Results

Experience Matters

In a recent series of cases, Mr. Hendrickson represented 21 patients against a prominent orthopedic surgeon.  Along with co-counsel, Mr. Hendrickson achieved a settlement in excess of $16 million on behalf of the patients who had experimental knee surgery. All the patients underwent at least one osteochondrall allograft transplant and the surgery of all the patients failed, despite the surgeon’s claimed success rate of more than 90 percent.

In a recent medical malpractice and products liability case, Mr. Hendrickson achieved a substantial confidential settlement in a case in which an orthopedic surgeon implanted mismatched hip components, leading to complete fracture of the patient’s femur that will require complex future surgery in order to do needed hip revisions as the components wear. The defendants in that case included the surgeon, the hospital, the implant manufacturer, the implant distributor and the implant representative.Arbitrators ruled in favor of Mr. Hendrickson’s client in a case which alleged that a surgeon had negligently performed gallbladder surgery, resulting in injury to the patient’s biliary system and multiple procedures to repair the injury. The arbitration award is confidential.

In a complex products liability case, Mr. Hendrickson achieved a jury verdict on behalf of his client in the amount of $2.5 million on behalf of a 35 year old woman who fell from a second floor window when the lock on a tilt-in window failed during cleaning. In a recent medical malpractice case involving a premier St. Louis hospital, medical malpractice attorney Todd N. Hendrickson achieved a large confidential settlement in a case involving a botched gynecological procedure that led to a life-threatening infection that went undiagnosed for more than 24 hours, leading to weeks in intensive care.

A surgeon negligently performed scoliosis surgery on a 42 year old woman, leaving her partially paralyzed. The difficulty in this case was obtaining the testimony of competent experts willing to testify against a prominent central Missouri orthopedic surgeon who is a nationally recognized expert on scoliosis surgery. Issues included the surgeon’s liability for failing to order appropriate testing and to perform prompt exploratory surgery. A confidential settlement was obtained.

A confidential settlement was obtained on behalf of a woman who underwent laparoscopic hernia repair, resulting in perforation of her bowel. A key issue was whether or not the surgeon had been properly granted privileges to perform this type of surgery by the hospital and whether he had been properly trained in this relatively new technique.

In a case involving the negligence of an orthopedic surgeon, Mr. Hendrickson achieved a record $409,000 verdict for that Missouri Circuit in any medical malpractice case. The plaintiff suffered a permanent neurologic injury known as “foot drop” when the surgeon negligently attempted to lengthen the plaintiff’s s leg during surgery.

A confidential settlement was achieved on behalf of a gentleman who suffered a severe back injury, urinary and erectile neurological injuries when the brakes on a fork lift being used to lift the plaintiff up to perform some maintenance failed, causing the forklift to roll forward, pinning him between the forklift and the wall.

A confidential settlement was achieved on behalf of the family of a man who died as the result of an emergency room physician’s failure to follow proper procedure in performing an elective intubation. The physician administered a paralytic agent without having a surgical airway kit available. The patient suffered a catastrophic hypoxic injury and massive brain injury.

A surgeon negligently failed to recognize that he had perforated a woman’s duodenum during laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, resulting in sepsis and shock, necessitating two additional surgeries to repair the damage. Mr. Hendrickson was able to demonstrate that the second surgery was also negligently performed and it wasn’t until another surgeon assisted in the third surgery that the condition was accurately identified and repaired. The patient spent one month in the hospital in a long recovery.