Clear Water on White Tile Is Invisible. He Fell Backward Onto the Edge of a Metal Shelf, Declined Treatment, and Had a Seizure Three Days Later.
After trial: This is the verdict as returned and not a settled outcome. The jury returned $1,340,000 on August 3, 2026 and the post-trial motion window was still open when this page was written, so no judgment order has been confirmed and a comparative-fault reduction or an apportionment under W. Va. Code 55-7-24 remains possible. West Virginia's noneconomic damages cap in W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 applies only to medical professional liability and has no bearing on an ordinary premises case. One thing a reader should know about collection: Fruth Pharmacy, a regional chain of about seventy years, announced in autumn 2025 that it was closing all of its West Virginia and Ohio locations, so recovery turns on insurance rather than on an operating business.
Won by Warner Law Offices, PLLC.
Dan Carter stepped in clear liquid pooled on white tile in a Huntington pharmacy aisle and fell backward, hitting the back of his head on the edge of a metal shelf. He declined treatment and went home. Three days later he had a seizure while walking his dogs, and imaging showed an acute cerebellar stroke.
What happened
On September 14, 2021 Dan Carter walked into Fruth Pharmacy's 7th Avenue store in Huntington, West Virginia. Partway down an aisle he stepped in a clear liquid, believed to be water, pooled on white tile.
Clear liquid on white tile is effectively invisible, which is the whole point of the case. He fell backward and struck the back of his head on the edge of a metal shelf.
He told the store manager, declined medical treatment, and went home. He slept most of the next two days.
On September 17 he had a seizure while he was out walking his dogs and was taken to Cabell Huntington Hospital by ambulance. He had a second seizure in the emergency department. He was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, and CT and MRI imaging confirmed an acute focal cerebellar stroke. He has permanent cognitive impairment and an ongoing seizure disorder.
After a five-day trial the Cabell County jury returned $1,340,000 on August 3, 2026, itemized as $440,000 for future medical care, $800,000 for loss of the capacity to enjoy life, $50,000 for pain and suffering and $50,000 for mental anguish and emotional distress. The largest component by far is not the medical bill. It is what the rest of his life is now like.
Carter was represented by Nate Kuratomi and Thom Boggs of Warner Law Offices.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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