Brain Damage Litigation Attorneys
California Brain Injury Lawyers
Brain Injury Representative Cases
San Francisco Bay Area - Los Angeles - San Diego
Head-On Auto Collision - $8,775,000 Brain-Damage Jury Verdict
Our TBI trial lawyers obtained a jury verdict in Sacramento County in the amount of $8,775,000 on behalf of a 21-year-old woman who suffered massive brain damage after her car was struck by a rental car driven by an unlicensed and unauthorized driver. Our attorneys brought suit against both the driver and the rental company. The jury verdict compensated our injured client for severe brain damage and loss of independence, lost wages, costs of rehabilitation and future medical care. After an initial period of coma, our client was left with memory impairment and permanent left-sided weakness.
Anoxic Encephalopathy – $5,000,000 Present Value Settlement
Our traumatic brain injury attorneys obtained a cash and annuity settlement having a present cash value of more than $5,000,000 on behalf of a 6-year-old girl who sustained irreparable brain damage during her birth process. The defendant in the case was a national health maintenance organization. The obstetricians employed by the health maintenance organization failed to correctly analyze or diagnose signs of fetal distress as shown on fetal monitoring tapes. Our brain injury attorneys hired experts in obstetrics and perinatology to testify that a timely cesarean section, occurring 45 minutes or more before the actual birth, would have prevented the child from sustaining anoxic brain damage (brain cell death due to lack of oxygen). Attorneys for the defendant health care provider attempted to prove that the child’s brain injuries were not the result of oxygen deprivation during the labor process, but rather were the result of an infection, which the mother experienced one month before her delivery. When combined with available benefits provided by private insurance and government programs, the guaranteed future monthly and annual payments to be made under the settlement should assure that his medical and special needs will be met regardless of his life expectancy.
Kaiser Failure to Diagnose Cardiomyopathy - Major Confidential Settlement
Our medical malpractice brain injury team represented a 12-year-old boy in a claim against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. After demonstrating signs of possible cardiac insufficiency, including fainting spells and seizures, the young man sustained a myocardial infarction (heart attack) that resulted in cessation of blood flow to the brain. As a result, global hypoxic anoxic encephalopathy left the child globally brain damaged and wholly dependent upon others for support. Our brain injury attorneys, with the assistance of specialists in the field of neurology, pediatric cardiology, neurosurgery, life care planning, economics and vocational rehabilitation, brought a claim against the health plan, which was ultimately settled for a combination of annuities and lump sum cash having a present cash value in excess of $4,000,000.
Misdiagnosis of Aortic Dissection - Kaiser Confidential Settlement
Our brain injury attorneys obtained a mediated confidential six figure settlement on behalf of a 56-year-old real estate broker who suffered brain damage after Kaiser Richmond Emergency Room doctors misdiagnosed his aortic dissection as angina, delaying treatment of this surgical emergency.
The patient presented to the Kaiser Richmond ER at 10:00 a.m., complaining of severe chest pain. He was forced to wait as his pain intensified until his wife demanded immediate care. Despite signs of possible aortic dissection, angina was diagnosed and the patient was started on an aggressive regimen of anticoagulants, which were contra-indicated. Nearly ten hours later, the patient was transferred to Summit Medical Center in Oakland to undergo angioplasty. Presurgery tests indicated that the patient was suffering from aortic dissection and surgery ensued. However, due to the extensive bleeding caused by the delay and the anticoagulants administered at Kaiser Richmond, the patient bled heavily throughout the surgery, and for several days following. The results of this extensive blood loss included anoxic brain injury, manifesting in complete short-term memory loss, decreased IQ, decreased motivation, and a completely new and passive personality. Settlement, which included both cash and annuity payments, included the full California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act(MICRA) amount for noneconomic damages, as well as for lost past and future earnings, and for compensation for past and future medical expenditure.
Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Damage - $5,000,000 Structured Settlement
Walkup Brain Injury specialists obtained a mediated settlement in a major obstetrical injury case involving anoxic brain damage and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The case was brought on behalf of a two-year-old Sonoma County boy who sustained global brain damage when fetal distress was neither noted nor responded to during his birth. The settlement also included resolution of his parent's claims for emotional distress and his potential future wrongful death. The parents recovery was limited to the unfair and discriminatory limit of $250,000 per claim imposed by California's outdated MICRA statute. A special needs trust was established with an initial corpus of more than $1,250,000 into which future annuity payments (commencing at $5,000 per month, increasing at five percent annually, for life, guaranteed 20 years) are to be deposited. A second, separate annuity will begin paying an additional $4,000 per month, increasing at four percent per year, when the child reaches his 18th birthday. Because the child is eligible for both CCS and Regional Center benefits until he reaches the age of three, the past out-of-pocket expenditures made by the parents have been modest. As a result, the settlement was designed to be back-loaded (and guaranteed) to protect against the cost of custodial and attendant care in a home-based environment in the future. The settlement is believed to be among the largest ever negotiated on behalf of a North Bay plan member of this HMO.
Failure to Recognize Fetal Distress - Brain Damage
Our team of brain injury specialists negotiated a cash and annuity settlement with a present cash value in excess of $5,000,000 on behalf of an infant born with severe developmental delay, spastic quadriparesis, and permanent neurological injuries after Kaiser San Francisco doctors and nursing staff failed to monitor the mother, and failed to deliver the baby quickly when fetal heart monitors indicated severe distress. The 36-year-old mother's pregnancy and delivery seemed to be progressing normally when, eight hours after being admitted to the hospital, she developed a high fever. The doctor on call administered antibiotics for suspected chorioamnionitis (an inflammation of the amniotic membranes) and said he would check back in an hour. Nearly three hours later, the fetal heart rate monitors indicated that the baby's heart rate had dropped to 85 and 90, and remained there for about ten minutes, prompting a frightened nurse to contact the doctor.
In the days following her birth, the infant exhibited general seizures with tremors in the lower and upper extremities. An MRI performed eight days after her birth revealed that the infant had severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The child will remain fully dependent for all of her care needs for her entire life. She is not expected to develop beyond the level of a one-month-old infant. Our birth injury specialists proved that the child's brain injury occurred because of the failure to aggressively monitor the mother and fetus after administration of antibiotics and failure to deliver the baby when infection was first suspected.
Improperly Managed Labor - $5,000,000 Cerebral Palsy Settlement
Our trial, settlement and arbitration team of neuro injury attorneys obtained a settlement having a present cash value of more than $5,000,000 on behalf of a 6-year-old girl who sustained brain damage and cerebral palsy as a result of injuries occurring during her birth process. The defendant in the case was a national health maintenance organization. The obstetricians employed by the health maintenance organization failed to correctly analyze or appreciate signs of fetal distress as reflected on fetal monitoring tapes. Experts in obstetrics and perinatology testified that a timely cesarean section, occurring 45 minutes or more before the actual birth, would have prevented the child from sustaining anoxic brain damage, and resulting cerebral palsy. Attorneys for the HMO attempted to prove that the child's cerebral palsy was not the result of oxygen deprivation during the labor process, but rather was the result of an infection which the mother experienced one month before her delivery. The settlement amount was based upon data provided by experts in the fields of life care planning, physical medicine and rehabilitation and occupational therapy, who forecasted the child's medical attendant care needs over her projected lifetime. When combined with available benefits provided by private insurance and government programs, the structured future components of the settlement assured that the child's medical and special needs would be met regardless of her life expectancy.
Failure To Perform Timely Cesarean Section - Brain injury
In a case involving cerebral palsy, our birth injury attorneys obtained a binding and final arbitration award against Kaiser, the nation's largest managed care provider, arising from an obstetrical disaster. The arbitration award had a present cash value of $4,100,000 and was secured on behalf of a 3-year-old boy afflicted with multiple neurological injuries as a result of negligent delivery. Our attorneys and physician experts proved that the infant endured a period of oxygen deprivation when his mother's uterus ruptured. Obstetrical nurses left the mother unattended prior to the rupture of her uterus, and for that reason failed to appreciate ominous signs of the baby's distress as reported on a fetal heart monitor.
Car vs. Pedestrian Accident - $4,050,000 Settlement
Our team negotiated a cash and annuity settlement having a present cash value of $4,050,000 on behalf of a recent business school graduate who suffered a brain injury after being hit by a car while in a crosswalk.
The impact caused bleeding inside his skull and the increased pressures damaged his brain. The driver had a limited personal insurance policy ($50,000). She was employed by a large Silicon Valley company and she gave conflicting accounts as to what she was doing when the accident occurred. She told police that she was headed from one company campus to another. She later said she was going home. The company agreed to contribute $4 million toward the settlement after our team uncovered
evidence showing that the driver was still on the clock when the accident occurred and that she sometimes used her car to run company errands.
Machine Failure - $4,000,000 Brain Damage Settlement
Our traumatic brain injury team negotiated a cash and annuity settlement with a present cash value of $4,000,000 on behalf of a 47-year-old metal worker who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after a 50-pound piece of metal ejected from a metal-forming lathe that was manufactured by the defendant corporation. Walkup attorneys demonstrated that the maker manufactured the lathe without analyzing and protecting against all possible failure modes. Our lawyers showed that the defendant was aware of at least two similar lathe accidents. Under the terms of the settlement, approximately $3,000,000 was paid in cash and $1,000,000 was dedicated to the purchase of multiple annuities to pay for ongoing medical costs. Our TBI attorneys also resolved a workers' compensation lien in excess of $1,000,000, which was compromised and waived.
Brain Damage - $3,650,000 Settlement
Our obstetrical negligence lawyers obtained a cash and annuity settlement having a present cash value of $3,650,000 on behalf of a Central Coast infant who suffered hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy at birth. The hypoxia caused cerebral palsy and permanent brain damage. During labor, the baby became stuck in the birth canal because of an anatomic obstruction in the mother's pelvis. As the mother's contractions became more frequent and stronger in intensity because her uterus was being hyperstimulated with oxytocin, the child's reserve was exhausted. Attempts to deliver the child via vacuum-assisted delivery failed and a prompt caesarian section was not ordered. By the time the infant was delivered she was blue, flaccid and unresponsive. She was transferred to a neonatal ICU where she remained hospitalized for more than a month. She suffers from severe cognitive impairment and paralysis. Walkup attorneys filed suit against both the nurses and physicians who failed to properly respond to the baby's non-reassuring fetal heart monitoring changes. Under the terms of the settlement a trustee appointed for the child received more than $1,000,000 in cash to cover immediate needs, and three different streams of periodic payments were funded by the defendants, beginning at differing ages in differing amounts, to fund the baby's future medical care and rehabilitation needs as well as replace her lost income. The settlement proceeds were paid into a special needs trust in order to maintain the infant's legal right to continue to receive local, state and federal government assistance.
Undiagnosed Cardiac Tamponade – $3,200,000 Resolution
A combination cash and annuity settlement having a present cash value of $3,200,000 was recovered by Walkup traumatic brain injury attorneys on behalf of a 49-year-old man who developed a cardiac tamponade four days after undergoing open-heart surgery. The problem was neither timely diagnosed nor treated, and cardiopulmonary arrest ensued. By the time he was resuscitated, the patient had sustained severe anoxic brain damage. As a result of injury to the brain, he suffers from spastic quadriparesis, cortical blindness, dysarthria, cognitive impairment, loss of bowel and bladder control, and dysphagia. Under the terms of the agreed-upon settlement, an annuity was funded to provide $15,000 per month for life, increasing by 4.5 percent per annum, to offset the cost of attendant and nursing care. In addition, $1,563,000 was paid in cash.
Failure to Diagnose TIA – Stroke Settlement
Our brain injury attorneys negotiated a settlement on behalf of a 51-year-old man who suffered loss of vision, balance problems, hearing loss, headaches, cognitive impairment, and short-term memory loss when Kaiser South San Francisco personnel failed to timely diagnose and treat his transitory ischemic attacks (TIA). The patient suffered a massive stroke as a result.
The patient visited the Kaiser emergency room several times in the days leading up to his stroke. His symptoms included neck tightness, numbness in his hands and face, slurred speech, drooling, dizziness, and balance problems. Though a nurse practitioner suspected TIA and recommended a carotid ultrasound, none was ordered. When the patient presented to the ER the day before his stroke, Kaiser doctors delayed several hours in performing a CT scan and administered inappropriate medications. Our brain injury lawyers were able to show that timely diagnosis and administration of the proper medications could have prevented the patient’s stroke. The settlement included cash and annuity payments guaranteed to provide for in-home care for the client’s life, as well as compensation for lost earnings. It also included the MICRA maximum amount for noneconomic damages.
Defective Apartment Heater - $1,000,000 Carbon Monoxide Settlement
Our premises liability attorneys prosecuted an action against a residential landlord for cognitive impairment suffered by a mother and her adolescent son when they suffered chronic carbon monoxide exposure in their rented apartment. Our clients experienced daily exposure at injury-producing levels of CO as a result of a malfunctioning gas-fired apartment wall heater. The landlord of the rental dwelling failed to regularly inspect, maintain and repair the heater in the Oakland apartment. The apartment did not have a carbon monoxide detector. While the heater continuously emitted carbon monoxide and soot, the mother and son developed headaches and nausea. Upon discovery of the presence of elevated levels of carbon monoxide by PG&E, medical providers checked the boy's carboxyhemoglobin level and found that it was excessively high. As a result of the chronic carbon monoxide exposure, our clients suffered mild irreversible brain damage, including deterioration in executive function, concentration, and emotional lability. Walkup Melodia lawyers settled the action prior to trial in the full amount of the landlord's liability insurance of $1,000,000.
Delayed Admittance to Obstetrical Unit - Brain Injury and Cerebral Palsy
The Walkup neuro injury team negotiated a pre-trial mediated settlement on behalf of a child who suffered profound brain damage when her mother's uterus ruptured at the site of a previous myomectomy (surgery to remove a fibroid in the uterine wall). Two weeks prior to the baby's emergent delivery, the child's mother was hospitalized in pre-term labor. After being medicated and released, she was advised to observe strict bed rest and communicate with her OBGYN's office. At 10:00 p.m. the evening before delivery, the parents called to report painful contractions. Without determining the onset, frequency, characteristics or location of the pain suffered by the mother, an on-duty advice nurse told the mother to take an additional dose of her anti-contraction medication and call if her condition worsened. Eight hours later, the mother awoke in severe pain. She was taken to a local hospital where the child was delivered by emergency C-section at 32 weeks gestation. The child was diagnosed with periventricular leukomalacia, and later developed infantile spasms and cerebral palsy. The settlement was composed of both an initial cash payment and guaranteed monthly future annuity payments to offset the cost of future medical, therapy, laboratory and attendant care.
