(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury/auto accident case and its proceedings.)
Archie weighed approximately 125 lbs at the time of the incident and after being discharged from the hospital dropped to a mere 95 lbs. Archie was a ghost of his prior self. Archie suffers from post-traumatic stress and depression and was diagnosed with anorexia. Even the defense neuropsychologist Sian Green agrees that Archie ‘s anorexia was caused by the incident. Archie lost a significant amount of muscle mass, is fatigued easily, has lost stamina and overall energy, feels physically weak and is not the same person he was before the incident.
Due in large measure to the traumatic brain injury, Archie ‘s personality has changed. He has lost spontaneity, is very fretful, overly apologetic, more irritable and less animated. Archie is a shadow of his former self; he does not engage with the world like he did before the incident in terms of what he is willing to undertake, his intellectual ambition, his social ambition and his career ambition. Archie is more dependent on his family to take care of his daily needs. Archie is fearful and anxious; he is uncertain of his future and whether he will return to a state of independence, that of normal twenty three year old male, which he would have had, but for defendant’s negligence.
Anorexia is a life threatening illness and Archie will require future care and treatment for the remainder of his lifetime. (See Dr. Patt’s report below.) Archie requires further psychiatric treatment that will exceed costs of $100,000. In light of his orthopedic injuries, plaintiff will never be able to walk or run as he used to before the incident. Archie ‘s hip has started to undergo arthritic changes and even the defense orthopedist agrees that Archie will indeed need two to three hip replacements in the future at $50,000 per surgery. (See Dr. Schwartz’s deposition testimony below.) Archie ‘s future medical expenses will be in the several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As a mathmetician, Archie ‘s work has been hindered. Due to his injuries, he is unable to be as productive as he was prior to the incident. Archie has difficulty producing sophisticated mathmatical sequences because they require a lot of mental and physical effort. As a result, his research efforts are extremely limited. Overall, Archie ‘s production has slowed and has become more difficult.
Archie ‘s loss of earnings and earning capacity will be significant, his past medical expenses amount to $355,088.17, and future medical expenses are expected to run into the several hundreds of thousands of dollars (a minimum of $250,000.) Plaintiff’s past and future economic damages exceed one million dollars.
CONCLUSION
Defendants’ trial brief presents only those facts selectively favorable to the defense. Defendants failed to accurately describe the incident, omitted that Archie was run over, dragged underneath defendant’s SUV for at least twenty feet, and that afterwards Archie ‘s body was pinned underneath the rear tire of the SUV. Further, defendants present an incomplete picture of plaintiff’s overall injuries and fail to acknowledge that their own experts agree that the incident precipitated Archie ‘s anorexia. Plaintiff trusts that this brief will assist the court in understanding the serious nature of this case.
Plaintiff expects a substantial verdict in his favor at the time of trial.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.