Top Individual Idaho Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

Birth Injury Verdict Cut From $29.7 Million To $26.5 Million Under Idaho's Damages Cap

In 1999, a federal jury in Boise found that Dr. Ian Ross Donald had punctured a fetal blood vessel during an amniocentesis on Sandy Kirkland, causing internal bleeding that went undetected for about sixteen hours and left her son with severe brain damage and spastic quadriplegia. The jury awarded $29,715,077, finding Donald 75 percent at fault and reckless and Wood River Medical Center 25 percent at fault and merely negligent, while clearing Sandy's other treating physician entirely. Because Idaho's noneconomic damages cap does not apply to a defendant a jury finds reckless, only the hospital's share of noneconomic damages was reduced, leaving roughly $26,538,077 of the award standing. The Idaho Supreme Court later upheld the cap's constitutionality on a certified question from the case. Paul Luvera, of the firm now known as Luvera Law Firm, represented the Kirkland family at trial.

After trial: Reduced by the Idaho cap. The hospital's $3,750,000 share of noneconomic damages was cut to about $573,000 because the jury found it negligent rather than reckless; the doctor's share was not capped. See more

$13.5 Million Verdict After ER Stroke Misdiagnosis Left Idaho Man With Permanent Brain Damage

An Ada County jury awarded $13.5 million to Carl Stiefel after an emergency physician misread his stroke symptoms as vertigo, delaying a correct diagnosis by nearly 14 hours and causing irreversible brain damage.

After trial: The jury awarded $13,500,000 in January 2023 in Ada County with no reduction, because the finding that the physician was reckless and wilful removed the case from Idaho's noneconomic cap. The defendant said it would pursue all remedies, but no appellate opinion or post-trial ruling has been reported through September 2026.

Idaho Falls Man Left Paraplegic After Urgent Care Delay Wins $6.6 Million Verdict

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.

After trial: Reduced and affirmed. The $7,958,113.67 verdict was cut to $6,575,354.58 under Idaho's cap on noneconomic damages, and the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on February 6, 2020 without reaching the plaintiffs' constitutional challenge, which was untimely. See more

$5 Million Judgment After HVAC Company's Driver With Seven Prior DUIs Killed Cheryl Miller

BSR Ventures, doing business as Advanced Heating and Cooling, agreed to a $5 million judgment after its employee, who had seven prior DUI convictions including two felonies, crossed the center line on U.S. 93 and killed Cheryl Miller in a head-on crash.

$4.2 Million Verdict After ER Physician Removed Cervical Collar, Causing Quadriplegia

A federal jury awarded Kevin Marchand $4.2 million after emergency room physicians at Mercy Medical Center removed his cervical collar following an industrial accident, missing a cervical spine fracture that left him permanently paralyzed.

Ada County Jury Awards $3.79 Million After Sepsis Death Following Boise-Area Liposuction

Krystal Ballard, a 27-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, died of sepsis days after liposuction and a fat transfer at Silk Touch Laser, a medical spa in Eagle, Idaho. After a first trial ended in a mistrial, an Ada County jury in 2014 found the spa and its owner reckless and awarded her husband $3,790,436. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on 4 August 2016, apart from one fee award.

After trial: The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on 4 August 2016, including the $1,250,000 noneconomic award, which the statutory cap did not reach because the jury found reckless conduct. It vacated only a separate attorney-fee award for the first trial's mistrial and remanded for findings. See more

Idaho Supreme Court Affirms $3.8 Million Verdict Over Improper Catheter Removal

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.

After trial: Reduced and paid. The $3,850,004.83 verdict was reduced by stipulation to $3,775,864.21 for contractual medical adjustments, and the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed on September 6, 2018. See more

Idaho Jury's $3.51 Million Award for Teen Killed in Driver's Ed Crash Upheld Against Blaine County School District

A 15-year-old boy died when a Blaine County School District driver-education car was struck during a three-point turn on U.S. Highway 20 near Carey in snow and fog. In 2013 a Blaine County jury found the instructor entirely at fault and reckless, and awarded the boy's parents about $3.51 million. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the verdict on 30 March 2015.

After trial: The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the full verdict on 30 March 2015 and denied rehearing on 23 April 2015, holding that the reckless-conduct finding kept the statutory cap on noneconomic damages from applying. The district's business manager said at the time of the verdict that its insurer would cover the judgment.

$3.5 Million Settlement After $18 Million Verdict Over Haldol Death of Idaho Nursing Home Resident

Delbert Hayward, 86, a mechanic, died in February 1995 after nearly a year at Valley Vista Care Center in St. Maries, Idaho, where his family said he was repeatedly given the antipsychotic drug Haldol to control him. After a three-week trial in May 2006, a Benewah County jury returned an $18 million punitive verdict. By November 2006 the case had resolved in a $3.5 million settlement, most of it paid by the home's insurers.

After trial: The $18 million punitive verdict of May 2006 was replaced by a $3.5 million settlement by November 2006, so the settlement is the figure that stood. About $3.4 million came from the home's two insurers and about $100,000 from the home. See more

$1.66M Jury Verdict for Commercial Tenant Left with Permanent Brain Damage After Stairway Fall

A Boise jury awarded more than $1.66 million to a commercial tenant who suffered permanent brain damage after falling on improperly installed stairs, a verdict affirmed on appeal by the Idaho Supreme Court.