Our client injured her back in a car collision in November 2013. She underwent conservative treatment, but it did not help her symptoms. She underwent surgery on May 13, 2014. The surgery reduced some of her symptoms, but her back continued to be extremely painful. After an x-ray and another MRI the cause was finally revealed, there was an infection in her spine.
Throughout our client’s treatment, the Law Offices of Laskin Balma in Sacramento California had requested that the adverse party disclose their policy limits multiple times. We sent medical records showing the conservative treatment, the injections my client underwent, and even the necessary surgery. Nothing moved the adverse party and the insurance company was not allowed to disclose the limit.
However, once the infection in her spine was revealed, the policy was no longer our biggest concern. Her doctor immediately installed a pick line in her arm in order to effectively administer the antibiotics and referred our client to a specialist who would monitor her treatment for the life-threatening infection. Treatment included six appointments with the specialist, the administration of antibiotics by our client’s daughter, weekly blood draws to determine her progress, and home nurse visits once a week to clean and maintain the pick line. The antibiotics themselves were very expensive and had to be paid for in advance.
Our client could not afford this treatment and called Laskin Balma Attorneys at Law in tears, convinced she was going to die. Our office set her up with a medical funding company and we were able to get her the treatment she needed and I am glad to say that she is doing much better.
Infection is a risk everyone undergoing surgery takes. It can happen to anyone in any hospital and it just happened to happen to our client this time. Together we were able to address the problem head on and save her life. The infection was the tipping point for the insurance company. Because of treatment she had already undergone and the additional treatment necessary to treat the infection, we were able to get a policy limits offer from the adverse insurance company in the amount of $250,000.00.
Some people may wonder why the adverse driver was responsible for the infection and the answer is because she got the infection through the treatment of injuries that the adverse driver caused. There is a chain of events that occurred due the actions of the adverse driver. The car collision led to injuries which led our client to treat for those injuries which led her get an infection in her spine. There is no break in the chain of causation.
If my client had gotten the infection because of surgery on her elbow, which was not injured in the collision, then the adverse driver would not have been responsible for the treatment of the infection.
Need advice? Feel you have a potential personal injury case? Contact Laskin Balma Attorneys at Law in Sacramento California today.