A different sort of English Patient

By michelle | Posted on April 7, 2009 | Filed Under Personal Injury 

A man in Britain tried to kill himself and was saved by the hospital. 

His thanks?  The see-you-in-court kind.

(Do people say that anymore?)

Michael Dexter took 100 pills and followed it with a rum and coke in order to end his life, and he was rushed to the hospital by his family.  The hospital had given him four times the correct dose of neutralizing drugs, which damaged his right arm where the IV was, causing severe burns.  He now claims the arm is 75% not functional. 

He settled with the hospital out of court for £90,000.  He admits that he fully intended to kill himself at the time and in fact attempted again three years after this attempt.  Apparently forgetting that upon arrival to the hospital his system was fighting a lethal dose of pills, Michael says, “There are not many people who come out of hospital worse than when they went in.”  (Credit: UK Telegraph)

Michael’s statement does not capture the actual reason he had a good medical malpractice claim.  He would be entitled to compensation if the hospital had deviated from its standard of care which caused the injury.  Since the dosage was incorrect, that led to his successful settlement.

On that note, if his arm is truly as bad as he says it is, do you think £90,000 is really enough?  He says ”I cannot even cuddle my wife with my right hand now. I’m still able to drive but I have a job putting the keys in the ignition. I can’t dry glasses or cook dinners. I used to love gardening but I don’t do that now.”  He states that he has been unable to get a job since the injury as well.  I think perhaps the plaintiff’s lawyer was a little afraid of the effect Michael’s story (of attempted suicide) would play out on a jury.  How would it affect your perception of his claim?  Leave your opinion in the comments!

If there is a will, there is a case

By michelle | Posted on March 6, 2009 | Filed Under Personal Injury 

There have been a couple of times when at a driving range, I swung my wood club with what I thought was perfect form and with a bit of muscle in it, and I look out and don’t see the golf ball land.  After a couple of seconds, and still not seeing the ball drop, I know something’s up – because I’m not good.  And that is when I look behind me.  The next thing to do is to spill your bucket of balls and act like that’s how it got back there.  You can really only do this once per day though.

What to do if you’ve been hit by someone else’s golf ball?  Curse them out!  (Unless they yelled fore.)

What to do if you’ve been hit by your own golf ball?  Pick it up and throw it a distance before anyone notices!  The embarrassment!

Or … you could just sue.  But whom?  Not yourself, obviously.  How about the golf course?  That is what Paul Sanchez, of New Hampshire, decided to do.  His golf ball ricocheted off a yard marker, and hit him in the eye, blinding him.  The golf ball he hit was on the 11th hole and the marker was 150 feet away from him.  (It was a really accurate ricochet!)  The lawsuit claims that the course did not warn of the markers, the markers were too rigid, should have been on the sides of the fairway and golfers were not told the markers were removable during play, and that the golf ball was actually a device operated by aliens trying to abolish golf.*

Sanchez’s attorney was sure to explain that it was not a frivolous case.

Is this kind of like how everyone thinks his/her child is the cutest/smartest/sweetest?  Or that no one thinks their own you-know-what stinks?

Someone needs to tell Sanchez’s attorney that there is such a thing as a case with good facts — I don’t dispute that Sanchez has a very serious injury — but bad law — the golf course didn’t hold a gun up to his head and tell him to swing his club.  On the 11th hole.  Did he really need a warning at that point?

*Not really, but maybe it was.  Maybe.

Legally Blonde

By brian | Posted on December 20, 2008 | Filed Under Personal Injury 

Negligence cases against businesses are always a hot stop for an “average joe” to get a little money.  Everyone is familiar with famous lawsuits like the McDonalds coffee case.  As time goes on, more and more ridiculous cases arise, giving people the confidence that they can win almost anything…until it goes too far.

Well say hello to a “brilliant blonde” from Stratford, Connecticut, who bought a bottle of L’Oreal hair dye which she thought to be blonde but turned out to be brunette.  Somehow, she didn’t realize the dye was brown until after she used it. 

When someone asked “why don’t you just die your hair back to being blonde?” she claimed that “it wouldn’t give her her natural hair color back”……wait…..if she was looking for a natural color why was she dying it in the first place then, but then again, I’m not one to judge.

                Her statements in court read:

“I can never go back to my natural blonde hair, I feel fake about that. Also blondes do get more attention than brunettes. Of course, emotionally, I miss that.”

“I was sick to my stomach, I had headaches, I don’t like myself, I stay home more than ever in my life, I wear hats most of the time.”

The young lady claimed that her emotional distress was so bad that she went to the doctor and was prescribed anti-depressant medication.  Luckily, Judge Richard Gilardi dismissed the case, saving the American legal system the embarrassment of awarding this young lady anything at all. 

Judge Gilardi responded to the media by saying “the plaintiff submitted no facts, no opinions and no standards to substantiate either of the allegations.”

Lesson to be learned: if you are going to sue, make sure the opposing entity did something wrong and you have at least a shred of evidence to prove that.

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