Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2000

Jury Awards $268 Million After Medical City Gave a 13-Year-Old Girl a Fatal Propofol Overdose

A Dallas County jury returned one of the largest medical-malpractice verdicts in the country after a teenager with cerebral palsy died at Medical City Dallas when hospital staff administered multiple times the appropriate dose of the anesthetic propofol following a routine airway procedure.

After trial: According to trial counsel Charla Aldous, the case settled confidentially while the jury was still deliberating punitive damages, so no final punitive-damages figure or appealable judgment was ever entered. As part of the resolution the hospital's CEO personally apologized to the family and propofol's manufacturer added a warning to the drug label.

$105 Million Verdict After Firestone Truck Wheel Explodes, Shattering Worker's Face and Arm

A St. Louis jury awarded $105 million to tire technician Randy Dorman after a Bridgestone/Firestone RH5 multi-piece truck wheel explosively separated during inflation, fracturing his face, both arms, and wrist, while internal company documents showed Firestone engineers had tracked nearly 100 similar incidents for decades.

Habush's $99.25 Million Miller Park Crane Collapse Verdict

Robert Habush won a $99.25 million Milwaukee County jury verdict for the widows of three ironworkers killed when the Big Blue crane collapsed at Miller Park. The appeals court vacated the $94 million punitive award, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstated the claim in 2005, and the widows settled in January 2006 for about $30 million.

After trial: Settled for about $30 million: the Court of Appeals vacated the $94 million punitive award in 2003, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed in 2005 and remanded on whether the amount was excessive. The three widows settled in January 2006 for about $30 million combined, paid by the site's insurers.

$55.4 Million Verdict for Woman Left With Locked-In Syndrome After Bronchoscopy

A 54-year-old woman underwent a routine bronchoscopy for a possible tuberculosis biopsy, but physicians ignored oximeter alarms and delayed intubation until she had suffered irreversible anoxic brain damage, leaving her with locked-in syndrome; the Cook County jury returned a $55.4 million verdict against the responsible physicians, then the largest medical malpractice award in Illinois history.

$34.1 Million Verdict for Missouri Roofer Who Developed Mesothelioma at Shell Oil's Illinois Refinery

A Madison County jury awarded James Hutcheson $34.1 million after he developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure during contract work at Shell Oil's Wood River, Illinois refinery in the 1950s and 1960s.

$47.4 Million Verdict for Law Student Brain-Damaged in Thruway Road-Rage Crash

Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes won a $47.4 million Erie County jury verdict for a 22-year-old law student who suffered a catastrophic brain injury when two drivers played high-speed road tag on the New York State Thruway.

After trial: Reduced on appeal: in 2001 the Fourth Department ordered a new damages trial unless the plaintiff accepted $1 million past and $6 million future pain and suffering, $8 million future care and $4 million lost wages. With $452,460 in stipulated costs that totals $19.45 million; payment is not publicly documented.

Jammed Cab Doors Trap Log Truck Driver In Fatal Fire

On November 6, 1995, a Mack tractor-trailer hauling logs ran off a Clarke County, Alabama road and rolled over, jamming the passenger door and shifting the logs forward to block the driver's door. The rollover trapped driver Tonnie Ray Witherspoon inside the cab, where a small fire from the crash spread and engulfed the truck, killing him. His mother, Mary Witherspoon, sued Mack Trucks under Alabama's Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine, and a Clarke County jury awarded $50 million in punitive damages, later remitted to $25 million. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed Mack's liability in 2003 but ordered a further remittitur to $6 million, which Witherspoon accepted.

After trial: Reduced. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed Mack's liability on May 30, 2003 but cut the punitive award from $25 million to $6 million, conditioned on Mary Witherspoon accepting the remittitur, which she did. See more

Flight 1420 Survivors Win $3.35 Million PTSD Verdict Against American Airlines

A mother and her two toddler daughters, each diagnosed with PTSD after surviving the American Airlines Flight 1420 runway crash in Little Rock, won a $3.35 million jury verdict that the Eighth Circuit affirmed in full.

D.C. Jury Awards $2 Million to Hechinger Customer Assaulted by a Store Employee

A District of Columbia jury awarded $2 million to a hardware store customer who suffered a subdural hematoma and emergency brain surgery after a Hechinger employee assaulted him, and the D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict in full.

$75,000 Philadelphia Jury Verdict for Driver With Herniated Disc After Left-Turn Collision

A Philadelphia jury awarded Henry Moore $75,000 in August 2000 for a herniated lumbar disc suffered when a driver turned left in front of his car on August 21, 1997 and then rolled back into it. The driver admitted negligence, and the fight was over whether a limited tort election bound Mr. Moore. The trial judge held it did not, denied post-trial relief and entered judgment on the verdict.

After trial: The trial court denied the defendant's motion for post-trial relief and entered judgment on the verdict on November 28, 2000. The defendant filed an appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, and we could not confirm its outcome or whether the judgment was collected.