After three days of continued weakening and eventual loss of bladder and bowel control, an MRI was finally performed and revealed that the Plaintiff had a large epidural hematoma compressing her spinal cord and requiring emergency surgery. The Plaintiff was taken for emergency surgery but unfortunately because more than fifty hours had passed since the onset of symptoms, the paralysis of her legs was permanent and the Plaintiff is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Plaintiff’s experts were prepared to testify that the Defendant Doctors violated the standard of care when they failed to obtain an emergency MRI on the first day that the Plaintiff began showing symptoms of spinal cord compression (including weakness and numbness) and that had an MRI been promptly performed it would have revealed the spinal hematoma and surgery could have been performed to relieve the spinal cord compression before the Plaintiff’s paralysis became permanent.
A life care plan was obtained and an economist projected that over $3,000,000.00 would be required to provide care for the Plaintiff for the rest of her life.
The case was mediated over several days and a $4.1M confidential settlement was reached.