Facts

On July 24, 2004, plaintiff Laura Wilkinson, 55, claimed that while touring Niguel Summit Apartment Complex, she was thrown from a golf cart when the driver of the cart failed to slow while going over a speed bump and simultaneously initiating an unexpected U-turn.

Wilkinson was previously diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy in her right upper extremity following an automobile accident in 1997, in which she suffered a sprained thumb. The plaintiff's condition was further exacerbated during a T-bone automobile accident in 1999.

Between 1997 and 2003, Wilkinson underwent numerous medical procedures, including brain surgery, sympathectomy, and dozens of nerve root blocks, in an attempt to relieve her pain.

In December 2003, a spinal cord stimulator was implanted that replaced the plaintiff's pain with a tingling sensation. The swelling and discoloration vastly improved in the months following the implantation of the spinal cord stimulator. Immediately following the incident, Wilkinson reported that the spinal cord stimulator stopped working. Three attempts to reimplant the stimulator failed. The plaintiff's RSD condition worsened following the incident, migrating into her lower right extremity.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendants denied liability for the incident and contended that reconstruction with the subject golf cart failed to produce forces sufficient to throw plaintiff from the golf cart as she alleged. The defendants challenged the causation of plaintiff's injuries, contending that RSD, by its nature, is a progressive disease, and the relief experienced by plaintiff as a result of the spinal cord stimulator would have been short lived, even absent the fall from the golf cart. The defendants maintained that plaintiff had already been compensated for her debilitating RSD-related injuries, as she had received over $2 million in settlements arising out of the 1997 and 1999 incidents.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff demanded $6 million. The defendants offered $100,000.

Specials in Evidence

$150,000; None; $1.5 million (including 24-hour home health care);

Result

The case settled for $500,000 following three mediation sessions with Troy Roe of Judicate West.