Medical Malpractice

Anapol Schwartz is one of the nation's preeminent law firms, known for landmark verdicts and settlements and for providing clients with the highest level of personalized legal services. Eleven of Anapol Schwartz's lawyers have received jury verdicts in excess of $1,000,000.00, and virtually every attorney has participated in obtaining multiple settlements over $1,000,000.00.

Below are several examples Anapol Schwartz's Medical Malpractice verdicts and settlements:

$2.1 million dollar verdict in Wrongful Death. Jim Ronca earned a $2.1 million dollar verdict in a case involving the death of a four-year-old boy. The child was admitted to an area hospital for respiratory distress from pneumonia and attending doctors did not evaluate and transfer the boy in time to save him. The case against the hospital was confidentially resolved prior to verdict after an eight-day trial.

$800,000 settlement for infant who sustained injury during delivery. Alan Schwartz settled a confidential case involving the Shoulder Dystocia delivery of a newborn. The child was delivered with one shoulder of the baby not entering the pelvis during the birth. This situation can lead to complications for both the baby and mother who were attended by a second year resident at the hospital without supervision. The woman's doctor was summoned for the delivery, but did not make it to the hospital in time, therefore a third year resident without Shoulder Dystocia experience delivered the child. The baby's head was pulled with excess force, resulting in a Brachial Plexus injury. This is nerve damage with symptoms that include a limp or paralyzed arm, lack of muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist, and lack of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand. This child had an initial operation and will have others to repair the nerve damage and deformity of the non-dominant arm and hand. The hospital, which has since closed, agreed to an $800,000 settlement before the trial.

$750,000 Settlement in delayed diagnosis of a four year old. A four-year-old girl received a $750,000 settlement against her pediatricians for a negligent delay in diagnosing her cancer of the bladder. The young child had a rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a very treatable cancer if caught early, but it took her pediatricians five months to diagnosis her disease. It was a medical fact that all tumors in the base of the bladder need total excision of the bladder, and defense argued it was speculative for plaintiff to say that five months earlier, radiation would have totally eliminated the tumor. Both sides presented very qualified experts. The young girl is now 9 years old and cancer free.

$8,300,000 - Jury awards to patient who suffered brain damage. Lawrence R. Cohan, Esquire earned an $8.3 million dollar verdict in a case where a woman was overdosed on pain medication and suffered permanent brain injury. The plaintiff was incapacitated physically by a car accident four days before being admitted to Newcomb Hospital in May 1999 and showed only some slurred speech and disorientation before she was admitted. She had been experiencing nausea and dehydration when she was admitted on May 27, 1999, had a past medical history including Type 1 diabetes. Complaining of pain caused by complications from the diabetes and the effects of the car crash, the Plaintiff was given a recommended 4 mg dose of Dilaudid two times over a 12-hour period. A nurse never recorded the first dose administered around noon. After the plaintiff went unconscious that afternoon, physicians failed to link the reaction with the medication because it wasn't recorded. When she got the second dose, she went into cardiac arrest.

Soon after, the plaintiff slipped into a coma and suffered brain damage. She has been in a nursing home for the past five years and has not been able to recover.

Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death/Still Birth Case. Stephen J. Pokiniewski, Esquire settled a medical malpractice case where a pregnant woman suffering from depression was prescribed the drug Paxil. She begain to have panic attacks, suffered sleeplessness and acute anxiety from taking this drug. The plaintiff attempted suicide and went into a coma and suffered a seizure. Her unborn child tragically died in utero. After the plaintiff was taken off the drug, she made a good recovery and now has two healthy children.

$1.4 million dollar medical malpractice settlement. Case for our client whose wife died from cardiac dysrythmia during a routine colonoscopy. No holter monitor was prescribed and no diagnosis was made of her heart palpitations to prevent this tragedy.

Wallace v. Fraider. $22 million dollar medical malpractice verdict. Our client, a 37-year-old man, had unnecessary spinal fusion surgery, rendering him disabled from his job as a backhoe operator. The verdict also included $1 million dollars for loss of consortium for our client's wife.

$9.6 Million Dollar Verdict in Profound Birthing Injury Case. Alan Schwartz earned a $9.6 million dollar verdict in a case involving a profound birthing injury during labor.

Whitehead v. McGrane. $3.5 Million Dollar Verdict in Medical Malpractice Case. Involving Pain Medication Injection. Steve Pokiniewski argued that a sixty-year old woman with prior lower back pain resulting from an improper post-operative pain medication injection, had permanent sciatic nerve damage causing devastating nerve and ultimately muscle wasting damage to her left leg that left her a prisoner in her own home. They jury awarded our client $3.5 million dollars by the jury.

Odessa Shields v. Robert Gerard, M.D. $1.7 Million Dollar Verdict for Doctor's Failure to Diagnose. Larry Cohan tried this case in Camden County, New Jersey, garnering a $1.7 million dollar verdict in a medical malpractice case involving a doctor's failure to diagnose a rupturing abdominal aorta aneurysm.

Patricia A. Weiss, Executrix of Estate of Richard R. Weiss v.Danielle C. Bruder, M.D., et al. - $1.1 Million Dollar Verdict in Medical Malpractice Case. Attorneys at Anapol Schwartz earned a $1.1 million dollar verdict for the estate of a man who died as a result of misdiagnosis with regards to a drug interaction between Lopid and Lipitor. Doctors improperly prescribed these medications together to the deceased and failed to discontinue the treatment when the deceased displayed symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a debilitating muscle condition.

Clark v. Hoener, M.D., et al. $650,000 Dollar Verdict in First Malpractice Case Successfully Concluded for Plaintiff in Dauphin County. Alan Schwartz spent two weeks in 1991 trying a wrongful death and survival action in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was the largest known victory in Harrisburg at $650,000, and reputed to be the first malpractice case that was successfully concluded in the County.

Multi-Million Dollar Verdict in Triplet Death Case. Alan Schwartz, in 1995, obtained a multi-million dollar settlement in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on behalf of parents of triplets who died shortly after birth.

Smith v. BIC Corporation. Third Circuit Allows Direct Disclosure of BIC Butane Lighter's Claim Experiences When Defense Counsel Refused Confidentiality Agreement. Alan Schwartz convinced the Third Circuit to direct disclosure of BIC's butane lighter's claim experiences after our law firm refused to enter into a Confidentiality Agreement. This was the first case nationally to obtain such documents without a Protective Order. This allowed other burn victims to have complete access to all other burn claims.

Amadio v. Levin, et al., 509 Pa. 199, 501 A.2d 1085 (1985). PA Supreme Court Reversed Existing Law on Wrongful Death and Survival Actions for Viable Fetus. Alan Schwartz convinced the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to reverse existing law and permitting wrongful death and survival actions on behalf of a viable fetus. Until this decision, parents could not recover for preventable stillborn deaths.

Linda and Thomas Lowe v. Faramarcz C. Zarghami, M.D. Doctors Must Disclose to Their Patients Their Employment Status at Time of Treatment. Larry Cohan handled this case before the New Jersey Supreme Court, who held that doctors must disclose to their patients their employment status at the time of treatment or lose the opportunity at governmental immunity. As a result, this defense, which was used to dismiss meritorious claims on procedural grounds, has not been raised since 1999.

Douglas White v. Cooper Hospital Medical Center. Court Decides Hospital's Highest Available Limit on Liability Applies. Larry Cohan convinced the New Jersey Supreme Court, in a case of first impression dealing with a hospital's limit on liability under the New Jersey Governmental Immunity Act, that the highest available limit should apply. It also decided that the trigger date for application of the limit is the later of the date of incident or discovery of the case of the injury. The case opened the door for substantial recoveries against negligent New Jersey hospitals.

Visconti v. U.S. Health Care. HMO's Cannot Seek Protection Under Federal ERISA Laws. Stephen Pokiniewski argued that HMO's cannot seek protection under Federal ERISA laws, and therefore, they can be responsible to pay money damages under State laws for negligently preventing or allowing doctors to properly treat patients. The case was argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and before this landmark decision, HMOs could not be held accountable to patients under State law medical negligence claims. The case later settled out of court.

DesKuys v. Berkowitz. $1 Million Dollar Verdict in Case Where Experts Credibility Challenged. The law firm of Anapol Schwartz obtained a million dollar verdict after the defense lawyer argued that his expert witness, with an 86-page resume, must be believed. In rebuttal, Anapol Schwartz attorneys told the jury that Richard Nixon had a longer resume, and he lied.

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