North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer Blog

Pain and Suffering Damages in a Personal Injury Case

Published on: September 11, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

I appreciate this subject because in many ways it is mystifying. After all, how in the world can an injured person or an attorney or a jury decide the monetary value of the pain and suffering from a broken leg or a failed artificial hip? If you break your collarbone in a car crash, a crash caused by the negligence of another driver, what is that broken collarbone worth? Is it $75,000? $150,000? More?

Pain and Suffering Damages

This post focuses on one specific area of damages: “pain and suffering” (also known as non-economic damages), which is one classification of recovery intended to compensate an injured person for the actual physical, mental, and emotional suffering caused by the act of negligence. There are other types of money damages in a personal injury case, such as “compensatory damages” for money lost from time out of work, property damages for loss of or damage to an automobile, out of pocket expenses (like the purchase of a wheelchair), and other losses. But those are subjects for other posts. This post will look briefly at pain and suffering damages.

“Medical Funding” Serious Threat to Your Product Liability Settlement

Published on: September 8, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

I received a court filing from the Depuy ASR multidistrict litigation last week, and it reminded me to caution you about the serious financial threat you can face when dealing with artificial hip failures and hip litigation (and of course, other medical device failures like artificial knees and transvaginal mesh). Sadly, this threat comes from third-party companies that appear legitimate, even helpful, but mainly have a naked profit motive for getting involved in your case. These companies often cash in unfairly from all the suffering you endured from you failed artificial hip or failed medical device.

What is Medical Funding?

Think of it as a lawsuit loan, or a loan against your future settlement recovery. Medical Funding is a medical care financial assistance “service,” and occurs when a third-party company offers to pay the medical bills of a person who is injured by the negligence of others. This could be a car crash case, a failed medical device like a hip, or any other situation where the negligence of someone else caused the injury. If you accept the offer, the company will pay the medical care provider—the surgeon, the hospital, etc.—a percentage of the provider’s billed charges, but usually more than the provider would have been paid by private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. The company then receives an “assignment” from the medical provider that allows the company (potentially) to receive the full amount of the billed charges, which are often much higher than what the company paid for the medical care and higher than what private insurance would have paid. The third-party company will then file a medical expense “lien” on the proceeds of the person’s settlement or jury award.

Depuy ASR Hip Settlement: Five Key Benefits

Published on: September 4, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

In Part 1, we began to look at some of the factors you should consider before you decide to accept a settlement from Depuy or not. Now let’s dig a little deeper . . .

Two Recent Depuy ASR Jury Verdicts

As the Depuy ASR Hip Settlement was being negotiated, two cases involving the alleged failure of the Depuy ASR hip were tried to a jury, one in Los Angeles and one in Chicago. In Los Angeles, a jury awarded $8,338,000.00 to Loren Kransky, who suffered from extremely high metal levels in his blood (the jury awarded $338,000 in medical expenses and $8,000,000 in pain and suffering damages but did not award punitive damages). In Chicago several weeks after the Kransky trial, a jury found that Depuy was not negligent and that the injury to Carol Strum was more likely caused by her unique health issues, particularly her sensitivity to elevated metal levels in the blood. In the Chicago case, therefore, Ms. Strum received no money at all.

Depuy Hip Settlement: Do You Opt-In or Seek a Jury Trial?

Published on: September 1, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

In this post, we will look at the decisions a person must make when faced with a master settlement offer like the recent one in the Depuy ASR hip litigation. Of course, the deadlines have passed in the two settlement agreements involving the Depuy ASR hip systems, but the analysis below remains important, and of course there are still people out there who have suffered failed artificial hips.

Part 1

First things first: your medical decisions

Multidistrict Litigation: What Is It and How Does it Work?

Published on: August 28, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

All right, today we drill down a bit on a rather tedious subject: civil procedure. I need to explain how your artificial hip case may start in your local state court or nearby federal court but then wind up in a federal court hundreds of miles away. It may seem random and chaotic, but with the rise in the number of failed medical devices like artificial hips, multidistrict litigation is an efficient and useful way to process thousands of lawsuits against a medical device manufacturer.

What is Multidistrict Litigation?

When a large number of products liability cases are filed in courts all over the country, all of which involve the failure of a single product, and which has caused similar injury to many individuals, a single court may be chosen to consolidate the cases into one “multidistrict litigation” (“MDL”). From this one court the designated federal judge will manage the discovery, hear motions, resolve pre-trial issues, possibly preside over bellwether trials, and even monitor global settlement discussion.

Second Revision Surgery a Success for Artificial Hip Patient

Published on: August 25, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

In this third and final part, my Client describes the agony she endured following the first revision surgery and how, in desperation, she made the decision to undergo a second revision surgery, her third hip surgery in six years.

Part 3

First Revision Surgery “Extremely Difficult”

Artificial Hip Patient Struggles Through Failed Implantation Surgery

Published on: August 21, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

A former client describes the difficulties she endured following the implantation of the Depuy ASR Hip and her two. The following is the second of a three-part series:

Part 2

An Active Mother of Four

Patient With Failed Artificial Hip Tells Her Painful Story

Published on: August 18, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

Today I turn over the Medical Device Law News blog to a former client of mine who has written a moving narrative about the difficulties she endured following the implantation of the Depuy ASR Hip and her two revision surgeries. The following is the first of a three-part series:

Part 1

My ordeal began in March 2008. I had my first hip replacement surgery. In April 2011, I had a second revision due to a faulty hip implant. By March 2014, I had my third hip surgery, my second revision.

Finding the Attorney to Handle Your Failed Hip Case

Published on: August 14, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

Let’s face it, most attorneys (in fact, most everyone in any profession) sound impressive on their websites. In much the same way as people craft positive, happy versions of themselves on Facebook and Instagram, attorneys usually present a shiny version of themselves on their law firm websites. Often these websites list notable accomplishments. I don’t mean to suggest that these accomplishments are unimpressive or even fabricated. What I am saying is that you must go beyond the scrubbed surface of many websites and investigate further when choosing the right attorney to represent you with your case.

1. Determine what kind of lawyer you need. Just as you wouldn’t consult a cardiologist for a broken leg, you also shouldn’t hire a worker’s compensation lawyer to handle the failure of your artificial hip components. Look for an attorney who actively represents plaintiffs in personal injury cases, and specifically defective hip and other medical device cases. Try to avoid the generalists who appear to handle every possible case under the sun, from drafting your will to litigating your car accident case.

2. Look for an attorney with demonstrated knowledge in your specific case area. Take a good look at the information provided on the attorney’s website. Does the attorney have knowledge about your medical device failures and the related litigation? Has he or she litigated cases involving defective hips or knees or other defective medical devices? Does the attorney provide recent, timely, up-to-date information on the medical device that has caused problems for you? Was the information helpful to you?

Recent Jury Verdicts in Artificial Hip Trials (Part 2)

Published on: August 10, 2015 | By Clay Hodges

The following jury verdicts have been handed down in trials over failed artificial hips in 2015:

Smith v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., et al., (Oklahoma District Court, Tulsa County).

Jury Award: $2,500,000.00 for Plaintiff Andrea Smith.

Initial Consultation919-546-8788

★★★★★

I was involved in a case for the faulty hip replacements. Clay Hodges represented me. I can't say enough about how much he has helped me. Clay was able to win multiple settlements on my behalf with most of them being the maximum amount able to be awarded. Matt J.

Clay, thank you sir for making a disheartening experience at least palatable, you and your staff were honest, caring and understanding through the entire process of my wife’s hip replacements, while monetary settlements never make the pain and suffering end, it sometimes is the only way people can fight back to right a wrong. J. V.

We are absolutely pleased with how Clay Hodges handled my husband’s hip replacement claim. He always kept us informed of the progress. And, his work resulted in a settlement which we are extremely pleased. Thank you, Clay! Carol L. & Norm L.