Case Description -

Plaintiff was a 60 year old bank manager with a history of chronic obstructed pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and emphysema. She went to her regular cardiologist of a chemically induced stress test. The defendant doctor selected adenosine, a drug that was contraindicated for her condition according to the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) and Drug Product Insert. The plaintiff immediately went into pulmonary arrest, resulting in permanent damage to her lungs and neurological problems. Despite the history of COPD related to smoking, the plaintiff worked full time, vacationed with her family and led an active life.

Our firm hired three experts on this case. A cardiologist was employed to testify about the standard of care, the relevant literature and the PDR. Our cardiologist expert also could testify regarding causation; the legal requirement that the breach of the standard of care caused the damages and injuries to the plaintiff. A certified life care planner, in this case a medical doctor, was hired to evaluate the patient and determine her future, long term medical needs. The life care plan in this case was 25 pages long and addressed assistance in transportation, therapy and support services. The Life Care Plan projected future medical costs to be $1,976,268.10. A life care planner can also testify about the reasonableness and necessity of the medical bills. Finally, we employed an expert economist, in this case a Ph.D., retired college professor. The economist is important to project future lost economic earnings (including lost earning capacity, pension contribution and lost social security) and reduce to present value the economic losses. Since the plaintiff was submitting to the jury future lost wages and future medical costs, the law requires that the jury hear evidence of what the future damages would cost in today's dollars. In this case, the economist projected $215,971 in present value economic losses.

This case settled 5 days prior to trial and only after all the discovery, experts' depositions and briefing were completed. Motions in limine (pretrial motions on evidence) on collecting the full amount of the medical bills (not just the amount paid by health insurance), collateral source (benefits paid from a source independent of the defendant cannot be used to reduce the recovery of the plaintiff, i.e. social security disability benefits) and the introduction of the Physicians' Desk Reference as substantive evidence were filed with the Court and are available under the "information center" section of this web site. Additionally, the jury instructions are also available in the "information center."

This is another case that is an example of the importance in wisely choosing trial counsel. A serious case needs someone willing to employ the necessary, and rather expensive, experts. A case with merit needs a lawyer who will push the case all the way up to trial, if necessary, to get the realistic settlement value. Cases with large economic damages also require the necessary legal briefing to ensure that the evidence is actually admitted at trial. Select a lawyer who can and will properly work your case up for trial. This type of work increases the likelihood and value of a settlement