Recent Wins for Clients

Settlement reached for family of 34-year-old man with cerebral palsy who died after accidentally asphyxiating himself between metal railings and the base of his bed after his caretakers left him in his bed awake and unattended for three hours.

Settlement of medical malpractice case for parents of newborn who died several hours after her birth due to the mismanagement of her labor and delivery, resulting in severe anoxic injury.

Gynecological malpractice verdict against OB/GYN for negligence in improperly positioning patient during surgery resulting in neuropathy, and injury to her ureter. The verdict is the largest ever recorded in the District Courts of Massachusetts.

Settlement for bilateral hearing loss in newborn where lab test showed elevated levels, but lab and physicians failed to act.

Settlement in medical malpractice wrongful death case for family of a 47-year-old man who was improperly discharged from the hospital following failure to diagnose and treat an evolving heart attack, resulting in his death several hours after discharge. This was the second largest medical malpractice settlement reported in Massachusetts in 2017.

Substantial recovery for family of man in his fifties who was sent home from a walk-in clinic and died shortly thereafter from cardiac arrest.

A physician’s failure to perform emergency CT scan to diagnose spinal cord compression resulted in paraplegia for patient at Boston hospital. The medical malpractice lawsuit settled before trial.

Wrongful death settlement following the death of 54-year-old intensive care patient when the medical providers at a Boston-area hospital failed to properly intubate the patient.

Settlement obtained for the family of a 26 year-old man who was killed when a tire detached from a truck on the highway, striking the man’s windshield and causing fatal head injuries. The defendant truck driver was a student a trade school where the tire and wheel assembly had been improperly secured to the truck by the defendant truck driver and a fellow student due to the negligence and gross negligence of the school in failing to provide proper supervision and inspection of the work performed.

Settlement of wrongful death and personal injury cases arising out of drunk driving incident in which the front seat passenger was killed and the back seat passenger was severely injured. Settlement obtained against drunk driver and the tavern which overserved him in the two hours prior to the incident.

Settlement on behalf of a family who lost a child as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. SUGARMAN attorneys brought product liability and general negligence claims alleging improper installation of a residential boiler, and a defect in the boiler which allowed it to create and introduce high concentrations of carbon monoxide into the home during foreseeable weather events, such as heavy snow storms.

Settlement against site owner, operator and outside contractors for the mother and father of a 20-year-old man who died from severe burns as a result of an industrial steam explosion in Salem, Massachusetts.

Settlement from OB/GYN doctor in medical malpractice case for brain-injured child. The lawsuit alleges that the doctor failed to timely perform a C-section at a Boston hospital even after it became clear that the baby was in distress. The child suffered lifelong personal injuries as a result of the doctor’s delay.

In one of the first civil trials following the lifting of the COVID-19 court closures, SUGARMAN partner David McCormack obtained a jury verdict for a client who sustained a severe femur fracture after slipping on ice at the corporate defendant’s property. For several days following a snowstorm, the defendant and its employees failed to inspect the property, a busy gas station and convenience store in Lowell, and failed to find and treat the ice that caused the plaintiff to slip and fall. The jury, sitting for Middlesex Superior Court in Lowell, returned a verdict in favor of SUGARMAN’s client after just 3 hours of deliberations.

Settlement for family of man who died after undergoing major abdominal surgery for appendiceal cancer. Post-operatively, the surgeon ordered Venodyne boots be applied to the patient’s lower extremities in order to mitigate the risk of the patient developing pulmonary emboli. A nurse caring for the patient, however, failed to apply the boots during a 12 hour shift. Soon after, the patient collapsed and died from bilateral pulmonary emboli.

A week before trial was scheduled to begin, SUGARMAN principals David McCormack and Benjamin Zimmermann reached a significant settlement for their client and her husband in a case involving negligent hospice care over the course of many years. SUGARMAN’s client was an at-home hospice patient of the defendants for over 5 years and had been prescribed excessive and increasing amounts of narcotic pain medications to the point where she was unable to perform basic tasks. After not receiving answers to their concerns about the client’s deteriorating condition, her family brought her to a local hospital, where medical providers immediately began weaning her off all the medications. The client’s condition improved almost immediately. Through discovery and motion practice, SUGARMAN uncovered the hospice company’s employee bonus program which incentivized employees to keep patients in hospice care and to avoid patients from being seen at hospitals or by outside providers. During the case, SUGARMAN also defeated the defendants’ motion seeking to dismiss the case on various legal grounds — a Superior Court judge found that all of the client’s claims were legally and factually supported. The settlement was the second largest personal injury settlement reported in Massachusetts for 2021.

Pre-trial settlement for man who developed severe Levaquin-induced tendonitis with resulting complications after his local pharmacy dispensed Levaquin to him instead of a sleep aid. The error went undetected for two months.

Settlement for family of man who died from colorectal cancer as a result of his primary care physician’s failure to perform a sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy or any of the accepted methods for screening and detecting colorectal cancer. By the time the patient’s colorectal cancer was diagnosed, it had metastasized to his liver and lungs.

Settlement against a primary care physician following the death of a father of two children who died from myocardial infarction as a result of the defendant’s failure to appreciate the severity and cause of the patient’s complaints and failure to properly interpret the patient’s EKG readings.

Settlement of wrongful death lawsuit against a primary care physician following the death of a father of two children who suffered a heart attack. The defendant doctor failed to appreciate the severity and cause of the patient’s complaints and failed to properly interpret the patient’s EKG readings.

Settlement of medical malpractice case on behalf of 70-year-old patient who was over-prescribed NSAIDS (Indomethacin) by physician and nurse practitioner in Quincy, MA, to treat gout for more than two years. The medication caused irreversible kidney failure, forcing the patient into dialysis for several years.

Settlement in product liability suit for a Logan Airport airline worker who sustained crush injuries to his pelvis and hip when the safety rails on a cargo loader failed to activate, allowing a 1,500 lb. pallet to fall on top of the worker.

Pre-trial settlement on behalf of family of a woman killed in a drunk driving accident as well as on behalf of two others who suffered serious injuries in the same crash. The drunk driver became intoxicated at a Boston bar and was attempting to drop off her passengers when she crossed a double yellow line on the Jamaicaway and struck another vehicle head on. The drunk driver’s blood alcohol level was later found to be almost three times the legal limit.

Settlement against primary care physician for family of patient with multiple high risk factors who died from myocardial infarction.

Settlement for 48-year-old patient when spinal surgeon damaged a nerve root during surgery. The patient sustained lifelong personal injuries as a result.