McAllister v. County of Los Angeles
Published: Nov. 1, 2001 | Result Date: Oct. 3, 2001 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: TC013082 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Compton
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Greg W. Garrotto
(Law Offices of Greg W. Garrotto)
Defendant
James P. Hart Jr.
(Law Office of Craig A. Holtz)
Experts
Plaintiff
Marjorie Toomin
(medical)
Defendant
Charles S. Lane
(medical)
Arthur Kreitenberg M.D.
(medical)
Facts
On Feb. 9, 1999, the plaintiff fell from a ladder and sustained various injuries, which included bilateral wrist and
arm fractures, an L2 compression fracture. The fall allegedly caused an L4-5 spondylolisthesis, which
previously had been asymptomatic, to become unstable. She was treated surgically for her wrist injuries with
an open reduction/internal fixation of the right wrist and a closed reduction/internal fixation with external
fixators on the left wrist. Her L2 compression fracture was treated with a TLSO brace.
After six weeks, the pins were pulled and the fixators were removed from her wrist. She
was advised to discontinue the use of the back brace. She was discharged from the out-patient
orthopedic clinic and soon thereafter had continuing medical problems and claimed that she
needed further surgery. This further possible surgery included osteotomy and bone graft to
correct her deformed and useless left wrist and additional surgery to correct carpal tunnel
syndrome of the right wrist.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a demand of $100,000 plus lifetime medical care. The defendant offered $10,000 plus a waiver for costs.
Specials in Evidence
$5000 $15,000 $120,000 $240,000
Result
The jury found negligence but no causation. The jury did not believe that the negligent medical care had exacerbated the severe injuries that plaintiff had received at the time of the fall.
Other Information
The jury determined that the wrists were appropriately treated but felt that the standard of care had been breached with respect to the L4-5 slip. However, there was no documentation to support the plaintiff's contention that it was an unstable slip and therefore no causation was found.
Deliberation
two days
Poll
9-3
Length
11 days
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