$1,250,000 Settlement - Dennis Johnson v. JFK Medical Center
Press Release -
Dennis Johnson was a 35 year old man who presented to JFK Medical Center ER on Friday, 12/17/04. He was complaining of difficulty seeing in his left eye for a few days which had gotten progressively worse that day. He had a past history of blindness in his right eye.
Mr. Johnson was examined by an Emergency Room Physician and told to take Norvasc for his elevated BP and follow up with an ophthalmologist. Mr. Johnson could not get an appointment with an ophthalmologist until 3 days later, Monday, 12/20/04. At some point during the weekend, Mr. Johnson's eye sight got worse and by the time he got to an Ophthalmologist on 12/20/04 his vision was limited. He was immediately diagnosed with retinal detachment and referred to the Retina Vitreous Center. After an evaluated there, surgery was recommended and performed on 12/22/04.
Plaintiff 's position was that there is a limited window of opportunity to perform surgical intervention to a detaching retina. The delay in getting Mr. Johnson examined by an ophthalmologist and to a retina specialist resulted in permanent deficits in the left eye. After 3 surgeries, his acuity has only been restored to 20/100 and he has lost peripheral vision. As a consequence and in combination with his right eye blindness, he has been unable to return to his prior employment, is unable to drive and is limited in most activities.
Defendants contended that upon reporting to the ER, Mr. Johnson's macula had already detached, he would have had these deficits in any event and that emergent surgery was not indicated under the circumstances.
The case settled before Judge Jessica Mayer , Middlesex County, in the amount of $1,250,000.00. Plaintiff was represented by James Martin, Esq. of Martin Kane & Kuper of East Brunswick, NJ . Defendant was represented by Sean Buckley, Esq. of Buckley & Theroux, LLC of Princeton,NJ.
$10,000,000 Settlement - McCauley vs. Astaris LLC et al
Press Release -
On October 20, 2009, an Old Bridge man accepted $9.6 million in settlement of a claim against his former employer and others for severe burns received in an industrial explosion on 5/27/03. Leroy McCauley was employed as a chemical operator at Astaris, LLC in Carteret, N.J. when he was asked to disconnect a piping system used to unload raw phosphorous from a rail tank car on the premises. Raw phosphorous ignites when it comes in contact with air and must be kept in an enclosed environment and is shipped under water in tank cars. Despite a prior flushing of the pipe lines, phosphorous, also known as P4, remained in the line and rushed out when the pipeline was disconnected. The resulting explosion burned Mr. McCauley over 50% of his body. The plaintiff was hospitalized at St. Barnabas Burn Center for two months and underwent multiple debridement and grating procedures and thereafter numerous procedures to reduce scarring and contractures. The suit alleged that the employer consciously disregarded many of its own safety procedures and sent an untrained employee to perform a hazardous task without appropriate safety equipment or protective clothing. Also, named were the manufacturer and distributors of the piping apparatus and the aluminized protective clothing issued to chemical operators at the plant. Plaintiff contended that these suppliers knew or should have known that there were safety devices available to prevent unintended release of P4 from the unloading system and that the protective clothing was in adequate to protect against the severe temperatures at which P4 burns. Monsanto Corp. was included in the suit for alleged failure to provide adequate Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) with its shipments of P4 and for failure to follow the Responsible Care and Product Stewardship Doctrines adopted by it and the American Chemical Council, a trade organization of chemical manufacturers. FMC Corp. and Solutia, Inc. were joint venturers who formed Astaris and the plaintiff claimed were responsible for many of the inadequate policies, procedures and equipment adopted by Astaris.
Several defendants settled just before opening statements with Astaris and others settling after 3 1/2 weeks of trial before the Honorable Nicholas Stroumtsos in Middlesex County.
Plaintiff was represented by James D. Martin and Dana McDade of Martin, Kane, & Kuper in East Brunswick and Bernard Hvozdovic, a sole practitioner in South Brunswick. Defendants were represented by:
James Bride for defendants Monsanto Company and P4 Production, LLC; Rich Bryan for defendant Steel Grip; Brian O'Toole for defendant Olympic Glove and Safety; Don Crowley for defendant Carbis, Inc. and Wendy Smith for defendant OPW.
$250,000 Verdict - Valenzuela v. Patel
Press Release -
A Middlesex County jury awarded $250,000 on January 13, 2010 to a maternity technician who suffered neck and back injuries as a result of a rear-end collision. The verdict was unanimous.
On November 8, 2006, Catherine Valenzuela of North Brunswick was heading to nursing school when she was rear-ended by the defendant, Dineshbha Patel, also of North Brunswick. Her automobile was struck multiple times by the defendant as it was raining at the time of the collision. During the trial before Judge Heidi Willis Currier, the defendant admitted to traveling 30 miles per hour just before the impact.
The Plaintiff's lawyer, Todd Drayton of Martin Kane & Kuper LLC, presented evidence from several experts, including an orthopedic surgeon who performed an independent medical examination of Ms. Valenzuela and a chiropractor who had treated her for over two years, which demonstrated that Mrs. Valenzuela suffered disc bulges at C5-C6 and L4-L5, impingement upon her spinal column and distortion of her normal spinal anatomy. As a result, Mr. Drayton argued, the prognosis for the damaged discs is exceptionally poor. He noted that the damaged discs will deteriorate at faster rate and to a more severe endpoint, and that Mrs. Valenzuela could look forward to a future of increasing pain in her neck and back, as well as diminished functioning in her neck and back.
At the time of the accident, Mrs. Valenzuela was only 35 years old and had never suffered any injuries to her neck or back. Nor had she ever been involved in an accident or ever been treated by a chiropractor or orthopedist.
The defendant was represented by Teresa Valle of the Law Office of John Kennedy, who contended that Mrs. Valenzuela's injuries were not permanent and that they were instead the result of prior back pain suffered over two and one-half years prior to the accident. The defendant further contended that Mrs. Valenzuela's disc bulge injuries - without more - were insufficient to vault New Jersey's verbal threshold statute. To that end, the defendant offered Mrs. Valenzuela $300 to settle the matter just before opening statements.
