Idaho Falls Man Left Paraplegic After Urgent Care Delay Wins $6.6 Million Verdict
After trial: The $7,958,113.67 jury verdict was reduced to $6,575,354.58 under Idaho Code section 6-1603, the state's cap on noneconomic damages in force for a 2018 judgment, a reduction of $1,382,759.09. The Ackerschotts preserved a constitutional challenge to that cap on cross-appeal. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the underlying judgment on February 6, 2020 but did not reach the constitutional question, because the post-trial motion raising it was untimely. Mountain View Hospital, LLC operates as a licensed healthcare corporation, which is ordinarily insured for malpractice liability; no source separately confirms that the judgment was collected.
Won by Pedersen Whitehead & Hanby.
Shane Ackerschott hurt his back lifting freight in November 2014, then suffered a spinal cord injury and permanent paraplegia after an Idaho Falls urgent care clinic had him stand and walk for tests despite worsening neurological symptoms and never told him to restrict his movement. A Bonneville County jury awarded $7,958,113.67 in damages against Mountain View Hospital, LLC, doing business as RediCare. Idaho's cap on noneconomic damages cut the award by stipulation to $6,575,354.58. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in 2020, rejecting RediCare's comparative-fault defense and declining to reach the Ackerschotts' constitutional challenge to the cap on a timeliness ground.
What happened
On November 10, 2014, Shane Ackerschott felt an ache in his back while lifting freight at work in Idaho Falls. By afternoon the pain was bad enough that his wife, Rebecca, drove him to RediCare, an urgent care clinic run by Mountain View Hospital, LLC.
On examination Ackerschott had diminished range of motion in every direction, numbness in both legs, and trouble standing. Nobody at RediCare told him to restrict his movement, a point the Idaho Supreme Court later described as undisputed. He was asked to stand for the examination, then to change into a gown and walk down to the X-ray room. He became dizzy on the way, a technician wheeled him back, and no X-ray was ever taken. While he waited, his condition got worse. He told a nurse his legs were numb and that he could not feel tapping on his lap.
As Ackerschott was getting dressed to walk to the emergency room across the street, he heard a pop and felt excruciating pain. He had suffered a massive disk herniation at the tenth and eleventh levels of his thoracic spine, compressing and disrupting his spinal cord. He underwent emergency surgery, but the damage left him permanently paraplegic.
The Ackerschotts sued Mountain View Hospital for medical negligence. Jarom Whitehead, of the Twin Falls firm now known as Pedersen Whitehead & Hanby, represented Shane and Rebecca and argued the case. Their medical experts testified that the failure to immobilize Ackerschott or otherwise restrict his movement was a substantial contributing factor in his injury. RediCare's own expert took the opposite view, telling the jury that immobilization would have made no difference. RediCare tried to put part of the blame on Ackerschott, arguing a comparative-negligence instruction was warranted because he had declined an ambulance ride over its cost. The trial court struck that defense on a directed verdict, finding no evidence tying the decision to his eventual paralysis.
A Bonneville County jury returned $7,958,113.67 in total damages. Idaho caps noneconomic damages in negligence cases, and the parties stipulated to reduce the award to $6,575,354.58 under that cap, a cut of $1,382,759.09, while the Ackerschotts kept their right to challenge the cap itself. Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr. entered final judgment on May 30, 2018.
RediCare appealed, and the Ackerschotts cross-appealed the constitutionality of the cap. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on February 6, 2020, including the directed verdict against RediCare's comparative-fault defense. It did not reach the constitutional question, because the post-trial motion that raised it had been filed after the deadline.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Idaho Supreme Court opinion, Ackerschott v. Mountain View Hospital, LLC, Feb. 6, 2020 (via CourtListener): counsel block naming 'Petersen Whitehead, Twin Falls, attorneys for Respondent. Jarom Whitehead argued,' the Bonneville County venue and Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr., the injury facts, the jury verdict and reduced judgment amounts, and the cap and appeal history
- 2.Idaho State Journal / Post Register: reports the verdict and quotes 'Twin Falls-based attorney Jarom Whitehead of Pedersen and Whitehead represented Ackerschott in the case and said the movement during tests was the ultimate cause of his paralysis'
- 3.LawyersAndSettlements.com legal news report: confirms the $7.96 million jury verdict, the reduction to $6,575,354.58 under the noneconomic damages cap, and the thoracic disk herniation and paraplegia
More proven verdicts from Pedersen Whitehead & Hanby
All Pedersen Whitehead & Hanby proven verdicts →A nurse at St. Luke's Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, removed a central venous catheter from patient Joyce Herrett while she sat upright in a wheelchair in December 2013, letting air enter her bloodstream and causing a stroke. St. Luke's admitted before trial that the nurse breached the standard of care, so a nine-day jury trial in Twin Falls County focused on whether her conduct was reckless and what Herrett's injuries were worth. The jury found the conduct reckless, which kept Idaho's cap on noneconomic damages from applying, and returned a verdict of $3,850,004.83; the parties later stipulated to a reduction reflecting medical expense adjustments, and the court entered an amended judgment of $3,775,864.21. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on September 6, 2018, rejecting St. Luke's challenges to the jury instructions and the denial of a mistrial. Jarom A. Whitehead of Pedersen and Whitehead argued the case for the Herretts.
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