An off-duty police officer, Christine Miller, killed four people and injured one while driving drunk, resulting in a lawsuit against her and the bar that served her that night.

A deadly crash occurred when Officer Christine Miller left O'Leary's Restaurant and Bar after she had drank a "high quantity" of alcohol and drove her car into oncoming traffic. All four passengers of the vehicle were killed and the driver was seriously hurt sustaining a head injury, fractured ribs, liver trauma, lung contusion and contusions to the skull.

A wrongful death suit was filed by the families of the victims and the one sole survivor of the crash against Christine Miller (the driver) and O'Leary's Restaurant and Bar (the bar who served her the night of the crash). The suit accused Miller, 42, of negligence based on the allocation of drunk driving and driving on the wrong side of the road. The parents also sued the restaurant because its employees "knew Miller was intoxicated". The suit claims that bar workers continued serving Miller despite her slurred speech and unsteady gate and then did not stop her from driving or call her a cab.

Miller and O'Leary's Restaurant and Bar decided to settle the suit for $2.255 million dollars to compensate the families of loss and the surviving victim. Christine Miller agreed to pay a $255,000 settlement, with $45,000 going to each family. O'Leary's Restaurant and Bar will pay a $2 million dollar settlement, from which each parent will collect an immediate payment of $100,000 and a structured settlement for each child of $186,375.

Christine Miller is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault for injuries suffered by the surviving victim.

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The A.W. Smith Law Firm attained a $4.75 million settlement in a birth injury case earlier in 2010.

*The terms of the settlement required confidentiality regarding the names and all indicators of the defendants, so those details have been removed from this blog.

Plaintiffs John and Jane Doe went to the hospital to have their first child delivered on August 20, 2007. Jane Doe was in labor for 16 hours before finally giving birth. During that time, there were indications that the baby was going through periods of distress. After birth, it was determined that Baby Doe was deprived of oxygen while still in the uterus long enough for him to develop severe cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a disease that is untreatable and can develop during child birth due to lack of oxygen to the baby's brain. Often, it can be easily prevented by monitoring the fetus's fetal heart rate on a monitor. Due to the amount of time that Baby Doe was deprived of oxygen, he suffers from not only cerebral palsy, but seizures, persistent encephalopathy, diffuse brain atrophy, marked hypotonia in the trunk and lower limbs, and brisk deep tendon reflexes.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the hospital, the obstetrician (OBGYN), and the birthing center nurse. Plaintiffs claimed that the hospital failed to properly use the fetal monitoring equipment, failed to recognize the signs of Baby Doe's distress, failed to have staff on hand that knew how to address the health problems once they had been realized, and failed to perform an emergency C-section.

The case was settled in early 2010 for $4,750,000.

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Attorney A.W. Smith received a settlement agreement of $200,000 in September 2009 for a slip and fall case in a major retail department store.

*The names of the Plaintiff and Defendant in this case are confidential.

On April 7, 2007 the Plaintiff slipped and fell in the cosmetics section of a major retail store on a loose eye pencil. The pencils had been kept in an open display case. The fall led to a fractured hip, which required surgery. Following the surgery, the hip became infected. About one year later, the Plaintiff endured another surgery to replace the entire hip.

Due to these surgeries, along with doctor visits and other medical expenses, lost wages totaled $75,000 in medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Originally, the store made no offers, and showed no signs of settling. Employees testified that the pencils weren't there when the Plaintiff slipped, or that she didn't slip on the pencils, and rather her own shoes.

However, the settlement offer went up to $200,000 from the Plaintiff's request when Attorney A.W. Smith revealed who his experts would be: a former store manager and a professional engineer who would testify to the lack of safety of the location of the eye pencils.

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Today is an important day for the healthcare industry, victims of medical malpractice, and their attorneys in Missouri. The Missouri Supreme Court will be hearing arguments in a case filed by Mary and James Klotz of Arnold, Missouri which seeks to overturn a law that caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice law suits.

If the courts overturn the law, it will definitely stir up things up down at the capital. The courtroom is expected to be completely full today, as everyone from Missouri medical schools, to the Chamber of Commerce has submitted briefs expressing their opinions on the matter to the court. The court will hear arguments today and rule at a later date.

The suit is a product of Dewayne and Suzanne Blankenship's $6 million verdict in a wrongful death suit for the medical malpractice suit filed on behalf of their son, Dylan. Dylan died at 6 months old after not being treated for a blood infection called meningococcemia. The infection can be treated with antibiotics, but the doctors did not administer antibiotics, or even intravenous fluids.

Although they received the $6,000,000 verdict, the Blankenships will never see beyond $350,000 for pain and suffering given the current law. James Klotz was also awarded more than the limits when his pacemaker became infected. Both parties have attested that they want to see things changed. Many think the law is unfair because the cap causes cases to be 'pre-judged' before they even going to trial.

The 2005 law, which was part of Governor Blunt's efforts to lower costs in medical malpractice law suits, sets the limit a malpractice victim can be awarded for pain and suffering at $350,000. Blunt argued that the high costs of medical malpractice suits, and thus the risk of practicing medicine in Missouri, were running doctors out of the state. Missouri medical malpractice attorneys and victims, however, say that the law discriminates primarily against poor victims of medical malpractice, and that there were other causes of high medical malpractice insurance back in 2005 when the law was written.

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An Ozark couple has recently settled their Missouri medical malpractice suit with the University of Missouri Hospital for $2.5 million.

Susan Martin, now 49, was being treated at the hospital in Columbia, Missouri for dehydration due to a gastrointestinal -related condition. In an effort to rehydrate her, doctors ordered an IV of nutrients. The IV was intended to go into a subclavian vein, but was mistakenly put in her subclavian artery. This mistake caused fatty blockages to flow to Martin's brain for five days straight. The blockages caused serious and permanent damage to Martin, including numerous devastating strokes and other neurological and cognitive destruction.

Martin is now physically and mentally handicapped. The doctors argued that the strokes and other problems could have been caused by pre-existing conditions, but Martin's Missouri personal injury attorney argued that it was due to the direct negligence of her medical care providers.

The University Hospital made no comment regarding this Missouri medical malpractice suit.

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This Neosho woman had a unique case which called into question the responsibility of negligent drivers subsequent to an original crash.

In September 2003, a Neosho woman, Carrie Story, was involved in a car crash with Mark Logan. Logan failed to yield to Story while making a left turn across traffic. Story was taken to a hospital where doctors diagnosed her with a left-foot fracture. Although the fracture healed quickly, Story continued to suffer pain in her foot. A bone scan later suggested that she had Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a painful nerve disorder caused by an injury to a hand or foot. Story filed suit against Logan.

In March 2004, Story was involved in a second Missouri auto crash. An uninsured motorist was trying to make a left-hand turn onto Missouri Highway 86 in Newton County pulled into Story's path. Again, Story was taken to a local hospital and diagnosed with a left-foot contusion that had exacerbated her original RSD injury. Story began treatment for the continued pain and filed a second lawsuit against American National.

Because the two cases were related, but separate events the core of the case was determining how and to what degree the second driver should be held responsible for the injuries already present, but exacerbated by his negligence. Columbia, Missouri injury attorney Aaron Smith was able to secure a $193,500 settlement without taking either case to mediation or court. The first case was settled for $100,000 and the second case was settled for $93,500 with a $43,500 settlement from Story's own insurance against uninsured drivers and $50,000 from the uninsured driver.

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Pamela Allen, a 48-year-old resident of Lockwood, Missouri was driving on Main Street in Joplin on December 5, 2005. Sheriff's Deputy Devin Marshall rear-ended Allen's car as the two approached stopped traffic at an intersection.

Marshall claimed his brakes failed, and he was forced to activate the emergency brake, but still ended up colliding with Allen's back bumper. About $900 was done in property damage to Allen's car.

Allen sustained a herniated disk in her cervical spine, which required surgery. After surgery she still suffered from pain radiating from her spine into her arms. After filing a personal injury suit, Marshall testified about the brake problem he had encountered, and department records showed that the cruiser received a full brake repair after the collision.

Allen was compensated for her $35,000 in medical bills and lost wages, plus pain and suffering. Personal injury attorney A.W. Smith, based out of Columbia, MO was able to secure a $150,000 settlement just two weeks before trial.

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The A.W. Smith Law Firm secured a $280,000 settlement in a Missouri medical malpractice case in which a doctor misdiagnosed a patient's heart attack as heartburn.

On February 2, 2002, at 11:45 pm a 55-year-old patient went to a rural hospital complaining of mid-upper epigastric pain with a history of hiatal hernia. After waiting for 20 minutes, the patient went back to the nurses' station and told the triage nurse that she was now experiencing chest pain radiating into both of her arms. The hospital put their chest pain protocol into action, and the patient was taken for an emergency assessment.

The hospital's protocol included two diagnostic examinations, both key in diagnosing a heart attack: an EKG and a blood test for the cardiac enzyme Troponin I. The EKG demonstrated a past heart attack, which plaintiff's experts described as "age indeterminate." The troponin I test showed elevated levels of enzymes in the blood stream. Plaintiff's experts testified any elevation of enzymes required serial Troponin tests prior to discharge from the hospital.

After reviewing the test results, the doctor examined the patient and ordered a GI cocktail - a mixture of antiacid and lidocaine used to relieve heartburn, which the doctor claimed was to determine if the pain was coming from chest problems or heartburn. The patient reported that the pain in her chest was gone, and the doctor discharged her with a prescription for Prevacid - a medication commonly used to treat heartburn.

Five days later, the patient was found dead. The plaintiff's Missouri injury attorney, Aaron W. Smith, alleged the doctor missed the correct diagnosis of a heart attack. Plaintiff's experts opined that due to the initial test results, and the patient's health history, she should have been admitted into the hospital for further cardiac assessment. Furthermore, they believed the decedent likely died of another heart attack, five days after her original doctor's visit. The medical malpractice attorney also argued that the doctor missed the correct diagnosis of heart attack, and that the ER nurse was at fault for allowing the patient to be discharged, given her EKG and Troponin I results.

The case was settled for $280,000 about a week before trial.

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The Missouri Department of Transportation has been ordered to pay $1.3 million by a board of arbitrators to the family of an auto crash victim after they didn't do enough to warn of dangerous road conditions.

Jemma Dant, 28, was killed December 6, 2005 on Highway 44 in Saint Louis as she waited on to get off the highway on a backed up exit ramp. Dant's vehicle was hit from behind by a semi that couldn't stop. Dant's car was pushed under a semi that was stopped in front of her, killing her instantly.

The arbitrators found that MoDOT should have had warnings for approaching drivers that traffic was backed up on the highway approaching the exit, as the traffic had been backing up at the location for over a month before the accident.

Dant's family had already received $950,000 from a lawsuit against the semi driver and the trucking company that he worked for, so the agency will actually only owe $350,000 as the previous settlement was deducted from the $1.3 million.

After the crash, the exit ramp was restriped and electronic signs were installed to warn oncoming traffic of any potentially dangerous road conditions. Had these kinds of precautions been in place at the time of the crash, the collision could have been avoided completely. If you have been in a tractor trailer or semi crash like this in Missouri, or another auto-crash that wasn't your fault, you should strongly consider hiring an attorney to represent your case.

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A $1.5 million wrongful death settlement was reached in a wrongful death tractor trailer auto crash in May 2005, following a head-on collision caused by a tractor trailer, just weeks before trial.

Greg Mills, a 27 year old resident of Seneca, Missouri (Mo.), was killed in a head on collision in December 2003 when a car crossed the median after being rear-ended by a tractor trailer. The tractor trailer, driven by Anthony Loveland for Dampier and Daughters trucking company, was following traffic too closely through a construction zone. As Loveland approached an intersection with stopped traffic on the southbound side of the highway, he rear-ended a vehicle in front of him, pushing it into the northbound lane, causing the head on collision with Mills' car.

Mills' parents filed a wrongful death suit in January 2004 against Dampier and Daughters. Litigation over liability took place between the parties over the next year. On December 22, 2004, the trucking company admitted liability for its driver's negligence six days before trial. The A.W. Smith Law Firm was able to secure a settlement to the tune of $1.5 million for the victim's parents.

The tractor trailer's insurance company paid $500,000 more than the insurance policy limits. The insurance company had failed to settle with the plaintiff's in an earlier policy limits demand. This exposed the insurance company to a subsequent bad faith insurance claim.

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A teenage athlete's family settled their suit against her coach, school, and the gym where she was injured during a basketball practice with a confidential settlement in 2006. Katie Patrick, 14, hit her head against an uncovered metal wall during her high school basketball practice resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

On Nov. 19, 2002, Patrick attended basketball practice in a church gym leased by her school for P.E. and extracurricular sports practices. The building had unpadded metal walls underneath the baskets, and during the practice Patrick hit her head against the wall. She was taken to the McCune-Brooks Hospital in Carthage, Missouri (Mo.) Emergency Room for X-rays and CT scans, which came back negative. However, Patrick suffered from headaches, dizziness, and nausea for months after the injury. After frequent trips to the emergency room Patrick went to the Mayo clinic, where she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

A personal injury suit was filed on behalf of Patrick against the First Baptist Church (the location of the gym), Sarcoxie R-II School District and Chad Harris (the team coach). Although maintenance wasn't specified in the lease of the church gymnasium, witnesses for both sides said that both parties were equally responsible for upkeep. Witnesses also testified that there had been discussions from the onset of the agreement to install padding on the exposed metal poles of the baskets and on the metal polls behind the baskets. Testimony conflicted as to who was responsible for initiating and undertaking those measures.

Defendants also argued that Patrick's injuries were not as severe as she claimed, that the treatment prescribed by and the PET scans interpreted by Patrick's neuroradiologist was unreliable and inaccurate. An expert hired by the defense who examined the witness said that her doctors were overstating her injuries. Ultimately, however, a biomechanical engineer expert performed an inspection of the site and compared the hardness of the metal wall and the padded portions of the wall that were added after Patrick's injury took place. He found that if the wall had been padded Patrick would likely not have struck the wall with enough force to suffer even a mild traumatic brain injury.

Patrick's attorney, A.W. Smith was able to secure a settlement estimated at $6.9 million for Patrick's expenses and pain and suffering.

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The A.W. Smith Law Firm recovered a $950,000 settlement for the family members of a woman who was killed in a head-on collision auto crash in southern Missouri.

Rhonda Martin, 36, was traveling southbound on Highway 63 in Jasper County when her vehicle was struck head-on by John Harris who was traveling northbound on the highway. Both drivers were killed in the incident; Martin instantly and Harris after the crash at the hospital. Martin and Harris had been going around a slight curve when Harris crossed the centerline.

Martin's family filed a wrongful death suit against Harris ad litem. An issue in the case was that Harris and his son had a farming partnership, with the insured name "John and Michael Harris." There was conflicting evidence regarding whether this indicated a farming partnership or a family farm operation. Furthermore, the parties disputed whether or not Harris was on an errand for the partnership at the time of the crash. The suit ended with a $950,000 settlement; $850,000 was given to Martin's daughter and $100,000 to Martin's mother.

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A diabetic patient claimed that he was not properly cared for during and after a routine fasting blood test causing hypoglycemia and disorientation, resulting in a single-car rollover accident, his need for surgery and his inability to work, resulting in a $400,000 settlement.

The patient, a 53-year-old man with diabetes, had been assigned to take a fasting blood test which required him to not eat the night prior and morning of the test, or take his insulin the morning of. He was instructed not to take his insulin because it is used to lower blood sugar levels in response to eating and taking insulin without eating can induce hypoglycemia.

When the plaintiff arrived at the clinic for his blood test he was immediately taken to do the blood work, a process which took approximately ten minutes, and then released. The plaintiff left the office, and at 8:24 a.m. the results indicated that his blood sugar levels were below 50 mg/dl, what is considered to be a 'panic level'. At 9a.m. a patient came into the office and told clinic employees that there was a man in the parking lot who was confused and disoriented. By the time the employees went to the parking lot, another patient reported a man with similar symptoms had just driven away. At 9:10a.m. the sheriff called the plaintiff's wife to inform her that her husband had been involved in a single-car rollover crash. Paramedics reported that the plaintiff's blood sugar levels were at 24 mg/dl. The plaintiff's wife took him to a hospital where he was diagnosed with having a stable T12 compression fracture. He was observed for several days and then released.

A suit was filed claiming that the clinic had not properly diagnosed the plaintiff's 'hypoglycemic unawareness' (a documented illness where a patient becomes hypoglycemic, but doesn't realize their impaired mental state) and that the clinic employees were untrained and unqualified at recognizing signs of the illness. The plaintiff also claimed that the clinic lacked policies and procedures for testing diabetic patients, given that they know diabetic patients are at high risk for hypoglycemia. The case asserted diabetic patients should be given a snack and test results should be reviewed before they are allowed to leave the testing facility. The clinic argued that the patient must have taken his insulin, disregarding his doctor's orders, to produce a drop that quickly in blood sugar levels, and that it was the patients responsibility to understand their disease and risks.

The A.W. Smith Law Firm reached a settlement about a month before trial for $400,000.

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A family claiming that doctors missed the correct diagnosis of an aortic dissection, leading to a family member's death, reached a $2 million settlement.

John Doe, 58, went to a rural hospital emergency room on a Friday evening complaining of jaw pain, chest pain, arm and leg numbness and difficulty speaking. His symptoms suddenly disappeared after fifteen minutes, but testing was done and indicated the possibility or coronary artery disease. Doe was transferred to Kansas City hospital for specialized cardiac care. A resident doctor examined Doe (who had no other complaints aside from the fifteen minute period of previous symptoms) and ordered an echocardiogram for Doe the next morning. The echocardiogram was not performed as the resident had ordered, as the echo lab was not usually open on the weekends. However, since Doe saw a cardiologist that morning, nurses assumed that it was not necessary to perform the echocardiogram.

When examined Saturday morning, the doctor found that Doe's symptoms were indicative of typical coronary artery disease and recommended that Doe remain on his current medication plan until an angiogram could be done Monday morning. After further examination, the cardiologist also noted a slight diastolic heart murmur near the left sterna border of the heart. He informed Doe and his wife that there might be a slight bacterial infection of the valve, which would explain the murmur. However, an echocardiogram was ordered for Monday to determine if there were any problems with the aorta or aortic valve to rule out "aortic incompetence due to aneurism or dissection" anyway. This condition typically leads to death within minutes. Doe died at 6 p.m. Saturday evening. Had an echocardiogram been performed Saturday morning as prescribed by the resident doctor, Doe could have had life-saving surgery.

Doe's wife and daughter filed suit alleging the emergency room physician, resident physician, and cardiologist all missed the correct diagnosis, and that the symptoms presented should have warranted a CT scan of the chest to rule out aortic dissection. Furthermore, the plaintiffs' cardiology expert was critical of the fact that, although the cardiologist considered aortic dissection a possibility, nothing was done to rule it out. Defendants argued that the symptoms were actually more consistent with coronary artery disease and that even if the correct diagnosis had been made, Doe would not have survived the necessary surgery.
A month before trial, the A.W. Smith Law Firm, PC secured a $2 million settlement for the family.

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The A.W. Smith Law Firm helped a victim receive an $800,000 settlement, only one month before going to trial, in his personal injury suit.

Michael Smith received the settlement from the owner of a tractor trailer who crossed over the median and side-swiped Smith, nearly resulting in the loss of his arm.

Smith was traveling on Highway 43 in Benton County, Arkansas (Ar.) when his Ford Escort was side-swiped by a Mack tractor-trailer driven by Clifford Dozier for Simmons Flood. The Escort was struck by the dual wheels of the tractor trailer as the two cars rounded a corner at the same time. Part of the trailer then crashed through the car, entering the driver's compartment, and slicing through Smith's shoulder. Smith, who required extensive surgery and rehabilitation, eventually returned to work, but not without permanent limited range of motion.

The $800,000 settlement was reached only one month before the case went to trial.

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