Michael Shaw

A pharmacist three months into her probationary period at a New Jersey hospital let a spinal-toxic chemotherapy drug mix into a leukemia patient's intrathecal dose during what was supposed to be his final treatment, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down. A Middlesex County jury found the pharmacist at fault and held the hospital liable for her conduct, while clearing the oncologist who gave the injections. Jurors awarded the patient $18,564,000, including $17.5 million for pain and suffering. Defense counsel told the New Jersey Law Journal that a high-low agreement entered before trial would reduce what the patient actually recovers; the figure was not reported.

Daryl L. Zaslow of Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow settled a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy birth injury case for $17,000,000, a portion of which purchased annuities that carry guaranteed payments of $18,502,301 and anticipated payments of $28,700,273. Judge James Den Uyl approved the terms on January 3, 2025.

A 69-year-old Newark woman walking with a friend past a Save Smart store was thrown to the sidewalk and suffered a subdural hematoma when a store employee chasing a fleeing shoplifting suspect ran into her. An Essex County jury found the retailer, which had sent five untrained employees out the door after the suspect, fully responsible for her injuries. On January 15, 2025, the jury unanimously awarded $8 million, all of it for pain and suffering. No appeal has been reported.

On November 10, 2000, a 22-year-old New Jersey woman driving a used 1997 Ford Explorer on the Garden State Parkway found the throttle stuck as she closed on slower traffic. When she pressed the accelerator hard enough to free it, the SUV surged forward, she lost control, and it rolled over. She suffered what her surgeon called a near complete amputation of her right arm at the wrist and a total brachial plexus injury, and by the time of trial an occupational therapist described the arm as completely paralyzed apart from some elbow flexion. On April 12, 2007, a Middlesex County jury found Ford Motor Company and dealer Freehold Ford liable for a defective throttle and a failure to warn, awarded $10,626,479.89 in compensatory damages, then cut that award by $2 million because she had not worn her seatbelt, leaving $8,626,479.89, of which her 28 percent share of the fault left her about $6.2 million under New Jersey's comparative negligence statute; a second phase added $42,050 in punitive damages. The Appellate Division affirmed in full and the New Jersey Supreme Court denied certification.