Settlement for Neonatal blindness injuries to premature triplets after failure to diagnose condition in a timely manner. This case involved neonatal blindness injuries to premature triplets from retinopathy of prematurity. One child was almost completely blind; one child was almost completely blind in one eye and had partial loss of vision in the other eye; and the third child had some functional diminution of vision, primarily in one eye. Retinopathy of prematurity (what used to be called rebrolentna fibroplasia can be treated if timely diagnosed. It is a common problem in premature infants. We contended that the hospital, neonatologist, and pediatricians failed to properly follow up and screen these children and failed to diagnose the condition in a timely manner. The defendants contended that the mother had been properly warned about the condition and failed to obtain an eye exam in a timely fashion after the triplets were discharged from the hospital. This confidential settlement is believed to be the largest of its type in the history of the state of occurrence.

This case against UCSF Medical Center was the largest medical malpractice settlement in California history at the time. Our wrongful death attorneys in San Francisco settled a case involving the death of an athletic 38-year-old executive, who stopped at a UCSF clinic at the airport complaining of chest "tightness," which was relieved by Advil. The EKG was normal; there were no cardiac risk factors. The doctor diagnosed chest muscle strain and allowed the decedent to fly on to Colorado and then Mexico where he died 7 days after the clinic visit. Unfortunately, his tissue was severely decomposed when it was returned to the United States. There was no evidence of infarction, but there was an 85% sclerotic lesion in the right coronary artery and congenital narrowing of the left coronary artery. We contended that the decedent died of cardiac ischemia. Defendants argued that the decedent appeared healthy and in no distress and therefore the clinic symptoms were not cardiac and his death was probably from some other cause. Our wrongful death attorneys believe that this was the largest pre-judgment medical malpractice settlement in California history as of 2002.

Record settlement for 16-year-old who went into a coma during knee surgery (Oklahoma). We represented a 16-year-old teenager who was brain injured as result of poor anesthetic technique during a knee operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This case was complicated by limited insurance coverage on the part of the primarily culpable party and the need to establish liability against several other defendants in order to have adequate insurance coverage. The case was hotly contested in a jurisdiction known to be extremely conservative. The highest judgment or settlement in Oklahoma state history prior to this case was $2.2 million. We settled this case just before trial on a structured basis with $2.5 million in cash and $120,000 per year increasing at 6% for life with an additional $120,000 increasing at 6% for life to start in ten years and third $120,000 per year to increase at 6% to start in twenty years. The annuities were all guaranteed for twenty years. There were also additional annuities for the parents. The present case value of this settlement was approximately $8 million.