Success Stories
Florida Personal Injury Cases
Read About Victories Jeffrey Hensley & Marjorie Chalfant
Have Achieved for their Clients
Medical Negligence: $3,000,000.00 jury verdict for OB/GYN infection
Our client suffered a horrible infection as a result of a prolonged labor and cesarean section surgery that was performed without antibiotics. Before antibiotics were invented, it was not uncommon for women to die from childbirth as a result of a long labor and infection. When the amniotic sac (bag of waters) breaks, infection can result because there is no longer any protective barrier between the outside of the mother’s body and the inside of the uterus where the placenta attaches, allowing germs and bacteria to invade the uterine muscle tissue. This condition is called “endometritis.” Infection can also invade the amniotic sac and lining, which is known as “amnionitis” or “chorioamnionitis.”
After nearly a day of labor without birth of her baby, a c-section was finally performed; however, the surgeon failed to administer antibiotics to treat the endometritis and amnionitis that our client had developed during her long labor. When our client’s uterus was cut open for the surgery, the infected amniotic fluid splashed into her abdominal cavity and caused a massive, life-threatening infection. The infection was not properly diagnosed and treated before she was sent home with her baby. She became ill within a week of the c-section surgery, but again, the OB/GYN doctor failed to diagnose and treat the infection. Approximately 2 weeks after the c-section surgery our client suffered septic shock and nearly died due to massive, overwhelming infection that had spread throughout her body. She underwent 7 surgeries to remove the infection and spent nearly 2 months in the ICU.
We offered to settle this claim without trial for payment of $1,250,000.00, but the defendant physician and his insurance company refused to pay more than $50,000.00. The defendant OB/GYN doctor alleged that the standard of care did not require prophylactic (preventative) antibiotics and that the infection was not due to negligence, but rather, due to an unrelated infection that occurred after surgery and delivery. After a 5-week trial, the jury agreed with our theory of the case and awarded a $3,000,000.00 verdict in favor of our client.
Medical Negligence: $1,500,000.00 settlement for misdiagnosis of benign spine tumor/ependymoma.
Our client complained of back and neck pain with numbness and tingling in her hands and feet. She was examined by her orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed her with degenerative disc disease in her back/spine, but she was referred to a neurologist to rule out possible nerve problems. The neurologist performed an EMG on our client that was mildly abnormal, but he didn’t order any other tests. The neurologist told our client that her obesity was causing all of her problems and that she needed to go on a diet and lose weight. He told our client that the numbness and tingling was not due to any neurological problem, and that further treatment or tests were not needed. After the orthopedic surgeon did corrective back/spine surgery for the degenerative disc disease problem, our client awoke from the anesthesia in a paralyzed condition. An MRI scan revealed a large benign tumor (ependymoma) in our client’s spine that caused permanent damage to her spinal cord as a result of manipulation and swelling during the surgery.
The defendants alleged that our client’s symptoms weren’t “classic” for diagnosis of an ependymoma and that because this is a rare condition they did not breach the standard of care in missing this diagnosis prior to surgery and paralysis.
Firm obtains $1,375,000.00 recovery against insurance company for denial of partial disability benefits
After our client, a practicing physician in his early 40s, suffered an injury to his cervical spine, he sought disability benefits, as provided for in his insurance policy. The insurance company, however, decided that since our client was a psychiatrist, his injury would have no impact on his ability to work. When he retained our firm to represent him, we immediately brought in expert witnesses who testified that while the duties of a psychiatrist may not, at first blush, be considered physical in nature, one whose duties include work in hospitals can, and often are, faced with suicidal or combative patients and many times is required to participate in take-downs, physical restraint and self-defense. As our client was no longer to perform such duties, he was forced to give up his hospital practice, which had a negative impact on his ability to earn income.
As a result of his injuries, the physician filed a claim for partial disability benefits under his existing insurance policy. His claims were denied when the insurance company argued that he could perform the ‘essential' duties required of his employment.
As the result of our efforts, and thanks in large part to the testimony of the expert witnesses who testified on our client's behalf, the case was settled prior to trial for over $1.3 Million. This came less than a week after mediation, during which time the insurance company offered less than half that amount. We refused their settlement offer and prepared to take the case to trial. The insurance company knew we were serious, and prepared, choosing to settle rather than litigate.
$1,500,000 recovery aids victim of posttraumatic stress disorder
When our client, a vibrant 29-year-old anesthesiologist, came to us for help, he was a shell of his former self. While working as a resident in a level-1 trauma center, he had witnessed the death of 4 patients under his care one weekend, after which he began to experience a lack of concentration and lost his ability to cope with stress. He completed his residency, working for several years as an anesthesiologist until his mental condition deteriorated to such a point that he turned to illegal drugs in an effort to cope with the stress. He eventually underwent substance abuse treatment, and was soon forced to leave his practice due to lack of productivity. His doctors found that he suffered form posttraumatic stress disorder associated with his work in the trauma center and his close-hand witnessing of so many deaths in such a short period.
He filed a claim for disability insurance benefits under insurance policy, but his claims were denied. After several attempts to cut off his benefits, the insurance company sent him a $72,000.00 payment, which they claimed pay for his rehabilitation. However, by the time he received the proposed lump sum he had given up his license to practice medicine and sold his interest in his practice. He returned the $72,000.00 as insufficient and filed suit, alleging that the insurance company had breached its contract by terminating his disability payments.
The insurance company had made numerous attempts to deny his claim, even going so far as calling in expert witnesses to testify that his troubles were the result of a personality disorder, and thus not covered by his policy. Our firm discovered internal memos, however, that bolstered our client's claim, and we were able to obtain a settlement prior to trial in the amount of $1.5 Million.
Auto Accident: $1,490,000.00 settlement for brain and bodily injuries.
Our 40 year-old client was legally stopped on a busy road to make a left-hand turn into her driveway when the car behind her failed to stop in time. When the car behind her crashed into the rear of her vehicle, her car was propelled forward and crashed head-on into another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. Our client suffered a fractured cervical spine vertebrae that required surgery, in addition to a brain injury that interfered with her ability to work at her former job.
Although the defendant didn’t dispute liability, his insurance company alleged that our client’s injuries were worsened by her failure to wear a seat belt. The defendant driver only had $1,500,000 insurance coverage available: $10,000 was paid to the other driver involved in the head-on crash and the remaining $1,490,000.00 was paid to our client.
Medical Negligence: $850,000.00 settlement for misdiagnosis of heart attack /myocardial infarction.
Our client’s husband died from a heart attack approximately 6 months after he sought treatment for chest pains. When our client’s husband originally complained of chest pain he underwent a cardiac stress test which was wrongly interpreted as “normal,” when in fact, there were abnormal findings on the study. The husband complained of chest pain again about a month after the stress test was done, but because the defendant doctor believed the stress test was normal he failed to order any further cardiac testing. Our client’s husband collapsed and died suddenly while he was working. An autopsy revealed that he died of a heart attack due to undiagnosed coronary artery disease.
The defendant doctor alleged that the cardiac stress test was normal, or at best, that it only had slight abnormalities. He also alleged that the coronary artery disease and heart attack occurred after the stress test had been done, that the patient was at fault for his death because of his prior cigarette smoking, and that the patient failed to pursue another examination within the 6 month period prior to his death.
Medical Negligence: $800,000.00 settlement for misdiagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Our client sought treatment from his family practice physician for occasional rectal bleeding. The family practice doctor performed a colonoscopy in his office, which he concluded was normal and without signs of colorectal cancer. The defendant doctor diagnosed the patient with hemorrhoids and recommended a high fiber diet and hemorrhoidal suppositories. The patient returned to his doctor several more times for the rectal bleeding but no further testing or treatment was provided. After several more months of intermittent bleeding without improvement, our client sought a second opinion from another physician, who relied on the previous colonoscopy report and rendered the same diagnosis of hemorrhoids. Over the following year our client’s bleeding worsened, so he sought treatment from a third physician, who performed an examination and found a large cancerous colorectal tumor. Our client required surgery, a colostomy (an abdominal bag for stool collection), radiation and chemotherapy treatments. In spite of the cancer treatments, the colorectal cancer metastasized (spread) to other parts of his body and his chances of survival decreased.
The defendant doctors (the first and second physicians) alleged that our client did not have colorectal cancer at the time the colonoscopy was performed, or in the alternative, that the cancer was very slow growing and that a diagnosis of cancer at the time of the colonoscopy wouldn’t have made any significant difference in our client’s prognosis.
Medical Negligence: $750,000.00 settlement for misdiagnosis of pulmonary embolism.
We represented the wife of a gentleman who died of a pulmonary embolism (blot clot in the lungs). Several days prior to his death, this otherwise healthy 50-year old man became short of breath with walking. He saw his family practice doctor who ordered an EKG and chest x-ray, both of which were normal. The defendant doctor diagnosed the patient with bronchitis and told him to take over-the-counter cough medicine. Several days later the patient stopped breathing and he died while paramedics performed CPR on him.
The defendant doctor alleged that the EKG and chest x-rays were normal, that the patient was properly diagnosed with bronchitis, and that the doctor wasn’t negligent because the patient didn’t have the “classic” signs and symptoms of a pulmonary embolism.
Medical Negligence: $750,000.00 settlement for misdiagnosis of heart attack/myocardial infarction.
We represented the estate of a single father of 2 children who died from a misdiagnosed heart attack. When our clients’ father had chest pains he went to the emergency room for treatment. A cardiologist was consulted and performed a “thallium stress test,” which was mistakenly read as “normal.” Cardiac enzyme testing was also done, but because the thallium stress test was determined to be normal, the ER doctor discharged the patient home before the lab results were completed. The ER doctor and cardiologist told the patient that his chest pains were due to stomach problems and indigestion, and that antacids would relieve the pains. Shortly after the patient arrived home he collapsed and died from a heart attack. The cardiac enzyme tests that had been done earlier in the day revealed cardiac damage and an impending heart attack.
The defendants alleged that the thallium stress test was the “gold standard” for evaluating cardiac function and that because it was normal they met the standard of care when they decided to discharge the patient from the hospital.
Medical Negligence: $600,000.00 settlement for Hospital Emergency Room negligence: delayed examination and treatment of a blood clot in the leg with resultant amputation.
Our client was a 74 year-old gentlemen with a history of peripheral vascular disease (“PVD”) and hypertension. He developed severe leg and calf pain and went to the ER for treatment. The triage nurse performed a cursory and inadequate examination of the patient’s leg and concluded that no emergency existed. Our client waited in the hospital lobby for more than 4 hours without any further examination or treatment. When he was finally examined by the ER physician our client was improperly diagnosed and further delay in treatment occurred; in the meantime, the patient’s leg wasn’t getting circulation because the clot was blocking blood flow. Several more hours elapsed without treatment for his clot condition. When he was finally diagnosed with an arterial occlusion in his leg (a blood clot in one of his arteries) nearly 12 hours later, surgery to remove the clot was too late to save his leg and our client’s leg had to be amputated to prevent gangrene.
The defendant hospital alleged that the triage nurse and ER doctor examined our client properly, that the appropriate tests were timely ordered, and that the delayed diagnosis didn’t make any difference in the patient’s outcome.
$560,000 Workers’ Compensation Settlement
Our client was a vending machine delivery worker who was injured in a single vehicle accident. She was rendered an incomplete quadriplegic. We believed this lady needed multiple home modifications and accommodations that the carrier refused to provide. We asked the treating doctor to incorporate our recommendations into her treatment plan and she accepted. During mediation, we employed a settlement planner to structure a settlement that would provide funds for future medical needs and preserve the funds paid for loss of future earnings. The settlement plan was subject to and met Medicare’s approval so we preserved her right to receive Medicare benefits in the future.
24 Hour Per Day Attendant Care Awarded For Brain Injury
Our client was 31-year-old fire sprinkler installation technician. His employer told him to use a ladder that the employer knew was unstable and had taken out of service. The ladder collapsed and this man fell onto concrete. Since he was unable to break his fall, he struck his head on concrete. He immediately suffered total loss of hearing in both ears and a traumatic brain injury. His doctor fit him with bilateral Cochlear implants. The man was not able to smell anything including smoke, not able to hear noise other than voices (and then, only when wearing his Cochlear implants, which are not worn while sleeping), and was frequently dizzy and depressed. We asked the brain-injury doctor whether it was safe for this man to be left alone. She said firmly, "No!" We took the case to trial and we won. The judge ordered the insurance carrier to pay the man’s fiancé and friends who stay with him hourly wages equal to professional in-home nursing services. The value of 24-hour attendant care over the man’s lifetime is more than $3,000,000!
$587,500 Settlement for Medical Only in a Work Injury Case
We obtained a cash settlement for only the rights to future medical care following a work injury. Our client was able to invest the money and manage her own medical care.
Medical Negligence: $500,000.00 jury verdict for misdiagnosis of heart attack/myocardial infarction.
Our client was in her mid-30’s when she developed chest pain and sweating while she was working. She went to the emergency room for diagnosis and treatment of her condition. An EKG was done, but it was normal. The ER doctor didn’t order cardiac enzyme tests or other diagnostic tests and wrongly concluded that our client only had a simple case of the flu. Our client had a long history of insulin-dependant diabetes, which put her at high risk for heart disease, but because she was a woman and only in her 30’s, the ER doctor didn’t recognize this risk factor and sent our client home without any treatment. Approximately 1 week later, our client went to an urgent care center with weakness and feeling ill, and was properly diagnosed by another physician with a heart attack (myocardial infarction) and heart failure.
Prior to trial we offered a reasonable settlement, but the defendant hospital refused to pay more than $3,000 and the ER doctor refused to pay anything. The defendants alleged that our client’s heart attack was extremely unusual, that the heart attack and heart failure happened after the ER visit, that she had been properly diagnosed with the flu, and that she was contributorily negligent for failure to maintain her health prior to the heart attack. After an 8-week trial, the jury agreed with our theory of the case and awarded $500,000.00 to our client.
Medical Negligence: $500,000.00 settlement for false diagnosis of cancer.
Our client complained of fatigue, headaches, and general aches and pains. Laboratory testing was mildly suspicious for multiple myeloma, so the family practice doctor ordered x-rays, including x-rays of the patient’s head/skull. The defendant radiologist wrongly interpreted “venous lakes” (vein formations on the surface of the skull) seen on the x-ray films to be cancerous tumors from multiple myeloma. No further testing was done, but based on the lab tests and radiologist’s opinion our client was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The family practice doctor told our client that she could expect to die within 6 months and that she needed to undergo aggressive chemotherapy treatments in an attempt to prolong her life.
Our client endured the chemotherapy treatments and side effects, including nausea, vomiting and hair loss. She lived her life as though she was expected to die shortly. After the chemotherapy treatments were finished our client underwent more testing to determine if the chemotherapy had lessened the disease, but further testing revealed that she never had multiple myeloma. When the head x-rays were reviewed by a different radiologist it was discovered that the “tumors” were only shadows from vein formations on the surface of the skull.
The defendant radiologist alleged that the chemotherapy treatments did no permanent harm to the patient and may have prevented the patient from developing multiple myeloma in the future.
Auto Accident: $500,000.00 settlement for head-on crash with total knee replacement surgeries
Our client and his wife were hit head-on by a vehicle that crossed the center line. The defendant driver’s insurance company alleged that our client should have avoided the crash because an eyewitness to the collision thought that there was enough time to avoid the crash. Accident reconstruction experts showed how the collision was inevitable and that our client was not at fault for the collision. Prior to hiring a lawyer and filing a lawsuit the defendant insurance company refused to settle the case.
$272,000 Cash and Waiver of Lien Valued in Excess of $400,000
We handled the workers compensation case for our client who had multiple surgeries following a motor vehicle accident. The total value of the settlement was no less than $672,000.
$227,500 Workers Compensation Settlement
Our client was partially crushed by a fork lift resulting in a fractured pelvis and severed urethra. At thirty-eight years old, client was accepted by the carrier as permanently disabled.
Fall on Ice Rink Declared Compensable
The Court found our client suffered a compensable accident when she fainted while standing on ice rink in local mall. The Insurance company argued the injuries where not their responsibility. The Insurance company doctors testified client's injuries where unexplainable. We used brain injury experts to prove our client's case and we won.
Auto/Truck Accident: $175,000.00 settlement for shoulder and closed head injuries.
Our client was an MBA executive driving his new vehicle on the highway when a semi-truck/trailer improperly changed lanes and crashed into our client’s car. The crash caused our client’s vehicle to spin out of control and into a cement barrier. Our client hit his head inside the car but didn’t lose consciousness. His shoulder also hit the inside of the car and was jarred by the seatbelt. Several months later he required surgery for a shoulder impingement syndrome that developed from the injury, but he also became depressed and noticed that he was unable to perform his executive tasks at work, especially mathematics.
Although liability was not disputed, the insurance company for the truck company alleged that the client didn’t suffer a brain injury because he didn’t lose consciousness at the scene of the accident. Because of our client’s education and negotiating skills in his work, he assumed that he could successfully settle his claim by himself. He made reasonable demands to settle his claim for $50,000.00, but the insurance company refused to pay him more than $10,000.00. After repeated failed attempts to get his case settled on his own, he reluctantly hired a lawyer to represent him. We reviewed his medical records and evaluated his case and determined that his prior offers of $50,000 were too low for his injuries and damages. After we filed a lawsuit the trucking company paid our client $175,000.00.
Structured settlement of over $961,000.00 Workers' Compensation recovery helps ease suffering for client
When our 29-year-old client was rendered a quadriplegic as the result of a work-related automobile accident, she sought workers' compensation benefits for modifications to her home, including support bars for her bathroom, as well as attendant care services. When her requests were denied by her employer, she came to us for help. Her insurance company refused to provide the needed modifications, claiming they were "unnecessary."
We strongly disagreed with this assessment, as did the medical professionals we called upon for expert advice. As the result of our efforts, the injured worker received all of the home modifications she requested, along with a monetary settlement that allowed us to structure on her behalf a guaranteed payout in excess of $961,000.00
By structuring the settlement in such a way that it met the approval of Medicare, our client retained the right to receive Medicare benefits in the future. The structured payout will allow our client to continue with her life, secure in the knowledge that financial worries will not add to an already tragic situation.
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