Estevez v. United State

72 F.Supp.2d 205 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Estevez family were injured in a collision with a postal truck for which the United States (D) was responsible. There was a trial without a jury, and the judge found that the postal driver was negligent. Joseph (P) was slightly over two years old at the time of the accident. He was seated on his mother's lap, and a seatbelt was wrapped around both of them. He was taken to the hospital and then to the pediatric intensive care unit at another hospital, where he remained hospitalized for approximately five weeks. He underwent the following surgical procedures: (1) exploratory laparotomy, bowel resection (removal of 8 cm. of the intestine), and repair of perforations in the bowel wall; and (2) aortic endartectomy (removing a clot from the artery), thrombectomy (removing a clot from the vein) and patch angioplasty. During this last procedure, a Gortex patch was permanently placed on his aorta. The first surgery was due to a perforation of a section of the small intestine, an abdominal wall hernia and a tear or fracture of the lower pole of the right kidney. The second surgery was due to an intimal tear, which is a tear to the inner lining of the aorta. In August 1997, he was admitted to North Shore University Hospital. He underwent an exploratory laparotomy and small bowel resection (removal of an additional 8 cm. of the intestine). He was admitted to Montefiore Medical Center in January 1998 and underwent a spinal fusion at his L2-L3 lumbar vertebrae. He also wore a special spinal fracture brace for seven weeks for a compression fracture at L2-L3; he was placed on high blood pressure medication as a result of renal injuries until May 1997; he was intubated with an endotracheal breathing tube for a brief period of time; he was forced to utilize a nasogastric feeding tube for a brief period of time, and he has a foot drop (unable to flex his foot) in his right lower extremity. P received physical therapy from the time of the accident to the present. The parties were in agreement that Joseph incurred $138,000 in past hospital and medical costs. The court awarded only $88,000 that was not covered by no-fault insurance and also gave Joseph $500,000 for pain and suffering up to trial. The next issue addressed was future risks resulting from the injuries sustained.