Personal Injury Case Results

A client selected Burnetti, P.A. to battle those responsible for their injury, resulting in a $1,062,500 settlement for their medical malpractice case. 

The claimant was involved in an industrial accident and injury in 2000. While delivering bread, he slipped in water on a metal ramp and about 40 trays fell on top of him injuring his left shoulder, neck, back, and legs. The employer/carrier accepted the case as compensable and began providing medical care and paying the claimant indemnity benefits. The claimant was seen by a neurosurgeon who opined the claimant was not a surgical candidate and referred him to a pain management specialist who treated the claimant with injections and pain medication, which did not give him significant relief. For the claimant’s left shoulder problems, a doctor eventually performed surgery in 2001. Due to the continuing complaints of the claimant, the doctor referred the claimant to a neurosurgeon for his cervical radiculopathy. The neurosurgeon diagnosed the claimant with degenerative changes and not a herniated disc as previous doctors had. The doctor released the claimant to full duty work and discharged him. The claimant then went outside the WC system for care and treatment with another doctor, who opined the claimant’s problems were related to the industrial accident and opined the claimant was unable to return to heavy-duty work but a sedentary/sit down job may be acceptable. The claimant had previously been before the judge on the issue of psychiatric care and treatment and by way of an Order in August, 2002, the judge awarded psychiatric care and treatment for the claimant. The claimant’s psychiatrist opined the claimant was unable to work. The claimant was accepted by social security as being disabled. In 2006, the undersigned filed PFB for permanent total disability benefits from 2004 and the employer denied claiming there was no evidence the claimant was PTD and he did not meet the statutory definition of “catastrophic” to entitle him to PTD nor was the industrial accident the major contributing cause of his disability. The parties attended a final hearing in 2007 and the judge ruled the claimant had suffered from a significant impairment; he had reached MMI in 2004, was unable to perform past relevant work, unable to perform any work in the national economy today in significant numbers considering his age, education, and prior work experience. The judge awarded the claimant PTD benefits from 2004 through the present and attorney fees at the expense of the employer. This was a major victory for the claimant who would now receive money for the rest of his life. The claimant continued to treat with two different doctors for several years and finally in 2011, the parties became serious about settling his case. After several mediation attempts, in 2011, the parties attended mediation and finally were able to reach a complete washout agreement of $400,000.00 inclusive of the Medicare Set-Aside Amount as well as attorney’s fees and costs. 

Our client was a restrained driver in a 2005 Ford Freestar.  He was rear ended while at a complete stop, and then hit another vehicle. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance, and his injuries resulted in surgery. 

Our client claims that in December, 2007, he was traveling in Lakeland and started to slow down and then stopped so he could make a left turn.  The at-fault driver failed to stop and struck the rear of his vehicle. The client underwent several surgeries, including Provocative Discography of L3/4, L4/5, and L5/S1; L3/4 percutaneous discectomy with excision of the L3/4 disc herniation and L5/S1 percutaneous discectomy with excision of the L5/S1 disk herniation; Left Shoulder arthroscopy with subacromial decompression and debridement of labrum; and anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion at the C5/6 and C6/7 levels, with a minimally invasive discetomy at C4-5. The client received a settlement of $125,000. 

Our client claims that in September, 2007, she was a restrained driver in a 1997 Ford Ranger travelling in Lakeland, Florida.  The tortfeasor failed to stop for a stop sign and entered the intersection in front of our client.  Our client struck the right rear of the tortfeasor’s vehicle.  The tortfeasor was driving a semi truck. Our client had cervical spine surgery in January, 2010 for removal of C4-5 and C5-6 herniated discs due to this accident. The client received a settlement for $230,000.