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While driving on the Newark-Jersey City Turnpike in Kearny, New Jersey, a 47-year-old woman was rear-ended and forced to collide into the car driving in front of her. Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. Partner Samuel L. Davis proved that the driver who rear-ended her had been negligent in his failure to drive safely, securing our client a $2.25 million settlement.
The defendant was driving at 55 mph when he began coughing, causing him to accidentally step on his accelerator. He rear-ended the woman while traveling at 65 mph. The impact of the collision forced our client to hit the driver in front of her, seriously injuring our client. She was taken by ambulance to the Hoboken University Medical Center in Hoboken, New Jersey.
The client suffered severe injuries to her back, left shoulder, and throat. In her cervical spine, she suffered two disc bulges, and in her lumbar and thoracic spine, she suffered hyperextension-flexion injury (more commonly known as whiplash syndrome). Her shoulder suffered a SLAP lesion, impingement syndrome, and tendinosis in her bicep. In her throat, she developed vocal fold paralysis, which affected her ability to speak, breathe, and swallow. To treat her shoulder, she underwent an arthroscopic surgery, which included labral debridement and subacromial decompression. For her spine, she underwent an anterior cervical discectomy with instrumentation, and a direct micro laryngoscopy for her throat.
Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. hired medical experts to author narratives and provide oral and written testimony proving the permanent nature of our client’s injuries. The firm also hired an economics expert to assess the extent of financial damages suffered by our client. The expert determined that, because our client’s injuries had limited her ability to work and would likely cause her to retire early, she had suffered a loss in future earning capacity of several hundred thousand dollars.
Partner Samuel L. Davis also retained a legal nurse consultant, who stated that our client would require ongoing care and would continue to experience pain through the rest of her life. The expert added that her medical care costs would continue because of her extended treatment.
With the support of these experts, Samuel L. Davis sued the driver in the Essex County Superior Court and secured our client a $2.25 million settlement for her pain, injuries, and suffering.
Settlements are often limited by the total available insurance coverage. Insurance company adjusters and their lawyers often defend cases by claiming that a client was negligent and could have avoided being injured by arguing comparative negligence on the part of an injured client; or that their pain and suffering was caused by pre-existing medical conditions or prior injuries. Despite those defenses, the Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, PC lawyers won their client’s injury claim. Each client’s case is unique. Results may differ because of different facts, circumstances and available insurance coverage.
Call us now for a free and confidential case evaluation. We are also available 24/7 online at our website, www.dsslaw.com.
Medical Glossary
Arthroscopy: A surgical procedure that allows the surgeon to complete a procedure by inserting a small camera through a small incision.
Cervical Discectomy: A cervical discectomy is a major surgery done that removes a damaged vertebral disc in the neck. Removing the disc relieves symptoms caused by nerve and spinal cord compression, such as pain in the neck. Most patients recover from the surgery within two to six weeks, and most can continue with their normal activities.
Debridement: A procedure to remove dead tissue from an injury or wound.
Disc Bulge: The discs in our spine have two components: a nucleus pulposus (new-klee-us pul-poe-sis) and the annulus fibrosis (an-you-lus-fye-bro-sis). The annulus fibrosis is the tough band that contains the nucleus pulposus, which is the disc’s soft inside. A bulging disc means that the nucleus pulposus is sagging and bulging out into the spinal canal, but it hasn’t torn the annulus fibrosis. A disc herniation means that the nucleus pulposus has made a hole or tear in the annulus fibrosis and it is leaking into the spinal canal.
Hyper-Extension Flexion Injury: This injury occurs when the neck is suddenly thrown forward, stretching and tearing tissues in the spine.
Impingement Syndrome: Occurs when tendons in the rotator cuff are continuously pinched.
Labral Tear: A labral tear can happen in the cartilage of either the hip or the shoulder joint that holds the ball and socket parts together. A tear can cause decreased range of motion, pain, and the feeling that the hip or shoulder is locking up.
Laryngoscopy: A surgical procedure in which a tube is inserted into the patient’s throat. Cymetra is a special, injectable collagen used for vocal cord augmentation procedures.
SLAP Lesion: A Superior Labrum from Anterior to Posterior (SLAP) lesion is a tear within the top of the labrum, otherwise known as the glenoid labrum.
Tendinosis: The degeneration of a tendon’s collagen.
