Examples of Personal Injury Lawsuits
June 5, 2010 1:08 pm BusinessIndiana personal injury attorneys have a specialization like any other type of law. These attorneys advertise themselves as being able to handle the stress of these cases and they say recognize the specific stressors that are experienced by their clients. It’s generally about the money for personal injury and not getting any or not getting it fast enough can cause stress on the attorney-client relationship. These cases can drag on a long time with different twists and turns in each case.
The following are a few examples of personal injury lawsuits and the outcomes if closed. Robbin Reeves was undergoing a liver transplant surgery when his heart stopped. While he was being rushed to emergency surgery disinfectant alcohol on his neck and shoulder caught fire. Unfortunately his liver transplant failed. His lawsuit is still pending but he is expected to receive some sort of compensation.
In 2003, Sarah Wallace went to the hospital due to early labor. The on-call doctor, Donald Long, performed an episiotomy (an operation involving a surgical incision through the vagina to assist in childbirth). Long neglected to check for a rectofistula, a hole between the anus and vagina. The result was Sarah began passing stool through her vagina. Long is now being sued for neglecting the appropriate standard of care. Christiane Volling was born with indeterminate external genitalia in Germany nearly half a century ago. Following common practice at the time she was named Thomas and raised as a boy. At 18, she underwent an appendix operation during which the surgeon discovered an intact set of ovaries which he removed. After learning she was female some thirty years later, she felt robbed of her womanhood. The courts settled in her favor stating her surgeon illegally performed an invasive operation without discussing all possible options before proceeding.
Willi King is perhaps the victim of one of the most publicized case of surgical malpractice cases. In 1995, a Tampa surgeon mistakenly removed the wrong leg during an amputation procedure. A chain of errors led to the mishap and the surgical team even realized their error halfway into surgery, but by that time it was too late and the leg had to be removed. King received over one million dollars in compensation and the case prompted a new wave of precautionary measures at the hospital to prevent such ordeals from happening in the future. Daniel Stalker went for a routine vasectomy after his wife became pregnant with their fourth child. Despite having anesthesia he began experiencing intense pain during the operation. His doctor, Dr. Paul Dewart, continued anyway. The operation was eventually abandoned when Stalker keeled over vomiting. One of his testicles turned black and doubled in size. Years later, he required his testicles be removed due to searing pain. He successfully sued Dewart for $1.76 million.
While these cases were undeniably terrible and compensation was expected there are still many variances in these types of cases. Economic downturns are a time when individuals begin suing their Indianapolis injury attorneys if the case is not moving as they feel it should. The legal profession anticipated an increase in legal malpractice suits at the outset of 2009. The advice to attorneys was not to venture outside their practice area, especially in personal injury because the risks of malpractice suits develop as a result.
