Teenager Injured in Football Game Receives Jury Award of
$7.57 Million for Missed Diagnosis by Treating Doctors
Previous settlement with other defendants garnered
additional 1.8 million dollars.
Stephen Allen Jamieson won a jury trial in the amount of
$7.57 million dollars on behalf of a 19-year-old who had
received a medical treatment far below the standard of care
including a misdiagnosis of a bleed on his brain. This case was
tried in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Southwest District
(Torrance) before the Honorable Lois Smaltz.
In September 1995, the then 16-year-old plaintiff was practicing
with his high school football team when he sustained several
hard hits to the head from another player. In the evening his
parents took him to the Urgent Care Center. The doctor failed to
properly diagnose the problem as a concussion. There were no
radiographic films done, no CT scan done. The doctor
misdiagnosed the problem as dehydration and failed to place any
definite limitation of the plaintiff’s participation in
football over the next few days.
Two days later, the teenager collapsed on the playing field
within a few minutes of the start of the football game. He was
later diagnosed with a massive brain hemorrhage and was comatose
for a month. He was left with brain damage resulting in loss of
function in one arm and one leg and cognitive deficiencies.
Solomon, Saltsman and Jamieson filed a lawsuit for negligence
against the school district as well as the doctor, the Urgent
Care Center for which he worked, and the hospital that sponsored
the Urgent Care Center.
The defendants in this action vigorously litigated this matter.
There were over thirty depositions taken. Expert witnesses were
required in many different fields such as athletic training,
accident reconstruction, biomechanics, engineering and sports of
psychology. The malpractice issue required the hiring of medical
experts such as a neuropsychiatrists and psychologists. After
more than two years, Mr. Jamieson and Stephen W. Solomon settled
with the school district for $1,800,000.
Four months later Stephen Jamieson took the case against the
urgent care doctor and his employers to trial before a superior
court in Torrance, California. The medical issues were perceived
by the defense to be the weaker portion of the case,
particularly considering that Torrance is a relatively
conservative jurisdiction, and that there are inherent
difficulties associated with a medical malpractice action (i.e.,
MICRA limitations).
Therefore, the defense offered only $50,000 prior to trial.
After three weeks in trial, Mr. Jamieson convinced the jury to
return a verdict in the amount of $7,570,000.
Solomon Saltsman & Jamieson are
attorneys practicing in the areas of ABC law, ABC Appeals Board
cases, and all related Land Use Matters such as City and County
Conditional Land Use Permits, Variances, Police and Fire
Permits, Entertainment Law, Gaming Law, as well as Personal
Injury litigation. Solomon Saltsman & Jamieson can be
contacted at 800-405-4222.
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