Sacramento Car Accident Results in Permanent Brain Damage, Part 1 of 2

The following blog entry is written to illustrate how a brain injury lawsuit could develop and resolve. Reviewing this summary should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Annie was extricated from her car and then taken by ambulance to the emergency room. She was placed in the intensive care unit, having sustained multiple fractures to her arms and legs, and underwent open reduction, internal fixation surgery, with the insertion of screws, pins and plates.

Facts:

On Nov. 28, 2007, plaintiff Annie Darius, 16, a high school student, was driving a Chevy Cobalt on Folsom Drive in Sacramento, CA. After losing consciousness due to a hypoglycemic episode, Annie veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Her airbag didn’t deploy, and she eventually sustained a permanent brain injury.

Laura Gerald, individually, and as guardian ad litem for Annie, sued the county of Sacramento, General Motors (GM), and Dan Rango, of Dan Rango Chevrolet, where the Cobalt was purchased.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Gerald alleged the county was liable for the negligence of Sacramento Medical Center, which it owned and operated, on medical malpractice claims for negligent procedure and failure to detect. She further alleged that GM and Rango were liable for products liability, due the defective airbag that failed to deploy.

Plaintiff’s counsel argued that SMC staff was negligent during an intrajugular (IJ) procedure performed on Annie on Nov. 30, in which the IJ catheter was improperly inserted or done so in a way that it came out. Counsel claimed that staff members failed to detect the error, which caused Annie’s chest cavity to fill up with fluid and stopped oxygen from flowing to her brain, resulting in a “code blue” emergency. The staff tried to reuscitate Darius, but she sustained a permanent brain injury.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.