$725,000.00
After falling at home and injuring her back, the parents took their ten-year-old daughter to the emergency room of a local hospital. The child could not walk and had to be carried by her parents into the hospital. X-rays taken of her back showed no spinal damage. During her stay at the emergency room she developed a high fever. Tests were taken to rule out appendicitis but an urinalysis test showed traces of blood. Although the fever went down, the child, who was still unable to walk, was discharged and allowed to go home. Within three days the child experienced increased pain in her legs and was rushed to a different emergency room where she ultimately died. An autopsy showed that she died of sepsis (blood poisoning). Our firm retained three medical experts who were prepared to testify that, had a blood test been given during her first emergency room visit, the presence of blood poisoning would have been discovered and could easily have been treated with antibiotics thereby preventing their child’s death. The case settled on the eve of trial for $725,000.