Birth Injury
$1.7 Million Settlement. Deborah Dodge and David Ansley represented a child who was born not breathing and without a pulse. The child was revived after 32 minutes of his life. The child suffered from a skull fracture and was diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. He currently has severe left-sided weakness, walks with a severe limp, and suffers from a seizure disorder.
Infant Death
$160,000 Settlement. Deborah Dodge represented a mother regarding the death of her three-month-old daughter who died from respiratory failure. The emergency room doctor discharged the child to home and misread the chest x-ray as normal. The child had been brought to the hospital because she had stopped breathing. The x-rays revealed extensive pneumonia in the infant's right lung.
$125,000 Settlement. Don Woody represented a single mother in a wrongful death action of her still-born baby. The hospital nurses and the OB/GYN improperly used Cytotec to induce labor and failed to promptly recognize signs and symptoms of fetal distress and failed to perform a timely C-section resulting in the baby's death.
Surgery
$ 752,500 Verdict. David Ansley and Adam Pihana represented a husband in a wrongful death case involving his wife who underwent a surgery to her colon which was recommended because of suspected colon cancer. It turns out she did not have cancer. As she was recovering from surgery, the wife developed a serious infection that went undiagnosed for 3 days which was clearly too late.
Confidential Amount. David Ansley represented the family of a business man who underwent surgery to address potential colon cancer. During the surgery, the surgeon cut the mesenteric artery resulting in significant blood loss. Efforts to resuscitate the patient were deemed inadequate and ultimately, the suit was settled as result of the actions of the surgeon and the anesthesiologist.
$487,500 Settlement. Ben Stringer represented a woman who underwent shoulder surgery during which the surgeon removed too much bone from her clavicle. The injury resulted in chronic pain and disability in the woman's shoulder and arm.
$850,000 Settlement. Don Woody represented a woman with prior vascular and neck problems. She took coumadin as a result of a prior blood clot in her lower leg. She experienced pain in her neck and consulted a neurosurgeon who diagnosed a partial ruptured disk at C4-5. She consulted a neurosurgeon and he performed a discectomy to remove a ruptured disk. He discontinued Coumadin prior to the surgery, a short time after the surgery, he returned the plaintiff to her coumadin, except at only half of her pre-surgery dose. Several days later, a blood clot was suspected, and a vascular surgeon was called in. He decided to attempt to dissolve the clot with urokinase. He commenced urokinase therapy, which resulted in plaintiff's quadriparesis.
$100,000 Settlement. Don Woody represented the surviving mother of an unmarried son who was involved in a head-on collision. He was seen by a trauma surgeon who failed to diagnose the presence of a pneumothorax.
$790,000 Settlement. Deborah Dodge represented the family of a man in a wrongful death case. The man went to the hospital and was admitted with a diagnosis of intestinal obstruction. The defendant surgeon diagnosed the patient's condition as Crohn's Disease and informed the patient he would need to change his diet. The doctor failed to diagnose the man's condition as ischemic bowel requiring immediate surgery. Three days later the man died at another hospital from ischemic bowel.
$900,000 Settlement. David Ansley and Deborah Dodge represented a man who underwent lumbar surgery to alleviate symptoms of spondylolisthesis. The surgery involved an attempted back fusion. The fusion failed. After the surgery, the man underwent four additional surgeries within a nine month time frame, all of which were performed by defendant doctor. After the fourth surgery, the man was unable to walk.
$500,000 Settlement. David Ansley & Deborah Dodge represented a woman who underwent tarsal tunnel release procedures on both feet and the doctor negligently resected the calcaneal nerves in both feet.
$75,000 Settlement. Debbie Dodge represented a 68 year-old man who was to undergo surgery to his left great toe. The orthopedic surgeon and hospital failed to identify the correct toe and operated on the wrong great toe causing superficial nerve damage.
$215,000 Settlement. Deborah Dodge represented a 32-year-old man who suffered from a kidney stone. The defendant surgeon recommended that he retrieve the stone and thereafter place a stint in the plaintiff's ureter. The doctor lost the stint and made several attempts retrieving the stint causing a portion of the ureter to die. The man had to have reconstructive surgery and continues to suffer from ongoing pain
$650,000 Settlement. David Ansley represented a 36 year old nurse who underwent "tennis elbow" surgery to her right arm. During the surgery the defendant cut the motor branch of the radical nerve resulting in significant loss of function in her dominant right arm.
Cancer
$775,000 Verdict. David Ansley and Ben Stringer represented a man whose doctors failed to diagnose prostate cancer. The man's doctor failed to inform him of the existence of PSA testing. Several years later the man was referred to another physician who ordered a PSA test. This blood test revealed prostate cancer that had spread beyond the prostate gland. He was immediately referred to a urologist within the clinic who informed him it was too late to treat the cancer. The plaintiff traveled to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion, where he underwent a radical prostatectomy.
$330,000 Settlement. David Ansley and Deborah Dodge represented a woman who suffered from a delay in diagnosis of breast cancer. The woman presented to a family practitioner. The defendant doctor recognized a lump in the breast measuring 2 cm and referred the woman for a mammogram. The mammogram was read as normal. Ten months later, the woman was diagnosed with breast cancer with lymph node involvement.
Confidential Settlement. Deborah Dodge and David Ansley represented a woman whose family practitioner, despite a palpable lump, did not recommend further follow-up treatment. Due to a 12-month delay in diagnosis, plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer with lymph node involvement.
$800,000 Verdict. David Ansley and Ben Stringer represented a man who suffered a sore on the inside of his cheek. His oral surgeon diagnosed the lesion to be benign when in fact it was Stage I cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, the cancer had progressed to Stage III, requiring an 18-hour surgery to remove his cheek and all of his teeth and lymph nodes with reconstructive surgery.
$662,000 Verdict. David Ansley represented a 63-year-old woman whose anal cancer was misdiagnosed as hemorrhoids. She and her husband brought suit alleging the delay in diagnosis reduced her chance of surviving the disease.
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented a 55-year-old man whose kidney cancer was misdiagnosed as anemia. By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it had progressed from Stage I to Stage III.
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented a 38-year-old woman whose breast cancer was misdiagnosed as fibrocystic disease despite the surgeon's failure to obtain a biopsy.
$310,000 Settlement. David Ansley represented the family of a 63 year old man who died of multiple myeloma, a form of bone cancer. Two and one-half years before his death he was diagnosed with osteoporosis despite medical tests consistent with multiple myeloma. These test results went unnoticed until the patient fell, braking new bones. Similar diagnostic tests were repeated and correctly interpreted by a new physician. The correct diagnosis was made too late for effective therapeutic treatment.
Cardiology & Heart Medicine
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented a widow and two minor children of the husband and father who died at the age of 33. He went to his primary care doctor complaining of chest pains. The doctor negligently concluded that his complaints were a result of anxiety and discharged him. Unfortunately, the man died 19 days later of a heart condition that if timely diagnosed would have been treatable.
$350,000 Settlement. Don Woody represented the surviving husband and three grown children of a female who was experiencing classic heart attack symptoms diagnosed by the emergency room doctor as unstable angina and an internist (not a cardiologist) assigned from the hospital's "call box system" to admit her to the hospital failed to properly consider her troponin blood levels as a heart attack indicator, and he released her with "gastrointestinal" symptoms and she died of another heart attack within two days.
$1 Million Dollar Verdict. David Ansley and Deborah Dodge represented a woman who was having an allergic reaction to the administration of herparin while in the hospital. The doctor managing plaintiff's care did not discontinue the herparin, or request a hematological consult. As a result, the plaintiff suffered from a debilitating stroke.
Radiology
$125,000 Settlement. Ben Stringer represented a woman who underwent an ultrasound guided liver biopsy and during the procedure she experienced severe abdominal pain because the radiologist perforated the hepatic duct. Plaintiff developed an abscess, severe bleeding and nearly died.
Family Medicine
$500,000 Settlement. David Ansley represented a middle-aged man whose heart symptoms of extreme fatigue, sweating and pain were misdiagnosed as "Rabbit Fever." Before a correct diagnosis was made, the client suffered a heart attack resulting in permanent heart damage as well as requiring the placement of a pacemaker.
$292,000 Settlement. Debbie Dodge represented a wife and adult children involving the wrongful death of their elderly husband and father. The action was against a family physician that diagnosed decedent from suffering from renal insufficiency but failed to monitor the status of his kidney insufficiency. Unfortunately, decedent died from acute kidney failure that was diagnosed as enteritis.
Infection
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented an elderly man who lost his eye sight due to an untreated infection following cataract surgery. The symptoms of infection were ignored until it was too late. The case settles against both the ophthalmologist and optometrist.
Emergency Medicine
$750,000 Verdict. David Ansley and Ben Stringer represented a 49-year-old woman who was presented to the ER with symptoms of transient ischemic attack (TIA). Her impending stroke was misdiagnosed as anxiety and she was discharged. She suffered a stroke the following day.
1.5 Million Settlement. Debbie Dodge and Ben Stringer represented a woman who presented to the Emergency Room with weakness and numbness in her legs. Her symptom worsened in the ER. A neurosurgeon was contacted but he did not come and examine the patient until the following day. Once admitted to the hospital, plaintiff was unable to move or feel her legs. However, no doctors were contacted. Once doctors examined the patient late the following morning, plaintiff was diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome and was rushed for emergency surgery. She did not regain feeling or movement in her legs.
$100,000 Verdict. David Ansley represented a man who presented to a local ER with flu-like symptoms including diarrhea. The ER doctor ordered a stool sample based upon history of antibiotic-induced diarrhea. The pathologist determined plaintiff suffered from clostridium difficile. While ER had access to these lab results, the diagnosis was not communicated to either the patient or his family physician. As a result, plaintiff had a perforated colon requiring surgery and removal of a portion of his colon.
Emergency: $1,635,000 Verdict. Ben Stringer and Steven Blair represented the wife, children and parents of a 24-year-old man who died in his sleep from an accidental drug overdose. The young man sought treatment at a local emergency room within the hours before his death, but was discharged and sent home less than 30 minutes after arriving at the emergency room. The jury returned a $1,635,000 verdict against the emergency room doctor responsible for caring for the young man at the hospital.
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented a 33 year old woman whose signs and symptoms of stroke were misdiagnosed as nausea and dehydration. Settlement was obtained against the ER physician's who misdiagnosed the illness. By the trial the correct diagnosis was made, it was too late to reverse the affects of the stroke. Swelling of the brain also required emergency craniotomy.
Physical Therapy
$650,000 Settlement. David Ansley represented a 63 year-old male who sued his physical therapy group after hurting his back in an accident during therapy. The plaintiff was placed on a sliding traction table and while attempting to get off the table, it gave way in the middle. The plaintiff suffered from a herniated disk and later developed a methacillin resistant staph infection as a result of back surgery.
Nursing
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented the parents of their adult daughter who suffered from Down's syndrome who underwent a simple surgical procedure. While in the recovery room, the daughter's blood pressure became critically low and the nurses did nothing to treat it. Furthermore, they did not contact a doctor regarding the change in blood pressure. A blood test also revealed critically low levels of red blood cells indicating internal bleeding. Five hours later, the daughter underwent emergency surgery. The daughter lost approximately 3 liters of blood and died six days later as a result of the brain damage she suffered from due to her critical condition that went untreated in the recovery room.
$250,000 Settlement. Debbie Dodge represented a 62 year-old woman who presented to the hospital with signs of stroke. The woman was a candidate for the use tPA (clot-busting drug). She was admitted for observation. She then again exhibited signs and symptoms of stroke. The admitting doctor was not notified timely. Instead of contacting the doctor of t he woman's change in condition the nurse started the plaintiff on IV heparin which precluded her from getting tPA treatment.
$125,000 Settlement. Ben Stringer represented a resident of a Southwest Missouri nursing home after she fell and broke her hip as a result of inadequate care and supervision.
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley represented the mother of a 38 year old woman who suffered from bipolar condition. The patient was placed in a nursing home so that her medications could be monitored. The patient became over medicated, developed neuromalignant syndrome due to overmedication and died. The doctor prescribing the medication was not notified of significant symptom changes until it was too late to revive the patient.
Failure to Diagnose
$400,000 Settlement. Ben Stringer represented a woman who suffered an internal injury during surgery. The injury allowed the woman's intestinal contents to leak into her abdomen which resulted in an infection that traveled into the woman's blood stream. The infection became life threatening and resulted in a hospital stay of more than a month. The client suffered chronic fatigue, memory loss and muscle atrophy and weakness.
Confidential Settlement. David Ansley successfully represented a couple whose 9 year old son died on Christmas Eve because the health care providers misdiagnosed the boy's condition as precocious puberty as opposed to adrenal gland cancer.
$460,000 Settlement. Ben Stringer represented a woman whose health care providers failed to diagnose and treat her developing kidney failure. The patient and her medical experts claimed the failure to treat her failing kidneys allowed her disease to develop rapidly and eliminating hopes of any treatment to slow down her kidney failure.
**Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.
