Plaintiff with a family history of heart disease was brought to the E/R, complaining of bilateral arm pain, nausea, and light-headedness – but was sent home. He returned via ambulance 4 hours later, in full cardiopulmonary arrest, and died shortly thereafter. Autopsy found 99% arterial occlusion.
Female passenger sustained TMJ symdrome when struck by an attache case when a flight attendant opened an overhead luggage compartment on Southwest Airlines flight.
Plaintiff was working inside a coal chute. His job was to change the shafts & gears. Plaintiff was working on a ladder (using it as a platform) propped at an angle to keep chute door open. While moving down the ladder to view another area, the ladder gave way. The plaintiff dropped and his ankle got jammed between ladder and chute resulting in a tri-malleolar fracture.
Plaintiff, age 43, was stopped at a stoplight northbound on Rte. 59 in Joliet, IL, when she was rear-ended by a vehicle which had also been rear-ended. Plaintiff suffered a low-back and neck injury which progressed into a myofascial pain syndrome/fibromyalgia.
$500,000.00
Plaintiff’s husband, age 65, underwent a mitral valve repair and was scheduled to be discharged. On the morning he was to be discharged, he began experiencing abdominal pain and was transferred back to the ICU where he died approximately 8 hours later. Prior to his admission for surgery, Plaintiff’s husband had been diagnosed at the same hospital with a history of peripheral vascular disease and iliac aneurysm. At no point during his time in ICU was an abdominal CT scan ordered. An autopsy was performed which determined the cause of death to be a ruptured iliac aneurysm.
Plaintiff, (F-42), was driving a Ford E-150 van, headed east on Black Road at or near its intersection with Frontage Road in Joliet when Defendant, who was headed west on Black Road, failed to yield the right of way to Plaintiff and turned left in front of her. After impact, Plaintiff’s van flipped and rolled over several times in an end to end fashion. While Plaintiff was using her seatbelt at the time of this accident and her air bag did deploy, her van windows were down, and her left arm/elbow became pinned under the van at some point during the rollover process causing extensive injuries.
Surgery was performed the same day and consisted of irrigation and debridement of the open wounds, repair of muscle lacerations, application of external fixator, repair of open wounds, closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of the left middle finger. A second and third procedure were necessitated by the non-union of the bone. It became necessary for Plaintiff to use a bone stimulator which must be worn for ten hours a day. She has attended over 121 physical therapy sessions in addition to regular doctor visits. Plaintiff’s treating physician has opined that Plaintiff has developed post-traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome which is directly related to the initial injury. While the condition is tolerable at this time, it will worsen and, ultimately, will require carpal tunnel release at a cost of approximately $12,000.00, including six weeks of physical therapy. Plaintiff has permanent loss of rotation of her forearm and flexion and extension of her wrist, as well as decreased flexion and extension of her index finger. Plaintiff’s physician opined that she has a 25% loss of use of her upper left extremity resulting in permanent pain, disability and weakness.