Confidential
Settlement – $95,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Torrance
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Steven D. Fondiler
(Law Offices of Steven D. Fondiler)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
William K. Hummer
(medical)
Defendant
Charles Nemeth
(medical)
Peter H. Grossman
(medical)
D. Gene Parks M.D.
(medical)
Facts
On May 2, 1997, the plaintiff underwent a therapeutic abortion at approximately 14 to 15 weeks gestation. The procedure was performed at one of the defendant's medical clinics. A clinic employee acted as the scrub nurse and assistant. The surgical procedure was performed by an obstetrician/independent contractor of the clinic. The entire procedure took only 12 minutes and a lamp was positioned next to the surgeon to help visualize the surgical field. At some point during the procedure, the hot dome of the lamp either came into contact with plaintiff's right inner calf or was positioned too close to it so as to cause a full-thickness burn.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff's original statement of damages sought $150,000. This was subsequently amended up to the MICRA limits of $250,000 and the opening settlement demand was $225,000. The defendants opening offer at the settlement conference was $60,000.
Injuries
The plaintiff sustained a first degree burn in the inner aspect of her right calf while she was asleep during the course of a therapeutic abortion procedure. When conservative therapy did not result in good healing, the plaintiff underwent a skin graft procedure where skin was removed from her abdomen and grafted over the burn area. As of the time of the settlement conference, the plaintiff still had a visible scar across her abdomen from where the skin harvesting procedure took place, as well as a scar from the burn and subsequent plastic surgery.
Other Information
A settlement conference was reached after four hours with the Hon. Hiroshi Fujisaki, retired, of ADR.
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