Confidential
Settlement – $100,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Abram C. Zukor
(Zukor & Nelson)
Defendant
David J. Weiss
(Law Offices of David J. Weiss)
Facts
The plaintiff was an 87-year-old retired married father of three grown children. On Oct. 1, 2000, plaintiff
developed constant minimal substernal chest pain which radiated to his left arm. His medical history was
positive for coronary artery bypass in August 1999, from which he had a complicated and lengthy recovery and
experienced an altered mental state. It was noted that ". . . his mental faculties were definitely declining." His
progress was monitored and it was noted that plaintiff was taking numerous medications.
He was transported to defendant hospital by his son in the early hours where he was
examined in the emergency room. He was essentially pain free by that time, however, his private
physician admitted him to the hospital for further work-up of his chest pain. The next morning, a
nurse brought him a breakfast tray with very hot water for his tea. While by himself, he
inadvertently spilled the tea onto his lap, scalding his left thigh, perineum (the space between the
anus and scrotum), including the dorsal shaft of his penis and scrotum, and the right posterior
thigh.
Injuries
Whirlpool treatments commenced, and when the burns failed to respond, on Oct. 13, 2000, a doctor performed a tangential excision of full thickness skin burn of the left anterior thigh, right posterior thigh, and perineum with split thickness skin graft under general anesthesia. He was managed conservatively at the hospital with antibacterial dressings. He was seen for a plastic surgery consultation. The physical examination revealed deep and partial thickness burns to his left thigh (22 cm x 6 cm), and shaft of the penis and scrotal area and perineum (4 cm x 4 cm).
Other Information
<M>A mediation was held before before David Morgan.</M>
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