Posted by Editor | Posted in Personal Injury News
As previously detailed at The Injury Blog, a $5.3 million personal injury settlement for a three-day old girl’s traumatic brain injuries in a 2003 ambulance crash has been approved by a Pennsylvania judge. Venango County Judge Oliver J. Lobaugh has signed off on what’s believed to be the largest personal injury settlement in the county, a $5,307,000 award to the parents of the child.
A story in The Derrick detailed that the child, who was born with a hole between the ventricles of her heart, was being transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on February 22, 2003 when a drunken driver slammed into the vehicle. The newborn was thrown out of a malfunctioning transport incubator during the crash. Specifically, the child was thrown out of the apparatus when a retractable bar that attached the incubator to the ambulance snapped in half.
The accident not only left the child with traumatic brain injuries but also injuries to her bones, cartilage, ligaments, muscles, nerves and body tissue. As a result of her traumatic brain injuries, she will require skilled medical care for the rest of her life. Now four years old, she may never go to school because of her injuries.
Under the terms of the signed-off Pennsylvania personal injury settlement, the bulk of the damages will be paid by the manufacturer of the incubator and transporter, International Biomedical of Austin, Texas. IBI will pay $4,362,000 with $2.30 million of that going to the purchase of two annuities paying the child 13-grand per month for the rest of her life. IBI will pay the remaining $2.32 million in cash to the parents.
