Past Cases & Results

AUTOMOBILE–QUESTION OF LIGHTS · CASE #1

DATE OF OCCURRENCE:  1/2/2002.

CLIENT:  L.S.B. (38 year-old female) and A.B., her husband (for spousal “loss of services”).

DESCRIPTION OF OCCURRENCE:   L.S.B. a front-seat passenger in a livery car (taxi).  Livery car collided with mini-bus in intersection of 5th Street and 8th Avenue, in Brooklyn.  Each driver claimed to have a green light.  Livery driver waved away mini-bus driver so that mini-bus was gone from scene by the time police arrived.

INJURIES: 

1. Swelling, tightness, and stiffness in the right shoulder;

2. Posterior central disc herniations at C5-C6 and C6-C7 which demonstrated ventral impingement on the thecal sac;

3. Constant pain that increases with movement and exertion in right shoulder, neck that radiates down to fingertips of both hands, and lower back that radiates down both legs;

4. Straightening of the normal curvature of the lumbosacral spine;

5. Posterior bulging disc at the L4-L5 level;

6. Posterior central disc herniation at L5-S1 ventrally impinging on the thecal sac;

7. Straightening as well as reversal of the normal curvature of the cervical spine;

8. Posterior bulging disc at the C4-C5 level;

9. Mild disc space narrowing at C5-C6;

10. Severe lack of range of motion of cervical spine, lumbar spine and right shoulder that interferes with/restricts her participation in everyday activities to the extent that she was capable before, such as:

    1. i) Caring for/playing with her child;

    2. ii) Household chores, i.e., laundry, dishwashing, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, basic repair/maintenance work around the house;

    3. iii) Doing things previously enjoyed, i.e., typing, writing, bowling, bike riding, going to amusement parks, playing sports;

11. Difficulty with memory, concentrating, following through on tasks, and making decisions;

12. Loss of interest in previous activities and in social interaction;

13. Mood swings, irritability, and anger;

14. Difficulty swallowing due to plating from surgery;

15. Vertigo/dizziness;

16. Inability to work.

L.S.B. was unable to return to work as a Medical Assistant employed by the New York Methodist Hospital and, through the efforts of one of our affiliated attorneys, won Social Security Disability benefits.  Additional, we retained a vocational economist who agreed with L.S.B.’s physicians that she was100% occupationally disabled and valued her economic loss at $752,748 (present value) and $1,557,083 (future value).

TREATMENT:

Surgery:  On June 20, 2002, she underwent arthroscopic shoulder decom­pression with acromioplasty and division of acromiocoracoid ligament to her right shoulder at New York Methodist Hospital;

Surgery:  On September 17, 2002, she underwent anterior discectomy fusion at the C5-C6 level at Cabrini Medical Center;

Surgery:  On November 30, 2004, she underwent right shoulder arthro­scopy, labral debridement, partial synovectomy, partial debridement rotator cuff tendon, bursectomy, acromioplasty, and distal clavicle resec­tion/coplaning;

Underwent subacriomal injections into right shoulder, spinal accessory, cervical plexus and suprascapular nerves;

Underwent cervical-epidural blocks at the C7-T1 level.

RESULT:  Settlement for $1,600,000 (January, 2006).

OF PARTICULAR INTEREST HERE:  

1. This is a low speed impact case, or else the livery driver would not have waved off the mini-bus.  While in most cases it is desirable to have photographs showing the property damage to the vehicles involved, it may have been to L.S.B.’s advantage here to not have photographs, because they may have shown little noticeable damage to the vehicles.

2. We showed an aggressive, trial-ready posture by obtaining the services of medical illustrators, who prepared customized drawings showing L.S.B.’s injuries and test results, and her surgeries. While expensive, these drawings are feared by defense counsel because they are powerful evidentiary tools that, had the case not settled, would have been enlarged and presented to the jury at trial.

ATTACHED:

Medical drawings:  

1. Lumbar spine injuries (2/26/2002 MRI);

2. Cervical spine injuries (3/4/2002 MRI);

3. Right shoulder injuries;

4. Initial arthroscopic (surgical) repairs of the right shoulder (6/20/2002);

5. Anterior cervicval discectomy and fusion (9/17/2002);

6. Additional surgical repairs of the right shoulder (11/30/2004).

Law Offices of Gary E. Rosenberg, P.C.

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