Joplin Injury Lawyers Noteworthy Verdicts and Settlements
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2010
Woman Dies of Breast Cancer Following Failure By PCP to Order Tests Settlement: $1,000,000.00 Parties (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A family doctor did not order BRAC genetic testing on a woman whose mother had died of breast cancer in her 30s. He also did not encourage mammograms for his patient, despite early awareness reports from the American Cancer Society that encourages this testing. The woman developed breast cancer, which had metastasized by the time she was diagnosed. Later BRAC testing of the woman confirmed that she had the gene for breast cancer. Pathologist Misses Melanoma, Leading to Man’s Death Settlement: $2,300,000.00 Parties (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A Springfield pathologist missed the diagnosis of melanoma from a skin biopsy. Four years later, the melanoma had spread throughout the man’s body and when the original biopsy was reviewed by a specialist, it was interpreted correctly as melanoma and the report was revised. It was later discovered that this was the second misdiagnosis where a person ultimately died because of the same pathologist having missed the diagnosis of melanoma. The man died in his 40s, leaving a wife and two young children.
Settlement: $675,000.00 Parties: (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A Neosho area woman was caught with her husband and daughter in a tornado and flung airborne, suffering a mild head injury and a serious leg fracture. She went to one hospital by ambulance, while her husband and daughter went to another. She was not given a CT of her abdomen and pelvis and a bleed was undetected. She began having alarming symptoms the next day, but the nurse did not timely notify the doctor. She ultimately bled to death internally from the undiagnosed bleed.
Settlement: $500,000.00 Parties: (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A Carthage woman presented to an emergency room with extraordinarily high blood pressure and a bad headache. The ER doctor had possible stroke on his differential diagnosis, but he did not rule it out with a CT scan. Instead, he lowered her blood pressure too far, too fast, thereby disabling the body’s natural responses to fighting off the undiagnosed stroke, and then he sent her home, where she had the completion of a disabling stroke over the next 24 hours.
Settlement ($1,100,000.00) Parties: (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A Joplin woman was sent for an MRI of the brain/orbit area by her ophthalmologist when he detected that she was not able to see entirely from her peripheral vision. The MRI report revealed mini-strokes had occurred, which is a warning sign of a potential major stroke. The radiologist faxed the report to the eye doctor several days later, but the findings were not reported to the patient, nor was she set up to see a neurologist. Three weeks after the MRI report, she suffered a catastrophic stroke.
Settlement: $250,000.00 Parties: (Confidential settlement) Facts/Claims: A southeast Kansas woman was in the hospital. When she returned from the restroom to her hospital bed to get back on the bed, the bed moved, causing her to fall and fracture her back (which had been previously surgically repaired), requiring surgery to repair the fracture. The bed had been left unlocked.
Settlement: $256,000.00 Parties: Allen v. Kusnerick, American Family, et al. Facts/Claims: A Joplin area man was killed when Mr. Kusnerick pulled directly into his path from an intersection controlled with a stop sign. Kusnerick’s view to the left was impeded by overgrowth of foliage and brush. Mr. Allen was on a motorcycle and was being followed in a car by family members, including his young children. Kusnerick’s insurance company paid its policy limits; American Family paid its UIM limits. Further payment was made by the property owner’s insurance, and the County, despite disputing fault. |
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