Case Results

A young man suffered oxygen deprivation leading to severe brain damage after a physician allegedly mis-programmed his cardiac defibrillator. The man, now 30-years-old, cannot speak and will need around-the-clock assistance for the rest of his life. He is cared for by his parents, who are both in their 60s. The man was born with a heart condition and had corrective surgery when he was an infant. The condition and corrective surgery made him predisposed to irregular heartbeats. In 2004, he had a defibrillator implanted to detect any irregular heartbeats and return his heart to normal rhythm. Five years later, the device’s battery was running low and a physician replaced it, but did not correctly reprogram the device. When the man suffered a heart rhythm disturbance the following month, the defibrillator did not respond properly, leading to severe brain injury. Daniel Hodes, of Hodes Milman Liebeck, LLP and Ken Sigelman, of the Law Offices of Kenneth M. Sigelman, represented the man and his family. The case resolved following mediation.

A 39-year-old male walked into an urgent care clinic with a new onset of chest pain at rest and was diagnosed with gastritis. The physicians at Urgent Care felt that our client’s symptoms were not typical for unstable angina and placed him on a treadmill. 40 minutes after being discharged, our client died from cardiac complications. After a 10 day trial, the jury awarded our client’s favor, including noneconomic damages of $3,000,000 and economic damages of $2,339,037.

A 71-year-old man, struck by a vehicle making an unsafe lane change suffered a cervical fracture. The following week, the man’s hands became numb and he was taken to a different hospital by his wife, where it was determined that he had suffered an acute compression fracture of the C7 vertebral body. The plaintiff has been unable to return to his full-time work as a senior aerospace engineer. Daniel M. Hodes represented the plaintiff resulting in a settlement of $800,000 for medical expenses, loss of income and pain and suffering.

A 15-year-old high school student was invited to the home of a fellow member of his track team to skateboard. While there, the homeowner’s dog attacked him, biting him in the face and causing lacerations of his cheek, lip, and chin. The matter settled for the homeowner’s insurance policy limit of the dog’s owner.

In 2004, a self-employed 58-year-old father of five, was driving his 1999 Black Ford Ranger when the tread on his tire separated causing the vehicle to rollover. Before the accident, he brought the car in to have one tire replaced under the warranty; however, after the accident, it was discovered that the tire had been patched, not replaced. It was also shown that the manufacturer of the tires used substandard materials which contributed to the premature aging of the tire. As a result of the rollover accident caused by the defective tire, he is now a quadriplegic and needs 24/7 care.

After multiple visits to the emergency room because of minor seizures, the hospital arranged to have the 9-month old infant transported to a different facility for a higher level of care and was placed on a ventilator in anticipation of the transport. When the transport team from the second hospital arrived, it was discovered that there was an airway problem and the infant was not receiving adequate ventilation due to a mucus plug that was blocking the tube. After arriving at the second hospital, the infant suffered extensive continuous seizure activity due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Representing the plaintiff’s family, attorneys Jeff Milman and Dan Hodes obtained a settlement of $4 million with the first hospital and $100,000 with the second hospital, resulting in a total settlement of $4.1 million.

Two renowned fertility doctors from the UCI Center for Reproductive Health allegedly misappropriated embryos from 12 individuals and allegedly transferred the embryos to others without consent.

The emergency room diagnosed a 30-year old woman complaining of blurry vision and headaches with hyperventilation and anxiety. Three days later she returned to the hospital after being found unconscious at home. Her condition worsened but her pulmonologist was not notified until she was irreparably harmed. The woman remains in a vegetative state.

After suffering from a fever for four weeks, a 49-year old woman was diagnosed with leukemia, underwent chemotherapy and was prescribed various antibiotics. During chemotherapy, she was taken off her antibiotics, and soon after her fever resumed. 24-hours later, she lapsed into a coma. If the doctors had followed the proper standard of care and kept her on the antibiotics, she would have avoided the neurologic insult.

An emergency room physician failed to properly diagnose and treat a young mother of two who suffered from a bacterial infection. The doctor failed to administer antibiotics which resulted in toxic shock syndrome leading to her becoming septic. This caused her to lose blood flow to her hands and feet resulting in gangrene and eventually limb amputation. The woman is permanently disabled because of the physician’s negligence.

A 30-year old woman, pregnant with triplets, was admitted to the NICU due to pregnancy complications, stemming from in-vitro fertilization. After an extremely premature birth, all three infants contracted infections due to staff’s failure to observe proper hospital protocol, resulting in death for two of the triplets and severe brain damage for one. Following their birth, all three were treated for staph infections, and two were ventilator dependent. The first infant died due to lack of treatment for pneumonia contracted from the ventilator due to a clerical error, preventing the necessary immediate treatment. The second infant died due to complications from an unnecessary intubation attempt by an unqualified and uncertified doctor. The infant was reportedly doing very well before the intubation attempt. The third, healthiest infant was selected for a random clinical trial against protocol. After being given higher than recommended doses of the clinical drug, the infant experienced kidney failure and severe brain damage. Jeffrey A. Milman, Esq., and Geoffrey S. Gray of Counsel Hodes Milman Liebeck represented the triplet’s parents in mediation, resulting in a $2,500,000 settlement.

A 71-year old man was scheduled to be transferred from the intensive care unit to the hospital floor. His nurses failed to notice his dire desaturation. During a blood transfusion, the nurses also failed to monitor his vital signs, an accepted standard of care. As a result, he now suffers from brain injury, is on a ventilator and requires 24/7 inpatient care. The defendant’s offered $1.5 million.

A 44-year-old woman suffered from a middle cerebral artery stroke allegedly as a result of her physician’s failure to properly diagnose the condition based on early warning signs, resulting in permanent partial paralysis. The woman described her symptoms over the phone to her primary care physician, including a “pinching” sensation in the neck and a feeling of heaviness in her upper left extremity which progressed into numbness and tingling of her left handand wrist. Upon hearing the description of her symptoms, the physician purportedly advised her to take two Advil. When she woke up the next morning, the plaintiff was unable to move or speak. Upon her arrival at the hospital, she was diagnosed with a complete middle cerebral artery stroke, resulting in partial left upper and lower extremity paralysis and aphasia. It was argued that had she been advised by her physician to go immediately to the ER as per the standard of care, it is likely that her stroke could have been prevented by aggressive intervention. Daniel M. Hodes represented the plaintiff in arbitration, obtaining findings of liability and causation that resulted in a $2,225,000 settlement.