Six Million Dollar Settlement for 90 Degree Rollover

The Perron Law Firm secured a six million dollar settlement, one of the largest settlements in Missouri, for a truck driver who lost control of his rig on a sharp curve. The cab of the truck was crushed when it rolled on to its side and the driver was permanently paralyzed. Expert engineers from the automotive industry were retained to explain how relatively simple improvements to the design would have increased the safety or "crashworthiness" of the truck. In order to show that the additional safety features would have prevented the driver's injuries, a 'virtual" truck cab was created and subjected to numerous simulated crashes using sophisticated computer programs. Without the additional safety features, the virtual truck collapsed in on the driver exactly as it had done in real life. With the improvements, however, the cab of the truck withstood the impact and preserved a safety zone for the driver. In addition to showing that the safety features were practical and effective, Mr. Perron conducted discovery across the United States and in Europe to show that these same safety features were being used by other truck manufacturers and that the manufacturer of the vehicle in question had actually considered them. For more information on this case click the following link: Heavy Truck Crashworthiness from Safetyforum.com. Wrongful Death/ Medical Malpractice

Plaintiff's decedent, her husband, had a long history of depression and heart valve irregularity. Those problems were well controlled until late 1996 when he began to suffer symptoms of heart trouble and his doctors recommended surgery. The decedent was upset and very anxious because of the worsening of his heart condition even though the surgery was almost 100% successful and would certainly improve his health.

When hospitalized for tests in February, 1997, decedent's cardiologist stopped the antidepressant medication which had been prescribed by his psychiatrist and released him from the hospital even though plaintiff requested that her husband be kept in the hospital and the husband told the cardiologist that he had thoughts of suicide.

On February 18, 1997, the decedent was seen by his psychiatrist, who put him on new medication. The decedent expressed his suicidal thoughts to the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist made the decedent promise that he would not hurt himself and sent him home. The night before decedent committed suicide, he contacted his psychiatrist and described worsening symptoms. The psychiatrist instructed him to take Benadryl, and, if that did not calm him down, go to the ER. The decedent took the Benadryl and went to sleep. The Benadryl had temporarily masked decedent's symptoms and when he woke the following morning, he shot himself.

The jury returned a verdict of $1.6 million, finding the cardiologist 56% at fault and the psychiatrist 44% at fault. Settlement in Whistleblower Case

After a number of interviews with the defendant employer, the plaintiff accepted a managerial position and relocated to St. Louis. He was discharged 18 months later. He sued the employer and his immediate supervisor who had hired him and fired him. The allegations were that defendants had fraudulently misrepresented his working arrangement and that he was discharged by the supervisor to prevent him from reporting her misconduct. A critical issue was whether or not the Missouri "whistleblower" public policy exception to the employment at will doctrine applied to support a claim of wrongful discharge in a situation where the discharged plaintiff had neither gone over his supervisor's head to complain to senior management nor reported the misconduct to outside authorities. The case was pending in the City of St. Louis. There were no experts. The plaintiff's attorney was Maria V. Perron of The Perron Law Firm. Mediation and settlement for an undisclosed sum followed the denial of the defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. Failure to Diagnose

In many states "tort reform" laws have made it more difficult for injured individuals to file lawsuits against doctors, hospitals and big corporations. For example, in Missouri there is a $550,000.00 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. That is the most that can be recovered for pain and suffering or the death of a loved one. This became a problem in a recent case tried by Marty Perron in the City of St. Louis.

The plaintiffs were a 55 year old tow truck driver and his wife who sued a surgeon and an emergency room physician after the man's leg was amputated. Mr. Perron was able to establish that the general surgeon was negligent for failing to have the lab results sent to the doctor who was covering his patients while he was out of town. And there was even stronger evidence that the emergency room doctor, who had all of the information about diabetes and early signs of infection, was negligent for not having the man hospitalized. After a long trial, the jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded them $1,300,000.00 damages. The defendants argued that the plaintiff was only allowed to recover $550,000 for his non economic injuries. Mr. Perron was able to persuade the Court, however, that the law allowed $550,000 for each "plaintiff;" and the man's wife was also a plaintiff. Settlement in Nursing Home Neglect

The Perron Law Firm secured a six-figure settlement for a nursing home resident after she fell and broke a hip. The facts established that the resident was recuperating from a previous surgery and required a two person assist for all activities. Although she had turned the call light on, no one came to her room. After waiting for more than twenty minutes, the resident attempted to get out of bed on her own. On the way to the bathroom, she apparently slipped in some fluid and fell, breaking her leg and hip. Showing that the injury resulted from the negligence of the health care provider and not from the resident’s carelessness was not the only issue. The Perron Law Firm also had to convince the other side that senior citizens, even those with chronic health care problems, can still have quality lives. A real injury occurs when additional pain and disability are added on top of existing limitations.