Daniel Jeck and Joshua Schwartz recently settled a highly contested medical malpractice case for $4 million just before trial was to begin in a Luzerne County, Pennsylvania courtroom for our client, a 54-year-old Army veteran and truck driver.
The client became disabled from a post-operative infection that developed following a partial nephrectomy/colectomy to remove early-stage cancer. Due to the infection, our client was hospitalized multiple times and needed multiple surgeries culminating in a total small bowel transplant.
The case arose from a delay in diagnosing and initiating the appropriate treatment for a bowel leak following bowel surgery performed on our client by one of the defendants, a colorectal surgeon.
For days, the defendants, who included other medical professionals and the hospital where our client was treated, ignored radiologic proof and multiple signs of infection from a bowel leak reported by nursing staff. Those multiple signs of infection included fever, an increasing white blood cell count, and foul-smelling, brown, feculent fluid from surgical drainage sites.
As a result of the delay in diagnosis and timely and appropriate treatment for an underlying infection, our client developed necrotizing fasciitis—also known as flesh-eating disease-causing permanent injuries to his bowel and stomach, which has left him permanently and completely debilitated.
Before these events, our client was an active and loving partner in his relationship with his wife, a devoted step-father, and a doting grandfather. Now, his wife is his around-the-clock caretaker. His injuries have left him in unrelenting pain and permanently immunocompromised, disfigured, and incontinent, requiring extensive daily assistance.
“While this settlement will not bring our client back to the health he was in before the events that led to this lawsuit, it will allow him and his wife to afford the personal care and assistance he needs,” said Dan.
“Equally as important,” added Josh, “this settlement gives our client and his wife much-needed financial security and stability for the rest of their lives.”
