Basch & Keegan recently received a favorable settlement for a local electrician with three young children. He was working in his trade when a fluorescent light bulb shattered causing lacerations to his dominate right hand and wrist. He drove to a local hospital Emergency Room for treatment. The physician assistant failed to meet the Standard of Care as he sutured the wounded area without removing multiple glass fragments that were imbedded in our client’s wrist. The PA at the hospital failed to perform a minimally adequate exam, x-ray or consult with the ER Physician.
Two lawyers had rejected the case, however after speaking to Eli B. Basch he retained Basch & Keegan. Eli quickly went to work and filed a lawsuit against the local hospital and physician assistant.
Our client had been discharged without seeing a physician or being x-rayed. Approximately a month after the injury, our client dropped a pair of pliers at work and while getting up he felt pain in the wrist where he had been treated. He went to a local Urgent Care and had an x-ray. The x-ray revealed several shards of glass still in his wrist.
An appointment with an Orthopedic Doctor found decreased sensation in some fingers and images showed glass fragments in his wrist. Our client had to undergo surgery to remove the glass.
Our client was unable to fully engage in work for a significant amount of time while recovering from surgery. Over the next two years there was some initial improvement. However, a burning sensation to the incision site with radiating numbness and tingling into the ring finger brought our client back to a medical professional. An MRI was performed which showed some tearing of the tendon in the area of the surgery.
Almost 4 years after the incident our client received wrist decompression surgery and physical therapy. He was finally “happy with the results,” and the numbness and tingling were significantly reduced.
Eli retained an expert to review this case, and on the eve of trial both parties agreed on a settlement of $200,000. This settlement will compensate for some of the lost wages, pain and suffering of our client and his family due to the negligence of the physical assistant at the hospital.